Page 2 ACCESSIBILITY | FROM PAGE 1 high areas to be addressed,” Crabtree told selectmen at Tuesday night’s meeting during the town manager’s report session. “Once we had that study THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, DECEmbEr 19, 2025 “What I’d say, the projects together, we put an actual plan together and applied for a grant to get this so we could move forward,” Crabtree said. ADVOCATE NEWSPAPERS HOLIDAY OFFICE SCHEDULE NOTICE The Advocate Newspapers will observe a holiday closure from December 29, 2025, through January 2, 2026. Our next editions will be published on Friday, January 9, 2026. During this period, our office will be open intermittently, and all voicemail messages nd emails will be monitored and responded to in a timely manner. For questions, legal notices, or advertising submissions for the January 9 publications, please contact us at 781-233-4446 or Jmitchell@advocatenews.net We extend our sincere appreciation to our readers and advertisers and wish you a happy holiday season and a safe, healthy, and prosperous New Year. Thank you for your continued support. - James D. Mitchell, President/Publisher Lawrence A. Simeone Jr. Attorney-at-Law ~ Since 1989 ~ * Corporate Litigation * Criminal/Civil * MCAD * Zoning/Land Court * Wetlands Litigation * Workmen’s Compensation * Landlord/Tenant Litigation * Real Estate Law * Construction Litigation * Tax Lien * Personal Injury * Bankruptcy * Wrongful Death * Zoning/Permitting Litigation 300 Broadway, Suite 1, Revere * 781-286-1560 lsimeonejr@simeonelaw.net are about assuring that every resident – including seniors, families and strollers and residents and visitors with disabilities – can safely navigate our sidewalks and access public spaces with greater independence,” Crabtree said. “By leveraging the state grant dollars, we can make meaningful, long-term infrastructure improvements while delivering real value for the Saugus taxpayers. And this is something that’s been a priority for this board and myself – that we always look to see what grant money is available and target those things so that we can use that money to offset so we’re not taking it out of the operating budget,” he said. “I think that’s great for the residents and the taxpayers and also great for anybody – pedestrians included. … New construction funding builds on the town’s previous ADA-related grant work that helped assess where accessibility barriers exist and identify priority locations for improvements.” The projects will go out to bid next year with work expected to start in the spring or summer, according to Crabtree. Work will be coordinated through the town Engineering Department and the Department of Public Works. Updates on the project will be shared with the public as construction schedules are started and finished, the town manager said. “That’s great news about the grant,” Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta said. Legislators optimistic about grant Members of the Saugus legislative delegation learned about the grant awards before the town did and issued a joint statement on Monday after the announcement by the HealeyDriscoll Administration. “Making sure that all municipal facilities and streets are accessible to residents is incredibly important, and I am thrilled to see the Town of Saugus awarded this funding,” state Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) said in the press release issued earlier this week. “Thank you to the town for making these investments so that all residents can safely navigate to and utilize their buildings,” he said. State Rep. Jessica Ann Giannino (D-Revere) said she was “grateful that Saugus is making such a positive impact on accessibility through these meaningful community investments.” “This funding is essential to ensuring our public spaces are safe and accessible for all residents,” she said. State Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus) echoed the comments of his fellow legislators. “I’m glad to see that the Town of Saugus was able to secure this funding for improvements to our sidewalks and to the entrance ramps at public spaces,” Wong said. “It’s important that we keep our residents safe,” he said. The Municipal ADA Grant Improvement Program is funded through the state’s capital budget and managed by the Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD) in partnership with the Executive Office for Administration and Finance (A&F). Since 2017, MOD has awarded more than $26 million to 224 cities and towns across the Commonwealth who demonstrated a sincere dedication to implementing needed accessibility improvements. This competitive grant program helps municipalities complete projects that improve access to public programs, services and spaces for people with disACCESSIBILITY | SEE PAGE 6 PART-TIME JOB OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE: * VICTIM ADVOCATE * ATTORNEY Portal To Hope (“PTH”) serves people whose lives have been impacted by domestic violence and related assault crimes. If you would like to join PTH’s award-winning team and share your leadership in the cause to end domestic violence, please call (781) 338-7678 for more information; or, email portaltohope@aol.com.
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