No. You know, when I usually read, I'm sure there's going to be some kind of Okay, it's 607. Let's get started. Okay, the camera is on. Let's play to the camera. Okay, what is it? It's right there. Okay, I call the meeting to order. Roll
call, please. Present. Hild. Dr. present. Okay, we have a quorum. I call the meeting to order. This is Tuesday, September 9th, 2025,
and we are in the city hall, room 202, second floor DPW conference room tonight because of early voting. So, are there any discussion or corrections on the minutes that we have a copy of
from our meeting on July 8th? If not, can I have a motion on the floor to accept the minutes? Can I have the I make a motion. I make a motion to accept the minutes of July 8th, 2025. Do I have a second? All in favor? I Okay, then we'll accept
these minutes. I'll sign. Very good. All right, let's pass those back to you. Okay. Um, I'd like to just start with a little public health update. Um, we are still in Massachusetts in the midst of a summer
COVID surge. Um, we're at the tail end of this CO surge. The current variants are the Stratus and the Ambus or Nimbus, the Nimbus and the Stratus. Um uh um and so in this past week there have
been 1100 cases documented. I'm sure many more because people don't test and there have been 132 hospitalizations for COVID in the state of Massachusetts this week. Um I know that I had personal experience with the with the summer surge because my entire family got CO
and my wife who never gets sick was quite quite ill. Um so we encourage our citizens, our public um the current vaccines are active against the new strains of CO 19. I know there's been some um a lot of questions regarding the
health and human services at the federal level restricting vaccines to individuals greater than 65. But in the state of Massachusetts, we are all protected and anybody can get a COVID vaccine over the age of six months. We continue as a board to encourage both
children and pregnant women, people at high risk, people over the age of 65, anybody that wants to get a COVID vaccine should be able to get a COVID vaccine at their pharmacy with no doctor's order at no charge. And that is the current policy of the Healey administration. So we encourage the
citizens of Lawrence to reach out to theirarmacies, their primary care doctors to get their COVID booster coming into and the best time to get it is really the month of October. So we're shooting to get it um the majority of people to get it in October to protect
them for the for the worst months ahead. Um that is my public health update. Um we'd like to jump to the tobacco product sales update with Caesar. This would be I don't have a lot. Um before I went on vacation, we had this
had decided uh I believe it was on June 10th to suspend the tobacco permit issue to lookers at 678 cable street for 7 days to begin the 23rd of June and on the 29th. So that suspension was carried
out. It was carried up without any incidents. Another thing that I have is that um we're looking to contract a a contractor to help with the tobacco inspections and education and see this will be a Spanish speaking person like
like a native Spanish speaker will help him with any possible uh language there might exist when I try to use my Spanish so we should have that person within the next month or so great and then uh we are just beginning
our inspections for the fiscal year and we're going to resume compliance checks pretty soon as well okay thank you for the update Okay, we're going to move to new business. Um, given that Pamela is out, I know it's Mela you're covering. So, of these five cases, which are we going to
address first? You suggest 606. Okay, let's let's talk about 606 Canal Street Inspectional Services case 22-0924. um 606 Canal Street. We have uh we received our engineering report for the
tight tank um from the um the owner hired a an engineer to do the inspection on it. So the engineer um is present with us today. Um Alec um he has a report that he submitted a
senior package um regarding the tag tag. It's um request. He's here present and he can speak on he's out here. Okay, great. Alec, let's hear from you. Hello, my name's Alex Chongers for Chongers Engineering. I'll give you a
quick background. So, I originally got reached out by uh Edwin and also your consultant at the time. I forget his name. even so going over about this property on Canal Street. Uh from my understanding based on talk talking with Orlando and him was that there was a titank installed at a certain date but
there was no variances or no approvals permits ever issued for the titank itself. So what I decid what we agreed upon was me to do a little investigation. I've reviewed the title five report. I did sitewalk and I wanted to see what variance we required from title five in order to get the what
variances would have been required for the uh tank to actually put in in the beginning. Um, so I can kind of go through all sorts. I'm not sure how familiar you guys are with title five. I'm assuming not too familiar since there's not much septic in this city. I don't interrupt you. Were you talking about the L6
preliminary um license to operate pending the the uh the results of the check? Yeah, absolutely. So a title five inspection was performed. It was by stewards. It was passed. It was very well known. work a lot within the Merit Mack Essex County area. Uh so how I can
go about it is there's quite a few variances we kind of have to go through. Would you like me to read them kind of one by one and what the requests are and why we have to request them? Is that the best? I think that would be helpful. All righty. So I guess again these are coming straight out of 310 CMR title 5.
