Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary announces retirement

Survey for Community Path of Lynn & Northern Strand

From the Metropolitan Area Planning Council: Recently, the State of Massachusetts finalized a plan to complete the development of the Northern Strand along a portion of the abandoned railway line through Lynn, continuing as a separated bike lane starting at Market Square and running along North Common Street into Downtown Lynn.  The Community Path of Lynn, which continues along the remaining abandoned railway line, is also being upgraded.  Because of these investments, the City of Lynn wants to make sure the finished Northern Strand and Community Path serves the community as best as possible by creating a new Northern Strand Zoning Overlay District.

In this survey, we will start with a quick summary of what zoning is, what it can do, and what it can’t do.  Then, we’ll ask you some questions about your neighborhood and what kinds of things you might want to see in the future.  At the end, we’ll ask you a few voluntary questions about yourself.

Take the survey by clicking here.

 From the event organizers: Calling all youth! Let your voice be heard. A safe space to express your feelings , thoughts and concerns about the events we are facing today. Bring a friend!

E-Team Machinist Training Program Graduation ceremony will be broadcast this Saturday on LCTV

This Saturday, July 18th we will be broadcasting the E-Team Machinist Training Program Graduation Ceremony LIVE on our public access channel.

This non-profit machinist training program based out of Lynn strives to provide training to MA residents who are unemployed or underemployed at no cost to the student. Their program focuses on teaming and utilizes diversity in order to provide students with a curriculum that is similar to the work environment.

You can watch this graduation ceremony on TV (Comcast: 3 / Verizon: 38) & online (via our website or Facebook page).

MBTA Advisory for Monday, July 20: Updated Boarding Protocols for Buses, Mattapan Line, and Customers at Some Green Line Stations; Standard Fare Collection Procedures at Front Doors

The MBTA is announcing that, effective on Monday, July 20, there will be updated boarding protocols for customers using buses, the Mattapan Line, and the Green Line at street-level stations. Standard fare collection processes will continue at the front doors of buses and trolleys. Protective barriers have been installed to support physical distancing between operators and passengers, allowing front-door boarding to resume and providing more space for customers than the previous temporary barriers.

“We’re glad to be able to return to the normal boarding process, and as we continue through the reopening process, it is important that customers and employees remain vigilant in our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “By taking steps like wearing face coverings and social distancing, we’re able to continue to make progress and keep customers safe and healthy.”

On July 20, front-door boarding resumes for all buses, for the Mattapan Line, and for Green Line trolleys at street-level stops. It is required that all MBTA customers wear a face covering and riders should avoid sitting or standing in areas (designated with decals) closest to the bus or trolley operators. Customers should board vehicles via the front doors only and exit via the rear doors.

The MBTA temporarily instituted rear-door boarding in March in an effort to encourage social distancing measures and protect the health of MBTA operators and riders. Temporary barriers were also installed on vehicles at that time. The MBTA has completed the installation of permanent protective barriers that allows more space for customers while continuing to support social distancing. If there is a substantial statewide increase in active COVID-19 cases, the MBTA may revisit the updated boarding procedures and reinstitute rear-door boarding on buses and trolleys at street-level stops with customers notified in advance of the change.

To avoid overcrowding on buses, operators also have the discretion to bypass a stop if the operator determines that the bus has reached its safe capacity. If a customer with a disability is able to be identified while waiting at a stop to be bypassed, the bus operator alerts the Control Center, will notify that individual that the stop is being passed due to crowding, and will alert the customer to the approximate time of the next available bus that can accommodate them.

Customers should continue to make efforts to distance and are reminded that face coverings are required while onboard vehicles and within the MBTA system. The MBTA urges area employers to continue to allow telecommuting and to consider staggered work schedules to promote social distancing on public transit. The MBTA also encourages cities and towns to assist in this effort be expanding available space at historically busy bus stops and working with the MBTA to implement dedicated-bus lanes.

