City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. Welcome to the list of city council meeting. If you can please stand for the pledge of allegiance and the stars mango banner. indivisible. Oh, say can you see by the dawn early light so proudly we held at the twilight lasting stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or The parts we watch were so gallently streaming and the rockets red. The bombs were in gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled yet for the land of the free and the home of the brave.

We'll do a roll call. Councelor Bergman present. Councelor Bada here. Councelor Conamo here. Councelor Vo here. Councelor King here. Councilor Mitra here. Councilor here. Councelor Rivera here. Councelor Rosen here. Councelor Tumi. And Mayor Petty

here. Okay. A proclamation. Um it's motorcycle safety awareness period and we have proclamation which reads as follows. Whereas motorcycles are popular means of transportation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with over 140,000 that will be returning to the roads this spring and summer. Whereas the city of Worester has over 2,300 owners of registered motorcycles, making critical for all residents to be aware of the rights and responsibilities of roadway users in order to prevent accidents. And whereas the Commonwealth of Massachusetts declares March 22nd through April 30th, 2026 as a motorcycle safety and awareness period for the state and an an event aimed at recognizing those we have lost in motorcycle accidents and raising awareness for ongoing roadway safety. And whereas the motorcycle safety awareness period in conjunction with the organizations that share this mission will encourage all motorcyclists, automobile drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians to cooperate with one another to make our roads safer for all those who use them. Now therefore, I Joseph M. Petty, mayor of the city of Wester, do hereby proclaim March 24, 2026 through April 30th, 2026 as motorcycle wind the safety period in the city of Worcester. encourage all cit citizens to observe this period. So uh we have with us today we have Paul Cody and Brett St. Pierre and uh I think we have one motorcycle rider here council or two. Oh no you gave yours in Tony Christian. Council Kingulations.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And also this is the governor's a copy for yourselves. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Stay safe out there, guys. Absolutely. You as well. Thank you.

I don't know. Oh, we have I think this is the governor's copy here. Yes. And uh thank you for that. So, the governor's also uh issued the same proclamation, motorcycle safety awareness month, signed by the governor, Lieutenant Governor, and William Francis Galvin. Thank you. Thank you for coming in tonight.

Thank you very much. Okay. Next, we have the approval of the minutes. All those in favor? Oppose. So ordered. Public participation. A person may speak for no more than two minutes on its appearing on the agenda. Mr. clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Rule 39, items of public interest. Um, at every meeting of the city council on the participation portion of the agenda, the chair shall recognize any person seeking such recognition for the purpose of addressing the council on any eligible item on the agenda for meeting both in person and remotely. Any person who wishes to speak on more than one agenda item shall combine the testimony to one appearance at the microphone. The time for speaking shall not exceed two minutes for one speaker or 30 minutes for all speakers. Rule 40, petitions. On the first occasion, any petition approached on the city council agenda. The primary petition may address the city council for no more than three minutes on the subject or their petition.

Does your name see your residence and item number?

Yes. Uh Fred Nathan Wista number one. I'm happy it is motorcycle awareness period. My my items tonight are 8- 36 A C E and G. Um just curious. Uh you want to increase the cable increase the cable fund by 1 point by 1.3 million. Not quite sure what that's all about. uh $100,000 from CSX to the um to the Canal District for the uh support of the Canal District Ambassador Program. Not quite sure what that's about. Uh and um uh $42,000 for uh the Mass Workforce Board salaries. Curious Um, and then we go on to the police item. I'm a big supporter of the police, but I don't quite understand the $58,000 transferred from the uh the police ordinary maintenance to provide funding for the vendor, I repeat, vendor um expenses. Not quite sure what that's all about. Just curious.

Thank you. Anybody online?

But sir, this your name, see your residence and item number. My name is Carlos Diaz. I live on 35 Uclid A, which is on the corner of Perry and Uklid. My agenda is um fixing the streets of Perry A. And that's all I got is two minutes. When does it start?

We'll start over on the time.

All right. Thank you. Um, first of all, I've been complaining about this issue for I don't know. I've been living there almost 15 years. I've been complaining about this issue for the last two, three years. actually like three to five years because it took them like three to five years just to fix my sidewalks because when I was snowb blowing rocks were flying all over the place hitting my house and stuff like that and the streets and I understand about the the winter this year was horrendous on all the streets you know and there's a lot of potholes everywhere but on um Perry A the sidewalks are torn up the streets have potholes they actually some of the street don't even have tar on it It's ridiculous that I have to come over here and complain about it for years. Not months, not weeks, not days, years. And then the pooping in Crompton Park, too. That's part of our neighborhood, I guess. Uh Crompton Crompton Park. There's uh a lot of people that have dogs. I don't know what it is. I don't know if you guys supply bags over there, have pulled with bags or garbage cans. in our in our neighborhood too. A lot of people throwing them them poop bags in the sewer and you know that's unacceptable on the citizens of Wester, you know. So yeah, I'm here to basically comp complain for not just for me but for the whole, you know, neighborhood on Perry A because nobody comes over here, nobody complains. You know, they told me college, you got to come over here and complain for them to fix it. Well, I'm here to complain and I've been here complaining. And not only that, I I seen that on Salsbury Street, they have brand new sidewalks, brand new streets, but you know, the hardworking middle class people of Perry A because there is a lot of hardworking people don't get their stuff fixed. So, I'm here to fight on their behalf and on my behalf. And it's too bad I only got two minutes because believe me, I wanted to

[ __ ] more. Thank you. Okay, we'll go online. Thank you, sir. Mayor, we got uh three call-in user. The first one is Joe. I'm going to try to meet the resident now. Please say your name, city of residence, and the item you're calling on.

Hi. Uh my name is Joe Carsha. I'm a North Lincoln Street resident and neighborhood advocate calling about 6A. Uh that's the city getting us sued for millions of dollars. And I think we should um just consider making cuts to the city council to offset those. uh that money. Um over the weekend, I sent an email to every atlarge counselor as well as the district 1 and mayor and it was you know well articulated and I didn't get a single uh reply from any at large counselor or you know acknowledgement of the complaints about misconduct in several city departments. Um and you know this is not meant to be disrespectful. Um it's nothing personal. I'm just commenting on um their performance as city councilors. Why are we spending $30 to $40,000 um on these positions if they're not stepping up and helping the average everyday workingass citizen when they ask for help?

Thank you. Yep. I still got another minute, right? Yeah. You talk about items on the agenda, please. That was 6A and saving money, Joe. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, mayor. The next speaker is Natalie Gibson. I'm trying to meet the resident now.

Hi, afternoon. Um, I am calling about uh 8.35 8.35 and it's D. Um, I was actually meeting with another uh neighborhood uh leader uh co-leaders and we just wanted some more information on this application regarding uh the Edward Burn or Brian uh Memorial Justice Assistant Grant Program. Apparently, um this over $100,000 is uh being gifted to um the city and this money is supposed to be used to help with the neighborhood crime watch. Many of us are not crime watches. We do way more than that. But um in scanning the information that we were able to look up very quickly before um finding out about this this is used this money will be used for a lot of other things and one of the things namely was drones. So, um, we would really like to know where this money will be going and how it will actually be helping, uh, the neighborhoods because as our previous district 5, uh, counselor tried to do, which was, um, get us just a little small stipen to help us in the things that we are doing as volunteers for the city and helping the city. I'm trying to figure out how this money is going to help us uh the neighborhood leaders help the community and it's not about drones. I see that in the report here the drone was only deployed what four times to four separate uh locations except for um pull a park. Uh so please let us know and I then I want to know how are you guys actually adopting this if you haven't even seen the application yet. some of the uh members there are actually new to council. So, how are they voting on something they haven't even seen and to know if it's the right thing to do? Thank you.

So, mayor, I got uh two more colony users. The next one is William Pierce. I'm going try to meet the resident now. Yeah. Hello, council. I was hoping to call in in regards to potentially the the potential establishment of a white history month. I feel that uh you know we have a black history that's not on the that's not on the agenda tonight. Is this not on nonaggenda items? Correct. We don't have that. Well, I think [ __ ] are

a what mayor. The last speaker is David Webb. Please state your name and state of your residence.

David, can you hear us? We had trouble last. Um, we've lost Mr. Web, can you hear us? Amen. Um, can you hear me? Yes. Please state your name and city of residence.

David, can you hear us? Mr. Mayor, I think we have issues with Mr. Web's connection. Okay, we'll go on then. Okay, go back to the agenda.

Mr. Chairman, I'd just like to rise to make a a comment about that uh call that uh was cut off. It's not acceptable uh for anybody to call into this body uh and use that language uh and be discriminatory uh about any group uh of people uh or at all. And I I just think this council needs to uh make a statement that that's not acceptable now, yes, yesterday, today or moving forward. and we're not we're not going to put up with it. So, I hope my colleagues agree. Thank you.

I think that we all agree. Okay. Okay. We're going back. Executive session will do after the uh petitions. Let's do the petitions first. Uh we are on petition 7 A refer to the parks, Rex, and Cemetery. 7B to 7H refer to public works. 7 I 7T refer to traffic and parking. All those in favor opposed. Then we're going to uh executive session. Mayor Joseph Petty at city council clisted does hereby convene executive session as to Tuesday March 24th 2026 meeting for the purpose of discussing litigation strategy with respect to the case of town holding versus department of conservation recreation in the city of Worcester and the city council will reconvene in open session. Roll call. Councelor Bergman,

yes. Councilor Bada, yes. Councilor Cono, yes. Councelor Rolo, yes. Council King, yes. Council Mitra, yes. Council, yes. Councelor Rivera, yes. Rosen, yes. Tumi, yes. And Mayor Petty, yes.

