Transcript of Chicopee City Council Meeting, November 7, 2024

 

This transcript has been minimally human edited and contains errors. It's accuracy should not be relied on without verification. It was created by extracting the audio from a video recording of the meeting, and processing that audio file with automatic speech recognition software. 

That video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T_bwaAXkPU [nb: video lower third is wrong, confirmed with Chicopee Public TV]

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 Transcript of Chicopee City Council Meeting, November 7, 2024
[Speaker 2] Can you please call the roll?
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme.
[Speaker 2] Here.
[Speaker 1] Roy. Here. Wagner.
Here. Zygarowski. Here.
Arriaga. Here. Brooks.
Here. Goff. Here.
Balakier.
[Speaker 22] Here.
[Speaker 1] Krampits. Here. Shumsky.
Here. Courchesne. Here.
Labrie . Here. Pniak-Costello.
[Speaker 2] Here.
[Speaker 1] All present.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Councilor Shane Brooks is on Zoom this evening. Councilor Shumsky called me.
He’s going to be running a little late. He had another appointment to be at but he’ll be here shortly. Okay.
No, everybody on Zoom? In compliance with the open meeting law, the City of Chicopee is broadcasting live and for future broadcasts this meeting on Chicopee TV. Is anyone else in the audience or on Zoom video or autotaping this meeting, please state your name and reason for doing so.
Is there anyone on the floor? Is there anyone on Zoom? Seeing none, we’ll move into public input.
Oh, I’m sorry. It’s not public input. It’s mayor’s order.
Mayor’s briefing. We have Chief of Staff Michael Pise to present the mayor’s briefing.
[Speaker 6] Thank you, Councilor. Good to see you today. The mayor, since his regrets, he could not attend today’s meeting.
He’s at the Chicopee Comprehensive High School National Honor Society induction ceremony providing the honors of induction to that group and he wanted to make sure the students understand the value of leadership, character, service, and scholarship and make sure that they understand that we don’t just recognize sporting events. We want to recognize the academic achievements and the work of our students as well and how important that is for them and their parents to celebrate that. So he sends his regrets.
Get right into the mayor’s orders. Mayor’s order one is ordered at the sum of $73,000, hereby appropriate of the following named account. Mayor’s salary account for economic development director.
As you can see from the background material, we have the job description attached. This is the position that the City Council requested and the mayor is happy to bring it forward to the Honorable Council. I don’t know if there’s any questions on that position or not, but I believe it’s exactly what the council is looking for.
[Speaker 5] Councilor Wagner. I would just like to offer my thanks to the mayor’s office for bringing this forward. It’s a position that we used to have and that I think is very badly needed and I wish you success in filling the role.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
[Speaker 6] Any comments from the floor? Any comments from the floor? Any comments from the floor?
Any comments from the floor? Any comments from the floor? Any comments from the floor?
Any comments from the floor? We are asking for $100,000 in anticipation of engaging a consultant to not only assess the department but provide support to the mayor as he runs the department while seeking new leadership for that department. Obviously this will take some time and we are asking for this conservative sum so we can be in good position to negotiate a contract and anticipate what the cost of those services might be over the next few months.
We’ll be issuing an RFP that will explore possible fee structures for the consultant responding with proposals in order to ensure that we are able to engage a vendor as soon as possible. It is of the utmost importance to identify available funds. It may turn out to be more or less once we get responses but the $100,000 is not necessarily for all the upfront fees and costs but contemplates potential fees incurred over time.
Recently the CHRO was terminated as a result of two investigations conducted by Mary Lou Rupp, retired Superior Court judge and currently senior counsel at the law firm of Buckley, Richardson, and Jalinus. After the first investigation, a corrective action plan was prepared for the CHRO. However, within a matter of a few weeks other serious issues developed which created the second investigation.
The findings and recommendation of the second investigation necessitated a change in leadership. I can’t go into any further details due to the fact they are personnel issues. So that gives us some explanation of why the request for the $100,000 is there to hire the consultant.
Thank you. Any comments?
[Speaker 2] Seeing none. Oh, Counselor Wagner.
[Speaker 5] Mr. Pease, would the council be able to be briefed in an executive session as to the specifics of this?
[Speaker 6] I’m not sure because I believe the individual would have to be present in the executive session. There are open meeting law rules. So I don’t know if he would attend or I don’t know how that would be accomplished.
[Speaker 2] Any other questions from the clerk? Oh, Counselor Costello.
[Speaker 4] In regards to this money, it’s going to be only for a consultant but not for a new HR director. Will the mayor continue as HR director on a temporary basis and then this consultant will advise him?
[Speaker 6] So the mayor is acting as HR director now in the absence of having that position filled. The plan, as you said, is to hire a consultant and potentially have an interim person move in to that position. It’s an anticipated, the amount would be about $100,000 over time.
We’re not sure exactly how long it will take to fill the position but we want to make sure we get it right and do it correctly and have the consultant determine what is needed for that department. And once we get the consultant’s report, the request to fill the position would go out. I believe and we follow a normal hiring process.
The one wrinkle is that we’re approaching holidays and with the holidays coming in, the timing of the process may be impacted by that.
[Speaker 4] I just have one more question.
[Speaker 6] Yeah, go ahead.
[Speaker 4] Is it, it’s legal then for the mayor to assume the role of acting HR director and he will have the help with the consultant? Is that the goal here?
[Speaker 6] So we discussed this with the law department, the mayor is the acting HR director.
[Speaker 19] Okay.
[Speaker 2] Anyone else?
[Speaker 19] Is there $100,000 left in the account?
[Speaker 6] Yes. Yes, that’s why we’re doing a transfer, not an appropriation.
[Speaker 19] Because a year is half over, there’s only a few months left.
[Speaker 6] It’s from two positions, two vacant positions and the funds are in those accounts. We checked that with the auditor, the auditor verified the numbers.
[Speaker 19] Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none.
[Speaker 6] Mayor’s order number three, the mayor’s appropriation of $32,500 to the following named accounts. Police special account to purchase bulletproof vests from available funds in the stabilization account. This is the the annual grant that the police work on and they were able to obtain again this year.
And in order to get the vests, we front the money and then we get half back and you’ll see mayor’s order number five is the reimbursement from the grant. So mayor’s order three appropriates the funds to do the initial purchase. The police chief is here.
Chief Major can answer any questions if you have them about the use of the vest, but it’s essential equipment to protect our officers.
[Speaker 2] Seeing none. Any questions? Seeing none.
[Speaker 6] Mayor’s order four, order that the City Council accept the SFY 25 law enforcement body-worn camera program in the amount of $249,932.70 from the Commonwealth of Mass Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to the Chicopee Police Department. The grant is accepted in accordance with Mass General Laws chapter 44 section 53a. The City of Chicopee, under the direction of our police chief and our police department, have decided to go forward with body-worn cameras for our officers to protect the officers and the public as well.
This is the first step. We were able to secure a grant thanks to the work of the police department to pay for the equipment, to purchase the cameras and the equipment necessary to begin the program. So accepting this grant will allow us to move forward with that program.
The chief is here if there’s any questions as well. Anyone have questions?
[Speaker 17] Councilor Roy. Yes, chief. $250,000, is that more for the cameras or for running the cameras?
[Speaker 14] That sum is going to cover the hardware only. That’ll cover the body cameras and the attachments for them and any other hardware, maybe cables. As far as software storage, redaction service that comes along with that, that is an additional cost.
[Speaker 17] That’s going to be separate? Do you have any idea what that’s going to be?
[Speaker 14] I believe that we were going to discuss that at a meeting next week. Okay, thank you, chief.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Wagner. My question was answered, thank you. Thank you.
Councilor Ballacher.
[Speaker 3] Yeah, thank you. Thanks, chief, for this valuable grant. I’m curious, will this be rolled out with all the officers or is this going to be kind of like a pilot program that some of the officers, it’s going to be like a group first to see how it works and can you shed some light on that, please?
[Speaker 14] Sure. The funding that we receive is going to cover 135 body cameras and they’re going to give us an additional five spares. So the thought is that we’re going to do the officers that are on the street 24-7, patrol officers, traffic officers, C3 officers.
There might be some administrative officers that don’t get issued cameras, but we would have spares available for them for when they are on the street.
[Speaker 3] Okay, thank you. Follow-up question. So as soon as this gets appropriated and you have the cameras, when is this, when is it your anticipated start date with this?
[Speaker 14] The grant, I believe, calls for a deadline of July 1st to have the program implemented. The hope is that depending on when we get the equipment in and get it up and running, that we would do a soft rollout first just so we can get the bugs worked out. A small percentage of the officers, once that’s completed, then we would do a total implementation.
Like I said, the deadline for the grant itself is to have this program rolled out by July 1st. I can’t give you a definitive timeline, sir, until we actually get the equipment in.
[Speaker 2] All right, thanks, Chief. Thank you. Any other comments from Councilor Costello?
[Speaker 4] Thank you, Chief, for all your work in this particular request. This is something that many of my constituents have asked about, if the police department will be starting body cameras, and I can’t thank you enough, Chief. And what I do like is in your presentation for our paperwork, you’ve got the timeline right down to the last second, so we know what to expect, when to expect this to be a full rollout.
So, thank you, Chief.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? I would like to ask a question. So, Chief, regarding the body cameras, my understanding is right now the union, the patrolman’s unions, approved this?
[Speaker 14] Correct.
[Speaker 2] And you’re now working on just the supervisor’s union?
[Speaker 14] Not yet. And they’re currently in negotiations, and they’re aware that we’re asking for the body cameras. There is good-faith negotiations going on right now.
All right, thank you.
[Speaker 2] Okay, we’re all set. Mike, next one.
[Speaker 6] Next order is Mayor’s Order Number 5, which I referred to earlier. Ordered that the City Council accept the FY 2024 Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program in the amount of $20,740.32 from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, to the Chicopee Police Department. Said award is accepted in accordance with Mass General Laws Chapter 44, Section 53A.
This is the half payment for the Bulletproof Vest that we were able to obtain from a grant, thanks to the work of the police chief and the police department. Any questions on the grant? Councilor Bailiwick here.
[Speaker 3] Yeah, thank you, Michael. Chief, quick question. Is this for 28 vests?
Is that the number that we’re looking at here?
[Speaker 14] The current request, I believe it was Mayor’s Order 2, that was to cover a total of 25 vests, which includes 18 replacement vests, which have reached the end of their service life, and also seven new vests for the officers that we currently have in the FTO program.
[Speaker 3] Okay, thank you, because there was a reference in the documentation that was provided in Mayor’s Order Number 5. I saw a grand total of 28 for $42,000, so I didn’t know if there was a difference. I just wanted to try to get an idea what the correct total was on that.
For which Mayor’s Order did you reference, sir? Mayor’s Order Number 5, a couple pages, and I see a grand total of 28.
[Speaker 14] That could have been for a previous purchaser and we’re just getting reimbursed for that now.
[Speaker 3] Okay, all right, I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page with the numbers. All right, thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
[Speaker 6] Seeing none, Mayor’s Order 6, order that the City Council accept the FY 2024 COSSAP grant as a part of the DART program in the amount of $2,500 from the City of Northampton, Department of Health and Human Services, to the Chicopee Police Department. The goal of said grant is to support people and communities impacted by substance abuse, opioid overdose, and fatalities, and is accepted in accordance with Mass General Laws, Chapter 44, Section 53A. This is, again, we were fortunate enough to receive this grant.
The City of Northampton is a grant administrator for the region, so they provide the funding to the different cities and towns. This is the DART program that helps people who have suffered or been narcan or are addicted to drugs to receive ongoing services, wellness visits, and be counseled, in a sense, by our police officers to make sure that they they have every opportunity to overcome their addiction. Thank you.
Any comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, Mayor’s Order 7 is that the City Council accept the FY 2025 Municipal Road Safety Program grant in the amount of $59,790 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, to the Chicopee Police Department.
Said grant is accepted in accordance with Mass General Laws, Chapter 44, Section 53A. This grant is also a result of the Police Department going forward looking for ways and methods to reduce fatalities on our road, to reduce speeding, to ensure pedestrian and bike safety on our streets. They were able to secure this grant and put additional resources into those programs.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
[Speaker 6] Seeing none, thank you for your consideration. Mayor’s Order 8 is the appropriation of $25,000 to the following aimed account. Registrar’s expense account for special services from available funds in the Registrar’s Passport Revolving Account.
This is something that we’ve done every year. We underfund the census in the budget by about $20,000, knowing that we will receive the passport income from our passport program. We then use the funds in the passport program to fully fund the census.
So we appreciate your consideration and continuing to make sure we have a valid, accurate census in the city.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Seeing none.
[Speaker 6] Mayor’s Order Number 9 is, actually there’s a typo on that order, so I’m asking that the Council respectfully withdraw that order and we’ll resubmit it with the correct dates. Okay. Mayor’s Order 10, I believe, is the Council President’s order?
Yes, this is the one I signed. Yes, this is the one that the mayor had a slight conflict.
[Speaker 2] Bob, you’re gonna have to enter the number 10. Mayor’s Order 10. Read it.
We’re talking about the Mayor’s Order 10, correct?
[Speaker 8] Order that sum of $43,826 be hereby appropriated to the attached name general fund salary account in accordance with the recently signed agreement between the City of Chicobee and the Chicobee Professional Municipal Employees Association. Set amounts to be taken from available funds in a stabilization account. Any questions on this?
Evidently this has to do with contract negotiations. Anybody on Zoom? No questions?
Okay.
[Speaker 2] Mayor’s Order 11.
[Speaker 6] Mayor’s appropriation of $4,778.30 to the following named accounts. DPW Water Fund salary accounts in accordance with the recently signed agreement between the City of Chicobee and the Chicobee Professional Municipal Employees Association from available funds in the water surplus account. This is similar to the Mayor’s Order 10, but the Water Department has a separate account to pay their salaries from the water fund, so it’s a separate appropriation.
This is to fund the rest of the year, the salary increases that were negotiated in that contract. Any questions from the floor?
[Speaker 2] Any questions on Zoom?
[Speaker 6] Seeing none. Mayor’s Order 12 is the appropriation of $9,634.56 from the following named account. DPW Sewer Fund salary accounts in accordance with the recently signed agreement between the City of Chicobee and the Chicobee Professional Municipal Employees Association from available funds in the sewer surplus account.
Again, we successfully negotiated the contract and this is to fund the salary increases for the rest of the year out of the sewer account. Again, the sewer accounts another separate account, so you have to do a separate appropriation.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Mayor’s Order 13. I believe it’s yours.