While passenger volume continues to be just a fraction of pre-pandemic levels, the MBTA will continue to closely monitor ridership and, when possible, will make adjustments. Bus service in particular has been tailored to specifically allow for operational flexibility, giving dispatchers the ability to make adjustments in response to changing ridership demands and to alleviate crowding. The MBTA is operating a full complement of buses, including 30% reserved to be deployed where there is increased demand for service. Crowding will be closely monitored with these flexible buses deployed as needed. Full information regarding service levels can be found at mbta.com/coronavirus.

Enhanced Decontamination, Cleaning, Disinfecting, Social Distancing, and More:

In addition to encouraging good hygiene practices and social distancing, the MBTA is continuing its enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols. The public is encouraged to visit www.mbta.com/RideSafer for more information. Protocols include:

• Stations and facilities: disinfecting touch points in high-traffic facilities twice a day; disinfecting touch points on surfaces such as handrails, fare gates, and fare vending machines in subway stations once every four hours; and hiring additional vendors for disinfecting using chemical fogging, electrostatic sprayers, and manual disinfecting wipes/solutions.
• Bus and rail vehicles: decontaminating all vehicles nightly with disinfecting wipes; performing mid-day decontamination at layover locations daily by wiping down operator cabs and high-touch locations; wiping down cabs, fare boxes, and entrances for first/second shift bus pullbacks; performing electrostatic fogging for 100% decontamination every two weeks for all bus vehicles; isolating and electrostatic decontamination of any vehicle reported as operated by an employee who tested positive for COVID-19.

The MBTA has also deployed messaging through social media and within stations, bus terminals, and vehicles that encourages social distancing. Crowding threshold standards have also temporarily been lowered for each bus and subway fleet to accommodate social distancing measures. Customers can also find real-time crowding information for a number of bus routes with more information at www.mbta.com/crowding.

Face coverings are required while onboard all MBTA vehicles, on shuttle buses, and at stations and stops. The Executive Order that went into effect on May 6 does include an exemption for individuals with certain medical conditions, but does not require a person who is so exempt to produce documentation of their condition. The MBTA has issued internal guidance to its operators consistent with the Executive Order, though the MBTA expects all customers will comply.

The MBTA continues to follow guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health with the MBTA encouraging its riders and the public to:

• Practice social distancing at all times when leaving the home for essential trips;
• Stay home if sick and avoid close contact with others;
• Wash hands often with soap and water for at least twenty seconds;
• Use alcohol-based hand sanitizing gel with at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available;
• Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth;
• Clean areas that are frequently touched with sanitizing spray or wipes;
• Cover coughs and sneezes, and use a tissue or the inner elbow, not hands.

For more information, please visit mbta.com/coronavirus, mass.gov/COVID19, or connect with the T on Twitter @MBTA, Facebook /TheMBTA, or Instagram @theMBTA.

