City Council - Regular Meeting

Councilor Jerry Martin was here. I'm sure he'll be right back. But he is here. And we are just very happy to have all of you here with us this evening. Councilor Walsh, I will turn the floor over to you. There go Councilor Martin. We knew he was here.

There we go. As I said, it's an honor to be once again presenting this proclamation recognizing the Springfield Trailblazers. I'm going to be joined by my colleagues Zyda Govan and Marlo Brown in this presentation. We have a presentation for the entire group. I will ask Felix and two of the coaches to speak, and then we want to introduce each individual athlete to receive a proclamation. But we are proud to recognize the Trailblazers for winning the Caribbean International Shootout Championship, held July 16. in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Whereas the Trailblazers proudly represented Springfield in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts while competing against talented teams, the victory marked the Trailblazers' second championship in three tournament appearances, building upon the organization's international success in 2024. Whereas the journey provided the young athletes, and would all you athletes like to stand so everybody can see who you are? Whereas the journey provided the young athletes with an unforgettable cultural experience, including the opportunity for several players of Puerto Rican heritage to visit their families, under the leadership of Director Felix Gonzalez, Head Coach Eduardo Henriquez, and Assistant Coaches Cruz and Mark Murray, the Springfield Trailblazers continue to provide meaningful athletic opportunities. And the Springfield City Council is very proud of you. We'd like to celebrate your remarkable victory, dedication, and representation of Springfield by presenting all of you with proclamations today. And this proclamation is sponsored in your honor, August 24th, by city councilors Kateri Walsh, Maria Perez, Marlo Brown, Saida Govan, Jerry Martin, and Jose Delgado. So let me present this to the coaches. I wasn't on that?

Why wasn't I on it? Thank you, thank you. Wait, first, before the coaches speak, Councilor Walsh. Councilor Walsh, before coaches speak, we'd like to give remarks to counselors. Yeah. You taking over? Does any counselors have any remarks? Councilor Govan? Thank you, Madam President.

I just want to congratulate the Springfield Trailblazers for their accomplishment. We're going all the way to Puerto Rico. Did you guys have a good time? Yeah, right? We love the island. I just want to congratulate you, congratulate the coaches, and congratulate the parents who are here, who we know what a sacrifice that is. having to go to practices and taking the kids where they have to be. So I commend all of you. Thank you all for being a part of Springfield. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilor Govan. Councilor Brown.

Thank you, Madam President. First, I want to thank the coaches. Me being a coach myself, I know how it is to be able to motivate young people. And I want to thank you, athletes. I think it becomes a brotherhood. The coaches will tell you as you get older, these same individuals will be your brother. There'll be a lot of times you can make bad decisions, but we know Springfield, we make winners. So congratulations on your win and keep pushing.

Thank you, Councilor Brown. Vice President Jose Delgado.

Thank you. First of all, I want to thank Councilor Walsh. She kind of beat us to it. We saw it. I was like, well, we're going to do a citation. So I'm glad that that you brought it forward to the council. Thank you so much. I want to congratulate the team, the coaches, parents, parents and guardians for this is two years in a row. You know, that's something really, really that you should be really proud of. I'm a little I'm a little sad that I was in Puerto Rico like a week before that. So if I would have known, I would have tried to hang on to check you guys out, win the championship. But not only that, I say this every time when we have athletes here and it's it's, you know, following along Councilor Brown's words is your brotherhood, but you're also learning. Real strategies. You don't understand what sports is. It's fun. It's hard. But you're learning real-world strategies that will stay with you when you're an adult, knowing how to work with other people, knowing how to work together, knowing how to be an individual person. So these are all things that, you know, your parents, your guardians, your coaches are instilling in you, and you're putting that forward, and it culminates with a championship. So super proud of that. And I also read something that you beat J.J. Barea's team yesterday. Like a Puerto Rican legend in his own right, NBA champion with the Dallas Mavericks. So for you guys to do that, that's pretty awesome. But most importantly, you're representing yourselves. You're representing Springfield. So we're super proud of you. And I say that because I was just watching the BSN. the the puerto rican league yesterday they had the game seven and it was bayamon versus aguada and i watched that game last night so so kudos to you guys and and for those who have puerto rican heritage i'm sure that means a lot going out there and winning that that w so thank you guys and shout out to my guy pb

Thank you, Councilor Delgado. Well, I have to say some words. Did you all have any fun or it was all work? No fun. Any fun? Oh, you had a lot of fun? Yeah. Did you do anything in particular that was real exciting and fun? Or just the whole experience? the whole experience and the food and everything. I've been to Puerto Rico three times and I really enjoy myself. So congratulations to all of you for putting in that work. I know it takes a lot, right? And were you nervous or you knew you had it in the bag? A little bit nervous? How about the rest of you? You're a little nervous? Yeah, but you pulled through. And along with getting these skill sets for when you get older, you are still role models for others. I see a young little girl in here, and so you all are role models for the next generation coming up, and they're watching you. Someone's always watching you, so make sure you be the good role model for them and keep working hard and keep putting in All the work to make you champions, because we are so proud of you. We are proud of the parents for putting in the work, too, because we know it's hard. My son was in sports his whole life until he finished college, but it is a lot of work taking kids everywhere they have to go. And to the coaches, sometimes we know you have to step up and be everything, right? You got to travel, transport, plus guide and teach and everything. So it's an honorable, sometimes thankless job, but we are thankful for you. We are thankful that you are taking our kids all the way to Puerto Rico. Oh, that's my little shout out. And I will turn the floor over to you for some remarks.

That's it? All right, thank you. First off, thank you for inviting us. We really appreciate you guys acknowledging our efforts. Coach Peewee was going into Sunday at a deficit. When you're in a tournament like that, you don't know who you're playing. You don't have any recon. It was a win or go home type situation for that team, and they rose to the occasion. Jomar had an excellent game. It's fascinating because his first sport is baseball. And he came in and had one fabulous game. All of them did. Some of the kids on the team, because of the expenses to get to Puerto Rico, not everybody can go. So some kids play double duty to play on two different teams. We're basically playing outside where everybody we're playing is from an island. So, you know, the heat was a factor. But these guys, you know, they had two games to play on Sunday. And they just, they played phenomenal. They played phenomenal. Jomar seemed like he was bigger, faster, stronger. Nothing would miss. And then what's...Jelias. Jelias was making moves backwards. It just didn't make sense what these guys were doing. You know, they truly rose to the occasion. I can't say no more. I was, you know, I was proud to watch them guys play. These guys coached in the team moms, you know, and they were fascinating out there. But a special thanks to the Trailblazers organization that's been around for like 30 years. And they've been going to Puerto Rico, Florida, and other places traveling. Felix has been heading that for years. Thank you. You know, this is my first effort, or first time with the Trail Blazers on this team, and it's quite the collaborative effort on behalf of the families and the community of Springfield. The community of Chicopee donated a lot of money. We stood out on street corners in front of Walmart, Rockies, you know, and got hundreds of thousands of dollars from the community, and that was awesome. You know, so, you know, big kudos to the community. They really came, helped us out a lot. If it wasn't for them, a lot of kids wouldn't have been able to go. You know, it's a big expense. And another shout-out to the families. If it wasn't for the dedication of the parents, we wouldn't have nothing to do. You know, it's a big expense time-wise and financial-wise for the parents. We appreciate you guys for what you do. You know, a big clap for them. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be doing nothing. Thank you.

Go ahead. Off the court, they behaved. They represented well not only their families, which is to say that I talked about in the way they raised them, but also to our organization and to our community. And to come here with a championship, that's like something added to that. It's like, you know, not only that they were presented and received the prize, from this young man. And, you know, to be recognized by the city of Springfield, which is the city council, for us it's an honor. And it's, you know, we are truly grateful for this recognition, this proclamation.

Thank you, Mr. Phillips. Thank you so much for that.

I was like, I never... I never seen anybody bringing a trophy before, so I thought you were bringing it for us, and I was like, we'll take it, it's beautiful. Did you want to say any words, or did you want to say any words, no words? Okay, well, we'll go ahead and, oh, Councilor Walton.

And my colleagues are going to help present them. Councilor Delgado has some. Councilor Galvan has some. Councilor Brown has some. We can share one with Jerry. But as we read each athlete's name, we'd like him to come to the podium and be recognized. So why don't we start with the names?

All right. Who's going to start? Councilor Delgado?

You want me to start from here?

Yeah.

All right, so the first, I'm gonna read the, the first one, I'll read the entire citation and then I'm assuming after that we'll do just the names. But this is City of Springfield City Council tribute of recognition presented to Adrian Gonzalez. Springfield City Council proudly recognizes Adrian Gonzalez.