That's what dictates septics. And uh I'll give a quick background too. You're able to when you're dealing with an upgrade under kind of upgrade standards. It's pretty much tight tank is the worst case scenario because you always have to have something to functioning if you're unable to feasibly connect a sewer. So, how that works is it's not new
construction. If it was new construction, you wouldn't be able to do it. But since it's existing, you're able to request all sorts of local upgrade approvals and variances. I'm going to go through the local there's local upgrade approvals which I'm requesting. Then there's also variances. A local upgrade approval is kind of how the state
created title five a while back where like they can the health department can just grant certain variances that they call book upgrade approvals without having to go to the state to get approval. And then there was certain variances that you had to go to the D to get approval. Since then D pretty much
got rid of they don't want to see anything come to the desk. So everything gets approved by the health department now. But I'll start with the local upgrade approvals that are required. So, uh, a local upgrade approval is requested in the court 154051A to allow a tight tank to be placed less than 10
ft from her property line. Uh, so I'm not, as you can tell by this, this site is extremely small. I'd be surprised if the total width was more than 15 ft of the property. So, you're unable to make that setback. So, we're requesting a variance to allow the tight variance needs to be requested to allow the tight
tank to be within 10 within 10 ft of the property. Uh the next variance requested is from 154 4051B to allow a system component to be placed within 10 ft of a foundation. Uh this this is kind of similar to that one. There is no way we can avoid having it. The property is too
small and we need to have it right next to the foundation just because we can't maximize that 10 foot step back. Uh another local upgrade approval requested is to allow a tight tank to be within 25 to 50 ft within a BBW or excuse me within a resource area. As you know,
you're right on the canal. It's a it's in a resource district. So, we unfortunately aren't able to request it further away because the entire property itself is within a resource area. So, that variance that local upgrade approval is required. Now, on to the variances. Uh there's a whole sort in
order to tight tank as I said before is the last resort in terms of uh for board of health title 5 because they want you to have some sort of system if you can't connect to sewer or you can't have a septic. So when you uh when how they grant how they health departments allow you to have a tight tank, you have to
meet certain criteria which I'm going to go through now. So 152682A the tight tank shall be sized at a minimum of 500% of the system sewage design flow and but no case be less than 2,000 gallons. So this is a big one that needs to be requested. So right now the
existing tank is only a 10,00gallon tank and so we need to request a variant to allow it to only have a 1,00gallon tank rather than 2,000gallon tank. the the design there is no established design flow. So how we when you don't have the design flow on record you kind of
backtrack to see what the design flow should be and the design flow that we're provide the design flow that I came up with is about 200 gallons per day. So 2* 5 is going to give us that 500% increase. So in that sense we do meet the requirement of being 500% greater in the design flow. However we can't meet
that 2,000gallon requirement strictly to site limitations. So a variance is requested to allow you guys to give us approval for the 1000gallon tank. It just doesn't fit. It doesn't fit. It's if you go on the site right now as it is, it's the tank is essentially ex excuse me essentially
fully exposed and hanging on the cliff. So yeah, and you can't really expand it further uh without kind of going off your property. Um Oops. Next one. If I have any questions, feel free to stop me. Uh so plans plans for the tank shall be
prepared stamp and signed by a Massachusetts professional engineer. The system has already been installed. So we're requesting a variance is to allow we're requesting a variance not to have to have a design plan submitted since the system's already installed and it's kind of counterintuitive and that's why we're requesting that variance. Uh
152602C we need to have visual audio alarms. So with tight tank obviously the fluid can't escape anywhere. It needs to be pumped. So the state requires you to have alarms at three foot three level full. The title five inspection report says 2/3. I'm assuming it says that's an
inspector doing it. So I'm sure we can confirm it's at set at 35ths, but um that that we do meet that requirement, but we'll confirm we meet that requirement or just adjust the quotes if we need to. Uh the the applicant application for approval shall indicate the method and frequency of approval of
