City Council 03/24/2026

Good evening everyone, welcome to the Worcester City Council meeting. If you can, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star-Spangled Banner.

from the United States of America, to the Governor of the Republic of the United States of America,

O say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed At the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars Through the perilous fight For the ramparts we watched Were so gallantly streaming And the rocket's red glare The bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave

and the home of the brave.

Oroco, Bregman, present, Bilotta, here, Economou, here, Fresolo, here, King, here, Mitra, yes, Ojeda, here, Rivera, here, Rosen, here, Toomey, Mayor Petty.

Here. Proclamation. 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 Worcester 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, 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 Worcester, do hereby proclaim March 24, 2026 through April 30, 2026 as Motorcycle Wind Safety Period in the City of Worcester. I encourage all citizens to observe this period. So we have with us today, we have Paul Cody and Brett St. Pierre. And I think we have one motorcycle rider here. Councilor King, or two. No, you gave yours in, Tony. You're a Christian. Councilor King.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We have, I think, this is the Governor's copy here? Yes. And thank you for that. So the Governor's also 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. Okay, next we have the approval of the minutes. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. Public participation, a person may speak for no more than two minutes on any items appearing on the agenda. Mr. Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Rule 39, items of public interest. 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 present 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.

Is your name, City of Residence, and item number?

Yes, Fred Nathan, Worcester, number one. I'm happy it's motorcycle awareness period. My items tonight are eight dash 36 A, C, E, and G. Just curious, you want to increase the cable, increase the cable fund by 1.3 million. Not quite sure what that's all about. Uh... $100,000 from CSX to the Canal District for the support of the Canal District Ambassador Program. Not quite sure what that's about. and $42,000 for the Mass Workforce Board salaries. Curious.

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 Police Ordinary Maintenance to provide funding for the vendor, I repeat, vendor, Expenses. Not quite sure what that's all about. Just curious.

Thank you. Anybody online? Wait, sir. Is your name, state of residence, and item number?

My name is Carlos Diaz. I live on 35 Euclid Ave, which is on the corner of Perry and Euclid. My agenda is Fixing the Streets of Periev. And that's all I got is two minutes.

When does it start?

We'll start over on the time.

All right, thank you. 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 sidewalk because when I was snow blowing, Rocks were flying all over the place, hitting my house and stuff like that. And the streets, and I understand about the winter this year was horrendous on all the streets, you know? And there's a lot of potholes everywhere. But on Perrieve, The sidewalks are torn up. The streets have potholes. Actually, some of the streets 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. Crompton Park, there's 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 or have pulled with bags or garbage cans. in our neighborhood too. A lot of people throwing them poop bags in the sewer and that's unacceptable on the citizens of Worcester. So yeah, I'm here to basically complain for, not just for me, but for the whole, you know, neighborhood on Perry Ave. Because nobody comes over here, nobody complains. They told me, Carlos, 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 seen that on Salisbury Street, they have brand new sidewalks, brand new streets, but you know, the hard working middle class people of Perry Ave, because there is a lot of hard working 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 bitch more.

Thank you. Okay, we'll go online.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We got three calling users. The first one is Joe. I'm going to try and meet the resident now. Please state your name, city of residence, and the item you're calling on.

Hi, my name is Joe Karsha. I'm a North Lincoln Street resident and neighborhood advocate calling about 6A. that's the city getting us sued for millions of dollars. And I think we should just consider making cuts to the city council to offset that money. Over the weekend, I sent an email to every At-Large, Councilor, as well as the District 1 and Mayor. And it was, you know, well articulated. And I didn't get a single reply from any At-Large, Councilor, or you know acknowledgement of the complaints about misconduct in several city departments and you know this is not meant to be disrespectful it's nothing personal I'm just commenting on their performance as city councilors.

Why are we spending $30,000 to $40,000 on these positions if they're not stepping up and helping the average everyday working class citizen when they ask for help?

Thank you.

Yep, I still got another minute, right?

Yep, you can talk about items on the agenda, please.

That was 6A and saving money. Joe.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. The next speaker is Natalie Gibson. I'm trying to meet the resident now.

Hi, afternoon. I am calling about 8.35. 8.35 and it's D. I was actually meeting with another neighborhood leader, co-leaders, and we just wanted some more information on this application regarding the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistant Grant Program. Apparently this Over $100,000 is being gifted to the city and this money is supposed to be used to help with the neighborhood crime watch. Many of us are not crime watchers. We do way more than that. But in scanning the information that we were able to look up very quickly before finding out about this, This money will be used for a lot of other things and one of the things namely was drones.

So we would really like to know where this money will be going and how it will actually be helping and the neighborhoods because as our previous District 5 Councilor tried to do, which was get us just a little small stipend 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 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 So please let us know and then I want to know how are you guys actually adopting this if you haven't even seen the application yet. some of the 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 two more calling users. The next one is William Pierce. I'm gonna try to meet the resident now.

Yeah, hello, Council. I was hoping to call in in regards to potentially the potential establishment of a White History Month. I feel that, you know, we have a Black History Month.

That's not on the agenda tonight.

Is this not on non-agenda items?

Correct, we don't have that.

Well, I think niggers are- Niggers are what?

Mr. Mayor, the last speaker is David Webb. please state your name and state your residence. David, can you hear us? They have trouble with us. We've lost, Mr. Webb, can you hear us? 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. Webb'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 comment about that call that was cut off. It's not acceptable for anybody to call into this body and use that language. and be discriminatory about any group of people at all. And I just think this council needs to make a statement that that's not acceptable. now, yesterday, today are moving forward. And we're not going to put up with it. So I just hope my colleagues agree. Thank you.

