City Council - Regular Meeting

City Council Committee on Public Safety, dated for June 16th, 2026, set to begin 4.04 p.m. Clerk, call the roll.

Councillor Cagnall? Here. Councillor Raposo? Here. Chair Packham?

Here. Pursuant to the open meeting law, any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium. Attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or transmissions are being made, whether perceived or unperceived, by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible. First item on the agenda, citizens input. We have three people signed up. First on our list is Helen Rigo, 41 Foster Street, subject motorbikes.

Helen Regal, 41 Foster Street. Thank you for allowing me to get this off my chest. My name, I want to bring the attention to the growing safety issue in our city. Recently, I was involved in a car accident near the Niagara Fire Station when a young man on a rotor-sized cycle came barreling around the corner and smashed into the front of my car. I have $12,000 worth of damage. He tore the plate right off the car. Seeing more and more of these, you know, I had it right away. I had the traffic on the left stop, the traffic on the right stop, and I had the leeway to go down. But he just came barreling along and just hit me. So I think that something seriously has to be done. Somebody's going to get killed there because we have a lot of accidents right at that corner. I want to thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Rigo.

Next up is John Sylvia, 51 Ada Street, subject Route 24, South Ramps.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Thanks for letting me speak. You know, we all know there's been a homeless problem all over the city, but what's happening now is the Route 24 southbound lanes off Brayton Avenue There's some tents set up there in the wetlands area. And what's happening is these folks are bringing wagons or they're riding bikes. So they're walking up the ramps. And as you're taking the exit to get off at 30 miles an hour, 40, they just like stop walking in there. They have a wagon or they have a bike. Um, I'm just concerned that, you know, it's going to be someone that's going to hit them. Their insurance is going to go sky high because these people are doing this. And I just think that we need to kind of get this under control. I've spoke to a few people already about it. And we just gotta try to keep, there's gotta be a solution to this homeless thing. Getting a building, putting them in or something, but no matter where they are, they clean them out and it does cause public safety things like these cars going around the ramps almost hitting someone. So we can't really rely on people you know because they're still doing it because we're letting them do that there's got to be a solution to this situation other communities are dealing with it um and it just seems to be like swept under the rug and I'm just really concerned with these off-ramps as cars are coming by people drive fast as it is you're on a highway you're getting off you don't expect somebody to be walking there with a wagon or a bicycle so I really think something needs to be done and it's wetlands there is actually the seagrass in there and there are tents in there so Thanks. Appreciate you.

I will touch upon that. Mr. Sylvia, I did have a conversation Friday with a woman from DEP regarding that homeless encampment. And I did send her some information today because I do want that rectified down there. I don't like the river use and the way the camps is set up around that waterway. It causes an environmental hazard. So I went and contacted DEP myself directly. So if I hear anything, I will get in touch with you. Thank you. Next on the list, Sandy Dennis, 132 Highland Avenue Motorbikes.

Good afternoon. Thank you. My name's Sandy Dennis. I reside at 132 Highland Avenue. And I would also like to speak about the growing safety concerns involving people on motorized bikes and cycles who are not following the rules of the road. The same type of incident just happened to me and my husband last week near Little Theater. A car was stopped at the stop sign. Dave and I were coming through slowly, and a young man on a motorized bike went right around the gentleman at the stop sign, plowed right through the intersection. Had we not stopped, we would have went right into him. No plates on it. These are not isolated events. They're becoming more and more frequently, and I'm asking the City and Public Safety Committee to consider starting a bike cycle safety programs starting at the middle school level something that teaches rules of the road safe riding practices and the responsibilities that come with operating these motorized cycles education perhaps paired with enforcement can help prevent injuries and you know save people's lives thank you for your attention we did something like this years ago with mass in motion and the of a bike committee which spurred off of the park advocates and there would be a lot of bike safety events and giving up helmets and trying to teach the kids but i think catching them at the middle school level and even teaching them the enforcement and what could happen like mrs rego i mean it's he's going to court she's going to court all over an incident that could have been deadly so thank you and i appreciate you listening thank you

do have a written citizen's input it's from joseph cavallo 301 millican boulevard apartment 405 and it reads committee chairman peckham and members canuel and raposo i am unable to attend today's public safety committee i ask that the committee consider requesting the fall river traffic department chronicle traffic violations and traffic accidents occurring on the route 79 devol street expanse along our waterfront given the concerns that citizens have excuse me already voiced on social media local radio and to me personally regarding the distracted driving and pedestrian safety and the negative impacts that the electronic digital billboard poses for drivers and pedestrians i believe it to be the responsibility of the public safety committee to address these concerns respectfully joseph cavallo Item 2 on the agenda is minutes from April 29th of 2026. Motion's been made and seconded. All those in favor? Aye. No nays.

Motion to take item 4 out of order.

