City Councilor Walter Peckham reached an agreement yesterday with the landlord of his Rogers Street business to transfer the lease to a nonprofit organization and allow the subtenants back into the building, the landlord's lawyer said yesterday.Michael Ford, who represents Marshall Dana and Sons Management Co. of Newton, said an agreement was reached to give the lease on the commercial property to the nonprofit business group, Cape Ann Business Incubator.Gloucester District Court Judge Richard Mori had ordered the building, where Peckham, 47, ran a piano restoration business, closed and seized Friday because Peckham had not paid about $11,500 in rent, court documents say. Peckham, the city's Ward 5 councilor, sublets to several organizations and musicians."The whole thing on this agreement is (the landlord) went to court a week early," Peckham said. "I never saw any paperwork or I would have been negotiating a lot sooner. I had every intent on moving out and making it a smooth transition."Peckham's case may not be over. Gloucester police said yesterday Peckham could face charges of criminal breaking and entering after allegations he entered the building at 72 Rogers St. after Judge Mori ordered it closed.Gloucester police Lt. Michael Lane, who responded to the breaking and entering call Saturday, said he was waiting to hear from Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's Salem office on whether charges will be brought, though he suspected the decision will rest with the building's landlord."If the owner is happy, then the commonwealth is happy," he said.Yesterday afternoon after the agreement was reached, Ford, the landlord's lawyer, said his client is not interested in criminal charges. A decision is expected today, Lane said. Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for Blodgett, said Gloucester police have not yet contacted assistant and on-duty district attorneys about the matter.On Saturday, according to the police log, Ford called Gloucester police and told Patrolman James Officer that someone was in the Rogers Street building in violation of the court order.Lane and Patrolmen James Rowley, Larry Ingersoll and William Eastman found the shipping door open, though they did not see anyone inside."He was not located," Lane said of Peckham, who lives at 66 Sumner St. "The building was thoroughly searched."Police did find the keys to Peckham's Mercedes in his office at Peckham Piano and Music Center Inc., Lane said. The Mercedes was parked outside the building, Lane said.Police saw the orange court notices had been taken off the building and discovered them in Peckham's car and, according to the log, Rowley put them back on the building.Peckham said he had taken them down until he could contact the landlord's attorney but denied entering the building.Ford told the Times on Monday that he and his client had an agreement that Peckham would pay $12,069.90, which includes $11,538.78 in rent and costs and interest, in monthly installments, along with the current rent by Nov. 1. When no payments came, Ford said they filed motions in court, granted Nov. 6, to have county sheriffs enforce a payment order. That order was temporarily stayed.Eventually, Ford said the landlord won an eviction and seizure order from Mori, which was placed on the building Friday. None of the tenants were to be allowed into the building.
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City gets state funds to assess Fort sites
The city of Gloucester has landed a total of $49,400 from the public MassDevelopment Corp. to carry out "brownfield" assessments for a pair of city-owned properties on Commercial Street — including the 110 Commercial property at the end of the street that city officials are openly looking to sell for redevelopment.
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Collapsed culvert project pegged at $250k
MANCHESTER — The project that will cost the town up to $250,000 and block access for a week along a major road between Manchester and Essex beginning Tuesday comes after a collapsing culvert had begun to trigger a sink hole along School Street, the town's public works director said over the weekend.
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Senate budge adds $5M for CPA work
BOSTON — The state Senate has approved extending $5 million for the state's community preservation trust fund to go along with reforms to the law that provides matching grants for cities and towns to preserve open space and restore historic properties.
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