Gloucester City Council Accepts $8.9 Million FEMA Grant for Haskell Pond Dam Improvements

GLOUCESTER — March 25, 2025 — Gloucester City Council unanimously accepts nearly $9 million FEMA grant to repair high-hazard Haskell Pond Dam. The council voted 9-0 Tuesday to accept an $8,898,744.60 Hazard Mitigation Grant Program award from FEMA, passed through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, for storm and seismic improvements to Haskell Pond Dam, which supplies city drinking water roughly half the year and has been classified high-hazard. Combined with a separate $1 million state dam and seawall grant, the project exceeds $10 million in outside funding against a local match of $684,179.40. The council also voted 9-0 to cut the city's rental registration fee from $90 to $30 per unit while eliminating mandatory inspections, a shift Director of Public Health Dominique Hurley said would nearly double annual program revenue by dramatically expanding the number of landlords who register — currently just 560 of an estimated 5,000 rental units. A 9-0 vote adopted a proclamation declaring Gloucester a welcoming and supportive community for transgender and gender-diverse residents, amended on the floor to add the Human Rights Commission as a co-declaring body after the commission voted the prior evening to endorse the measure. The council also confirmed three appointments, accepted a donation of 219 voting booths from Woburn valued at $11,000, and voted to double veteran property tax exemptions under MGL Chapter 59 Section 5 Clause 22J at an estimated annual cost of $90,000.