Peabody City Council Clears $185,000 Transfer to Close Riverwalk Land Purchase

PEABODY — October 26, 2023 — Peabody City Council voted unanimously to complete financing for a Riverwalk land acquisition and approved Community Preservation funds for two historic cemetery restorations at its October 26 meeting. The council's Finance Committee, chaired by Councilor McGinn, cleared all four transfer items 5-0 before the full council ratified each one 10-0. The largest transfer, $185,000 from the city's sale of real estate account, closes out the funding package for 166R Main Street — the Bibby property — one of five parcels the city has identified as key to its Riverwalk corridor; a $450,000 block grant covers the remainder of the purchase price. The council also transferred $33,500 for the Emerson Cemetery Restoration and $6,855 for the Dowdy Family Cemetery Restoration, both funded through the CPC Historic Preservation account, with Councilor Gould calling the Emerson work "incredible" and urging residents to visit the Washington and Allen's Lane site. A fourth transfer of roughly $38,946 in RCN cable franchise fees routes 95 percent of those receipts to Peabody Access Television for quarters one and two.