NEWBURYPORT — The City Council’s first meeting of 2025 kept councilors busy as they touched upon a proposed plan to build affordable housing at the former Brown School, agreed to meet less times per year and voted to keep Councilor at-large Ed Cameron as their leader.
In November, Mayor Sean Reardon tapped Zeta InSite to transform the former Milk Street school into senior affordable housing. Last month, the Boston-based company revealed a plan to build 29 apartments, 100% of which would be considered affordable by state metrics.
For the plan to move forward, the building will need to be declared surplus, then sold to Zeta InSite for $450,000. The property’s zoning would also have to be changed, bumping the current 20-unit cap up to 29.
Ward 1 Councilor Sharif Zeid and at-Large Councilor Heather Shand sponsored a pair of orders that would make both changes. The measures came up for first readings Monday night.
By a 9-0 vote, the surplus disposition order was sent to the council’s Planning and Development subcommittee as a meeting of the whole council. Since she is an abutter to the property, at-Large Councilor Afroz Khan recused herself from the vote, while Ward 6 Councilor Byron Lane voted present.
Half of the sale’s proceeds ($225,000), according to the order, would be used to improve the building’s public park and green space. The property’s playground would then be merged with that area to create a park named after the school’s namesake, George W. Brown.
In a bit of synergy, the remaining $225,000 would be set aside for the mayor’s plan to build a recreation center at 59 Low St.
The Brown School used to be the home of the Recreation and Youth Services Department, which has been looking for a new base of operations ever since the building closed.
In 2022, the city purchased the former National Guard building at 59 Low St. for $220,000 in free cash with the idea of moving the then-named Newburyport Youth Services there.
Early last year, Reardon presented a $6.5 million to $7.7 million plan to build a new recreation center at the Low Street address. It includes an outdoor basketball court, modular gymnasium, conference room and snack bar.
The $225,000 from the Brown School surplus would be used to build the gym.
The zoning change request was sent to the Planning and Development subcommittee meeting of the whole by a 10-0 vote, with Khan again recusing herself.
City Clerk Richard Jones said Tuesday the subcommittee meeting should be scheduled by the end of the week, so the two measures can be before the council again for a second reading and possible votes on Jan. 27.
The council also voted on a pair of internal matters.
Since last January, Cameron has been serving as council president who oversees each meeting. Since the council chooses a new president each year, the at-large councilor’s name was up for re-election.
The Hancock Street resident easily met the approval of his peers, who voted unanimously to give him another year at the head of the table.
Cameron said he’s not in the role of council president to be a gatekeeper. Instead, he wants to support each of his fellow councilors in their efforts to move legislation forward.
“I think we had an incredibly productive year, last year,” he said. “We did have a lot of ups and downs. We passed over 400 items, many of which are going to have long-lasting impact on the citizens of Newburyport.”
The council, Cameron added, still has some serious debates ahead of it.
“I know that taxes and affordability are certainly foremost (on people’s minds),” he said. “We have an opportunity at the Brown School and with the proposed $7.7 million recreation center on Low Street and I’d like to move forward with that.”
Cameron also said he was looking forward to solidifying the council’s new schedule, which will see the board reducing its annual meetings from 22 to 17.
Sponsored by Zeid, the plan came before the board in December and was passed by a 9-2 vote, with Khan and Ward 2 Councilor Jennie Donahue voting against it.
On Monday night, the council’s 2025 schedule came up for final approval.
Under the new calendar, the council will next meet on Monday, Jan. 27. Then, since Monday, Feb 17 is Presidents’ Day, it will wait until Tuesday Feb. 18 to meet again.
The council will then meet on March 10 and 31 and wait another three weeks until April 22.
But, since Feb. 18 and April 22 both fall within the school district’s respective winter and spring breaks, Khan proposed an amendment that would have moved the February meeting to Feb. 10 and the April meeting to April 14.
Councilors, as well as residents who have children might be away on one of both of those weeks, Khan said.
“The best product comes from being able to have public discussions here, on the floor,” she said.
But the amendment was defeated by a 8-3 vote, with Khan, Donahue and Ward 4 Councilor Ben Harman voting for it.
Under the new schedule, the council will also meet on May 12 — June 3 and 23 — July 14 — Aug. 4 and 25 — Sept. 15 — Oct. 6 and 27 — Nov. 17 — and Dec. 8.
Khan also proposed adding a meeting in either November or December but garnered no action from her colleagues.
“For me, with one meeting in November and one meeting in December is a little problematic,” she said.
Zeid said Tuesday he sponsored the schedule change to allow more time for the council’s subcommittees to discuss an issue before making a recommendation to the full council.
“I also think the frequency of our meetings was hurting our engagement with the public,” he said. “People shouldn’t have to quit their jobs to follow the council.”
Cameron said in a text message the new meeting schedule should help the council be more efficient as well as focus on the most important matters.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.