Left In Lowell

I have been watching the City Council for many, many years. Election season has begun. Take my word for it. Tonight’s City Council meeting launched the 2009 election season. Do some of these Councilors realize that face time on the television doesn’t always translate to quality face time?

It was a long meeting; that is what happens when you decide to meet only twice a month. It took over 45 minutes to go through the ceremonial aspects of the agenda and the meeting ended at 9:30 p.m.

The Double Tree and UML
Right off the bat, CC Rita Mercier stated her concern about the rumor that UML is moving into the Doubletree and wanted to know how is this going to effect Lowell’s tax base. CC A. Mercier stated I have not read this rumor, to which she replied, it was in the Column. He then replied, I do not read the Column.

That may be true but I think all political junkies or all of those who have something to gain/lose from Lowell political activity read the Column or have the Column read to them.

CM Bernie Lynch did mention that if that is the case, the City will have to look at how this will impact their tax base. Ouch. A lot of money to make-up if we lose that tax base.

And speaking of the Column, CC members asked the CM about the request to move the police training academy to the garage on Middlesex Street and they were concerned that the CM was not in favor of it because, guess what, they read in the Column. The CM answered that they are putting all of the facts together and perhaps he will have it ready in a week or two.

Group Homes
This is raised regularly. CC AK wants us to appeal the State Delegation to have them change the rules that apply to Group Home. The Mayor volunteered to have his office find out about group homes. Now mind you, both Andy Sheehan, Assistant to the City Manager and Christine O’Connor, City Solicitor, told them that they were limted as to what they could do. How many time is this issue going to come up; yes once or twice a term. It is a good topic to get the people excited but at the end there is not much we can do. We are mid-size City with a lot of large homes, a working class City. This is why these non-profit group homes come here.

Sub-Committee Meeting
CC J. Milinazzo reported on the Public Safety Sub-Committee meeting on the Fire Apparatus. I already posted on this meeting. CC Milinazzo always does an excellent job in reporting on meetings; detailed and factual. (Here is the link on blip.tv for this Public Safety Sub-Committee meeting.)

CC R. Elliott reported on the Flood Committee meeting. The residents asked that a formal motion regarding the “flash boards” be presented. Unfortunately, the motion was not part of the regular agenda so I was not able to get the jist of it. The residents of the flood area were pleased. (Here is the link to the blip.tv for the Flood Sub-Committee meeting.

Cable TV Sub-Committee Meeting: CC B. Martin gave a report. I also posted on this meeting. Here is the link to the blip.tv video on this Cable Sub-Committee meeting.

Motions
CC. M. Lenzi Request Council ask School Dept. develop curriculum re:Excise & Other Tax Procedures. CFO Tom Moses volunteered to go to the schools and teach students the seriousness of credit and paying your debt.

CC. Kazanjian Request Manager update Council on new Trash/Recycling Program. The CM will report on the progress but he gave good news that he was able to negotiate a new contract and save additional money.

CC. Kazanjian Request Manager update Council on Spinners Contract. The Spinners RFP response was given at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. The CM gave it to the CC, $180,000/year, 1% adjustment fee for 10 years. Spinners have agreed to ticket surcharge to go for capital improvement. All told, the City will receive about 2.5 million. Yes, that was the number that the City wanted. Spinners will continue to maintain the field.

CC Broderick-Req. Mgr. update Council on speeding on Andover St. I am sure that everyone in Ward 1 was happy that nearly all City Councilors expressed their concern about speeding on Andover Street.

CC.Elliott-Req. Youth S/C meet re: Summer Youth Job Program. The CM announced that the Career Center will be working with the Parks Department to have young people run the summer recreation programs at the City Parks and other facilities. Details will be provided later. If I am not mistaken the funds will come from the “Stimulus Package.”

CC R. Mercier/M. Caulfield Request Council take action to rescind previous vote on 3/24 to increase demand fee under MGL Ch. 60, Sec. 15 (2). Wants a warning sent that a fine will be forthwith if they do not pay in a timely fashion. The problem is that if we do not get revenue, we will have to lay-off more employees.

It is very simple, you reduce the amount of revenue, therefore you are limited in your income and have to reduce your expense base; i.e. layoffs. As CC K. Broderick said, this is not about the hardship; it is about those who do not care or even worse want us to front them the money. It is costing me and you, those who pay on time, to collect those who are irresponsible.

I have no idea how the City Council is going to determine the good guys (the ones in financial difficulties) from the bad guys (the habitual offenders). For the record, we are talking about people who are 38 days late after they had a month to pay for the invoice.

CC members should pay attention and know what they are voting for and they should know what the City is allowed to do and what the Commonwealth asked them to do. It is amazing what the CC does not know. The Administration asked people to pay an extra fee of $30 for being 38 days late. It does not sound to unreasonable to me.

Here is a part of the 25 minute discussion that preceded the 8-1 vote at the March 24th meeting. Now this issue was revisited and sent to a Sub-Committee. The CC discussed this for 25 minutes at their March 24th meeting. There wasn’t a failure to communicate; it was a failure to understand.

Closing Comments
Don’t forget to check out the “packet” on the City Council web site and you will probably be able to watch the entire proceedings tomorrow on blip.tv. You can also catch reruns on LTC. By the way, in case readers of LiL have not caught on, I have a deep and abiding respect for CC Jim Milinazzo; his knowledge, sincerity and devotion; a true class act.

I was googling about tilapia after a friend warned me he’d heard they are chock full of the wrong kind of fats and pose a health risk, not a health benefit. Basically, there’s a study which looked at the fish, which is rapidly becoming the seafood of choice in the US, and found it wanting, rich in bad omega-6’s and not so much in omega-3’s.

I’ve attached a podcast. below, from NPR’s Living On Earth show about the issue. It’s worth a listen.

Guess what? Most of the imported tilapia isn’t fed its natural diet, but a corn-based one. The expert interviewed on Living On Earth says wild tilapia is very healthy, it’s the farm-raised fillets that are the problem. LoE also interviewed American Tilapia Association president Bill Varano, who says US-raised tilapia is fed and cared for better, and produces fish that are nutritionally sound.

So there’s your health tip of the day…buy American-farmed tilapia, and you can still enjoy this popular fish. The trouble is finding it.

(You can find the podcast here (direct link to the MP3), I tried embedding it, but its audio settings don’t work with this podplayer.)

Tonight, the Lowell Film Collaborative (who are suddenly all over the city it seems!) are rescreening the documentary film they showed during their recent film festival, The Garden, tonight at 7PM at the Lowell National Park Visitor Center, 246 Market Street. This is a free event.

Bob Forrant sent me a note about this event, with the words, “I guarantee that if you come to see it, you will walk away a changed person! It is that significant a film experience.”

Tomorrow night you can view The Gay Marriage Thing, co-sponsored by the LFC and Christ Church United (180 E. Merrimack Street) where the event is being held, tomorrow April 15 at 7pm. The suggested donation is $5. You can hear my interview with the director of the film, Stephanie Higgins, here. Stephanie will be at the event as will the executive producer, Lorre Fritchy.