For outstanding dedication and teamwork,

sportsmanship, perseverance as a member of the Springfield Trailblazers 14 and under championship team. Your hard work helped secure the 2026 Caribbean International Shootout Championship in San Juan, Puerto Rico, while proudly representing Springfield, the birthplace of basketball, both on and off the court. Congratulations on this remarkable achievement signed today, August 24th, 2026, by our city clerk, Gladys Oyola-Lopez, and sponsored by city councilors Katie Walsh, Maria Perez, and all city councilors.

Congratulations.

You don't have to speak because we got other proclamations, so we're going to say everybody's name. You come and get your proclamation, and then we're going to all come back here and take a picture, okay? All right. So we're just going to say names because all of them say the same thing.

Next person I have up is Julius Mungay. Did I say the last name right? Julius? Okay. Okay. I got one more. Oh, sorry. And last but not least on my end, the Caribbean Tournament MVP, Mr. Jomar Rivera.

And the next... of Springfield City Council proudly recognized Jamal Robinson.

And I'm going to be presenting this to Javier Mangual.

He's not here.

Congratulations to him. Tristan Candelario. And Amaury Lopez. No picture? Oh, he's got some.

So the next young man we'd like to recognize is Yariel Costello Cruz.

Y'all brought the gang.

And next we have Amari Nelson.

Did we miss anyone? Everybody got it? Okay. So now we're going to ask you and the coaches, Mr. Felix, if you come back and take a picture with us, please.

Thank you for everything.

I want to stand next to the show. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Is Coach Murray in the house? Coach Murray. Who's Coach Murray? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Coach Murray. Happy birthday to you.

Yay!

all right we got another proclamation um so i'm gonna turn it over to counselor brown for this special proclamation you you you free to leave free to stay um but thank you Very nice. All right, Council Brown. We're going to ask these next folks to move on up. Got a special proclamation coming up. So, Council Brown, you have the floor.

First, this is an individual who not only, I think, inspires the kids... She's inspired women and she's also inspired me a lot of times people don't understand this young lady No matter how many times she's been knocked down She's gotten up and continued to push and not only has she pushed through She's grabbed other people along the way to help them through their journey so This is an honor, an honor for me, for an individual who's been doing this, I mean, for a while, raised up to be like this for a while. And a lot of times people don't understand, not only is she in my area, not only is she like family to me, she's somebody who I'm sure if you know her, You know what type of person she is. She does it from the heart. And I can't, words can't say enough who the individual, who she is. So Latoya Voss, she's also going to be honored on the state level. We got some for you on the state level too. But this is for Latoya Voss. If you can stand so they can see who you are. Now, she has an event, a back-to-school event that she maneuvers and managed. That event, all she did is run back and forth, back and forth. It was excellent. I think I ate all the cheeseburgers and hot dogs. But I won't talk forever. I got a proclamation. I'm sure a lot of my colleagues, I know they admire you and they would want to say a few words because, you know, I can talk forever. You can ask Councilor Whitfield. Let me read this proclamation. Whereas the City Council proudly recognized Kids Lands, founded by Latoya Vaz, for its heartfelt dedication to empower children ages 4 to 19 and helping young people discover their unique voices, talents, confidence, and sense of belonging. And whereas KidLand provides a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment where children can learn, communicate, have fun, and receive encouragement through the program's events that are offered free of charge to the community whenever possible. And whereas Kidsland's annual back-to-school event held on August 22nd, 2026 at Sam Bolden Park in Springfield brings children and families together for free activities, performances, raffles, food, book bags, haircuts, and other resources to help students begin the school year prepared and inspired. And whereas the event also promotes mental health awareness and bullying prevention while bringing together community partners, including the Whitley Brothers Boxing and Fitness, special speakers, food vendors, local supporters committed and encouraged to uplifting Springfield youth. And whereas inspired by the loving memory, lasting legacy of Latoya's Voss cousin, Dwayne, Kidsland is committed to building unity and creating future opportunities through scholarships, education, trust funds, mentorship, and continued support for deserving boys and girls throughout the community. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Springfield City Council proudly honors and its kids land and its founder Latoya Voss, celebrating their inspirational leadership, compassionate service, and unwavering dedication to strengthening families, uplifting children, and building a brighter future for generations to come. And this is from me and all the city councilors. Thank you.

Can I say something? We usually say something to you first, but if you want the floor, you can go right ahead.

No, I want you to first.

We don't always got to go in order. Are there any counselors who want to speak? If not, I'll go ahead. I think I should go first. You think I should go first? Okay. Thank you, Councilor Walsh. That's nice of you. So, Toy, I remember when you first started and you had this plan. and you have put the plan in place, and I follow you, and I read, like, when you lost your brother, Mike, and I read, like, the days, how hard it was, and everything you were going through, and you still didn't let that get you down. I know that your brother was your family's rock. I think he's the oldest, and everyone else was younger, and he really looked out for you all, and he gave back, even when his accident happened, and so he was teaching you all how to give back all that time, and, um, You know, you have grown this thing to what it is today. I remember when you were doing penny fundraisers. You was like, just bring me your pennies. I'll make the pennies work, right? And you did that. And people weren't just giving pennies, though. They were giving more than a penny, you know, dollars and $20 and things. But You grew this from your heart. It is something that you had on the inside. I also want to thank you for when you did the kids' activity at Juneteenth Jubilee. I asked you one day last minute, and you said, I got you, and you came through. And I definitely always will remember that and appreciate it. People don't have to do stuff all the time, but when you do a little bit of something for somebody, they never forget. As long as you're giving what you can and giving of yourself, And that's always been you. And you're so kind and pleasant to work with and just keep your commitments. And when you can't do it, you say that too. And it's understandable. So I just wanted to say congratulations. Sorry I didn't make your event this past weekend. It was so many of them. And people will be like, why is there so many? And I love that there's so many because there was one at Magazine Park and Blanc Park and over by Bowling School and then one on Dickinson Street. And so every neighborhood, kids, Indian Orchard, every neighborhood, kids, had something in their neighborhood that they could walk to if they didn't have a ride, couldn't catch the bus. They could walk and get something for school in every neighborhood. And that made me so proud. Even like St. John's, like everywhere you turn, And every single one that I rode by, because I'm telling you I did not stop at all of them, Magazine Park, had a bunch of people. And so I'm like, look at our city coming together, giving back. And these are the stories that need to be told. And I've seen your story being told. Super proud of you. Keep it up. You are inspiration for the future. And people are looking up to you. These young people are looking up to you. And the fact that you have anti-bullying and mental health awareness, Zeta-Govon, That's something, isn't it? So I just wanted to say thank you for what you're doing for the community from your heart because you're not getting a penny out of it. Every penny you get goes back to the community. So thank you for that. Councilor Walsh.

Yes, I would just like to add my congratulations for all that you've done and that you will continue to do for the city of Springfield and the children. Good luck with all your events.

Now you have the floor. Thank you, everybody. I just want to say what I do really does come from the heart. And it comes from a story. Because everybody has one. But you just got to know what to do with the story. Either it's good or bad. And how you make of the story is just how you make of the story. I made my story real. And not only my story, but my dream. I had a dream of this. And I asked God, hey, God, what can I do to keep my cousin's name alive, but also bring something different to the community? So I just want to tell y'all something that I learned. I started to go around to organizations and networking. But then I started to see where we were going wrong and what we were doing wrong, basically. And we didn't give the kids enough attention. We gave my generation more attention and the older people more attention. But we don't give the kids more attention. So, that's what I'm trying to do. Give them more attention, love, support, and communication. They don't have that now, and they don't know how to do that now because kids are having kids. So with that being said, I just want to make a difference. And not only am I saying it, I'm doing it. And people just like to talk, and I just like to show actions better speak louder than words. And I have a strong team behind me, and that's what it takes. It takes a strong team and community, but it takes a leader. And I notice I'm that leader. But being a leader is hard because I did this three years by myself. I never asked for help, and that was my downfall because I always thought I can do everything by myself. I had to tell myself, Toy, you got to ask for help because you can't do this by yourself. And this year taught me. I just grew it more and more and more. I started off with 50 people and then it went to 100. Then it went to 200. And now I don't even know how much people came this Saturday. But I promise you, it was so much people. Like he said, I was running back and forth, back and forth, because at the end of the day, I got to make sure everybody good. I have to make sure everybody's good, and then I forget about myself, but that's the whole point. Sometimes you forget about yourself because it's not about me. It was never about me. Kidsland is not about me. It's about you and all the children. It's about the next generation. So that's all I'm trying to do is bring a change, show a change, be that change, and keep changing. That's all. So thank you.

Well, we're a little bit late starting the city council meeting, but you have to come up and take a picture with us. We'll be starting real shortly, but we're going to take this picture really quickly, and then we'll go ahead and start the city council meeting.

Recording in progress.

Thank you.

Go ahead. Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. Today is Monday, August 24th. The time is now 635, and we will start the hearings portion of our city council meeting. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Councillor Santanello.