contents. Uh based on the size of the building, it's about 429 square ft. We assume it's about a 200 gallon per day flow. So, it's most likely going to need to be pumped one to two weeks depending uh how frequently it's used and or whenever the alarm goes off and the applicant is aware of that. Uh the next
one, the application for approval shall indicate the method and frequency of removal of the contents. It's very similar. So, this will be removed by a licensed septage removal company and they will comply with all state regulations as they they need to to have their septto license. Uh the next one is
the titan shall have at least one 24 inch diameter cast iron frame at finished grade constructed so as to eliminate the entrance of surface waters permanent suction piping may also be required. So the current system right now does have a plastic cover so that will need to be replaced with a steel cover to be compliant unless you guys
wanted to issue the variance. But for since it's in a very accessessible place I'd recommend having the steel cast iron uh frame and that can be constructed. The next one, the titank shall be located to do to provide year round access for pumping. This it's it's very
visible. The thing is most probably 70% exposed. So that's not an issue. Um a permit to install the tank shall be attained from the approving authority for applying after the fact. Anm plan needs to be provided to the approving authority. This has been a provided the
approving authority and it's just essentially getting pumped every one to two weeks or when the 35th level alarm goes off. The tight tank shall be waterproof and watertight. The tight tank that was shown is a shade concrete tank. That's a very standard run-of-the-mill tank. Those are typically always uh watertight. And if
it wasn't watertight, you would see a fluid leaking out of the out of the tank itself. There is no uplift uplift, excuse me, no uplift force that we need to design for just because the system is essentially above grade. So there's no uh ground water that's going to push it up. Uh ariation or other method of odor
control may be required. anticipated that this will be required if there hasn't been an issue yet. If that does come that there can be mitigation to try to prevent that, but I don't expect that that will be needed for this particular property. And last but not least, the tight tank shall be designed in compliance with the requirements for the
construction of septic tanks 31015226. This this was purchased by Shay Concrete who follow state regulations. So that that is also met. I know I gave a lot and I didn't know how else to really go about it because this is a funky lot. But if you have any questions, I'd be happy to take anything.
Any questions? How much more would it be steel cap versus plastic? What do you mean how much a construction cost? Uh I can't say being too high construction cost. It's um you you can probably be fine. It hasn't been an issue now. It is is a requirement. Just
it's more or less for safety for people don't don't go in there. It does have a loft, but I assume it's probably anticipate any more than $1,000, but I um I don't quote separate construction. Any further discussion? Okay, so these variances that are
requested, we make a motion to you each one individually. We have to go down the list. Yeah, sometimes with a bunch they just kind of sum it up. But um would you like to make a motion? I didn't bring my glasses. So
I'll be the reader today. So I think you should just um I think given the historical relevance of this property, the the you know geographical constriction of this property, the fact that it was not near sewer line city
Lawrence, um the fact that SHA construction followed all the regulations in terms of the construction of the tank. I think that this board um should grant a variance for everything that we discussed. Number one, um the
tight tank um could not meet the 10 foot setback. Um and and we're going to add the variance for that. Um that the entire site is within the watershed of the Marramac Valley Canal. Um but in
order for this tank to be used and this property to be commercially viable, we have to I believe the variance for that. Um the the red okay so let's stick to the red one I
make a motion two I make a motion to the size of the container I'm viring from from 15 to 6.28 required to allow it to be used at 1,00 gallon tank. Excellent. I'll start with that one. Do I have a
second on that motion? Second. All in favor? I. So that motion carries. Let's move to number two. Make a motion for the tanker that has already been installed by others having earlier a date unend were never
submitted from 15 260. requested. Second or third motion. All in favor? I The motion carries. That motion is granted. Go to number six.
