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Danvers manager updates residents: trash pickup status, Endicott Park grants and timeline for Town Meeting Act review
Summary
At the Aug. 12 Select Board meeting the town manager reported on ongoing coordination with Republic over trash and recycling service, announced a $90,000 Mass Cultural Council grant for Endicott Park carriage house repairs, and published a proposed timeline for review of the Town Meeting Act and Town Manager Act.
The Town of Danvers town manager told the Select Board on Aug. 12 that staff are continuing negotiations with Republic Services after recent service disruptions and that the Department of Public Works will temporarily collect yard waste while the contractor stabilizes operations.
The manager said residents should place yard waste at their usual collection day; DPW will attempt to collect on the routine schedule but may run behind and will complete missed collections by Saturday. If a pickup is still missed by Saturday, residents were asked to call DPW so staff can follow up. The town has been posting weekly open letters to update residents on progress and to explain how the town and contractor are coordinating to restore reliable service.
The manager also reported two grant successes for Endicott Park. Danvers received a Mass Cultural Council capital grant, administered through MassDevelopment, for $90,000 to support structural repairs, ADA improvements and energy-efficiency upgrades at the Lawrence H. Crowley Visitor Center (the carriage house). The manager credited the natural resources staff, the Friends of Endicott Park and MassDevelopment for the award and said additional matching funds and donations will support the work.
On municipal governance, the town manager reviewed a proposed timeline for Select Board consideration of the Town Meeting Act and Town Manager Act review committee report. The schedule posted in the meeting packet calls for a presentation of the review committee’s report to the select board on Sept. 23, a Select Board public hearing and draft warrant review in December (target Dec. 16), and a special town meeting on the week of Feb. 9. The manager and chair asked select board members to provide feedback and promised a public-facing schedule and packet materials online in advance of meetings.
The manager also summarized other community outreach and engagement efforts: a well-attended run of community roundtables (the next session is Aug. 14 at the middle school; the Aug. 28 session at the senior center will be hybrid), the Citizen’s Academy application deadline of Aug. 15, and recent local events such as FalconFest. She encouraged residents to use hybrid options if travel to meetings is difficult.
The manager concluded by thanking DPW staff, the natural resources team and volunteers for their work and asked residents to report missed trash or yard waste collections to DPW.