Order that the City Council accept the State Finance Year 2024 Community Transit Grant Program and Award in the amount of $87,482 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to the Chicobee Council on Aging. Said grants will be used for the purchase of a TE van to support to support the ongoing efforts to provide meaningful transportation options for older adults and individuals with disabilities and it is accepted in accordance with Mass General Law 54 section 53A. Any questions?
Mayor’s Order 14. Mayor appropriation of $29,160 to the following name account Council on Aging special accounts for City’s share of 2024 Community Transit Grant Award for a type E van from available funds in the Stabilization Fund. And that’s it for any questions.
That’s it for the Mayor’s.
[Speaker 6] Just one comment. The Mayor wanted me to tell everyone that on Monday we had a very successful meeting of the MSBA Design Selection Board and for the Anaberry School Project, Kalo and Beenick was selected as the designer. I think you’re very familiar with a lot of their projects and they’re a Chicobee firm and we’re very happy to move forward with that program.
Thank you all. Have a nice Veterans Day.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. We will now move into public input. Public input is limited to three minutes or less.
Is anyone in the audience here for public input? If so, come to the micro to your over here on your right and give your name and address for the record, please. Thank you.
[Speaker 11] Is the mic on?
[Speaker 2] Hello, can you hear me? Yeah, we can. If you could just okay.
[Speaker 11] First of all, I want to compliment Frank LaFlamme. We did send a letter from the St. Stanislaus Parish Bazaar because he donated the grill. It was an excellent adjunct to our bazaar and made a huge difference, so please give a round of applause to Frank for his service in the community.
[Speaker 2] Right, I received a letter to ask to be read and I refused to have it done, so thank you anyway.
[Speaker 11] I was going to make sure you got credit for what you did. Secondly, now I have to express some concerns. I know a street across from the food bank and one of the biggest concerns that we said was what would happen with the wetlands based upon this.
Well, now we have homeless camping in the wetlands. I know that it’s been addressed to the police department, but it is a big concern. In fact, if this continues, you have to realize with all the fires that are going around and it’s right in back of Stan’s Auto Body Shop that this is a big concern.
It is an at-risk thing. The police have tried to address it, but I really think that one of the things that maybe the city could do is consider more cameras for security. We have had literally on Carew Street, including my own car, three robberies along that street, as well as a car that was completely taken, so the bottom line is that we’re facing an increased risk with the violence that is occurring along the street and when I have a homeless right across the street from me, I’m concerned about my care and my health and the other thing that has come up about it, and I’m not sure if the council is aware of it, I know Andrew Morehouse has expressed concerns to us that when we have addressed concerns of cars, trucks idling there, they had one situation where one of the drivers said that he had guns in the in the truck.
Now that makes me very concerned. The average turnaround time for us to call the police and get it there is very long. I understand because of the fact of what the police has to do right now, but I think one of the ways that this could be addressed is if we consider increasing the amount of security cameras by some way with the city and it would make a difference in that respect.
I’m concerned because I expressed when we had this whole thing about the food bank that the wetlands would be at risk. Well if you have homeless camping in them, it is a risk, so I’d like you to think about that and maybe you guys could approach with the city to see if there’s any way we can get additional security cameras along that strip. Thank you very much.
[Speaker 2] Thank you.
[Speaker 10] Lisa Bienvenu, 34 Everett Street. I feel like it’s Groundhog’s Day here because again on the agenda it said Mayor View, only Mayor View, but we had Mr. Pease speaking. So apparently when I brought it to your attention before that you needed to pay attention what’s on the agendas per the open meeting laws, you don’t pay attention because that’s not Mayor View.
And you know I’m glad that the mayor is at Chicopee comp talking about leadership and stuff. We also need leadership here at City Hall and in the departments because it’s very concerning the contest order against the Chicopee Housing Authority and I just want to read this from the community legal aid concerning that discrimination from the Chicopee Housing Authority. Community legal aid is pleased to announce that a comprehensive settlement has been reached in United States v.
Chicopee Housing Authority. In the case community legal aid represented three individuals who alleged that the Chicopee Housing Authority and its former executive director engaged in unlawful housing discrimination. Wow.
Against people with disabilities engaged in race and national origin discrimination and retaliated against an individual who was cooperating with a federal investigation. Well isn’t that a concern? Everybody in this room should be concerned about the people in our community who need our help who are being discriminated against.
And then I hear that you know we have to do something with HR and the mayor is stepping in. Well I certainly hope you guys pick a consultant not from the pool that we’ve already had because clearly there is some kind of a systemic problem in City Hall because we have been churning people through HR. So is it City Hall or is it HR?
I’m not convinced which one it is. This this board has control over who is appointed to the Housing Authority Commission. But when you listen to these appointment things everybody says oh we all know them.
Oh they’re good guys. Oh I do things with them. They’ve been on the board before.
That’s what I hear. No reason to really look into them. Well you know what?
We had 215,000 that went to those litigants. There’s a $460,000 decree that was ordered. Where is that money coming from?
And who is protecting our citizens with disabilities?
[Speaker 2] Thank you.
[Speaker 10] Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Anyone else for public input?
[Speaker 4] Hi Mary Beth Costello 66 Voss Avenue. Several residents have voiced concerns in regards to the conditions of the playing fields for children in our parks. I want this known to the City Council that that that particular issue has been brought to the attention to the mayor’s office and to other officials as well.
So that’s the hope I guess of many people that we can look at the conditions of the playing fields in our parks so that when the children do play soccer or any other event that the fields are safe. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Is there anyone else for public input from the audience?
[Speaker 12] Sue Nimchick James Street. Scoring notebook continues. But before I begin, Mike Peasy.
I remember about whoa 1975 junior year I was inducted into the National Honor Society, senior year also, and I was elected as VP. My topic of speech, hopefully John view will do well, was service. And here I am how many years later still talking about service and duty and principles and what’s people’s rights and democracy and votes and everything.
Should have been forewarning let’s put it that way. As for scoring book, every sport has one, especially baseball, softball. And it’s great because you know where you are.
I was doing Zoom, thank you Frank, the other day for the tax meeting and I heard about, you know, we’re an old city, therefore infrastructure and everything, finite amount of land. Read a few months ago about comprehensive planning. These are all so basic in planning and fundamentals that any board, any city official should be considering in any decision going forward.
In the past, present, and future. This way, guess what, we’re not encountering and growing mess or public safety issues. It’s that fundamental.
And also, always encouraging what I talked about last time I was here, about the no vote NO. Not wanting, you know, debate, hard questions asked by Tim or some of the younger ones. Younger, no fault of the older ones here, younger in terms of presence here.
So that everything is known, especially at committee meetings, for what? Proper decisions, proper policy, proper voting. And turn that NO vote against all these things, especially documentation and factors, so that it’s a KNOW vote for the right reasons for forward movement, solving and avoiding problems, and other words, the average individual, resident, taxpayer, voter, all rolled into one like a jelly roll when we were kids, or a chocolate Swiss roll.
Delicious. I don’t see that happening. Just because you’re a body of 13, it doesn’t mean 13 is an unlucky number.
Where is the duty of the service? Okay, and if you weave all this together, then there is always a comprehensive view. And it’s not by night, it’s about limited land or anything.
Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you very much. Is there anyone else for public input from? No one?
Is there anyone on Zoom for public input? Is there anyone on Zoom for public input? Seeing none, I’ll take a motion to close.
Motion to close public input. Motion made in second to close public input. Roll call, please.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme.
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy. Yes. Wagner.
Yes. Zygarowski.
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Arriaga. Yes. Brooks.
Yes. Starr.
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakier. Yes. Krampits.
Yes. Shumsky. Yes.
Courchesne. Yes. Labrie .
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Pniak-Costello. Yes. 13 yes.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes. I’d just like to acknowledge the liaison for the school department, Sandra Perrette, here this evening. Thank you for being here.
Okay, any communications? Any minutes?
[Speaker 1] Yes, one set of minutes, September 17th.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Shumsky.
[Speaker 13] Motion that we approve the minutes of September 17th.
[Speaker 2] Motion made in second, we approve the minutes of September 17th regular meeting.
[Speaker 13] Self-explanatory.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Roll call, please.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme.
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy. Yes. Wagner.
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Zygarowski. Yes. Arriaga.
Yes. Brooks. Yes.
Starr. Yes. Balakier.
Yes. Krampits. Yes.
Shumsky. Yes. Courchesne.
Yes. Labrie .
[Speaker 2] Yes. Pniak-Costello. Yes.
[Speaker 1] 13 yes.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes. We’ll go into the orders.
[Speaker 1] Sure, order of one. Order that the sum of $73,000 being hereby appropriated to the following named account, Mayor’s salary account for Economic Development Director. Set amounts be taken from the available funds in the Stabilization Fund.
[Speaker 21] Councilor Brooks. Councilor Brooks.
[Speaker 15] Make a motion that the Mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages on the written recommendation of the Mayor.
[Speaker 2] Motion made in second, the motion be received and passed through all stages on the written recommendation of the Mayor. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 15] On the motion, this is for $73,000. This is going to be used for Economic Development Director and potentially hiring a new position within the city.
[Speaker 2] Thank you very much. Any comments from the floor? Councilor Wagner first.
[Speaker 5] Thank you, Mr. President. This is a position and I thank the councilors for backing me on this that we had requested be made in place of the Associate Planner for Economic Development that they would have paid less than $50,000 that would have been an Economic Development Director, Grant Writer, and Project Manager all in one. So I’m pleased to see with this job description what they did is they scaled back the amount of responsibilities to being a liaison to our business partners and to this council.
I hope that this council can be open to some of the projects that this person, whoever that is, brings forward. We all know and many of us made mention of certain ordinances that were passed recently that we would like to, you know, move beyond at some point and to work collaboratively with our business partners in the community to bring new growth so that we can shift the burden, the tax burden, off of our residents on to some of the businesses in the community because the cost of everything is going up. As we all know, we just approved a shift in the tax rate which the state will have to check the numbers on and the average tax bill is going to be going up by over $200.
So I think it’s imperative that we bring some new ideas and some new development to the city so that we can help offset some of those concerns for our residents citywide, and I hope that the residents can be open to having some of these projects popping up where we have the land and the space for them. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Councilor Ioannoni.
[Speaker 18] Thanks, Tim, for those comments. Like I said on Monday, proof that the burden has fallen on the taxpayers. So I really hope that this position does what it needs to, and I’m really excited to see it could be moved forward, and definitely looking forward to new growth.
So thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme? Yes. Roy?
Yes. Wagner?
[Speaker 5] Enthusiastic, yes.
[Speaker 1] Zagorowski? Yes. Arriaga?
Yes. Brooks? Yes.
Stauff? Yes. Thalkyr?
Yes. Krampits? Yes.
Shumsky? Yes. LaChane?
Yes. LaVrie? Yes.
Pinilla-Costello?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Thirteen yes.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] We’re at the sum of $100,000 being appropriate to the following named account, human resource expense account for special services. Set amounts be taken from the available funds in the following named human resource salary accounts. Chief HR officer director $64,115.72, senior generalist $35,884.28 for a total of $100,000.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Goff?
[Speaker 19] Motion that the mayor’s order be received and referred to the HR committee.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and second the order be received and sent to the HR committee for a public hearing. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 19] I know the money is there from this account, but I’d really like to have more information on who they would be hiring as a consultant. Consultants normally charge anywhere from $100 to $300 per hour or go by the amount of employees that we have. So I know he put in an RPO and I’d really like to see where this stands.
[Speaker 2] Okay, any other comments from the floor? Councilor Costello?
[Speaker 4] Yes, I agree with Councilor Goff that this should be in the HR committee for review. This isn’t something that we normally do. This is something that came up as an event and that has to be addressed and I think doing it through HR through a public hearing would be the appropriate way to inform the public of what’s happening in regards to finances for this department.
Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Councilor Cushing?
[Speaker 9] Through the chair to our attorney, can we actually go out to bid on something we haven’t funded?
[Speaker 2] The money’s there and if you approve it, the money’s there.
[Speaker 9] But we’re not, we’re sitting in the committee so we can’t go to our fee without money to back it up. That’s why I just want to clarify.
[Speaker 16] I couldn’t hear the question.
[Speaker 9] We can’t go out to bid on a position without the money being allocated. I don’t know that answer.
[Speaker 16] I’d have to go back there.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Wagner?
[Speaker 5] Mr. President, feel free to answer because you were here the last time this happened, most of you were. We had, the council had to approve the contract with whoever the consultant was, is that correct?
[Speaker 2] I believe I did.
[Speaker 5] Okay, so in that event, I’m going to be in favor of passing this tonight. If we have a contract before us and we do not like who it is, then at that time I would be opposed, I could, I would consider voting no on something. But for right now, the search as far as I’m aware can’t continue without the appropriation for it.
But I would, you know, at a later time I would, I would be more amenable to a no vote if, if say we don’t like the person that’s come forward as a consultant. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Okay, I just want to clarify, Tim, that I’m not sure if I was on it. Okay, I’ve been on so many committees. If you’re asking if I sat on it.
[Speaker 5] Oh, I was just asking if the council took, took a vote on who, on the, on the, I don’t think as a council we did.
[Speaker 2] I don’t think we did. We funded it and that was it.
[Speaker 16] Mr. President, I I don’t think the council has the power to decide who to hire and fire. I believe that’s an executive function.
[Speaker 2] No, we don’t.
[Speaker 16] By the mayor.
[Speaker 5] Through the chair of the attorney, at the end of the day we, we approved the contract for whoever the permanent HR director would be, correct?
[Speaker 16] I don’t know that’s true. I know you, as a body, you would, you would approve the appropriation, but I believe hiring and firing is the mayor’s prerogative just because he’s the executive.
[Speaker 5] All right, well I know that’s not the case for, for some of the departments, so thank you, Tim.
[Speaker 2] Okay, so right now, any other questions from the floor? Any questions from Zoom? Okay, so right now it’s being sent to the HR, okay.
I remember you should make a I think we should send this to finance.
[Speaker 1] It could go there or finance. Right? Traditionally a financial order would go to finance.
You could do human resources or finance. And I can do a meeting right away. Just traditionally a financial order would go to finance.
Could go either way. You want to stay with HR?
[Speaker 2] It’s got to be friendly to you. You want to leave it in HR? Well, she wants, I can see her face.
[Speaker 19] I would like to leave it in HR, yes.
[Speaker 2] Okay, just have to speak up. Don’t. Okay, so right now the motion is to send it to HR this evening.
Roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme?
[Speaker 2] No.
[Speaker 1] Roy? No. Wagner?
[Speaker 5] Yes.
[Speaker 1] I need to get it done. Zagorowski? No.
Arriaga?
[Speaker 18] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Brooks? No. Goff?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Valkyr? No. Krampits?
No. Shumsky? No.
