CITY OF WORCESTER
CITY CLERK DEPARTMENT
JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL
– MAY 8, 2001
7:00 P.M.
Convened:
7:11 P.M.
Adjourned: 7:43 P.M.
1. INVOCATION
– Rev. Lee F. Bartlett
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Church
2. PLEDGE
OF ALLEGIANCE/STAR SPANGLED BANNER
3. ROLL
CALL – All present except Councillors
Murray and Petty
Mayor Mariano
read two Proclamations:
May 6-12, 2001
– Arson Awareness Week in Worcester
HEARING AND ORDER – 7:00
P.M.
Hearing held
4. MASSACHUSETTS ELECTRIC COMPANY and VERIZON NEW ENGLAND, INC. for three joint pole locations on: ORTON ST.
4a ORDER ADOPTED
4a. Granting permission to MASSACHUSETTS ELECTRIC COMPANY and
VERIZON NEW ENGLAND, INC. for three joint pole locations on: ORTON ST.
5. Status
of installation of valve in Kenberma Rd. –
Held for May 15
6. ITEMS
OF CITIZEN INTEREST
6a. ITEMS
OF DEPARTMENTAL OR EMPLOYEE INTEREST
- 2
- May
8, 2001
7 REFERRED TO HEALTH COMMITTEE
7. William S. Coleman, III request City Council place on the
November municipal election ballot a non-binding petition relative to the
establishment of a treatment on demand/needle exchange program in the City of
Worcester. Petitioner spoke
8-10 REFERRED TO PLANNING BOARD
8. Brian Tangney, Protech Builders, Inc. request to accept as
public Matteo St.
9. Brian Tangney, Protech Builders, Inc. request to accept as
public Adelaide Circle.
10. Brian Tangney, Protech Builders, Inc. request to accept as
public Allison Circle.
11 REFERRED TO
PUBLIC SERVICE & TRANSPORTATION
COMMITTEE
11. Frederick Pilat request installation of a street light in
front of 3 Camden Ave.
12-14 REFERRED TO
PUBLIC WORKS COMMTTEE
12. Susan & John Clemente et al request private street
maintenance for private portion of Camden Ave.
13. Robert & Teresa Girouard on behalf of R. Wayne Richard
request abatement of Street Betterment Assessment #24417 in the amount of
$1,483.20 on Arline St.
14. Louis Paquette request private street maintenance on Winnipeg
St.
- 3 - May 8, 2001
14a. Councillor Michael C. Perotto request sidewalk repair at
15, 17 and 19 Wrentham Rd. Referred to Public Works Committee –
Suspension of Rules
15 & 16 REFERRED
TO TRAFFIC & PARKING COMMITTEE
15. Councillor Timothy Murray on behalf of David Libbey request
Traffic Engineer to make any recommendations regarding intersection of Pleasant
and May Sts.
16. Councillor Konstantina B. Lukes on behalf of George Hanna
request traffic study of volume, speed and accidents in the Carter Rd.,
Moreland St. and Brewer St. vicinity.
16a. Councillor Stephen Patton request to reverse the winter
parking ban on Leeds St. from Whitmarsh Ave. to Summerhill Ave. Referred
to Traffic & Parking Committee – Suspension of Rules
17 FROM COMMERCE & DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTEE –
Adopted
17. That in permitting of buildings to be located off of the
Nippnapp Trail that residents of all streets that intersect Greenwood St. and
all other streets bounded by Upland, Harwich, Forsberg, Steele and Whipple Sts.
be notified and invited to attend the public meetings and offer input.
18 FROM HOUSING & NEIGHBORHOOD
18. Request City Manager report to City Council whether the Geographic
Information System may generate a map plotting the locations of social service
agency facilities throughout the City.
- 4
- May 8, 2001
19. Request Administration to provide an interim report on the
status of the City’s Housing Policy.
(Irish)
20. Request City Administration update City Council on the
housing plans for South Worcester.
(Nadeau)
Adopted
21. Request City Administration update City Council on the
in-fill housing project for South Worcester, i.e. 2-2A Douglas St. (Nadeau)
Adopted
22. Request City Manager to inquire about the feasibility of
buying power in a pool such as the Cape Light Compact approved by DTE last
year.
