Left In Lowell

The meeting was packed with spectators. At first, I thought everyone had come to watch the potential fire works between the pro- and anti-City Manager John Cox factions but the crowd had to do with public support for 2 non-controversial Council motions. I understand that they were a number of “pro-Cox” types sitting in the balcony.

There was no name calling; that is left for the pages of the Sun. It was a quick meeting ending at 8:00 p.m. The City Manager is on vacation so there was not the give and take between the CM and the Council members.

After the now standard ceremonial aspect of the meeting, the business portion began with a motion to set the May 7th date for a public hearing on a change in a noise ordinance.

The sub-committee portion of the meeting began with Councilman Jim Millinazo, Chair of the Economic Development Sub-Committee reporting on the garage for the Jackson-Appleton-Market Streets (JAM) redevelopment plan. Well it is going to cost now $21 million to build the garage; a $5M increase from what was originally planned.

According to the report, 70 bid packages were requested by contractors but only 2 bids were submitted. The sub-committee recommended that the parking rates be increased throughout the garages in the City to pay for this increase in cost. A bond was already taken out to pay for the original cost of the garage. The Council approved the recommendation and a public hearing will take place on this whole issue on April 25th.

I, for one, think that parking fares in this City are inexpensive and there is room for increases. However, I do not live downtown nor have a business there. Middlesex Community College will be asked to review its student parking ticket validation process to close some of the lapses. Maybe we can build off site parking for these kids and they can be shuttled downtown. I do like the school being downtown. It adds to the City life for the students and staff do take up a lot of parking spaces.

There will also be another Public Hearing on April 25th regarding the JAM plan; this one on the Law Department Loan Order. So, if you have a strong opinion on the financial costs of the JAM plan and want to share your views, make sure to clear your calendar for Tuesday, April 25.

Councilman Kevin Broderick, Chair of the Auditor Sub-Committee, reported on the recent meeting with the Auditor. I guess Wally has decided to leave his island and join the rest of the Administration. Broderick reported that the Auditor stated that he will work closely with the City Treasurer and the fiasco that occurred at the end of the year will not be repeated. The City has decided that if cash is needed to balance accounts while waiting for Federal reimbursement, a short-term loan will be taken out rather than deplete the free cash account.

The more interesting aspect of this Sub-Committee report was the discussion on a motion made at the Sub-Committee meeting by Councilman Bud Caufield regarding the School Department free cash account. Broderick reported that Caufield stated that there were $2.6 M in the School’s side free cash account and that they wanted the Mayor to get an explanation.

Not so fast, said Councilwoman Eileen Donoghue. No, there is not $2.6 million but only $71,000. Furthermore, the School Department got wind of the discussion that took place and has already begun the preparation of a report.

The first motion discussed was Councilwoman Rita Mercier’s regarding the collection of yard waste. Assistant City Manager T.J. McCarthy explained that it is a state law to have separate yard waste pick-up. He also said that the pick-up started around April 1st. Those of you who have hazardous waste as a result of your “spring cleaning” and would like to dispose it, please check out the City’s web site for the dates and location were they can be dropped off.

The next motion was made by Councilman Bud Caufield who asked that the local youth sport group be allowed to hang business ads on the fences of the city-owned ball parks as a fund raising measure. The motion was made because it required a zoning law change which seems pretty innocuous. The City Solicitor explained what measures were needed to be taken to make those changes but I found it very disturbing that City Council members essentially told the group to go ahead and put up the signs while going through the official process to get the zoning law changed. I felt bad for the City Solicitor who clearly stated “…we should not violate our own zoning laws.”

The Friends of Tyler Park were back to support the motion to have the City contribute $75,000 towards the restoration of the Brady School to its original architectural design. The project itself will cost about $150,000 and they asked that the City contribute half of it. The Council approved the motion in principle. The building is owned by the City and is currently being used by the Health Department.

The University made a verbal presentation of their initial plans to revitalize both campuses. The draft of the master plan can be found on their web site . The plan is to bring economic stability and job growth to the region and support the academic transformation of the campus. I was surprised to hear that the newest building is 40-years old. The University representative made sure to reiterate that the school wants to work with the community in this development plan and that if they cannot get the state funding, about half of the $266 million cost, they will begin with their own funds and scale the plans back.