Courchesne? No. Labrie ?
No. Pniak-Costello?
[Speaker 4] Abstain and I have a medical reason to do the abstention. I should have done it on number one. I had a procedure today and I’ve been advised that I can come to the meeting and I can speak and make comments, but in regards to driving and doing any work in regards to legal matters, I cannot.
Thank you.
[Speaker 2] If you didn’t hear it, she has to abstain from all votes. Okay, thank you.
[Speaker 1] All right, so three yes, nine no, one abstention. Yes, motions to go to committee is defeated. Yes.
[Speaker 2] Now we have the motion to approve. We need a motion. Yeah, we need a motion to approve.
No, the motion to approve.
[Speaker 5] Councilor Wagner? I make a motion that the mayor’s order be received and pass through all stages on the written recommendation of the mayor.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and second the order be received and pass through all stages on a written recommendation of the mayor. On the motion.
[Speaker 5] Thank you, Mr. President. This funds to go out for a contract or for consultant for the Human Resources Department to assist the mayor in running it in the interim. Thank you, sir.
[Speaker 2] Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlambe?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy? Yes. Wagner?
Yes. Zagorowski? Yes.
Arriaga? No. Brooks?
Yes. Stoff?
[Speaker 19] No.
[Speaker 1] Balakier? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Courchesne? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. Ten yes, two no.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] Order that the sum of $32,500 be in hereby appropriate to the following name the account please special account for purchase of bulletproof vests. Set of miles be taken from the available funds in the stabilization fund.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Courchesne?
[Speaker 9] Motion that the mayor’s order be received and pass through all stages on the written recommendation of the mayor.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and second the mayor’s order be received and pass through all stages on the written recommendation of the mayor. On the motion please.
[Speaker 9] This is gonna purchase 25 vests, 18 are replacements as they only last five years and then seven for the new recruits and through the skill and diligence of our Police Department’s grant writer this will be refunded to us back through two different grants as it has traditionally for many many many years.
[Speaker 2] Okay any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom? Roll call please.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlambe? Yes. Roy?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Wagner? Yes. Dabrowski?
Yes. Arriaga? Yes.
Brooks? Yes. Stouff?
Yes. Balakier? Yes.
Krampits? Yes. Shumsky?
Yes. Courchesne? Yes.
Labrie ? Yes. 12 yes.
[Speaker 2] And a motion passes.
[Speaker 1] Order that the City Council accept the SFY 25 law enforcement body-worn camera program in the amount of $249,932.70 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to the Chicopee Police Department. Said grants accepted in accordance with Mass General Law chapter 44 section 53a.
[Speaker 13] Councilor Shumsky? Motion that the mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages on the written recommendation of the mayor.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and second the mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages on the written recommendation of mayor. On the motion please.
[Speaker 13] Yes this is a body-worn camera program for $249,000 and it will be used for our police officers. I think this is a great program. I believe the police officers will appreciate it, the community will appreciate it, and I hope it passes this evening.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Councilor Costello?
[Speaker 4] I want to thank the police chief and the police department for their initiative in regards to this. They’re definitely moving our police department forward. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme?
[Speaker 2] Yes. Roy? Yes.
[Speaker 1] Wagner? Yes. Zagorowski?
Yes. Arriaga?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Brooks? Yes. Stoff?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakier? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Cushain? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. If I may ask one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] Order that the City Council accept the FY 2024 Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program in the amount of $20,740.32 from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance to the Chicopee Police Department. Set of orders accepted in accordance with Mass. General Law, Chapter 44, Section 53A.
[Speaker 3] Councilor Bailik, here. Motion that the Mayor’s order be received, passed through all stages under written recommendation of the Mayor.
[Speaker 2] Motion being seconded, the motion be received and passed through all stages under written recommendation of the Mayor. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] On the motion, the Chicopee Police Department has been awarded $20,740.32 under the Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program. And this award is going to reimburse the city for half the cost of qualified bulletproof vests for our officers that was referenced in a previous order of 25 vests. So I’m in favor of this and it’s great to get reimbursed.
Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Seeing none, roll call. President LaFlamme?
[Speaker 1] Yes. Roy? Yes.
Wagner? Yes. Zagorowski?
Yes. Arriaga? Yes.
Brooks? Yes. Stahp?
Yes. Valkyr? Yes.
Krampits? Yes. Shumsky?
Yes. Courchesne? Yes.
Mabry? Yes. 12 yes, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] Order that the City Council accept the FY 2024 COSOP grant as part of the DART program, the amount of $2,500 from the Chigbee Northampton Department of Health and Human Services to the Chigbee Police Department. The goal of said grant is to support people and communities impacted by substance abuse, opioid overdose, and fatalities, and is accepted in accordance with Mass. General Act, Chapter 44, Section 53A.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Zagorowski? Same course, Mr. President. Motion made in second that the mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages on a written recommendation of mayor.
On the motion, please.
[Speaker 8] This is our portion of money that’s owed to City of Northampton who administers this program for various communities with substance abuse and opioid overdose. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme?
[Speaker 2] Yes. Roy? Yes.
[Speaker 1] Wagner?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Zagorowski? Yes. Arriaga?
Yes. Brooks? Yes.
Schaaf? Yes. Valkyr?
Yes. Krampits? Yes.
Shumsky? Yes. Courchesne?
Yes. Mabry? Yes.
12 yes, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] Order that the City Council accept the FY 2025 Municipal Road Safety Program grant in the amount of $59,790 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to the Chigley Police Department. Said grant is accepted with Mass. General Act, Chapter 44, Section 53A.
[Speaker 21] Okay, let’s see, we’re up to Councilor…
[Speaker 2] Oh, Labrie , I’m sorry. I was, I was stuck here a minute with your attorney. Sorry about that.
[Speaker 20] Motion that the Mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages on a written recommendation of the Mayor and the grant be accepted this evening.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded that the motion be received and passed through all stages on a written recommendation of the Mayor and the grant to approve this evening on the motion.
[Speaker 20] On the motion, this is almost $60,000 and the Chief has said that he’s going to use it for additional patrol, focusing on road safety concerns, traffic pedestrian. He’s also going to use it for some bicycle training courses and other safety programs and equipment relating to pedestrian and bicycle safety.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Councilor Iriaga.
[Speaker 18] We all know that public safety is definitely high on our list of priorities here within the city, so I’m excited to see this and hope that we can keep continuing to make our streets safer.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlambe. Yes. Roy.
Yes. Wagner. Yes.
Zagorowski.
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Iriaga.
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Brooks. Yes. Stoff.
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakier. Yes. Krampits.
Yes. Shumsky. Yes.
Courchesne. Yes. Labrie .
Yes. Loveyes. One abstention.
And the motion passes. For the sum of $25,000 being hereby appropriate to the following named account, registrar’s expense account for special services. Set amounts be taken from the available funds in the registrar’s passport revolving account.
[Speaker 17] Councilor Roy. Motion that the mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages and the written recommendation of the mayor.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded that the motion be received and passed to all stages under written recommendation of mayor. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 17] On the motion, the Board of Registrars of Voters respectfully requests the following transfers of available funds for conducting the state-mandated annual city census. The amount requested is $25,000. The transfer is necessary as the funding for conducting the annual city census was reduced over the years from $22,000 in 1990 to the current $5,000, making it impossible to cover the cost of contacting over 24,000 households as required by Mass General Laws Chapter 51 Section 4.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Wagner?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Zagorowski?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Powell? Yes.
Valkyrie? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Cushing? Yes. Mabry?
Yes. Proviso on abstention.
[Speaker 2] And a motion passes.
[Speaker 1] We have a new appointment of Denise Langeville as a member of the License Commission.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Wagner.
[Speaker 5] My apologies, which order, nine or ten? Nine. Oh yes, motion that the mayor’s order be withdrawn this evening.
[Speaker 2] Motion made in second that the mayor’s order be withdrawn this evening.
[Speaker 5] On the motion, please. On the motion, Mike Pease, Mayor’s Chief of Staff, informed us tonight that there’s a typo in the order so they’re gonna have to withdraw and resubmit. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom? Any comments from Zoom?
Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy? Yes. Wagner?
Yes. Zagorowski? Yes.
Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Powell?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Valkyrie? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Cushing? Yes. Mabry?
Yes. Proviso on abstention. And a motion passes.
Order that the sum of $43,826.88, being hereby appropriate, to the attached name general fund salary accounts in accordance with the recently signed agreement between the City of Chicopee and the Chicopee Professional Municipal Employees Association. Set amounts be taken from the available funds in the stabilization fund.
[Speaker 7] Councilman Krampits. Motion that the mayor’s order be received and passed for all stages on the written recommendation of the mayor.
[Speaker 8] Motion made in second that the motion be received and passed for all stages on the written recommendation of the mayor. On the motion.
[Speaker 7] Yeah, this is a contractual for the pay increases that the Chicopee Professional Municipal Employees Association received. For those of us that were on the council years ago, it used to be informally referred to as the department heads union, even though that really wasn’t a union, but this is essentially to fulfill the contractual obligations for the raises that they received in their contracts. Thank you.
[Speaker 8] Anybody else on the floor? Anybody on Zoom? Anybody on Zoom?
Oh, I’m sorry. Councilman Wagner.
[Speaker 5] Now this, this is just for my own curiosity, because I am still new to all of this. So, wouldn’t, wouldn’t this amount normally have come from the tax levy that we just approved the shift in the rate for, instead of one-time stabilization funds, Mr. President?
[Speaker 2] I, I can’t talk about it.
[Speaker 5] Oh, right. I signed the contract. What, Mr. President, in this case referring to Mr. Zagorowski.
[Speaker 8] I, I don’t have an answer for you, but, uh, Councilman Kravitz.
[Speaker 7] I believe it’s because it was recently approved and therefore it was not included in the budget, and therefore in order to be able to fund these raises, it came out of stabilization. So, that’s why it wasn’t part of the tax levy or tax rate that we set the other night.
[Speaker 8] Thank you, I appreciate it. All set, Councilman Wagner. Anybody else on Zoom?
Roll call, please.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme, Roy, Wagner, yes, Zagorowski, yes, Arriaga, yes, Brooks, yes, Goff, yes, Valkyrie, yes, Kravitz, yes, Shumsky, yes, Courchesne, yes, Labrie , yes, 11 yes, two abstentions. Motion passes. I order that the sum of $4,778.30 be in hereby appropriated through the attached DPW water fund salary accounts in accordance with the recently signed agreement between the City of Chigibe and the Chigibe Professional Municipal Employees Association. This item has been taken from the water surplus account.
[Speaker 2] Councilman Castello.
[Speaker 4] Motion that the Mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages on the written recommendation of the Mayor.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded that the motion be received and passed through all stages on a written recommendation of the Mayor.
[Speaker 4] On the motion, this is very similar to the explanation that Councilor Krampits gave in his motion. It’s to address the signed agreement between the City of Chigibe and the Chigibe Professional Municipal Employees Association.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlamme, Roy, Wagner, Zagorowski, Arriaga, Brooks, Goff, Balakier, Krampits, Sumsky, Courchesne, Labrie , Kenneka, Castello. 12 yes, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] I order that the sum of $9,634.56 be in hereby appropriated to the attached name DPW Sewer Salary Accounts in accordance with the recently signed agreement between the City of Chigibe and the Chigibe Professional Municipal Employees Association. Set amounts be taken from the sewer surplus account.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Arriaga.
[Speaker 18] Motion that the Mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages on the written recommendation of the Mayor.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded that the Mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages on a written recommendation of the Mayor. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 18] This goes hand-in-hand with the first two. This is for the DPW, this is their salaries.
[Speaker 2] Thank you very much. Any comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlambe, yes. Roy, yes. Wagner, yes.
Zagorowski, yes. Arriaga, Brooks, yes. Goff, yes.
Balakier, yes. Krampits, yes. Sumsky, yes.
Courchesne, yes. Labrie , yes. 12 yes, one abstention.
Motion passes.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] I order that the City Council accept the State Fiscal Year 2024 Community Transit Grant Program Award in the amount of $87,482 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to the Chicopee Council on Aging. Said grant will be used for the purchase of a type E van to support the ongoing efforts to provide meaningful transportation options for older adults and individuals with disabilities and is accepted in accordance with Mass. General Law, Chapter 44, Section 53A.
[Speaker 24] Councilman Brooks. Councilman Brooks.
[Speaker 15] Motion that the mayor’s order be received and passed. Motion that the mayor’s order be received and passed for all stages on the recommendation of the mayor.
[Speaker 8] Motion that the mayor’s order be received and passed for all stages on the written recommendation. On the motion.
[Speaker 15] On the motion, this is a grant that will allow the purchase of a van to help with the transportation of the folks who are in need.
[Speaker 8] Anybody else on the floor? Ms. Arriaga.
[Speaker 18] I just want to say this is this is awesome. You know there’s so many people that need help commuting and things like this are definitely what the community needs and I’m happy to see this come across tonight so.
[Speaker 8] Anybody else? Anybody on Zoom? Anybody on Zoom?
On the motion. Roll call, please.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme. Abstain. Roy.
Yes. Wagner. Yes.
Zagorowski. Yes. Arriaga.
Yes. Brooks. Yes.
Kahl.
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakier. Yes. Rampets.
Yes. Shumsky. Yes.
Courchesne. Yes. Labrie .
Yes. 11 yes, 2 abstentions.
[Speaker 2] And a motion passes. Councilor Brooks, could you do a test for me? When I ask you, can you just say yes?
Do you hear me?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 2] Do you hear me?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 2] Okay, there’s the we want to make sure the delay was not a problem with you because it’s being delayed by your voice. Thank you.
[Speaker 15] Yeah, well, it’s being delayed on your end as well. Every time the clerk speaks, there’s some interruption.
[Speaker 2] Okay, thank you. That’s the problem. Okay, we’ll let them know upstairs.
I’m sure he hears us.
[Speaker 1] We’re at the sum of $29,160 being hereby appropriate to the following named account. Council on Aging special account for a city share of 2024 community transit grant award for type e-van. Set amounts be taken from the available funds in a stabilization fund.
Councilman Goff.
[Speaker 19] Motion that the mayor’s order be received and passed through all stages on the written recommendation of the mayor.
[Speaker 8] Motion made and seconded that the motion be received and passed through all stages in the written recommendation of the mayor. On the motion.
[Speaker 19] On the motion, this is a 20% shared or 20% of the grant that the city is required to fund for the van on the previous order. So, for the van with people with disabilities and the elderly.
[Speaker 8] Anybody else on floor? Ms. Costello.
[Speaker 4] Thanks. Thank you, Councilor Zagorowski. You are the dean of our board, so thank you.