Welcome back to the West City Council and uh roll call. Councelor Bergman here. Councelor Bada here. Councelor Conamo here. Councelor Po here. Councelor King here. Councilor Mitra here. Council Hayda here. Councelor Rivera here. Councelor Rosen here. Councelor Tumi here. And mayor Petty

here. Okay. We are on 8.1 A and B non city council confirmations. We have a transmitting information communication of the appointment of David Hoffman to constable and also Steve Mer to constable. Motion is to file place on file. I want to thank you for their service. All those in favor of post so ordered. recommending the adoption resolution authorizing acceptance of affordable housing restriction under Massachusetts general law chapter 184 and question on the roll call. Roll call. This is um hang on. This is 8.48. This is the housing restriction. What's the property? I forget what is that?

This we don't need. Which one is it? 8.4. Oh, Habitat for Humanity. That's right. Okay. Can I ask a question to council? Is that is that forever or is that for seven years 10 years? Is that is there a time I think if it's just forever to create a habitat home? Is that what this is for? I thought it's an improve just I know on some projects there's uh there's time restriction and I thought it was for the way I read it was forever but we'll see. 30 years. 30 years. Very good. Thank you. Okay. Roll call. Councelor Bergman. Yes. Councelor Bada. Yes.

Councelor Economa. Yes. Council. Yes. Councelor King. Yes. Councilor Mitra. Yes. Council. Yes. Councelor Vera. Yes. Councelor Rosen. Yes. Council Chumi. Yes. And Mayor Petty. Yes. Okay. We are on U 8.7A. trans information communication relative to the results of the 2025 fall leaf collection program and send that to public works. Council O'Hada.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just um a few questions um regarding the the leaf pickup. I know um you know there's a it's a pretty much a detailed operation that um has to take place. My question through the chair to the um city manager um it shows the numbers of of waste or leaves that being picked up and the importance of it. Has there been any thought of uh some type of cleanup prior to it? Because it's it's a one-time thing, right? In the neighborhoods, in the streets, it's a onetime thing. But all the leaves throughout the so it's in November, right? So before November pickup hits, has there been any talk about pickup? Um catch basins get filled way before the leaf pickup time comes. How do we address those um those issues prior to the leaf pickup?

Um commissioner

through the chair. Good evening. Uh the reason that we do it in the fall for the leaf collection is that's when most of the trees shed their leaves and they end up in the gutters or in people's yards. They rake them out into the gutter. We have ongoing catch basin cleaning throughout the year where we're cleaning uh right now we're cleaning for example winter salt and not salt but winter sand out of the catch basins. Uh they fill with litter throughout the year and in the fall they fill with leaves. So, that's an ongoing process for us. Uh, the other option is for residents, we do have three drop off sites throughout the city for folks if they should have uh let's say they're cleaning their backyard or cutting down some brush, we do have those opportunities throughout the year for f folks to drop off.

Okay. Thank you. And speaking of the catch basins, um you know, there was a a couple times where I they've been in the neighborhood. I stopped talk to the guys and is there a focus on identifying what is really coming out of the catch baits if there's a um I know there was a mention of um dog poop for instance the residents are throwing the stuff down the drain or whoever is throwing it down the uh the catch basins but there was a couple times where I noticed um Dunkin Donuts cups business cups in certain areas. Is there a focus on addressing or having conversations or figuring out how do we address the the common pickup from those catch basins? Um I know someone told me they pic they pulled out wooden boards. So I guess what I'm saying is how do we how are we addressing other than the dog I think we put out a letter of a $200 fine but other things that we're we're we're seeing to pick out of those cash basations that our residents can help us do a better job with. Are we notifying residents about that stuff? Do you understand what I'm saying? through the chair. Uh we find all kinds of items in catch basins which shouldn't be there ideally. Uh I think that when we end up with a lot of litter in the catch basins, that's the result of uh something that we've been working on with the department of sustainability and resilience is improved uh recyclable collection and what folks what residents can put the recyclables out in the curb. Uh but in general uh anything that is discarded onto the streets or ends up on the roadway will ultimately either end up in the catch basins or even worse in our rivers and streams.

Okay. Thank you. And then just lastly on the um going back to the leaf pickup um I'm not sure if if they if it's been addressed or this is something you can uh let us know through the chair to the uh commissioner when we missed the the leaf pickup dates due to snow. Um, I've noticed it's been a it hasn't been a quick turnaround for the trucks to come back and pick up. Um, I received multiple calls, multiple letters in certain areas, certain parts of the district. Um, where they just have not come back and pick up the leaves and they continue to stay there. There's probably, you know, some areas still with leaves due to the snow still. Um, but how is that going to be addressed? I know that's been a major issue

through the chair. I believe that we only missed one or two days on our schedule last year because of an unforeseen snowstorm and we were out that next uh couple of days. Remember the same folks that are picking up leaves are the folks that are plowing. So once the streets had been plowed to the best of our ability, we went out and collected this the uh the leaves, we collected a lot of snow at the same time because the the the grabbers that we use and the buckets that we use from our loaders, we're picking up a combination of uh leaves and snow. uh the leaves that we happen to miss or the leaves that blew down from the trees, some of the oak trees are are late uh in shedding their leaves, those will get picked up when we go out and we do our spring sweeping which starts April 1st. We sweep every single mile of public roadway in the city and at those times any that we missed in the fall will be collected. So we would go December, January, February, March. It would go five months without picking up unless someone makes a 311 call or whatever it may be.

That's correct. But through the chair, uh we believe that when we went out after we had cleaned up after that winter snowstorm that we uh we got to all the streets that were on our plan. Uh so we believe that we had hit every single street. If there were streets that were missed or piles that were missed, they should have been brought to our attention. I'm not aware of any uh curbside or uh roadways that were missed, but if they were missed, then I would love to hear about those so that we can go out and make the necessary collection. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Council River. Um Commissioner answered the questions I was going to ask. No, sir. No, sir. Council Tumi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm just uh thinking uh you know when we we all have our gutters out there uh people came up with a solution for uh eliminating the blockage uh for all of the stuff gutter guards. Is there such a thing as sewer guards because that would eliminate some of some of the larger pieces of u trash uh and objects going into that. Is that a thing or through the chair? Are you talking about catch basins? Yeah.

Yeah. So you will see uh when there's a construction project when they are excavating or otherwise uh disturbing the soil they will put uh filter fabric underneath the catch basins so that any debris in this case it would be from construction any gravel that would have otherwise got into the catch basins and clogged them or the pipes uh that that prevents that from entering into the catch basins. The problem with that is that if you don't go out and clean that periodically, then the catch basins become blocked at the surface and the water just goes right by and you end up with uh runoff from the streets onto private property and damage. Right. Okay. No, I just wanted to ask if that was a thing or not. It's trying to think outside the box.

I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you, Council King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is uh regarding the street sweeping also and the um the leaf leaf sweeping is the next item. Yeah. So I'm just going to speak of both of them. So stand so I don't have to stand up again. Can I just talk both? It's very safe. You want to take them together? We'll take them together. A and B together. Go ahead.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. Um so through the chair to the administration. One of the things that has repeatedly come forward is the notification process for um the cleanup um and the street sweeping and in many neighborhoods there's notices that are placed um in various places in Orange etc. and I know there's also a notification process as well. I think we'll be getting into that perhaps um regarding 311 and the new alert list or whatever it is. But that being said, um a number of folks have expressed constonnation at not knowing when folks are actually coming. So where they have things that are posted for days, um people are trying to kind of navigate that. And then what some folks in the community have called they call an ambulance chasing. um when they're waking up and you know or they're coming out or they're in and out and you know after a period of time or days where there's been notice up um they're receiving um they're being ticketed um they're being told um and they feel as though um there's um a a something's lacking um in the process. So through this administration, I mean through the chair to the administration, I know this isn't new information to anyone. Um, but what is it that we're doing to tweak and improve how we're doing this? I was at a community meeting uh neighborhood meeting a couple days ago where folks were very happy that people were being towed and ticketed um for snow, etc. um and other reasons. But um you know we have a lot of hardworking people here in the city um that need notice um and need to make sure that we're trying to improve this process through the chair.

Through the chair uh we do our best with postings on uh the city's website. Uh when we're going out to a particular neighborhood or more specifically to streets in a neighborhood, we are posting temporary signs. Uh there may be times when either staffing isn't available or the weather is against us or equipment isn't available, but for the most part, we do our best to keep to the schedule and not put notices out there beyond uh when we believe that we can accomplish that cleanup in that area.

