CITY OF WORCESTER
CITY CLERK DEPARTMENT
JOURNAL
OF THE CITY COUNCIL
– APRIL 8, 2003
The City Council will meet
in Executive Session at the conclusion of the regular meeting for the purpose
of discussing litigation relative to construction of the Worcester Vocational
High School – City Council did not meet in Executive Session
Convened: 7:09 P.M.
Adjourned: 8:11 P.M.
1. INVOCATION – Pastor David Landgren
Temple Baptist Church
2. PLEDGE
OF ALLEGIANCE/STAR SPANGLED BANNER
3. ROLL
CALL – All present except Councillor Gomez
HEARING AND ORDER – 7:00
P.M.
4 – Councillor Haller recused on a roll call 9-0 (Gomez absent) Hearing held
4. MASSACHUSETTS ELECTRIC COMPANY for a pole location on: WEST MOUNTAIN ST. (Attachments)
4a – Councillor Haller recused on a roll call 9-0 (Gomez absent) Order adopted
4a. Granting permission to MASSACHUSETTS ELECTRIC COMPANY for a pole
location on: WEST MOUNTAIN ST.
5. ITEMS
OF CITIZEN INTEREST
5a. ITEMS
OF DEPARTMENTAL OR EMPLOYEE INTEREST
6-10
REFERRED TO PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
6. Norma Gonzalez request repair of wall in front of 127 Eastern
Ave. that was damaged when sidewalks repaired on Eastern Ave. (Attachments)
7. Evelyn Lenis request resurfacing of Lee St. (Attachments)
8. Eugene Novak, Jr. et al request private street maintenance on
Rosita Rd. (Attachments)
9. Randolph George et al request private street maintenance on
private portion of Clarkson St. (Attachments)
10. Joan Crowell, President, Leesville Pond Watershed &
Neighborhood Association request City Council make a recommendation to relocate
the Hope Cemetery composting operation within six months. (Attachments)
11-13 REFERRED TO TRAFFIC & PARKING COMMITTEE
11. Edith Ricci request removal of handicap parking from in front of
27 Forbes St. (Attachments)
12. Mary Halley et al request handicap parking be removed on
Bellevue St. (Attachments)
13. Donna Audette request
handicap parking in front of 17 Ellsmere St. (Attachments)
14 Councillor Haller recused on a roll call 9-0 (Gomez
absent) HEARING SET FOR APRIL 15, 2003 – 7:00 P.M.
14. MASSACHUSETTS ELECTRIC COMPANY for conduit location on: ARTHUR ST.
(Attachments)
15-19
FROM PUBLIC SAFETY - ADOPTED
15. Request City Manager to report relative to replacing retirements
in the Police and Fire Departments. (Attachments)
16. Request City Manager report concerning creation of a web page
for the Crime Watches in the City of Worcester. (Attachments)
17. Request City Manager to report in 90 days on the ability of the
Police Department to service neighborhood Crime Watches in the City of
Worcester. (Attachments)
18. Request City Manager to provide a report on exactly how
redeployment will take place relative to DARE officers and Crime Watch
officers. (Attachments)
19. Request City Manager to provide an analysis as to why cuts took
place in the Police and Fire Departments.
(Attachments)
20-24
FROM PUBLIC SERVICE & TRANSPORTATION – ADOPTED
20. Request Administration report to City Council within 30 days
concerning telecommunications costs and various contracts between the City and
providers. (Attachments)
21. Request Administration report to City Council concerning why
Cable Television Channels 11, 12 and 13 cannot be broadcast to suburban
communities. (Attachments)
22. Request Administration to provide City Council with a map of the
Goddard Collaborative telecommunications infrastructure as built to date and
future expansion. (Attachments)
23. Request Administration provide City Council with a report
chronicling Channel 27. (Attachments)
24. Request Administration and the Worcester Area Chamber of
Commerce to provide City Council with a map and report showing
telecommunications capabilities. (Attachments)
25. Request Administration report to City Council how Community
Development Block Grant money can be used as it relates to brownfields
remediation. (Palmieri, Perotto,
Murray) (Attachments)
Councillor Patton moved to amend: Request City Manager
to consider funding a position, in the appropriate department, with Block Grant
funds to begin and continue efforts made by Administration relative to
Brownfields remediation.
26. Request Administration to provide City Council with a report on
the number of motor vehicles stolen from the parking garages at the Worcester
Common Outlets since it opened.
(Palmieri) (Attachments)
Adopted
27. Request Administration to provide a report to City Council on
the number of criminal complaints at the Worcester Common Outlets parking
garage. (Palmieri) (Attachments)
Adopted
28. Request Administration report to City Council if ordinary
retirements in public safety are to be replaced one for one, the order of
priority with public safety and the formula that is intended to be used for
call-backs. (Palmieri) (Attachments)
Adopted
29. Request Administration to provide a response as it relates to
previously filed item as to establishment of a trash enforcement program, to
include education and ticketing.