Here.

Present. Councillor Martin.

Present.

Present. Councillor Perez. Present. Absent, Councilor Brown.

Present.

Present, Councilor Govan. Present. Present, Councilor Walsh. Present. Present, Councilor Hurst.

Present.

Present, Councilor Dabula. Present. Present, Councilor Fenton. Present. Present, Councilor Delgado.

Present.

Present, Councilor Klickbus.

Present.

Present, Councilor Edwards.

Present.

Present, Councilor Whitfield. Present.

Hold on one second, Madam Clerk, I'm trying to join virtually. I would also like to acknowledge former, oh there he is, he sat down, former City Councilor, Councilor Tim Allen. Thank you for joining us today, Councilor. Once a counselor, always a counselor. So we will now stand for a moment of silence, and I will pass the floor to Counselor Davila.

Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, today's moment of silence, I would like to dedicate it to Ms. Paula Collins, Ed's wife. Paula Collins was called home to the Lord this past weekend after brief illness.

Thank you. Well, counselors and our guests, please continue standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you.

All right. I think... Without objection, we are going to take item number nine out of order. Councilor Martin.

Thank you, Madam President. Yes, so item number nine, amending Article 7, Section 7.4.23 regarding fencing. Essentially, this zoning amendment would allow residents A and A1 housings to put up fences in their front yards. I think it's just a common sense zoning ordinance change, again, to allow people to do what they want on their property. But since it went through the planning board and the planning department, which both approve, it has come to our attention from some of the civic associations, civic councils, that they would like to continue this matter so they can discuss it amongst their own bodies. I do hope and do plan on this to be voted on in the September's hearing meeting, but for right now, I motion that we continue this matter until that September meeting. Second. Thank you.

Thank you. Motion to continue made by Councilor Martin, seconded by Councilor Govan. Just wanted for the neighborhood councils that are here regarding this item to understand that we're continuing it. So if there are things that you want to discuss, you can discuss them at neighborhood council meetings just to get all the clarification and information that you need regarding this zone change. So that's the reason that we're continuing it and it will be on our next regular hearings meeting next month. Does anybody have that date? Let me see. September 28th, it'll be back on the agenda. Is there any discussion on the continuance? Councilor Brown?

Um, I'm definitely in favor of continuing it. I've been reached out to a few neighborhood council, um, bodies myself. Um, and I know it's just a matter of them being able to discuss it and, uh, make sure that, uh, it, it's not going to be something that, uh, is affecting the quality of life. So it's just really them having the ability to have a conversation amongst each other. So I'm in support. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councillor Brown. Any others? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the continuance.

On the motion to continue, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Yes. Absent, Councillor Brown.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Govan.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Click-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Whitfield.

Yes. Item approved. Madam Clerk, please call the next item on the agenda.

Item number one has been withdrawn by the petitioner. Counselor, it's 383 Rokas Street Junkyard. Thank you. Item two is 879 Boston Road Motor Vehicle Sales Accessory Use. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Just wanted to explain to you how the hearings will go. We'll have 20 minutes to hear from the petitioner. Once the petitioner has done speaking, We will give counselors the opportunity to ask the petitioners any questions that they have. Once that's done, we will hear from the opposition. If there's no opposition, we will close the hearing. We will deliberate amongst ourselves. Opposition, if there is opposition, we will give the petitioner 10 minutes to rebut. It will go back to the opposition. They will have 10 minutes to rebut, close the hearing, we deliberate, and then the vote. Okay, so anyone from 879 Boston Road? Please state your name and address for the record.

Mohammed Norzad, address is 879 Boston Road. Okay, you have the floor. So we put in a petition to get a special permit to be able to sell used vehicles on our property. So we went through the process, we went through the zoning process, went through the local city council. They had to send out letters to our neighbors just to make sure that, you know, we weren't affecting anybody's parking. We weren't affecting any traffic on Boston Road. They sent that out. They had no issues with it. We went to the second local city council meeting and they approved it. They said they'd send you guys a letter of recommendation and here I am.

So this is a continued item. We do have a letter of recommendation. It should be in your packets. Alright. Is there any questions for the petitioner? From counselors, Councilor Brown.

Are you having in-house financing for low credit?

Yes.

Okay. We definitely need vehicles. And I know a lot of times when you can have in-house financing, you can be more lenient when you have candidates who might not be able to qualify. Absolutely. So I thank you for that.

All right, any other questions from councillors? Thank you. Any opposition on the item? Any opposition on this item? Seeing none, we will now close the hearing. Any deliberation amongst councillors? Councillor Click-Bruce.

Thank you, Madam President. I just want to thank the petitioner for coming to our last regular meeting and adhering to the call of the Civic Association. And again, the letter has been a SUBMITTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL AND THEY VOTED IN APPROVAL FOR THIS SITE. SO LOOKING FORWARD TO YOU DOING BUSINESS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING THE PROCEDURES. THANK YOU, MADAM PRESIDENT.

THANK YOU, COUNCILOR CLICK-BRUCE. ANY OTHER DELIBERATION? SEEING NONE, MADAM CLERK, PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.

ON APPROVAL, COUNCILOR SANTANELLO.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Absent, Councillor Brown.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Fenton. Yes. Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Klick-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Whitfield.

Yes. Item approved. Councilor Santanello, do you have the reasons?

I'm on Zoom. Okay. Could Jerry do it?

Jerry, do you have the reasons? No, I do not. Okay, one moment. We'll get the reasons.

They're in my drawer.

You have them, Councilor Davila? Councilor Davila on the reasons? Oh, never mind. Councilor Martin. Somebody on the reasons.

So reasons for granting a special permit. One, the specific site is an appropriate location for such a use, structure, or condition. Two, the use as developed will not adversely affect the neighborhood. Three, adequate and appropriate facilities will be provided for the proper operation of the proposed use. and four, to incorporate the planning staff analysis into the decision at the basis of the findings.

Thank you, Councillor Martin. Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the reasons.

On acceptance of the reasons, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Absent, Councillor Brown.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila. Yes. Yes. Counselor Fenton. Yes. Yes. Counselor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes. Counselor click Bruce.

Yes.

Yes. Counselor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes. Counselor Whitfield.

Yes. Reason is approved. Congratulations.

Thank you. Council members.

You're welcome. Madam clerk, please call the next item on the agenda.

Item three is eight 36 Bay street motor vehicle sales.

Anyone here? Did you hear the rules? You get 20 minutes. We ask you questions. Opposition get 20 minutes. We ask them questions. You have rebuttal time of 10 minutes. If there's any opposition, the opposition will also have 10 minutes, and then we will close the hearing, deliberate, and vote. Please state your name and address for the record.

I am Owner's Rep. My first name, Ahmad. Last name, Sahar. Primary address, 577 Winchester Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut.

Okay. Can you tell us a little bit about What's going to take place at 836 Bay Street?

Yes, so it's going to be a used dealership where we're going to repair used cars and then we're going to sell them. So the maximum number of cars is going to be sold and going to be displayed on the job site would be not more than four cars at the same time. And yeah, so we want to abide by the safety environmental regulations. Before we do that, we want to make sure that the property is renovated, all set. And in order to do that, we need building permit. And for the building permit, we need a special permit.

Thank you. Any questions from councillors? Councillor Brown?

Oh, I thought you put your hand up.

Oh, you can wait. Any other councillors? Have any questions for the petitioners? Okay, seeing none.

Councillor Brown, did you?

Oh, you're going to wait till the deliberation? Oh, okay, okay. Any opposition on this item? Any opposition on this item? Seeing none, we will close the hearing. Councillor Brown?

Thank you, Madam President. This particular petitioner has met the neighborhood council in the area, and they have approved this actual proposal. They're not looking to be a huge car dealership. There'll be probably about four cars. So I know they were able to meet with the neighborhood council and they were in approval of it. I would just stress making sure, because it does need to be redeveloped, maybe putting up some greenery pots and make it look pretty and not so industrial. You don't have to, but I would like it to look, that corridor to look a little nicer. But I know we are in support. as far as the neighborhood Council for them to to do it it still needs to be constructed if you look over there, it's it's not it's not built yet so I would just still. You know still as a body pay attention to that actual construction in that neighborhood got you thank you.

Else around any other questions comments or not questions any deliberation. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the item.

On approval, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Absent, Councillor Brown.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Govan.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Walsh.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila. Yes. Yes, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Klick-Bruce. Yes.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Woodfield.

Yes. Item approved. Councillor Martin on the reasons.

The reasons for granting a special permit. One, the specific site is an appropriate location for such a use, structure, or condition. Two, the use as developed will not adversely affect the neighborhood. Three, adequate and appropriate facilities will be provided for the proper operation of the proposed use. And four, to incorporate the planning staff analysis into this decision at the basis of the findings.