Chair to the administration, um what is that time span um that you know we're putting notice out? is expected um from the department head as we're hearing today. Is it is it expected that you know that the street or the leaves are um are worked on within 24 hours of that notice? Is it 36 hours? Is it 4 days? Is it 7 hours? What is the expectation for folks in the neighborhood um and in the communities? Um we've had people call in. um it's really caused um conststonation um and I need to have a parameter um so that when folks are calling us we can answer them um with some intention and with some specificity through the chair

through the chair I will have to get back to the council on what that actual uh advanced notice is but the notices that we put out on the streets indicate what days we're going to be on that street. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, thank you. We have Council Con, followed by Council Rosen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just stand to congratulate the team. I think uh the fall and spring cleanups are probably two of the best uh programs we have here in the city. I think uh the city team, the men and women uh DPW and our private uh contractors who work along with them uh do a fantastic job. I think they work very efficiently, quickly. they get through the neighborhoods um very quick. Um and I just want to say thank you. You know, I I do believe these are two of our best programs here in the city. Thank you very much, Councelor Rosen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Now through the chair to Mr. Westerling, I think that the fall of street sweeping is probably one of the most popular programs we have in the city. I mean, everyone seems to like it. Uh, and I know we're taking the spring and the fall here together, bouncing back for a moment to the spring and spring now. And within weeks, we're going to have a lot warmer weather. And as you know, in the spring, people get out and they start working on their yards for the first time in months. And they clean their yards. They rake up the twigs and the branches. And a lot of people still have leaves that they didn't maybe rake up in the fall and put out. But am I correct through the chair to Mr. Wesling, no matter what they're raking up in their yard and cleaning their yard uh during the spring, the next few weeks come up, they cannot put any of that out. The spring street sweeping is for the gravel, the sand, the salt. They can sweep their their driveway, I suppose. They can sweep the sidewalk, put all that out. But all that stuff in the yard, that's only for the fall, unless they bag it, pack it up, and bring it down to one of the the drop off sites. Is that correct?

Through the chair, you've made an excellent distinction there. The the fall is the time for folks to clean their yards, bring it all out to the gutter, and then we've got the equipment to put to to collect it. If they were to do the same in the spring, if it was leaves and grass, it would slow down our operations considerably. If it was twigs or branches, it's going to break our equipment, and that puts us from being able to uh to to complete our process within uh within five weeks. It puts it into a much longer term. Okay. And uh through the through the chair, some people council manager wants to respond.

Oh, yeah. I just through the chair to the council. I just want to add I think um uh you you made a great job in the distinction also the equipment that's utilized for fall and spring is very different too. Um for fall is pickup. So the the equipment is much different. For street sweeping it's just straight sweepers with the brushes going through. There's no real pickup. So I think that that's the distinction between both.

Okay. I'll throw the chair to Mr. Wesling. Some people do when I drive through the city in the spring, they do rake up all their leaves. They're not watching tonight, so they're not learning our two different programs, but they do put all their leaves and twigs out. And then what does the city do? Because sometimes it's a pretty big pile and people can't park there and it does narrow the road a little bit. Not as much as the snow perhaps, but certainly enough to make a difference. Does the city go around and maybe ticket these people? warn these people, get them take them back to your yard or bag them, I guess, and bring them down to the drop off site. What do we do or do we just ignore the pile and let it sit until the fall

through the chair? Uh we would have to evaluate each and every dis each and every uh scenario would be different. If it was just a little bit, then maybe our sweepers can pick it up. If it's blocking traffic or blocking parking or it's going to impede the the flow of water to catch basins, uh then we would have to look at that differently. We would hope to then have a conversation with the property owner and say this is not the time, that's not the appropriate disposal method. Please remove it before we get to an enforcement issue. Um, and it really would be against anyone's best interest because if you're putting that material out in the street, if it's blocking catch basins, you're uh leading to conditions that could possibly flood your own private property if the water can't get into the catch basins and flow. Okay. I know through experience that sometimes neighbors kind of squeal on the other neighbors because I don't know if they're jealous or they're angry but they see that they put leaves out and sometimes they are picked up by the city and they figure why should my neighbor be allowed to do that and I can't. So there's all types of issues and I'm sure you know you're familiar with dealing with them. But uh and you mentioned signage of course the orange signs go up on the streets you know a few days in advance. We hope it's a few days in advance and I guess maybe one of our our uh reports tonight is the new alert worcester system. Now I hope that that is going to be used because from what I hear I think today might have been the first day to sign up. Uh a lot of people are signing up and they get with the new system a chance to pick what they want to you know find out about whether it's the leaf pickup or spring cleaning or whatever. So the city the DPW the city will be using that alert system. I hope I think that's the the best way to reach people

through the chair. Uh there are options for folks to sign up for uh notices for road closures, uh traffic issues, uh construction issues, delays in collection, and that we use social media, we use the website, but when you can get a personal notification about something that's important to you, I think that's the best way for us to communicate with our residents.

And through the chair, to Mr. Wesling, it's more than just a phone call. It's a text. It's an email. So, there's a lot of lot of possibilities. So, folks watching tonight, they should go to the city website and sign up for this very good service that people have complained all through the winter. We obviously went through the winter without it. We certainly could have uh used it. Uh last question, I maybe councelor King brought it up. Uh parked cars. So during the fall, especially if they're blocking a leaf pickup on a street, we do come by with the tow truck and move them and then move them back. Is that correct? Uh through the chair. That's an excellent uh distinction to have made. Uh they do get a ticket, but they don't get towed away to an impound lot. So they would get towed away and perhaps moved around the corner, and if the resident is home, they see that the car was moved, they can come out and move it back. Uh but that's the distinction that we do. ticket because they're parking that's impeding our operations, but we don't tow them and there isn't that additional impound and towing cost.

I see. Okay. Thank you. And Mr. Chairman, administration, it's one of the best programs we have both spring and fall. So hopefully folks will cooperate to make it even better in the future. Thank you,

Council Bergman. Thank you, Commone in previous weeks. This is a very good program and the commissioner and his staff and the department should be complimented. Generally, the program runs very smoothly. I know my own neighborhood. I see the constituents that contact me. There are occasionally glitch glitches. Perhaps somebody doesn't see the notice go up and perhaps the notice goes up late. But in general, it's a very good program. It's done very well. But I rise just to make a case for something I've made in the past. Uh and not just me. I know some other colleagues have been on the council have made this case in the past as well. The fall leaf program to me is a great program as is the spring, but I've always been of the belief that the spring program, not this year, it's too late. In the future, should be a more vibrant program than the fall program. And let me just say why. In the fall program, invariably we are hit with winter storms. And sometimes it's unpredictable um when somebody's leaves do or don't get picked up. Also, depending on what types of trees you have, sometimes the leaves are gone by the time the city comes by. Sometimes the leaves aren't gone. In the winter time, when the snow falls, if you got leaves left on your front lawn, they're great for mulching, but they're not really doing you any harm. In the springtime, that's when everybody wants their yard pristine because for the next five or six months, the neighbors, themselves, and their guests, everybody's comparing how great their lawn looks to everybody else's lawn. And that to me is when the effort the the most effort should be put in to try to not only collect the sand and the salt, but the twigs and the leaves that people missed in the fall for whatever reason. And I don't I know it's not impossible because I'm old enough to remember a time when in the city of Worcester the spring program was a much more vibrant program than it is today. So, I know we're not going to get that

initiative moving this year, but I just would be remiss if I didn't repeat again, you know, my dream, so to speak, of a spring program would be much more akin to our fall program, and I think it would be much more appreciated by many people um given what I just said. So I hope going forward I'm going to at some point in the future maybe around budget time maybe ask for a cost comparison between the falls program fall program and the spring program and see what the limitations are in trying to have that type of program but if you think about it logically nove if you miss a clean up in November which is usually when it is December January February and most of March I really don't care what my lawn looks like nobody's going to see it but if you miss the April May program for the next three months June July August September I do really care and I I know I'm not alone. I would like to think that most people would like to have the bulk of the twigs and leaves and everything else gone so that they can show place it showcase their lawn when you can actually see it. Not so much in the winter. Although I agree both programs are excellent. I'm not suggesting one over the other. I'm simply suggesting more of a fiber program in the springtime. So, thank you

through the chair. First, I want to say to the council, thank you very much for the kind words. I know that our team is listening and uh they do an excellent job and they're the ones that are out there every day doing their best to keep the city clean. We did a rough calculation of what the fall leaf collection cost us for hiring contractors and overtime. Uh and it's about $350,000 to the city. The cost of hiring the equipment and the overtime. Could we do that next year? We absolutely could if the budget is there and we can make appropriate preparations in time. Okay, thank you. Uh, Council Ba,

uh, just want to say, yeah, appreciate the fall leaf collection program, especially, uh, you know, the preventative impact that it has for, uh, keeping our waterways clean and reducing the amount of, uh, nutrient loading that's going into the waterways. So, um, you know, especially in district two, we have Indian Lake, Lake Quincigamin, Bell Pond, uh, which, you know, we're going to be talking about those later in in the, um, uh, state of the lakes, you know, report, but just want to say appreciation for the the fall leaf collection and, um, because it really does have an impact for our waterways. And as a question through the chair, um, we talked about cleaning out the catch basins. Is that something just for the public? Is that something that happens, you know, consistently throughout the year or is that something that just happens in the fall or spring?

Commissioner through the chair. That happens throughout the year. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We'll take items A and B and send that out to public works. C transmitting information communication route to the state's declaration of a level three critical drought. Just one quick question from the chair is what is the definition of a restriction? It's not clear in the uh writing what we're restricting. I don't know if we want to put something out a little more defining what that means

through the chair. Uh these are uh these are required statements that the state puts out through its uh executive office of energy and environmental affairs uh through its uh drought task force. So, it's standard language that we will u make on our website better defined. So, it says all non-essential outdoor water uses are banned. What does that mean? Uh that means you can't wash your car, you can't hose down your driveway, you can't wash your house, you can't water your lawn, uh you can't irrigate uh your your lawn or your planting area. So, it's essentially outdoor water use is banned. Okay,

think of it that way as a more comprehensive method. Uh, and one other thing, so we have watched the distinction here to be made is that we fall within the central Massachusetts zone and uh, in spite of the fact that we have our reservoirs as of the 21st of March, we were at 89.1% capacity. So, we've come up dramatically from 63.8, which we saw on March 1st. Uh, so we've got ample supply of water. However, we do still fall under the state's jurisdiction in the Executive Office of Energy Environmental Affairs. So, I don't want folks at this point to think that they're going to not be able to turn on their faucets or flush their toilets or shower or any other indoor uses. We've got ample water at we're at 89%.

