HAVERHILL — Representatives of businesses in the Ward Hill Business Park brought a long list of grievances to last night's City Council meeting.
Recently, it was reported that a fire alarm system in the business park hadn't worked properly for almost three years. That was apparently just the tip of the iceberg.
Among complaints brought before the Council:
Some fire hydrants are not working properly
The city does a poor job of cleaning roads, plowing snow and trimming brush along industrial park roads that pass by more than 100 companies.
The firms want the city to collect their recyclable materials as it does for all residences and most other businesses
Increases in a fee charged for fire suppression sprinklers that many businesses never use are arbitrary.
In short, they said they feel ignored and uncared for.
"We just want to open the lines of communication," Sandi York, who works for a company that manages properties in the park, told the council. "It seems like we're on our own little island over there. ... We don't want animosity with anyone. We're just trying to survive."
It recently came to light that the alarm system that notifies the Fire Department of fires and other emergencies in the park hasn't worked properly for almost three years. William "Bud" Hart, who runs the park's association and attended last night's meeting with York and about a dozen other people with connections to the park, has said he tried unsuccessfully for more than a year to get city officials to fix the alarm system. Mayor James Fiorentini, who was heavily criticized for his slow response to the problem, took steps last month to temporarily repair the alarm line after The Eagle-Tribune reported the trouble.
"The master box issue is resolved, but it's unfortunate that it took the paper to get it fixed," York said.
She also said business owners didn't appreciate comments from the mayor that they should call the Fire Department directly in the case of fires as a backup to the alarm system.
"Couldn't we just make sure it works?" she said. "Can't the city just check it regularlytrue"
York had other requests too. She said businesses in the park would like the city to collect their recyclables.
Because the Ward Hill park isn't on the city's trash collection route, it's one of the few places not included in Haverhill's citywide curbside recycling program. Most businesses will be getting the service starting next month.
Most of the businesses in the park have Dumpsters or a private trash collection service. Some bring their recyclables on their own to the city's recycling center at the Highway Department garage on Primrose Street. Others dispose of their cardboard and other recyclable material with their trash.
York suggested the city could have its waste collection company come to a central location in the park every few weeks to collect the material.
"We'd like the mayor to look at it and not forget about us," she said.
Fiorentini, who was at last night's meeting, said the city can't afford it. He said it would cost $90,000 to $100,000 to add the park to the recycling pickup route.
"No city I know of does it," the mayor said of collecting recyclables as a free municipal service for businesses in an industrial park. "It's a great idea, but they have to fund it on their own."
Fiorentini said he would arrange a meeting with the city's trash and recycling company, Capitol Waste, if the park association is interested in pursuing recycling pickup on its own.
York also complained about a fee charged to property owners in the park for water sprinkler service. She said the city has increased the fee from $400 to $600 or more in the last two years.
"Does the city think the businesses have money trees?" York asked councilors.
Louise Hutchinson of Advent Christian Church, which is in the park, told councilors the fees are a financial hardship for the small businesses.
Deputy Public Works Director Robert Ward said the fee is for providing "the availability of water." He said the fee generates about $200,000 annually and that the money is used to service and maintain fire hydrants and private sprinkler systems, as well as for record-keeping and mapping the system. Ward said the fee was last increased in 2003, but that the city recently began charging people based on the size of their water pipes. That's why the fee has increased for some property owners, he said.
Ward said he would meet with church officials at a later time to further discuss the sprinkler fee.
City Council President Michael Hart said he would write a letter to the mayor detailing the concerns of the association and asking the mayor to respond.
"My door is always open to the association and the businesses in the park," Fiorentini said.
As an example, he said the city recently fixed the faulty fire hydrants as soon as he was contacted about the matter.
He also said the pubic works director recently dispatched the city's street sweeper to the park when he was called about dirty roads.
The park is just off Interstate 495 and the Route 125 connector in the city's Bradford section.
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