Attorney Shea, you have your hand raised in the queue. One moment, Councillor Murray. I don't know if you had something.

I didn't realize I had it up, President.

OK, no problem. OK. Madam Clerk on the reasons.

On approval, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin. Yes, Councilor Perez. Absent, Councilor Brown. Yes. Yes, Councilor Govan.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Walsh.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Davila.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Klick-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Whitfield.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item on the agenda. Next item is 1363 Allen Street. It's drive-up service window.

Anyone here to represent the Allen Street? Thank you. Can you turn on the little mic? It's a little button with

Yeah, there you go. Jeremy Wakeout, Arnco Signs, 1133 South Broad Street. Here on behalf of Beacon Bank, seeking approval for a new pylon sign. The existing one was currently 52 square feet. We're looking to put up a smaller single pole sign, internally illuminated, a little less than 16 square feet, approximately nine foot overall height.

Thank you. Clearing to the point. Any opposition on making a smaller sign? All right. Oh, opposition. Okay. Please state your name and address for the record.

Good evening, Council. This is Walter Gould, 1336 Allen Street, Springfield, president of the Annabelle Neighborhood Civic Association.

Okay.

Mr. Merwin approached us in June 2nd of our meeting regarding the drive-through petition. A subject came up regarding the two-pole sign that you probably see in your packet. After months of negotiation, or after a couple months of negotiations and back-and-forth phone calls, The association felt comfortable with the presentation that Mr. Merwin had with eight feet, eight inches single pole, which gave us more view. One of the concerns we do have that was brought up at that meeting and pitches were just given to you tonight is, number one, as you're coming out of the drive-thru, there's a bush on the left-hand side that kind of blocks your vision pulling out. We'd like to see that trim. We've asked for it to be trimmed two or three times. They did do some trimming in the back, but not that particular spot. The second thing is on the pavement, it says stop as you come out of the drive-thru. After 10 years, that has worn out. Ms. Merwin said they would repave that. Another thing we brought up was putting a sign warning people of pedestrians crossing in front of the drive-thru. The third thing is on bridle path. As you're coming out of bridle path, right on the corner of Allen and bridle path, you're looking at westbound traffic. And our concern was there that if you come out, and you'll see in those pictures, that you come out of bridle path and you're three quarters of the way into the crosswalk before you can even see a clear view. All we're asking is to have that trim or that bush removed to make it a lot safer. I'm sure Councilor Hearst remembers about 10 years ago having a subcommittee meeting in the rain discussing this sign situation. We have no problem with the drive-thru window. We just want to correct that safety issue with that sign, which is what they've agreed to do. And these three things we just brought to your attention. As always in the Outer Belt, we're always concerned about safety for the kids at Talmadge School, for the people that walk in our neighborhood, walk their dogs, walk along together. So that's our main concern. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Gould. We owe each other a phone call, I believe.

We've got to catch up. Yes, we do, counsel. Yes, we do. Thank you.

Thank you. For the proponents, would you like some time to speak to those concerns?

I don't see any problem with trimming bushes. I can ask them to do so. I don't think that would be a problem.

Pedestrian sign and... Stop. Paving? Oh, painting. Okay.

Paint a stop on the ground, I heard, right? Yeah, paint a stop on the ground. And then a pedestrian crossing sign?

Pedestrian, yeah.

I can ask for that. If you put that as a stipulation, I don't think that would be a problem. Thank you.

One moment, Jerry. Okay, Councilor Martin.

Thank you, Madam President. My question is, can we add that as a new councilor? Maybe I'm not as familiar. Can we add that, amend that in as a special permit request? Phil?

I don't know if I feel the answer, but we can.

Yes, if you guys want to add conditions, now is the time to do it.

All right, I'd like to make a motion to add the following conditions that were requested by the president of the Outer Belt. Second.

Mr. Gould, thank you.

Second.

Do we add those during deliberation or can we add them now? We can add them now. Councilor Fenton, you can, okay. All right, so a motion was made to add stipulate, can we add the motion, okay. A motion was made by Councilor Martin to add stipulations for tree trimming, pedestrian sign, painting of the stop sign on the street. Did I miss anything? Okay. All right, and it was seconded by Councilor Edwards? Councilor Hurst? Okay, seconded by Councilor Hurst. All right, any deliberation on the motion?

I'm definitely in support of it, but where I kind of have a little bit of concern as far as what's the stipulation between the city's responsibility And the actual petitioner. I mean, those are things, are they on city property where the city sometimes, are they not? And then with the signage, I'm just curious, even with the signage, is that something that the, and I would just yield to maybe a senior counselor, but I would think maybe does the signage, is that city stuff too?

Okay.

All right.

I believe the signage that Walter was talking about would actually be on their property because it's before the public sidewalk. On the other side of the public sidewalk would be city land, but as the drive-through comes out, you hit the city sidewalk. I believe that's where they're looking for the signage.

And the bushes?

And the bushes are also on their property.

Okay.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilor Brown. Any other councillors? Councillor Davila.

Thank you, Madam President. I just want to ask the petitioner, and to be clear, you do understand, sir, that these petitions that are to be added, if not done, that that's a violation of the permit?

$200 per day, I read that, yes.

Thank you. Oh, you're welcome. You're very welcome, because I would be happy to pull it if you guys don't do it. The reason that I ask, because my understanding is that they have asked for this before.

Okay.

And we get promised the moon a lot, and we get the foxy end of the lollipop sometimes. And so it concerns me that apparently, from what Mr. Gold just said, that he had asked, I don't know if it's you or the bank, three times, and they blow him off. So I'm pretty glad, realistically, you understand that. And I realize you're working for the bank, right? Is that right? Excuse me? You work for the bank? No, I don't work for the bank.

I work for a sign company.

Well, you're being subcontracted. Yes. Okay. All right. Well, thank you, sir. That's the question.

Thank you, Councillor Dabla. Councillor Martin?

Thank you, Madam President. Counselor Davila took a lot of the words out of my mouth, but I just wanted to say thank you for coming to the table. A lot of this is just about being a good neighbor. Outer Belt's a great neighborhood that, as Walter tells me all the time, you could hear a pin drop. It's all about quality of life. It's all about maintaining that, and I know him and our other superstars from the Outer Belt in the audience today. Mr. Hooper and Ms. Dion, they'll be watching. They're making sure the property's You know, you guys come to your end of the bargain, and we will be making sure that you follow through on that. So, thank you. Appreciate your time.

Thank you, Council Martin. Any other comments or questions for the petitioner? Council Doug Allen.

No questions. You said you work for the sign company? All right. I was just a little thrown off because I'm like, you're saying yes to stuff. I'm like, shouldn't the bank be here agreeing to that?

They asked me to be here.

All right. All right. I'll leave it alone for now. Thank you.

Okay. Any other? Counselor, click Bruce.

Yeah, thank you, Madam President. I just want to thank Walter. for coming down and petitioning on behalf of the residents of Otter Belt. And I just want to reiterate to the gentleman that's here that, again, if these things are not adhered to, we will take action so you can relay that to the bank. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Click-Bruce. Any other councillors? All right. Does the opposition want to say any other words? Okay, Mr. Gould.

Madam President, just out of curiosity, if the petitioner is not here himself, can a vote be taken tonight by the council? One moment.

Yes, I believe there's no requirement that the actual owner of the property be here or the business. They can send lawyers, they can send So, yes, I don't believe there's a... I think there's a little confusion on the bank side thinking this was only about the sign. And obviously it's also amending their existing drive-through special permit, which was granted to Berkshire Bank and now the Beacon Bank. So I think there's just some confusion. I've tried to explain it to them a number of times, but there still seems to be some confusion that they think they're only dealing with the sign.

That's right. My only concern is that... No disrespect to this gentleman, but we don't know if the petition would agree to those conditions.

Well, at this point, they're not going to have a choice. The conditions are going to be placed on the special permit, and they will have to comply with the conditions. If they had issues about that, then they should have been here tonight. But the conditions, if the city council votes on them, will be on the special permit. Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Phil, for the clarification. And thank you to the petitioner and to the opposition. This is what we need to know and understand. So thank you for that. Now I will go ahead and close the hearing. Any deliberation from counselors? Oh, did we vote on that? We did not? No, I'm not closing the hearing. I'm opening it back up. We did not vote on the new stipulations. I'm sorry. So let's vote on the motion. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

On the motion to amend the conditions, so that will be to paint a stop, trim the bushes, and a pedestrian crossing sign. Councilor Santanello. Yes.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez absent. Councillor Brown.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila. Yes. Yes, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Klick-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Whitfield.

Yes. Motion approved. I mean stipulations approved. Okay, now I'm going to close the hearing. Any deliberation on the special permit? Councillor Brown.

