yeah so anyway okay I'll let you know we're going to start this very soon as soon as we get uh two more counselors at the day here we'll get our meeting started we need three to start this meeting and they're here so as soon as they show up around here we'll do a roll
call okay one two we need one more one more one more was St house I finally we
did the actual statue yeah okay they had there wow PR cool that's pretty cool yeah what floor is that on second floor it's it's but they have they have the flag one side like I
think it's a second Flor I got you got you I got you so were you there were you advocating or visiting or I wasting had um
oh you you need to let me know if we're GNA get any more money on that or we're going to be kicked out out of the club good evening and welcome to the ordinance committee meeting today is Tuesday March the 11 2025 um this meeting is being conducted as a hybrid meeting pursuing to chapter
20 the acts of 2022 this meeting of the ordinance committee is being conducted both in person and via remote participation a reminder that people or persons who would like to listen to or view this meeting while in progress May either attend in person at the location above on the sheet or use any of the following access locations which include
the Facebook laurren city council page and the YouTube laurren city council page clerk would you please call the role celor Gregor Rosario presid coun SEL Rees pres celor Felina Santiago nor abson
Cil pres Council um chair we're g call tonight would to call me chair plan pres uh with that would you all please rise and join me the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and
to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all good evening everyone Community counselors um we have a very full agenda we'll get right to it as we typically do
we like to um um as a as a courtesy to our colleagues who who who decide to attend this meeting we do have one of our colleagues here councelor from District B councelor Wendy Luzan uh who's oddly uh for the first item which is 6525 the Easter egg hunt at O'Neal
Park um the counselor has asked uh you wish to speak on this matter counselor please do good evening counselors uh Wendy Lon 11 alvan Street and I'm here on behalf of uh instit cultural the Puerto Rico and
they're requesting the O'Neal park for an event that they have every year it's a family event uh is is is for the Easter egg hunt that it should take place at O'Neal Park from 10:00 a.m. to T to 2:00 p.m. and as I said at the
beginning because this is happening in my district I'm here on behalf of of this organization thank you thank you councelor I I will also let the committee members know that I did talk to the director of recreation right before this meeting um and I didn't want
to make sure that there was no conflicts for that uh he advised me that no there are no conflicts and that space is free for that day so uh that we I don't expect any um any problems with that so I'm looking for a motion on this item motion of sen F cons a favor
recommendation second motion made by councelor Del Rosario seconded by councelor of Vice chair Reyes discussion see no discussion I'll call the question all in favor say I I oppose no the eyes have it thank you councelors good to see you
counselor um as we always do as well we have this is a very long day for our city employees they show up at 8:30 and they work through the entire day they don't go home there nothing else this is a full day on Tuesdays and their office is closed at 7 and so um we try to be Humane so we wanted them to go home so
we try to get them as early as we possibly can so um I'm just going to go an order of the agenda for the city employees and the first one uh that I have are going to be the city election divisions uh there's several items starting with
75 76 77 78 and 79 so if there's no objection I'm going to ask the assistant clerk to come up and we'll deal with the first item which is document 7525 approval of 24-hour locations good evening clerk how are you I'm good good evening counselors you
have the floor well with the first 175-25 is the approval of 24 poing locations usually on state elections we use 26 with the sub precin but for local elections we used 24 were ordered by the state to get approval of the city
councilors for the 24 poing location questions or motions for this Council Del Rosario no just asking this doesn't need a public hearing right we don't need a public hearing there just need a vote to ratify the use of the space right no public hearing is required correct there you go okay
motion to send full council with a favorable recommendation second motion made by Council delario second by Vice chair Reyes discussion see no discussion I'll call the question all in favor say I I I oppose no the eyes have it next document
is 7625 approval of police details for 24-Hour for the 24 polling locations on September 16th and November 4th uh clerk also the approve of police um details is required by the stateful conso approval that we need a police officer in each
Poland location which is 24 looking for a motion motion to send the full councel with a favorable recommendation second motion made by Council delaro second by Vice chair Reyes discussion see no discussion I'll call the question all in favor say I I oppose
no the eyes have it next document is 7725 this is approved early voting for the local elections on September 16th and November 4th clerk 7725 is the approval for early voting for The September 16 and November 4th where required for local elections the state
requires the um local cities have the option to opt out out of early voting or they approve it we'll have it some communities don't approve it so they don't have early voting or vote by mail on local elections it's up to the city councilors to vote on
that okay so um I a question or two we've been doing this now for a few years I'm not sure how many maybe three years or something like that two years since 2016 oh since 2016 this early voting coming into City Hall and voting since 2016 yes it's
longer than I thought okay uh I'm I'm really interested in finding out how efficient this is from a budgetary standpoint we're we typically have opened this place up for two weeks and I know we've got staff who have got a a large number of staff that got to be here and I just I just don't know how
how cost beneficial it is for us to have it open for two weeks can you speak to the cost associated with keeping this place open usually for state and federal elections um we're required to do one week in September for the primaries and then two weeks for the final election in November for local elections is not like
the state elections like I mentioned you guys have the option to opt out for for an example September 2023 the last city counceling city council um election we had we're required to have five workers for early voting we get it treated like a polling location each worker on
election for early voting gets paid 1875 per hour for one week they did in September it totaled up to $4,284 with the total voters who voted in person was 154 so just just to recap 1875 five
people uh it was $4,000 for for one week in September of that of that 2023 and and then they were there for two weeks in the November or one week in November and then for the November one we had them for two weeks five workers1 1875 per hour the total was
$969 with a total voters in person 488 so more people in the final than at the primary has two weeks um I think councils want to speak on this so anybody have any questions feel feel free to at this point through
you chair but correct me if I'm wrong we do expect low voters when there's not a mayor maory race um even though it actually decrease in a big time but when there's no Mayors running or it's then not it's not a major race it's usually I
mean a low turnout for for for the elections you're correct but we can never take the chance of it's going to be a slow turnout we always got to be prepared whether it's going to be High turnout low turnout we still going to have enough staff for early voting yeah but the I'm sorry but
through you chair again and the reason that I say that is because it sounds pretty low for the amount of money we spent yeah basically we paid close to $20 per ballot when people vot it in person you before so I mean again it seems pretty low for the amount of money
we pay but we also got to take into consideration there was that a mandatory race on that year so so to me I'm I'm all for it this year we should have prevented it last year or when it comes just consors on it maybe we might don't need it but but at this
point in time I I believe or I feel that we we need it because the turnout is going to it's going to it's probably going to double what it is because it's a mandatory race on it I'm assuming at this point in time I agree we're basically spending more money in early voting with a low turnout than what we expected I mean my recommendation just
my opinion alone instead of having two weeks in November let's just break it down to one instead of two weeks two weeks I think it's too much I mean that's including Saturdays and Sundays for my staff my staff down this gets over 10 plus we got to pay the early voters staff up here like Po workers so it's a
long day it's you know it's to you Vice chair I would love to maintain a B opportunity to our constituent uh because uh El Bing is very important to continue and promote how important is to
go out and vote uh because when we eliminate we C opportunity to our people maybe go traveling or something like that I don't want to see that I know we always had the opportunity for voters who can make it to the polls we've been having absentee voting for years it was
by mail the only difference between absentee and vote by mail vote by mail you don't need an excuse to request one by mail absente you need to have an excuse such as you're going to be out of the city or you're going to be in the hospital so that's the difference between at the same time I would love I
would love to maintain the kind of opportunity to our constituent and also I want to know uh what kind of Outreach we do to invite the public to join us and both uh in this kind of
early opportunity well to promote I mean we will need help I believe I'm here with the city clerk we need more funds we try to advertise we put it on the city website we put our Flyers we even put flyers in the the entrance you know work gets around but at the end of the day honestly in my opinion we're here to
serve the voters and and I understand that we got to go and promote that there's an election but also it's on the candidates to reach out to the public on their own to get the word out you know I see in the past the the the board we put in different kind of
con invite the people hey reminding today is Ellie boing but I don't see anymore in any place I mean um a few years ago I know we use those flashing signs that the city owns um we put one on the bridge on South Lawrence and one
over by the forgot what right there by Lawrence Street just letting people know when the elections was going to come up if we could do that that would be helpful we have we need to bring him back this kind of opportunity to remind the people hey today is early voting come and vote we offer the beautiful
sticker be proud so I think we need to to do more Outreach more very promotion to our looking at the numbers conselor um vote by mail has a more effect on people I mean just for the November 2023 we had
1,663 applications and out of those people who requested vote by mail we receive back 1,250 so vote by mail makes more sense than early voting sometimes with the parking situation around here too makes it very difficult for voters that we had a lot of complaints to us that they