The motion to the current system has a plastic cover. This need to be replaced at what it calls it frame and a second. All in favor? That motion carries as well. So is that Yeah. So I guess to be clear, you guys I
I could have wor that better. Do you want us you do want us to replace the frame? And those are the those would be all the ones that No, thank you for bringing that's a great education about title five for us. Um there there's very few septics in the city of Absolutely. I had to be I knew it was
the hot dog place. That's why I took Yeah. No, I have I have I also want to add something. Um uh the owner um Oenheimer, he also had requested in the with the board um to
turn on water service. Since then, it hasn't been turned on currently due to this um contingent. Okay, we can make a motion. Yeah, to make a motion to uh to turn on the municipal water. Yeah, I have a motion.
I would like to make a motion to turn on the municipal water for 606 Canal Street. Second. All in favor? Okay. So, great. You're good to go, man. long journey. I appreciate the inspectors. Okay. Thank you.
Yeah. When can I call to make that? Um right away. Right away. Um but I'll I'll well call tomorrow. I'll call after tomorrow. Thank you guys. Thank you. Follow up with me. I look forward to growing with you guys.
Thank you. All right. I would like to move to a very critical issue regarding a fire incident at Winfield Alloys. Um what inspector is going to present this in that can it be possible that the end?
Sure. Sure. That's not a problem. Um which one do we want to take next? We have the waste management. Okay. We have representative here. Okay. Hey, hello. Welcome. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
So this is the first time I've done this. So I guess I'll introduce kind of what I'm proposing and look for feedback from you guys. So we have created I own an electronic recycling company in southern New Hampshire. Through this process of about
four years now hospitals, pharmaceutical and bed device companies have contacted us on a more sustainable approach to recycling medical waste. So the way to think of it is they're looking for us to
kind of recover the plastics, any metals which will be minimal, and repurpose those devices. We have no location yet, but we're looking at doing it in the Marramac Valley area. Um, so I'm I've reached out
to the Department of Health for the state and qualified some of the equipment that we need to do it safely and effectively and really kind of seeking more guidance from the city of Lawrence if this type of procedure is allowed. I can walk you through kind of
our policy and procedures on how we would do it, but the most simplistic way to think of it is we'll collect chops and beans, so to speak. comes to the facility. We manage reverse logistics. It gets thrown into an auto type machine
combined with a shredder. Then it gets all the materials and commodities would get separated and we would repurpose the repurposable devices mainly plastic, some metals, the other stuff that due to regulations and compliance that would have to go to incineration would go to
incineration. We are not intending to do that or waste energy but that would be our preferred method and that we go to Eolia something like that. Our clients are looking for that sustainable
circular economy. So they're trying to show we're putting this out and we're doing the best to cover what can be recovered. I'm sure there's going to be questions because I've never thought that I'd be sitting here in front of you guys
discussing this. Well, it's new to us as well. Yes. I think that obviously the main concern is is is pathogens and exposure. Um, you know, I mean, I'm sure the process is is is quite specific. Um, I mean, an
autoclave sterilizes things. Um, I think I think this board and I think this community I mean If you look at the agenda today, we have we have another frequent uh violator of
of you know we have a you know trash heap in a residential area large is six square miles. So when we bring in these heavy industrial there's grease processing which has odors related to it. There's metal
processing which has noise and truck traffic. solution right within a very dense residential area that has been an issue for many many years whenever so whenever there's an industry that wants to come into a six square mile town
sure um there's always going to be some grumbling why Lawrence I mean is this the path of least resistance is it we you know we would love to have light industrial and and tech coming to Lawrence maybe
resumption of the textile industry in some shape or form. But when the these heavy industrial processes that have potential harm to the community get presented, Lawrence is our immediate reaction is whoa, you know, why Lawrence
six square miles for 85,000 people crammed into six square miles. We have Windfield, which we've been dealing with for years, which is recycling metal. Y right next to, you know, an urban project and and
But you know if you can spell out for us. Yeah. You know really the design I mean if this is a clean operation that's in a mill that doesn't have any byproducts that has little to no waste that's not
incinerating things. Um I think we could possibly get our heads around it. Wouldn't you say? I'm not expecting. Yes. What's that? That's why I went. So,
this was one of the systems also where you want to locate, you know. So, yeah. So, the reason I'm looking at Lawrence and you can pass it around, but this is one system that's more of a steam autoclave. We're moving towards an energy efficient microwaving autoclave.