I just had a quick question as far as does it have to specify on the actual trimming that it's done a distance away because they wanted a certain distance. Does that have to be specified? Because trimming it is just cutting it. I think they want it cut back, like cut all the way back or removed. So I don't know, do we have to be so precise in our wording as far as when we do that kind of thing, just to make sure?

Well, I would think maybe there's language added that says it has to provide a visual view of the traffic and pedestrian traffic coming down.

Thank you just so they don't play you because you can just trim it and just play with the word.

So are you making a motion.

I make a motion that we have mended where they have to trim it where it's the traffic is visual I mean for if one of my colleagues want to make it a little bit better. You the floor to them.

So we are making a motion to Are we making a motion to trim the tree back where the street is visible? Is that the wording? Yes.

I guess I would, I mean, whatever. So you're, one of the conditions will be that the, that the bushes will be trimmed. You could just amend it to add language that they will be trimmed to allow clear visibility to oncoming traffic and pedestrian traffic. Okay.

All right. So we are amending the motion to trim the tree to allow vision of ongoing, oncoming traffic, ongoing traffic. Is that good, Councillor Brown?

Yes, Madam President.

And it was seconded by Councillor Martin. Any discussion on the amendment of the condition that we just approved? All right, seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

On approval of the amendment to the amendment, Councillor Stancinello. yes yes counselor martin yes yes counselor perez absent counselor brown yes yes counselor covan yes yes counselor walsh yes counselor hearst yes yes counselor davila yes yes counselor fenton yes yes counselor dalgado yes yes counselor click bruce yes yes counselor edwards yes yes counselor whitfield yes amendment to the condition approved

All right, any other deliberation on the item? Councillor Fenton.

I just want to thank my colleagues for covering much of what I would have said. I also want to just state for the record that I think that the consultant who presented tonight wasn't very professional, and I didn't find it very professional that he left before he took our final vote either. Just want that on the record. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Fenton. We've got to make sure we go by that property and see what's going on. All right, Councillor Martin.

Yes. So, again, this is a property in Ward 7, so I do want to remind, again, our friends from the Outer Belt, keep an eye out, let us know, call me or any other of my colleagues, and we will hold them to task. So, thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Martin. Madam Clerk, any other deliberation on the item? All right. Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the special permit.

On approval, Councillor Centinello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez absent. Councillor Brown.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Klick-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Whitfield.

Yes. Item approved. Council Martin on the reasons.

All right, the reasons for granting a special permit. One, the specific site is an appropriate location for such a use, structure, or condition. Two, the use as developed will not adversely affect the neighborhood. Three, adequate and appropriate facilities will be provided for the proper operation of the proposed use. And four, to incorporate the planning staff analysis into the decision at the basis of the findings.

Thank you, Councillor Martin. Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the reasons.

On the reasons, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin. Yes. Yes, Councillor Perez. Absent, Councillor Brown.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Click-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Whitfield.

Yes. Reasons approved. Madam Clerk, please call the next item on the agenda.

Item 5 is 775 Worthington Street Accessory Wall Sign.

Is there anyone here to represent 775 Worthington? Please state your name and address for the record. You have 20 minutes from the proponent, 20 minutes from the opponent, 10 more minutes from the proponents, 10 minutes from the opponents, and in between the counselors can ask questions. Please state your name and address for the record.

Good evening, Gunnar McCormick, Agnoli Sign Company, 722 Worthington Street. I'm here representing CSO and Friends of the Homeless for the new building they're constructing at 775 Worthington Street. And we're proposing a special permit for a sign above the first floor. There's going to be a sign on the corner of the building that has the address on it. It's going to be a non-illuminated panel with dimensional letters on it. And... That's pretty much the purpose of it. The building is set back, so the visibility isn't great from the street. And they got that tall building right next to them. I think that's 769 Worthington. And so they want to just have the visibility for the address. There's no other branding on it or anything. Just the numbers.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from councillors? Seeing none, is there any opposition to this sign? Seeing none, I will close the hearing. Any deliberations from councillors? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

On approval, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

yes counselor click bruce yes yes counselor edwards yes yes counselor whitfield yes is that me yes item approved council martin threw me off i was like you know you got to read the reasons i was going to get you council martin on the reasons

Yes, and Madam Clerk, am I on the record of voting yes on the last one? Yes. Okay, thank you. I apologize for that. Um, so reasons for granting special permit one, this specific site is an appropriate location for such a use structure or condition to the use as developed will not adversely affect the neighborhood. Three adequate and appropriate facilities will be provided for the proper operation of the proposed use and four to incorporate the planning staff analysis into the decision at the basis of the findings.

Thank you. Counselor Martin. Madam clerk, please call the roll on the reasons. On the reasons, Councilor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Perez absent. Councilor Brown.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councilor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Davila. Yes. Yes, Councilor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Klick-Pruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Whitfield.

Yes, the reason is approved. Madam Clerk, please call the next item on the agenda.

The next item is 421 Main Street and Southside Main Street Indian Orchard, amending existing conditions.

And anyone here to speak to 421 Main Street? Thank you. Please state your name and address for the record.

421 Main Street Indian Orchard, Orchica Company.

All right. Want to tell us about amending the conditions?

Yes. Yes. And also, I have a great support letter from a city councilor locally in Indian Orchard. And I'm not sure you have it or not. Do we have a letter of support from citizens of Indian Orchard Councilor? No, you would like to see it?

Yes, we'll get copies of that. You can give it to Sean. Sean, can you make copies of the letter?

We have a great meeting in Indian Orchard Citizens Council meeting in August 12th and I have a great support there. Also came neighborhood, my customers and landlord next to my dealership and other dealers who was there and whoever support my business and I'm doing business with them, detail shop and local businesses. And I would like to amend my special permit for more cars. I'm already operating for 25 years at this location. I purchased the abandoned building over 25 years ago in 2000, September 2000. I rebuilt the place and remodeled completely. New fence, new pavement, new roof, new building, and electric and heating, everything done completely with the coats and the professionals with license and stuck all around. And I even have a picture how it was before. and originally when I bought it. And I have a picture if you'd like to see how it's now. And I have two lots there, 421 Main Street lot and next to it Southside lot. And I paying $12,000 total taxes a year for one lot is two grand, another one 8,000. And basically I'm not, I would like to expand my business because with the small amount of vehicles, I cannot attract more customers.

Pictures? Yes, pictures right here. That's the original picture.

I've done it in 2000 by Polaroid. If you remember those. Polaroid pictures. And here's right now. Sure, pass around, please.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you're going from to how many cars? Like, what are you trying to amend?

I'm trying to amend from 20 cars to 50 cars. And I can, I have a higher, actually 60 cars. I hired an architect with work required to make my petition to planning department. And I got this blueprint presented to planning department and Phil Dromey accepted my application. And actually I'm doing this second time. I've done it once in 2017. And I paid my fee, $250 to planning department and it's supposed to be processed I believe in three months or six months. There was no answer for almost a year. And I was supposed to be, automatically should be granted my expansion of my special permit. But I didn't know what to do next after that. I believe I have to go on a record of deeds and record it, but whatever happened is past. And now I'm doing basically a second time. I paid $250 to planning department and another $1,200 for CTO Sprite for this meeting. and the fees paid and basically I want to operate without more cars, I cannot operate full speed. Basically empty lot, paying extra fees, taxes to the city and And no customers. And to get to more customers, I need more inventory. More inventory comes, more customers. Customers buy cars, they buy gas at local gas station. And also they're asking, what's a nice place to eat here? I recommend them Indian Orchid Pizzeria across the street. I recommend them Plaza. Settler Plaza, food key right now. And they go shop there. Also, they ask where is the local insurance companies here. And basically, we support each other and the community. And I want to grow in business. And 25 years is a long time. And like I said, local city council, citizens council is great support me. And that's what I'm doing here today.

Thank you. Is there anyone else here in favor of this petition that would like to speak? Okay. Seeing none, is there anyone here in opposition of this petition amendment that would like to speak? Seeing none, I will close the hearing. Any deliberation from counselors? Counselor Govan.

Thank you, Madam President. And yes, the gentleman did come to our Citizens Council meeting. He was very pleasant. He had a lot of people with him to support him. They weren't able to speak, but he did express his desires to expand his business, and we thought he's been in business for a long time there, and we thought that it would be a good thing for him to expand his business to the 60 cars. He's got the property there. There's enough room, so we thought it would be a good thing. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilor Goban. Any other questions? Councilor Davila.

Thank you, Madam President. Just some quick questions to fill, if I may.

I had closed the hearing. The questions were before. Do you want to make a comment, though, just so we can hear?

I'm just going to be looking for, unless I'm missing it, I don't see how many number of cards they're looking to, extra cards. 60. Because I don't see it here on the paperwork. But I can wait until...

Bill, was the number of cars on the paperwork?

He had asked me for 50.

How big is the lot?