can't find parking to come in and vote another but I continue to having in mind to maintain this opportunity okay all right councelor so um um we have several um options here uh we have we have an option to up to two
weeks on both we have an option to go down to a week to both we have an option of not having anything we have an option one week for one or split them in different ways right so there's a however we want to deal with it um uh is it okay if I express my opinion on this
would that be all right so my my sense uh my sense on this is um is uh I think we've gotten used to having a people coming here I I think at some point we probably should maintain that I
I don't however having said that I don't think we need to keep two weeks either time I think that there's plenty of ways for people to get to vote uh having I'm I'm concerned about our staffing I'm concerned about the full days of two weeks um and and and and the amount of money that we're spending and then
making sure that staff is here as well it's an awful lot it's highly stressful already and to make sure that they are doing that and then have the actual election on the Tuesday it's an awful lot to ask so um I would support maybe a one week for each election but I I would
I would not support uh anything more than that for each of those elections that's my opinion so so but I can't make a motion so there you go I and I believe it or not I do agree it's going to be more people voting in this time but two weeks is a
long period also also people tend to wait if it's two weeks they're not going to rush out of V believe it or not knowing my community is say well I'm not going this week I'm going next week and then s they don't they don't show up so I I I one week I
would like to that to a week um on each election and I would like to send that for a week to the full council with a favorable recommendation second yes motion has been made by Council Del Rosario for and seconded by
Vice chair Reyes for a week of early voting at both the final and the preliminary election for this fall any further discussion on this matter see no discussion on this matter I'll I'll I'll call the role all in favor say I I
oppose no the eyes have it three nothing uh next is approval by vote by mail go ahead yes um approve by mail it's something else that we also need to get approved by the councelor like I said you guys go opt out out of it or approve
it like I said I mentioned earlier vote by mail people use it more than they do vote in person so see you guys um three ccar my question is after all the chaos that
we have in the last election voting by mail what we implementing new to prevent those issues not to happen is there any implementation we had tons of issues with the voting V mail in the last election what are we doing new in this election that might prevent all these
chaos again when it comes to voting by mail honestly councelor um the policies and rules that we go by we go by the state if somebody brings in an application for a family member or a friend we're supposed to accept it as long as it's a signature the only thing
that we don't accept is anybody returning someone's ballot in the office who's not the voter or a family House member that lives in the same household out of that it's out of out of our control if it reaches out to the streets to the post office it's out of our hands we do our job of mailing it out to
the voter a lot of them get it back a lot of them said they never received it so adding new policies or something that's something that we go the state I mean they're not enforcing anything else I mean we're just taking work by the voter and as much as we could do to kind of protect the voter's
rights any further discussion go ahead councelor full councel with a favor of recommendation second motion made by Council Del rosaro second by Vice chair re a discussion um I have something to say on this so um I don't support this
especially in light of what we've been dealing with recently I don't want to go into the details for obvious reasons now um but I think we can all remember uh the last time we had a municipal election and my colleague um just referenced it earlier and I just I think
that there is um there's plenty of opportunities for people to have a chance to vote whether there's early voting which we're hopefully will adopt at the full Council level there is still going to be absentee so if you're not going to be in the area you still can be able to vote by mail by absentee Val so
that option does continue but I just think that based on the and based on the recent history and uh that we faced as a city with respect to the vote by mail um
I don't have a lot of confidence um pursuing that at this point maybe in the future we can but not not now so that's my opinion on this and that's that so if there's any is there any further I'll let I don't need to have the last words any further discussion on this seeing
none I'll call I'll ask the there's going to be no votes I'll ask the clerk please call the role councelor fidelina Santiago yes coun Gregor De Rosario yes councelor Selena re yes no so they sign up to the full
council with the favorable recommendation great okay uh approve the that 7925 approve the election calendar yes um the calendar we have made it up with the dates and everything where nomination papers will be available and all the
important dates for anybody who wants to follow up with the elections um I sent a copy to the Secretary of State's office they went through it they made a few adjustments and um we just need you guys approval for us to post it on the website as soon as possible looking for a motion through go
ahead Council delario nomination papers I I have an issue with the signatures where we get the signatures can we somehow Implement that they come out print out with the candidate's name what they running for and and the dates uh with that is anywh that we can do that I
mean because it seems and I'm going to be very honest it seems that if you run out your five pages you can go to the other consors and they'll give it to you um and and I seen that and previous elections there was a mayor race and the Mayor run out of his signatures things
and somebody command and grabbed it and brought it in so we should Implement at least that that you your papers should be printed with your name and your dates and it's those are your papers that way you return your own papers there there's no extra copies there is nothing like
that it's question that if we can Implement that so let me just try to understand this question you want us to have the nomination p with the candidates names printed and everything already well whoever request it if it's somehow that we can print it in and with with the name and the dates on the back
and the position they running if it's possible not you know you give us I mean it should be convenience for me but I don't I don't think it's it's it's I mean it is you give it to me blank and I and I if I fill out three pages and then I and somebody run out of pages I can
grab one of my pages and give it to one of my colleagues and that's what I also like to prevent um there's people again that there's elections that I I witness myself where people run out of signature papers and somebody else have them there and they let them mus it so it it it
shouldn't it shouldn't I don't think it should be like that somehow every candidate should have even if it's a number you candidate number three so all your pages should have you you number three so when I return my signature pages those are M there's not a copy that I got from somewhere there's not
another copy that somebody gave me or let me use those are the one you gave me and I took out of your office and those are the one I'm returning may I answer nomination papers when we get them to candidates we give you guys a packet such as yourself you're a District counselor you're
required to um get 50 signatures correct we give you five sheets each sheet holds up to 25 signatures by state law we're supposed to give you enough sheets to get you 50 and um 10% more years ago we used to have had candidates requesting
tons of sheets they were required to bring 500 signatures and they wanted to continue bringing thousands of signatures and we're only required to certify the amount is required now putting your information on the nomination papers it's a no we
spoken to this about the state no federal or government or state election candidates ever had the name printed on their nomination papers this is a reason why we give it to you blank so when you fill it out you're filling out the office that you're seeking and then when you pass it around
to your voters and they sign it's you who's making the statement we cannot make the statement for you follow okay any other questions comments on this so uh just because my colleague open up can of worms I'm going to open that up a little further now um on the
nomination papers um some the concerns that I have is a personal experience that I had during at least my last election which is um uh which is the signatures that were uh very questionable um and it seemed by many
who would look at it that one person or similar persons and I actually went to visit people who said they never signed it and received affidavits from those individuals saying I did not sign this paper and it just it concerns me that that has happened and can happen one of
the easiest things clerk to do in to run for office is getting the signatures especially for a district race all you need is 50 and that's super easy to get it's not difficult and to get a 10% buffer it's not that it's not it's not tough to do if you're going to run for
that position it's not difficult to do so that's a concern that I have and I don't know what kind of what we can do as was mentioned earlier to tighten that up at all to make sure that that candidates understand that this is your obligation you can't
be having you can't be writing someone's name down I'm not saying it's that candidate but just in general you got to go to that person that person needs to sign it and put their date on it's got to be from them other than that it's pure chicanery and frankly um I think I
can use the word unlawful for that because you when you have that thing notorized you're saying that your to the pains and penalties of perjury what you're submitting is accurate and you're and you're submitting that with with that with that not notary so I don't know if you have a response to that but
that's a concern that I have I know we're going to be voting on the calendar not on nomination papers so mik Holly decided to which I agree with I mean I I agree with the fact that there's some things that can be done to improve that part of the process if you wish to comment I'm eager to hear absolutely um
I strongly agree with you regarding signatures my staff and I come across a lot of signatures with the same color pen the same writing and everything at the end of the day the answer that we get from the state is we are not handwriting experts we're supposed to certify any signature that comes in
through our counter as we're supposed to do we cannot question now that's why candidates have an objection after papers are certified there's a certain day for two days or 3 days any candidate could request each other's papers and doing objections like you've seen in the past has those are the steps that we
take so regarding signatures I can't challenge a signature myself and I'll be honest back in 2007 I was a victim my P my signature and my dad's signature was putting a nomination papers and I was certifying them and it wasn't my signature I reported it to the state what they did they removed that sheet
for the candidate that's all they did we can't enforce anything that the state doesn't allow us to do anybody Swit to speak on this matter no I'm going to look for this so we kind of went off there a little bit off that but this is about the calendar so I'm looking for a motion to approve the