So, there'd be no byproduct. Yeah. So, from a greener perspective and the reason you were asked about kind of Lawrence and Valley I live close to the area selfishly it' be convenient for me and two close to Boston close to the
major medical institutions um that's kind of the reason that I mean I think you know the more we learn about the process the more comfortable we're going to feel with it sure but it it definitely needs to be in a in a light industrial zone
not in a res And where are you doing now, sir? So, we are not doing it currently right now. We're looking for a place that allows this because no one is doing this. As crazy as this will sound, these
large 30 billion device dollar device companies have been speaking with me and have not found anyone. There's someone out in Texas that's kind of doing it, but a lot of which you probably aware of from the hustle, a lot of places will pick up medical waste and transport it,
but it's either going to landfill now or it's going to incineration and they're they're not they're very few as you probably were legally able to incinerate the state. So they're more of the middleman which is driving up the costs where we would re either reprocess
can't go to any normal landfill. So even I won't name a large company that picks up most of this stuff they will autoclave and it's going what does cycle do with their products they autoclave autoclave most land some is going waste
energy now and I don't want to get well you're right you're holding you know we're seeing more and more single dose pens this is for the GLP1 insulin so this is your main customer picked up these These would be retrieved. Obviously, we go through a shredding
process, but it shows you the components that are in them, whether all we would break it down from plastics from the PP, P, HTP, all the different commodities reuse. The initial goal is to do a reuse of, let's say, track stacking. We supply
them with recycled plastic, um, playground equipment. All these people, what we want to get to would be repurposing this into to other medical products that could be used in hospitals. So now people using at least
a percentage of recycled plastic. How many employees you thinking about? I mean initially the startup will be probably 10 but as you're probably aware this market is extremely large and I would never say that we're ready for a a
mass general to start. We've had conversations with them about starting pilot small programs but it would It could grow into a very significant company. Yeah. I mean I think I mean if you look at you know hospitals are one of your
customers but physicians we pay contracts stere and we have you know so you know multiply all the community based correct positions and and have a way to to
contract with them. Um, you know, that could be another target market for you for sure. In our initial clientele will be those ones that are willing to change things, right? No one likes change, but it's
those circularist economists that want to say, you know what, there is a better way. Can we do that? Well, I mean, I think it's definitely something I'd like to learn more about. Okay. Where where are you at in the process? We have signed CDAS with clients. Right
now, what we're trying to do is have them predict volume because the equipment that we would have to purchase is expensive and I don't want to buy the equipment and then you tell me we can't do it in Lawrence. Yeah. And then I have to find another place.
So, we're that's kind of where we're at. Now, I will say this equipment much like autoclaves, they all have a testing validation. So, it's all going above the 27. have two items to consider. Uh one is the noise pollution like you mentioned.
Um and also have you explore more of the city ordinance in ter for Sony. Um so I don't recall that in our city we have a ordinance that allows for for companies doesn't matter the background or the
field. Sure. to come to the city but it will be Sony who will review with him. Yeah. And approve or not and then from there he can come with the project and present it to us. So I think it would be good to go to zoning find a site that you think would
be viable before you purchase anything. Come back to us with those two things and we will we'll make a make have a discussion again. Okay. So zoning first if they say good come back show you more of the detailed
process what we're going to do with it perspective site perspective I just want to make sure this would not be close to res there's lots of options I mean there's millions of square feet of mill space so
but yeah I don't know if there's anything sold in the city for kind of waste processing but would you classify that in your experience when I go to zoning medical waste. I would say waste process. Waste processing. Waste process. I mean I just to give you a little
background um you know the Marramac Valley is is been a victim of a lot of incinerator. We're close to a lot of incinerators and Lawrence has the highest rates of asthma in the state. Okay. and and so the particulates you
know certainly it's a long history of mills spewing particulates and now incinerators. So you know if you can assure us this is not going to affect there's no byproduct
there's no there's no venting no odor um we would be much more open to the idea um but again Lawrence is very sensitive to industrial processes coming to the city. Um, but
there's ways you can you can make us feel more comfortable for sure. Understood. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Yeah. Whenever you want to come back, just reach out to They've been great. I've haded them for two months. They are great. So, I appreciate you're
welcome to come back. They'll put you on the agenda whenever you're ready. Okay. Okay. Okay. Good. Thank you very much. There you go. Thank you for coming. I'm happy that somebody's trying to recycle those things.