In regards to this, I can’t vote on it, but I’m very happy that this is city money being used to fund the balance of the van that Councilor Arriaga referenced in regards to the need of the elderly and the disability issues in our city. Without transportation, many of these people would be totally lost. So, it’s a great, great situation we’re in right now that we have an active Council on Aging that’s addressing the transportation needs of the elderly and the disabled.
Thank you.
[Speaker 8] Anyone else on the floor? Anybody on Zoom? Anybody on Zoom?
Call the roll.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme. Roy. Yes.
Wagner. Yes. Zagorowski.
Yes. Arriaga. Yes.
Brooks. Yes. Goff.
Yes. Balakier. Yes.
Krampits. Yes. Shumsky.
Yes. Courchesne. Yes.
Labrie . Yes. 11 yes 2 abstentions.
Motion passes. We have a favorable report from the Ordinance Committee with a motion to postpone for be it ordered that the City Council, be it ordered by the City Council, that the Code of the City Council, Code of the City of Chicobee for the year 1991, as amended, being hereby further amended as follows, that Chapter 278, Offenses Against Public Peace.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Krampits.
[Speaker 7] Motion that the favorable Ordinance Committee report be received and postponed to the call of the Chair.
[Speaker 2] Motion made in second that the favorable Ordinance Committee report be received and postponed to the call of the Chair. On the motion.
[Speaker 7] Well, first of all, this was actually filed by Councilor Courchesne. Somehow it got labeled as Councilor Piniot-Costello, but it was filed by Councilor Courchesne, and he wanted it postponed because he was looking into some issue of things to make some changes, so I’ll turn it over to Councilor Courchesne.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Courchesne.
[Speaker 9] Yeah, unfortunately the revised version did not make it into this agenda. The old original one was there, but even at that, this is a very tricky, slippery slope that we have to legally go through, so I’m going to be reaching out to the District Attorney’s Office to have them review it. As it stands, this order has actually been enacted by another state, another city, in another state for the last two years and has upheld the test of time, but we have a little stricter laws, not just the Supreme Court of the country, but of our state, and it’s just gonna be really tricky to, every time you correct one thing, you’ve created another problem, unfortunately, but I’m gonna keep working on it. I think it’s important to the residents to get a lot of feedback about this issue, and there’s multiple chapters in this, not just about the panhandling.
The other ones will go, no problem, but I’m just gonna keep it as one package, and we’ll pass it through, if I can get the language right, hopefully soon.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Councilor Ballack here.
[Speaker 3] Yeah, thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, I’m interested in seeing this go through fruition. This panhandling issue is really becoming a serious issue in the city, and I’ve had several constituents query me about it and ask me what’s going on, so I’m hopeful that we’re gonna come up with a resolution, and we’re gonna be able to handle this properly, legally, and so on and so forth.
Thank you. Councilor Wagner.
[Speaker 5] Thank you, and while I think these sorts of ordinances are important, I don’t think that I can stress enough that we have to work collaboratively with other communities in western Massachusetts, with our partners at the state level, to address the root cause of why we have panhandlers. So, I mean, in stating these sorts of ordinances, if the time ever comes, it’s all well and good, but I think we just have to really look at the root cause and focus on helping people rather than outlawing whatever it is that they’re doing, although that may be fine in the interim. Thank you.
Councilor Cushing.
[Speaker 9] So, to address the colleagues’ comments, so that is actually in the process. I’ve been working with the mayor’s office on my hub order that I put in a few weeks or months ago, and just to give you a real quick snippet on it, Chelsea had 130 homeless people. With this program that I proposed, they had three left in one year, so we will get to the root cause of that, but the other cause is what they’re doing is dangerous, that what they’re doing is not wrong, it’s just they’re doing it in a dangerous fashion.
Unfortunately, the state considers, the Supreme Court says it’s freedom of speech, but the state allows them to stand in the middle of the road because that’s public property. So, as you can see now, that’s gonna be very difficult to manage. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Castillo.
[Speaker 4] Thank you, Councilor Cushing. My question was in regards to the legality of this type of ordinance, and you addressed it in regards to what the court has said. As long as we’re legal, we can continue to review it and see what would make the the most sense for the city.
Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlamme.
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy. Yes. Wagner.
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Zagorowski. Yes. Arriaga.
Yes. Brooks. Yes.
Goff.
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakier. Yes. Krampits.
Yes. Shumsky. Yes.
Courchesne. Yes. Labrie .
Yes. 12 yes, 1 abstention. And the motion passes.
A favorable report from the Ordinance Committee to add to the following in schedule, parking prohibited, Lucretia Avenue.
[Speaker 7] Councilor Krampits. Motion that the amended favorable Ordinance Committee report take its second and final reading and be enrolled and ordained this evening.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded that the favorable amended Ordinance Committee report be received, take its second and final reading, and be enrolled and ordained. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 7] Yeah, as you can see by the backup material, there was some additional wording that was added after Councilor Courchesne spoke to our City Engineer Doug Ellis, so that was amended at our Ordinance Committee meeting, so that should pass as amended tonight. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call. President LaFlamme.
Yes. Roy. Yes.
Wagner.
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Zagorowski. Yes. Arriaga.
Yes. Brooks. Yes.
Goff.
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Valcour. Yes. Krampits.
Yes. Shumsky. Yes.
Courchesne. Yes. Labrie .
Yes. 12 yes, 1 abstention.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. So just so everybody knows, we’re not going to, Shane will be delayed a little bit, they would have to reset the whole program, it would take too long, we can wait a couple seconds for him to reply. Thank you.
[Speaker 1] We have a favorable report from the Ordinance Committee, be it ordained that Chapter 7 of the Ordinance of the City of Chicobee, as amended, be in hereby further amended as follows, Park and Recreation Department, Group 4, add Recreation Supervisor $25 per game, set ordinance to be operative upon passage.
[Speaker 7] Councilor Krampits. Motion that the favorable Ordinance Committee report take its second and final reading and be enrolled and ordained tonight.
[Speaker 2] Motion making, motion made in second, the favorable Ordinance Committee report be received, take its second and final reading and be enrolled and ordained. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 21] On the motion.
[Speaker 7] This is a new position that is being funded, there will be multiple supervisors for different locations and they will be assigned as needed. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing no one, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme? Yes. Roy?
Yes. Wagner? Yes.
Zagorowski?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Goff?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Valkyr? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Courchesne? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. 12-1 abstention. And a motion passes.
We have a favorable report for an amended Ordinance Committee report, be it ordained that the City Council, the City of Chicobee, for the year 1991, as amended, be in hereby further amended as follows, add Chapter 260-37.1, engine brakes prohibited, at Chicobee Street at .300 feet north of Prospect Street.
[Speaker 2] Okay, Councilor Krampits.
[Speaker 7] Motion that the amended Favorable Ordinance Committee report take a second and final reading and be enrolled or ordained this evening.
[Speaker 2] Motion that the Favorable Ordinance Committee amended report be received and approved this evening. On the motion, please, take a second final reading and be enrolled or ordained. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 7] Yeah, this wording was worked out between Councilor Corshane and our City Engineer. I’ll turn it over to Councilor Corshane if he has anything he’d like to add. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] He’s all set.
[Speaker 9] Doug, so all the things go to him.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President O’Fallon?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy? Yes. Wagner?
Yes. Zagorowski? Yes.
Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Stahp?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakier? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Corshane? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. Pabianz?
[Speaker 2] Yes. And a motion passes.
[Speaker 1] One abstention.
[Speaker 2] And one extension, I’m sorry.
[Speaker 1] We have a Favorable Report from the Ordinance Committee to add to the following and schedule Nye Street isolated stop sign.
[Speaker 2] Let’s go with Councilor Krampits.
[Speaker 7] Motion that the Favorable Ordinance Committee report take its second and final reading and be enrolled and ordained tonight.
[Speaker 2] Motion that the Ordinance Committee report take its second and final reading and be enrolled or ordained. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 7] This was pretty straightforward for an isolated stop sign.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President O’Fallon?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Wagner? Yes. Zagorowski?
Yes. Arriaga?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Brooks? Yes. Goff?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakier? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Corshane? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. 12 yes, one abstention. And a motion passes.
All right, we have a Favorable Report with a motion to withdraw from the Zoning Committee for special permit application under Chapter 275-67 and 62 for the purpose of mixed-use development including 600 new residential units and up to 400,000 square feet of commercial space within the former Cabotville Mill complex under the city’s Mill Conversion and Commercial Overlay District located at 165 Front Street.
[Speaker 3] Councilman Balacare? Motion that the Favorable Zoning Committee report be received and that the motion to withdraw the special permit without prejudice be approved this evening.
[Speaker 2] Motion made to second the Favorable Zoning Committee report be received and approved this evening. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] On the motion, we had a letter that was submitted by the applicant and it was reviewing that they had a problem because they did not submit all the documentation by the ODRC committee. So the sense was either we were going to deny it or that they were going to withdraw. So they did the right thing and that they withdrew because otherwise they would have had to wait two years before they could have gone and submitted another application.
So our recommendation is that the motion to withdraw without prejudice by the applicant be the acceptable thing to do tonight.
[Speaker 2] Any other comments from the floor? Any comments on Zoom? No.
We’ll call a roll for the withdrawal. Roll call, please. President Laflamme?
[Speaker 1] Yes. Roy? Yes.
Wagner? Yes. Zagorowski?
Yes. Arriaga?
[Speaker 18] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Brooks?
[Speaker 2] Brooks. Shane, you came on but we get your vote.
[Speaker 1] Yes. Okay, thank you. Goff?
Yes. Stalker? Yes.
Krampits? Yes. Shumsky?
Yes. Courchesne? Yes.
Labrie ? Yes. So I’ll have you ask one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] We have a favorable report from the Zoning Committee for a special permit application under Chapter 275-50C2B for the purpose of an installation of an electronic sign on front lawn at Chicopee Public Library located at 449 Front Street. With a waiver, 25 feet to 18 feet.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Balakir?
[Speaker 3] Motion that the favorable Zoning Committee report be received, that the special permit application waiver be approved this evening.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and second the favorable Zoning Committee report be received and approved this evening. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] On the motion, Mr. President, this was a special permit application for the purpose of installation of electronic sign on the front lawn at Chicopee Public Library located down the street at 449 Front Street. And so we had some discussion there with Dave Rice and the consensus from the committee was to approve the installation of the electronic sign with an 8-second delay per city ordinance regarding electronic signage.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy? Yes. Wagner?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Zagorowski? Yes. Arriaga?
Yes. Brooks? Yes.
Goff? Yes. Balakir?
Yes. Krampits? Yes.
Shumsky? Yes. Courchesne?
Yes. Labrie ? Yes.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 3] Mr. President, we also have to vote on the waiver. There was a waiver requested, a setback from 25 feet to 18 feet, and the recommendation is to grant the waiver.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and second that the approval of the waiver be approved this evening. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] On the motion, again this is something the applicant requested. There was a setback issue from 25 to 18 feet in front of the Chicopee Public Library on Front Street. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call. President Laflamme?
[Speaker 1] Yes. Roy? Yes.
Wagner? Yes. Zagorowski?
Yes. Arriaga? Yes.
Brooks? Yes. Goff?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakir? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Courchesne? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] We have a favorable report from the Zoning Committee for zone change application from Business A to Central Business District for CBD for 4,530 square feet of property located at Zero Chicopee Street for the purpose of removing a split zone parcel and to advance mixed-use development.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Balakir?
[Speaker 3] Motion that the Zoning Committee report be received and that the zone change be approved this evening.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and second that the favorable Zoning Committee report be received and approved this evening. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] On the motion, Mr. President, this was a zone change application from Business A to Central Business District for plus or minus 4,530 square feet of property located at Zero Chicopee Street, which is on the corner of Chicopee Street and Blanche Street, and this is for the purpose of removing a split zone parcel and to advance mixed-use development. So we had a zoning meeting and we had some interesting discussion regarding this particular proposal. We had a couple of people from the neighborhood talking about it, but we did approve the motion and that’s our recommendation to approve the zone change this evening.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlambe?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy? Yes. Wagner?
Yes. Zagorowski? Yes.
Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Goff?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakir? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Stelmski? Yes.
Shane? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. All of these, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And a motion passes.
[Speaker 1] We have a favorable report from the Zoning Committee for a special permit application under Chapter 275-30B for the purpose of storage container material storage located at 0 Chicopee Street.
[Speaker 2] Councilman Balakir?
[Speaker 3] Motion that the Zoning Committee report be received and that the special permit application be approved this evening with conditions.
[Speaker 2] Motion made to say the favorable Zoning Committee report be received and approved this evening with restrictions. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] On the motion, Mr. President, thank you. This is also referring to the subject property that was referenced in the previous agenda item. Again, we had some interesting discussion with some of the neighbors.
This is a parcel located at the corner of Chicopee Street and Blanche Street, and there were a couple of neighbors that had some concerns about this particular property. So we felt that it was prudent when we were discussing it to put some teeth into a couple of conditions. And so therefore, this is our proposal.
The motion to approve the special permit application for storage container material located at 0 Chicopee Street with the condition that two trailers are to be removed and that the building be constructed within the next nine months from the date of approval. And this is also a permit to run with the applicant. So that was the best action with this particular property so that we could appease the neighbors and we could also inform the applicant that they had to clean up the parcel and get to work as soon as the approval started with this particular special permit application.
Thank you. Councilor Creschetti.
[Speaker 9] I want to thank the Zoning Committee for, you know, they were originally going to make it a year and then Councilor Wagner was looking at six months, which was what we really wanted. So I appreciate the compromise at nine months. You know, there was a storage trailer illegally sitting there for 18 months with and that’s how long it took to get to this special permit and that’s concerning.
So hopefully this sends a message that, you know, we’re gonna follow the rules from here on out. They can always come back and reapply for another permit if they need more time. So it’s not that there’s so much under the gun to get it done in nine months because it may not be possible and I respect that.
But I have to respect the neighbors who have to live with the mess while it’s happening. So I appreciate the compromise with the Zoning Board doing it at nine months.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, we’ll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlamme. Yes. Roy.
Yes. Wagner. Yes.
Zagorowski. Yes. Arriaga.
Yes. Brooks. Yes.
Goff. Yes. Val Kierd.
Yes. Krampits. Yes.
Shumsky. Yes. Courchesne.
Yes. Labrie .
[Speaker 20] Yes.
[Speaker 1] 12 yes, one abstention. And a motion passes. We have a favorable report from the Zoning Committee for a special permit application under Chapter 275-30B for the purpose of installation of four Konex storage containers for additional storage at the company’s fabrication facility.
Two containers are 40 by 8 and two are 20 by 8 located at 85 LeMay Street.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Bailiwk here.
