The City of Lynn is under siege; ask those in Ward 5 and Ward 6.  Rats have gone from a nuisance to a health issue.
Scurrying from their former homes in the newly redeveloped downtown, rats and other forms are rodents are looking for new homes.  Mayor Clancy, understanding the problem, is taking great strides to ensure that additional rat problems are addressed in a timely manner, with an eye for improved city life.
Oftentimes, balancing the need for economic development and ancillary details can be a difficult task for an administration working to improve the city without damaging it with unintended consequences.
In the next four weeks, Christie’s Restaurant, which found itself in a dogfight with the city over its proposal of selling its waterfront property to the CVS Corporation, will demolish the vacant buildings next to its eatery.
The buildings have stood silent for the better part of two decades.  The boarded-up windows and entrances along with the graffiti-laden facade only add to the theory that it is home to rodents and critters of all kinds.
The issue, as is with any project that takes place in any city, is what will happen when those rodents are disturbed and are forced to flee from their homes.
Mayor Clancy’s office has put in place a rodent contingency plan in a request for proposal summons currently being issued for demolition units.
“Those buildings are going to be torn down in the next four weeks,” said Executive Director of the Lynn Economic Development and Industrial Corporation James Cowdell.  “And the mayor has already put a plan in place that will deal with that issue.”
Cowdell said the ultimate vision that the city shares for the downtown area will come to fruition with Christie’s proposed residential units.
“It falls in line with what we are trying to do,” Cowdell said.  “There will be retail units on the bottom and residential on top with the restaurant.”