Like I said, I never expected to be here, but this it's a huge problem for in not just the hospitals and the manufacturers. No, we we generate so much waste just
vaccinate all these pandms, you know, single room for so many things. Have a good day. Have a good Thank you. Have a good meeting. Okay. Um, lean back just a little. We're
going to do I just want the camera to catch catch us all our mugs. Lean for. So, are we going to do anything besides before we are we going to do the fire incident?
Which do you have on your Let's see. This one is 15 Street. Which one is that? So, that was the fire on the 27. Okay. So, what transpired that day?
I'm going to read on behalf of um Inspector So on the morning of August 27, 2025, the Lawrence Fire Department responded to a fire incident at 15 Medford Street, Lawrence Mass, where multiple fires were
discovered burning within a large pile of mixed graph material in the facility's yard. Following the incident on August 28, 2025, the fire department fire prevention division engaged in the inspectional services department to
conduct to conduct a joint conduct compliance review during the inspection ser uh serious violations of the state fire code 527 CMR building code 780 CMR and local ordinance Lawrence municipal code 15.04.010
were identified. Based on these uh findings, the business was ordered to cease operations until full compliance could be demonstrated. Uh underneath on the document you have in front of you are the different violations that were
uh fined and um the correction actions that were asked by the different departments, removal, reorganization and proper storage of the scrap and pallet materials. clearing and maintaining all eager's pathways. Ensuring proper maintenance of doors, openings and
protective features. Uh submitt of comprehensive corre uh corrective action plan. Implementation of a staff training program including emergency preparness and fire response. Housekeeping and side storage management, compliance and identification procedures and waste oil
handling. And um I believe last week both parties were uh to city council meeting. Um kind of like gave an update where was the the the company and I
think they're missing only um bringing kind of like a new a plan how they going to in the future respond to an emergency if needed. But everything else they already reallocate uh relocate
all the scrap materials. Uh they've been in compliance with everything else with training and certification. Um just waiting for the report of emergency. Does the facilities like this um receive
routine inspections? Not necessarily. So the reason being because they are um inspected by the fire department when they are requiring a a renewal of their licensing.
Um but that's something to consider if this board I think is um it's it's important relevant to the type of work that they do in the community. I mean, especially given the fact that Winfield sits right next to the market basket,
right next to a bunch of restaurants clubs, right next to pictures? And so I think that um Oh my gosh. Is it yearly visits that the fire department? Is it yearly?