(Murray, Haller, Irish, Abraham, Perotto, Clancy, Patton, Petty,
Palmieri) (Attachments)
Councillor Perotto moved to amend: Request City Manager consider putting lids
on recycling containers
Councillor Irish moved to amend: Request report as to
curriculum in the Worcester Public Schools relative to educating students about
littering. Further, request City Manager
contact the Mass. Lottery Commission relative to the program of sending in
non-winning lottery tickets into a drawing.
Further, request a survey of local ordinances around the country that
may exist whereby a surtax is paid by fast food enterprises with that money
being used to clean up litter
Councillor Clancy moved to amend: Request City Manager consider establishing a hot line whereby
citizens can report when and where littering occurs
Councillor Abraham moved to amend: Request City Manager communicate
with athletic leagues in the City to request their help in cleaning up City
fields after use by their teams
30. Request Administration to increase parking enforcement in the
200 block of Park Ave., especially with regard to large tractor-trailer trucks
who use metered parking for long term use.
(Haller) (Attachments)
Adopted
31. Request Administration report on any regulations regarding
commercial trucks parking on arterial streets, especially as they may pertain
to size and/or weight. (Haller) (Attachments)
Adopted
32. Request Administration to provide a report on the process of prosecuting
illegal dumping in the City. Request
that the report include a step-by-step description of the process of how we
identify illegal dumpers, how they are cited (city residents and non-city
residents), what court remedies are used and how fines are collected. Further, request Administration to identify
weak links in the process, if they exist, and to make recommendations on how
these might be addressed. (Haller) (Attachments)
Adopted
33. Request Administration report on licensing requirements, if any,
and process for granting such licenses for trash haulers who operate within the
City limits. Further, request
Administration to provide information as to who is held responsible in the
event that a hired hauler illegally dumps material: the hauler, the customer or both? (Haller) (Attachments)
Adopted
34. Request Administration report on what the City’s savings or
responsibility for the $1.45 million in Student Transportation reimbursements
eliminated in Governor Romney’s proposed FY 04 budget would be if a policy were
adopted as in other Massachusetts communities requiring students to contribute
to the cost of bus transportation and/or reducing or eliminating those student
transportation services. (Lukes) (Attachments)
Adopted
34a. Request City Manager to consider contacting billboard companies
with boards in Worcester to discuss a process for monitoring and eliminating
graffiti from the advertising space. Clancy
– Suspension of Rules – Adopted (Attachments)
34b. Request City Council to consider naming the new access road
adjacent to Liberty Properties as Tobias Boland Way. Clancy, Murray – Suspension of Rules – Referred to Public
Works Committee for April 14, 2003 meeting
(Attachments)
34c. Request Administration to report on the obligation, if any,
Charter Communications has to provide local news update at 10:00 p.m. broadcast
of Worcester News Nightly. Irish,
Abraham, Lukes, Perotto, Clancy, Petty, Haller, Murray, Palmieri, Patton –
Suspension of Rules – Adopted (Attachments)
34d. Request City Manager to report on costs regarding Police manpower
required for the enforcement of the current winter parking ban versus the prior
winter parking ban policy. Lukes –
Suspension of Rules – Adopted (Attachments)
34e. Request Administration to replace the Mapleleaf Rd. street
sign. Abraham – Suspension of Rules
– Adopted (Attachments)
34f. Request Administration to report under what auspices the winter
parking ban was put into effect after March 31st and whether or not
it is in violation of the Winter Parking Ban Ordinance. Clancy – Suspension of Rules –
Adopted (Attachments)
34g. Request Administration provide a report on the collection and
monitoring of parking fees at the MBTA commuter rail parking lot on Shrewsbury
St. Murray – Suspension of Rules –
Adopted (Attachments)
34h. Request Administration report on what efforts, if any, are being
considered as it relates to rodent control at the Shaws Supermarket project at
Franklin and Grafton Sts. Murray –
Suspension of Rules – Adopted (Attachments)
34i. Request Administration to report on all promotions and new
hirings, by department, since the beginning of the fiscal year. Petty – Suspension of Rules –
Adopted (Attachments)
34j. Request Administration to provide a report on the City’s Web
Page, particularly with regard to publication of City Council meeting agendas,
Committee meeting dates and agendas and minutes thereof and how citizens can
access this information. Haller –
Suspension of Rules – Adopted (Attachments)
34k. Request Administration report as to what are the requirements to
build a road, do they differ from the requirements if building a sub-division,
what would the City’s issues be if someone decided to build a road, which
department would authorize and regulate the building of a road. Patton – Suspension of Rules –
