Welcome to 2025. The Manchester Select Board and other boards have opened the year with a full slate of items spanning public safety issues with a downtown crosswalk, a possible new future for the Manchester Community Center building, and a vacated seat on the Finance Committee to be filled before the spring elections. Let’s get started.
Cones Stay Put on Central Street
Over the holidays, local drivers entering Manchester on Central Street may have noticed bright orange public safety cones that have been placed on either side of the pedestrian crosswalk in front of Seaside One that were installed after a child was hit in December by a vehicle, driving below the speed limit and heading east into town. Thankfully, the child was medically cleared after review, but all involved were understandably shaken by the incident.
On Monday, Police Chief Todd Fitzgerald formally asked the Select Board to eliminate two parking spots on either side of the crosswalk. He said visibility of pedestrians entering the crosswalk has long vexed drivers and pedestrians, and suggested that if a vehicle going under the speed limit couldn’t see a child then it’s a big problem that needs a permanent fix.
Downtown parking has been debated for years. Downtown businesses say any reduction in parking reduced their revenues. The new move would eliminate parking within 20 feet of the crosswalk. (State guidelines mandate at least 10 feet on either side of a crosswalk). Manchester has always had two crosswalks at the Central Street/School Street area, but one was moved in a redesign several years ago because Manchester’s sidewalks at the former crosswalk were narrow and couldn’t be made ADA complaint for wheelchairs, a state mandate.
There’s a lot of input to consider, so the Select Board voted to keep the temporary cones in place until they make a permanent decision. The Bike & Pedestrian Committee has sent a letter on the subject to consider. Then, Select Board member Cathy Bilotta said she walks the area daily for leisure and knows the danger well, adding that her “fix” is to j-walk at a safer stretch of Central Street. Brian Sollosy of the SB said the issue is important, but business interests need to be kept in mind. Jeff Delaney of the SB asked if the crosswalk could simply be moved back to where it had been, nearer to School Street.
“I’d hate to see those spots go away, but we have had an incident,” said Delaney.
Hope for a Town “Community Center”
There may be news on the Manchester Community Center (MCC) front, at least as it relates to the building at Harbor’s Point. Last year was one of all-out drama, when a simmering dispute came to a head in court between the cherished 45-year-old local nonprofit and its landlord, Harbor’s Point Condominium. (The MCC was created in the 1970s when the building, but not the land underneath, was donated to the organization as a youth center, creating a landlord-tenant relationship with Harbor’s Point and the MCC).
Before going to court, the MCC asked the town to step in and take over the building and its lease with Harbor’s Point. That idea succeeded, and a draft agreement was struck where the town would assume the lease, allowing the MCC to use the building for its events and the town would get much needed space for things like a temporary Harbormaster office, space for Council on Aging or Dept. of Parks & Recreation events, and public bathrooms.
Voters approved the scheme at the 2023 Fall Town Meeting, but it was dead on arrival when the MCC, weeks later, sued Harbor’s Point asserting that it actually owned the land beneath the building structure that it owned. Eight months later, after a bench trial at Salem Superior Court and a failed appeal, the case was over. The MCC lost and was found liable for more than $150,000 in back rent and expenses, essentially bankrupting the organization. It was a sad affair, all around.
On Monday, Town Administrator Greg Federspiel informed the Select Board that the handshake deal struck with Harbor’s Point in 2023 has been revived. Lease details are yet to be formalized, but the spirit of conversations so far with Harbor’s Point would create a lease for the building at under $2,000 per month. The same uses would be on the table (e.g., Harbormaster office) and other details will follow, such as build out costs, etc.
In the meantime, voters have approved a new senior center at the Masonic Hall behind Town Hall, but that project is years away since renovation costs (which will run in the millions) have not yet been raised. The MCC building can offer a solution as a temporary senior center, said Select Chair Ann Harrison.
Selectman Sollosy said before the MCC fallout, Harbor’s Point had offered to build out ADA-complaint public restrooms. “I’ll see if that’s still on the table,” he said.
FinCom Heads into FY26 Planning a Man Down
On Wednesday, the Manchester Finance Committee met and looked to the year ahead, addressing the town’s FY26 budget and potential areas of concentration. The committee set the schedule to review the department-by-department budgets, which entail heads of municipal budgets (think Library, Dept. of Public Works, Police, Fire and Harbormaster, etc.) presenting their proposed budgets in detail in meetings from now through March.
The FinCom is starting this process one man down, so to speak. Michael Pratt stepped off the committee late last year, leaving an opening from now until his term ends in May. Alan Wilson, Manchester’s Town Moderator, is responsible for filling the seat and anyone interested in the volunteer position should reach out to Wilson.