What's the chances of rescending the restriction? So, they meet uh through the chair. They meet every two weeks and it depends on what we see for the snow melt is pretty much behind us. But if we've got additional precipitation coming, uh it's something that that drought task force meets every two weeks to re-evaluate and determine whether or not out of the four, there are four different levels. We're in level three. Four is the worst. Yeah. Uh but we're hoping that with additional rainfall throughout the central Massachusetts area that that will be able to be brought down to a level two or a level one. Perfect. Okay. We'll send that to public council Rosen

through the chair to the commissioner. Does Sworester provide water to any of the surrounding towns? Uh through the chair. Yes, we do. Uh to what towns, Mr. Commissioner? Commissioner. Through the chair. I was hoping you weren't going to ask me. I know that we do for um we do for the town of Holden and we've got some other minor uh minor agreements with other communities, but they're they're insignificant. Uh but I can certainly provide that to the council. Okay. So we do provide water to the town of Holden. Do we have any idea what percent of their water comes from Worcester Commissioner? Is that 100% through the chair? It's a it's a it's a very small percentage, but again that's another item that I can provide.

Okay. And uh since we have limitations on the use of outdoor water, does Holden have the same limitations? through the chair. They fall within that same central Massachusetts uh zone. Uh the state is cut from the north to the south uh along uh lines. Uh so yes, Holden falls within that same as do all the surrounding communities to Worcester. Okay. Just wanted that information. Thank you, Mr. Commissioner. Thank you, Council Tumi. Uh just very quickly, does this um have any impact on uh businesses that are car washes uh through the chair? No, that would not be considered an outdoor water use. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. So, send that to public works. All those in favor proposed so ordered. We're on parks. Mr. Antonelli transformation communication over to the review and master plan process of Newton Hill at Elm Park. We send that to uh we place that on file. All those in favor oppose. So ordered. Treasury information communication of the Green Hill Farm 2025 event schedule. That's pretty cool. Good job. And uh we can place that on file. Those in favor post. So audited. Transmitting information communication relative potential changes to the consumption of sale or alcohol beverages and the municipal parks policy or park special and supporting events. that's going to the parks commission and councelor Rosen

through the chair to the administration. So, what decision is in the hands of the city council and maybe our parks committee on this or is this a decision that's made just by the parks commission? Mr. manager. Madam solicitor, through the ch of to the council, the parks commission makes that uh decision and then there's an updated ordinance that we would have to uh change in the city uh which I think there has to be an amendment to that the council we will bring forward to the council.

Okay. Uh, I think this is a great uh report and uh good idea that we finally after what 17 years of having uh alcohol served at Green Hill Golf Course Events and Worcester Common. Uh after 17 years, we know it's safe and Worcester is growing up and uh this is just an excellent idea. I'm not sure how the four parks, the new parks, I guess Greeno Park, Ellen Park, Institute Park, and East Park, Christopher Columbbo Park were chosen, but I'm very familiar. In fact, if my colleagues remember a few weeks ago, I had an order about Institute Park. And that's one of the four parks we're talking about. And uh mainly, I had an order that dealt with partnership between the city, friends of Institute Park, and WPI. and I've already met with WPI and we're we're trying to get them much more involved in working with us on Institute Park. I talked about the signage and other things going on Institute Park. This I think would be a welcome addition. There's a lot of uh events going on in Institute Park all through the year, especially in the summer and I happen to have the honor of being the announcer for the Mass Symphony Orchestra. Two out of their three summer concerts. We have one for July 3rd with fireworks. we'll get a huge crowd and we have one uh later on the Disney concert where we get a lot of families and huge crowd and it's something that Worcester should be bragging about that we have the mass symphony orchestra in this city home to that orchestra and I know they're not at East Park anymore like they were for years and you know I regret that but uh they do a heck of a job over at Institute Park and I did mention a few weeks ago that I don't think anyone on the council knew at the time and I had just found out that in the bathroom building, the rest restroom building we have on the backside, right in the same

building. Years ago, they built them that way. Uh we have what's called a snack bar, but I think that would be perfect when we, you know, if and when we serve at these big events, we allow alcohol. I don't think it has to be in uh from a truck. It can be, but I believe maybe through the chair to either the manager or Mr. Anteneelli. Does this always have to be in a confined area? I think when it's on the common and we sell alcohol, I think it's, you know, roped off. It's confined and maybe under a tent. I just can't remember. Commissioner.

Uh, so through the chair to the counselor, the license commission dictates those rules and responsibilities. Um, so our policy will push all that responsibility where it belongs with the license commission. They'll dictate security. They'll dictate where they can have it. Uh how it it's being done. So that would really be up to the license commissions for their approval and it's different for each lo it would be different for each location. And through the chair to Mr. Antonelli. So it might be possible to use that empty snack bar building. It's never been used been built but never used for the serving of alcohol. Maybe with a few other products too but commission. Is that possible?

So there is that possibility. Again, license commission would make that determination. Uh right now when we do it on the Worester Common, most of the time it's a a tent that's brought in. Uh if you go to Festival of Lights, there's a big tent that we put up for the day. Um, this would just make it cheaper and easier for an event organizer because you'd have a facility that can control that product as well as be able to give it a decent distribution location for it and not have to spend the extra money for the particular tent or other amenities that may be needed by the license commission. And through the chair, that's not just beer and wine. That's hard liquor, too.

Most of it is uh beer and wine for the most part is what you see. there is that flexibility for that but again that would be the license commission's role and responsibility to make that determination based on the applications that submitted. Okay. And a I guess for an event uh the license commission through the chair to Mr. Antonelli would grant what a one-day permit for that event. Is that yes how it works? Yeah. So it's there are always one-day events for that because they're temporary in nature. So those would all be taken care of on that in that function as a one-day special event and the city makes some revenue through the chair to Mr. Antonelli through the permitting fee. Is that it? Uh so on

through the chair on our side uh we do not have a permitting fee. Um last year we eliminated a large number of those. um they would have whatever fee the license commission would deem necessary for that but there would be nothing on on the city side or on the park side for that.

So through the chair to Mr. Antonelli. So where does the money come from for the city? What what percentage do we get? We're not just letting them sell alcohol at these locations, the two present locations without getting some revenue for the city. Am I correct or the park? So come through the chair, we do not take revenue from the sale of alcohol on Worcester Common for any event.

The majority of our events are, you know, nonprofits. Uh very few are for-profit kind of events and they use that revenue to offset the cost that they incur. Remember, they're going to be incurring costs when it comes to police detail. They're going to incur costs that are going to be required by the license commission. And then on top of that, they're going to recur. They're going to have the cost that we're going to charge them for staff purposes. We do not charge a fee or take any revenue from the sale of alcohol. So through the chair to Mr. Antonelli, how do we decide on what company is allowed to come into these events on the common?

Uh that is determined by the event organizer who then goes to the commission, the license commission for approval of that. And if through the chair, if more than one vendor wanted to come on to the common, the license commission would be the ones who would decide who gets that opportunity. So what ends up happening is that the event organizer is the one that makes the determination of who they would want to work with and then the license commission is the one that would make the determination. Yes, that is approved that that organization can be used or that company can be used. Um the city does not dictate that. We do not um look to say you must use XYZ. That is up to the organizer. And then the light and for license commission approval.

Okay. And through the chair final question, if these four sites are approved, when might the four sites and events be able to sell alcohol? How soon might it be?

So through the chair to the counselor. That is uh still to be determined. We're gonna see how everything goes uh at our parks commission meeting in April. Um and uh we launched it on this past Thursday at our commission meeting to uh get the word out that we're going to have this meeting. We're here tonight to make sure that uh this council and the commission uh all understand that this is going to be on the agenda and then we'll find out what that schedule looks like once we get to uh Thursday the 16th.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I'm completely in favor of this. I think it's about time. It's been 17 years since we allowed this on public park property and uh these four sites I think with some of the great events that we have there uh will be uh you know be able to cater to the patrons of these events uh just by having alcohol as many cities and towns across the country have had in their parks for years. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think you have to say it's long overdue. So uh good luck on your commission meeting. Council Bada.

Yeah, I just wanted to uh say I think this is a great thing. Um I know one way that the city we can support small businesses is by having more cultural events that bring people in uh that bring, you know, uh business to surrounding uh businesses that that might be near these parks. So I think this is one great step to doing uh some work to support our small businesses. So thank you. Thank you, Councelor King.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um I think the manager is ready to ask this question, but I'm wonder this this is just a policy, right? Um and then secondly, um what flexibility is there for other parks? Um other parks do come to mind. Crompton Park is one that's often used. Um and how did we come to these specific parks? Through the chair,

Mr. Manager Commissioner start through the chair to the council. Um I want to also correct uh council Rosen earlier asked me if if what role does the council plays in determining this policy etc. Uh it's not actually an ordinance change. It's actually a parks policy. Uh this is a policy that was established many years ago. Um uh during the previous administration it was extended to the Worcester common to offer worester common uh activities. Um and then part of the efforts of us evaluating how do we support our local businesses? How do we support uh the special event organizers in this community that over the past few years we've had a lot of conversation to try to provide more opportunities and engagement of these organizations uh to our parks and re relieve some of the uh some of the regulations that we've provided over the number of years. This is an area that with the commissioner here had provided an an idea and we thought it was a great idea uh to move forward. I think we've selected a number of parks based on the demand and ask of certain organizations to have and utilize these spaces. Uh we've had we've been asked previously for some of these parks uh the utilization or the the desire to to have alcohol in these locations. Um and so that selection ba was basic ba based on that. uh not there was no kind of uh real kind of perspective on that. Uh the flexibility of adding other parks is still there. Uh we added these as the main parks in the city that currently get utilized but also the demand that has been previously asked the department of potential alcohol in these locations. These were the primary locations that that they came up.