[Speaker 3] Motion that the Zoning Committee report be received and that the special permit application be approved this evening with restrictions.
[Speaker 2] Motion made in second the favorable Zoning Committee report be received with the special application and approved this evening. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] This is an application for the installation of four Konex storage containers for additional storage at the Notch Mechanical Constructors Fabrication Facility and so we had again some discussion with this one and there were also concerns from building as to how long this was these containers were going to be out and also the fire department had some concerns about the placement. So again we had discussion about this and as we referenced in the previous agenda item that we wanted to put some more condition here so that of one year for the special permit to run from the approval date and this is a permit to run with the applicant so that there’s a time frame here and they can’t just put these out and for whatever they want for a long long time. So this way here we have I think a better control but by doing this and again we had some discussion about this so I think that’s what the consensus is on this one as well.
Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme? Yes. Roy?
Yes. Wagner? Yes.
Zegrowski? Yes. Arriaga?
Yes. Brooks? Yes.
Goff?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakir? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Courchesne? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. 12 yes, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And a motion passes.
[Speaker 1] Okay. We have a favorable report from the Zoning Committee for a special permit application under chapter 275-53CG for the purpose of creating one buildable lot with frontage reduced to 20 feet and 60 feet, 0 Chicopee Street.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Balakir.
[Speaker 3] Thanks, Mr. President. Motion that the Zoning Committee report be received and a special permit application be approved this evening.
[Speaker 2] Motion made that the favorable Zoning Committee report be received and a special permit application be approved this evening. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] On the motion, this was a special permit application for the purpose of creating one buildable lot with frontage reduced to 20 feet and 60 feet, 0 Chicopee Street, although this also should be taking consideration 40 Greenwich Street, where the original frontage would start from. So we had an interesting chat about this one as well. We had some input and some insightfulness from our planning director about this particular situation.
This was a lot that was actually approved, I believe, in March of 2022, but the original applicant did not act on this and it’s my understanding that he sold it to a new applicant, so therefore they came in front of us to try to get this through. So basically, this is more involving a dimensional relief. Again, this is kind of an oddball lot, 20 feet and then 60 feet.
So we wanted this to be in compliance regarding also the building, the fire codes, and the construction, the driveway of the house. And this was a permit to run with the WAN. And again, this is basically a dimensional relief.
The frontage would be at 40 Greenwich Street and the rearage would be at 0 Chicopee Street. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme? Yes. Roy?
Wagner? Yes. Zagroski?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Goff?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Valkyrie? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Kumsky? Yes.
Cushing? Yes. Mabry?
Yes. Favre? Yes.
One abstention. And the motion passes. We have a favorable report from the Zoning Committee for a special permit application under Chapter 275-9L3 for the purpose of renewing the existing special permit for a proposed multifamily with waiver of parking requirements from 88 to 75 at 0 Oak Street development located at 0 Oak Street.
Culpepper Properties.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Bailiwick here.
[Speaker 3] Yeah, thanks, Mr. President. Motion that the Zoning Committee report be received and a special permit application be approved this evening with conditions.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded. The favorable Zoning Committee report be received and a special application be approved this evening with restrictions. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] On the motion, this was a special permit application for purpose of renewing the existing special permit for a proposed multifamily with a waiver of parking requirements from 88 to 75 spaces at 0 Oak Street. So this previously had been approved but I think because of the COVID situation and also some economics, the potential developer waited for some more favorable financial terms. So they came before us.
And again, this is at 0 Oak Street and we had some discussion with this. So basically, the consensus was to approve for the purpose of renewing the existing special permit for proposed multifamily at 0 Oak Street with the condition that the applicant must comply with all requests and conditions of the Overlay District Review Committee regarding the subject property. And this is a permit to run with the land on this one.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments from the floor?
Any comments from Zoom? Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme? Yes. Roy?
Yes. Wagner?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Garowski? Yes. Arriaga?
Yes. Brooks?
[Speaker 2] Shane? Shane, we didn’t hear you. I know you responded.
[Speaker 1] Yes. Scott? Yes.
Falkier? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Komsky? Yes.
Courchesne? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. 12 yes, 1 abstention.
[Speaker 3] And a motion passes. Excuse me, Mr. President, I think there was also a waiver with this. On which one?
[Speaker 1] Oh, okay. 25 or 26?
[Speaker 3] 26 needs a waiver. This is 26. Yep.
So I think we’re also gonna have to have a vote with the waiver on that. It’s my understanding if that sounds correct? Correct.
Okay.
[Speaker 2] So I make a motion for the waiver?
[Speaker 3] Yes. Motion that there’s a waiver parking requirements from 88 to 75 spaces at 0 Oak Street.
[Speaker 2] Motion made second that the favorable zoning committee report be received and a waiver granted on item number 26 on our agenda. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] On the motion, the developer working with the planning department requested a waiver of 88 to 75 spaces at this proposal. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy? Yes. Wagner?
Yes. Garowski? Yes.
Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Goff?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Valkyrie? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Komsky? Yes.
Courchesne? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. 12 yes, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And a motion passes.
[Speaker 1] We have a favorable report from the zoning committee for a special permit application under chapter 275-67 for a purpose of redevelopment of a portion of the property. Waiver requested. Reduction in parking 105 versus 95.
Building height 52 feet 9 inches versus 40 feet. Building permit construction fees and EV spaces 5 versus 3. Location 0 Main Street.
Councilor Ballacher?
[Speaker 3] Yeah, excuse me, Mr. President. I wonder if we can amend this because in talking with planning department, apparently we can only vote regarding the waiver of just a reduction of parking. So the other information that’s here regarding the building height, building permit construction fees and EV spaces, I believe that we don’t have that we don’t have that power to do that.
So I’m not sure if we have to totally make a new reading for this amendment or if we just scratch it out. I’m not sure.
[Speaker 2] Attorney, on item number 27, can we just read the part that we want to approve tonight? You can read the section, the only part you want and don’t even.
[Speaker 1] Make a motion to amend the order, strike what you want to strike, vote on the amendment, and then vote on the amended order.
[Speaker 3] Correct.
[Speaker 1] Okay, so make a motion to strike what you want to strike.
[Speaker 3] Yes, okay, thank you for the clarification. Yes, so I like a motion, excuse me, make a motion to amend and strike some information regarding to item number 27. The items I like to strike, again this was reference that we don’t have the jurisdiction, the building height 52 feet 9 inches versus 40, building permit construction fees, and EV spaces 5 versus 3, Mr. President. If we could strike that, please.
[Speaker 2] Just one second, the clerk is rechecking it, redoing it. Okay, motion made and seconded to strike building height 52.9 inches versus 40 feet building permit and construction fees and EV space 5 vs 3 be removed. Good.
That sounds good. Roll call, please.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlambe, yes, Roy, yes, Wagner, yes, Zagorowski, yes, Arriaga, yes, Brooks, yes, Goff, yes, Balakier, yes, Krampits, yes, Shumsky, yes, Courchesne, yes, Labrie , yes, 12 yes, one abstention. And the motion passes.
[Speaker 3] Okay, all right, amended order, okay, so this is a motion that the zoning permit report be reviewed and the special permit application be approved this evening with restrictions.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded that the favorable zoning permit report be received and approved, what did you, as amended?
[Speaker 3] As amended with restrictions. With restrictions.
[Speaker 2] Okay.
[Speaker 3] All right. Okay. On the motion, please.
Yeah, on the motion, yeah, thank you. Yeah, this was an interesting one. This is regarding the proposal for 61 units at the location of Zero Main Street, which is in the area behind the Old Falls Pizza by the Singing Bridge, and so they want to build 61 units here, and we had some interesting discussion with this.
So I think I’ll just get to the main part of what I want to mention here. So we went back and forth, and so finally we came to a consensus. Working with the developers, working with planning, working in conjunction with the overlay district review committee report, there are a lot of moving pieces here.
So this is the general consensus we came up to, granting a conditional approval of the project with the following conditions. Applicant must comply with all requests and conditions of the overlay district review committee regarding the site plan, and also there is a satisfactory response letter from the planning director that all conditions have been met regarding the ODRC review. We had issues from several departments about this, so we did make some concessions in that we gave a conditional approval.
So we had issues with planning. Engineering had concerns with the traffic study. They wanted a study that was at least a week.
They had concerns about the hours, peak hours. There was also from the fire traffic study, water department. So the developer, they were working with the state and with the federal government, and they had some deadlines that they were trying to meet.
So they were looking at tax credits as well. So again, we spent some time on this one with the presentation and working with that particular team. So that was a consensus, conditional approval with the conditions that I referenced.
[Speaker 2] Thank you.
[Speaker 3] Any other comments from the floor?
[Speaker 2] Comments from Zoom? Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlamme, Roy, Wagner, Yes. Zagorowski, Yes. Arriaga, Yes.
Brooks, Yes.
[Speaker 22] Stahm, Yes.
[Speaker 1] Balakier, Yes. Krampits, Yes. Shumsky, Yes.
Courchesne, Yes. LaPree, Yes. Bobby S., one abstention.
[Speaker 3] And the motion passes. And Mr. President, we also have a waiver requested as we referenced in the restructuring of the agenda, a reduction of parking 105 versus 95.
[Speaker 2] Motion’s made and seconded the waiver for item number 27 be approved this evening with restrictions. On the motion.
[Speaker 3] Thank you. There was a waiver requested for reduction parking 105 versus 95. So taking a look at the site plan, that was recommended.
So we’re in favor of granting that waiver for parking. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlamme, Roy, Wagner, Yes. Zagorowski, Yes. Arriaga, Yes.
Brooks, Yes. Stahm, Yes. Balakier, Yes.
Krampits, Yes. Shumsky, Yes. Courchesne, Yes.
LaPree, Yes. Bobby S., one abstention. And the motion passes.
We have a favorable report from the Zoning Committee for an application under chapter 275-67 for the purpose of developing an existing property for residential and commercial use. Project shall include the addition of 10 new apartments on the second level of an existing structure. Waiver requested traffic impact study.
Balakir.
[Speaker 3] Thank you, Mr. President. Motion that the Zoning Committee report be received and that the special permit application be tabled until the November 14th Zoning Committee meeting at 274 Front Street, 3rd Floor Auditorium, 630 p.m. meeting.
[Speaker 2] Okay, I didn’t get the date. November 14th? Just to make sure?
Motion made to second the favorable Zoning Committee report be received in a special permit application tabled until November 14th, 2024 at the City Hall and the Chambers and the 3rd, 4th Floor at 274 Front Street. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] Excuse me, Mr. President, we’ll have to have that here at the 3rd Floor of the Auditorium because of the snafu with restructuring.
[Speaker 2] Motion that be approved and at the 3rd Floor of the Auditorium in the City of Chicago, 274 Springfield Street. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] Yeah, on the motion, yeah, this was kind of an interesting one. We had a late night that night at Zoning. I believe we started discussing this particular one at 10 p.m. It was a late hour and there was, it was finally noticed that there was a glitch between the plans and also the ODRC committee report. They didn’t match. This was supposed to be referencing 10 new apartments on the second level at 232 Exchange Street, so we didn’t have a mirror image with these particular documents. So we went back and forth and the potential applicant slash developer, he was kind of in a quagmire as to what to do.
We went back and forth with legal. So the consensus was that the ODRC committee report was going to have to match the other documentation and the resolution was to put this off until the 14th, November 14th meeting. So that was, that was the recommendation.
So that’s our proposal at this point in time and hopefully we will resolve this and start some more new housing, but we have to make sure everything matches each other. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme? Yes. Roy?
Yes. Wagner? Yes.
Zagorowski?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Stahl? Yes.
Balakier? Yes. Krampits?
Stumski? Yes. Courchesne?
Yes. Labrie ? Yes.
11 yes, one out of chair, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And a motion passed.
[Speaker 3] Mr. President?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 3] Excuse me. There was also the waiver requested.
[Speaker 2] Ready for it, yep.
[Speaker 3] Okay. All right, I just want to make sure. So there was a waiver requested for a traffic impact study, and again, because of the dilemma that we had of not having the documentation mirror each other, the consensus through the help of legal was to also table this particular waiver until the November 14th Zoning Committee meeting at 74 Front Street Auditorium as well.
[Speaker 2] Motion made in second to table the item number, what number is it on the agenda?
[Speaker 1] The waiver.
[Speaker 2] The waiver to November 14th? Yes, here in the auditorium.
[Speaker 3] Okay.
[Speaker 2] Yes. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 3] Yes, so on the motion again, Mr. President, that was the consensus between legal and our committee, so that was the prudent thing to do. So hopefully this will get cleaned up on the 14th. Thank you.
Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom? Any comments from Zoom?
Seeing none, roll call. President LaFlamme?
[Speaker 1] Yes. Roy? Yes.
Wagner? Yes. Zagorowski?
Yes. Arriaga?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Brooks? Yes. Goff?
Yes. Balakier? Yes.
Krampits? Yes. Shumsky?
Yes. Cushain? Yes.
Labrie ? 11 yes, one out of chair, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 1] In order that the City Council open nominations for appointments of seven members selected by the City Council for the City Hall Phase 2 Building Commission. Nominations are due in the City Council office for consideration at the November 19th meeting. The following nominations submitted for consideration, William Boone, Linda Mrook, Maureen Kair, Steven Morneau, Michael Lempart, and Tom Costello are received and forwarded to the November 19th meeting, Article 11, Section 1644.
[Speaker 8] Councilor Zagorowski? A motion that the order take its first reading and refer to the Rules Committee for a public hearing.
[Speaker 2] I’d like to open up nominations for this committee. Motion being seconded, we open up nominations for the Phase 2 of the City Hall Auditorium, City Hall. Now let’s vote on that.
Motion, please. Yeah, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlambe? Yes. Roy?
Yes. Wagner? Yes.
Zagorowski?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Arriaga?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Brooks? Yes. Stoff?
Balakier? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Cushain? Yes. Labrie ?
11 yes, one out of chair, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] And the motion passes.
[Speaker 8] I make a motion that we appoint everybody that’s on this list.
[Speaker 1] Nominate.
[Speaker 8] Nominate anybody that’s on this list right now.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded that we put the following names to be nominated on the November 19th meeting. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 8] On the motion, this is something that we we have to put together through the Building Commission and is there anybody else on the floor for nominations?
[Speaker 1] Anybody else on the floor want to make a nomination?
[Speaker 8] Anybody on Zoom? Zoom again. Roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlambe? Yes. Roy?
Yes. Wagner? Yes.
Zagorowski?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Stoff? Yes.
Balakier? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Cushain? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. The motion passes. 12 yes, one abstention.
And the motion passes.
