Chelsea and Everett lost the $50 million federal grant for the Island End River Flood Barrier. The money is gone. The project is not.
Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez told his council the cities are still moving ahead using state money already secured for “design, engineering, and land acquisition.” His point was straightforward: use the money now or risk losing that too.
“It is essential that we utilize these state funds now; delaying their use could jeopardize our eligibility and result in the forfeiture of significant grant dollars,” Maltez said. “Moving forward at this stage ensures we maintain momentum and keep the project on track for eventual construction.”
That is the part worth paying attention to. Not the usual ribbon-cutting language. The process.
The next step is not construction. It is property rights.
Chelsea says it needs access and ownership rights along the path of the proposed flood barrier, including at the Marina at Admirals Hill, 305 Commandants Way. Maltez said the city wants a “friendly eminent domain taking” of a permanent easement covering 3,728 square feet, plus two long-term temporary easements totaling 14,088 square feet for construction.
“Friendly eminent domain” sounds like one of those government phrases designed to calm everybody down. What it means here is simpler: the city still uses its legal taking power, but says the property owner is cooperating.
According to Maltez, the owner is indeed on board. “It is mutually agreed that acquiring the necessary permanent easements, along with a temporary easement for construction, is in the best interest of all parties,” he said.
That matters. Infrastructure projects get delayed for years when officials pretend property access will just somehow work itself out. It doesn’t. Easements, appraisals, hearings, votes. That is how these things actually move.
The public purpose is also not hard to understand. Maltez said the barrier would protect “5,000 residents, primarily in Chelsea, and significant critical infrastructure, from flooding in the event of a coastal storm.”
Primarily Chelsea, yes. But Everett is part of this project because floodwater does not stop at the city line out of respect for municipal boundaries.
The independent appraisal put the fair market value of the easements at $287,643. Maltez said the takings would be paid for through state grant funding from the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program, along with city matching funds already appropriated in the capital plan.
So this is where things stand: the big federal check disappeared, but the cities still have enough state money to keep advancing the paperwork and land side of the project. That is not glamorous, but it is real progress.
Chelsea’s council is now being asked to hold a public hearing before final approval.
For Everett, the takeaway is simple. If this flood barrier is going to happen, it will happen because officials keep grinding through the unglamorous parts now, while the funding that still exists can still be used. Lose the money, lose time. Lose time, and these projects have a way of becoming permanent “future priorities.” Everett has enough of those already.