Oh, it's 18,000 plus square feet.

Okay. And just for my clarity purposes, if I may, Madam President, you recommending approve amending condition six?

I'm not recommending approval of the expansion of the cars.

Okay, so I mean, I just mean, I'm reading what it says here, approve amendment to condition six, which is, which is the, but not to approve amending condition number four.

Yeah, I mean, I would agree to remove the condition of the landscape buffer, because one of the conditions is he was supposed to have a five-foot landscape buffer along the front, which I think is a little excessive. But the enclosure of the dumpster, that is a standard zoning requirement that a dumpster needs to be enclosed. And with all due respect to the petitioner, he has been in violation of his special permit conditions for 26 years. He started with 20 cars back in 2000. He may have attempted to amend it in 2017, but it was in violation since day one of 2000. This property has been cited. It has been in court. And again, I don't like to be against a business expanding, but I cannot support the expansion of a condition that has been in violation for 26 years. So I think he should at least be able to show that he can comply with the conditions of his existing special permit before we allow him to expand it. So that is my stance on the special permit. Again, I'm okay with the landscape buffer being reduced, because I think that was a little much, but the dumpster needs to be enclosed, and I think the conditions, even when I went out there to take pictures of the site A month and a half ago, there were 40-something cars out there.

Thank you, Phil. Madam President, may I suggest, if you see appropriate, I would love to hear if you reopen the hearing to hear a response, because I'm very concerned what I just heard.

Do we have to vote to reopen the hearing? Attorney Shea? Yeah, Attorney Shea.

Yeah, if you close the hearing, you'd have to vote to reopen it.

Okay, so... Huh? Motion to reopen. What did you say, Phil? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so is counselor Dava made a motion to reopen the hearing second seconded by counselor Fenton any Discussion on the motion counselor Edwards.

I won't vote in favor of this Reopening the hearing doesn't have to be unanimous and it doesn't have to be a tit-for-tat The it's not disputed that this petitioner has been and has a history of being in violation of And one of the problems that I have, and in fact, some months ago recently, I did file some paperwork with the law department to try to address the fact that over the decade-plus that I've been involved with the council, don't remember us revoking many special permits. I can sit here right now and name off at least a half a dozen businesses on high-profile sites across the city, including McDonald's and other entities that have been in violations, and then most recently the Burger King on Columbus Avenue that have been in violation of their special permit. And we don't really have any mechanism, at least not a concrete, precise mechanism on how to address them. So if it's the will of the council to be engaged, open the hearing, I won't vote in favor of it. If it is the will of the council to grant a special permit, that's fine because it doesn't have to be unanimous. But I will not vote for this permit to go through to anybody who has before this council and has a history of random violation. The final point that I'd like to make is prepare as a council to hear from other business owners because I've started to hear from them. The city has recently started enforcing the enclosure of dumpsters. And I've heard from rental owners who are complaining about it, and they're wrapping their concerns on the fact that their money could be spent on lowering their rents like they're going to do that, instead of having to build enclosures like the ordinance requires. The only difference is that the city is now enforcing it. So you're going to hear more and more people coming in before us to complain because the city is enforcing the enclosure of... those dumpsters and over the years I've heard from many many residents and neighbors of people who had our properties next to businesses or next to apartment buildings where the dumpsters are overflowing and the only people who suffer the people who either live there or the neighbors who have to sit and watch and look at that debris this out there. We can't put in continue to put the burden of enforcement on our code department. They are understaffed as it is, and we are budget tight, so we can't expand the resources that would generate income. But these votes don't have to be unanimous. As I said, I'm not in favor of it having an argument back and forth because it's not disputable. The facts are the facts. I'm not going to dispute what Phil just said to us, and that's part of the public record, whether or not he's been in violation. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Edwards. Any other deliberation, Councilor Martin? On the motion?

Yeah. Oh, that's okay. So I guess my overall question would be, you know, maybe for Councilor Govan, it just seems like he has a pretty well-respected reputation amongst you guys in the neighborhood, and I, you know, If you want to give them a second chance, I'd be open to that. I mean, I want to hear more from you.

Point of information. Counselor. I don't like to vote against someone that's been in business for 25 years that's been supported by the neighborhood, as the counselor referred to. And I like your idea of giving them some grace. Is there a way we can continue this and vote on it after the dumpster has been enclosed as a show of good faith?

I think we have to vote on opening the hearing and then we will have to vote on continuing it because I did close the hearing. So we will have to vote on opening it. So right now we're speaking on the motion to open the hearing. One moment, Councillor Davila.

Let me hear from Councillor... Hold on.

I don't think Councillor Martin had finished his thought, and then he asked Councillor Govan a question, but Councillor Walsh had a point of information. So I want to know, did you still want to ask your question to Councillor Govan?

I guess my overall point would be I'd like to make a motion to open the hearing so I can hear from Councillor Govan.

Well, the motion has been... made by Councillor Davila, and seconded by Councillor Fenton. So now we're just deliberating on the motion to open the hearings.

I support the motion. I want to hear from Councillor Govan.

Okay, Councillor Govan. One moment, Councillor Brown.

Thank you, Madam President. And Councillor Martin, I think I agree that we should not just deny the request, but I think we should compel the petitioner to get into compliance so that we can keep moving forward. So I wasn't aware of the issues that were there. I think I had heard a few complaints actually about the property, but when we brought it to him, it seemed to have corrected. So I think giving the opportunity to correct the violation, to come into compliance, and then we could consider...

you know, uh, uh, uh, approving the, uh, yeah.

So I don't know if we, is there a way to continue the, um, continue to the next meeting? We've got to open it up.

Thank you. Council Ron.

I agree as far as opening it back up just based on all my colleagues. Council of more and the council of Walsh and Council or go on. I do believe that we should open up because we should kind of like let him do what he needs to do first. Continue it like our counselor colleague said and let them fix the violations because I've seen it in my area Where they are my colleague counselor Edwards is correct. They are cracking down and I'm sure if our colleague can do a 40 car increase he can afford to put around a fence and fix the violations. It shouldn't be that difficult. I Definitely would support them I would just want them to have an opportunity to talk a little bit more. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilor Brown. Any other deliberation on opening the hearing? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

On the roll to reopen, Councilor Santanello. Thank you. Councillor Santanello? Away, Councillor Martin?

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Absent, Councillor Brown?

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Govan? Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh? Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst?

Yes. Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Click-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

No.

No, Councillor Whitfield. Yes.

Item approved. Hearing is now open. Councillor Davila.

Thank you, Madam President. Good afternoon, sir. I'm going to be very straight. Can you hear me, sir? Yep. I'm going to be very straightforward. I'm going to take that as a yes. I'm going to be very straightforward with you. I was planning to vote in your favor until I heard the constant violations you've been over. I agree with my colleague, Councillor Edwards, in which apparently you've been in violation for 24 years with the dumpster issue. Now, some people watching might be, well, who cares? It's just a dumpster. A lot of people do care because that's unseen. It takes away from the neighborhood. That's my concern, number one. Why should we give you a permit when you've been blowing off your conditions for so long? Point number two, if I understood correctly, you have been in violation of having consistently over 20 cars. That concerns me a lot, too. So before I thought that it would be fair that instead of just voting no, that I give you an opportunity to answer to those complaints that Phil Drumm lodged.

Sir, Councilor Davila asks about the constant violations of the dumpster and you having more than 20 cars on the premises consistently. How would you like to respond to that?

First of all, I never have a dumpster. I use always barrels, two barrels, green barrels by city. They pick up on Wednesday. And I never have an issue with a dumpster, closing the fence around, and never like asked me before in 25 years. And also about the cars, I have a leather here. It's supposed to be 30 cars, not 20. And the court enforcement changed it, and I have a leather here. But by special permit, it's 20. And when I... Where's the letter here? I have it right here. Yeah, right here. It said to not have any more than 30 cars on the lot at any point in the time until approval is reviewed from the Springfield License Commission.

That's us, the letter? Yeah. Thank you.

I mean, that may be the license. The special permit since 2000 has been for 20 cars. The License Commission may have issued one for 30 in error, but the special permit has been and still is for 20 cars. Just for argument's sake, whether it was 30 cars, I've been by that property numerous times over the years where there's well over 40 cars on the lot. And this site has been cited, it has been to court, and it has been cited again. So with all due respect to the petitioner, again, I don't like being in the position of not supporting the business. There has been issues with this lot since the day this special permit was issued, and they have never been resolved. And the dumpster issue, I guess I'd have to refer to code there in the aerial photos. It appears there's some type of dumpster facility behind the building, whether it's a dumpster or barrels. If they're not city barrels, they do need to be enclosed. But I'd have to defer to code. But he is asking for that condition to be amending that he doesn't need to enclose his dumpster. If he has no dumpster, then there is no issue.