Motion so made. Second. There's a second to take item 4 out of order. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. No nays. Item to make, lift item 4 from the table. Motion's been made to lift item 4 from the table. seconded seconded all those in favor resolution read it's to convene with corporation council and police chief to establish a plan for motorized street bike safety measures this was tabled on 4 29 of 2024. how are you doing chief good thank you jt whore chief of police for the forever police department Thanks, Chief. I know this has been an ongoing issue for probably like six years now with the ATVs and the dirt bikes. I remember when I was on in 2020, I believe the original resolution was filed for this. But I think over the last six years, we've progressed from ATVs and dirt bikes into ATVs, dirt bikes, and e-bikes, these bicycles with motors. I'm starting to see more of those than anything else. I figured because we feel that we've had so many complaints not just tonight, but I know all of us councils have received complaints Lately to a lot of them in regards to these bicycles so Figured I bring it to the table and see if we can come up with some type of fruitful plan to rectify some of this

of course so uh just historically speaking so four score and back to 2004 an ordinance was made for the regulation around motorized scooters that is 70-14 with that said the purpose of that ordinance was to enforce the pocket bikes that had erupted during that time which were those little miniature motorcycles that were rather amusing to watch grown adults drive um kind of look like a circus act but although funny dangerous with that said the ordinance in speaking with corporation council and the assistant corporation council as well as our motor vehicle enforcement unit it was written very broadly but it also allows for some enforcement action to happen so i think the the plan that i had had we've had numerous complaints come in not only through the mayor's office but directly to the police department last tuesday i took the liberty to do my own walking beat down on the rail trail as well as the boardwalk The South Coast was having their gala out there So I was walking the boardwalk talking to some citizens and I did notice some e-bikes on the boardwalk So with that said regardless of the ordinance the law does not allow e-bikes to be on the sidewalk So I think there's some confusion in the public that because it is pedal assisted It's not allowed on the sidewalk so i think my intention with a plan is to come up with a public service announcement that we can put out through social media potentially put something together with the traffic department to get some signage made but i think the first thing to mrs dennis's point is the education piece i mean school's out for summer soon but i think educating the public and what the rules are and having signage so that they're aware of it As far as what we're doing internally, we've rerouted some of our directed patrols to be towards this. Our motor vehicle unit has a plan in place to address some concerns that have come up at Maplewood Park with a posse of these e-bikes that have been kind of torturing the neighborhood over there. They already had a couple operations which were successful in grabbing a handful of them, but with that said, we have to do some training in our department because this is kind of loophole-ish in the law. And I think what we encountered, I actually stopped on e-bike, actually it would be considered an electric motorcycle based on how it falls into the classification. So it looks like a motorcycle, it's smaller, It travels fast. It doesn't have pedals, so it's not a bike because it's not being assisted by human intervention. It's running on an electric motor. In doing some research, these bikes are being bought overseas coming in. They can be modified locally here. They're typically not shipped with a battery because of shipping restrictions. They get higher voltage batteries and do certain modifications to create a boost factor in these engines. And the one that I stopped was doing over 40 miles an hour on Pleasant Street. So when that particular vehicle moves that fast, it classifies itself as a completely separate item. It actually exceeds the moped capacity. restrictions and puts itself actually in a motorcycle class. So when we stop that, although it looks like a toy, kind of, it looks miniature to a motorcycle, it still is governed by the laws of motorcycles. So with our officers, there's definitely a knowledge base gap that I've identified that they're not sure what to call it sometimes because a lot of these people that are driving these think that they don't need a license to drive them. In certain aspects, they do. So if it goes less than 20 miles an hour and it's pedal-assisted, it's an e-bike. which you see those and a lot of people use that you know in Boston they see that so I just had a mass major city chief speeding this afternoon in Linfield and I was talking about the urban struggle with these these particular things we already have an ordinance in place that we can use to enforce it there might be some slight adjustments that we might seek to do but a lot of them that are modified that go faster than they should fall under restrictions as far as your license is concerned so Ultimately, what could happen with an individual that has one that's been modified that drives 40 miles an hour, that's operating a vehicle outside of your restriction if you don't have a motorcycle license, an unregistered vehicle, uninsured vehicle, and obviously the speeding element. So with that said, The risk is, some of these, the trend we're seeing in law enforcement is they're creating these groups that are trying to bait the police to chase them. So that's where we run the risk, not only with creating the hazard and putting the city in liability, but how do we go about effectively stopping them without causing a risk to our own safety, the public, and then obviously the operator. We will follow them, obviously within reason of speed, but as far as going into crazy pursuits, I'm not willing to authorize that, but we're trying to do things a little bit more proactive as it relates to that. With that said, we have multiple avenues we can go for enforcement. It's just a matter of training and realignment of expectation in our agency. Thank you, Chief.

Councilor Quozzo. So, are you prepared to sit and discuss and modify the ordinance at this point?

So I think the ordinance right now defines motorized scooters as a two-wheel device that has handlebars and is designed to be stood or sat upon by the operator and is powered by an electric, gasoline, or alcohol-fuelled motor that is capable of propelling the device with or without human propulsion. then it carves out a motorcycle or motorized bicycle which is synonymous with moped is defined in MGL 90 section one is not motorized scooter so as you can see it's very wordy when you read that and the classifications become motorcycle motorized bicycle class one e-bike class two e-bike there's multiple levels I think what the ordinance does is actually restricts The e-bikes, not only in law, but the ordinance prevents them from being on any, it says no person shall operate a motorized scooter on any way or any sidewalk thereto or in any place to which the public has right of access. So basically it bans them everywhere. What the enforcement action with that is, and it goes on to talk about, or any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees or on any public property, schools, playgrounds, or parks within the city. So finishing that part A of 70-14 in the city ordinance, that's super broad, and we can enforce that to a level where we take custody of the e-bike or the motorized scooter or the moped, and then they're fined $100. So that's kind of where we're looking at going with this as far as it relates to enforcing it in public areas. So the rail trail is an exception because it's considered a bike, there's bike access there. So e-bikes can't operate on a bike trail, if you will, but they can't operate on a boardwalk where people are walking. So I think the city needs to just define where we want to enforce that. I don't think we need to change, being broad and just narrowing it to sections is something we can have a discussion about for sure.