Thank you. to the administration. I just if you could just also clarify for the public who may not have read this or maybe will look at this later. Um this is by permit only correct or um just can you just take that for the record? I don't want anyone thinking you know the the alternative that they can show up setting up a little yes a little alcohol truck or something. Yes. If you could clarify this is by

through the chair to the council uh process just to clarify uh the only way to have alcohol in the parks is through a special event process. You're hosting an event uh you have part of your event process you have to submit application your application to the license commission and they have to approve that. Currently right now if depending on where you're having your event in the city uh even a private event it could be a different location. you have to go before the license commission to get a temporary approval uh to serve alcohol in that location and it could be a private location uh in many different locations around the city outside of park. So only the only way to be able to p to serve alcohol would be through an event per special event permitting process.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Council Bergman. Just very quickly through the chair um to the commissioner of parks um given that we're expanding to these four parks is there any change if you know about the liability liability um policies or bonds could you just give a brief description how does that work if somebody's hosting an event I'm assuming they have to post some sort of bond in case somebody related to that event causes damage

commission through the chair to the counselor Uh we do not require a bond for uh any of our park events. Uh what we do require is standard liability insurance from that is set by the city and through our law department as part of their application process. And so the city is an additional insured on that. Um the license commission will then dictate whatever additional liability insurance or anything else that they may have for that purpose. Um, but again, that's more of the license commission realm than on our side. But we for all of our events have as well as our sporting events have a set policy as part of our permit application process for insurance to protect both them and the city of Worcester.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So, we can place that on file. All those in favor? Post. So, ordered. Next item is transmitting information uh communication over to the Wister common master plan update. put on file. All those in favor. So council, real quick, um just a point of clarification, the does the W does the the master play for the common does that include the surrounding sidewalks around the common and is that part does parks manage those and in the front of the city hall?

Commissioner. Uh so through the chair to the councelor uh the area that we're working on uh for this master plan review update is from Front Street to Franklin World War II memorial to back of city back of the stairs uh on the plaza. Um we are not looking to go into the sidewalk areas around city hall at this time. Uh but one of the functionalities that we're going to be working with on this new updated design is um a new treatment, a new pavement treatment um to see if we can come up with a better overall pavement treatment for um the area around city hall and on the common. Um the the PA system works very well. Franklin Street was 20 years old before we replaced it this past fall. Um, but we're always looking to better that and to see if we can get a longer lifespan out of those. And so that's part of our review as we move forward in this design um for the back side of city hall.

Okay. Um, just because I just want to say, you know, it it is hard when some of the tiles in the wintertime get chewed up and uh really dangerous for folks, especially with mobility challenges. So, really hoping we could do better about replacing those in a timely manner. um because it it you know city hall should be safe and accessible and welcoming to all and the the the tiles right now are it's it's a real challenge. So just hope we can get to those in a more timely manner moving forward

through so just to answer that through the chair to the councelor we we took care of Franklin Street which was the worst location um thanks to the council and the the funding through our capital improvement program. We're currently right now working on we're going to start working on the front of city hall as well. So, we're going to come from Franklin Street, come around to Front Street, and then go in front of the the garage entrance. Um, we'll pretty much end there on more of what I would call um expansive change or expansive replacement. Uh, and then we'll look at those other locations throughout where it's one, it's two different pavers that need to be removed. There's a lot more in the front of city hall now. Um so but we'll look at the rest of those as well as we sort of move this program forward.

Thank you. And just to follow up, when is this work going to be happening? Uh should be happening in the next couple of weeks. Okay. Uh contractor is bringing staff back I think beginning of next week. So we should start seeing that. Uh they may have been out there this week doing some site work or some site review to figure out what those areas are going to be. But within the next couple of weeks, we'll be back out there uh in the front and Franklin front and uh main street sides of city hall. Okay. Thank you. Yep.

Thank you, Council King. All set. Okay. Motions to file. All those in favor of post. So a order audited. Public safety transformation communication to the Wister Police Department's drone report. It's going to go to public safety. All those in favor post. So ordered transmitting information communication of the MPAC accreditation go to public safety with that in public safety. Council Okonnell quick comment Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Uh I just want to excuse me. I just want to stand to say thank you to the Wister PD for taking this step and I for one appreciate their professionalism and trying to take their their department to the next level. and uh I think it'll be well worth it and I look forward to uh the results as it as it moves along.

Thank you. Public safety. All those in favor of postal audit. Uh we are next one is transmitting information communication of the relaunch the wister. We just went over that. So uh we send out to public safety. All those in favor opposed brings us to 8.26A. Oh before we go to 82.6 6A. Mr. Manager, Mr. Manager, you had a correction you wanted to make with the uh restriction on the housing that Mr. Okcono asked that question and want to correct the answer

to the chair to to the council. I just want to make a correction. The council econom asked uh what is the time frame on the deed restriction for the uh Habitat for Humanity is actually in perpetuity. Part of the Habitat for Humanity program is to include a a a restriction in perpetuity. So it is perpetuate not 30 years. Thank you. Okay. A transformation information crimin update for the period ending January 31st 2026. Should we ask a questions to bring Mr. McGirthy up here? No. Okay. Is he what's counc I think you ran through that one. Which one?

The alert worister. I just had a quick question on it. Oh, where was Okay. Um motion is to go back to 8.14A. Those in favor? Okay. Go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To the chair. Um you know this I'm not it's not 8.14, is it?

Yeah, it is. Um to the charity administration, we know this has been offline for a number of months um due to uh cyber sec security being compromised. Um I had filed an order I think previously requesting this but um if you someone could speak to contingency planning as relates to if something like this happens again. Um it's been offline for quite some time. has caused um I think some anxiety as well as potential safety concerns. So um through the ch administration, what will happen if there's another breach? Um is there an alternative method or uh mechanism or technology that will be immediately put in play um while we're dealing with those challenges through the chair?

Commissioner uh through the chair to the uh the counselor of this new program. Uh one way that it differs from the previous system that we were using with code red is is we have direct access to all of the data and we can do duplicate backups. Um, so as of today, just a few minutes ago, since we put this item out on Friday, we've had 417 new registrations, um, just over the weekend. Um, and we're able to back that data up and utilize it with other systems. So, we'd be able to quickly implement a new system if that were to ever occur again. However, we have a lot more control with this system over um the uh parameters for how they monitor their cyber security. They're contacting us and notifying us immediately. And then we also have iPods. So, we have the ability to send an emergency alert to all cell phones in a geoccoordinated area which is separate from this system that's sponsored through FEMA.

And did that exist previously? It existed previously. However, it was we used the former platform to you to send that message out through iP uh they pulled back the certificates from code red wouldn't allow us to until they could identify if those certificates had been uh compromised. Um, and can you just speak to the enhancements? If you could just bullet them really quickly for the public who may not dig into this. Um, what that looks like and how that'll impact um, our community. Commissioner,

uh, through the chair to the counselor. So, some of the biggest enhancements, the first one is is uh, the ability to sign up for targeted non-emergency contact lists. In the previous system, you got every single non uh emergency message that went out. Now, we have lists set up so you can enroll and unenroll at any time to whichever list you want, like uh trash and recycling notifications or delays, street work being done, uh notifications for parking bands and winter emergencies, uh weather alerts, things like that. Those are all active and live in there now for people to sign up for. Um, and again, you can go in and you have control over your profile, which with the previous system, we had to work with a vendor if you wanted to, you know, remove a phone number or update something. You now save it with uh a password and you can update it and and jump from one list to another as much as you'd like. You can also have multiple phone numbers for family members in your profile. Um, another uh new enhancement is the ability we worked with them to create a short code uh for people to sign up. So, you can text uh join AW to65513 and it will actually automatically enroll your number into all of our lists and then send you a link to complete your profile at a later time. Uh, subsequently, you could text stop AW to65513 to remove your phone number from those lists as well. Um, there's also better geocoding, so we're able to load uh some of our maps working with our GIS staff in tech services, so we can easily geocode some of those alerts to go out at certain times and hit the areas where people live rather than just trying to draw things on a map when we're geocoding.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. you know, in these times, emergency preparedness is essential. Um, and us getting back um in the game, as it were, with this technology is extremely important. Um, my last question is um if you could just share um what this means for emergency preparedness. I think it was council Bergman had an item on some time ago about um last term about um our responsiveness to um emergencies and things like that. Um could you just speak to that um for the public so they can understand um what the impact is? Thank you commissioner

through the chair to the counselor. Uh so in general specific weather emergencies like a tornado dropping down uh MIMA sends out an IP pause alert to all phones in the area and that's the same time I hear about it. Uh but in other weather potential weather emergencies like uh extreme cold, extreme heat where it wouldn't reach something where MIMA and the state would send an alert out. We are setting it up with the vendor so people can sign up for those alerts and they'll get a text message or an email or notification telling them that there's potential adverse weather coming that could affect their health. Um, as well as, you know, we are able to share out uh information links um and uh links back to the city website to specific information on how to deal with what those emergencies might be. Um, we're also working with the vendor. So, if you choose not to sign up for Alert Wister, but you still want to view them, or maybe you're not, you don't live in the city, so you don't want to get the alerts, but you do want to know what's going on, you can download the Genesis Protect mobile app, and anytime we send something out to the city, you can put your work address, your home address, whatever you'd like in there. You don't have to create a profile. You just put the addresses you'd like, and you can have it alert you anytime an alert goes out in the area. That same app also pulls in some of our emergency information. So, you can see if there's fires outdoors, you know, in in areas around the state, areas to avoid due to uh issues with um poor air conditioning or poor air quality. So, that way you can avoid those areas as well. So, that's all pushed through their app and they have a public facing uh web portal that you can go to as well.

