CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

City eyes free parking for veterans

Haverhill Gazette - 4/6/2017

Veterans are asking for a break from paid downtown parking, and City Hall is listening.

City Council President John Michitson said progress is being made to provide free downtown parking for military veterans when they use public transportation for appointments at Veterans Affairshospitals in Bedford and Boston.

Michitson said the city's Parking Commission will invite Haverhill's director of veterans services to its next meeting to further explore the idea. Ted Gaiero, a Vietnam War vet who lives in Bradford, proposed the idea.

"At this point, the Parking Commission is in the information-gathering stage," Michitson said. "They are seeking to determine how many veterans would potentially need to park on a day-to-day basis."

Michitson said the commission will use that information to determine whether a permit-based system would be an effective way to make Gaiero's idea a reality.

"We're moving along slowly, but we're getting there," Michitson said.

At a late January council meeting, Gaiero proposed the free parking run from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. from the end of Merrimack Street all the way to Railroad Square.

He said he has been placing a cardboard sign in his cars window that displays the words "Veteran going to Bedford or Jamaica Plain. Please do not ticket" when he departs for appointments at VA hospitals.

Michael Ingham is Haverhill's director of veterans services and is also a board member of VFW Post 29.

Councilor Mary Ellen Daly O'Brien, a registered nurse, is aware of the services veterans receive at VA hospitals in Bedford and the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain. She said Haverhill serves a sizable veteran population and offers a significant amount of veteran housing.

"It's one of the best ideas we've come up with," she said of the free parking proposal. "Because we're a city of a certain size and because of the services we provide, we've attracted a lot of veterans here."

Due to the location of her deli on Merrimack Street, Councilor Melinda Barrett said she sees veterans utilizing the VA primary care center across the street, which offers medical care, gives referrals to various specialty clinics and arranges admissions for services at VA medical centers.

Barrett said some of the men and women who have served in foreign conflicts and live in Haverhill are advancing in age.

"Any help we can give them would be great," she said.