I think that we all agree. Okay, we're going back, executive session we'll do after the petitions. Let's do the petitions first. We are on petition 7A, refer to the parks, recs, and cemetery. 7B to 7H, refer to Public Works. 7I to 7T, refer to Traffic and Parking. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. Then we're going to... Executive Session. Mayor Joseph M. Petty, City Councilor C.O. Worcester does hereby convene Executive Session as of Tuesday, March 24th, 2026 meeting for the purpose of discussing litigation strategy with respect to the case of Talon Holden versus Department of Conservation Recreation in the City of Worcester and the City Council will reconvene in open session. Roll call.

Bergeman, Bilotta, Economou, Fresolo, King, Mitra, Ojeda, Rivera, Rosen, Toomey, and Mayor Petty.

Welcome back to the Wista City Council and roll call.

Bergman, here, Councilor Bilotta, here, Councilor Economou, here, Councilor Fresolo, here, Councilor King, here, Councilor Mitra, here, Here. Councilor Ojeda?

Here.

Councilor Rivera? Here. Councilor Rosen? Here. Councilor Toomey? Here. And Mayor Petty? Here.

Okay, we are on 8.1. A and B, non-city council confirmations. We have a transferring information communication of the appointment of David Hoffman, the constable. and also Steve Meade to Constable. Motion is to place on file. I want to thank you for their service. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. recommend the adoption resolution authorizing acceptance of the affordable housing restriction under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 184. I have a question to opt on the roll call. Roll call. This is, hang on, this is 8.48. This is at the housing restriction. What's the property, I forget.

What is that?

8.4. Oh, Habitat for Humanity, that's right.

Can I ask a question?

Sure, Councilor Economou.

Is that forever or is that for seven years, ten years? Is there a time? I think if it's just forever to create a habitat home, is that what this is for?

I thought so.

Just I know on some projects there's time restriction. I thought it was forever, the way I read it was forever, but let me see. 30 years. 30 years, very good, thank you.

Okay, roll call. Brueggemann, Bilotta, Economou, Fresolo, King, Mitra, Ojeda, Rivera, Rosen, Toomey, and Mayor Petty. Yes.

Okay, we are on 8.7A, Transmitting Information and Communication Related to the Results of the 2025 Fall Leaf Collection Program. We send that to Public Works. Councilor Ojeda.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a few questions regarding the leaf pickup. I know it's pretty much a detailed operation that has to take place. My question through the chair to the city manager. It shows the numbers of Waste leaves have been picked up and the importance of it. Has there been any thought of some type of cleanup prior to it because it's a one-time thing, right? In the neighborhoods, in the streets, it's a one-time 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? Catch basins get filled way before the leaf pickup time comes. How do we address those issues prior to the leaf pickup?

Commissioner?

Through the chair, good evening. 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 right now we're cleaning for example winter salt and not salt but winter sand out of the catch basins. They fill with litter throughout the year and in the fall they fill with leaves. So that's an ongoing process for us. The other option is for residents. We do have three drop-off sites throughout the city for folks if they should have, let's say they're cleaning their backyard or cutting down some brush. We do have those opportunities throughout the year for folks to drop off.

Okay, thank you. And speaking of the catch basins, there was a couple times where they've been in the neighborhood, I stopped, talked to the guys, and is there a focus on identifying what is really coming out of the catch basins. I know there was a mention of dog poop, for instance. The residents are throwing the stuff down the drain or whoever is throwing it down the catch basins. but there was a couple times where I noticed 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 common pickup from those catch basins. I know someone told me they pulled out wooden boards. So I guess what I'm saying is, 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 seeing to pick out of those cash patients 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, we find all kinds of items in catch basins which shouldn't be there, ideally. I think that when we end up with a lot of litter In the catch basins, that's the result of something that we've been working on with the Department of Sustainability and Resilience is improved Recyclable Collection, and what folks, what residents can put the recyclables out in the curb. but in general 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, going back to the leaf pickup, I'm not sure if it's been addressed or this is something you can let us know. Do the chair to the commissioner. when we missed the leaf pick-up dates due to snow. I've noticed it hasn't been a quick turnaround for the trucks to come back and pick up. I received multiple calls, multiple letters in certain areas, certain parts of the district where they just have not come back and pick up the leaves and they continue to stay there. There's probably some areas still with leaves due to the snow still. 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 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 the leaves. We collected a lot of snow at the same time because the grabbers that we use and the buckets that we use from our loaders, we're picking up a combination of leaves and snow. The leaves that we happen to miss or the leaves that blew down from the trees, some of the oak trees are late 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, through the chair. We believe that when we went out after we had cleaned up after that winter snowstorm that we got to all the streets that were on our plan 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 Curbside, or 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 Rivera.

Commissioner answered the question I was going to ask.

No sir. No sir. Councilor Toomey.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm just thinking, you know, when we all have our gutters out there, people came up with a solution for eliminating the blockage for all of the stuff, gutter guards. Is there such a thing as sewer guns? Because that would eliminate some of the larger pieces of trash and objects going into that. Is that a thing?

Through the chair, are you talking about catch basins? Yeah. So you will see when there's a construction project, when they are excavating or otherwise disturbing the soil, they will put 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, 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 runoff from the streets onto private property and damage.

Right, okay, no, I just wanted to ask if that was a thing or not. Yeah, it is. Just trying to think outside the box.

I appreciate that, thank you. Thank you, Councilor King.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is regarding the street sweeping also and the leaf. leaves as well.

Street Sweeping is the next item.

Yeah, so I'm supposed to speak on both of them. So I don't have to stand up again, can I just talk about both? It's very similar.

