By Dyke Hendrickson
Staff Writer
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NEWBURYPORT — The City Council voted unanimously last night to approve a resolution urging a halt to the relicensing process of the NextEra Energy nuclear power plant in Seabrook,
The council voted 10-0 on a resolution calling for a halt in approval proceedings "until newly discovered concrete degradation problems at the Seabrook plant have been fully resolved."
The vote came after close to a dozen area residents urged the council to consider safety first and oppose relicensing.
Councilor Tom Jones said he backed the resolution fully and only wished the language could have been stronger.
Councilor Dick Sullivan Jr. said that during his years on the Newburyport Fire Department, fellow firefighters in nearby Hampton, N.H., had determined that evacuation was not possible near the ocean should an emergency occur during the busy summer months.
Bruce Skud, a local activist who opposes relicensing, applauded the council's action.
"This resolution is not a referendum on Seabrook or nuclear power, but evidence of deep concern over public safety due to deteriorating conditions at the aging nuclear power plant," he said.
The City Council, however, declined to address the question of rezoning a parcel on Storey Avenue, evidently because the votes were lacking for passage.
The absence of Councilor Allison Heartquist and the possibility that a prospective "yes" vote might be lost was the reason one councilor gave for the measure not leaving the council's Planning and Development Committee.
"It stayed in committee because Heartquist was absent," said Councilor Barry Connell, who leads that committee and supports the rezoning. Connell said he wanted Heartquist, who was on a planned vacation, present in order to win every vote possible.
The rezoning measure, which would allow a proposal for a CVS development to advance, requires a "super-majority" of eight votes to pass.
When the rezoning came before the council last fall, it failed to garner enough support and failed by a 6-5 vote, Those voting in favor were Connell, Heartquist, Jones, Brian Derrivan, Greg Earls and Tom O'Brien.
Voting against were Ed Cameron, Robert Cronin, Ari Herzog, Steve Hutcheson and Kathleen O'Connor Ives.
Hutcheson has since been replaced by Richard Sullivan. However, Sullivan said last night that he has recused himself from voting, because the real-estate agency that his family operates has represented the Woodman family, which owns some of the land involved in the rezoning.
In addition, council president O'Brien, who represents Ward 6 where neighbors have objected to the rezoning because of traffic concerns, said after the meeting that he intends now to vote against the rezoning.
"Voters in my ward say enough is enough (in terms of traffic congestion), and I plan to change my vote," O'Brien said.
