Newburyport Council Unanimously Confirms City's First Female DPS Director

NEWBURYPORT — April 13, 2026 — Newburyport City Council unanimously confirmed Kim Turner as the city's first female Director of Public Works and Infrastructure Services and approved a $350,000 alum treatment of the artichoke reservoirs at its April 13 meeting. Turner, who has served as interim DPS director since early December, was approved 11-0 after a Committee of the Whole session in which Mayor Sean Reardon walked councilors through a search process that involved two engagements of the Collins Center and multiple withdrawn candidates before the administration moved to the internal candidate. Councilor Aisha Kahn, chair of Public Works and Safety, noted the appointment "would actually result in the first time that a woman is a DPS director in the city — and a very qualified woman." The council also voted 11-0 to transfer $220,000 from water enterprise retained earnings — combined with $130,000 already available — to fund an alum treatment of the upper and lower artichoke reservoirs beginning April 27, designed to suppress cyanobacteria blooms that disrupted the drinking water supply in 2025; the original cost estimate had been approximately $600,000. A 20-year power purchase agreement with Select Energy for a Low Street recreation center solar array, projected to save $12,000 annually, also passed 11-0.