By Katie Curley
Staff Writer
August 05, 2008 03:53 am NEWBURYPORT — Repairs to the Newburyport and Salisbury boardwalks as well as dredging and jetty repairs at the mouth of the Merrimack River may soon be a reality under the Environmental Bond Bill passed by the Legislature yesterday. Included in the bill is $2.5 million to pay for beach restoration on Plum Island, as well as a small boat launch in Salisbury along the Merrimack, and the creation of a new park/boat launch in Amesbury's Lower Millyard that will be known as Heritage Park. "The Merrimack River is the life blood of this region," state Rep. Michael A. Costello, D-Newburyport, said. "The bill includes money for the Salisbury boardwalk at Ocean Front and Heritage Park in the Lower Millyard of Amesbury." The bill aims to make the Merrimack River more accessible to locals while maintaining the current resources local cities and towns have. "Whenever you have a potential stream of money coming in to get work done, it's a good thing," said Adam Martignetti, spokesperson for Costello. Items earmarked for funding include flood control along Route 1 in Salisbury. "Bond bills appropriate money for 10 years; the governor has the final authority on authorizing the money," Martignetti said. "Both Mike and Sen. Steven Baddour will have to try and make the case to the respective agencies as part of the bond bill." Among those agencies who will need to be contacted before work can begin include the Seaport Authority and Coastal Zone Management. "Some of the projects fall under the Seaport Advisory Council or the Department of Recreation and Conservation," Martignetti said. "Costello and Baddour have good relationships with those agencies to begin with." Martignetti noted Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray's recent visit to the district as a promising sign. Murray is the chair of the Seaport Advisory Council. "Seaport has already shown a willingness to invest in Newburyport, and that bodes well for a lot of these projects." Last month, Sen. Baddour, whose district includes Newburyport and Salisbury, and state Sen. Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican who represents Newbury, inserted two amendments into an Environmental Bond Bill to aid the replenishment of beaches in all three communities. The Senate passed the amended bond bill, which included $2.5 million for fighting erosion on Plum Island beach, which is shared by Newbury and Newburyport, and a Salisbury Beach Preservation Trust Fund that would be built up by levying a $2 surcharge on admissions to the reservation for parking and camping. Both of those projects are included in the list of projects passed in the bond bill yesterday. The projects chosen as priorities to local cities and towns are not on any specific time line but will begin as Gov. Deval Patrick designates the funds. "Some will start sooner than others," Martignetti said, noting all the projects must undergo a formal review at the executive level. "There are some immediate needs and projects like the boat launch, which are a no-brainer and can be done sooner than others." The last time an environmental bond bill was passed was in 2002. That bond provided critical support for many important local projects, including the Indian Hill project in West Newbury and the Common Pasture acquisition in Newburyport. The funding from the 2002 bond bill is now almost completely depleted.
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