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State details $8M Lynn Harbor Park, $15.5M trail funding and ongoing work on Kings Beach pollution
Summary
A state undersecretary described multiple investments for Lynn — $8 million from the state for Lynn Harbor Park, $15.5 million for the Northern Strand Trail piece, DCR projects and work to address Kings Beach water contamination — and said agencies are working with Lynn and Swampscott on technical fixes and long-term resiliency.
An undersecretary for the administration outlined a suite of state-supported projects in Lynn and described continuing work to address water pollution at Kings Beach during the Environmental Justice Council meeting.
The office has allocated $8,000,000 toward the city's Lynn Harbor Park project while the city has contributed roughly $3.6 million, the undersecretary said. The redeveloped park sits on a former landfill and is being designed with tree plantings, a waterfront promenade, amphitheater seating and storm-resilient features such as swales and basins to mitigate surge and flooding. "We invested $8,000,000 in Lynn Harbor Park and the city has invested 3.6," the undersecretary said.
The state also invested $15,500,000 through the MASSTrails initiative to help complete the Northern Strand multiuse trail to Nahant; the project is intended to provide recreation and commuter access for communities where a high percentage of nearby residents meet environmental-justice criteria. Other investments include design and resiliency work at Lynn Heritage State Park and a roughly $1.2 million renovation to the Willis Fishing Pier to improve accessibility.
On King's Beach, the undersecretary described decades-long challenges with pollution and infrastructure, including combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and contaminated stormwater. He said recent CSO mitigation reduced occurrences during last year’s beach season but persistent sources and illegal pipe tie-ins require painstaking investigation and engineering solutions; ultraviolet treatment was mentioned as one option under study. The state convened a King's Beach Steering Committee and retained engineering support to evaluate short- and long-term fixes.
The undersecretary also described programmatic work to grow urban tree canopy (110 public trees funded through Greening the Gateway Cities) and grants for gateway cities to reconnect residents to open space. When council members asked about maintenance and tracking fund distribution, the undersecretary said cities typically plan for maintenance and that the office tracks spending distributions though a more viewable, public summary may be improved.
The presentation did not produce formal council votes but prompted questions on long-term maintenance and how the administration tracks grants and investments targeted to disadvantaged communities.
