Gloucester Council Votes 9-0 to Pursue Private Road Repair Authority From State

GLOUCESTER -- August 26, 2025, Gloucester City Council unanimously backed a home rule petition Tuesday seeking state authority to make permanent repairs to private roads, while confirming a new interim city administrator and approving a downtown housing conversion. The council voted 9-0 to ask the Massachusetts legislature to exempt Gloucester from a state law that bars municipalities from spending public funds on permanent, not merely temporary, fixes to the city's estimated 40 miles of private roads; City Solicitor Suzanne Egan cautioned the petition carries no funding and no legislative guarantee, and Mayor Greg Verga advised neighborhoods considering a betterment process not to pause and wait. The council also confirmed attorney Catherine Schlichte, a 29-year Gloucester practitioner pulled out of a two-month retirement, as interim chief administrative officer through February 14, 2026, 9-0, after her predecessor Jill Cahill left for a town manager post in Danvers. In a separate 8-0 vote, the council granted Special Permit 2025-007 to Dale Avenue LLC to convert a century-old mixed-use building at 23 Dale Avenue into four residential units, keeping a private office in a renovated detached garage, with no change to the building's 39.4-foot height or its footprint. The council also issued a public fraud alert after an applicant for a city special permit was deceived by emails impersonating the mayor and wired approximately $8,000; the matter has been referred to the Gloucester Police Department.