[Speaker 2] Okay.
[Speaker 1] Be it ordered that the rules and orders of the City Council meetings shall be amended as follows. Delete 11 E, all orders, ordinances, resolutions, petitions, communications, or late file orders must be day and time stamped by the City Clerk on the day of submission. This rule does not apply as late files to committee reports.
And in certain place thereof, 11 E, all orders, ordinances, resolutions, petitions, communications must be day and time stamped by the City Clerk on the day of submission. Councilor Zagorowski?
[Speaker 8] I motion that the order take its first reading and submit it for a public hearing.
[Speaker 21] It has to go to rules. Oh, I’m sorry.
[Speaker 2] It has to go to rules. Set the rules committee first. I motion that the order be received and sent to the Rules Committee for a public hearing.
On the motion, please.
[Speaker 8] On the motion, this is something that our President, Councilor LaFlamme, filed and I’d like to have him speak on it if he wishes.
[Speaker 2] It’s just to correct it. We don’t use that no more. So we have to close it out.
[Speaker 8] Okay.
[Speaker 2] That’s why we’re deleting it. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlamme? Yes. Roy?
Yes. Wagner? Yes.
Zagorowski? Yes. Arriaga?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Brooks? Yes. Stoff?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Valcure? Yes. Trampets?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Courchesne? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. 12 yes, 1 abstention. Motion passes.
And a motion passes. Be it ordered that the Public Safety Committee meet with the Police Chief and the Fire Chief to discuss the process regarding false alarms with the Fire Department and Police Department. Councilor Zagorowski?
[Speaker 8] A motion that the order be received, take its first reading, and sent to for a public hearing.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded, the order be received and sent to the Public Safety Committee for a public hearing. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 8] On the motion, this is an order filed by Councilman President LaFlamme and this will be forwarded to our Public Safety Committee.
[Speaker 2] On the motion. On the motion, just so everybody knows, this is just the Police Chief and Fire Chief wants to get together and discuss the false alarms that are coming in rapidly for same companies that are out there and we may want to think about going so far with so many of them and then find to get them to fix their equipment that when we send out the Fire Department, they’re sending out fire trucks. When they’re sending out cruisers, sometimes they’re sending two cruisers and the resources could be used somewhere else.
So they asked to come in to talk to us and that’s what it was. Thank you.
[Speaker 9] Any other comments?
[Speaker 2] Any other comments on the floor? I got it. Councilor Courchesne.
[Speaker 9] I believe there already is an ordinance or rules within the departments that after so many you get fined for those.
[Speaker 2] Yeah, but he wants to talk about it. He knows about that. It was their request.
Any other comments from the floor? Zoom. Any comments from Zoom?
Seeing none, roll call. President LaFlamme?
[Speaker 1] Yes. Roy? Yes.
Wagner?
[Speaker 23] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Sekrowski?
[Speaker 22] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Kopp? Yes.
Balakier? Yes. Trampets?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Courchesne? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. 12 yes, one abstention. And the motion passes.
We had ordered that the Disability Commission perform a complete audit for ADA compliance. This includes compliance for city services, city programs, and city buildings. Councilor Costello.
[Speaker 4] Yes, I would ask that this order also be referred to the Disability Commission for a public hearing. I would like to amend that order to refer to the Disability Commission for a public hearing in regards to performing a complete audit for ADA compliance. This includes for the city services, city programs, and city buildings.
[Speaker 2] Has it been, is that okay? I don’t think we can, we have to have a committee to send it, our committee, we don’t have a disability committee. You have to send it, you can send it to public safety, wherever you want to send it, but you got to send to one of our committees.
Okay. And have them present if you want.
[Speaker 4] Then, am I correct?
[Speaker 2] Okay.
[Speaker 4] If I can, I could amend it to send it to public safety in regards to disability compliance in regards to the city. The reason why I’m asking that is that there has been concerns raised by residents, including one that was here earlier, in regards to compliance with disability issues.
[Speaker 2] Okay, so motion being second that we send this item to public safety for a public hearing and request that the Disability Commission be present. Okay, on the motion. You just said it?
Okay, any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom? Any comments from Zoom?
[Speaker 1] Roll call. President LaFlamme?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy? Yes. Wagner?
Yes. Zagorowski? Yes.
Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Starr? Yes.
Balakier? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Komsky? Yes.
Courchesne? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. 12 yes, 1 abstention. The motion passes.
Be it ordered that the city’s obligation in regard to paper streets that the public health issues or safety issues that affect city residents be discussed by the Zoning Committee.
[Speaker 4] A motion that the order be received and referred to Zoning Committee for a public hearing.
[Speaker 2] I’m not sure this belongs in Zoning either.
[Speaker 4] I know that I discussed this at some point.
[Speaker 2] Okay, I’m sorry. I don’t, it’s a safety issue, it’s not a zoning issue. Okay.
It’s not, it has to go to public safety, it’s not a zoning. It has nothing to do with Chapter 275.
[Speaker 4] Okay.
[Speaker 2] You can, I can try, but I think we’d be better off. Or public works, either one of those two.
[Speaker 4] We could do public works.
[Speaker 2] Motion meeting second to the item be received and sent to the public works for a public hearing. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 4] Yes, I would like Lisa Sanders of the of the Public Health Department to also be invited to the meeting to discuss health issues as well as safety issues in regards to the city’s obligation to address paper streets.
[Speaker 2] Okay, thank you. If I could, it could, Councilor Creshene first and then I would like to make a comment.
[Speaker 9] You know, just a question through the chair to the council. Did you speak to the planning department about this at all?
[Speaker 4] I didn’t speak to the planning department.
[Speaker 9] Because I have, I’m working on a paper street for many years now as we try to release it to another abutter, but these are all on private property. I have four abutters that own a paper street, basically they don’t know it, or they may know it, but so it’s not public property, it’s private property. So I don’t know, I mean we probably have some streets on public property, but that’s why I was wondering if you’d talk to planning about this first.
[Speaker 2] Mr. President, I can, I can, hold on a minute, if I can finish first. Are you all set? Yes.
[Speaker 16] I just want to confirm what Councilor Creshene said, but paper streets are not city property. Right.
[Speaker 4] So there’s no response, if I may respond to the statement. So basically there are no, there’s no responsibility by the city if a paper street is in an area that could be creating a problem with either safety or, either safety or public health. Who, who, who maintains that then?
Whose responsibility legally is a paper street if there’s a problem with public health and safety?
[Speaker 2] Okay, if I, if I can interject for one second, with the approval of the council, may I speak for a minute?
[Speaker 7] Motion to allow the president to speak on this item. Thank you, roll call please.
[Speaker 1] President LaFlamme? Yes.
[Speaker 7] Roy?
[Speaker 1] Yes. Wagner? Yeah.
Zagorowski? Yes. Arriaga?
Yes. Brooks? Yes.
Goff? Yes. Balakier?
Yes. Krampits? Yes.
Shumsky? Yes. Creshene?
Yes. Labrie ?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] 12 yes, one abstention.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. I would like you to send, have, send this to DBW. This belongs to DBW.
I had a discussion, I think, with you and others. She has a clear vision, idea of what we’re all talking about already. She did a lot of homework and she’s responsible for those streets, not the Health Department.
They’re there for that part of it, but let’s get the answers on the street part first. Who’s responsible before we call in the Health Department? Okay.
You know, because I think, I, I get where you’re coming from Councilor Costello and what everyone else is, but I think we send there, get them in first. Send it there, but have DBW come, because Lisa’s going to only refer you to whatever Liz gives you for who owns that property as the area. Because we, I had this discussion with, for several people about paper streets and dead-end streets, who’s responsible, cul-de-sacs, those are all on there.
You know, islands we spent, we talked about, Councilor Costello, those things. So let’s get Lisa in here to explain it and do a thorough thing for us, and I just hope you would allow her to come instead of Lisa, because Lisa’s gonna say, well, I don’t know if who owns it at that point. Then we could have that her come in, or you can have her too.
Thank you. No, Councilor Bialik here was next.
[Speaker 3] Yeah, thanks Mr. President. No, I was looking for further clarification on this as well. I think Councilor Corsian has a good idea with planning, also legal to get their input, and I think DPW as well.
So I think we need to get more information before we can actually come and make a good decision on this. Thank you. Thank you.
Next we’re gonna hear from our attorney.
[Speaker 16] So I got a little bit of experience with paper streets over the years. Paper streets are a right to use, so the city reserves, if the city records a plan at the registry, and it’s what we call a paper street, meaning it’s not paved, does not turn into a street, it’s a right to turn it into a street at some point if the city decides to appropriate the money and create a street. If the city does not do that, a paper street is not owned by the city.
It’s just a right to create a street in the future. So a lot of times it’s between streets, it’s a cut through. So the people that own a paper street are the abutters.
As Councilor Corsian said, it’s you own to the middle of the paper street if you’re an abutter.
[Speaker 2] Okay, so we’ll take this up in committee. We can keep going around the board here, but I’ll let Councilor Krampits have his hand, and then we’re gonna vote on it. Councilor Krampits.
[Speaker 7] Just a couple of things through the president to Councilor Costello. Just so for this meeting preparation, what kind of issues are you looking to have discussed, just so we kind of have an idea of what the framework is going to be for the meeting?
[Speaker 4] Well, the one issue that I do have is there is a resident that lives next door to a paper street, and there’s a lot of overgrowth there, and it attracts rodents, and that can enter their property. So who’s responsible for the overgrowth and the rodents? Is it the neighbor, up to 50% of the land?
And that’s why I wanted to have a hearing in a subcommittee, so we could really look at this to see, because I don’t think it’s fair that the resident has to pay for a paper street for a public health issue. I just don’t think that’s fair, and I just would like some conversation on that to see if the city can help residents that have a paper street problem. I want to recognize Councilor Zagorowski about a year ago.
We worked on a paper street, and it was really difficult. We just had to accept what we could go with at the time, but I’m just trying to address a concern that is a safety issue and a public health issue in regards to the resident, and all residents.
[Speaker 2] Okay, so we’re gonna, you have any more? We’re gonna move this question on.
[Speaker 4] Yeah, thank you.
[Speaker 2] It’s not done yet. All right, we’re gonna, we’re gonna send this to committee, so let’s just ask what we need to do to send this to committee. We’re debating this on the floor tonight, and we should just send it to what the committee needs to go to.
[Speaker 7] Okay, the only additional comment I was gonna make is we do have a process for abandoning paper streets to the abutters. I mean, I think that’s something we can discuss.
[Speaker 2] That’s what Liz will discuss.
[Speaker 7] Okay.
[Speaker 2] This has been talked about several times. All right. Councilor Cushion was the last one, and half a minute.
[Speaker 9] Yeah, just so if you look up on GIS, you can find out who owns that part of the property that’s overgrown, and that person can be sent a letter to correct. It’s simple as that. Everybody owns a paper street or part of it.
Using GIS will give you the property boundaries, it’ll give you a property owner, and then a letter to correct can be sent out. It’s just that simple. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Roll call, please. Okay, we’re gonna take a roll call on sending it.
Okay, roll call.
[Speaker 1] Just to clarify your motion, where is this going?
[Speaker 4] I’m sorry?
[Speaker 2] Public safety.
[Speaker 4] Yeah, public safety.
[Speaker 1] Thank you. Public works or public safety?
[Speaker 4] Excuse me, public works.
[Speaker 1] Public works.
[Speaker 4] Yeah, we’ll do public safety. Thank you. Public works.
[Speaker 1] Roll call, please. President Laflamme. Yes.
Roy. Yes. Wagner.
Yes. Zagroski. Yes.
Arriaga. Yes. Brooks.
Yes. Stahl. Yes.
Balakier. Yes. Rampets.
Yes. Shumsky. Yes.
Cushion. Yes. Labrie .
Yes. 12 yes, one abstention. And the motion passes.
Be it ordered that this, okay, be it ordered that the Public Safety Committee meet to discuss the obstructed view on the corner of Britain Street and Royal Street. Oh, Councilor Costello.
[Speaker 4] Yes, motion to receive the order and refer to public safety.
[Speaker 2] Motion made to second the order be received and sent to the Public Safety Committee for a public hearing on the motion.
[Speaker 4] Yes, this is in regards to the road safety that Councilor Arriaga referred to earlier this evening. There’s an obstructed view on this particular corner. It’s been like that for quite some time.
There is concern about road safety and if Britain Street is a very heavily traveled street, so it would be good to have a discussion.
[Speaker 2] Okay.
[Speaker 4] And I would ask that the building department be at the meeting.
[Speaker 2] I would also put the DPW. They’re responsible for sidewalks and views.
[Speaker 4] Okay, thank you.
[Speaker 2] Okay, any other comments?
[Speaker 8] Seeing none, through Councilor Costello, what is the obstruction there?
[Speaker 4] There’s a fence, there’s a large fence and there’s a large, like, shrub there. So when you go to the corner and you’re trying to get off of one street onto a heavily traveled street, there’s an obstruction there. And I don’t know if the city can do something to address that obstruction.
It’s been a concern of many constituents in that area for quite some time.
[Speaker 8] We’ll take it up in committee. Mr. President, I believe we have an ordinance already on the books about obstructing corners.
[Speaker 2] Yes, yes, we do it and there’s also setbacks by 25 feet of view from any street or corner. So we’ll take it up in committee, if we could, please.
[Speaker 8] I just think that we should notify the building.
[Speaker 2] It’s the building and DPW that controls the streets and the views.
[Speaker 8] They should be notified.
[Speaker 2] Well, they will be. They’re on there. She asked for that.
All right. Thank you, Councilor. So you could invite whoever you want.
[Speaker 8] Is it going to DPW or Public Safety now?
[Speaker 2] That one’s going to Public Safety. We’re gonna send it to Public Safety and we’ll clear it up there, please. Any other comments from the floor?
Any comments from Zoom? Roll call.
[Speaker 1] In a motion passes. We order that the Human Resource Committee meet to discuss the position of Certified ADA Compliance Officer for the City. Councilor Costello.
[Speaker 4] I order that the order be received and referred to the Human Resource Committee to discuss the position of a Certified ADA Compliance Officer.
[Speaker 2] Motion to accept the order be received and sent to the Human Resource Committee for a public hearing. On the motion, please.
[Speaker 4] As we had heard earlier from a resident that there is concern by many people in regards to ADA compliance and it’s always good to have a Certified ADA Compliance Officer as part of our team to make sure that disability issues are being addressed and we don’t put the city at risk for any type of liability for non-compliance. Thank you.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Councilor Labrie .
[Speaker 20] Yeah, is that the right committee to send it to? I mean we don’t have any power over over that.