Okay, because I guess I'm just wondering, it only says motorized scooter, so should we specify a little more closely? Is that helpful or no?

You could. I think the fact is that that's banning the e-bikes from being in those areas. Typically, when you're operating a vehicle that's going to go over 30 miles an hour, it's a motorcycle, so it's automatically going to be in violation if you're driving it on a sidewalk. I think what I need to do is speak with our training division and just come up with something we can put out to the public as well as the council on defined what it is and then see what the enforcement looks like and then maybe adjust from there.

And what defines the $100 fine? The city ordinance. Okay.

As far as the lawful way to go is then some of these are criminal, so they would be summonsed to court. But there's a competing interest there. $100 is revenue for the city, and then the motorized scooter, moped, e-bike, whatever we're confiscating goes to the person that's next up on the toll list. So that's what the tow companies have as far as towing for the city, is that they take custody of that and eventually they'll either forfeit custody of that or auction it off.

No, I don't know if I can interject here. I know with the commercial vehicle issue, we upped the fine to 250 to make sure that people that weren't parking overnight taking the $25 hit and then doing, you know, it was cheaper to do that than to pay for parking. So we, well, the ordinance committee upped the fine to 250, I believe it was. I don't know if there's an appetite to do that here, but I think if fines start going out and they're a little heavier than $100, there might be some thought into it the next time they go to go out on the road with their bike.

I think the law right now, as it relates to class one and class two e-bikes, electric bicycles are designed closer to be traditional, like traditional bikes with assistance. The bigger thing is that in Massachusetts, they can only be ridden on roadways, bike lanes, bike paths, but they're not allowed on sidewalks. So I think the biggest thing I see is they're on sidewalks, which creates a hazard because it's going faster than you can traditionally pedal a bike. because of the assistance. The issue too is the age situation. So riders under 16 have to wear a helmet. And then here's where it becomes scientific. Somebody could be doing 20 miles an hour on an e-bike, but if the engine on it is 750 watts or more, then it's out of any bike restrictions. It's the same thing with some of these mopeds that they were modifying to go faster. So typically, when it's labor intensive, when we we stop when we have to go through and identify what kind of engine because sometimes we might let someone fall through the cracks if they've got like a 950 watt engine in there, then it takes it out of the eBike eBike classification and potentially put it into a motorcycle class.

Okay. If there's a desire to change the ordinance, let me know so we can put that in the ordinance committee. Of course. Council Canyol.

Thank you. You did answer the question around the fines. I think as far as upping the ordinance, I really think that if someone is doing 40 miles an hour on one of these, you know, that's a huge difference than someone doing, you know, 20 or 15 on a sidewalk. I think one of the things I'd look at to you, I think, in your guidance in terms of the enforcement right now i'll just start with the actual 7014 you cited it says motorized scooters period i don't know if we need to add a section that you know updates that either specifies these different classes right this modified so i think the e-bikes get this is where it gets confusing because obviously you have ordinance and then you have law that comes in so the motorized scooter is obviously a different definition than an electric bicycle

Electric bicycle gets governed by the law and it's restricted to be on not on sidewalks. So that's where it gets confusing. So I'm working on it right now with our training division to kind of come out with like a one page handout so that we can put it out there in social media. But it's also for our officers, too, because sometimes you run into this situation and you don't know what you got. You're like, hey, it looks like a bike. It rides like a motorcycle. What are we supposed to do? So I think when we have more confidence in our enforcement action, then you'll see better results as it relates to quelling it. But we also intend on, I know a lot of these have been getting gifts for kids that have graduated high school or graduated middle school. Not always is it to tow it and charge them lawfully. We have to come up with some type of handout that we can give to the parents when we have to have them come get it and say, hey, this is where you can ride these things. A lot of them, we had a group of them come down towards Ponta Delgado Boulevard over the feast that was down there the day of Portugal. They were actually electric dirt bikes. So some of these are sold as electric dirt bikes. And I know neighboring communities, Westport's dealing with the issue too, because they're riding in the farm areas, which is fine. It's off-road use. But when they're commuting to said area, that's when it's an off-road vehicle on a public way, which then puts it into the same thing we were dealing with the ATVs and the dirt bikes that were going through the city a couple summers ago.

Yeah, I mean, just my kids were playing the ball field at Kennedy Park, and I know you mentioned Maplewood. They're going up and down the sidewalks at Kennedy as well, and they're not just going up and down. They're doing verticals and things like that, and they're going to hit somebody potentially. Correct. Just walking back and forth, so I think – In terms of our efforts to stop them, you know, do we, how we, I know you said you did something in Maplewood, but these are, they're all over and they seem to be in groups too, I'm noticing too, at least as I go there's usually five or six sometimes all together and they're, you know. just going up or down a certain area?

So I'll say that our motor vehicle unit has been clever in doing it. I'm not going to release how we're doing it, but they're doing it. And I'll just say to the folks out there, we have our own e-bikes too. So we can chase them on our e-bikes if we have to. But I think it's just a matter of anticipating where they might be and then obviously intercepting them that way. I'm not one to have the police cars ripping through Kennedy Park trying to chase after them because that just makes, they're baiting us to have that. It's more so of a surprise tactic and potentially using some unmarked vehicles and setting up kind of a sting operation is where we've had success.

And when you say you're taking these vehicles, they're not getting them back at all.