(Gomez)
Adopted
23. Request City Administration contact Worcester School
Superintendent and Worcester Vocational School Administration regarding parking
in and around Worcester Juvenile Court and the lack of use of the student
parking lot. (Murray, Perotto)
Adopted
24. Request City Manager to provide an update on the Green Hill
Master Plan. (Perotto, Petty, Murray)
Councillor Perotto
moved to amend: Further, request an update as to what is the next step in the
Green Hill Park process and dollars that are going to be used.
- 5 - May 8,
2001
25. Request City Manager to provide an update on the Logan
Field Plan.
(Perotto, Petty)
Adopted
26. Request City Manager to provide an update on the Lincoln
St. project. Report to include tree
planting, benches, trash receptacles and timelines. (Perotto, Murray)
Adopted
27. Request City Manager to provide a report concerning the
City of Worcester’s tax base as to whether the commercial tax base has
increased since the last tax classification vote. (Perotto, Petty)
Adopted
28. Request City Administration provide breakdown of new growth
figures over the past 10 years including the percentage breakdown of the
residential, commercial and personal property within said annual figure. (Murray)
Tabled
29. Request City Administration consider changing our street
sweeping program to sweep one side of street one day, then to switch to the
other side the next day, allowing parking on the opposite side while
sweeping. (Nadeau, Irish)
Adopted
30. Request City Administration and the Mayor ask the School
Administration to repair play area at the ALL School on Woodland St.
(Nadeau)
Adopted
- 6 - May 8, 2001
31. Request City Manager respond to City Council request as to
the feasibility of placing advertisements on City trash bags.
(Mariano, Clancy)
Mayor Mariano moved
to amend to request response within thirty (30) days.
32. Request City Manager to contact the Right of Way Division
of the Massachusetts Highway Department to determine the security and cleanliness
of buildings and properties taken by them along Route 146 between Hurley and
Brosnihan Sq. (Clancy)
Adopted
33. Request City Manager report on what it costs MassPort to
run the Worcester Airport, including in kind service and what it cost the City
while MassPort is operating the Airport, including source of funds (ex. tax
levy) all for the time period beginning the year 2000 to the current date. (Lukes)
Adopted
34. Request Administration submit a report for the past ten
years which shows by column water and sewer rates by year, the average family
and commercial consumption and use and the average cost to residential and
commercial users and the projected use and cost for next year based on current
rates and the requested rates.
(Lukes)
Adopted
35. Request Administration communicate with Mass. Electric
Company and report regarding what lapses in electric service have occurred in
the City in the past year with the duration, date and reason for failure of
providing service. (Lukes)
Adopted
- 7 - May 8,
2001
35a. Request Administration to provide more resources to
expedite the street sweeping process. Motion-Patton @ #29CC – Adopted
35b. Request Administration to place a crosswalk on May St. at
the Big Y Supermarket. Abraham – Suspension of Rules – Adopted
35c. Request the Department of Public Works to provide an
opinion as to whether or not Pine View Ave. is impassable and unsafe, and if
that is the case, a plan to correct the problem and if the street is determined
to be passable, recommendations as to how the neighborhood might resolve this
problem. Abraham – Suspension of Rules – Adopted
35d. Request the Zero Tolerance signs from last year be removed
from the Crown Hill/Pleasant St. area. Nadeau, Irish – Suspension of Rules –
Adopted
35e. Request report on the cement bases for signage that are not
going to be used be removed and the timeframe for removal. Nadeau, Irish – Suspension of Rules – Adopted
35f. Request City Administration report if there is any policy
or ordinance in place for grass seeding of all empty lots when buildings are
demolished. Further, if there are
regulations to fence all these lots, if not, to propose some for Council to
look at. Nadeau – Suspension of Rules - Adopted
36-40 ADOPTED ON A
ROLL CALL 9-0 (Murray, Petty absent)
36. DECREE TO MAKE PUBLIC:
DELMONT AVENUE BETWEEN HAMILTON ST. AND BOWKER ST.
37. DECREE
FOR ALTERATION OF: ORTON ST.
38. ORDER OF TAKING EASEMENTS FOR SEWER PURPOSES: BURGESS RD.
39. ORDER OF TAKING EASEMENTS FOR SEWER PURPOSES: STONEHAM RD. – ARBUTUS ST.
- 8 - May 8, 2001
40. ORDER OF TAKING EASEMENTS FOR SEWER PURPOSES: TEDDY RD.
41. NSTAR Gas Co. transmitting Condensed Financial Return for
the year ended December 31, 2000.