Well, I can speak on that somewhat. I did um listen to the public hearing that they had in front of the city council the other time, but they don't they do frequent um inspections. Um they could be yearly. Um
the frequency of them happening lately. There hasn't been in a while. They they should be doing quarterly with the fire department uh as well as from the building side, maybe yearly. Um we don't have the record of when
the time official. Um, and I think uh I think Phil could probably speak on that a little bit more. Uh, based on maybe doing one 10 inspections, the periodic inspections that could be every year, every three years, every five years depending on the type of business that
it is. I would like to see that seen quarterly with a combination of the uh fire department and us. I would love to bridge it up just to make sure the quarterly portion of that would be under the jurisdiction of the fire department. They do quarterly
inspections. No, for instance, if they do a yearly, I would love us to do two or three. Make sure that some suggest that request that the fire department. I mean, I think if they need to do
anything with this white Chevy Bair from the 1950s. I certainly be happy to take it. Me, too. Um, something to have also in mind is that when they apply for the removal of their licenses, normally these approvals
go through the city council. And so that's probably the misengagement uh or the disconnection perhaps you say, with our department. Um maybe if we can ask the city council that whenever they apply for these renewals that we are also aware of this so we can go and
inspect that can probably um bring down the amount of you know violations perhaps not necessarily overseen by other you know in conjunction with the fire inspection there should be an inspection service
inspection absolutely I also have um documentation on 322 street and that's 322 I think this is the new
this is the only oh the only one for now I'll be over very quickly so on the evening of August 125 the fire department responded to a significant fire at 322 324 L street
the fire impacted a total of six properties displacing over 45 residents affected properties um were 320 L Street meeting contracting um 322 324 L Street, 326 L Street, Lova
Restaurant, 328 L Street, 85 Oxford Street. Um of the initial finding 322 L Street and 326 L Street were deemed unsafe and dangerous. The building department um convened a board of survivors and um is moving forward with
demolition proceedings. Three properties sustained extensive damage and several others require safety checks, utility restoration, and temporary relocation of tenants. Uh since August 12th, within days, residents of 332 L Street were
able to safely return to their property. Repairs at 85 Oxford Street. Property window replacements are nearing to completion. Residents are expected to return within the next week. Coordination between the building department, health department, fire department, and property owners has
allowed phase three occupancy where uh feasible. Current status of September 9th uh 322 L Street and 326 L Street have been declared total loss. Residents will not be able to return to
these properties. 328 L Street remains unsafe with demolition repairs underway. 332 L Street residents are um went back to their property. 85 Oxford Street residents expected to uh come back or return to their property within the next week. And then the summary of what
happened um it's at the end August 12th. Fire displaced dozens of residents and caused several structural damages to multiple properties. Through coordinated efforts across the city departments, progress has been made restore the habitation of the less damaged
buildings. However, two properties are confirmed to be total loss. Gosh, did they say the cost? No details on that pictures. Okay. I guess from the from the health
department um recommendation and also inspectional services although it's not um it's not really what we do. We go and see the violations but one good recommendation probably I should say from from the nurses, right, is to our
tenants to to reach out to those insurance companies and actually have to fire insurance. Um insurance, what is it? The rental insurance. Um because um at times like this is when we see the importance of having um backup funds to
help these families. Um although the senary code demands that uh landlords and property owners um house them temporarily, it's very uh unsafe at times when there's no lease involved for granting.
Occupants regardless leases or not, they're supposed to be relocated temporarily, but in that process, it's good to have that money or those funds available. So it's very recommended for many people and renters's insurance is quite inexpensive. It's cheap. You know the Hispanic population they don't understand that
they don't believe in those things. You should be responsible for that. You shouldn't be, you know, making responsible the landlord to be taking care of the That's the law. That's the law. Was this building with any of these
buildings sprinkler? Probably not. No, there were existing structures. Did they have occupancy permits? Some of them. Some of them. Not all. and and because they were not more than three um um units, they're not required
for Okay. All right. Let's move on to Mthu and Lawrence shared services grant. Um so I just want to um there was a Were you at the meeting?
I was. So, I mean, this grant, which Lawrence is still a part of, is exciting. Um, it gives us a lot of incredible opportunities um to make some significant uh headway and making our city a safer, more
prosperous place. Um, and so I just want to review some of the details about the shared services grant. Um, so this grant is for $584,000 840
almost $600,000 a year. The current year has over $500,000 plus and the next contract is for three years instead of a one time. So, you know, overall this is a staggering number. We're looking now at over $2
million that could be shared between um Lawrence and Mthuan. Um so I think that what we can glean I wasn't at the last meeting. I was unable to be present due to a family vacation.