Council uh Conwell.

Thank you, Mr. Jim. And um I just want to give kudos to the city manager, to the commissioner uh for working on this. Um as we all know, as you've all heard, this would have been just perfect for this past winter, right? With all the snow removal, all the snow we've had, the trash delays getting bumped one, two, three days into the next week. Um, so I absolutely thoroughly encourage everybody to please sign up for this program. It's the most comprehensive program I've seen the city come out with and in alerting um the residents and the businesses as to what's going on. And I think this will be a gamecher uh for the city of Worester. So thank you both.

Thank you. Dr. Mitra, council me. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Through you to the commissioner, thank you very much for really getting it going. I know it was uh offline for some time. Did we lose all those who were previously enrolled in it now or they have to re reenroll again? Commissioner

uh through the chair of the counselor. So there was there was two problems with the data that we got back. We did get some data back from the former company, but it was a year and a half old. So we were unable to identify what was good and what was bad. Uh the other problem is what if we were to load all of that in there, it would automatically load everybody to every single list. And we wanted to make sure that everybody had a chance to not only create a profile, choose what list they wanted to be on so they didn't go back to uh just getting messages constantly and kind of having that message fatigue and not actually listening, reading or looking at them anymore. So one can choose all the options. They can option.

Yes. through the chair to the com uh to the counselor they can choose all the options. Um one thing that we're working on with some of the departments for you know future additions is if there are largecale uh special projects or things going on larger events that are going to require long-term planning we can add additional lists that people could then later subscribe to if they wanted updates that were going to go out or alerts or information for those events. Um, we also have the ability during some of those events to set up more short codes. So people could register singly for, you know, if we did one for the Wister 300th, you know, several years ago, we could have had a text Wister 300 to 65513 and each day you were at the event, if an emergency occurred, you'd be able to get those specific to that event. Um, so with those advancements in this uh new technology, we're going to continue to enhance our ability to send notifications out and keep the public as informed as possible.

Mr. Ch Mr. through you to the count to the commissioner. I got a couple more questions. Um, when you send these messages, it goes to the cell phone to the residents

through the chair to the counselor. It can be any phone you want to register. So you can do it's normally cell phones for text messages but it does do voice calls as well. So you can register your home phone or uh business phone for voice call and it will come through as a voice call. Um one unique thing that we set up with these is the previous system when you got a voice call from Alert Wister it always came through 9291300 which if you called it back you got 311. We have a specific phone number set up for this now. So when an alert goes out, if you call it back, it'll actually replay the alert that you missed. So you'll be able to hear the last alert that went out to you. Um if you happen to not have a voicemail or your voicemail box is full or you weren't able to get to the phone in time, you can call it back, hear the alert again. Um and then for cell phones, we can do voice calls, uh TDD, text messages, and you can also sign up for emails. to the chair. Mr. Commissioner, um the program looks so good and it's so essential that I think almost everyone in the city should sign up for it. The way to sign up, what would be the procedure to sign up for someone

commissioner, the chair to the counselor, there's a couple of easy ways. The first is to go to the city's website and either go to our emergency communications page and the link to sign up is right there or if you get to the main page uh for the city of Worcester, if you scroll down to the bottom, you'll see the alert Wister logo. You can click right there and it'll bring you to the registration page. Another option is if you wanted to set up your cell phone, text join AW to 65513 and that will automatically enroll you and then text you a link to create your profile and password afterwards.

Mr. Chair, through you to the commissioner, I would like us to think about many seniors who are in our city. They're not that savvy to go in and kind of sign in for it. Maybe in the senior center many many places where their seniors are is there any opportunity that we can create that someone from the city hall goes in and helps them out to sign in for it because they are the one who need this help they are the one who needs to be alerted you know awareness should be there for them so I would suggest to think of something that how they can that we don't want them to be left out because of the maybe they're not that experienced to do the technological things as we all know so something like that also I was thinking is it possible that upcoming election coming up in the poll we can give the handouts to all those who will be coming there so there will be QR code that they can be aware of because it's important that we see that all the citizens all the residents of our city sign up for this program so that they are aware of what's going on as quickly as possible but thank you very much for doing this and bringing it back to life and I'm sure that those who are listening please sign up this is an important program. Thank you.

Absolutely. And and through the chair to the counselor, I you brought up a perfect point that I failed to mention, which was uh a third option to sign up is you can either call 311 and one of our customer service agents can work with you over the phone to set up the account for you. or if you stop into our 311 customer service center at 799 Main Street, we have uh three customer service staff there, varying hours, Tuesday to Saturday, and they're all there available to help register anybody that needs assistance. Thank you. Thank you, Council Tumi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I look forward to uh talking about this more in our subcommittee meeting um which I hope that people do pay attention to those because that's an opportunity to go uh more in depth in these issues. Um but I will say that um you know I really appreciated the report and the efforts to make this uh come back and come back in a better way than usual and I look forward to um seeing the social media posts on God bless you uh on how to uh sign up very quickly uh tomorrow uh as well as uh maybe call into the local radio shows etc uh to bring awareness to that. Thank you.

Thank you. So send that out to public safety. All those in favor on post ordered. Trans make we are on 8.268 transmitting information communication financial update for the period January 31st 2026. We can send the MLO. Those in favor of postal audit uh transmitting we are on 8.32A transmitting information concession over the state of the lakes. was a great turnout the other night and good job and I'll send that to councelor Rosen

I know what this meant that was so you would see me Mr. Just one question on this to the maybe the city manager. When I think of the lakes now and wish to all our water bodies, unfortunately I think of something that's not so good and that's the geese. They are everywhere. Every park, every playground, everywhere. So I don't know what we're doing. I remember years ago we did the eggling and you know we had dogs at one time the special dogs we brought in but they seem to be really taking over every park. I see them Elm Park Institute Park I don't know about the worester common I'm not sure but they they are everywhere. So through the chair to the administration what can we do in the future because they are proliferating and making things worse and worse and we don't seem to have them under control.

Thank you Mr. Rodell. uh through the chair to the councelor. So, uh, uh, great question. Uh, it is a bit of the bane of our lakes and ponds program, the geese, uh, candidly. Um, it is a very challenging problem. Uh, addling uh, which we've done in the past has been, uh, restricted, uh, to, so that is not really an option we can uh, consider right now. in the near future um for pursuing it on that level. Uh we have looked at alternatives. Uh our biggest concerns right now are actually keeping the geese off of our uh where our beaches are because the beaches in particular um uh in the evening the geese come up, they do their business and then they leave. And then the next morning we have uh some serious issues that have to all be cleaned up beforehand which can be problematic especially uh during the uh warm seasons uh particularly in late spring and summer of our program. So, we're looking for methods to restrict them from coming onto the beach, which we uh have learned. Uh geese are smarter than you might think, which is challenging because you have a great a program that works very well for about a week or two and then they adapt. Uh and so what we're trying to do is develop a rotation so that every time as they start adapting, we bring in something new. Uh that is being going to be piloted this uh summer in particular. So that you know some you might start with a uh a rope that goes across with um um uh flags that hang down from it, pennet flags that hang down from it. That tends to restrict them initially and then they figure out once those are taken down that oh now it's free and we can go. So we're going to look at that maybe as a starter but also a horn maybe potentially. Uh we're going to look to see if we can rent uh a dog um on

occasion to take to different beaches so we can uh teach the geese to be afraid of that. But again, like I mentioned, they do adapt relatively quickly. So we haven't found that perfect solution yet, but certainly well aware of the issue.

Through the chair to Mr. Odell. So I think cities and towns across the country have had some luck with the playing of some type of a you said I think a horn but some type of noise that does scare the geese and they think that it's one of their predators so on. So that's something if we can try I think it's not it's not very costly. Uh the dogs you know they seem to get used to them too. uh and they just realize that the dog is really no threat to them. So, uh it seems like uh everything we've tried so far, are we still addling with the the the eggs? That I thought was effective years ago, but it's pretty slow. And you know, how many eggs can you do in the spring uh to make sure that we don't get more geese? But we have plenty already even without them procreating. Thank you, M. Thank you. Okay. Um,

council was council King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, some good news in this report. Um, Bell Pond, good news. Co River, good news. Um, you know, Lake Quinn segment. Um, you know, no feal bacteria that significantly impacted recreation. Um, and then there's Indian Lake, Mr. Chairman. um that you were actively involved with last year. Um I know that u Mr. Odell was was actively involved and there were a number of challenges in 2025 through the chair to the administration. Can you speak to um the communication improvements um with that community with that um watershed association or whatever the title is? um as well as um what's different what's going to be different this year.