[Speaker 4] Yeah, the reason the reason Councilor Labrie I said to Human Resources is I believe that a Human Resource Officer is the ADA Compliance Officer. I just want to make sure that whoever does the disability assessments is certified as an ADA Compliance Officer. So it’s what I’m looking for.
[Speaker 2] It needs to go to Human Resources. It is under the HR. You’ll discuss it and I think we’ll reach out to the mayor about that as part of that HR review if we may.
I’m sorry. All right, are we done on the floor? Any comments from the floor?
Any comments from Zoom? Any comments from Zoom? Seeing none, roll call.
Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy. Yes. Wagner.
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Starowski. Yes. Arriaga.
Yes. Brooks. Yes.
Cobb. Yes. Balakier.
Yes. Krampits. Yes.
Shumsky. Yes. Cushing.
Yes. Labrie .
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] 12 yes, 1 abstention. And the motion passes. We order that the Public Works Committee meet to discuss the status of signage on James Street from 820 Memorial Drive to the intersection of Johnson Road.
[Speaker 21] Councilor Costello.
[Speaker 4] Yes, order that that the order be received and referred to the Public Works Committee for further discussion in regards to signage.
[Speaker 2] Motion made in second the Public Works motion that the order be received and sent to the Public Works Committee for a public hearing on the motion please.
[Speaker 4] Yes some residents have been concerned in regards to this particular area on James Street that goes from 820 Memorial Drive right to the intersection of James Street and Johnson Road. The traffic has increased there’s a new business there coming on I believe at the the Castle of the Knights and people are concerned in regards to any signage that should be addressed to to address the increase of traffic in regards to that area.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom or roll call?
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Wagner? Yes. Zagorowski?
Yes. Arriaga? Yes.
Brooks? Yes. Scott?
Yes. Balakier?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Trampets? Yes. Shumsky?
Yes. Courchesne? Yes.
Labrie ?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] 12 yes, 1 abstention.
[Speaker 2] And a motion passes.
[Speaker 1] Be it ordered that the Public Works Committee meet to discuss the empty lot near 117 Jacob Street.
[Speaker 2] Councilor Costello?
[Speaker 4] Yeah motion that the order be received referred to Public Works Committee to discuss the empty lot at 117 Jacob Street and on the motion hold on let me second it first. Okay I’m sorry.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and second the order be received sent to the Public Works Committee for a public hearing.
[Speaker 4] Okay okay thank you thank you Councilor Laflamme. In regards to 117 Jacob Street, this has been a very difficult empty lot. It’s owned by McDonald’s.
I’ve gone there many times. There’s clothes there. There are liquor bottles.
They don’t know if people are partying there and the residents that live in this particular area are concerned for their safety. So I would I would ask that the Public Health Department send a representative in regards to looking at 117 Jacob Street as an empty lot that is used for a lot of human activity that may not be in the best interest of the neighborhood.
[Speaker 2] Okay any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom? Any comments from Zoom?
Seeing none, roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme?
[Speaker 2] Yes.
[Speaker 1] Roy? Yes. Wagner?
Yes. Zagorowski? Yes.
Arriaga? Yes. Brooks?
Yes. Toph? Yes.
Balakier? Yes. Krampits?
Yes. Shumsky? Yes.
Gushain? Yes. Labrie ?
Yes. All of the ayes vote abstention.
[Speaker 2] And a motion passes.
[Speaker 4] Thank you all for your referrals. Thank you.
[Speaker 1] Be it ordered that rule 15 of the rules of the City Council be amended to read as follows. Standing committee shall be appointed as follows Claims and Accounts, Finance and Budget, Rules and Ordinances, Public Works and Resources, Zoning and Licenses, Human Resources, Public Health and Safety, Government Relations and Municipal Operations, Community and Economic Development. All committees shall have five members unless otherwise specified.
There shall be a committee of the whole consisting of all members of the City Council. No items shall be referred to the committee of the whole except by two Councilor Wagner?
[Speaker 5] Motion that the order be received and referred to the Rules Committee for a public hearing.
[Speaker 2] Motion made and seconded that the order be received and sent to the Rules Committee for a public hearing. On the motion please.
[Speaker 5] On the motion this is something that I discussed with President LaFlamme and which he’s been working on with other councilors including Vice President Zagorowski. Obviously I think as all of us know I think we have close to 17 committees on the on the City Council. There was discussion about removing or combining some of those so that some of them meet more frequently and so that we get rid of some that that don’t and then there was a so I looked at the committees of 18 out of the 53 city forms of government in the Commonwealth and came up with with a list that I expect the committee the Rules Committee will tailor to to their liking.
So some of you might see a couple of these and wonder well what the heck are these and then so the government municipal operations I put in there because some of these city councils have a sort of catch-all committee to send stuff that doesn’t exactly fit in any other committee if the need arises. So I expect that the Rules Committee will have its input and I await their recommendation.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Councilor Roy?
[Speaker 17] I’m not sure if I understand this. So what you’re saying is that the Zoning and License Committee are going to meet at the same time at the same destination? Councilor Wagner.
[Speaker 5] So respectfully yeah so what a lot of city councils do and again the Rules Committee can amend it as need be so I don’t you know feel like there should be too too much discussion on this as we’ve had with some items but the License Committee doesn’t tend to meet a whole heck of a lot in Chicopee once every few months maybe. It tends to meet less frequently in other communities from my research and they typically have some committee some communities have a zoning license put into one singular committee just because they’re a sort of similar topic but again I expect that the Rules Committee will make its recommendation whether they want to you know keep them separate or not I just put out something based on research that I’ve seen in other communities.
[Speaker 17] So right now you’re just asking the Senate to rule?
[Speaker 5] That would be correct that’s what the motion on the floor is.
[Speaker 2] Thank you. Thank you. Oh Councilor Costello.
[Speaker 4] Not to belabor points or anything here but this is a great initiative because we’ve got to review all those committees a lot of them don’t meet that often and this is a step forward to modernize our Council so that we become more effective in subcommittees. Thank You Councilor Laflamme and Councilor Wagner.
[Speaker 2] If I may I’d like to talk a minute.
[Speaker 7] Motion to allow the president to speak.
[Speaker 2] Motion made second to allow the president to speak. Roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme, Roy, Wagner, Zagorowski, Arreaga, Brooks, Knauf, Balakier, Krampits, Shumsky, Courchesne, Labrie . Yes.
[Speaker 2] Just real quick I want to thank Councilor Wagner for what happened here is it was we had talked about this as Councilor Wagner said the vice president myself had come up with a lot of them and Councilor Wagner asked me hey can we look around and I said hey do a little bit of homework for us and he went out there and did this for us to have something to review some ideas of what’s in the community so this year was going to be sent to rules and as we’ll adjust it to what we feel it and then it gets voted on by all 13 members excuse me so I just want to thank him for bringing it forward now to and it gives us something to work with.
Thank you. Any other comments from the floor? Any comments from Zoom?
Any comments from Zoom? Roll call.
[Speaker 1] President Laflamme, Roy, Wagner, Zagorowski, Arreaga, Brooks, Goff, Balakier, Krampits, Shumsky, Courchesne, Labrie . Yes. Yes.
One abstention. The motion passes. Be it ordered that the rules and orders of the City Council meeting shall be amended as follows delete 12d the president shall open meetings to public input public input should be limited to three minutes no person shall be allowed to yield to another during public input the individual shall give their name and address prior to speaking at any time a person not present at the close of public input makes a request to address the City Council he or she will require two-thirds majority vote of the council before being allowed to proceed and insert in place thereof 12d the president shall open the meeting to public input public input shall be limited to three minutes no person shall be allowed to yield time to another during public input the individual shall give their name and address prior to speaking at any time a person is not present at the close of public input makes a request to address the City Council he or she will require two-thirds majority roll call vote of this council before being allowed to proceed no person shall speak during public input who is not a resident of the City of who does not have business pending before the committee such as but not limited to license and zoning applications council Wagner motion that
[Speaker 5] the order be received and referred to the rules committee for a public hearing
[Speaker 2] motion may second the order be received and sent to the rules committee for a
[Speaker 5] public hearing on the motion please on the motion as we all know prior to the election we had a few individuals all from the town of West Springfield come and speak before us and and do some work to discredit the the hard work of our election officials and including our own city clerk Keith Rattel as regards to the accuracy of the elections and the voter rules and all that and I thought it made me do a little bit of thinking and perhaps it’s doing a little bit of a disservice to residents of the city of Chicopee that residents from other communities can just come in and speak on whatever and you know do what they did so I think that it’s important that the City Council that handles City of Chicopee issues should only hear from City of Chicopee residents and the people that have business before it and mr. president before I conclude I’d like to say that if this does go to the rules committee I’d like to if I could make a suggestion for amendment because I forgot a couple of groups of people in here first of all our city employees and our school department employees obviously you know they may they might not have particular business pending before the city however they are an integral part of our city operations whether there are educators whether there are maintenance people or whatever so a motion to an amendment in the committee to include them and then an amendment to include our elected officials as well many of whom from the Chicopee delegation don’t live in Chicopee we have six state lawmakers representing parts of the city five of whom do not live in the city so I think if they ever wanted to speak I think it would be important to hear from them as well Thank You mr.
[Speaker 3] president Thank You consular care go ahead yes thanks and thanks mr. president yeah I want to thank council Wagner for bringing up that reference about people speaking excuse me people speaking during public input or not residents of the city of Chicopee in particular the group was United Sovereign Americans from Massachusetts and I did take umbrage to that and I did speak during public input referencing that so I’m in favor of this and I think that people that are either from the city of Chicopee or who have business pending before the committee I’m in favor of that but other people I don’t think we should be having people with other ideas about public policy or so on from other cities or towns should not be coming in and telling us about that thank you thank you conscious Shumsky Thank You mr.
[Speaker 13] president I also just want to make a friendly amendment to what councillor Wagner suggested maybe we should include office staff of a state delegation because while the state delegator may not be here one of his office staff might be and they may not live in the city as
[Speaker 5] well through the chair to councillor Shumsky I think that that would be an appropriate amendment for committee I would just prefer that those things be
[Speaker 2] handled in there if that’s okay okay so if you guys could we’re gonna do with the amendments in committee so just send them to me to council office please and then we’ll do it we’ll take care of that we’re not gonna have time to do that tonight to write them all down and take care so if you could any amendments or suggestions just sending them I’m gonna ask our attorney just to talk for a couple minutes you want to talk on this about the first amendment in that okay
[Speaker 16] so on I had a chance to review councillor Wagner’s proposal and from a legal perspective you cannot limit public input to people only from the city of Chicopee that’s that’s state law that’s a there’s a Supreme Court case SJC case on that you cannot limit it so if you’re in a if you’re public there’s some public input and public comment public input is what you have at a City Council meeting public comment you have at a hearing the public comment in a hearing you can’t limit it to people that don’t live in the city however you can ask people to speak only on the matter the item that’s that’s being
[Speaker 2] considered thank you council Wagner go through the chair to the attorney what
[Speaker 5] what case did you say that that what’s what case did you say that that was my
[Speaker 16] apologies I don’t have the case I could work on it for you just so you don’t have
[Speaker 2] it we’ll make sure everybody gets it and before our meeting we’re still gonna send it he doesn’t have it with him I mean if it’s if it’s unconstitutional in
[Speaker 5] the state Supreme Court is ruled that then I will happily withdraw the order and all right then I will withdraw the order mr.
[Speaker 2] president so he wants to withdraw I’m only going at letting him speak so he did the homework on it for us because I actually checked on it before I did it too before that discussion was up there so he wants to make a motion to withdraw as we’ve
[Speaker 5] discussed we don’t need a motion to withdraw I can just withdraw the order
[Speaker 2] yeah why don’t we just so for its right that we kill it motion made in second to withdraw councillor Wagner’s request roll call
[Speaker 1] please yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes well yes one abstention motion passes be it ordered that the Police Department present the City Council with an update on the implementation of abuses mr.
[Speaker 5] president I’d like to withdraw this order I’ve spoken to the police chief and this among other things will be the subject a broad subject of an executive session for a special City Council meeting that we have coming up on November 13th and I’ve been told that if I have any questions that would not be covered under the executive session that I can refile the order and see where things go
[Speaker 2] motion made in second to the order be received and withdrawn this evening on the motion please you just gave it any other comments from the floor any
[Speaker 1] comments from zoom seeing none roll call yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes one abstention motion passes be it ordered that the DPW engineering planning conduct a comprehensive review of traffic and speeding on the following streets Dale Street Rolfe Avenue Montgomery Street Kendall Street motion
[Speaker 5] at the order be received and referred to the DPW engineering department and planning department for implementation motion made in second the order be
[Speaker 2] received and sent to the DPW in engineering in planning for approval on
[Speaker 5] the motion this is something that I’ve discussed at length with with residents with council will breathe with councillor Arriaga regarding the number of accidents that have happened on Dale Street in the surrounding in the surrounding streets I live right off of Dale Street so whenever whenever these accidents happen I hear them whenever I have my window open I hear them and it’s and it’s been a particular concern of residents I’d like to salute councillor Arriaga for her efforts in getting the the solar speed radars up there which are an important first step but I think it’s important that we have a broader discussion and a study done on this on this street in the surrounding streets see what we can do to improve traffic safety not too dissimilar from what councillor Shumsky hopes to do with the Burnett Road corridor I’m quite frankly I’m a little bit exhausted with being told what we can’t do in regards to this and I’d like to have DPW engineering and planning tell us what exactly we can do and then implement that so thank you mr.
[Speaker 2] president that’s absolutely fine we can send it to the police department as well thank you any other comments from the floor any comments from zoom roll call please
[Speaker 1] the motion passes be it order that the City Council respectfully request that a police officer be on patrol on the following streets on a 24-7 basis Dale Street Chicopee Street Meadow Street McKinstry Avenue the stretch between Grattan Street and Granby Road council Wagner mr.
[Speaker 2] president I’ll make a motion withdraw this order motion made a second that this order be withdrawn on the motion please on the motion mr.
[Speaker 5] president I spoke with the police chief this evening as many of you know we always try to go to the department as beforehand I however unfortunately work in help desk and IT which means that I’m on the phone helping my clients all day every day for eight hours helping them with their technical issues putting in tickets so I wasn’t exactly able to contact them on this but in my discussion with the chief this evening he assured me that on the aforementioned streets he would make it a point to have an increased police presence just because these are streets that have had much higher rates of traffic accidents and fatalities and so for that I’d like to
[Speaker 2] thank a chief major thank you I’d like to speak on this for one quick second
[Speaker 1] roll call please president Lafayette Roy Wagner yes Zygarowski yes yes Brooks yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes two extensions yeah I just I just
[Speaker 2] want to I did also meet with the chiefs are regarding this issue if you look at you we just voted on mayor’s order 7 and talking with the chief today myself and talking to Constable Wagner that that money where you see traffic enforcement and pedestrians will be some of that money is going to be earmarked for that area so as part of it because there’s other areas too but part of this will help him be able to try to increase down that I did ask the chief to also when available to have the the safe car whatever it is to go if they’re not available to try to get that to go down that area work with the Glenn Joslin who runs that vehicle for the city at the schools maybe a couple hours on those streets too so I want to thank Councilman Wagner for bringing it forward so that we can at least work on and and the chief for looking at it right away as we do for all parts of the city thank you Oh Councilor something they mr.