You wanna take them together? We'll take them together, A and B together, go ahead.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So to the chair, to the administration, one of the things that has repeatedly come forward is the notification process for the cleanup and the street sweeping. And in many neighborhoods, there's notices that are placed in various places in Orange, et cetera. And I know there's also a notification process as well. I think we'll be getting into that perhaps regarding 311 and the new Alert Worcester or whatever it is. But that being said, a number of folks have expressed consternation at not knowing when folks are actually coming. So where they have things that are posted for days, people are trying to kind of navigate that.

and then what some folks in the community have called ambulance chasing when they're waking up or they're coming out or they're in and out and after a period of time or days where there's been notice up they're receiving they're being ticketed they're being told and they feel as though there's something's lacking in the process. So through his administration, let me do a chair to administration. I know this isn't new information to anyone, but what is it that we're doing to tweak and improve how we're doing this? I was at a community meeting neighborhood meeting a couple days ago where folks were very happy that people being towed and ticketed for snow etc and other reasons but you know we have a lot of hard-working people here in the city

that need notice and need to make sure that we're trying to improve this process through the chair.

Commissioner. Through the Chair, we do our best with postings on the city's website. When we're going out to a particular neighborhood or more specifically to streets in a neighborhood, we are posting temporary signs. 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 when we believe that we can accomplish that cleanup in that area.

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

Commissioner. Through the chair, I will have to get back to the council on what that actual advance 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 Councilor Economou followed by Councilor Rosen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I just stand to congratulate the team. I think the fall and spring cleanups are probably two of the best programs we have here in the city i think the city team the men and women dpw and our private contractors who work along with them do a fantastic job. I think they work very efficiently, quickly. They get through the neighborhoods very quick. And I just want to say thank you. I do believe these are two of our best programs here in the city.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Councilor Rosen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll throw the chair to Mr. Westerling. I think that the fall street sweeping is probably one of the most popular programs we have in the city. I mean, everyone seems to like it. and I know we're taking the spring and the fall here together. Bouncing back for a moment to the spring, spring now and within weeks we're gonna have a lot warmer weather and as you know, in the spring, People get out and they start working on the yards for the first time in months. And they clean the 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. Wesseling, no matter what they're raking up in their yard and cleaning their yard,

during the spring, the next few weeks come out, they cannot put any of that out. The spring street sweeping is for the gravel, the sand, the salt. They can sweep 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 drop-off sites. Is that correct?

Through the Chair, you've made an excellent distinction there. 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 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 gonna break our equipment and that puts us from being able to to complete our process within five weeks, it puts it into a much longer term.

Okay, and through the chair, some people.

Councilor, the manager wants to respond.

oh yeah I just want to add I think you made a great job in the distinction also the equipment that's utilized for fall and spring is very different too for fall is pickup so 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's the distinction between both.

through the chair to Mr. Wesseling. But 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 the 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, we would have to evaluate each and every 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 flow of water to catch basins, 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. 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 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 figured, 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're familiar with dealing with them. And you mentioned signage, of course the orange signs go up on the streets. a few days in advance. We hope it's a few days in advance. And I guess maybe one of our 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, 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, there are options for folks to sign up for notices for road closures, traffic issues, construction issues, delays in collection, and that we use 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. Westling, it's more than just a phone call, it's a text, it's an email. So there's a 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. King, obviously went through the winter without it. We certainly could have used it. Last question. Maybe Councilor King brought it up. Park cars. So during the fall, especially, if they're blocking a leaf pickup on a street, we do come by with a tow truck and move them and then move them back, is that correct?

Through the Chair, that's an excellent distinction to have made. 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 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 and 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 Borgman.

Through the chair, I'd ask different tone than 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 in my own neighborhood, I see the constituents that contact me. There are occasionally 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. 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 leave 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 when somebody 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've 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 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 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, 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 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, if you miss a cleanup in November, which is usually when it is, December, January, February, and most of March, I really don't care what my loan 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 can. 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 could 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 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, 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. Councilor Bilotta?

I just want to say, yeah, appreciate the fall leaf collection program, especially, you know, the preventative impact that it has for keeping our waterways clean and reducing the amount of nutrient loading that's going into the waterways. you know especially in District 2 we have Indian Lake, Lake Quinsigamond, Belle Pond which you know we're going to be talking about those later in the State of the Lakes you know report but just want to say appreciation for the the fall leaf collection and because it really does have an impact for our waterways and as a question to the chair you 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 to Public Works. C, Transmitting Information and Communication Relative to the State's Declaration of a Level 3 Critical Drill. This one quick question from the chair is what is the definition of restriction? It's not clear in the 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. These are required statements that the state puts out through its Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. through its Drought Task Force. So it's standard language that we will make on our website better defined. So it says all non-essential outdoor water uses are banned. What does that mean? 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, you can't irrigate your your lawn or your planting area. So it's essentially outdoor water use is banned. Think of it that way as a more comprehensive method. And one other thing. So we have watched

The distinction here to be made is that we fall within the central Massachusetts zone. 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, So we've got ample supply of water. However, we do still fall under the state's jurisdiction and the Executive Office of Energy Environmental Affairs. So I don't want folks at this point to think that they're gonna not be able to turn on their faucets or flush their toilets or shower or any other indoor uses. We've got ample water, we're at 89%.

What's the chances of rescinding the restriction?

So they meet 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, it's something that that drought task force meets every two weeks to reevaluate and determine whether or not out of the four, there are four different levels. We're in level three. Four is the worst. 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 Councilor Rosen.

Through the Chair to the Commissioner, does Worcester provide water to any of the surrounding towns?

Through the Chair, yes we do. To what towns, Mr. Commissioner? Through the Chair, I was hoping you weren't going to ask me. I know that we do for We do for the town of Holden, and we've got some other minor agreements with other communities, but they're insignificant, 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 very small percentage, but again, that's another item that I can provide.

Okay, and 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. Zone. The state is cut from the north to the south along lines. So yes, Holden falls within that same, as do all the surrounding communities to Worcester.

OK.

I just wanted that information. Thank you, Mr. Commissioner.

Thank you, Councilor Toomey.

Just very quickly, does this have any impact on businesses that are car washes?