So, Phil, if I may, then. Correct. So, if he's saying that he doesn't have a dumpster, that he has barrels, do those barrels have to be enclosed?

Well, I guess I would, unless they're city-owned barrels, I guess I'd have to defer to code on that. I don't know. I'm not sure what is classified as a dumpster and how many barrels, whether you have two barrels, one barrel, 16 barrels. I think the idea is to keep trash enclosed. I understand. So, but my larger issue with the lot is the number of vehicles.

Right, okay. Madam President, if I may, I definitely want to hear what my other colleagues have to say on this. I really want to give the benefit of the doubt. I really want to vote in his favor. But at this point, he needs to convince me that he is worthy of these changes. neither here or there, I do think, I'm inclined right now, I'm gonna be very transparent, that condition number 16, given the history, that is, that we should be increasing that, and if you give me a second, Madame President, so that he's aware, right now, you are facing $50 per day for each violation, I will be looking to increase that later on. So with that being said, thank you for your time, Madam President.

Thank you, Counselor. Counselor Brown?

I would look to move to continue this, like my colleague said, to give the petitioner the chance and opportunity to do the necessary things. I just look at it, if a neighborhood The people in the neighborhoods said that they want it. Those are the people who live right there next to it. And Councilor Govan was there when they said they want it. So I know the petitioner, you know, he has to be at least sometimes if you're entrenched in the community, your community will support you. Even when it comes to code violations and things like that, some people don't know that stuff. But if the neighborhood supports them, I'll support them. But I would want to continue it to be able to give him an opportunity to at least come into somewhat of a compliance before we okay it. But I definitely would support them, but I would want them to do that. So I make a motion to continue.

Second. So motion made to continue by Councillor Brown, seconded by Councillor Govan. Any, Councillor Fenton?

If I may, Madam President, I do just have a question for the applicant and it's related to this question about the continuance and whether or not I'd support it. Sir, it was said a few times here this evening that you've been in violation of your permits and I recognize you pointed to a letter from the License Commission saying 30 cars instead of 20. But our planning director indicated that there's currently some pending litigation that is related to this site on enforcement of the city's ordinances and the prior special permit. Can you tell us about what your experience is with code enforcement asking you to comply and what the current status of those matters are?

They're all, everything compliant. No code enforcement, any issues. Nobody stopped by and tell me anything. I have issues before because I used to have a partner from before COVID starting to 2020. He just took off and left everything, whatever. I have to clean it up, everything. and take care and comply with everything, whatever the code enforcement asked me.

Okay, but it's your position that you're in compliance with all the conditions of your special permit and of the ordinances tonight?

Everything compliant with conditions.

Okay, thank you. Can I fill back up here again, please, Madam President? No, that's enough, sir. Thank you.

Phil, did you say that there's a pending case open on this matter? No, I think it has been in litigation in the past. I'm not sure if that's been rectified. I see. And I'm not sure if code has been out there because he's been in the process of amending the special permit for a number of months now. So I don't know. All I know is when I went out there, there was much more than 20 vehicles on the lot. Okay. Do you know if it was more than 30? I don't. It certainly looked like it, but I did not count them.

So the two issues that you would We're not sure if there's any active violations, but the two things that you're concerned about as being violations would be the number of cars and then the failure to seal in the dumpsters, right? Correct. Okay. Sir, how many cars do you have on the site today? You have 30 cars on the site today? Correct.

That's what the letter said. And quarter enforcement agents came. What's his name? Michael? Yakim. He came. He said, no more than 30 cars. And that's why I comply with it. But if it's...

Mike would not have said that. I think the license may have been issued for 30, and that has happened in the past where the licensed commission or the staff person for the licensed commission doesn't check the special permit and issues more cars than they're supposed to. So we've tried to rectify that, and I think that's working better than it has in the past. But the special permit has been and always has been 20 vehicles. Mike does not have the authority to tell you you can do 30. It has to come back to you guys. So since 2000, it has been 20 cars, and there has been no change since that date. Thank you, Phil.

Thank you. So, Madam President, I'm not happy about it, but I will support the continuance tonight. In the meantime, sir, we'd like you to get the area that you use for waste sealed. We'd like to see some efforts at the landscaping buffer that's in your special permit condition. And we'd like to see you get in compliance with the 20 car limit. And if efforts are made to do that before the next hearing, I'd be open to potentially supporting you. But if not, then I will not. So I will be in support of the motion to continue tonight. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Fenton. Councillor Delgado.

Thank you, Madam President. A little split on this one, but on one end, I hear my colleagues in terms of the special permits are what the special permit is, and we want to make sure that folks are in compliance to that. I've driven by this area plenty of times, and I haven't noticed any of this stuff. I think some of this stuff is on the city's end, to be quite honest. I mean, right now, we're getting folks coming back that we're now enforcing the dumpster thing, so... I mean, for years, if you haven't enforced it and all of a sudden people didn't realize it, I mean, it's kind of on us. And then on the other part that Phil's mentioned that he's driven by it plenty of times, I guess what is the process if we are seeing violations in your setting? At what point do you contact the city council? We've heard people talk about that, you know, Folks are breaking the special permit, so there's got to be some process. What is the current process if they're getting cited and you're saying for 20 years? At what point are you contacting the city council to say, hey, we need to revoke the permit? So I don't know if that's something that Phil can answer or whatnot, but there's something. some issues here that, yes, he needs to correct. But I also, there's some stuff that we as a city need to correct to make sure that, you know, folks aren't falling through the cracks. So I guess what is that process if somebody knows?

One moment, Councilor Govan. You want to know right now?

If Phil has an answer to that.

Okay.

Phil, you're getting your steps in today.

Phil needs to sit up here with me.

What's the question? I guess my question is, you mentioned that he's been in violation for the last 20 years. So at what point of this process of us fining businesses does that come back to the city council to say, hey, we're flagging this two decades long violation?

Well, I don't believe it does unless someone wants to revoke the special permit. I mean, what happens is it gets cited and goes to court, and then it's either rectified or the business can be, I think, shut down again. I'm not the code guy, so I don't know all the ins and outs, but unless there's an actual request to revoke the special permit, I don't think code notifies city councils that a property is in violation.

I think if that needs to be some type of ordinance or something, I think we need to put something in place so that at a certain point, like 20 years, I mean...

I don't disagree with you.

I just wasn't sure what the process currently is. It sounds like we're just citing people until, I don't know, I guess we just keep citing them. And then the piece on the license piece that you mentioned, again, that's on us, the city.

I wholeheartedly agree, and I think we've been working with them to try and correct that, but

I just want to make sure that we're being fair to our businesses. I will also say, sir, like, you know, I will vote for this continuance, but I'd like to see you comply with the stuff that we're asking you to comply with. And, you know, because at the end of the day, we don't want businesses to take advantage of the city by not respecting the votes that have happened. But at the same token, we want to make sure that we're being consistent on our end in terms of what we're doing. So that's where I'm at.

Thank you, Councillor Delgado. Councillor Edwards, followed by Councillor Golan.

Okay. Well, actually, I'd like to detach this conversation from this particular petitioner and address the concerns that were just raised by Councillor Delgado. The letter that I sent to the law department asked for several things. It acknowledges that we have a history of a council of not enforcing the special permits once granted. And what I've asked is to amend the language of the When we read the conditions, the last item that I've asked to have amended is that the City Council reserves the right to revoke this special permit. Because as it stands right now, we just grant it. It doesn't say anything about bringing it back. So that was one of the things that I would like to be able to add and amend it for. The other thing that I've asked...

I just wanted to let you know that I have added that condition that speaks to the... city to the probably within the last 6, 7 months that all new special permits now have that condition. It's just so you know it's implied you know what there was nothing to stop you from doing it before but now it's specifically in the special permit that speaks to this special permit can be revoked. And then I think it says special permit City Council zoning administrator.