Mr. Oell

uh through the chair uh to the counselor. So um uh the in terms of your first question in terms of uh outreach and communication um we are being much more proactive in terms of our uh letting folks know about some of the the work that we're going to be doing going forward. We're have a um more aggressive um outreach program that targets uh as you may recall we had a couple uh several meetings regarding Indian Lake and some of the issues that occurred last summer. One of the nice things about those meetings was we uh were able to create a contact list based on all the people who were interested. That contact list now is something that we can use through constant contact uh directly communications with folks through email and through uh text um to let people know if there's a particular issue that's coming up and to inform them obviously of that and if they have any questions to reach back out to us. That has been pretty effective. We've already triled that when we did the lake draw down and are now doing it again for refilling the lake uh which is now actually in in progress as we speak. Uh it's an incremental fill and it should be filled by April 1st. So that process is already in place and seems to be effective. We've got some actually some excellent feedback from some of the residents and the abuters of the lake uh indicating same uh that they've been pleased. So that's one. And then in terms of the second question in terms of what are we looking to do to so we don't have a repeat of last year um part of the issue one of the uh main culprits last year was actually a uh native species that grew it's called Elodia that grew um exponentially uh last uh summer in part because the clarity of the pond actually got

better. We did such a good job in reducing the amount of cyanobacteria. We allowed more sunlight to reach the bottom that uh helped uh the growth of that elodia. Um it also is a as a cyclical uh plant anyway. So we had a bad timing of having a cycle where it tends to grow more anyway and provided more sunlight. And so between the two of those things we had um much more growth than we've had in the past. Um we anticipate both because we won't be in that cycle that peak cycle um and as because we will be more um uh measured in the amount of uh uh for the alum dosing station so we can better manage the syanobacterial levels. We believe we will create that that nice balance such that we're not creating too clear waters um to uh to promote that growth. Plus with the lake draw down between those three measures we believe we will be able to manage that much more effectively which should therefore um uh maybe not eliminate but drastically reduce the amount of eldia that will grow this coming summer.

Want to thank you for your flexibility. I know that when the um neighborhood and the association of watershed folks um were advocating for a draw down um they had to continue to push and Mayor Petty and myself and others um were very helpful in that as well. Um but the end results certainly um was an improvement. Mr. Chairman, um one of the major concerns was the dead fish. um that was particularly alarming for folks and two questions pertaining that one, have we been able to quantify um you know the um fish loss um and in addition to that, what's the plan to replenish, replace whatever the language is, um that population that's no longer there and the impact overall um on the lake itself through the chair of the loss

though

uh through chair to the counselor. So uh the good news is that uh there was a uh very modest fish kill uh that was noticed and um was brought to our attention early. There were some uh measures that were introduced uh in very short order to keep the oxygen levels up. the fish died because of low oxygen. Um oxygen levels uh were increased and then uh were maintained in uh through the balance of the summer. So we're not anticipating first of all should note that we're not anticipating any uh low oxygen um level issues this coming summer as things stand today. Um the amount of fish that were lost was relatively modest relative to the total number of fish that are in Indian Lake and so we are not expecting uh to have any need for replenishment of the fish. Uh there were folks who went out uh did ice fishing this over the winter here and so there were actually uh plenty of good fish. No complaints. They were very pleased about that. there were was some that concern that was brought up but to based on feedback that I received um that was not an issue so we don't anticipate it for the summer as well.

Good news. Um thank you Mr. Chairman and um thank you for the work. Thank you councelor Bo.

Um just want to say yeah thank you to the commissioner for all the work that your team has done o over the past year and a half. um grew up on Lake Quin Sigman, lifelong Wister resident. So, we know how important uh our bodies of water are for recreation, for fishing, but also um you know, with summer temperatures climbing, it's important for residents to have spaces to cool off, folks that don't have the opportunity to leave town during the summer. Um I know last year, you know, India Link was challenging and I think we learned that, you know, quick fixes don't always work well when it comes to nature. Um, I think and and again I think you know moving forward and I know this is something that the team's already working on but just knowing that it takes long-term investment from community and and and neighbors and the city and that's certainly been happening on the city end. I know recently the Indian Lake Wershed Association just teamed up with the city with uh I think it was why the YMCA up there to do a shoreline cleanup. Uh they removed a few tons of trash. So, I think that speaks to the the commitment of the neighbors around Indian Lake. Um, and just wanted to continue to um encourage neighbors to get involved and take ownership of of being of keeping the lake clean. Um, I know this might not be popular. I know Council Berg, we talked about lawns earlier, but I think it would be helpful for residents that live on the lake to consider maybe not using so much plant um, you know, plant nutrients because that runs right into the lake. Uh, but I think it, you know, this I'm seeing more community buy in and seeing more folks really engage with that and and I think it's it's really important work and I just want to encourage uh the city to continue to focus on this because keeping our waterways clean. This is really important. So, thank you.

Thank you, Chairman. Quick one, Council King.

Before I before I get forget Mr. Chairman, real quick, the I don't know Commissioner Goodwin Love, he's gone. Um perhaps there's a way that we you know whether you can opt into different things on the new technology if there's a blue space option um for folks to get information on the various blue spaces in the city and in lake [ __ ] etc. if there could be an intersection of those departments I'd like to make that recommendation by way of order Mr. Those in favor post so ordered. We'll send a report to Urban Ties. All those in favor opposed transmitting information communication of the department of sustainability and resilience projects update. Council

thank you Mr. Chairman. Um just have several questions. Uh first of all I like the work that's being done uh when it comes to the wub bins. I know there's a every day there seems like there's something new going on. Um I think that's the that's the good thing about it is being able to identify what those are and try to get ahead of them. Um it said here if I'm right there like 10% of those wins that seem to be the I don't know how to say it but the ones that seem to be the constant issues. Can you just get into like a little bit more detail on what type of issues you're experiencing with those through the chair today? uh through the chair to the councelor. Um uh yes. So uh just to uh uh note we have about 150 bins out there and of those 150 we tend to have about 14 to 16 of them have been um somewhat problematic. Uh I particularly with dumping um the bins either are filled to the point where they can't hold anymore and then people put uh additional uh material next to it. Um or we have other people who are just simply taking uh bags of material and just putting it next to the bin. Um uh over the winter that was uh particularly problematic when we had the snow uh because some of the bins it was very challenging to actually empty them. Um and so uh that some of that uh material was ended up staying there for several days before it could get removed. Um the problem seems to be coming from two uh primary sources. Uh one is uh uh roughly I would say uh a third of the bins that are problematic having issues with um it seems to be residential trash that is being put into those bins. Um uh and when the bins are

full, they just uh put it to the side next to it and instead it's basically to uh lessen the use I presume of purchasing the yellow bags. Um the larger issue is we have um areas where um uh where we've had dumping and the dumping comes from two parties. Uh there has been a couple of the bins. We're from the business near business districts where we've had folks um either from the either the business or from uh patrons of the business who have been uh putting materials next to uh bin or as opposed to in the bin which is would have been preferred. Uh that's been somewhat um managed better over late. So that has that problem has diminished over the last few weeks which is good news. And the other um uh vein which is the larger of the two veins is that we've had uh uh folks from the homeless population uh the unhoused who have moved uh taken their materials and have put them next to the to the bins. Um, ironically, uh, we are, um, it's probably the better choice as opposed to just leaving it where they are, um, and people trying to be responsible because they really have no other place to put them. So, they put them next to the bins. Uh, unfortunately though, it is still unsightly and and does mean that we have to maintain uh, and clean those up.

Okay. Thank you. So, um, through the chair, do we plan on doing any type of, uh, signage on the woo bins as far as, um, I don't want to use the word illegal dumping, but that's what it is. But to encourage people and in in a kinder way of just saying, you know, this isn't the the location for it, but are we going to use the the opportunities for signage on those bins? Mr. Rodell,

uh, through the chair, um, there actually is signage on the bins. um we have not uh moved forward in terms of uh looking at those problematic bins specifically for additional signage which may be a good part uh piece of the solution. Um our first order business what we were uh going to be looking at over the next few weeks uh now that the snow has melted and access is much more favorable uh the next few weeks um is to uh potentially move some of the bins to adjacent locations. uh the the problematic ones so that they still serve the general area but not in the same specific location to see if that moves the needle for some of these. Um we may also as you suggest I think it's a great idea look at uh some additional key signage targeted signage for this particular problem. Um, we may also, you know, uh, part of the overall pilot, this is a one-year pilot that we're looking at, is that some bins in, uh, where areas were having problems may get moved to areas where we wish we could have had bins in the first place, but just didn't have enough, and we can move them into areas where we think that they'll be um, uh, be better served in for that uh, area. So, all those are in in play right now. Uh this pilot, like I said, will run through the balance of this uh fiscal year, so through June. Um and then we'll likely do some um uh there might be some we'll make it more permanent and look at what we can do if there are any more ongoing uh changes that we will do um more frequently in the next year. This year though, most of it we're trying to minimize the number of changes so we can get a really good understanding under the pilot year as to what worked, what doesn't didn't, and what changes could be made at the locations they're at.

Okay. Thank you. No, I mean, this is important. Obviously, uh it's it's a system that I I believe is working, and obviously with everything new, you know, you're going to have your your um ups and downs. Uh still staying under the the zero waste program. um a lot of it says here data was gathered from the residents business, schools and more. Is there any opportunities um to go back into the schools and share this information or create a program with the kids um in the schools at a young age? This is the best time to work with gardening and how to take care of their their yards and things like that within their neighborhoods.

Model.