Adopted (Attachments)
34L. That the City Council meeting of April 22, 2003 is hereby
cancelled. Murray – Suspension of
Rules – Adopted (Attachments)
35 ADOPTED
35. SEWER
ASSESSMENT: JULIEN AVE. (Attachments)
36. NSTAR Gas Co. transmitting Condensed Financial Return for Year
Ended December 31, 2002. (Attachments)
Placed
on file
37. James DelSignore, City Auditor transmitting City’s Management
Letter for the year ended June 30, 2002 and Auditor’s Report on Compliance
& Internal Control Over Financial Reporting based on an audit of financial
statements, prepared by KPMG. (Attachments)
Referred to Municipal Operations Committee
38. James DelSignore, City Auditor transmitting City’s Single Audit
for the year ended June 30, 2002, prepared by KPMG. (Attachments)
Referred
to Municipal Operations Committee
38a. Thomas R. Hoover, City Manager transmitting communication relative
to a decision of Superior Court Judge Brady supporting the decision to reject
the bid of Eastern Contracting, Inc. for construction of the new Vocational
High School. (Attachments)
Suspension of Rules - Referred to Education &
College/University Relations Committee
39. RECESS
TO FINANCE AND ORDINANCE: No Action
Taken
FINANCE
a)
#7
CC January 14, 2003
Communication of the City
Manager relative to Preliminary Budget Analysis for Fiscal 2004. (Attachments)
b) #5C CM
January 28, 2003
Communication of the City
Manager relative to framework for a Local and State Fiscal Recovery. (Attachments)
c) #27 CC February 4,
2003
Communication of the City
Manager relative to Governor’s State budget cuts to the City of Worcester. (Attachments)
d)
#26
CC February 4, 2003
James DelSignore, City
Auditor transmitting City of Worcester’s 2002 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report. (Attachments)
e) #10 CC February 11,
2003
James DelSignore, City
Auditor transmitting schedule of revenues for the first six months of Fiscal
2003 compared to the same period in Fiscal 2002 and indicates revenues to be
received for the entire year and revenues received for all of Fiscal 2002. (Attachments)
f) #4C
CM February 11, 2003
Communication of the City
Manager relative to using $11,000,000.00 of the unused tax levy. (Attachments)
g)
#4A
CM March 4, 2003
Communication of the City
Manager relative to the impact of $9,000,000 increase to the tax levy and the
lowest residential rate scenario. (Attachments)
h)
#5A
CM March 4, 2003
Communication of the City
Manager analyzing Governor Romney's FY04 budget. (Attachments)
i)
#5A
CM March 18, 2003
Communication of the City
Manager relative to decision solving the 2004 budget. (Attachments)
j)
#13CC March 18, 2003
James DelSignore, City
Auditor transmitting computation of the legal debt margin for the City of
Worcester as of February 28, 2003. (Attachments)
40
VOTED TO ADVERTISE PROPOSED ORDINANCE
40. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ORDINANCES Upon the Report of the
Planning Board upon the Communication of the City Manager requesting to amend
the Floodplain Overlay District portion of the City of Worcester Zoning
Ordinance to reflect the new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) that are
effective January 16, 2003: recommend
passage of the accompanying proposed Ordinance.
41 REFERRED TO ORDINANCE COMMITTEE FOR A
HEARING
41. REPORT OF THE PLANNING BOARD Upon the Petition of James &
Mary Whalen requesting to have the zoning at 105 Harrington Way changed to
RL-7, Multi-Family Dwelling. (Attachments)
42-44 ACCEPTED
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND
TRANSPORTATION Upon the following Orders:
recommend Orders be placed on file.
42. Councillor Petty requesting Public Service & Transportation
Committee conduct a public forum with the City Manager, Cable TV Advisory
Committee and all interested federal, state and local parties, including the
Chamber of Commerce, area colleges, businesses and community development corporations
concerning the development of a Telecommunications Master Plan for the City of
Worcester.
43. Councillor Patton requesting the Info Tech Council be invited to
the March 26, 2003 Public Service & Transportation Committee meeting
relative to the development of a Telecommunications Master Plan for the City of
Worcester. (Attachments)
44. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE & TRANSPORTATION
Upon the Communication of the City Manager relative to Info Tech Program: recommend Communication be placed on
file. (Attachments)
45. Communication of the City Manager relative to CIGNA – Letter –
Worcester Common Outlets. (Tabled December 17, 2002)
46. Motion Lukes as amended by Abraham – Request Administration to
contact CIGNA relative to the feasibility of linking up Front St. with
Washington Sq. and Shrewsbury St. and explore financial incentives that might
facilitate that. (Tabled December 17, 2002) (Attachments)
SCHEDULED MEETINGS OF THE
STANDING COMMITTEES
APRIL 14, 2003 COMMERCE & COUNCIL CHAMBER
6:00
P.M. DEVELOPMENT
Re: Certified Project Application – 345 Shrewsbury
St. Realty, Inc.,
Universal Metal Business Trust & Universal Metal Corp.
APRIL 14, 2003 PUBLIC WORKS COUNCIL CHAMBER
7:00
P.M.
Re: Renaming of Millbury St. and the ramifications
to roadways in the
vicinity of the Blackstone Parkway