Martin, Martin, and More Markley Malarky?

The ongoing saga between South Lowell and the Markley corporation once again took center stage. To (partially) recap, at the September 23rd Council Meeting, Markley filed a petition seeking city approval to increase its diesel storage capacity from 71,100 gallons to 167,800 gallons. The stated need for this large quantity of diesel is to power emergency backup generators that would serve to protect vital data storage.

At the September 23rd meeting, Atty. William Martin, a former City Councilor and Markley’s attorney for this project, stated that he hoped that the petition would be marked for a public hearing. However, residents and councilors alike – most notably Kim Scott, South Lowell’s District Representative – voiced opposition to Markley’s current proposal as well as a full decade of purported unneighborly actions by the corporation.

Accordingly, the matter was referred to a joint Neighborhood/Environment & Flood Subcommittee. That committee met on September 30. Last night, Councilor Gitschier presented a summary of that meeting. Again, it was noted that residents were largely opposed to Markley’s proposal. In addition, several councilors noted frustration, citing years of alleged broken promises on the part of Markley.

Indeed, watching this matter play out over the last few weeks, it’s pretty clear that Markley’s sin isn’t merely a need for diesel generators. Rather, its sin is asking for a favor after years of bad public relations. Consequently, a debate over generators has morphed into an “airing of the grievances” over tangential matters. This is a case study in bad P.R. In a recent memo, Markley highlighted a suspiciously recent hiring of Jackie Martin (a former member of Congresswoman Trahan’s staff)(no relation to Atty. Martin) as a public relations consultant:

Further, Markley is scrambling to address a laundry list of neighborhood concerns – including, but not limited to, their storied “dirt pile” and sound mitigation. The natural question is, of course, where were these efforts before you needed a permit? The time to have hired Jackie Martin or someone like her was years ago – not September of 2025.  Likewise, for the tangential neighborhood concerns.

Incredibly, Markley has continued to shoot itself in the foot with actions that leave a bad taste. Specifically, Katheryn Moses, the city’s Sustainability Director, noted that Markley failed to reach out to her before their petition for more diesel fuel. This failure came in the wake of prior promises from Markley to Ms. Moses to work closely with her office on future projects. Ms. Moses’ disappointment at the 9/30 meeting was evident. If you watch these meetings and are familiar with Ms. Moses’ work, she is one of the most respected and (dare I say without exaggeration) beloved members of the administration. As such, it would be a seriously bad look if Markley actually brushed her aside.

Finally, there was a second item on last night’s agenda that compounds the dynamic. A Motion Response relative to flooding on Bourne Street tossed more diesel fuel on the fire. As per the response, there are significant water pooling issues on Bourne Street that are either caused or exacerbated by Markley.

Of note, the city’s Wastewater Division proposed a data-supported solution to Markley – however Markley used their own calculations and rejected the city’s proposal.

Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. I don’t know anything about stormwater. However, it is clear that the timing is unfortunate and simply looks bad.

Near the conclusion of the discussion, Attorney Martin requested that the public hearing be postponed so that Markley could continue to work to mitigate neighborhood concerns. This request was rejected by the council, and the matter will, presumably, head to a hearing on October 21.

However, it was noted by both Mayor Rourke and City Solicitor Williams that Markley could merely “pull” its petition and re-file at a later date – one would assume when the optics are a little better.

Stay tuned.