Through the chair, no, that would not be considered an outdoor water use.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Okay, so send it out to Public Works. All those in favor? Thank you. Proposed so ordered. We're on PACS. Mr. Antonelli. Transferring information and communication relevant to the review and master plan and process of Newtons Hill at Elm Park. We'll send that to, we'll place that on file. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. Transmitting information and communication over the Greenhill Farm 2025 event schedule. That's pretty cool. Good job. And we'll see if we can place that on file. Those in favor oppose so ordered. Transmitting information, communication relative to potential changes to the consumption of sale or alcohol beverages in the municipal parks policy or park special and supporting events. That's going to the Parks Commission and Councilor 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 you, Chair, to the Council, the Parks Commission makes that decision, and then there's an updated ordinance that we would have to change in the city, which I think there has to be an amendment to that the Council, we would bring forward to the Council.

Okay, I think this is a great report and a good idea that we finally, after what, 17 years of having alcohol served at Greenhill, Golf Course Events and Worcester Common. After 17 years we know it's safe and Worcester is growing up and this is just an excellent idea. I'm not sure how the four, Parks, the new parks, I guess, Greenhill Park, Elm Park, Institute Park, and East Park, Cristoforo Colombo 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. 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 trying to get them much more involved in working with us and Institute Park.

I talked about the signage and other things going on in Institute Park. This, I think, would be a welcome addition. There's a lot of 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 to one of their three summer concerts. We have one for July 3rd with fireworks. We'll get a huge crowd, and we have one 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 I regret that. but 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 restroom building, we have in the backside, right in the same building, years ago they built them that way, we have what's called a snack bar. But I think that would be perfect when we, If and when we serve at these big events, we allow alcohol. I don't think it has to be from a truck. It can be, but I believe maybe through the chair to either the manager or Mr. Antonelli, 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 roped off, it's confined and maybe under a tent, I just can't remember.

and Commissioner.

So through the Chair to the Councilor, the License Commission dictates those rules and responsibilities. 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, 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 look 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 is that possible?

Commissioner?

So there is that possibility, again, License Commission would make that determination. Right now when we do it on the Worcester Common, most of the time it's a tent that's brought in. If you go to Festival of Lights, there's a big tent that we put up for the day. This would just make it cheaper and easier for an event organizer because you'd have a facility that can control that. 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 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's submitted.

Okay. I guess for an event, the License Commission through the Chair to Mr. Antonelli would grant, what, a one-day permit for that event?

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?

So on, through the chair, on our side, we do not have a permitting fee. Last year we eliminated a large number of those. They would have whatever fee the License Commission would deem necessary for that, but there would be nothing 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 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 parks, Bob?

So 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 non-profits 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 have the costs 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?

That is determined by the event organizer, who then goes to the commission, the License Commission, for approval of that.

Through the chair, if more than one vendor wanted to come onto the Common, the Licensed 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. The city does not dictate that. We do not look to say you must use X, Y, Z. That is up to the organizer 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 Councilor, that is still to be determined. We're going to see how everything goes at our Parks Commission meeting in April. and we launched it on this past Thursday at our Commission meeting to get the word out that we're going to have this meeting. We're here tonight to make sure that this Council and the Commission 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 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 these four sites, I think, with some of the great events that we have there will be be able to cater to the patrons of these events just by having alcohol, as many cities and towns across the country have had in their parks for years.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, it's long overdue, so good luck on your commission meeting. Councilor Bilotta?

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

Thank you.

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

Mr. Manager, Commissioner.

So through the Chair, to the Councilor, I want to also correct Councilor Rosen earlier asked me what role the Council plays in determining this policy, et cetera. It's not actually an ordinance change. It's actually a policy. This is a policy that was established many years ago. during the previous administration, it was extended to the Worcester Common to offer Worcester Common activities. And then part of the efforts of us evaluating How do we support our local businesses? How do we support the special event organizers in this community that over the past few years, we've had a lot of conversations to try to provide more opportunities and engagement of these organizations to our parks. And we leave 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 idea and we thought it was a great idea 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. We've been asked previously for some of these parks, the utilization or the desire to have alcohol in these locations and so that selection was based on that. There was no real perspective on that. The flexibility of adding other parks is still there. We added these as the main Thank you. Thank you.

To the administration, if you could just also clarify for the public who may not have read this or may look at this later. This is by permit only, correct? Or can you just take that for the record? I don't want anyone thinking, you know, the alternative that they can show up with their brown bag or whatever.

Yes. Just to clarify, the only way to have alcohol in the parks is through a special event process. you're hosting an event 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, depending on where you're having your event in the city, even a private event, it could be a different location. You have to go before the License Commission to get a temporary approval to serve alcohol in that location and it could be a private location. and many different locations around the city, outside of parks. So the only way to be able to serve alcohol would be through a special event permitting process.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Councilor Bergman.

Just very quickly through the chair to the commissioner of parks. given that we're expanding to these four parks is there any change if you know about the liability 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.

Commissioner? Through the Chair to the Councilor, we do not require a bond for any of our park events. 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. The License Commission will then dictate whatever additional liability insurance or anything else that they may have for that purpose. 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.

Thank you, so we can place that on file. All those in favor? Opposed, so ordered. Next item is Transmitting Information and Communication over to the Worcester Common Master Plan Update. Place that on file. All those in favor?

Do it, Chair.

Also, Councilor Bilotta?

Real quick, just a point of clarification. does the master play for the common, does that include the surrounding sidewalks around the common and is that part, does parks manage those in the front of the city hall?

Commissioner. So through the chair to the counselor, the area that we're working on for this master plan review update is from Front Street to Franklin, World War II Memorial to back of the stairs on the plaza. We are not looking to go into the sidewalk areas around City Hall at this time. But one of the functionalities that we're going to be working with on this new updated design is a new treatment, a new pavement treatment to see if we can come up with a better overall pavement treatment for the area around City Hall and on the Common. The paver system works very well. Franklin Street was 20 years old before we replaced it this past fall. 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 for the backside of City Hall.