election calendar is there a motion motion made by Council Santiago Z second second seconded by Council Del Rosario discussion see no further discussion call the role all in favor say I I oppose no the eyes have it I
think we're done right yes thank you our next meeting is as you know you know clerk's office is next Tuesday okay so you'll be there next Tuesday yes I will excellent thank you thank you um city employees I see uh
9225 home equity Theft Act put on by our economic development director Mr cillo good evening sir and that's uh if there's no objection we'll take that up right now 9225 good evening counselors Francisco Sao economic development director of City of
Lawrence um 360 Marx street today I am bringing before you and I'm with me is our city treasurer K Ortiz with her is attorney David Capo who's going to speak more on the item and shet Pasquel the um asset
officer for the City of Lawrence we're bringing this before you because back in in 2024 massachusett pass legation addressing home equity theft with that I'm going to pass it to attorney Kola or you can do the
presentation we have this in our packet counselors presentation as well good evening counselors my name is David Capa and I'm an attorney uh that works for pea Ortiz in her capacity as
treasur collector for the city and uh we specifically represent uh Miss Ortiz in the collection of unpaid real estate taxes for the city and I am here today to speak to um the council regarding the
recent change in in the way in which uh municipalities must handle uh the disposition of foreclosed properties um after the lean is put on the property and the taxes aren't paid and a
forclosure takes place the city becomes the owner of the piece of property that's delinquent on payment of real estate taxes and um there was a recent change to chapter 60 which governs the collection of RIS real estate taxes that
went into effect on November 1st 2024 um in that specifically changed many aspects to chapter 60 but regarding um foreclosed properties it changed the ability of the
foreclosing municipality the city once they foreclose to keep all equity in the property once they foreclose and own the property outright say that again the last part so before the change in the law M when the city foreclosed on a
piece of property all Equity was lost to the uh by the former owner in the city would take 100% of the equity meaning in simple terms if the city foreclosed then sold the property for
$100,000 and there was only $20,000 owed they would keep everything they would keep the Surplus of $80,000 so that that statute changed on November 1st and the change in that
statute actually flowed from um a decision that was issued in 2023 by the United States Supreme Court uh the state of Minnesota has a similar statutory scheme and there was a foreclosure that was challenged um in Minnesota that made it
all the way up to the United States Supreme Court in that case uh there was a property that was foreclosed on that was only owed um $155,000 at the time of foreclosure and the state took it and
sold it for well over the $115,000 debt and kept everything the former owner um challenged that made it all the way up to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the state to keep more than what is
owed to them now Massachusetts had a similar statutory scheme and as a result of this um as a as a result of the Supreme Court case uh Massachusetts amended chapter 60 which now requires
foreclosing parties the city once they foreclose to take specific action after they foreclose to determine if Surplus is generated so once a
once the city forecloses from the time they foreclose from the time the Foreclosure judgment enters they have 14 days to notify the former owner whether they're going to sell the property or whether they're going to retain it for municipal
purposes if they determine that they're going to retain it for municipal purposes they need to hire an appraiser and get the property appraised for the highest and best use and the appraised value uh would determine if there's any surplus owed to the former owner based on the apprais
value and the amount that's owed to the city if there's a difference any excess Equity or Surplus would be paid out of pocket by the city to the former owner in exchange for the city keeping 100% equity in the
property now the other option uh for the municipality for the city is 14 days after the Judgment enters they notify the former owners that they're going to sell the property and uh the city then has 180 days to list they have to sell
it in a specific way they have to list the property with a licensed realtor for the highest and best use of the property at the time of foreclosure and it has to stay on the market for 12 months if it doesn't sell so if after 12 months it
doesn't sell then uh what would happen is the alternative manner in which the city would go to and selling the property would be through a public auction they would hire um
a uh licensed Auctioneer and they would uh offer the property at public auction and the manner in the reason why this is being done thank you the reason why this is being done uh a sale of the property
through a a realtor is um to maximize the sale price of the property so that the return of the equity to the former owner is maximized as well so if the property sells for far more than what is
owed to the city any surplus is given back after the completion of the sale to the of the property so the um one of the big uh one of the big time
constraints and something that the city needs to take into consideration with this new law is that when the city when the court issues a foreclosure judgment the clock starts ticking where the city needs to make a swift decision through
the through a City Council vote whether to dispose of the property or retain the property for for municipal purposes because notice needs to go out to the former owners uh within 14 days after the Judgment enters
so that's that's that's an overview of the process uh to make the city aware now the city didn't need to worry about these time constraints uh prior to it because one prior to the change of the law because the city uh once they
foreclosed could hold on to the property forever if they liked or they could hold on to the property for years and then decide to sell it at a later date there was no time frame in which the the city needed to take affirmative action to dispose of the property or generate what
they call excess Equity or Surplus what is before us now this is an option is this something we can opt in opt out what's what's what's the proposal I understand the concepts now so it's not opting in or opting out is state law so is what it's doing is
changing the process of how we dispose of property um toity owned property that's has been taken through um tax collection so this there's no action required by the council this is informational it's informational okay
um so it's informational for you can understand because we are going to be once a property hits land Court we're going to re act we're going to proceed like if we already have the judgment on the property that way by the time it goes through the process and the 14 days
the judge already gives the same that the city is going to take the property we already have a a judge uh a vote for the council saying we keeping it or we're going to dispose of it that way we avoid the 14 days okay so I'm just trying to get a
sensus I want context how often is this happening how often do we find ourselves in this position this is new so we actually have one that's going before land Court that's in land court now um so you're going to it's going to be
going out through all the Departments to see if departments needed then it's going to come down to the city council for a um director position if we City decides is going to hold on to it is going to still come back to still has to come back to the council for a vote saying that we're going to maintain the
property correct if if I may if I may uh just to give you some perspective on how many foreclosures the cities uh the city um how many properties the city forclosed es uh within the past 3 years
the city has foreclosed on approximately 15 properties for unpaid taxes now they did not need to comply with the new law because it all happened prior to the new legislation going into effect but that
is um it's not a common thing uh it's a last resort so the idea is that these taxes get paid but there is uh on average I would say around about five foreclosures with a
year that the city would have to take action on so I'm just trying to better understand the council's role in this so who makes the determination as to whether or not the city wants to wants to retain it I know that's it
com course for a surplus and and if you say you want to keep it we got to I might sure we need to vote on that we don't don't declare it Surplus if if the city decides it wants to maintain it I think that's I think that's accurate uh correct Council chair that is the
current process of how we proceed but where we have to notify the court whether maintaining it or keeping it or selling it um one of the questions is will we proceed to come to the council to say we're going to maintain the property and if in the future dat we decide we're going to sell the property
then we'll come back to the council to resend the vote and proceed to um to sell the property so so but but the process is is that the administration is going to come to the council and say to the council we're going to want to keep
this property we need you to vote we would we're asking you to vote in this manner what's Curious to me is if the council agrees or disagrees what happens when there's a if there's a deadlock have you ever encountered something like that where the city the mayor's office says we're going to want to sell it and
the council says no we want for to keep it or whatever is what happens in the case of a deadlock I'm just curious so the Curious Thing is that it happens on a data when we come before you now when we declaring any property Surplus um
so that is is a possibility the other possibility is that the city can get fined from the state correct the city can what get fined from the state yes so that's that's the other caveat to to this process here's your stick right
yeah there's your stick um so we need to know if we're going to keep it which will go through the process like we do now we'll address um every department head to see if they want need the property um go through the whole process that process then bring it down before
the council okay all right with a recommendation either we're going to maintain the property or sell or sell the property okay this is informational this is going to the full Council but counselors have questions regarding this at some point we're going to be I'll be looking for a motion to send us a committee report but any any questions
yes go ahead Council Santiago I would like to know how many property the city has already to sell how many cities how many properties the city has ready to sell at this point we could get back to you with that
with that question um I know we have one that's an RFP right now uh believe there's two or three more rfps that will be coming up but I want to before I give you a definite answer I want to make sure that I check the thing and I'll
email every counselor let you know yes please because ER the information ER coming first from our residents that question I hear I heard
that question that's why ask you because I want a official information official answer correct we'll get you that you either hear from me or or from charlot Yeah official information okay thank you just show I'm clear the counselor is asking a very good question but it has
