Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Veterans Day Ceremonies

Due to the forecast of inclement weather, all Veterans Day activities will be moved inside at Amesbury Middle School.  The ceremony will be in the Performance Center and will begin at 10AM on Wednesday, November 11.  There will be no parade.

Feel free to contact Alyssa Premo at 978-388-8121 or premoa@amesburyma.gov with any questions.

Thanks!

Ken 

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Great News for Amesbury

This afternoon, I was officially informed by the MA Department of Energy Resources (DOER) that Amesbury has been awarded another Green Communities energy grant in the amount of $225,865. See the letter below for more details.

I want to thank Community and Economic Development Director Bill Scott and Energy Manager Tom Barrasso for working diligently on this grant application, and I also want to thank our Energy Committee, the School Administration, the City Council, the School Committee, and the EEA and the DOER for collaborating with Mr. Scott and Mr. Barrasso along the way.

More details will come as the grant process moves forward.

Ken


Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Light the Falls

On Saturday, we celebrated the lighting of the Powwow River's falls in the Upper Millyard with a great event. The falls will now be illuminated every night thanks to an artistic lighting design.

The project was funded by a $50,000 Massachusetts Marketing Partnership (MMP) grant through the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism (MOTT) that was secured in the FY15 state budget by former State Representative Mike Costello. This is the same grant that also funded Amesbury's new welcome signs, and is funding the purchase and installation of a fountain at Heritage Park in the Lower Millyard. These three projects provide very visible returns on relatively modest investments, and they all contribute to the overall improvement of Amesbury's image.

I want to thank Amesbury's own Peter Cook at Stone Ridge Landscape & Design, Representative Costello, our supportive downtown restaurants and business community, and everyone who was involved in lighting the falls.

Below are some pictures from the event, and also some pictures from Stone Ridge Landscape & Design's website that show a behind the scenes look at the work that Peter and his team did to install the lighting array. You can see more pictures from the installation of the lighting at www.designsbystoneridge.com.

Enjoy the photos below, but the lighting can only be fully appreciated when seen in person. I hope you get a chance to see the falls lit at night if you haven't already.

Ken













Photo courtesy of Stone Ridge Landscape & Design

Photo courtesy of Stone Ridge Landscape & Design

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Amesbury's Spray Park is now open

The new Spray Park at Amesbury Town Park opened this week, and it is already being put to great use by children from Amesbury and nearby communities. Take a look at today's article in the Newburyport Daily News: http://www.newburyportnews.com/news/local_news/making-a-splash/article_13549ee0-6742-5918-b4a6-f0fa5c5a39ab.html

Ken


Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Hotel Groundbreaking/Time Capsule Retrieval

Yesterday, I was excited to be joined by various community stakeholders and state officials in celebration of the groundbreaking of the planned Hampton Inn at 284 Elm Street in Amesbury. This is an example of the type of development that will, over the longer term, help to reduce the property tax burden that Amesbury's residents have felt for too long. While we still have a long way to go with respect to expanding Amesbury's commercial/industrial tax base, this $10.5 million private investment in our community is an important step in the right direction, and a breakthrough in the development of the Golden Triangle.

I want to thank everyone who made this project possible, and everybody who came out to yesterday's ceremony. I especially want to recognize our honored guests and speakers:

  • City Council President Joe McMilleon
  • State Representative Jim Kelcourse
  • Deputy Secretary Carolyn Kirk, MA Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development
  • Uday Patel, Vice President of Operations, Archgrove Hospitality
  • Melissa Cerasuolo, Executive Director, Amesbury Chamber of Commerce
  • Bill Scott, Director of Amesbury's Office of Community and Economic Development
  • Dennis Marcello, District Director, Office of Senator Kathleen O'Connor Ives
Hampton Inn Groundbreaking Ceremony


 
 
 
Left to right: Ski Iworsky, Mayor Gray, PJ "Jancy" Jancewicz

This morning, I witnessed the retrieval of a 141-year-old time capsule from the Civil War Memorial in Union Cemetery that was originally dedicated in 1874. The time capsule will not be opened until a professional archivist can do so in a climate-controlled environment. I look forward to seeing what the capsule will reveal!

This effort was facilitated by Amesbury's Board of Trustees of War Memorials. The Board will be rededicating the same monument in late June. I want to thank them for their hard work as volunteers, and for their dedication to honoring Amesbury's veterans.

Ken