No, I mean, at this point, the only way they would get them back is get them back from the tow company. So it doesn't allow it's not like you've seen like in other communities where there's a big sweep and then we're having them, you know, compressed by, you know, a crusher or something like that. This is a vehicle that gets towed, so it gets towed to a tow yard many times based on what the tow cost is for that vehicle to be towed to the tow yard. It exceeds the value of the actual bike so some people won't even pay to get it back but in most cases they're the nicer ones they will pay to get back so that's the stiffest penalty that we can do is tow them to the tow yard charge them criminally and then it would be the same as if you were driving an unregistered motorcycle and it got towed, you could go buy it out of the yard and pay it out and then take it back.

So we don't have an option to do, I think I've seen other communities do, which is just crush them, potentially.

No, I mean, we don't have that written in the ordinance that it's an immediate. So I guess that's where I'm going. Yeah.

I think here's the other issue. I don't want that back in their hands, I think. i don't disagree with you i think where are we going to keep them and what are the where's the where is the proceedings going to look like when we hold them for a particular amount of time for forfeiture so we can come up with that process um it's just a matter of setting it up which is not built now do you guys track like i know if you pulled me over you would be able to say uh you know this is the history of this vehicle in terms of pull over if you pull somebody over do you know if this is their first defense if there's the second offense a third offense

So we'll know if their plate's been run, if there's a license plate attached. The problem with these is none of them have license plates on them because some of the people don't even realize they need to be registered. So it really links to the person getting put into the computer. So if you're given a warning or a citation, it automatically goes in. And the thing now is all of our cruisers are equipped with the e-citation format. So the only time we're going to be giving you a handwritten citation is if the system's down or if you have somebody on like a walking patrol or someone that doesn't have access to a laptop. But once it's put into the system, it's immediately on your, even if it's a warning, it's immediately on your driving history. What I've asked is we do better documentation even if we're doing discretionary stops. So if we stop a bunch of 16 or less year olds and we want to do an informative thing, then it's a field encounter. It's more of an educational stop, and then there's their chance the next time we're going to do something. When I've got a 22-year-old person driving around on one and they're cutting through traffic and causing issues, I would say there's no discretion that we're going to allow on that.

Okay. So, yeah, I think for me, I don't know that, you know, them even having a mechanism to get it back if they've been doing what you described, you know, being reckless, causing accidents, things like that. You know, it's hard enough to stop these vehicles, I think. If we are able to do that, I think we take it and we don't give it back to them. That's where I would like to see the audience go. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, Council. I can say I've worked for a tow company and I've dealt with these a lot of scooters and tow companies fall under their own separate laws. There's a ton of them that I didn't even know existed. So for them to take the bike, I guess it would be chain of command there and then they take it. And that's as part of payment.

So it'd be tough for us to have cooling off period or they have to hold it for like 90 days and then they can, they have to notify with certified mail and then they end up, it's a forfeiture at that point. The same thing would happen if you abandoned a vehicle that they towed, you essentially are forfeiting it to them.

Yeah. And then it becomes a small claims thing and it's a, it's a process, but I have nothing else to add if nobody else does. Um, Oh, go ahead. Council.

I was just going to say, let the chief, let the chief come up with his, with his actions. I think at this point, um, And to Councillor Candoll's point, if there's a point that we need to amend the ordinance or specify, I don't disagree with you. I think if there's a way we can put it to ordinance to clarify, I think especially between licensed operators, unlicensed operators, I think I would assume there's already a different, it's treated differently right off the bat.

100%. And then a lot of the people that are operating them are operating on our license restriction. So then you're essentially unlicensed, just because you have a driver's license, and then you have a bike or a electric motorcycle, if you're going over 30 miles an hour, you put yourself in a different class. Okay.

So I would say the Chief's got some actions he's gonna take, but I think him and I are gonna have a discussion about bringing the ordinance to the Ordinance Committee and see what we can strengthen on that, and then take it from there. I think that would be the best thing. So I'll make the motion to table at this point.

I'll second that. Motion to table so made and seconded. All those in favor? Aye. Aye, no nays. Motion to lift item three from the table? Motion to lift item three from the table as made. Second. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Item number three, Resolution Committee on Public Safety convene quarterly with Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Chief of EMS for updates. Table 319 of 26. How you doing, Chief?

Good. How are you? Jeffrey Bacon, Fire Chief, City of Fall River Fire Department.

All right, Richard, I gather you may direct the Chief of Special Services. Thank you, Chief.

And I think Chief Fonce is with Scout. We could stop and she'll come to the table. I want, obviously, the quarterly meeting. It's a quarterly meeting, so here we are. I just wanted to touch base where the departments are at. I know we're going through the budget discussions now, so a lot of the conversations we're going to have for, you know, requests on me to ask anything. Right now wouldn't be the time, but to go around the table, see where our departments are at, you know. And then I did want to have just a very short, brief discussion on the actual Emergency Operations Center. It was in our discussions the last time, so maybe two minutes of this. I just want to touch upon that. So, Chief Orr, if you don't mind going first.

