Left In Lowell

Paul@01852 sent in this report from the two Lowell City Council Sub-Committee meetings that took place yesterday. Thanks, Paul.

CABLE/COMCAST SUB-COMMITTEE
Cable Competition State Legislation
Senator Steve Panagiotakis described that his bill will increase competition by allowing more companies due to lower cost of bidding and preparation costs. A study by the FTC has determined that average savings are 17% when there is head-to-head competition.

The legislation he co-sponsored will have the state grant licenses to the cable company. Local municipalities will set the rates and structure for their community but will NOT have to do any negotiating — that will all be covered by the bill. Access channels - so-called P.E.G. (Public, Educational, Governmental) - would be strongly protected! According to our State Senator, the city currently receives approximately $55K per year for operating expenses. His bill would increase this to 1% of revenues (~$194K, a gain of ~$140K). This percentage would be negotiable in the bill. If 1% is not enough then 2% or whatever is deemed sufficient would be written in. The Senator noted that in his 15 years in government he had NEVER received a call asking him NOT to file a bill. However this bill has triggered that kind o reassuring him that this is a significant piece of legislation.

C Rita Mercier was concerned about loss of local control. She was assured by Senator Panagiatakos that this would NOT happen, that each community would set their own standards and fees re: P.E.G. channels. He stressed that there was a lot of misrepresentation going around. However, he warned that failure to entice Verizon and others could lead them to invest their money in other states. C Mercier was also concerned about red-lining (selectively installing cable in lucrative areas and ignoring less well off areas such as the Acre). He said that if that occurs now there is not much that local or state law enforcement can do but with his bill the Attorney General would be able to prosecute red-lining assuming it is prohibited by this bill.

Bob Carr, Comcast Government Affairs, testified that Comcast has “no problem with competition.” (Of course!) He mentioned something about the city getting approximately $1million right now which doesn’t square with the $55K that was mentioned earlier (which was agreed with by CM Bernie Lynch). He claimed that the current process “works.” Carr asked if the City was “comfortable” with a 15 day window for processing and with “limited control” over everything. Obviously he was lobbying against the bill.

C R. Mercier made a motion to take it under advisement - passed 3-0.

Wirtanen Petition
I believe this petition requests that the City Council immediately take steps to end the contract with LTC. Apparently the City Law Dept has become involved and ruled that under the Plan E form of government the contract with LTC is in the province of the City Manager and that the Council or its subcommittees would be overstepping their bounds if they got involved. Wirtanen argued like he was in court trying to make distinctions in the way the contract was written but bottom line the SC referred the matter to the City Manager following the recommendation of the City Solicitor.

There were a few enlightening moments during this hearing however. Following the complaints re: the airing of an adult-oriented program at what was considered an inappropriate time, all producers of shows aired on LTC will be now identified with pre or post trailers and on the LTC web page. Also the contract with LTC will terminate automatically on Jun 30, 2007 unless the city gives 90 day notice to terminate sooner. The current contract is not automatically self-renewing if no action is taken.

TRAFFIC/NEIGHBORHOOD SUB-COMMITTEE
Resident parking
Residents are complaining that resident parking permits are unfair. Permits are only valid on the street where you live so someone who lives on a No Parking street like Stevens St. are ineligible. There is also a rule that only ONE permit per address is issued so multi-family apartments are ineligible as well. C. Bud Caulfield also brought up the fact that residents with driveways are eligible even though they have off-street parking which is unfair (I agree! That’s why I don’t have a parking placard!) He also wants residents to be required to show proof that the placard is theirs if the request the police to remove an unauthorized vehicle (Another good point.)

C. Kevin Broderick suggested resident stickers with increased designation of neighborhood like those in the area of UMass/Lowell. C R. Mercier brought up plowing contractors which have to have a city decal. She suggested a large decal with a unique number so that it would be easy to identify them. CM Lynch agreed with that suggestion and said he would look into something for next year.

Dumpster Ordinance
Conrad Gauthier, a Lowell resident, complained that multiple calls about specific dumpsters go unresolved. He had 8×10 pictures that I could see only from a distance but apparently overfull dumpsters and unfenced dumpsters create major problems. He suggested escalating penalties for repeated infractions.

C Caulfield reinforced the complaints saying that the dumpsters in the picture were too small and that they obviously were not fenced even though that would not be difficult from observing the surroundings.

A citizen who did not give her name testified that she had 3 businesses in her “backyard” which each had a dumpster and wanted to know if there was a regulation how far from property line they had to be. She said she has been asking for 7-8 years and hasn’t gotten an answer yet. CM Lynch reading from the ordinance said they had to be far enough “so as not to interfere.” C Caulfield stated that the Council wasted its time drafting an ordinance that is never enforced properly.

Mr. Gagnon, another Lowell resident, requested that the code dept. inspect and notify business owners of infractions and give them some chance to remedy the situation before fines or other penalties are imposed (very fair of him IMHO).

CM Lynch said enforcement would become his top priority. He said he would work with the new Building Commissioner and the Health Dept. to develop a strategy to do a better job. He promised to return to the SC with a plan for better enforcement in one month. He complimented Mr Gagnon and the other citizens who came forward and encourages all Lowell residents to contact his office for any quality-of-life issue within the city.

C Broderick suggested a sticker with a contact phone number similar to those on many commercial vehicles – this one would read “How’s my dumpser? CALL …” stickers — which CM Lynch agreed to look into.

Motion to recess for one month to allow the CM and Health Dept to research a plan passed 3-0.