So okay, I have added that to that point. A council Martin knows exactly what I'm talking about because I went before his neighborhood Council I've also gotten this verbal support from Kathy Brown, from Walter Gould, Walter Crowe, several, Leo Florian down in the south, I have at least a half a dozen neighborhood councils that have actually looked at what I've actually had circulated and forwarded to the law department. And I believe if you read the conditions of the permits that were granted earlier, it did not specifically state that we reserved that right. The other parts of what I've asked and sent to the law department for us to eventually rule on once we got legal approval and to the validity of what I had crafted was also by giving them notice at the podium so that when he reads those conditions, the last thing he hears is that we are putting you on notice, not after you leave here and sign paperwork, the state said, but we are giving you public notice here that we have reserved a right. And what I've asked for, in addition to that, is an audit of all the special permits over a certain period of time, whether it's three years, five years, ten years, but how much business and how much work is code enforcement putting into those violations? We should be able to look at that and see who the players are that have consistently having to deal with these types of issues. I know that the other thing, and one of the things that I've talked about is that it wouldn't be willy-nilly where neighborhood, any individual can just come before the council and ask for somebody's permit to be Um, we vote. What I've suggested is, is that we empower the neighborhood councils so that if I'm a neighbor or if I'm in a neighborhood and have a problem with a business and its operation, and then we perceive it as to be in a violation day as a citizen would go to their neighborhood council, the neighborhood council would then petition the city council, the host of hearing, which we would call the petitioner and listen to the complaints and then decide whether it was a valid complaint. So I'm not empowering individuals to just say, come before the council and say, I don't like his business. Now, I don't want to start trying to park out, but I did mention McDonald's. There is a McDonald's that's supposed to close at a drive-thru at 2 o'clock in the morning, but we know right now to this day that if you drive past there at 4 o'clock in the morning, they're still there. We had them come before the council some years ago where they were supposed to hire a local... a security company that was well known to all of us as somebody who was supposed to be there. At one time, we actually had the documentation of the number of calls that came there. If we go back to Outer Belts Association, you remember when they actually had to rebuild the new McDonald's out there? That McDonald's was built. If it had been a renovation from the foundation, we would have not been able to revoke their 24-hour special permit to operate. They were the only ones allowed to do so. And how we were able to stop that when they hanged because it was new construction, We got a bite of the apple, and at that time, with the support of the Outer Belts Association, we were able to close that down, and we had a documentation. I believe it was at least two to three inches thick of police calls that were after hours, after midnight at that one location, and they were the only ones in that neighborhood to do it. We were able to invoke that and not grant them a new permit. We didn't even at that time revoke their special permit. Right now, if you drive down Columbus Avenue leading to the casino, which is our largest attraction of tourists other than the Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement, you will find a business right now that is operating a car business and they are at least 15, 10 to 15 cars above where they're supposed to be. There are multiple violations. There was a gentleman down on one of the streets down in the south end from another business who has been complaining for years. for years and this can be validated at the south end C3 meetings or the neighborhood council meetings in the south end. He has been complaining for years about the problems that he's had with a neighboring business and he's got no satisfaction. And this is not just exclusive to any one particular councilor, ward councilor's ward. This is across the city. Think about all the years that we've been here, Councilor Fenton who's been here for decades for Councilor Walsh. How many times have we revoked the special permit? And in fact, the most famous time that we invoked the special permit was the biomass, and we ended up in court over that. But I remember the burning place that was over at the former Diet Men match and how difficult that situation was. I'm sure all of you can go through, and even Councilman Brown has actually alluded to the fact that sometimes Because these businesses become institutions and so ingrained in our communities and our neighborhoods that we don't think about the neighbor's complaints just have fallen on deaf ears or it's just a part of the business of where you live when you live next to one of these people or operations that are in violation. This week alone, I have sent Today is Monday. So yesterday, on a Sunday, sent pictures of a business on Mill Street that is pouring contaminants down our sewer. And I have the pictures to actually show it sent to code enforcement. That same business at one point had cars parked on Knox Street on both sides of cars. Some cars didn't have bumpers. Some cars didn't have windshield wipers. I mean, not windshield, windshields, not windshield wipers. They didn't even have windshields. They are doing business, construction, I mean, auto body work. They are well known in court. They are well known by code enforcement. They get the violations. If you go to the downright side of the street where AC Produce is, Leo Florian Way, I'm named honorable him. There is a rooming house that is operating there. There's a rooming house that's operating in Victor's neighborhood right now, and he hasn't been able to get satisfaction. And the neighbors across the street have been complaining. There are multiple situations, and I don't believe that any of you, regardless whether you're a ward counselor or a large counselor, can sit here and honestly say you don't have a problem. with special permits in your neighborhood. And if we don't get an audit to recognize how many and identify who they are and create a mechanism that allows for us to address, then these are some of the concerns that are impacting the quality of life of residents who unfortunately live next to bad players. Thank you.

Well, you don't talk much, but when you do, You give us it all. I appreciate that, Councilor Edwards. So we're still on the continuance, and Councilor Govan was before you, Councilor Brown, but before that, I just want to say we're on the continuance, so we can continue if folks want to vote the continuance. But also, I'm going to ask the clerk to send us all the violations So we can make an informed decision That way as well because we should be aware and I want to thank councillor Edwards for working on a process that we didn't even know he was working on because he's very silent a lot So thank you for working on that process and we look forward to hearing what comes out of that councillor Govan Thank You madam president and Thank You councillor Edwards for that.

My question would be how will we know that? when we need to revoke the special permit, right? Because to Councilor Delgado's point, we don't hear anything about the violations until something like this happens. So I would love for us to be able to get to a point where we know about those. And then also in regarding... Indian Orchard and Orchard Realty here. So this document that Phil gave us regarding the violations, it says 30 cars. And then he said that it was 20 cars. So again, the city has some responsibility to be consistent and to, you know, maybe notify us somehow of the consistent violations. So I'm looking forward to Who turned my mic off? I'm looking forward to the work that Councilor Edwards is doing regarding the special permits. And I want the petitioner to understand that what we're asking you to do. Do you understand what we're asking you to do?

Yes, I do understand what you're asking. Okay. And also, I have one more question. answer. It's important. When I started the business in 2000, I purchased, I started with three or four cars back then. And eventually growing next year, I have like maybe 10 cars because I put money in a renovated building. I have no funds. I work with the bank. When I finished the building, all this electric, roof, fence. I have only less than 10 cars. When I got the license from Citi, and the Citi license said, even I have a special permit, 20 cars, license was saying 20 cars for sale, unlimited for repair. I have that license for many years. Nobody have an issue. Nobody give me any citation on a hard time. I'll take care of the whatever. A lot is clean. I have a couple cars, repair cars, this early this year. Court enforcement came and asked me, please remove those cars. He never asked that before. For many years, they asked me to move those cars. I remove those cars from the lot. And backyard is clean, cut the grass, no parts, no tires, all my cars complete because I buy cars from the clean auction. Before I buy a salvage repair cars from salvage auction, I repair them and I have repair license also, I can do that too, but all my cars complete on the lot. And I have no parts around. Probably my lot is cleanest on the street. You know, and you can welcome, come on, nice building. I spent so much money, stock, color, nice roof, match. It was, my brother was here earlier. He evolved sweats. He's doing in Parker Street. Sir, I'm going to have to interrupt.

We love the work that you've done to the property. We could see it in the picture. But we got to move this hearing along because we have two more items. Councilor Govan, I'm going to ask you to finish your comments.

Thank you.

But thank you for the background and history. We definitely appreciate that.

So I just wanted for him to understand, and I'm in favor of us continuing this to the next hearing. So before the next hearing, I'll go out to the property. I invite all of you guys to go out and look, and I'm sure Phil will go out, hopefully, so that we can be all on one accord. Thank you, Madam President.

Make some coffee. Don't win me over. Coffee. Counsel Brown.

Thank you, Madam President. I would just, I want to commend my colleague, Counselor Edwards. I would just see if we could maybe as a council body require code enforcement and people to give us a monthly report. of the different incidents because sometimes I've seen in my area, it can be kind of congested where they're actually going to. Sometimes they can even feel targeted sometimes. Because it might be easy for them to just keep driving and driving and driving. So for someone to have 20 something, 20 years of incidents and the code enforcement people didn't inform us as a body. I think we should whoever one of our departments that we could put it in. But I really think from now on, we should make them as far as the city. Give us that information. Counselor Govan has been speaking even about trying to do something that is going to help with some of the blight. when it comes to different blighted properties. We need these reports. A lot of times you cannot rely on the public, especially if the city's going there all the time and they have that information. They should be required to give it to us. So I commend my counselor, Counselor Edwards. I won't be long. I just wanted to piggyback off of that.

Thank you, Councillor Brown. And Councillor Edwards, are we going to have a subcommittee meeting on it? Because I have some questions, but I'm not going to step down and ask them right now.

I'm not chair of any committee, so I haven't done that. What I've done is I've spoken at neighborhood councils, presidents, and drafted a letter that was sent to the law department for their review. I sent it originally to them, solicitor Bonnie, but then I also sent it to Ken Shea. I have not had any responses yet.

And how long ago was that?

At least three months ago.

Three months?

Or maybe, is it four?

Four months?

Okay. Back in May, you came with me to the Civic Association.

So it was, it had to be at least a month, two months before that, that I actually started the process.

Okay. So we'll get some clarification there and we'll get someone to have a subcommittee meeting on it so we can see what you presented and also ask some questions and give some feedback as well, but definitely appreciate that work. Okay, any other comments or questions on the continuance? All right, seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

For clarification, it's a continuance, not a motion to committee?

Right, a continuance, yep.

On the motion to continue, Councilor Santanello.

He's not here.

Absent, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Absent, Councillor Brown.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila.

Yes.