Okay, just because I just want to say, you know, it is hard when some of the tiles in the wintertime get chewed up and really dangerous for folks, especially with mobility challenges. So really hoping we could do better about replacing those in a timely manner because City Hall should be safe and accessible and welcoming to all. And the tiles right now are, 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 counselor, we we took care of Franklin Street, which was the worst LOCATION THANKS TO THE COUNCIL AND THE FUNDING THROUGH OUR CAPITAL We're currently right now working on, we're gonna start working on the front of City Hall as well. So we're gonna come from Franklin Street, come around to Front Street, and then go in front of the garage entrance. will pretty much end there on more of what I would call expansive change or expansive replacement. 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. But we'll look at the rest of those as well as we sort of move this program forward.

Thank you. Just to follow up, when is this work going to be happening?

Should be happening in the next couple of weeks. Contractor is bringing staff back, I think, beginning of next week. So we should start seeing that. 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 in the front and Franklin's front and main street sides of City Hall.

Okay, thank you.

Yep. Thank you, Councilor King. All set? Okay, motion is to file. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. Public Safety, Transferring Information and Communication over to the Wissler Police Department's drone report. That's gonna go to Public Safety. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. Transmitting Information and Communication, we have the MPAC accreditation. Go to Public Safety. We'll put that in Public Safety. Councilor Economou.

Quick comment, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. I just want to, excuse me, I just want to stand to say thank you to the WSDA PD for taking this step and I for one appreciate their professionalism in trying to take their department to the next level and I think it will be well worth it and I look forward to the results as it moves along.

Thank you. Thank you. Public safety, all those in favor of postal audit, Next one is Transmitting Information and Communication. We're off to relaunch, so they were at Worcester. We just went over that, so we'll extend that to Public Safety. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. brings us to 8.26A. Oh, before we go on to 8.26A, Mr. Manager, Mr. Manager, you had a correction you wanted to make with the, Restriction on the housing that Mr. Economou asked that question and I won't correct the answer.

To the Chair, to the Council, I just want to make a correction. The Councilor Economou asked, what is the timeframe on the deed restriction for the Habitat for Humanity? It's actually in perpetuity. Part of the Habitat for Humanity program is to include a restriction in perpetuity, so it is perpetuity, not 30 years.

Thank you. Okay, A, Transformation and Information, Increment of Cash Revenue. The financial update for the period ending January 31st, 2026. Should we ask a question to bring Mr. McGurthy up here? No, okay. Lizzy? What's that? Councilor King.

Mr. Chairman, I wanted to speak on 8.14A. I don't know if you, I think you ran through that one.

Which one?

The Alert Worcester. I just had a quick question on it.

Oh, we're at Worcester, okay. Motion is to go back to 8.14a. All those in favor? Aye. Okay, go ahead.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Through the Chair, you know, this, It's not 8.14, is it? Yeah. Yeah, it is. To the Chair, to the administration, we know this has been offline. for a number of months due to cyber security being compromised. I had filed an order, I think, previously requesting this, but if someone could speak to contingency planning. as relates to if something like this happens again. It's been offline for quite some time. It's caused, I think, some Anxiety as well as potential safety concerns. So through the Charity Administration, what will happen if there's another breach. Is there an alternative method or and so forth.

So we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how we're going to be looking at how

of this new program. One way that it differs from the previous system that we were using with Code Red is we have direct access to all of the data and we can do duplicate backups. so as of today just a few minutes ago since we put this item out on Friday we've had 417 new registrations just over the weekend. 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 the parameters for how they monitor their cybersecurity. They're contacting us and notifying us immediately and then

We also have iPaws, so we have the ability to send an emergency alert to all cell phones in a geo-coordinated 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 IPAWS. And because of the cybersecurity breach, they pulled back the certificates from Code Red wouldn't allow us to until they could identify if those certificates had been compromised.

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, what that looks like and how that'll impact. and our community. Commissioner.

Through the Chair, to the Councilor, so some of the biggest enhancements, the first one is the ability to sign up for targeted non-emergency contact lists. In the previous system you got every single non-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 trash and recycling notifications or delays. Street work being done, notifications for parking bans and winter emergencies, weather alerts, things like that. Those are all active and live in there now for people to sign up for. 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 a password you can update it 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

Another new enhancement is the ability we worked with them to create a short code for people to sign up so you can text Join AW to 65513 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. Subsequently, you could text STOPAW to 65513 to remove your phone number from those lists as well. There's also better geocoding so we're able to load 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 and us getting back in the game, as it were, with this technology is extremely important. My last question is if you could just share what this means for emergency preparedness. I think it was Council Borgman had an item on some time ago about last term about our responsiveness to emergencies and things like that. Could you just speak to that for the public so they can understand what the impact is? Thank you.

Commissioner.

Through the Chair to the Councilor, So in general, specific weather emergencies like a tornado dropping down, MEMA sends out an iPause alert to all phones in the area. And that's the same time I hear about it. But in other weather, potential weather emergencies like extreme cold extreme heat where it wouldn't reach something where MEMA 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 as well as you know we are able to share out Information, Links, and links back to the city website to specific information on how to deal with what those emergencies might be. We're also working with the vendor.

So if you choose not to sign up for Alert Worcester, 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 any time 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 areas around the state and other areas to avoid due to issues with 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 Web Portal that you can go to as well.

Councilor Economou. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to give kudos to the city manager, to the commissioner for working on this. 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. 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 in alerting the residents and the businesses as to what's going on. And I think this will be a game changer for the city of Worcester. So thank you both.

Thank you. Dr. Mitra. Councilor Mitra.

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

Commissioner?

through the Chair to the Councilor. So 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. The other problem is 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 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 choose all of the options.

Commissioner?

All the options.

yes through the chair to the to the counselor they can choose all the options one thing that we're working on with some of the departments for you know future additions is if there are large-scale 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. 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 Worcester 300th you know several years ago we could have had a text Worcester 300 65513 and each day you were at the event if an emergency occurred you'd be able to get those specific to that event So with those advancements in this new technology, we're going to continue to enhance our ability to send notifications out and keep the public as informed as possible.