[Speaker 13] president I also want to address this I actually just had a conversation with chief major today and I don’t know for information purposes for the rest of the council I’ve always been able and been very respectful to the chief and when I ask a question like can I have more patrols up in my area they are always willing and able to do that so that’s information for all of us if we ever need it certain parts of the city like I just had him go through the neighborhoods up off of Burnett Road because we’ve had a lot of speeding issues with it on the school and you know people leaving in and out of their homes so we’re just trying to help keep people safe so that’s definitely food for thought for those who didn’t know that thank you thank you any other comments from the floor any comments
[Speaker 1] from zoom scene no no call yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes one abstention the motion passes you have an application for a new special permit under section 275 dash 58 c7 of the municipal zoning ordinance for the purpose of operating a towing and storage business at 78 West Street cruise
[Speaker 2] control transportation let’s see this a special permanent Councilor ballot here
[Speaker 3] thanks mr. president motion made to receive a new special permit application and refer to the zoning planning building and engineering department for a public hearing motion may second the application be received and sent to zoning planning building in engineering for public hearing on the motion on the motion mr. president I’ll take this up in committee thank you any other comments
[Speaker 2] from the floor any comments from zoom seeing none roll call president I am
[Speaker 1] Roy Wagner yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes well yes one abstention the motion passes okay we have an application for a new junk dealers license applied for by eco ATM LLC at 1600 Memorial Drive inside the price right vending machine to recycle used cell phones Councilor Brooks make motion
[Speaker 15] that the order be received and referred to the License Committee for a public
[Speaker 2] hearing motion may second the application be received and sent to the License Committee for a public hearing on the motion we’ll take it up a committee any other comments from the floor any comments from zoom seeing none
[Speaker 1] roll call president yes I am Roy Wagner yes you’re asking yes yes Brooks yes yes yes yes yes yes yes well yes and a motion passes an application for a new junk dealers license applied for by chickabee bullion and coins 40 B Center Street
[Speaker 15] Councilor Brooks make a motion that the order be received and referred to the License Committee for a public hearing motion may the second the application be
[Speaker 2] received and sent to the License Committee for a public hearing on the motion please we’ll take it up a committee thank you any comments from the floor any comments from zoom seeing none roll call president yes Roy Wagner yes
[Speaker 1] Zagorowski yes Ariaga yes Brooks yes yes yes yes yes yes yes well yes one abstention and a motion passes we have an application for a new junk dealers license applied for by video game Giants at 40 Center Street buying and selling used video games and accessories Councilor Brooks motion being second the order be
[Speaker 2] received the license new application be received and sent to the License Committee for a public hearing on the motion thank you any other comments from the floor any comments from zoom seeing none roll call president of flam Roy
[Speaker 1] Wagner yes Zagorowski yes Ariaga yes Brooks yes yes I’ll cure yes rampets yes Shumsky cushion libri yes well yes one abstention thank you 2025 class 1 license renewals Bob peon Pontiac
[Speaker 15] counselor Brooks make a motion that the license renewals be received and referred
[Speaker 2] to the License Committee for a public hearing motion means it’s a ring I got it it’s a renewal it’s a renewal Shane unless there’s a problem unless I then
[Speaker 15] approve this evening unless there’s any concerns with the existing restrictions
[Speaker 2] okay motion basic that suit 2025 class 1 license renewals be approved this evening any questions from anyone on the floor with any concerns anyone on zoom seeing no concerns there is no concerns okay roll call president of flam yes
[Speaker 1] Roy Wagner yes Zagorowski yes Ariaga yes Brooks yes yes I’ll cure yes rampets yes Shumsky cushion libri yes well yes one abstention and a motion passes 48 through 51 or 2025 class 2 license renewals all state auto max LLC Chuck’s auto sale sales LLC David Damaris doing business as pioneer auto sales Fairview
[Speaker 15] auto salvage Councilor Brooks make a motion the license rules be received and
[Speaker 2] approved this evening motion a second that 2025 class 2 license renewals be received and approved this evening with the restrictions on the motion please
[Speaker 15] any concerns if not I move to approve any concerns from the floor any concerns
[Speaker 2] from zoom seeing none roll call president of flam yes Roy Wagner yes
[Speaker 1] Zagorowski yes Ariaga yes Brooks yes yes I’ll cure yes rampets yes Shumsky cushion yes libri yes well yes one abstention and a motion passes 52 and 53 or 2025 class 3 license renewals a truck collision service Inc.
Fairview
[Speaker 15] auto salvage Councilor Brooks make a motion the license from class 3 license renewals be received and approved this evening with current restrictions well
[Speaker 2] she may get the 2025 class 3 license renewals be received and approved this evening with their restrictions on the motion please any comment concerns any comments from anyone on the floor any concerns anybody concerned on zoom with
[Speaker 1] these seeing none roll call president of flam yes Roy yes Zagorowski yes Ariaga yes Brooks yes yes I’ll cure yes rampets yes Shumsky cushion yes libri yes well yes one abstention a motion passes 54 through 55 or 2025 auto body license renewals a truck collision service Inc. and yaguri auto body Councilor Brooks make
[Speaker 15] a motion the renewals be received and passed this evening as long as there’s
[Speaker 2] no concerns with current restrictions motion made a second at 2025 auto body license renewals be received and approved this evening with with restrictions on the motion seeing none any comments from the floor if there’s no concerns yeah any concerns any concerns on zoom seeing none roll call
[Speaker 1] president yes Roy Wagner yes Zagorowski yes Ariaga yes Brooks yeah yes I’ll cure yes rampets yes Shumsky cushion yes libri yes well yes one abstention in a motion passes 2025 auto repair license renewals all state auto max Bob peon Pontiac City Tire Company Gallagher Gallagher’s old-fashioned service in
[Speaker 15] Councilor Brooks make a motion to be received with current restrictions motion
[Speaker 2] made a second to 2025 auto repair license renew renewals be received and approved this evening with restrictions any concerns on the floor any concerns on
[Speaker 1] zoom seeing none roll call president flam yes Roy Wagner yes Zagorowski yes Ariaga yes Brooks yes yes I’ll cure yes rampets yes Shumsky cushion yes libri yes 12 yes one abstention a motion passes 2025 auto detail license renewals all state auto max Councilor Brooks make a motion that the license will be
[Speaker 15] received and passed this evening with the current restrictions motion made a
[Speaker 2] second 2025 auto detail license renewals be received and approved this evening with the restrictions any concerns from the floor any concerns from zoom seeing
[Speaker 1] none roll call president flam yes Roy Wagner yes Zagorowski yes Ariaga yes Brooks yes yes I’ll cure yes rampets yes Shumsky yes cushion yes libri yes well yes one abstention in a motion passes okay we’ll go around the room Councilor
[Speaker 15] Brooks Councilor everybody thank the veterans you don’t thank you Councilor
[Speaker 2] golf you’re all set Councilor who shame yes I wish everybody over Don Roy’s
[Speaker 9] autobody the best of luck in their future it’s unfortunate that the media had to leave out the most important part of his closure is due to the insurance company setting the labor rates and undercutting you know what should be a fair rate for his employees so he’s doing the right thing although it’s probably very hard for him it’s just unfortunate the media left out so much of his statement that misled why he was closing his shop again he’s another
[Speaker 2] victim of an insurance company thank you Councilor Shumsky yes thank you mr.
[Speaker 13] president I first want to start by addressing the brush fire today I want to thank all the fire departments and agencies that were involved in helping contain this fire it is under investigation and we hope to have more information soon so thank you again to the fire department I also want to thank the residents who came out last night also Tom Murphy and our city clerk Keith for tell to a little neighborhood meeting that we had regarding rumors of a development to talk to residents and for me and many others who showed up about what is being proposed and I’ll leave it at that and I also want to thank their bank I’m clerk Patel staff for all the hard work they’ve done in the last three four weeks in regards to the election to my knowledge I believe they stayed till I think 1230 at night so I appreciate everything they did and I also want to wish every veteran a happy veteran say thank you contrabellum yeah I think mr.
[Speaker 3] president I also want to extend good wishes to the clerk’s office and thank them for their hard work for having another election without trouble and kudos to them I also wanted to extend some sympathy to attorney Dan Garvey’s family with their mother’s recently passing may she rest in peace also traffic again it’s getting darker with the time change please slow down we talked about speeding and that’s something that people need to be mindful of and also to remember Veterans Day which is coming up freedom is not free
[Speaker 8] thank you like I always said if you see something say something I usually get many reports from the police department because I’m in constant touch with the public relation officer I don’t have the report for the month of September October yet but certainly you know speeding is an official as you’ve seen a lot of public safety issues were brought up this evening and you know money’s being well spent the police are out there but they can only do so much so you know don’t be afraid to call the chief I speak with the chief probably every couple times a week and various officers there they’re trying to do their best for various streets in a city they can’t be everywhere certainly I watched some of the orders tonight go through and the chief is aware of it and hopefully with the new officers he’s got but they won’t be on the street for probably three more months and until then he’s doing the best possible he can so you know public safety is always on my mind coming from a public safety career that I had but there’s only so much that the police department can do if you look at all those grants we got tonight we’ve given them the tools we’ve given them the equipment they’re trying to keep up with this city but you know what traffic in this city is like every other city it’s non-stop we’re never gonna solve it a hundred percent but at least our officers are out there trying thank you
[Speaker 20] very much thank you consular brief yes thank you yeah in observance of Veterans Day next week I’d like to extend the sincere thanks to all veterans thank you also I’d like to just touch a little bit about you know speeding we all talk about Meadow Street McKinsey Street Granby Road Dale Street Montgomery you know all of the you know main thoroughways but please slow down on the side streets especially as a counselor ballot gear alluded to it’s dark out and people are going way too fast going down a side street so hopefully we can slow
[Speaker 17] down that traffic to thank you Councilor Roy yeah in reference to Veterans Day I just want to say this is a day of remembrance a day of reflection a day of thanks and for those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country and thank you for those that continue to serve this is your city take pride in
[Speaker 5] it Councilor Wagner Thank You mr. president I’d just like to say thank you to all the veterans and the city of Chicopee in particular although he’s no longer a Chicopee resident to my grandfather John Wagner who served in the United States Navy during World War two so thank you for all your service thank you for everything you’ve done for for us and for our community I just like to give a couple of shouts to a couple of people who are watching tonight first of all to my friend Alex who has expressed to me an interest in getting involved in local government not through elected office but probably through a civil service and employment so I I hope it’s been an informative meeting for him we’ve covered a broad range of topics and to my to my partner Colin out there who I love dearly you have to hear me talk about all this stuff enough so thank you very much for for tuning in even though if it was just a little bit of background noise for you means the world for me thank you
[Speaker 7] thank you Councilor Krampits thank you to all of our veterans and if you’re able to next Monday the city of Chicopee has various veterans ceremonies going on so I invite you to participate in it you know to make the day more special also as council Bella care mentioned you know with the time change it’s much darker now so be be much more aware when you’re driving home that people are still out doing activities at night whether it be walking or doing errands and things like that and also if you are out walking please remember to wear a jacket that has some sort of reflectors on it or or dress with light colors because if you’re wearing a dark jacket and dark pants it’s very difficult to see somebody in the dark when they are just walking across the street so please do that and then just to kind of touch upon what was mentioned at public input I want to thank the mayor’s office and the police department for resolving the issue with the the homeless camp that was there basically it was a tent or two but they they worked with the food bank essentially from my understanding it was abandoned how long ago it was abandoned I don’t know but it from the pictures I saw it kind of looked like the tent was still in pretty good condition so the food bank is working to clean it up to and help you know prevent that from happening again so I appreciate all the folks that were involved in resolving it it is no secret that homelessness is a big problem in this country you know we have folks that can’t afford housing they have mental or addiction issues that they’re trying to deal with and sometimes they don’t want to go into a shelter or into housing they want to kind of be by themselves but you know it’s something throughout the city so please you know be aware of that and particularly if it’s on private property as it was in this case the property owner actually has to reach out and contact the police department for remove you know to help facilitate removal of those folks the city can’t just go in and remove people on private property so please be aware of that but again thank you to the police department thank you to my keys in the mayor’s office for kind of taking point on this and directing it to the proper department
[Speaker 4] so thank you Councilor Costello yeah I want to thank the all the veterans for their service including my husband who’s waiting patiently in the lobby to take me home and then I also want to cut it short then yeah yeah he’s been down there for a while that’s okay and then I want to thank clerk Rattel and the register of voters for their hard work for a successful election season thank
[Speaker 18] you thank you guys hurry I just want to say happy Veterans Day I’m proud daughter of a Vietnam vet freedom isn’t free as we’ve heard numerous times please think of it take him out to dinner ask a question let them tell you your story thank you to the clerk’s office it was wonderful to see how many people showed up on Tuesday and I think everybody that came out and cast their vote it’s important and like everyone said it’s getting dark early be
[Speaker 2] thank you and I just like to mention two things here on the Hero Act benefit meeting on November 13th and Wednesday at City Hall they’re gonna they’re going to be talking we’ll explain changes to the veterans presented by senator V Ellis and the Veterans Services so if anybody wants to come to it they can come to it and the other thing I just want to touch something about was mentioned in public input today regarding the Chicopee housing authority you know people got to understand Chicopee it’s in says Chicopee housing store but it’s not run by all city of Chicopee the city Chicopee has one member on that board just one the rest are done by the governor I believe and others so I just you know it’s hard to say something like that that it happened when sometimes you don’t even know about it and you’re only one vote too so we only represent one vote I it’s unfortunate it happened I agree with that but I didn’t want people to think that it was Chicopee owns it and it’s all it was all Chicopees fault we just have one member that represents Chicopee so that’s it right it’s a separate department not of ours so I just wanted to mention that because it makes it sound like it’s Chicopees and it’s it’s one of the buildings in Chicopee thank you I’ll take a motion motion to adjourn motion made in second to adjourn roll call
[Speaker 1] president of flam yes Roy Wagner yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes who Shane Labrie well yes one abstention “”