it sounds like it's bigger than what we're dealing with for a foreclosure am I right that you're not talking about foreclosures you're just asking in general how many properties you're not so this is all about foreclosures but your question is beyond foreclosures is that right she wants councelor wants to know how many
properties we have and correct me if I'm wrong how many properties we currently have that have been declared Surplus that are ready for to be sold yes and okay all right so that's not nothing to do with this item but if you can get information counsel that'd be fantastic that's a good question that she has so
okay any other comments or questions regarding the foreclosures and the in the Theft Act if not I'm looking for a motion to send this up to the full council with as a committee report so Mo motion made by councelor uh Santiago seconded by um
councel Del Rosario any further discussion on this see none I'll call the role all in favor say I I post no the eyes have it thank you gentlemen appreciate it thank you than thank you
um are you here for anything no okay with them okay uh we have a couple of counselors that are here I want to welcome councelor marmel and councelor Levy councilors are you here for any particular item or you're here to 7025
7025 yes 725 if there's no objection we'll we'll take that one out of order right now this is document 725 requesting pedestrian crossing lights and timers for All City intersection starting on Main Streets including uh starting with main streets not Main Street but
including engineering study councilors go right ahead okay uh good evening counselors um address name and address okay I always forget Vivian marmel 341 Water Street Ana leevy 167 Pros
Street and um we come before you to uh submit this new item in the agenda due to the increase of complaints of uh Public Safety and the challenges that we face um I believe in public safety I've
already have come before some of you guys um discussing the issues and concerns regarding uh the crossing of some of these streets uh complaints from residents that the light is turning too fast from from red to Green um not
allowing them sufficient time to properly cross therefore causing you know a potential accident or and unfortunately um not that long ago we did lose someone um on Broadway and nask Street um and because
of um did you want me to proceed no okay and because of that situation uh there was a meeting that was held in Essex Towers uh with the elderly folks and um that Community is um it's a vulnerable Community who um living in the downtown
and a bustling part of Lawrence who are uh nine times out of 10 they're on foot they are you know going to the grocery store walking to the clinics to the pharmacy some of these sidewalks were well aware that they're not properly repaired therefore it's resulting on
them having to walk on the street itself which makes uh the situation dangerous as is so um it was proposed that um you know if the delay you know that we discussed a 30 second delay uh was it 30
second 30 seconds delay 15 to 30 seconds if there is any issues with that particular item there's a this new item proposes a a new solution as well or something to add to the table um which is having these crosswalks giving timers
allowing The Pedestrian to know the time left when the light is turn uh is about to turn from from red to green and and vice versa and that should uh you know that should hold over some of the the you know it should speak to some of the
challenges um and and should be one of many solutions that I feel like the city could try to tackle um I know funding is is fundamental when it comes to being able to provide this type of uh resource for for the city um so if it's a matter
of starting with one Main Street whether it's Essex Street Broadway Lawrence Hay Road that's you know something that you guys could decide based on a study as to which street would be the most um to to be best served with having these uh the
countdown of the crosswalk and just looking uh looking on this uh we find out that many cities right now are taking you know uh this kind of solution that uh putting that the LI the M lines uh on some of the
Main Street uh that help people to cross uh from one street to the other principal P people who are um handicap and have the time and they can look at at before before they start Crossing uh any street so thank you counselor so my I
guess my question is just to reiterate what is the request of the committee what is the what are you asking us to vote on what's your what's the what's they ask so at this point I think that's the best thing is to send it for a study uh maybe to send it also to director of
DPW I know that there are some funding that is coming for doing some study and for doing some light on different Street in here and this can be included practically uh maybe in the next buget uh and just for clarification
purposes so that the um it says requesting pedestrian Crossing Lines with timers for All City intersections this is all City intersections yes we are talking all City intersection but like it's uh the council uh marmor said
that we can start with one two threee whatever this you know the best uh the most important Main Street here in the City of Lawrence and see how things going as is the same like when we had the the camera so we started putting
about 50 camera and then how many camera that we have right now and we see you know how important is to have those camera here in in the city so it's the same the same way so why we don't protect our our people when they are crossing three the children so no you
know that uh one time we had some problem uh on one 14 getting one of the child Crossing that street that you know that was hit by one of the car or so uh we can have a story that's the first
thing that we has to and find out what the most important Street at this moment and we can start with two three four whatever that's the amount maybe one but at least we can from there we can go forward so I'm just trying to frame this so if we take a vote on this we're going
to be precise in what we're asking for so I I my sense is there are when we say All City intersections there are hundreds of City intersections some that are very busy and some that are not busy at all and I I can't imagine we would
want to have I think our primary focus is for it to be main streets um so if there is an adjustment on the wording in order for this to be more digestible and feasible uh to kind of get the ball rolling in this type of initiative then
by all means um it me your main street main streets and our main streets it's I I would I would suppose that it's the Broadway the ess6 um Lawrence havil so you are the so you're the
proposer so you tell us I mean you're defining what main streets are unless you're asking us to Define what main streets are because we're going to have the same issue you are I don't is it by the number of cars number of houses by the number of traffic uh cars that are going through I'm not sure how we Define Main Street so if we're going to send a
letter and I'm I'm not going to speak on behalf of my colleagues but if we're going to send a letter to DPW as you requested for them to go ahead it would be really good for us to narrow down exactly what we're looking for we're looking for main streets to include Lawrence Street essic Street Broadway South Union Broadway um water I don't
I'm just winthrip whatever Mount Vernon you keep going right so but we don't know what you define main stre council president that is why we say we have to uh send yeah to do uh an study you know and decided what is that the most
important Main Street that we can start as a project you know like if we didn't have camera on everywhere over here we start with the most important Street or the most important part of the city you know when we believe that was that the
best way to have a camera so we can start maybe like it okay ss3 and and Broadway maybe this is one of the main street okay here um two or three that we can start as a project you know and see
and figure it out oh this is working right now and that is good for our community this is good for our citizen this is good for our handicap people uh just to go and and cross the street you know and from there we can keep working
and find know completing whatever the the the3 that we has to complete Is it feasible for a study to be you know um for this item to be sent to either uh the engineers of DPW and they're the ones who are providing their uh uh
expert opinion as to what intersections in conjunction with working with the uh the Lawrence Police Department that way they have access to data as to where I guess the majority of that traffic accidents are occurring and that way
we're establishing yeah we want to make sure that we're putting our resources in the at the best possible location and where it it it would be beneficial the most so just I I'm going to drill down I'm trying to help you I want to drill down a little bit which is so uh we're
going to Define major inter major intersections as high and high traffic volume yes correct and I don't know what high means hopefully if they do high traffic volume what else how else would you define a major intersection so when we make the motion if we decide to we're
going to say to the DPW please provide for us an engineering study on uh on the intersections that meet this criteria high traffic volume density parking I don't I don't know I don't know you tell meally like leading to a highway like I don't know
how to properly wear that highest school do the highest uh the Windra that's the wind of it I think no 14 gateway gateway streets yes yeah okay Gateway streets high traffic volume
and anything else that you want that you think could we say downtown is that's where it's like the bustling of traffic of foot traffic and where high levels of of businesses are yeah cuz that's where you see a lot of foot traffic and um you know
uh so not only pedestrians but those uh driving their vehicles so streets like South Union Street Broad way sex Street correct laen Street Jackson Street those streets are what you're thinking about okay high level of businesses okay I have I have a better idea I'm going to stop yapping and asking questions
colleagues you have any questions comments I I never a comment through you it's not just a study we need to have an estimate of what it's it going to cost because they that way they need to find out where they're going to get the money from because the last conversation we have on Public Safety according to the
expert from the alarm fire alarm it says that is cly M it's needed I think it's needed but also we should request an estimate of three streets how much is going to cost with three streets that way they know if they eventually going to pull
the trigger they going to where they going to get the money from I mean if even if it's to put I don't know what it cost to just put one but even if it's to put like one two or three or one I I think that that that's it's successful especially if it's being
placed in in a in a sector of Lawrence where it's very it's much needed um and if it's you know if it takes us 10 years that we're able to put 10 of them then so be it I think it's just at least getting the ball rolling to start the
start the initiative well let's say that we use like a Essex and Broadway okay we have to think it about that we has to put about four over there because every cross has to have one
uh one lie one timing to take also in consideration that again the fire alarm aspir was here says that Al is are outdated yes completely outdated and he believed that timer will work but we
need to replace the whole thing so it it's so when we're requesting the rep work with the Tim because I know if you know the lights work with the Tim and that time it also is going to work with the set of Lights according to what was saying not an expert so we got to take all that in consideration that is why we