Mr. Chair, Mr. Chair, through you to the Commission, I've got a couple more questions. When you send these messages, it goes to the cell phone?

Through the Chair, to the Councilor, 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 business phone for a voice call and it will come through as a voice call. One unique thing that we set up with these is the previous system, when you got a voice call from Alert Worcester, it always came through 929-1300 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, you'll actually replay the alert that you missed. So you'll be able to hear the last alert that went out to you. If you happen to not have a voicemail or your voicemail box is full, You weren't able to get to the phone in time, you can call back, hear the alert again. And then for cell phones, we can do voice calls, TDD, text messages, and you can also sign up for emails.

To the Chair, Mr. Commissioner, 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?

Through the Chair, to the Councilor, 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 for the City of Worcester, if you scroll down to the bottom, you'll see the Alert Worcester 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 JOINAW 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 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 ones who need this help. They're the one who needs to be alerted. Awareness should be there for them. So I would suggest to think of something that how they can. 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.

Thank you. And thank you. Through the chair of the councilor, I you brought up a perfect point that I failed to mention, which was 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 Toomey.

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

Thank you, so I'll send that to Public Safety. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. Transmitting, we are on 8.268, Transmitting Information, Communication, Financial Update for the period January 31st, 2026. We can stand at the MLO. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. Rosen. We are on 8.32A, Transmitting Information Concussion over the State of the Lakes. There was a great turnout the other night and good job. And I'll send that to Councilor Rosen.

I know what this meant. Chairman. Just one question on this to maybe the city manager. When I think of the lakes now in Worcester, 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 egg addling. And we had dogs at one time, the special dogs we brought in. They seem to be really taking over every park at CML Park, Institute Park. I don't know about the Worcester Common, I'm not sure, but 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.

Through the Chair, to the Councilor. So, great question. It is a bit of the bane of our lakes and ponds program, the geese, candidly. It is a very challenging problem. Adeling, which we've done in the past, has been restricted, so that is not really an option we can Consider right now in the near future for pursuing it on that level. We have looked at alternatives Our biggest concerns right now are actually keeping geese off of our where our beaches are because the beaches in particular in the evening the geese come up they do their business and then they leave and then the next morning we have some serious issues that have to all be cleaned up beforehand which can be problematic especially during the warm seasons, particularly in late spring and summer.

We have our program, so we're looking for methods to restrict them from coming onto the beach, which we have learned geese are smarter than you might think, which is challenging because you have a program that works very well for about a week or two, and then they adapt. 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. That is being going to be piloted this summer in particular so that some, we might start with a rope that goes across with and so on. that maybe as a starter but also a horn maybe potentially. We're going to look to see if we can rent a dog on occasion to take to different beaches so we can Teach the geese to be afraid of that.

But again, like I mentioned they do adapt route relatively quickly So we haven't found that perfect solution yet, but certainly well aware of the issue.

I

Through the Chair to Mr. O'Dell, 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 very costly. The dogs, they seem to get used to them too. And they just realize that the dog is really no threat to them. So it seems like everything we've tried so far, are we still addling with the eggs? That I thought was effective years ago, but it's pretty slow. And how many eggs can you do in the spring? to make sure that we don't get more geese. But we have plenty already even without them procreating.

Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Councilor King.

thank you mr. chairman some good news in this report Belle Pond good news Coles River good news you know Lakeland segment you know, no fecal bacteria that significantly impacted recreation. And then there's Indian Lake, Mr. Chairman, that you were actively involved with last year. I know that 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 the communication improvements with that community, with that Watershed Association, or whatever the title is, as well as what's different, what's going to be different this year.

Mr. Waddell? Through the Chair to the Councilor. So in terms of your first question, in terms of outreach and communication, We are being much more proactive in terms of our letting folks know about some of the work that we're going to be doing going forward. We have a more aggressive outreach program that targets AS YOU MAY RECALL, WE HAD SEVERAL MEETINGS REGARDING INDIAN LAKE AND SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT OCCURRED LAST SUMMER. One of the nice things about those meetings was we 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.

directly communications with folks through email and through text 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 trialed that when we did the lake drawdown and are now doing it again for refilling the lake. which is now actually in progress as we speak. 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 and some of the residents and the abutters of the lake indicating same, 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 so we don't have a repeat of last year,

Part of the issue, one of the main culprits last year was actually a native species that grew, it's called Elodia, that grew exponentially last 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 helped the growth of that Elodia. It also is a cyclical 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 much more growth than we've had in the past. We anticipate

both because we won't be in that cycle, the peak cycle, and as because we will be more measured in the amount of for the Allum dosing station so we can better manage the cyanobacterial levels. We believe we will create that nice balance such that we're not and others, creating two clear waters to promote that growth. Plus, with the lake drawdown between those three measures, we believe we will be able to manage that much more effectively, which should, therefore, maybe not eliminate but drastically reduce the amount of Elodia that will grow this coming summer.

I want to thank you for your flexibility. I know that when the neighborhood and the association watershed folks were advocating for a drawdown they had to continue to push and Mayor Petty and myself and others were very helpful in that as well. But the end results certainly was an improvement. Mr. Chairman, one of the major concerns was the dead fish. that was pretty alarming for folks and two questions between that one have we been able to quantify you know the Fishloss, and in addition to that,

what's the plan to replenish, replace, whatever the language is, that population that's no longer there and the impact overall on the lake itself through chair of the loss. So, Adele?