Placed on file
42. James DelSignore, City Auditor transmitting the following
schedules as of March 31, 2001:
Schedule of Bonds Payable, Schedule of Bonds Authorized and Unissued,
Computation of Legal Debt Margin and Summary of Principal and Interest Due.
Referred to Municipal Operations Committee
43. Thomas R. Hoover, City Manager transmitting Fiscal Year
2002 Budget.
Referred to Finance for budget
44. RECESS
TO FINANCE AND ORDINANCE: No Action Taken
FINANCE
a)
#5A
CM January 23, 2001
Communication of the City Manager transmitting
communication relative to the City Manager’s Contingency Account.
b)
#24E
CM January 23, 2001
Communication of the City Manager transmitting
communication relative to Snow Deficit FY2001.
c)
#13B
CM April 3, 2001
Communication of the City Manager relative to Health
Insurance Costs for the Current Year and Future Years.
- 9 - May 8, 2001
45-53 ACCEPTED
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOOD
REVITALIZATION Upon the following Communications of the City Manager: recommend
Communications be placed on file.
45. Transmitting the Abandoned Building Task Force Report. Also announcing the formation of a community
wide task force to study the issues.
46. Transmitting communication relative to project at 65 King
St. regarding SRO/Halfway House.
47. Transmitting communication relative to resale, size of
property and names, abandoned and/or vacant lots from January 1998 to present.
48. Transmitting communication relative to the City receiving
the status of “Certified Community” by the Department of Housing and Community
Development.
49. Transmitting communication relative to “Housing the Single
Adult Homeless”.
50. Transmitting communication relative to Police Officer in
Public Housing Program.
51. Transmitting communication relative to the Neighborhood
Cabinet.
52. Transmitting communication relative to the recent incident
at 141 Chandler St.
- 10 - May 8, 2001
53. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOOD
REVITALIZATION Upon the Communication of Robert Ebersole, Associate Director,
Department of Housing and Community Development transmitting communication
relative to Mass. Downtown Initiative: recommend Communication be placed on
file.
54 VOTED TO
ADVERTISE PROPOSED ORDINANCE
54. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ORDINANCES Upon the Report of
the Planning Board upon the Petition of Attorney Jonathan Finkelstein on behalf
of Francis W. Madigan, Jr. requesting City of Worcester to amend the Zoning Map
by changing the zoning designation of property fronting Mason St. and shown on
Assessors Map 6, Block 19, Lots 26 and 27 from RG-5 to MG-1.0: recommend passage of the accompanying
proposed Ordinance.
55 GIVEN LEAVE TO WITHDRAW
55. REPORT OF THE PLANNING BOARD Upon the Petition of Philip
Niddrie, Chief Development Officer on behalf of the Planning Board requesting
an amendment to the Worcester Zoning Ordinance adopted April 2, 1991 relative
to Body Art Establishments.
56 REFERRED TO
ORDINANCE COMMITTEE FOR A
HEARING
56. REPORT OF THE PLANNING BOARD Upon the Petition of Philip
Niddrie, Chief Development Officer on behalf of the Planning Board requesting
an amendment to the Worcester Zoning Ordinance relative to Landscaping
Requirements for Parking Lots.
57 ORDAINED ON A ROLL CALL 9-0 (Murray,
Petty absent)
57. Amending Chapter 8 of the Revised Ordinances of 1996
relative to Mercury Fever Thermometers.
- 11 - May 8, 2001
58. Order – Request Rules Committee to review the procedure used by
City Council for election of individuals to the Library Board of Trustees. (Abraham)
(Tabled December 29, 2000)
59. Communication of the City Manager transmitting
communication relative to city employees serving on Boards and
Commissions. (Tabled April 3, 2001)
_____________________________________________________________
6:00 P.M.
MAY 10, 2001
STRATEGIC PLANNING COUNCIL
CHAMBER
5:30 P.M.
MAY 14, 2001 TRAFFIC & PARKING COUNCIL CHAMBER
6:00 P.M.
MAY 16, 2001 ETHNIC & MINORITY COUNCIL CHAMBER
5:00
P.M. AFFAIRS
MAY 16, 2001 PUBLIC WORKS COUNCIL CHAMBER
6:00 P.M.
MAY 23, 2001 HEALTH COUNCIL CHAMBER
5:00 P.M.