need the St so and they have to figure it out the way that it's going to be worked you know with the live and also with the timing with the timer they are they are the expert on how to do that we are know but we are asking and requesting and mostly so
knowing that all the light like you say is out ofd dat uh and they has to look for money so why we can start looking or for the money to think it about and doing this I have a question can I ask a
question sure okay the last time that uh they came before you guys and they stated that it was outdated did they provide uh some sort of plan of action um on their behalf as to how they were planning if they had any plan uh to
replace these uh that didn't come before the ordance committee it was public safety commit Public Safety okay they public saf and the only thing they said is funds and and it's costly and and and it's needed but it's it's Way Beyond
what we have according to uh the alarm if we decide to change all of them I mean I I believe that we can start changeing one by one I don't know how long it's going to take us but he say that extremely costly and that's why our satellites are going the way they're going because even parts are hard to
find that's how updated outdate it's out out light system right now in the city okay I'm I'm in agreement with you guys I mean we need to implement something and this we can start with this that would be great yeah we can
start us somewhere any other questions um by members so my Rec my recommendation would be we send um a correspondence to uh the DPW to provide for uh this
committee uh information on the cost Associated for um crossing lights which I think they're already at and and timers which I don't think they have at the intersection of SX and Broadway so we would have one idea of what that
sounds like and then that's I would recommend the motion be and then at that point once you get that information back you can then multiply that however many times you want to multiply to figure out how much it would cost over how many intersections there are so that would be my recommended motion but you can make whatever you want a motion you want to
make what what I'm sorry what about the study the the study about it and send it also to the police because they maybe they do more information that can be provided to they could do give us recommendation as to what intersections
would benefit the most from having these you know if we can't do Citywide then we're just targeting uh those intersections based on their recommendations so so my recommendation for a motion would be to have that number one DPW for the cost and then number two second part of that
would be to send some into the police department and DPW again to provide for us a sense a study as to um indanan Department the the the the the main streets major streets to include streets that are Gateway streets uh greets uh
streets that have a high level of um high level of businesses on there and they could be they could same and and those streets with high traffic volume yes uh we them to the right Department because according according to what I know it's all the lights are by the fire
department the fire department good point so they should be the one all the all the assets when it comes to the satellites and whatever implemented in the satellite should be fire alarm agreed DPW and fire alarm I think was a way to go so so that would be the that would be the recommended
motion so now somebody needs to make either a motion that motion made by Council delar seconded by Vice chair Reyes discussion and just want Maria did you get all that I love the candy so the last part so the first part you got right the
second part is the an alarm is going to get a we want them to do a study on on the three elements which the on this intersection that have high traffic volume or Gateway streets and high level of a large number of
businesses are we good is that what you're looking for yes yes thank you motion has been made properly made and properly second any further discussion on the matter seeing none I'll call the RO I'll call the question all in favor say I I oppe no the eyes have it thank you counselor thank you thank you you're
welcome we're going to yes matters matters table stays here uh let's see here okay uh let's go back to the um top we have all of uh number there's no objection number 6625 is all of in
July sweet 16 anniversary feast and the camp Oh camping your common this is interesting this is interesting go ahead while I'm looking something good evening C we are
here he's my my cousin come on you can be here with me I'm introducing him to this city too so we are ol in July we're going to do my name isalia Feliz and we're going to
do what we know to do every year at the at the park um it's going to be for the 5th of July uh and I heard someone say that you
going to that you guys going to have a company working there can they do it after because it's the first week and I put my my request first so I I I talked with it's out of
my hands at this point it's all I can tell you do a proposal here so here's what I can tell you here's what I know there maybe news I don't think this is news to my colleagues but just to make sure we're all on the same page so uh they are working on the campaign own common most
specifically uh the Band Stand area that's the focus of their work and I was told thanks oddly enough starting it cannot be used after July 5th is what I was told cannot be used after July 5th that portion of the common other portions of the common can be used but
not the place where the the band The Bernstein Bandstand and the circle the concrete Circle so this is really where we do the events every year and you know what is my wording about it if it the
partk going to be in construction we have a lot of disabled kids and lowincome family that going to come to join us all around the the all around the stations uh I mean station The Band Stand The Band Stand
I'm with you I got you so uh una afraid like and I don't want to destroy the park we we with the green we going to we going to have and then to to be the kids going to be running and be destroying the park and that's
what we've been fighting all the time that we have to keep the ground green so I don't understand how that's going to happen then so I wish I had more answers for you and I just I don't have a lot of answers all I have are what i is what I just said which
is there the construction or whatever the work is going to be done I got a date that cannot be used after July 5th at the camp common and this is on July what July 5th it's July ju 5th so um it's Saturday I I I maybe you're right I
I'm I'm I I'm just letting you know what I'm told so so what I would recomend men is this um I is let's have a conversation one more time with and I I don't know again how far back they have contracts that are signed things that
are moving forward I don't know what changes they can make I just don't know that but I think what we can do is perhaps table it here for now um have a conversation with the recreation department who is kind of quarterbacking this and and see if is it
this is on the fifth I was told after the 5th so so maybe you're okay I don't know but if you would just give us all peace of mind and and we're I would ask we table it here and then have that conversation and then come back to us because you have some time it's July the 5th right so we're we're in we're in
March so we have a little bit of time so if you could find that out talk to Adalie director Gonzalez at the recreation and double check with him and we may use our back channels as well to help out so but if you could do that that'd be great so if you after five
okay for me logically uh a contract not going to start a work on Saturday that's it's not up to us I always but we we definitely can ask him uh what's going on with it is is what I I can as a
matter of fact the city going to be there with me I'm not going to be by by myself in the whole city that going to be here with me I did a partnership with L public a a public loading library for that event they they
so I don't know I I haven't talked to nobody uh after we plan it uh yet uh I just heard about this to date have you had I'm sorry have you had a chance to talk to the recreation department about that date no not at all maybe that's
part of the issue have that conversation maybe I'm missing something go to counselor no no no to you no no what I'm what I'm going to say is this after the fifth but we don't know if contractors are going to bring equipment and all the stuff at the park on that day so go go back to to adly and also after you talk
to ad also talk to DPW because sometimes they are the one that put the work on in and see what's going to be in the park if it's usable for the fifth it says after the fifth if there's no equipment or anything on that weekend you might be able to do it but but if they bring in
equipment I don't know from where whose company is going to work there you won't be able to do it but still have time we're going to table it here now we're going to do our back work too going make some questions you ask some questions and then we'll two weeks we'll we'll meet up here again and we'll find out what's going on and then when you do
talk with ad I had a very brief conversation before tonight's meeting and I I mentioned to him that we're you know he mentioned to me we're you know we they got something going on all this work that's going on it's going to go on I think until next year so it's going to take a
while but I also said let's find options too so find out what other options that are available I don't want to so there there are other things that that can be done and maybe there's something there that may be preferable I know you've always had it there many of the groups have always had it but we're going to need to have some adjustment periods we
try to make our comment even better for the long term right we're trying to make improvements so that when it is done it's going to be even better than it was before that's that's the whole goal yeah I was one know the one who propose always that they they have to face the stage there sure because
when when I do the the events every year I burn up over there the Suns kill us uh what we do what we did last year I set up myself this side next to the big tree
that is there and it work better for us in the meantime that they fix that I understand that but um I'm going to keep pushing to see if it we because I have so many other people already know that
we always had that event on the first week of July for the last 16 years so uh for me it's going to be an impact uh to do that Dam dramatically change I we say I
understand but I still we have time to talk please please do that and and I and I think councilors we're going to see a lot of this frankly because a lot of groups have been relying on the comment over many many years and then we're going to have to say well we can't and just for the short amount of is that what's coming up okay so this is the
story so I'm looking for a motion to table this matter and then come back into exer motion so motion made by Vice chair re seconded by Council Santiago all in favor say I pose no the eyes have it so thank you so much make those make the contacts and come back in
a couple weeks or maybe we'll have an answer so but come back in a couple weeks all right thank you so much okay nice to meet you right tell your name you didn't say it my name is Michael Michael what Michael Blanco Michael
Blanco I meet you Mr BL pleasure introducing him to this good luck all right super all right next doc you're welcome next document is 6725 groundworks Lawrence Farmers Market on the camping y common thank you for your patience sir