Yes. To the chair. So um uh the short answer is yes. Uh we are looking into doing that. Um for sure I think that's I completely agree that's a it's a great opportunity. Uh as you may noted in one of the other uh updates in there that we are now partnering with the school on some of the data that we're collecting that um uh on heat island and and other uh data that we've collected in our department. Um the issue with uh recycling and uh waste management is another rich data source that we are intend to be bringing into the program. It will be targeted initially for middle and high school students. Uh so that whole modules that can have that teaches stuff already but that can use local data to give people and the kids and their parents some real uh tangible that this is something that they're talking about that happens you know in in my neighborhood. uh it gives uh makes it much more personal and much more tangible for folks um for kids in particular but uh also for uh the teachers as well as uh um uh the the kids families. So I think it's a great idea. We hope to continue to do to partner with them like we're doing now and to expand on that to include these programs. We think a diversion program in the uh especially with schools that have cafeterias uh would be uh something that would be looked at very favorably by the school. We have a rather large amount of organics that are being wasted in the schools right now. Um part of that is uh some of the federal mandates that you must get x you know this fruit this particular piece and a lot of the kids take the fruit because they're supposed to and then they immediately take it and put it in the trash and that's a perfectly good piece of fruit. We had a diversion program where allow and and a couple schools are piloting this but where that that fruit can be then just put on a tray near the trash but not in the trash.

Shared bins. Yes, shared bin. There you go. Um then those opportunities uh for either taking that food to be for someone else who might benefit from it whether at the school or or outside the school. Those programs we hope to expand. Okay. Yeah. No, that's a that's a great program to to to expand definitely. Um it'll definitely help families um outside the regular school hours. Uh lastly, um it says here about the rain gardens. I just wanted to know if you've been able to identify any new rain garden areas. Some people have reached out to me and they they see some pots within the district um district 4 in particular. Um they're interested in how do they go about creating a rain garden and what's the what's the process? Mell.

Uh through the chair. So uh currently the city we are managing uh eight rain gardens. Um and so what we're hoped to do this year is some of those rain gardens vary in um uh uh upkeep and uh some are in great shape, some are need a fair bit of attention. Um so our goal this year is to get all those into uh into great shape uh for the future years. And at that point, once that's done, we can start looking at um uh specifically expanding that portfolio of rain gardens on city property. Um it is um not typically hard to put in a rain garden, but it does require uh regular maintenance and we do not have staffing in our department to do that directly. So, we have to um uh hire uh uh contract that out, contract that work out. Um which uh ideally if we could have um uh volunteers to help on that, that would be uh where we would hope to go, but getting uh volunteers to do that and of course take care of sometimes their own property is a it's a challenge to make that all work. So, uh we're not actually soliciting this year. We're hopeful to get, like I mentioned, the current ones up to snuff so that we can learn enough to know exactly what's entailed, how we can manage that um maintenance period as effectively and as inexpensively as possible. Uh, and based on that information, then we can um uh open it up for possibly new rain gardens uh and learn and and hopefully make it the the process for doing that much more streamlined.

Okay. Thank you. So, with with the universities, have you reached out to the universities? I know Clark has a has a big program that they're starting to grow themselves. Mr. Odell for the volunteers to to to maintain these. Yeah. Through the chair. Uh we have the problem with at universities most university students aren't available during the summer months. Uh they go where they go. Um and that's when we need them the most um during those summer months. So the timing is somewhat problematic. There are some students that stay longer uh through the summer, but we haven't uh worked with the colleges and universities uh in enough detail yet to see if there's enough students still available and willing to do that work at at present. Councelor,

that's it. Thank you. Okay, so Senator Urban Ties, all those in favor? Oppose? So ordered. We have finance items 8.35A through D. 8.36 A through G 837 A through D. Roll call. Councelor Bergman. Yes. Councelor Bada. Yes. Councelor Cono. Yes. Counc. Uh, excuse me, Mr. Chairman. I I wanted to take something out out. I apologize, but Okay. Can we do that or What was that you want to take it out? Uh 8.36 C.

Okay. So, we're going to redo redo the roll call. 8.3 I'm sorry. Every item except 8.36 C. Roll call. Councelor Bergman. Yes. Councelor Bada. Yes. Councelor Economo. Councelor Rolo. Yes. Councelor King. Yes. Councilor Mitra. Yes. Councelor Aida. Yes. Councelor Rivera. Yes. Councelor Rosen. Yes. Council Tumi. Yes. Mayor Patty. Yes. Uh this is a CXX community funding. Um, councelor uh Fisol.

Uh, Mr. Chairman, I stand to get some clarification. Uh, I don't oppose the $100,000 going to the Canal District, but uh I just uh was looking at some of the backup that uh I asked for from uh Mr. McGuardi and uh the community investment donation initially from CSX was $4 million. Now that was over 15 years ago. And as I look at it, I'm just trying to educate myself, not only myself, but maybe my colleagues and uh my constituency. Um there are three different pockets where that money goes. One is the Canal District, one is Grafton Hill, and one is Shoesbury Street. And each one of them back in 2015 received $1 million each. There was $4 million given by CSX, I'm curious, where the $1 million that was left over, what happened to that,

Mr. McGirthy? And again, I realize through you, Mr. Chairman, that it was 15 years ago, but I wasn't here. I was in the legislature. I don't know if Tim was my buddy wasn't in his role, but

yeah. So, the $4 million community investment donation of that $3 million was for Homesfield and East Park Aquatics. So, those projects moved forward and were completed. Um then the remaining million was split a third, a third, a third between Shersbury Street, Grafton Hill, and the Canal District. There was then a commitment for an additional third a third a third of gate fees. A million dollars in gate fees that was anticipated to be raised. And then just last fall the city manager committed to an additional million dollars in gate fees because over the first 10 years we raised the million that was anticipated. It was a $10 million program. So we have another I think it's about seven years remaining of gate fee collections. It's falling down a little bit compared to those first 10 years, but we should be close to around another million dollars. So that's where the final third, a third, a third comes from. So as a result, the combined is each neighborhood gets about a million dollars of community development funds.

Council,

thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh also through you, Mr. Chairman. uh back back uh when CSX came to the city of Worcester 15 years ago, a little over 15 years ago. Uh I I I was opposed to a lot of what went on. We accommodated them uh greatly and we changed the traffic flow in Grafton Hill forever. And in all honesty, I have in my lifetime, I've lived on uh in district three my whole life, and I've never seen a company have a negative effect as CSX has had to a neighborhood of Grafton Hill and also Union Hill. Uh we closed Coral Street, dead ended it, and it added a minute and a half uh fire response time to uh that that uh neighborhood of Union Hill. So, uh, having said that, I I'm looking forward to a report that I asked for from CSX regarding their TIFF that they received from the city of Worcester. Uh, in it, I remember as a member of the legislature, they were supposed to create 50 new jobs in Worcester. Uh, I've through the years, I've asked if that's ever happened, and no one's ever been able to give me a concrete answer on that. So, I'd look for that. And u also the the deal that was uh you know promoted to the neighborhood back then was that we created that entrance at Lower Grafton Street so they could get right on to 290, take a right-hand turn out of 290 and then if they had to go uh west

on 290 they would go underneath 290 and catch the exit at uh Summer Street. Uh they continuously now take lefthand turns out of their uh exit and go on to Grafton Street and uh use Hamilton Street and Lake A as a cutth through. So I was uh Mr. chairman through you. I was in discussion with uh Commissioner Westerling and uh we were told uh after the fact that you cannot stop commerce on a state route which Grafton Street is Route 122. But Mr. Wesling. Commissioner Wesling tells me that it's in number only, that the city of Worcester takes complete care of Grafton Street. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts does no plowing, does no repairs of Grafton Street. And that's something I'd also like to uh be addressed in the report. Uh it's in it's in number only, but we still can't um enforce uh any of the uh illegality of of uh tractor trailers using Hamilton Street, using Lake A, uh doing terrible terrible uh uh you know uh problems with uh infrastructure. uh the the potholes and the uh damage it's done to those roads uh to me is is uh you know nothing compared to um to what they give us back uh you know to

the city and in their fees their dollar or truck fees that they bring into the city. And I would, you know, I would also uh look at uh if if we could at some of these community fees at at uh paying for a police detail because uh I believe in those cases uh of speed and of them using those streets as I as I stated, Hamilton Street and Lake A as cutthroughs that whatever uh pay detail we would have there, they'd make their money for that detail uh and then some the city would would uh benefit from having paid details there and that's something I'd like to discuss too. So I'll leave it there. I look forward to the report. Uh, I know the manager has promised maybe in his next uh calendar that he brings to the council, but those are things that I'd like to have addressed. And and uh again, if uh if you have any questions, uh please uh you know, feel free to contact me or or the council uh staff who has been working with me on these things. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. So, all those in favor for those reports. Okay. Council King, all set. Okay. So, vote that. Roll call. Councelor Bergman. Yes. Bada. Yes. Econom. Yes. Vo. Yes. King. Yes. Mitra. Yes. Yes. Rivera. Yes. Rosen. Yes. Tumi. Yes. Mayor Petty. Yes. We have uh Barry Waran. I'm sorry. We want 9.8. 9A. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Tres Masdot District 3 vegetation management plan. Mr. Chairman, please on file. Councelor Tumi.

Uh before voting on this, please um could we uh ask the um uh commissioner uh the director, sorry, uh district three uh to amend uh this and redistribute it. Uh it's written to it's addressed to the board of selectmen, the town of Worcester. I think it should be it's a public document. They should should correct that. Number one. Number two, uh it was a very interesting document and it brings up the invasive uh plants, something that I've brought up several times uh and have asked for uh comprehensive plan. Uh and I would like to see if there's some way that um we coordinate with uh with this department with our department um to address uh the invasive plants uh moving forward. I know that especially not weed is a huge issue for us um and uh other plants. So, uh I'd appreciate that. I know I've filed it several times. Thank you.

Okay. So, we can file this item. All those in favor post, so ordered. Brings us to the end of the meeting. Motion is to adjurnn. All those in favor opposed.