LYNN — Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy expressed positive news and views about the city’s finances, and future, as she delivered the State of the City address to the Lynn Community Association Wednesday night.
Joshua Goodwin, president of the nonprofit, whose mission is to beautify the city of more than 92,000, welcomed the mayor, who is seeking her third term in a race against state Sen. Thomas M. McGee (D-Lynn).
At the start of her 20-minute speech before the sparse crowd, Kennedy introduced one of the city’s newest residents, Lisa Santamaria-Capetanelis and her husband, Dean, who just moved to the city from Beverly.
“I told Lisa, when we met in the bathroom, how much I appreciate when people come out and want to know what’s going on in their city and want to become engaged civically,” she said. “I appreciate all of you taking time on a beautiful July night to hear me speak.”
Kennedy enumerated her accomplishments in an address that mirrored her recent talk to the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce.
On the city’s finances, Kennedy said she has meticulously turned over every financial stone to minimize layoffs. She said the city’s 2019 budget will be in better shape, in part, because the the city will not have to deal with retroactive raises that put a strain on city finances, and the final payment for the February 2015 snowstorm of $900,000 will be paid this year.
“We are in pretty good shape,” she said. “We did implement a trash fee, but that was done in a way to minimize the impact to the single-family homeowner.”
Kennedy’s listed accomplishments include the recent $1.2 million state grant that will create a new entrance to the city’s first waterfront development in decades.
The cash, under MassWorks, will be used to build a southbound turn into the former Beacon Chevrolet site on the Lynnway. The $80 million project will feature 348 waterfront apartments and is expected to break ground in November.
She touted the $21 million expansion of North Shore Community College with a ribbon cutting expected on Sept. 15.
On Washington Street, ground has been broken by the Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development on Gateway Residences, 71 units of affordable housing and 2,000 square feet of retail space, she said.
“This smart growth project is the beginning of the city’s effort to revitalize the Washington Street corridor and the Sagamore Hill neighborhood,” she said. “It represents a significant financial and physical commitment to this important area.”
A few blocks away, she said Lynn YMCA’s 70,000-square-foot expansion is underway and is about ready to break ground. “With a new pool, running laps, double gyms, seven classrooms, play areas for younger and a cafe, Lynn will surely have the best YMCA on the eastern seaboard,” she said.
She touted the $12 million redevelopment of the Flatiron Building in the downtown which is expected to open this fall with 49 market rate apartments and ground floor retail.
The mayor said she has recently met with the new owners of the former Item building downtown where plans are underway for market rate apartments with first floor retail.
“The new owners have told us they plan to keep the printing press intact and open a cafe called the Press Room,” she said. “They told us it would cost nearly $500,000 to dismantle the enormous press, so we thought it would be a wonderful centerpiece to this development and they agreed.”
She hailed the makeover of the Lynn Marketplace, the strip mall on State Street, and Hacienda Corona, a family-owned restaurant that features traditional Mexican dishes on the Lynnway, and is expanding to the downtown.
The mayor praised the Beyond the Walls project that brought 20 artists from around the globe who painted 15 exterior buildings.
“On Saturday we had about 2,500 people in the downtown who made the city buzz on a beautiful day,” she said. “We will continue to lead the way to make Lynn, Massachusetts all that it can and should be: a great place to live, work and play.”