we appreciate that thank you for having me here and for listening to our request good evening conselor so yes like every year we're requesting you know authorization to run our farm markets on on two days the first one is on Wednesday that is that happens on the
companion North Common across the senior center okay and it will be running from June 11 till October 29th the second one will be let's let's do with that one we have two with them so let's start let's deal with that one
first um 6725 the G you guys have been doing this for years so but I have to ask I'm just going to look if you got permission or is it it clear from Recreation that there's no conflicts on that date as far as my understanding go
there's no no conflict at all or the hasn't been yeah it looks it I don't see I don't see any problems with that and you're not going to be in that Vance the Burnstein B correct no okay okay all
right the dates the dates the dates on on councelor uh Santiago check on the dates and the dates says and out package says from June to October 22nd yeah I think that we send a email
requesting a correction on that you know because it's going to be actually from June 11 till October 29th June 11th to October 29th yes the one's happening on Wednesdays see you're adding adding a week okay but
that so now philosophically we we don't have that and if there's any other organization I don't think there's a conflict on there can you double check for that last Wednesday on the 29th to make sure there's no conflict there I doubt there is but if we don't go through the proper motions I don't want
to be caught off guard so please contact Adie Gonzalez at the recreation department find out from him if the 29th is also free and get us something as well give us an email or something saying or something from ad somebody saying yes we've checked and we're good
can you do that for us yes absolutely okay motion to s full councel with a favorable recommendation second a motion been made and this is to amend it to October 29th motion has been properly made and properly second for any discussion see n I'll call the question
all in favor say I I oppose no the eyes have it next document is your other one which is U Market on oconnell yes on oconnell South oon across from promto pizza and then again just verifying the dates that's going to be running from
June 14 until October 25th all day long on those dates till what date again to 25th so you got moveing that one okay okay councilors looking for a motion motion to sener full counc with a favor recommendation motion made by Council Del Rosario second by counc
Santiago discussion see down I'll call the question all in favor say I I oppose no the eyes have it all right that's it we're good thank you now now we're not so great because it is one more step so come before the full Council next Tuesday uh we'll have
a final vote on this I would recommend that you be here for that just in case there's a question plus you're going to want I need to get something from you so we we'll need to get something from you on that previous document for October 29th so okay may question on that too all right next Tuesday all right sounds
good thank you thank you you're welcome are you here for anything yeah okay come on up your name and um what item you're here for hi um my name is Alena I'm on behalf of um Revival Center burning bush
we're going to have an activity in the park and then we have to switch the dates a little bit we did it last year okay um it's for theel Rosario I told I was I got you 6925
oh okay uh let's see here okay and you got this from okay you can explain if you need it's AG so so um so you're looking for yeah I will an explanation so you're looking for activity campon from 2 to 10
from June 21st all the way to August 22nd that's an awful lot go ahead C delario oh um thank you to you well the according to the cleric they already spoke um June dates are fine uh even with the recreation department again they were going into August August we be
having um construction at the at uh company un common and I guess they are into an agreement to use the South Comm U O'Neal Park and according to the clerk it's appears to be available uh she's going
to she she checked the calendar but uh ad hasn't reply back and the people from this event are in agreement to uh move the event over that side if it's if it's approved uh I have a question because I'm a little confused it's only three days that's it because they told me when
I called um the recreation department they told me that I could put like just to do one um do it once in the website like just to do one request so we only need the 21st that day that that that day is going to be in the common and then and
then the other two in the other Park we only need three days that's correct June 21st right June 21st it's fine at the common and then they have August 22nd and August 23rd at the South uh southcon O'Neal Park South or O'Neal parkon okono
Park keep throwing me off yeah the place because they do have like a band stand there as well we never done it there but since the park is not going to be available just going to switch it yeah I I don't know why it keep saying oal but yeah s s come Park and the day the day appears to be
available again she the clerk giv us that before prior to the meeting she said she already contact just waiting for the reply but she's able to see the schedule Sunday I don't I think that's great and she said it was available if this is approved so my recommendation is that we do it as as
as follows looking for a motion that we that we approve the campaign y common for June 21st and oconnell park on August 22nd and 23rd um contingent upon on getting um the confirmation um from the MR Gonzalez from Recreation to make
sure that those the locations are fine that there's no other conflicts on this day we don't believe there is we probably it's probably looking good I just want to confirm that officially so that's going so can you get that for us can have you talked to AR Gonzalez Mr Gonzalez from Recreation Department um
well they sent him an email he was see seeing the email but he hasn't replied because that was done today um so I will we did it last year so we just had to get like permission from everybody so I will be on top of that we just wanted to make sure that you guys were aware of
that yeah okay that so motion is under full C with a favorable recommendation pending pending uh the uh availability from the recreation department and the motion deals with ell park that's different than what's in this uh the
original document so right okay gotcha motion has been properly made by Council Del rar who second that Council Vice chair Reyes any further discussion see none I'll call the question all in favor say I I H know the eyes have it thank you so I have to come back here after
they say yes so we're we're we're so uh we're just we're the we we're the group that makes the recommendations to the full Council and they meet we all meet together next Tuesday so you should come next Tuesday which is where if you get the yes vote that you expect to get that's when it becomes official okay
perfect thank you so much you're welcome have a good night you're welcome good night um that's passed that's tabled okay is there anybody else here no okay that was a document 69 that's uh sent up
right favorable um with conditions right and the groundworks Lawrence both were okay right except the first one we had a um an extension so condition favorable with condition and that was favorable thank you I'm just writing notes so that whole Council there's no
confusion all right um I think everything else I can remember let's start off uh from the very uh from 7225 Hillside a uh one side parking only put on by my two colleagues on my right
um looking for a motion motion to send the police department for the review and and I would like if first possible Maria to said that this matter is actually urgent we have an issue with the trash pickup
on that area um me and celor uh reges had a conversation also they had issues bringing the truck up and they had to go um the recycling department had to go and knock on doors to help push the
trash out so the so the trash uh company could pick that up uh if we can some somehow put a little start on it when we uh we send it to police station I I would definitely use the phone and give them a call after this is on to see if
we can somehow it it moveed faster but we definitely needed the trash company is having issues going through there so we need that to to move a little faster than than any other thing so so a motion to Cent the police department with those little with that little caviar on top
motion made by coun Del Rosario second by Vice chair R any further discussion on this matter see I call the question this is just the police department all in favor say I iOS no the eyes have it are we're going to amend our motion to include a DPW yes the motion is
amended is there any objections to that Amendment seeing no objection that's part of the amendment uh to the police department um to DPW Excuse me yes Council sent okay yes we are I have the it 2524 it is not here and it is in the full console already I check
the last time and we sent H for the police department and and DPW and we Sol because they said we sent to them and to give the the 30
days and the 30 day have pass and it's not the 15 minute parking that I request is not there and what happened to be public hearing on that yeah so we public hearing has the public hearing occurred yes it's already public hearing has occurred and we passed it yes so I um my
recommendation counselor like any counselor I would recommend this to is when you have something as specific as that I would go to the city clerk and ask that very question which is what you just said to me we had this the ordinance and and if we passed it it shouldn't be on the agenda anymore
because we passed it so now the question is to DPW so the question is to DPW we pass this when can we expect the sign to be placed so that's a that's a DPW question it's not does that me make sense so that's what I would recommend doing I sent email to
the few days ago yeah but I I didn't see the email I don't know if should sent me the answer but I didn't see it but I think that it's a d i listening to what we're talking about now he pass the clerk I mean as long as DPW is aware so there isn't there is a connection did
the clerk send this to DPW to inform them that this thing has passed it came to the mayor's office did the mayor sign it probably did and then once he signs it it goes to the clerk should send that to DPW so that would be my question to the clerk or I would go right to DPW did
you get this and if you did when can we expect it if you didn't get it I need to get the clerk to get that document over to you so you know that it passed DPW this sounds like a good idea okay to you sh sure so I have S item in similar
situation thank you for clarification sure because I had the item uh 469 D2 23 was granted on May 18 is not in here was request with my colleag Rosario
uh but it's not putting in place okay same I would the same thing same thing okay all right um we moving on so we're moving on to the agenda okay so the next item is 7325 this is one one of my items make we don't do
this this is um an acted toer illegal parking during snow emergencies um once the weather gets warm counselors we seem to forget that all the problems we had in winter time it happens every year trust me uh this happens every year we're hot hot hot on
on snow issu snow issue and then the weather gets warm we other things happen and we don't think about it and then it happens again the following year so I have this on the agenda and this is very simple after listening to um and having a opportunity to have a a dialogue and driving with the DPW during the most