Updates from state government

• As of Tuesday night, DPH reported a total of 105,986 cases of COVID-19. The state has now confirmed a total of 8,125 deaths from the virus.
• On Tuesday, the Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee held a virtual hearing on Gov. Charlie Baker’s bill to reform oversight of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, filed after an investigation detailed a series of missteps leading up to the deaths of at least 76 veterans with COVID-19. The bill (S 2788) would change the way the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home superintendent is appointed, require that the home be inspected by the Department of Public Health in addition to federal authorities, and require that at least two members of the Holyoke and Chelsea soldiers’ home boards of trustees have relevant health care experience. The bill replaces the position with a new assistant secretary of veterans’ services. Immediate prospects for the legislation seem unlikely.
• House Speaker Robert DeLeo announced that he would take a longer-term approach to reforming the oversight of the soldiers’ homes, beginning with a legislative investigation into Holyoke. The House and Senate subsequently adopted an order creating a special joint oversight committee, which has until March 31, 2021 to submit its findings and any draft legislation. Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee chairs Rep. Linda Dean Campbell and Sen. Walter Timilty will lead the panel. Campbell said Tuesday that the special committee will have subpoena power and that it will “look at all aspects of the Holyoke tragedy with the purpose of bringing forth very substantial legislation.”
• Massachusetts is among 14 states and the District of Columbia that are newly committing to a plan to accelerate the market for electric trucks, an effort that supporters say will help drain the transportation sector of harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement, part of a joint memorandum of understanding, sets a goal of at least 30 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030, and 100 percent by 2050. Participating states will use an existing multi-state ZEV Task Force to develop and implement a ZEV action plan. Fleets targeted under the agreement include large pickup trucks and vans, delivery trucks, box trucks, school and transit buses, and long-haul delivery trucks.
• Massachusetts will become the second state ever to pursue legal action against ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft over their classification of workers, a system that Attorney General Maura Healey argues leaves almost 200,000 drivers without access to key employment benefits. Healey filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court against the two companies on Tuesday alleging that, by categorizing their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, Uber and Lyft are violating the state’s wage and hour laws. The nearly 200,000 drivers in Massachusetts, the majority of which the companies say work part-time hours, do not have access to a guaranteed minimum wage, guaranteed paid sick leave, workers’ compensation or traditional unemployment insurance that they would gain if they were deemed to be employees, Healey said. By improperly categorizing their fleets, she argued, Uber and Lyft are able to pocket “hundreds of millions” of dollars every year that they should be paying in benefits and into state systems.
• A scheduled hearing Tuesday in a mail-in voting lawsuit will take place Friday instead, officials announced, two days after the deadline for Secretary of State William Galvin to send ballot applications to all 4.5 million registered voters. The Supreme Judicial Court scheduled a hearing in the lawsuit that voters and advocacy organizations filed against Galvin on Monday, but just more than an hour before it was set to begin, a spokesperson for the court announced that the proceeding was pushed until 2 p.m. Friday “at the request of the petitioner.”
• The state’s highest court will hear arguments in September in a lawsuit brought against Governor Baker challenging his authority to declare a COVID-19 state of emergency and to issue the emergency orders that have shaped life in Massachusetts for the last four months. Justice Barbara Lenk, sitting as part of a single-justice session, ordered a lawsuit brought by the New – The suit revolves around whether a governor can use the powers afforded under the Civil Defense Act to declare an emergency around public health.
• The Baker administration on Tuesday announced final revisions to new regulations for a significant solar energy development program. The updated regulations for the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) incentive program, which is designed to facilitate solar projects by ensuring financing, will double the program’s total capacity to 3,200 megawatts, expand eligibility criteria for solar projects in low-income areas and encourage the adoption of energy storage technology. In the updated version unveiled Tuesday, the Department of Energy Resources amended the regulations to maintain the prohibitions on projects on core habitat and priority habitat land, but lifted the ban on projects on land designated as critical natural landscape so long as the project qualifies under the first 1,600 MW of the program’s capacity.
• Legislative leaders and Governor Baker have announced no plans yet to reopen the State House to the public.
• The state’s top elections official is moving forward with sending out vote-by-mail ballot applications after the governor’s office agreed to advance funds included in a COVID-19 supplemental budget that is nearing final approval in the Legislature. Both branches still need to take their final votes on the bill before sending the appropriations bill to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk.

From Mayor McGee’s office: The Lynn Public Health Department has confirmed that as of today, the number of active, confirmed positive COVID-19 cases is 516 with 14 new cases today. 3,150 Lynn residents have recovered and 104 have died. The total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Lynn since March 21, 2020, including those who have died and recovered, is 3,770. Please visit the new City of Lynn COVID-19 Data Dashboard which is updated daily.

Lynn City Hall Outdoor Services continue while City Hall is open to the public.

*Face Coverings Must Be Worn When Receiving Service*

• The Clerk’s Office will offer outdoor services on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9AM-12PM. Please call (781) 586-6726 or e-mail jrowe@lynnma.gov to make an appointment with the City Clerk’s office for: Licenses, Birth / Marriage Certificates, Notary Public Services, Election Paper Drop Off and more.
• The Inspectional Services Department offers outdoor services on
  Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 9AM-12PM.
• Check or Money Orders are preferred methods of payment. Cash will only be accepted if the exact amount is provided.
  

STOP THE SPREAD Initiative: Please click here for more information on how you can get a free COVID-19 test in the City of Lynn through August 14th.

We will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 through the City website (www.lynnma.gov), social media, and the Smart 911 emergency notification system (sign up at www.smart911.com).