yep so before i forget the front burner item is the scuttlebutt going on about the billboard causing distractions and car accidents so i did some analysis i did hear that gentleman today on wsar and my own for my own uh knowledge we did some crime stats analysis down there we've had one more accident than we did last year through this time so it's pretty much on par um there were 30 accidents in 2025 from january till this date last year There's 31. I'm going to dig a little bit deeper. I know the talk was all distracted driving. It would be hard to prove unless someone would admit that they were staring at the billboard to cause a distraction. The only other distraction driving that we would have is if somebody was manipulating a phone outside of using GPS. But I don't know if I've ever had somebody fully admit that they were distracted by looking at something on the side of the road. Just so you know, we're trending in the same direction over there. As far as the department's concerned, staffing, we have 13 officers that are starting at the police academy next Monday. We are battling some attrition. We have some people leaving. That 13 is going to kind of be a net zero. So we're working on getting another group into the academy in August and then another larger group in January. The MPTC, which is the training committee for the state for police, has went to a standardized way they're doing the academy. So they used to do pop-up ones if you could express the need. They're really trying to get into a momentum of just consistent perpetual academies. So we are looking at if we don't have, well, once we get them in January, the next one would be in the early spring. So there's kind of an offset there. There is a CAPE Academy that they're using. They're only gonna be doing one academy a year through that down there. There's some availability, but competing interests every department's hiring. But other than that, the department's moving forward. I did send an update to council president to send out to the council as an update over the last few weeks what we've been able to work on. Working on a neighborhood presence project where we'll be out there with some Officers being encouraged to get out of the cruisers during their their tour of duty I think you saw that on a couple of our Facebook posts where they've set up and had some impromptu basketball games at Griffin Park and and we're also gonna be doing some of our neighborhood oriented problem solving in the neighborhood. So we'll do our traditional roll calls at the station. We'll have the officers deploy to a local park or an area where we can be visible. We'll talk about community concerns and then deploy from there. So we're kind of breaking down the sectors the way we're doing things and trying to look at more of a intelligence led policing and putting resources where we're having the most problems. rather than just stick to route-based. So it's kind of the things we're doing right now.

Thank you.

Thank you for the update. I love the idea of the roll calls in the parks. I think there's been some suggestion just with everything that's happening about revisiting police substations or things like that, and I think those type of things are not quite a formality where we're having to expenditure permanent infrastructure, but I think that's a great way to kind of bring up that police presence in the communities and the neighborhoods. I did speak with that gentleman with the billboard on Deval Street. Just as far as the statistics, I would say that the sign just went on recently. I think it's in the last three-ish weeks. So something to watch closely, especially over the summer as we continue. I need to continue to monitor once it's actually developed to more traffic's down there. But I agree with you. It'll be hard to prove, I think, outside of just potential increased numbers. Right. So I yield. Thank you. Thank you.

I like the neighborhood presence, obviously, the idea, too, because the optics of it, just the presence is a deterrent. So I think that's great. I like the way that the department's been going. I don't have anything negative to say. I'm very comfortable with what I've seen from you, Chief, over the last few weeks, and I want to thank you for going out on the rail trail, because I had called you for something and you were actually out there, so I wanted to thank you for doing that. Councilor Raposo, anything? No, sir. Thank you. Oh, there she is.

I'm behind the wall.

Chief, just introduce yourself, please.

Hi, Chief Fonts from Mercy Medical Services. So our department is trending by the end of this fiscal year to look at between 10 and 12% increase in 911 calls. Our busiest truck is doing, trending to do Rescue 4 is looking at doing 4,600 calls this year. We are potentially gonna look at talking to the police department about maybe one of our districts, Rescue 6, kind of falls between Rescue 4 and Rescue 3 and maybe trying to increase them a little bit outward on both sides so maybe they can help pick up some of the impact because they're only in the 3,000 to 3,200 call range. But it's been going well. We increased our mobile integrated health home visit program. We're doing six home visits a day. And they're very well received. The public is... I'm very fond of the program. Ultimately, when the program gets into full bloom and if it increases, that may decrease some of those 911 responses for the people that have recidivism. But right now, it's moving in the right direction. That MIH program is also the one that does our community service. They go out into neighborhoods, they go to all the launch parties for the school department and rec centers, so I feel like we're getting more and more visible in the community. Our MIH division has increased maybe between 500 and 750 calls this year, but that's totally driven by availability. Sometimes people are getting discharged from the hospital and they're all getting discharged at the same time, so it's almost impossible to try to predict how that's gonna fall. but we've been holding strong. We had the command center down at the gates of Portugal this weekend. We had two coolers full of water, Gatorade, brought some like fresh fruit and stuff and put it inside so that the guys could get out of the heat, the public safety employees could get out of the heat and it was very well received. And I think that we're starting to get our department to try to, with the help of the police department, try to look at the way we visualize events. we know who his incident commanders are, he knows who our incident commanders are, trying to look at if we were at the gates of Portugal and we had an event, we had an incident, like where would we go? Because I can tell you from the off ramp on 79 all the way down to the battleship, there's not really any area for that. So we just started to, we're starting to visualize that and try to, Come up with some consistent pre-planned because most of the events are all in the same area. So We transported I think four At the gates heat and alcohol mostly that happens to anybody But other than that, I think things are going relatively well Good.

Thank you chief Good counsel

I just want to ask about the 10, 12% increase in calls. Is there any nature of those calls or any area that's driving that? That's a big increase.

I find that between 5 and 7 o'clock I'll say is our bewitching hour. It seems like maybe there's more traffic at that time. I don't know if we have more cars in the city. That seems to be our busiest time. And then the elderly, if they're waiting to get a phone call back from their doctor and it turns to 5 o'clock and they haven't heard back from the doctor, then, well, now it's time to go to the ER. So that just seems to be like our, I can equate that to early in the morning in that five o'clock hour, our busiest hours. We haven't had to result in mutual aid. We seem to manage it pretty well, but it does kind of kick the employees in the butt a little bit, especially in this weather. So we try to, we have one of our officers kind of do roving, like, support vehicle, and we have him with a cooler of water by freeze pops. Like, I just try to go out and just try to make sure that we try to keep them hydrated and make sure that they're, you know, doing well.