recent uh this past winter um there's a lot of problems that they're dealing with the one problem that I thought it' be quick a quicker solution to the problem this is not going to solve everything was when they said to me that the fines were
$25 for illegal parking and that it was the cost of doing business people were willing to go ahead roll the dice and spend 25 bucks and then they would go back and park there anyway and the whole idea behind the fine is to change behaviors and to deter and if you're
just charging 25 bucks and it's not a deterrent and this thing hasn't changed since 200 I think 11 it's the last time we had a change on this I think I have it on my I think I had in my um resolution
2010 um so my my request of the committee uh is to um my proposal is to go forward and to increase the parking from $25 to $50 and frankly I don't even think that's enough
but but I think and we can't go over 300 by Statute but um that's the request that I have I'm willing to listen uh to what you have to say about that that's that's the idea through you chat yeah and I'm in agreement and believe it or not this afternoon uh I had a
conversation with Council M who is also trying to put something together because she didn't see anything um she wanted to bring It Forward uh to uh the ordinance committee so I'm in agreement I I think people it's $25 to
go out and move it um unfortunately as bad as it sounds we need to bring awareness to the people and how you bring awareness to the people is hitting them on the pockets unfortunately so I think it should be an
increasement I I believe that 50 it's fair should be a little high but at the end of the day it's up to you but you you you you come with my support you sh I think it's very important because I had the same conversation with uh police department
and also with uh Davy uh because when I passing by with different street I saw the the the ticket but it's not moving the car so thank you for for doing that I really appreciate it all right so um
this would have this would require a public hearing because it's an ordinance change um and we it needs to go before the um the City attorney as well for crafting of the language so um if if you're looking for a motion to move this up I would recommend that we send to
full council with a favorable recommendation and also send to the City attorney for crafting of the language if if that's what this committee wants question that I have in case of the CIT tow so that fee would still be $50 that correct that ticket that they get after the car is so
because it's being it's 25 so that will that will that change that or will stay I I no this is simply this proposal is simply for um during the snow emergency time period when the blue lights are on um if you're party
legal whether or not there is a snow going on as long as the blue lights are on that is when you have to move your if you if you don't move your vehicle properly you'll get $25 it has has nothing to necessarily to do with to Towing but when they when they told there's a
city $25 for being parking on the wrong side so that's Boliver not that's the only thing the city gets when a vehicle get to it's just the $25 for the ticket so the city do not get any profit out of the toe and I don't know what I mean the amount is they said it the
other day what was the amount and $25 ticket for the city so that if we change that I'm assuming that also is going to change automatically I I don't know that for sure um fine to me I would recommend a couple things if if you like this I would recommend setting this up if this
does not capture it I would recommend putting something on the agenda to lift the 25 to 50 on the or whatever you want on the towing side if if it doesn't capture it and I don't have an answer I just don't know what's I'm I'm open I'm open I'm
open I motion sen full Cons with a favorable recommendation to the City attorney to draft the language City attorney to draft the language motion made by councelor Del Rosario second by Vice chair Reyes discussion see no discussion I'll call the question all in favor say I I oppe
no the eyes have it um the next document uh I'm not going to go into a lot of detail this is a a resolution addressing the non-compliant housing within the City of Lawrence you'll see my um my um my resolution that's inside your packet I I
um director Pat Ruiz was supposed to be here this evening but he contacted me earlier saying uh he was unable to show up and asked if we could push this off for the next city uh ordinance committee which is fine so he's not here I I just want to set the table on this so when we
do talk just very brief this item is essentially to deal uh as you know deal with the non-compliant housing in our city and what are we doing with respect to that and um a lot of the detail some of the details in here we do have
something called a rental inspection ordinance uh and he can talk more about that but it doesn't have the gravitas that it was intended to have back in 2016 so we're not necessarily doing what the ordinance requires and so they have some ideas to that I think we should
listen to that may provide more teeth to make sure that the housing units are in the city are um that we're keeping track of them and that uh that they're safe and at the proper number of people Etc and units that are in them so um that's that's all I want to say on it tonight
because we'll have a more robust discussion when he returns so if if um unless somebody has a real quick question I'd like to make a motion that we table this matter to the next meeting to item 24 7425 second motion made by councelor Santiago seconded by Council
Vice chair Reyes all in favor say I I oppose no e Have It All Right Moving On um we got most of this done we do have I think the next one here is 8025 which is handicap parking at basswitch Street uh looking for a motion to send
that to the police department question um is there okay no motion but a question go ahead go ahead go ahead motion to send of the police department for the review second motion made by Council Del Rosario second by Vice chair Reyes discussion discussion
Council Del Rosario I see a parentheses word it says adjacent to 23 Alder Street that means that they requesting the handicap Ambassador street but they wanted to put it on Aldo Street and if that's the case I believe
there is uh no parking on that side I might be wrong but send send her letter sent her letter in the packet you want me to read it it's in it's in the letter it's in the packet I would like to request a handicap
parking on the side of 23 Alder Street on Basswood street so I think she's asking for Alder Street where the actual sign would be placed it's much easier for us due to our door entrance being on that side and she goes on to talk about her son who has
autism U so that's that's the request that's on baset street and what I don't know what the parking is on that street what did you say it was I think I think I think I well I think that's the okay so um I'm looking for a motion to send oh you already made a motion already so any further discussion on
this matter see none all in favor say I I oppose no the eyes have it all right should we call um have Bill come on in all right this is this document is document number 8125 the Council on
Aging ordinance compliant as long as you yes just bring the microphone over or take them okay perfect thank you who's going to be recording this Mr Collins so why why is he focused on my
face not your face there we go there we go all right Mr you have the floor go right ahead sir okay Mr chairman members of the ordinance committee bill
cour I come before you U with this document item dealing with the Council on violation so basically I sent an email today a little bit came
in St thank you came in for the State Control R's office today um apparently the uh positions there was a board of nine members on the Council of agent so if you look at the ordinance the board has nine members and
I believe they're supposed to meet monthly they haven't met in nine years and there are no records and no uh documents no minutes for nine years how that could possibly happen if beond before the gas company explosions and before
Co it's it's kind of sad that a citizen has to come forward and expose this malale feance of government but it is malale feent and some of the documents I got today from the controller's office at the state were all the funding
earmark specifically from the Elder service department of the state to the Council on Aging so this board if you read the ordinance in front of you um nine members are part of a
three-way look at how the money is spent for elders in the City of Lawrence there is EST established 2.12.1 0 established a council for the agent consisting of nine members to be appointed by the mayor subject to the provisions of the charter so the city's
in violation not only of the charter but Mass General law believe section 51 of 49 where they have to have a council on agent so it begs the question first of all it says the members shall be residents of the city so far as possible should be made
up of persons who are representative of those served by the programs of the council so the council does administer programs which haven't been administered for 9 years yet been receiving funding and I got a list today from the controller's office of just grant
funding only the grants over a million dollars in the past nine years if you add it up there's usually two dispersements annually there's one more coming in a month or so so it begs the question where is the money going what is it being spent on it's certainly not
being directed by the Council on agent and it goes through if you look at the ordinance it tells you how they're appointed and U they pick their own chairperson it should be the duties of the council to establish policies which Will Carry Out programs designed to meet
problems of Aging in coordination with programs for the Council on Aging established under chapter 19a of the general laws there's that Mass General Law chapter I was talking about so we're in violation of the city Charter we're in violation of Mass General
law I don't even know why you people pay $100,000 a year to get a management audit of the city I think it's powers and Billy or powers and Sullivan that do the audits How could a professional audit company miss something like this for the
past nine years and where is the money being spent did they just rubber stamp their report to you every year I know you can't look down every dark alley in government so I think you count on that report to find out where we need to improve in government what are we paying
for what are we paying for this company to give a management audit for they didn't tell you there's been no meetings of a key component city government for the last N9 years so basically what we have here is a
failure I don't want to say failure to communicate like that great movie line but it's a failure of the government to provide for the elderly so the questions are like I said where is the money
going why haven't we had these meetings in nine years the goal here the end game is to get this board filled ASAP almost immediately as fast as you can because they haven't had a voice in nine years
and I think it's it's interesting to point out that the same individual who's the executive director of the Council on agent is the same individual who has short changed Veterans for the past few years it not allowed veterans to have two veteran positions filled in the
Veterans office we went five months without a veterans director if you remember so this ineptitude can't be tolerated seniors as you know are near the end of their wonderful lives I've recently become a senior I take an interest in
this where are the programs that every other town and city has they have buses if you go to havil mole to the east and west of us they have a bus they have programs they have cultural enrichment Museum trips restaurant visits where is
it and they print the newsletter they don't just put it online which many people don't get the other fact that we have working against us in this city is the fact that we've lost in a little more than 9 years now our media we were connected at one time in this city
especially the anglos were connected through the radio station wccm there would call-in shows every day there was a Vibrant Community of talk shows where information was exchanged we don't have that anymore haven't had it for quite some time so without the
electronic media locally and basically without a daily paper we don't have a daily paper anymore let's face it paper is only 5 days a week and they seem to print stories weeks after they occur most of us know when the events that are in the paper happen and it's it's as
stale as Betsy Ross bread the oldtimers would know what that means it's an old Baking Company used to be down by the canal so really the angos especially have lost their voice they've lost their media contacts there's no Outreach whatsoever
to them we have to establish a connection with the elderly and I think especially the anglos because the slant if you look at the ordinance has been on bilingual which is wonderful we have thriving bilingual media Community as
you all know there's radio shows there are plenty of Publications but the anglos have next to nothing so it's incumbent on the council and agent to meet regularly and provide a newsletter provide some kind of communication to the seniors of law
because we're losing them every week you think of it that way their last year should be their best years their Golden Years their full years like I said with the enrichment they can get from a vibrant Senior Center so I would ask you
please as a citizen and once again it's sad that a citizen has to tell the government where they failed you would think somehow the government would know it or its management audits would tell you they haven't so I think it's incumbent on you
counselors to get this thing up and running to get the Council on Aging meeting so that there'll be a public forum for seniors to attend and we start getting the money back to the seniors where it's been stolen from for the last nine years that's well stolen is a
pretty strong word I I I I'd be very cautious in using that word without having some sort of um when you say stolen that's that's a crime it's criminal and we just maybe Mal you can say that word but but it' be hard for me as a chair to
allow that we Without You providing some basis of where money has been stolen so but the auditor will decide that and believe me I've contacted the auditor Secretary of State the Attorney General do and the controller's office the information slowly starting to trickle
in okay so I just want to be clear you provided information um that you provided to us um the ordinances that deal with it uh the references to our Charter uh you've given us some testimony regarding uh the
amount of money over the last nine years that the city has received from Grants from from Grants um and so I mean you talking about a lot of others stuff but I can let's focus on what we can do we can't deal with radio stations that's not within our purview we don't have
that purview but we do have purview of the of the Council in aging so I I what you're saying but I just want to impart the fact that there was less means to communicate to was 10 years ago understood so the request here I think
as I'm trying to boil it down you're trying you want to know where where where you want to know where the money is going but I'm trying to be more specific I mean you you're looking for the money this this past F this current fiscal year and the last fiscal year I mean what do you what do you you well I
if I would prioritize Mr chairman please please do that first thing would be to get this council meeting yesterday get a board filled get nine people on the board get them meeting right away okay and uh that way seniors will finally have a forum and a
voice okay to communicate I would probably put that right at the top so right now just so we're clear there is no Council on Aging there is no group of nine or whatever the is nine people nine people there is five of which have to be seniors gotcha
so um I just based on your testimony I have not looked this up so uh so reconstituting the the Council on Aging is the is your primary request is that is that what you're asking us to do this evening to find out what's going on and see if we can move on that but having uncovered all this grant money coming in
and in the future we're going to find out how much was sent to that department that Council on Aging and you know I think we all realize this staff has probably doubled in the last nine years there huge staff over there so just an
auditing of their uh Personnel of the way they spend money and who is directing the spending because it's clear the council is supposed to have a voice Council and agent saying how the money spent okay so councilors what I'm
looking for I think one more let me look up one more thing um it says here ordinance compliance and what that means very specifically is we have a board and it's not filled and you're asking us to use
whatever Authority we have to um fill that of course we can't nominate people that's a function of the mayor through our Charter we can't we but we can certainly um impart on the administration that that this seems to
be something missing or or get a reaction maybe there's something we're not seeing you know so probably only less so I'm looking for I this this is the motion my my recommended motion my recommended motion would be to send
correspondents to to the mayor's office and to the Council on Aging uh requesting an update on the uh on their um um filling of the board positions and providing for the council if the board
is filled the list of names of individuals who are currently serving on on the on the it called committee for the council for the for the Aging and let's let's start off with that if they come back and they give us nine names of people that are on the board that's one thing
and then the question is when are they meeting um if they come back and say yeah we don't have anybody well that's a different story as well but we just don't know right so that's my recommendation that we ask the mayor does that does that make sense so that's that's that's my recommended motion but you may have another one so go I suggest
also Mr chairman members of the board you include also the uh State uh director of Department of Health and Human Services since they directly supposed to be communicating it's mentioned in the ordinance that office the executive office of Elder Affairs I
believe it's called at the state house or they should be in the loop too to know that this hasn't been done well we don't know that we believe that hasn't been done but let's let's find my the first step is to make sure that this the allegation here is that there is not let's let's let's let's lay the
groundwork so the first thing is do they have a Council on Aging is it fully functional and if the answer is no then the question for us is what are we doing about it if we get an unsatisfactory response we know that there is an outlet
to that agency you mentioned to follow up on before we start dropping nuclear bombs let's see if we can fix it ourselves and figure out what's going on maybe it's something happening but it reinvigorated if it's not happening then we ratchet things up that's traditionally how I approach these things I don't go right to start firing
you know we got to you got to build it and maybe it's a simple hey we're interested in this counsil on Aging you don't have people we we would like to we need to see some names down there and get that board functioning as required by the charter and if the administration follows through on that we don't need
anything else they're following through but if they don't follow through on it and all the stuff that we're saying here is not happening then we have an outlet but I want to do first steps first so that that'd be my recommendation counselor is up to you how you want to proceed looking for either a motion of
that or something else so move without motion second motion made to send correspondents to the mayor looking for the names of the members of the Council of un aging and if not what is the update on filling that those positions has been made by Council Del Rosario
second vice vice chair reyes's discussion I also uh I would also include on there let's see if we can get a response sooner rather than later I don't want this to drift months away right uh let's ask the the administration for a response within a
month within within 30 days that gives them some time thank you time but we're not going to have it Meander so is that part of the motion so that's part of the motion all in favor say I I oppose no the eyes have it thank you councilors I
appreciate it's a good first step one last thing sure I didn't say it on the mic because it wasn't on at first but I wish to uh say that all statements are Mak in regards to this ordinance and this document number I said under the Mass General Law chapter 149 section 185
known as the whistleblower law on advice of councel I've been told that I can invoke that and a letter will be coming shortly from the city attorney okay duly noted that it's part of the record now that you mentioned it and whatever protections that afford you will be
granted to you thank you lieutenant Razzo well that's all I can tell you man Lieutenant Razo I'm not sure what that means really is that a compliment is that right okay um is there any oh we got a couple of
items new items here 40 what is this oh 4625 this could be uh this could be just tabled I've got something from Mr McCarthy but he couldn't make it this evening so we don't need to bring it up that's not on our agenda for this evening so we we'll just leave that here
574 24 that's last year so there's nothing else I don't see anything else council is there everything else that we need to take up tonight yes I make a motion to on table item 16-23 166 D what uh 16623
motion made second motion made by councelor um Vice chair R seconded by councelor Santiago discussion all in favor say I I oppos no the I have what page is it on I'm sorry page six page six
okay yes coun Vice chair you have the floor to you share I want to request Ang dat uh to D W uh and also city engineer because I believe was granted this item and I don't have any data about it it
continueing the agenda so you want to send a correspondence for an update on this document because they have not sent us anything since June of last year so there's a motion to send correspondents back referencing let's do
this referencing the three other times or two other times yes 712 23 and 6324 that correspondence has been issued and we're looking for a response motion been made by Council Vice chair Rees is there second second second by Council Del Rosario discussion see none I'll
call the question all in favor say I iose no the eyes have it uh anything else counselor let me just I'm just looking up the um the police department have an email uh we all received this email from
Sergeant Pang takas um there's no ordinances tonight for of this meeting they're getting close to finishing everything that's that's backlog and they've invited us to reach out to either Sergeant PS or detective hery if there are any other ordinances that we want to expedite so they gave us that
opportunity okay anything else look looking for a motion motion second motion made by counc delar second by Vice chair re discussion see n I'll call the question all in favor say I I oppe no the I guys have it