Through Chair, to the Councilor. So, the good news is that there was a very modest fish kill that was noticed. It was brought to our attention early. There were some measures that were introduced in very short order to keep the oxygen levels up. The fish died because of low oxygen. and so on. Oxygen levels were increased and then were maintained through the balance of the summer. So we're not anticipating, first of all I should note that we're not anticipating any low oxygen level issues this coming summer as things stand today. 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 to have any need for replenishment of the fish. There were folks who went out, did ice fishing over the winter here and so there were actually

Plenty of good fish, no complaints. They were very pleased about that. That concern was brought up, but based on Boale. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Boale.

I just want to say, yeah, thank you to the commissioner for all the work that your team has done over the past year and a half. Grew up on Lakeland-Sigmund, lifelong Worcester resident, so we know how important Our bodies of water are for recreation, for fishing, but also 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. I know last year, you know, Indian Lake was challenging and I think we learned that, you know, quick fixes don't always work well when it comes to nature. I think 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 neighbors in the city and that's certainly been happening on the city and I know recently the Indian Lake Watershed Association just teamed up with the city with I think

it was why the YMCA up there to do shoreline cleanup they removed a few tons of trash so I think that speaks to the the commitment of the neighbors around Indian Lake and just wanted to continue to encourage neighbors to get involved and take ownership of keeping the lake clean. Burke, I know this might not be popular, I know Councilor Burke 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 you know plant nutrients because that runs right in the lake 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 the city to continue to focus on this because keeping our waterways clean is really important. So thank you. Thank you.

King. Before I forget, Mr. Chairman, real quick, the, I don't know, Commissioner Goodwin-Luff is gone. 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 for folks to get information on the various blue spaces in the city and in Lake Coles, Pond, et cetera. If there could be an intersection of those departments, I'd like to make that recommendation by way of an order, Mr. Chairman.

Okay. All those in favor of a postal order, we'll send a report to Urban Ties. All those in favor of a postal order, Transferring Information and Communication to the Department of Sustainability and Resilience. Projects update. Councilor Ojeda.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have several questions. First of all, I like the work that's being done when it comes to the wool bins. Every day this seems like there's something new going on. But I think that's the good thing about it is being able to identify what those are and try to get ahead of them. It said here, if I'm right, there was like 10% of those Wubens that seemed to be the O'Donnell.

Through the Chair, to the Councilor. Yes, so just to note, we have about 150 bins out there, and of those 150, we tend to have about 14 to 16 of them have been and so on. Somewhat problematic, particularly with dumping. The bins either are filled to the point where they can't hold anymore and then people put additional material next to it. or we have other people who are just simply taking bags of material and just putting it next to the bin. over the winter that was particularly problematic when we had the snow because some of the bins, it was very challenging to actually empty them. And so that some of that material was ended up staying there for several days before it could get removed. The problem seems to be coming from two primary sources.

One is roughly I would say a third of the bins that are problematic having issues with it seems to be residential trash that is being put into those bins. and when the bins are full they just put it to the side next to it and instead it's basically to lessen the use I presume of purchasing the yellow bags. The larger issue is we have areas where We've had dumping and the dumping comes from two parties. There has been a couple of the bins where from the business near business districts. We've had folks either from the either the business or from patrons of the business who have been and so forth, putting materials next to bin as opposed to in the bin, which would have been preferred.

managed better over late, so that problem has diminished over the last few weeks, which is good news. And the other vein, which is the larger of the two veins, is that we've had folks from the homeless population, the unhoused who have moved, taken their materials and have put them next to the bins. Ironically, we are It's probably the better choice as opposed to just leaving it where they are and people trying to be responsible because they really have no other place to put them so they put them next to the bins. Unfortunately, though, it is still unsightly and does mean that we have to maintain and clean those up.

Okay, thank you. So, through the chair. Do we plan on doing any type of signage on the move-ins as far as I don't want to use the word illegal dumping, but that's what it is. But to encourage people in a kind of way of just saying, you know, this isn't the location for it, but are we going to use the opportunities for signage on those bins?

Mr. Rodell? Chair, there actually is signage on the bins. We have not moved forward in terms of looking at those problematic bins specifically for additional signage, which may be a good piece of the solution. Our first order business, what we were going to be looking at over the next few weeks, now that the snow has melted and access is much more favorable, the next few weeks is to potentially move some of the bins to adjacent locations 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. We may also, as you suggest, I think it's a great idea, look at some additional key signage, targeted signage for this particular problem.

We may also, you know, part of the overall pilot, this is a one-year pilot that we're looking at, is that some bins 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 better served for that area. So all those are in play right now. This pilot, like I said, will run through the balance of this fiscal year, so through June. And then we'll likely do some there might be some we'll make it more permanent and look at what we can do if there are any more ongoing changes that we will do 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 didn't, and what changes can be made at the locations they're at.

OK, thank you. No, I mean, this is important. Obviously, it's a system that I believe is working. And obviously, with everything new, you're going to have your ups and downs. Still staying on the zero waste program, a lot of data was gathered from the residence business, schools, and more. Is there any opportunities to go back into the schools and share this information or create a program with the kids in the schools at a young age this is the best time to work with Gardening, and how to take care of their yards and things like that within their neighborhoods.

Mr. Odom? Yes, to the Chair. So the short answer is yes. We are looking into doing that for sure. I think that's I completely agree that it's a great opportunity. as you may know it in one of the other updates in there that we are now partnering with the school on some of the data that we're collecting that on Heat Island and other that we've collected in our department. The issue with recycling and waste management is another rich data source that we intend to be bringing into the program. it will be targeted initially for middle and high school students so that whole modules that can have that teaches stuff already but they can use local data to give people and the kids and their parents some real that this is something that they're talking about that happens in my neighborhood.

It makes it much more personal and much more tangible for folks. for kids in particular, but also for the teachers as well as the kids' families. 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 especially with schools that have cafeterias would be 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. Part of that is 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 and we had a diversion program where allow and a couple schools are piloting this but where that fruit can be then just put on a tray near the trash but not in the trash. Shared bins.

Yes, Sheridan, there you go. Then those opportunities for either taking that food to be for someone else who might benefit from it, whether at the school or outside the school, those programs we hope to expand.