All right. Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you, Chief. Chief Aguiar.

So as far as EMA goes, we received a grant for $35,000 this year, an EMPG grant. I'm replacing all our radios. The radios were about $1,800 apiece with the charges, the batteries, the antennas. Everything is separate. So I'm updating our radios. For that last year, we received a grant for $12,500. And I repeat, it was not working. So MEMA granted me a grant so I can replace that. So we replaced that at no cost to the city either. That's at Calum Duras Towers. So the first phase with the repeater, the second phase was the radios. So now we're going to have a complete new set of radios and the repeater to go along with the radios. The radios are all high tech like what the chief has the capability now because there's certain criteria that you have to meet with MEMA from them to give you the money. You can't just go out and buy any radio. They have to have the qualifications that they require. As far as the command center goes, it worked out well because we had our command tent set up as well. All these large events, MIMA requires us to have an evacuation plan. So when I do the evacuation plan, the facility or the people that are putting on the event, they have a command, they have the copy of the evacuation plan as well. I go with them, do they use it? I don't know, but at least they have it. Pfeiffer is, we've been very involved with MEMA regarding that. They want all kinds of information. I think the chief knows because that chief's meeting has been talking about that as well. So this is a big thing in Massachusetts, and they want to know people. They want evacuation routes. They want to know what the vendors that are going to be there. They want to know how many EMS and how many police officers, if we're going to have a fire detail. So all this stuff, I said to them, describing to them what we're doing when I speak. My contact is Nate Crouch, who the chief knows as well. He's our region two direct coordinator. So he okayed everything through the plan. Everything's been all set, so we're ready to go tomorrow. I guess the event runs from 12 to six. They're anticipating about 1,000 people. that's what I've been told I don't know but I when I did the plan sent it to me and I did a thousand people um they rather have more than less in case something happens we have to have the task force State Police and that's on the police side of course Amos task force that's chief fonts so they take care of all that stuff I just have to communicate to me regarding that stuff and they'll send the resources as they need it that's all I have

Thank you to the questions that comes can you just want to thank you for all you that you're doing with grant money to to update your equipment and things like that really tremendous. All the things you're able to do and acquire force and no cost appreciate those efforts.

So the grants out this will mean we just have to play for them. Since I've been the director here since 2003. I think I received like $600,000 in grant money, no cost to the city. All my equipment I purchased through the grant money. So it's a very good thing for us, EMA directors, that they offer us that money. As long as we spend it wisely. If we don't spend it wisely, then my question is why we didn't spend it wisely. We have to document everything we purchase. And once we send them the invoices, everything gets paid back to the city. The city originally pays for everything, but they get reimbursed. So it's a good thing. Thank you. Mike?

Excellent. Thank you, Chief. Chief Bacon.

All right. So we have our Recruit Training Academy, the regional academy that we have been running with Westport and Taunton at our facility, is graduating nine Fall River recruits on July 2nd. It's actually really good timing. None of them will have vacation time, so we'll be able to – that's a direct impact of two less overtimes per shift all summer. So that's going to help us out a lot as we move forward and plan for our overtimes and our busiest vacation times through the summer. We're hopeful the fiscal 27 budget will be approved soon so that we can start the hiring process because our goal is to get the recruits that are graduating in July into the EMT Academy in October with five to nine, based on retirements, new recruits, if we can get that hiring process done quickly so that we can have 16 to 18 people in that academy for EMT and then send them to the Mass Fire Academy. so that we stay in this constant rotation of hiring based on the five added positions in next year's budget and the four anticipated retirements we have coming up in January. I just want to give credit to Chief Banville and Captain Baldy of my training division for running a tremendous academy um i will say we've had the discussion i know we've had the discussion um in front of city council and this committee about the benefits of running our own academy versus sending to the mass fire academy and while they did a great job um they're strapped with resources and it came at a cost of seventeen thousand five hundred dollars in overtime to the city to run this academy. So the Mass Fire Academy is free, and I will say I still think that that is the best route. If we can navigate through the challenges of getting people into the Mass Fire Academy, that appears to be the best route, because there's certainly better places I could have spent the $17,500 if we could have gotten the training for free. um as you're aware if you are on the facebook page of the union's facebook page we've had our typical challenges with apparatus a few weeks ago we had a ladder truck overnight in a backup heavy rescue so they were able to do everything except their actual ladder functions just today we had an engine company in our brush truck for four hours while we had a spare apparatus that went down but we got the front line apparatus back up and running So our shop's been working really hard. One of the things that we're doing to try to buy time until we get our new apparatus in is the dealer just gave us a loaner. It's a 2002. HME is the brand. It's got 30,000 miles on it. a ridiculous upgrade from what we have in our 1997 and 1998 trucks it's from a fire department in maine we have it on site we're just waiting for the shop and my training division to be able to equip it to get it into service and they're also sending us a ladder truck we're waiting to hear from them what the options are to get a ladder truck because of the delay in delivering ladder four so we'll have another viable backup so we don't run into I'm not going to say we don't run into this because the apparatus gremlins come at you when you least expect it. They're big trucks and they're very complicated. So we never know when one or two or three are going to break down. But the more capable, ready, reserved, spare apparatus that we have, the less likely we are to run into what we ran into today. Now, if you don't mind me just interjecting there. Sure. what do we have for equipment down now do you have a list of what we have for trucks engine five is down right now it needs a new engine but it's going to stay in service it's got a little bit of a engine blow by so we're going to price out for a new engine for it but in the meantime the engine's running fine and it doesn't affect its capabilities we'll monitor that in the meantime we did the same thing with our platform one a year ago where we kept it in service until the engine repair and the engine replacement So engine five is down right now. And I think that's the only frontline engine that we have down right now because engine four went back in, engine two went back in. Our spare engine 26 blew some airlines. So that's being repaired right now so we can get it back in service. And our engine 24, we actually took out of service when we put engine 11, the Easton pump that we purchased, when we put that in service. That truck is getting rave reviews from the crews that have worked on it. But we do have the capability to put Engine 24 back in service, and it will be available as of tonight. The recruits were doing their training on it today. They were actually being tested on Firefighter 1 and 2, and they were utilizing that apparatus, so we weren't able to remove it to put it into service. Our ladder four is getting springs done, I believe. No, I'm sorry, it had the springs done. We took that ladder four out of service for its annual major preventative maintenance run, and that was the poor timing of ladder three then breaking down. It blew an airline overnight, and we had to get an airline custom-made and had it back in service the next morning. So right now, the trucks that are out of service are ladder four and engine five, and the backup truck, engine 26.

All right, thank you. Council Reposo.

Thank you. The only thing I got was the, we had a discussion during budget time about the PFAS free equipment. Oh yeah. And you and I had had a discussion about that. I didn't get a response from the administration on modifying the capital improvement plan, but you and I did have a conversation post the Memorial Day parade. Yep. So if you want to, Veterans Day I should say, so if you can speak to that, that'd be great.

Yeah, no problem. So due on Monday is the FEMA assistance to firefighters grant. We are putting in for, I'm gonna have the exact number of sets of gear that we need tomorrow. Our training division went through and checked the tags on every set of turnout gear and anything that's 2017 or 2018 will be out of its usable service life over the performance period of this grant. So we'll be able to utilize this grant to purchase those sets if we are awarded. I'm thinking it's in the ballpark of 70 to 80 sets of gear and It's gonna be about five to six thousand dollars a set because the AFG allows you to put in for a helmet Two hoods gloves pants suspenders a gear bag boots. It's the whole show not just the pant and coat and So any money that we save in doing that from the capital budget, I would I would like to use to buy some some some much needed equipment, thermal imaging cameras and things like that. So that could be an impact of potentially, you know, three to $400,000 in this grant, and they'll be a match. It's a 10% match, but but it's a significant savings for the city.

Good. I just want to repeat what I said when I had that conversation with you is that I want to make sure that we're not in a situation where X amount of firefighters are getting equipment first and then the other group of them are waiting, you know, six months, eight months to get the same equipment. I want to make sure that if we're going to do it as we discussed in a full swoop, but at the same time doing your due diligence to test the equipment to make sure it's truly PFAS free.

Yeah, I think it's about a year process. And as much as I would like to get everybody into that gear right away, I think it's more prudent to to make sure that the gear is quality. And just because this is year two or year three of fully PFAS-free gear, and there's a lot of new products that are coming out on the market. Even right now, the gear that our recruits have right now that is PFAS-free in the academy, we're finding that they are overheating a little bit quicker, right? So now we gotta look at that and say, all right, do we need to work the numbers. Because the way gear works, there's three layers. There's a moisture barrier, there's a thermal barrier, and then there's the exterior shell. And you can play with different fabrics, different thicknesses, and different protection levels. So you can say, we're going to go a little less protection from heat, from exterior heat, to give a little more breathability so they don't overheat. Or do we want to risk that? So anything we order will be within the acceptable range. But what works in Fall River doesn't necessarily work for Swansea-Tiverton, right, because we do a lot more interior structural firefighting. So we're trying to find that balance right now. So I think if we would have mass ordered this gear that we have for these recruits, then maybe we would have more heat-related injuries this summer. So we're trying to balance this out and figure it out. That's understood.

When do you expect the answer on the grant?

September. Actually, end of August, beginning of September. So we know that there's gear that we can purchase from the capital improvement plan. So once we know what gear will be eligible to be purchased through the AFG, we can stop purchasing that other stuff, the 100 other sets that we're going to look at. We can stop purchasing that through the capital improvement plan as soon as next week.

Okay, so if you could possibly keep us updated on the grant and how that what that falls out to be. Yeah. But I still would like an answer from the administration on the capital improvement plan. So I'm going to ask through the chairman to the clerk, if we can send a letter to the administration to get an update on the original request of the modification of the capital improvement plan. I'll make that the form of a motion and motion so made to send the

Let it to the mayor. Reiterate for me so I can put it on record.

Yeah. To send a make a motion to send a letter to the administration requesting again an update on our request to modify the capital improvement plan to ensure that funding is available to provide the full set of gear for all the former firefighters regarding PFAS free equipment.

Thank you. You got that clerk. Thank you. A second to that? All those in favor? Aye. Aye. No nays. We will send that letter to the Mayor. And I'll yield. Thank you. Thank you, Council. I do have questions in regards to the Emergency Operations Center. Like I said in the beginning, we're sitting here picking apart a budget, and I've been very vocal about us not having a lot of money moving forward, and we've got to be... frugal with our spending so i'm not going to sit here and say i know the emergency operations center needs a lot right updating it needs um it's been a few years since we've updated it and no fault to anybody but to sit here and say that we're going to throw all kinds of money at it to make that happen right now i don't see that happening So what I would recommend is, and if it's okay with you guys, the next public safety meeting that I hold, I would like to address the Emergency Operations Center, just that, and I would like to actually hold the meeting at the Emergency Operations Center so we have a visual of what's there.

You're talking about the training classroom? Yes, sir. Yeah, okay. And I will note that, because we've discussed this, there are funds through FEMA for EOC upgrades, grant money. Fantastic. I will look at that and see when that next round opens. I know the next round of EMPG opens in July. So if those align, then we could be submitting for that in July to upgrade that.

Great. Yeah, so I think just having conversation, keeping in mind that we are going to try to move forward with that room as well. The trailer was fantastic. We could have done really quick. The public seems to like it. I was down at the Battleship Cove the first time it was out for the Seafood Festival, but I wasn't able to make it down to the gates this weekend. But I would like to get that, you know, keep the conversation going because we know what happens. If we stop the conversation, a million other things pop up and it goes by the wayside. So I am going to schedule a public safety meeting in the near future just to address it, and we'll do it at that location if everybody's okay with that.

I feel like where the trailer was set up for the Seafood Festival was not really functional. I feel like I wanna go down there and talk to the guy, I don't know his name, from the state so that way we can look at the Fourth of July because Fourth of July we cover a lot of area. We go all the way from Point Gloria to the Norton Pier to the boathouse all the way down to the carousel. And I feel like having it all the way down to the carousel is kind of, I don't know, I feel like it should be a discussion.

Yeah, definitely. And I think with July 4th fast approaching, that's a conversation that has to be had. And I don't know the logistics of this or how you would make that happen, but what about a halfway point there with that large grass area across from the... We typically set up police resources in that center area right next to where the stage is so we could put it there.

I just want to talk to the gentleman from the state. He's always very amenable, but I just want to make sure. The other thing we had talked about... is that after July 1st, after the budget, we'll try to meet with Jasmine to see if we can do some sort of collaborative grant to try to get the mobile command center like we talked about. And I feel like I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't mention that there's going to be a memorial for, I don't know if we're gonna have a public safety meeting for them. July 13th, they're gonna do a memorial at the Gabriel House, outside of the Gabriel House for like one hour, six to seven.

Mm-hmm. You're talking about Father Rob's?

And Father Rob is going to be doing that, where he'll have speakers, and he's going to read off the names of the people. So I think that it's worthy to mention that if anybody is interested, that they should be there.

Okay. Thank you, Chief. Chief Aguilera.

So Donna T. Carousel is one area that we sort of a command center, EMA. And a lot of action down here, a lot of foot traffic. The chief can attest to this because he's been down here. And a lot of medical emergencies, we refer them to EMS. I'd like to speak to Chief Fonce about having an EMS person stationed at our command center. People trip on the bridge, people just trip in the parking lot, Band-Aids, small type of things. We always take care of the end of the park down at the carousel. A lot of foot traffic, a lot, a lot, a lot of people coming through there. So if we have a command center there, which is, you know, ours and somewhere else to take care of both areas, that would work. I think what we're lacking is communications. We have to update our communication. Now we can update it because I have a police radio, like the chief does, they give it to me, so we can contact the police directly as soon as it should happen down there, even though they have police patrol down there, but sometimes it's somewhere else and something should happen and we have to call them to get there right away, even though they're walking around the area. It's a large area that you have to cover. Also, state police are down here as well, covered because it's a state park area. So we see them down here. But I think the most important thing is communication between the command center will be an important thing this year as well. And having an EMS person with us down here just in case there is a medical emergency. Thank you, Chief. Counselor Raposo.

Yeah, the only thing I would say, excuse me, I would imagine our next public safety meeting will be after the 4th of July. So in that conversation, I'd like to hear, because last time we just talked about upgrades that need to happen to the vehicle. So now the Seafood Festival, the Day of Portugal, and now the 4th of July will be the three kind of tiered events that would be the test of this EOC. So if there's anything you can all bring to the table about upgrades or things that need to be added after those three events, I think that would be useful. I think EMS has been great with supporting the financial piece behind it, but if there's more to be had, I think we need to have that discussion. So if we can come with that information, that would be great. I yield to you.

I think the Chief Hoare can probably elaborate on, you know, has been meeting with MTSI to try to get some of the computer stuff.

And that was part of our discussion last time, but I think once we go through those three events, if there's anything you want to bring to us about that, I think that would be helpful.

I added the telescoping lights and the telescoping cameras to my capital budget. So if my budget gets approved, then we'll have that. I did want to try to get an invoice for some of the computer equipment, they're gonna try to work on that so I could encumber some of the money that I have left this year to try to take care of, in other words, just put it in the bank. So I think we're moving forward. It's good. I think the air conditioning was good this weekend anyway. It was really hot.

Yield yield. Yeah, I appreciate your efforts. Chief, I really do. They've been fantastic with the trailer and all you guys. It was great doing the trailer and watching everything move so you know quickly and fluidly it was just it was nice. So I do appreciate you guys. Council candidate. Do you have anything. Nothing. With that being said, I have nothing else to add. We have a motion to table, a second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. No nays. Motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn has been made and seconded. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. No nays. Have a good night, everybody.