However, I do have the the um the notes from the meeting, the minutes, and so there was a lot of progress. Octavian was present from the mayor's office. Um there was um representatives from Mthuan
and there was discussions regarding the grant administration requiring monthly meetings and quarterly governing body sessions. There was a conversation about sustainability and expanding our shared services specifically supporting staff
training and inspections. There was also discuss regarding continuing operation at the community resource center at one Broadway open to all with no residency restriction. Um communications um there was talk about newsletters,
reports, press releases, media, an annual report preparation is underway. Um there was a suggestion about outreach through broadcast, radio, social media. There was discussion about performance standards to meet public health service
benchmarks such as disease prevention, community education and training. The program activities which were discussed were infectious disease prevention namely shared epidemiology outreach. An example being the participation at Lawrence night out and bilingual
educational materials. Continued training support for public health nurses and inspectors will be a crucial element of the shared services grant staff development. We were going to uh discuss that collaboration with training hubs exploring consultant support for
food and housing inspection. Um noting the DPA consultant pay limitations which I will get to in a minute. So the budget summary for fiscal year 2026, there's a couple of allocated uh resources for shared staff. One being a
coordinator for the shared services grant, two being two inspectors and halftime epidemiologists, which will be shared between the two communities. There's also uh uh money pro uh uh
basically earmarked for a health agent prorated for 9 months. Um consultant services uh health education inspection supplies, membership fees, nursing supplies, software licenses, travel for
training, training fees, admin and agency support. Um, so there were two the three newly hired staff members through the shared services grant. There was the coordinator Jenny Otero. There was the epidemiologist Allison. And two
inspectors were hired through the shared services grant, Vanessa Santan, who we know well and Carla Frias, one from each community, Lawrence and Mura. There was talk about reporting and accountability um about delivering reports, dates of
training, attendees names, locations, um and there was also requests by Octavian Spanner regarding a newsletter seeking a two paragraph summary on the grant and the partnership. Um there was also discussion about encampment removals and the rail trail
project discussion future plans for the rail trail project and removal of the encampment. The previous meeting was held with the mayor's health task force to address this as well as Lawrence police chief to begin the encampment relocation process. Uh there was
discussion about the um consultant budget concerns ongoing challenging recruiting qualified consultant health consultants due to state pay caps and there was also discussion about mosquito and tickboard illness. We are in West Nile virus season. There have been
mosquitoes identified in surrounding communities that are carrying West now virus. We have not had any deaths this year in Massachusetts. Um so there was election of officers Tavian Spanner from the city of Lawrence is going to be the co-chair and Jordan
Normandia from Mthun will be the chair of the of the shared services grant and the next meeting uh is going to be December 10th. So um you know the grant is is is quite large and can really make
a difference in filling the gaps and helping us uh train and bring in new resources to the city of Lawrence. Um but there are restrictions that we all should be aware of in regarding um what
the budgets are restricted to do um and you know how the expense is is shared. Um so I have a you know the allowable expenses if anybody ever wants to look at it and we have suggestions like for
instance we had Sergio Espinosa come and discuss with our restaurant round table about plan reviews and and helping restaurants access grants to upgrade their kitchens and and and I think you know eararking him as a consultant
through this grant might be a great idea for both Muan and Lawrence because he's incredibly knowledgeable. He actually knows a lot of the restaurant tours in the city and I think he brings a lot to the table. Um the uh but the grant is
again bringing two almost close to$ two and a half million dollars to the share both Lawrence and um and it can also help with contract tracing. Um so it's it's vast and it's something it should very exciting and
So, um hopefully we can continue to put this on the agenda. We can certainly invite uh Octavian to come as he now is the co-chair of the of the shared services grant to talk about his ideas uh about what he sees as a good use of
this these funds to bring our city into the into the 2026 new year with a with a rigorous training program and and uh support. Um and that's what I have to say about the shared services. Anything
else you want to add? you summarized everything. Could we invite you for the next meeting? Yeah, absolutely. I'll I'll reach out to you anytime. So, any any comments, questions, concerns? I just have a question. Do we have a
date for the next meeting? Oh, yeah. Next meeting. Okay. Um, we're going to set the next meeting for let's see, October 14th. How does that sound? Middle of October. Sounds good to me. Okay. So, is that good for
Tuesday as always? The second Tuesday. Second Tuesday. Yep. And uh is that a council day? We'll try to make it be done by seven. Um and so do I have a motion to adjourn? Can I have a motion? Can I make a motion
to adjurnn? Second. Okay, motion is accepted. All in favor? I have a good evening.