Okay, yeah, no, that's a great program to expand definitely. It'll definitely help families outside the regular school hours. Lastly, 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 see some parts within the district, District 4 in particular. They're interested in how do they go about creating a rain garden and what's the process?

Mr. O'Dell. Through the Chair, so currently the city we are managing eight rain gardens and so what we hope to do this year is some of those rain gardens vary in and some are in great shape. Some are need a fair bit of attention. So our goal this year is to get all those into into great shape for the future years. And at that point, once that's done, we can start looking at specifically expanding that portfolio of rain gardens on city property. It is it's not typically hard to put in a rain garden but it does require regular maintenance and we do not have staffing in our department to do that directly so we have to and so on.

So we're going to hire, contract that out, contract that work out, which ideally if we could have volunteers to help on that, that would be where we would hope to go. volunteers to do that and of course take care of sometimes their own properties. It's a challenge to make that all work. So 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 maintenance period as effectively and as inexpensively as possible. and based on that information then we can open it up for possibly new rain gardens and learn and hopefully make it the process for doing that much more streamlined.

Okay, thank you. So with the universities, have you reached out to the universities? I know Clark has a big program, but they're starting to grow themselves.

Mr. O'Dell.

for the volunteers to maintain these.

Yeah, through the chair, we have. The problem with universities, most university students aren't available during the summer months. They go. where they go. And that's when we need them the most during those summer months. So the timing is somewhat problematic. There are some students that stay longer. through the summer, but we haven't worked with the colleges and universities in enough detail yet to see if there's enough students still available and willing to do that work at present.

Councilor?

That's it, thank you.

Okay, so Senator Urban Ties, all those in favor, opposed, so audit. or Finance Items, 8.35A through D, 8.36A through G, 8.37A through D.

Roll call. Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou? Yes. Councilor Fresolo?

Excuse me, Mr. Chairman, I wanted to take something out. I apologize, but can we do that?

What was the item you wanted taken out?

8.36 C. Okay, so we're gonna redo the roll call.

8.3, I'm sorry, every item except 8.36 C, roll call.

Bergman, Bilotta, Economou, Fresolo, King, Mitra, Ojeda, Rivera, Rosen, Toomey, everybody.

Yes, this is a CXX Community Funding, Councilor Fezzola.

Mr. Chairman, I stand to get some clarification. I don't oppose the $100,000 going to the Canal District, but I just was looking at some of the backup that I asked for from Mr. McCarty and 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 my constituency. There are three different pockets where that money goes. One is the Canal District, one is Grafton Hill, and one is Shrewsbury 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?

Ms. McGurthy.

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, obviously. To the chair, I was. Mr. McGordy was in his role, but.

Yeah, so the $4 million community investment donation of that $3 million was for Holmes Field and East Park Aquatics. So those projects moved forward and were completed. Then the remaining million was split a third, a third, a third between Shrewsbury 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's 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.

Councilor. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Also through you Mr. Chairman, Back when CSX came to the city of Worcester 15 years ago, a little over 15 years ago, I was opposed to a lot of what went on. We accommodated them greatly. And we changed the traffic flow in Grafton Hill forever. In all honesty, in my lifetime, I've lived in District 3 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. We closed Coral Street, dead ended it, and it added a minute and a half fire response time to that neighborhood of Union Hill.

So having said that, I'm looking forward to a report that I asked for from CSX regarding their TIF that they received from the City of Worcester. In it, I remember as a member of the legislature, they were supposed to create 50 new jobs. in Worcester. 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 also, The deal that was promoted to the neighborhood back then was that

We created that entrance at lower Grafton Street so they could get right onto 290, take a right-hand turn out of 290, and then if they had to go west on 290, they would go underneath 290 and catch The exit at Summer Street. They continuously now take left-hand turns out of their exit and go on to Grafton Street. and use Hamilton Street and Lake Ave as a cut-through. So I was, Mr. Chairman, through you, I was in discussion with Commissioner Westerling. And we were told after the fact that you cannot stop commerce on a state route, which Grafton Street is

Route 122, but Mr. Westerling, Commissioner Westerling 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 be addressed in the report. It's a number only, but we still can't enforce any of the illegality of tractor trailers using Hamilton Street, using Lake Ave, doing terrible, terrible, you know,

problems with infrastructure, the potholes and the damage it's done to those roads, to me, is nothing compared to what they give us back to the city in their fees, their dollar a truck fees that they bring into the city. And I would also look at, if we could, at some of these community fees at paying for a police detail. because I believe in those cases of speed and of them using those Streets, as I stated, Hamilton Street and Lake Ave, as cut-throughs, that whatever pay detail we would have there, they'd make their money for that detail, and then some.

The city would benefit from having paid details there, and that's something I'd like to discuss too. I'll leave it there. I look forward to the report. I know the manager has promised maybe in his next calendar that he brings to the council, but those are things that I'd like to have addressed and Again, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or the council staff who has been working with me on these things. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

So all those in favor for those reports? Okay, Councilor King. All set? Okay. So vote that, roll call.

Yes, Mayor Petty.

Yes, we have Barry Warian, I'm sorry, we're on 9.8, 9.8, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Transmitting Mass Stock, District 3, Vegetation Management Plan. Toomey.

Before voting on this, please, could we ask the commissioner, the director, sorry, District 3, to amend this and redistribute it. It's addressed to the Board of Selectmen, the Town of Worcester. I think it should be, it's a public document, they should correct that, number one. Number two, it was a very interesting document and It brings up the invasive plants, something that I've brought up several times and have asked for a comprehensive plan. and I would like to see if there's some way that we coordinate with this department, with our department to address the invasive plants Moving forward, I know that especially knotweed is a huge issue for us and other plants, so 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, opposed, so ordered. That brings us to the end of the meeting. Motion is to adjourn. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered.