12.17.2024 Fall River City Council

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going is no you're good haut like nice looking haircut you guys public he of the city council city council please come to order CL will call the rooll council kadim here Dion here har here kby hereas herey hereo here Samson here president here pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit this meeting to any medium

attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether they perceived or unperceived by those present and not deemed acknowledged and permissible public a motion public hearing as made and seconded all in favor I any opposed public hearing is now open item number one New England power company to construct maintain repair operate and use transmission

lines as follows on copicut road um owners of a butter property is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts map lot W 42-20 and W 4- 44-01 are there any should I take one and two together no have one I can okay they're the same on quinag road Commonwealth of Massachusetts city of for river is the are the owners and abundant property property W map lot W 40-42 0020 and w4410 the center of the property line of

the proposed Transmissions across the line said public way will be located not over 50 ft from the approximate location of the center line of each of the proposed Transmissions transmission lines shown on the plans attached here to entitled plan to accompany petition for Street crossing on quinag Road Fall River Mass and plan to company petition on Street crossing on copicut road for Mass which plans are

Incorporated herein by reference the power wires to be strong not less than 23 feet from the ground above the said public way and not over 10 wires per line to be strun from each structure across the said public way are there any proponents to this public hearing any proponents at all I see we have two that are already at the table please tell us why you're a proponent please names and

give your name and which who you represent and where you're from please please speak into the microphone pull the microphone towards you get it real close speak right into it it's a lot easier oh try got it now you have it how's this no use the mic he just gave you there's plenty of mics on the table some of them have to be work how's this good okay excellent all right

thank you Mr President uh just for the record my name is Joshua Lee Smith I'm an attorney with the law firm of bage and Dewey um here this evening representing New England power company connection with this petition uh to my right is Jamie Durand he's a an engineer with power engineer um who is uh going to be here to uh help answer any questions that uh the council may have

uh I'm going to give a really brief overview of what this petition is all about out so New England power company as some of you may already know is uh proposing to erect and construct and install uh a new 115 KV uh transmission line through various throughout various parts of the city uh this um line is going to be known as uh the 114 line and again it's a a 115 kV line uh the very

specific uh ask that we are U why we are here before the council evening is with respect to uh what are called grants of location or also referred to as franchise rights these are Street Crossings with respect to these proposed uh transmission lines and as the president had mentioned he had there are certain parameters with respect to and restrictions with respect to the height uh where the line can be located as it

crosses the street uh as well as the number of wires so this is uh all through the statute uh Massachusetts statute uh NGL one uh chapter 166 section 22 uh pretty standard request um with respect to the 114 line uh there are two Street Crossings as the president had mentioned uh Co over copicut Road as well as uh quanap Road I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly um the uh notices were sent to

abutters uh as required by Statute uh the abutters that at at the point of the crossing uh where the wires cross the uh these two streets in this case and I will point out that the that the only abuts uh in this area at the Crossing is in fact the city of Fall River um I'll I will point out that the that New England power company has this is a a very in

terms of the time frame has is a very long time frame with respect to these types of projects as as you can imagine um this is an essential Service uh the the company has met with a number of City officials uh throughout the course of its of this pering per period uh it's also gone through uh a um uh citing board uh uh process uh that decision is is pending uh and so this this project

my point being that this project is uh has been quite vetted uh from various uh both local as well as state state officials uh so with that we're happy to answer any questions that uh the council may have thank you counc C5 counc West pero the only question that I have is it says that the Y to be strung not less than 23 ft from the ground above those public ways why are we not doing these

underground because I know that underground wiring is something that many communities are doing it helps when heavy winds storms Etc why are we not doing it is it a cost factor for your company I could certainly say and and Jamie please uh please add on the uh part of this is um as you see from the plans that were submitted uh there is an existing overhead line as well uh that's

that runs parallel uh to this proposed line uh known as a D21 line so there is existing infrastructure there that's Crossing these streets now um cost is always a factor for uh most large scale infrastructure projects uh J do you have say is um you gon be okay I can okay um as he indicated we do file with the energy facility setting board and that does require us to provide an

Alternatives analysis and we did look at uh Going Underground um cost is always um a consideration know underground versus overhead is usually at least 10 times more expensive Going Underground uh one of the issues we have in this location is a good majority of our transmission line uh although it's been there for decades is within the the bio reserve and so we're trying to you know minimize our impacts you can

imagine imagine having to excavate you know 5 miles to put an underground line versus you know putting individual uh transmission line structures up so that that was a big reason we also looked at you know you know that obviously you know that part of Fall River in by the bio Reserve um all there a network of Roads some of them are improved some of them are unimproved and so we did like

at putting potential underground lines um in those roadways and considering like the impacts so we currently don't have any easement so we'd have to obtain easement either from the city or from the buyer Reserve or from Individual land owners we'd have to widen uh even for underground line we need to widen so that we have room for construction so we looked at those types of you know

impacts to the social environment and a natural environment and as we went through the efsb and also through the meepa process um you know they basically agreed that an overhead line would was the most feasible versus an underground line if it was residential you'd have to go under ground um if we were going through you know a residential well for instance this line continues into um Dartmouth

New Bedford and kushit that's where ever Source takes the project and there are residential areas that we go through but the line is still um proposed overhead because it is located within existing transmission line right away so it's not like we're purchasing new property but there are instances yes where there has a heavy red incidential areas or you're probably filling the projects in Boston

Cambridge a lot of those lines go underground because there is no overhead Corridor available you you C no I I don't I understand all that you're saying and basically it comes down to cost because no I would not say cost I mean it it has to be a reliable project which I think both underground and overhead be reliable uh cost is one of the considerations by the efsb um impacts to the social

environment and natural environment uh also time frame I mean constructing an underground line would take a significant more more time and also in regards to costs I mean this project whether it's overhead or underground it does go back to the taxpayers so if we're proposing a project that's you know at least 10 times more expensive and there's a feasible alternative we may be called on that by the efsb and

the dpu the public Department of Public Utilities well I get calls from constituents about bills and the uh public utilities which is not an elected board they're all appointed people um you know I've had concerns with that as well I think personally yes underground would probably take you longer and it's going to be you know a cost but then when we have a storm and you're not going to have to send people

out because lines are broken or what have you so in the end I would prefer it to be underground it's underground in Boston because it's Boston you know they certainly have a lot more clout than we do in Fall River other communities uh higher wage earning communities get to get a little bit more um because people are concerned with with them um and I'm just stating what I feel I mean I just think it

should be Underground personal opinion but I thank you for your explanation with that I yield Mr President thank you counc coun Cate counc Simpson good evening I was actually up that way um Sunday with my husband on all those Trails up there those roads are pretty bad especially in the areas that you want to put this so I have a few questions about that um what way are your trucks even going

to be coming in and what area on copicut road are you coming in through those areas through Fall River are you going to be entering through the New Bedford Dartmouth area U we're going to be using various ways onto uh the right of way um one of the access means we be in Fall River off of B Rock Road um where the b rock substation is y we have access there so

that'll be part of our access um at the end of copicut Road where're it intersects um quanap poag Road yep over the reservoir that would be an access point for uh getting equipment onto the rway uh we'll also be coming coming off of um Quan poag Road in uh and I believe it's Dartmouth at that point um we've also made an agreement uh with Al gonan gas pipeline company they have a a RightWay that intersects the

transmission the electric transmission line right away we'll be using that access so the big part of the mobilization is you know using those public roads to get onto the RightWay to get our equipment onto the RightWay once construction starts the majority of the the equipment will be basically up and down excuse me up and down the right of way the right of way through so I guess right where Bell Rock Road is right

where you guys the road is not so bad there although there are some pretty big ditches right over there once you get past where you're talking about it gets pretty so who's responsible for that is a city going to be responsible to fix those roads if you have big heavy machinery or big trucks down there because I was just on those roads in a Jeep and I just can't imagine big trucks

so who's going to be responsible for the further damage or the officer you so our so England power proposal is to uh make improvements uh to those roads you know we need to do some surface grading add Stone you know if we have to do some type of stone Water Management you know not covert not not putting in you know full drainage system but putting swes in um we'd be responsible for any plowing

or anything that would be required during construction and then after construction the city would uh inspect those roadways you know one of the one of the discussions we've had just I guess for your information is you know some some members from that we've met with that the T the city or city boards um express the same concern that they to see the roads improved but others and even some of the butters wanted the

roads to Once construction's done let them go in you know kind of bad condition because they're concerned that if they made in good condition that'll invite more people that dump or yeah have illegal activities but are we're responsible initially yes okay so that's good to know have you been up at that area it's the most beautiful part of the city I would say in some parts of the state it's probably some of

the most beautiful areas so my question goes um you said the timeline it's a long project for the residents of Fall River because that's what I care about that live up there how long are they going to be dealing with this and and what is the time frame long 6 months year two years what are we looking at um that construction out there depending when we get all of our final permits uh we're looking at

approximately um you know a year about a year of construction um and again it's not a continuous construction as if you were building a building you know it comes in different phases so we go in and we have to do know vegetation removal and then we have to improve the access roads and then they'll go in and they'll uh you know do the drilling for the for the holes they'll install the

foundations and then bring the poles in install the poles and then another crew will come in and you'll see the the lines going up so it happens in phases over the course of the the other thing is because it is the buyer Reserve um there are certain um rare species in that area so we are having to deal with certain um time of restrictions in regards to when we can do certain

activities so that those special Turtles out there yeah so that's that's sometimes what you know may prolong or Pro certain construction activities I'll also just add to that it because of the nature of this this is not like erecting a a building at a single site location this is a long transmission line so uh not all of the work is going to be occurring at all parts of the transmission line throughout the one

year of of construction it'll be in certain locations uh throughout the uh transmission line and my last question is um this is also to improve the infrastructure of the Fall River residents up in that area and surrounding areas or is it just for the people in surrounding areas you're talking about the improvements we want to make to the transmission lines yeah um it's it's part of what we're calling the uh

Southeast Massachusetts Rhode Island SEMA Rhode Island um region so it's not only Fall River it's Southeast Massachusetts and in portions of Rhode Island and again this is a a transmission line so it's getting bult power into the subst local substation areas that's not a distribution line like in you we're not putting new polls on streets that feed to your house okay with that I yield council president

thank you thank you councelor Council c one Council K thank you Mr President um so I guess just some general questions so my my initial concerns and you were you kind of discussed a lot of it but was more environmental concerns and um things of that nature so in terms of the permitting from the various departments so uh planning conservation uh when do you expect to see those approvals coming

in and is there are there any major changes in terms of designs that have been submitted because the way I just looking at this plan it's it's I think it's 50 feet from the center approximately from the center of the line so that could vary depending on I guess where the the project is going right I guess to answer your question regarding I guess maybe like Fall River permits um correct me if I'm wrong um I

believe we've gotten our notice our order of conditions from the Fall River uh Conservation Commission okay for for this project um if you're interested in the other permits we are working with the natural heritage program to obtain our conservation management permit because of the rare species issues uh we have gotten um our certificate our certificate from meepa um currently the core is reviewing our application as

well as uh the DP is reviewing our 401 Water Quality s and reviewing our uh chapter 91 but the chapter 91 application is for work in um in a christnet um currently I guess in regards to design changes and we're moving forward with final engineering but I right now I can't report of any major design changes changes that would impact the location that's correct no the location's not going to change

general you know obviously too there's uh you know there's cultural resources in that area so we've had to you know move structures to avoid wetland and move culture resource areas so there's been a lot of upfront you know sighting and planning and spotting of all these uh structures and then um I guess Madam Clerk or Mr President through you I'm assuming the department heads have the

uh city engineer has reviewed the locations of where they're going to be and there's no no particular issues with that I know okay um so just in terms of the project and I know you talked a little bit about this so there's currently an existing structure that is that going to be removed or is that going to stay up and then you're putting the new structure on the side of

it uh the existing structure is is going to remain that's a different circuit that's a different transmission line okay so this separate right not repl an additional line it's not a replacement no the the next item is a sort of a replacement we'll get into that in a moment but this one is going to be in addition to the line that's currently there and then is there a lot of and

again I know it's a little bit outside scope of the public hearing I'm just wondering whether or not is there a lot of clearing of uh trees and vegetation or um that has been one of the uh items has been brought up I mean there there's an obviously a cleared right away now with the existing um line is but yes in Fall River uh we'll be clearing approximately about 60 feet in width of

trees through through uh the city correct and so that's one of the you know um questions the D has it's one of the questions natural heritage so it's still within our ex our existing right of way we're not obtaining new rights or obtaining new land but we are clearing where it's currently not cleared now do they does the state force you to do any replication of trees as you do these

projects um for clearing of vegetation or is there no requirement we haveen for this project we have not been required to replace these trees I mean we do have requirements for Habitat mitigation Wetland replication that type of replanting but um we have not been asked you know obviously we can't replant the trees you know under the under the transmission lines right so right okay all right a

thank you thank you Council C for Council Kilby did you have your hand up good questions tonight by my counselors fellow counselors um so what benefits is the city of full over receiving um in terms of taxes uh payment and L Lube of taxes Cil was brought up a great point about the roads up there um so I mean it's a necessary need for communities throughout southeast of Massachusetts

and it's it is full Riv land so um can you anyone comment on the benefit we're receiving financially or through um it you know the roads up there are terrible and so if you can answer that question that's the only one I have uh with with respect to taxes um I I believe that the the polls are are taxable the improvements that's right okay yeah I don't have numbers in

regards to taxes I mean they they are uh assets that we would have to pay taxes on I don't I don't know what that number is the land certainly is is taxable um and the polls themselves I believe are charged or they are assessed with respect to personal property taxes similar to the substations that are throughout the city solar solar panels things of that nature yeah the substations the electric substations uh

mentioned b rock U those substations are subject to real real property taxes including uh personal property as well okay and when's the last time this was all done some someone mentioned it before when's the last time this infrastructure of this magnitude was done uh up up there for this purpose do you know on the D21 line um well I think I think about 10 years ago that D21 Line's been there for a while but I

think 10 about 10 years ago there was improvements made to the D21 where I think they replaced a lot of the wood pole structures with um with with steel pole structures on the existing line and again regarding excuse me the roadways um we we've talked to the city you know multiple times over the years and I agree it was the same thing about you know do they want the roads improved because that's going to bring more

people in to the bio Reserve which is great but it might bring stop I've with the opinion that uh not in my backyard type of mentality is not good for the entire city so Improvement needs to be needed so we are we are improving them to the extent that one I'm not going to listen to a couple of neighbors who just um don't want anything up there any traffic up there I've been down that

road before okay improvements have to be done but go ahead yeah so that's I'm sorry to cut you off we are making improvements to support the construction of the project and it's my understanding after you do construction you know the city Representatives would would inspect the roads and we would make any necessary you know improvements that are required but I don't we're not going as you know a lot of these roads qu

portions of quan poag Road copicut you know unimproved you know gravel roads so at this point we're not proposing to do you know formal storm water and Paving but we would make it you know drivable and we've met with the police department we've met with um the fire department um I guess one thing we haven't committed to you know longterm term maintenance of these roads you know for you know extended periods of time

they would go back toview to do that but I as one councel at Washington once again congratulations you brought up a great point it triggered back that question so if I see this almost as an opportunity as a city councelor in a city thank you to uh to maybe ask for that and I'm almost tempted to make a motion later on to refer to excuse me Public Works and transportation to see

what commitment we we would get to something like that so I Y thank you councel councel C3 councel H thank you Mr President good evening gentlemen um yeah a lot of questions been asked but I I do have a couple but you did say and I don't know if you said said the Departments but who have you talked to within the city and what departments specifically have you talked to about this particular

project I I'll give you a l i mean I you know probably better than I do we've been working on this project for five six years so there's been a lot of quite a bit of turnover in the S city of f River uh we've met with the economic development consultant to the city which was Ken Fiola um we've met with Danny agar multiple times city engineer Conservation Commission um we've met

just just I've only been here for a year so I want to kind of maybe get a we've met with Paul furland Department of Community utilities Mike laaser uh the Water Department we've had several meetings with uh uh the mayor's office um to just basically bring them up to speed on these various projects um so we've been we've been in pretty I'm sure that I think that's the list I have off

hand yeah that's fine um you know and and also too like Council Kilby mentioned the streets that you and you will be uh improving those particular roadways up there you said that uh yeah the unimproved gravel access roads and then like paved roads like since it's like copicut road that section that's paved we're probably going to do like a video inspection of it probably construction and then after construction

we'll take a look at it and see if we've made any you know with the heavy equipment if we've done anything that needs to be repaired yeah and I think that's that's good for the for uh for the city but also too for that Community up there but I will say too that there's there's a public safety issue up up in that area as far as speeding um so and

and it's it's very serious and I think it's good that you're going to be uh improving the roadways roadways up there but there's a lot of a big Community up there as far as uh that are very concerned we've had them here in front of the Public Safety Committee and they do have a you know there's a little concern now now when you start improving the roadways and uh you know cre

creating uh making them smoother and adding uh adding the improvements to it then you know there's there seems to be maybe that there could be uh more of a public safety issue up there but that's not going to deter my decision I'm just letting you know that um that's a good thing that you're going to be doing that um but as far as the uh concern for those those neighbors it's going to be

it's going to be a serious concern for them but I just wanted to bring that up and I'm going to be talking with them we're going to have a public safety meeting next next month so that might come on the agenda because I want to get their input with that and see what they think about it just just in response to that just a few things um you know we will have a construction schedule and

you know we will be notifying the city and police department fire department you know where we be doing work activities so they'll be aware of it and some of the commitments we made is you know um purchasing game cameras to have additional game cameras out there to pick up any you know I guess illegal activities we're also going to have flock cameras for um that'll be given to the city police department so they can

pick up like um license plates that type of thing if you know in that general area okay all right well I he thank you thank you counc counc C1 Council question thank you so I I know the mea process really looks at minimizing the impacts of the environment but is there anything from uh he any health issues that we should be aware of with the construction of the new line I'm just

not familiar with how far residents are uh with with your property so I'm just curious if there's anything that we should know about in advance or any concerns that through the public process the public hearing process that were brought up well for Fall River I think the the closest residences are are at the end of that pave section of of uh copicut Road and I think the nearest residents to to the edge of the

transmission line right away don't hold me to this but I think it's about 600 ft or so okay uh in regards to safety I mean I think what was brought up by um councelor hard is you know General Traffic Safety introducing more traffic um traffic management plans that we require during construction um safety in regards to you know oil and spill response you know we're up near the secondary Copa

Reservoir drinking water supply we recognize that um you know obviously when we're we're doing construction of these large structures you we'll have zones where people AR allowed to come in you have to sign into a tailboard session if you want to enter the RightWay when we string the lines over roads those Ro to be you know temporary shutdowns or you know guard structures on either side to

prevent the lines from going into the street um and and I may have said Public Safety I meant Public Health um if I did say Public Safety I apologize Public Health standpoint so any concerns about the transmission lines or anything like that especially with two lines Public Health again water supply was thing that was always raised um another thing that's you know always raised and discussed is you know

electric and magnetic fields I'm not an expert so I don't necessarily want to go down that road but we have U we did do a full uh EMF um analysis which is in the uh electric I mean electric the efsb uh sighting report U that you know demonstrates where what the fields are at the edge of the RightWay and how they diminish as you get away from the RightWay so that is that is a health um

item that we need we did need to address okay all right I'm good with that thank you thank you coun c c counc Samson I just one a couple of things that you had thank you council president that you had mentioned um you said cameras you were putting cameras up there is that in writing you guys have agreed it's in writing that you're putting cameras up in that area

um I know from the from the aspect of we have to submit what's called Discovery to the energy facility sing board which is you know our responses to comments and our commitments so um that that's been in in writing whether um like for the police department and fire department uh I don't know if those have been finalized but that's something that definitely would be in writing I just I that I just don't specifically

know but there are commitments made in other filings yes so I feel um that that area gets used a lot you need to come in you need Fall River you need us to allow you to come in there and these are great things to say I mean getting cameras up there reading license plates that that's a win for us if you guys do that I want to make sure that's in

writing but I am a little taken back by it's not in writing that you would replace the trees even though that's already in your area that are out there so you I just help me understand you said 60 feet of trees or six feet what does that mean that okay so the right away um I'm just going to throw out some yeah say the existing right away is uh 150 ft

wide um that's cleared I'm just using numbers and so what National Grid has an easement for say is 200 feet so that additional 50 feet I said 60 it's 60 feet those trees are going to be cleared so the project is about 4.2 miles in Fall River so not all of that 60 ft is trees but a good portion of it you've been out there is is trees so in order

to install an overhead line we need to take the trees down um we have not been required by any of the agencies to like replace the trees or plant them someplace else you know where we have impacts to habitats rare species Wetlands we have to do you know um I guess called wet Wetland replication restoration plans but as far as planting the trees no um we do have certain areas that we are

doing enhancements like where we're clearing trees um you know our easement goes up against the copicut reservoir the Northern end of the copicut so we are doing we have a commitment to do supplemental plannings to you know reestablish not the tree cover but to get a thicker like shrub cover so that the open RightWay isn't adjacent to the open water and so it' be bit of a vegetative screening or a fence not a

fence but you know it also to improve the habitat so we do have areas on the wrer where we we are doing you know landscape or habitat enhancements but not putting you know trees that could grow back up into the lines I feel it's just doing good business I feel it's four acres that you're out there I'm sure the New England power company owns hundreds of thousands of Acres right

tons and we're a small piece but that is a beautiful piece of property that Fall River has and here you sit in front of us today that you need to get in there and yes it's it's already on your right away and you're going to cut trees but in 10 years when new transmission lines need to come up someone else is going to come in and say well it's already right

we're going to cut trees and so I feel that it's just doing good business that if you're taking down trees in the community and it's a beautiful area out there that you put trees back in some part of that forest in that area and so that's what I would like to see I don't know if that's an amendment or a resolution that we can make you're the attorney I don't know if you have the

decision that you could do that that's that's you know not a lot of money when you're talking about project like this but um a big impact of the community that we deserve up there that you're taking something out so viable that we put something back it's not a big ass that I think I certainly respect your opinion and I truly understand where you're you're coming from that being the bio

reserve and you may not agree with this I um the transmission line right away does predate the bio Reserve so we did have an easement there you know before all the the conservation restrictions so we do do have the rights to operate the existing lines and to operate and build um new lines and again we we we can't plant trees in the wrer way where they're going to interfere with the

overhead lines and structures but you could plant trees in other aspects of if you're taking out 500 trees in the forest you could plant 500 trees back in that forest and you could commit to doing that yeah I don't want to argue with you I don't want to dis I guess I guess I would just I thought it's I mean if we're removing something in our forest the last piece of forest that this

community has and we're taking that out why can't we just put in whatever trees that we take out and replant them in the forest somewhere I just don't feel that that's a big ass it's a beautiful beautiful property and yes other communities may not have asked that and allow you to take down the trees and there Forest but it is in my thing that is a beautiful area I'm up there often I

live up near that area I'm travel through that area it's beautiful and we should maintain it to the best of our ability and so I'd like to see some trees put back up there but that's I'm one of nine so that's me with that council president I yield thank you thank you Council good point any further questions okay M Mr President may I um I'd like to give sort of a general

response uh we appreciate all the feedback obviously you are all uh residents and leaders of the of this community um this is a a special area the bio Reserve area um and and uh as Jamie had mentioned there's been um a number of uh meetings that we've had both at the local and state level with respect to this project this project has been in the works for years uh and a lot

of these discussions have been had with a number of uh your colleagues but also uh Folks at um at the state level uh I do want to just point out that the at at the outset of my my initial remarks what we're seeking here is is simply a uh a request for a grant of location with respect to two Street Crossings that's all we're asking for that's the jurisdiction here um I understand and

appreciate all of the feedback with respect to the broader uh aspects of the project they extend obviously beyond the street Crossings but by Statute what we are requesting is uh permission for these lines to cross the street that's all we're asking for here um that is not to say that that the company uh is not willing to continue to have dialogue with the city with all of you outside of

this hearing uh they will absolutely be doing that um and they do do business here they are an essential service they're not going anywhere you know where to find them so the these discussions can certainly continue continue um however the the really narrowly focused request in the petition that we submitted is can these lines be erected over these two streets that that's what we're requesting um we are

100% uh open to have to continuing the dialogue with respect to whether it's replanting of certain trees in certain areas uh adding more security cameras uh putting up Gates Etc in various locations with respect to mitigation of security concerns that were raised I think a lot of those discussions I know a lot of those discussions have already been had but uh those those conversations can can continue and it

sounds like some of the council members here may be learning about this project possibly for the first time tonight um and so I I invite you to continue to have that dialogue after this after this hearing if you're if you're just learning about this and you're you know you've got some concerns with respect to other areas of the project that are outside of these two street street

Crossings uh then you can contact uh the company uh and we'll have that dialogue thank you very much C follow up yeah I just want to follow up to that so I I I respect what you're saying but it is more than just a Street crossing because your trucks are going to be down in the reservation in the bio Reserve using the streets using down there when you guys are all said and

done we're dealing with the constituents that are down there that are frustrated that those trucks are down there that it's taking this long and so um and that people care about their trees and some of the council may have heard this for the first time we came on our agenda you know last Thursday but the the citizens at home are just hearing about it tonight for the first time and these are

the questions that I know some of them are going to have and so again with respect we do live in this community we do love that area it is a beautiful area and it's it's a small ask for your very large company that you replace those trees very small ask um for me anyway because we do do good business with you guys and you guys have been great in this community and you are essential and

we're essential and so I think that it's a great business decision to replant the trees that are going to be taking up but that's just me so with that I yield thank you thank you coun coun five did you have your hand up as well yes yeah have you gotten uh any kind of permission uh from the I'm not sure your microphone is on oh it's not on it's on now okay have you

gotten a clearance from the um energy facility sighting board we you can hear me we are waiting for approval from the efsb we've been through the the hearing process we're anticipating the efsb maybe the end of the first quarter 2025 February March of of this coming year okay so they haven't signed off on that giving you clearance you went before the conservation committee none of the neighbors there were notified

either that you were going to that meeting so I know some of the people had some concerns about that I have to say I agree with Council Kilby I think this should go to public works and transportation we don't know enough about this and what they're doing and I think you need to replicate trees um we have other people do it um you need to do it too with that I yield thank you thank you

councelor there being no further questions are there any opponents to this public hearing any opponents seeing none we move on to item number two New England power company to construct maintain repair operate and use transmission lines as follows uh public Way North Main Street owners of a budding property at New England power company and the City of Four River the map Lot number is t-1 16-13 t- 25- 0019 t-25

0022 and t-25 d24 and number two is Highland Avenue again the owners of parting Property New England power company map and lot t-25 d52 u- 01- 0023 and then at Wilson Road New England power company and the massachus Department of Transportation are the owners and the buds of those properties and the zones are u- 01- 0013 z- 04- 0058 and the other one is not available the center line of the

proposed transmission lines across said public WS which will be located not over 50 ft from the approximate location of the center line of each of the proposed transmission lines shown on the plans attached here to entitled plan to accompany petition for Street Crossings on North Main Street for of Mass plan to accompany petition for Street crossing on Highland Avenue for of mass and plan

to accompany petition for Street crossing on Wilson Road Fall River Mass which plans are Incorporated herein by reference the power wires to be strung not less than 23 feet from the ground above said public way ways and not over 16 wires per line to be strong from each structure across said public way are there any proponents to this public hearing any proponents at all noce gentlemen move from the table so I guess

you're proponents do you want to make your case for this one as well thank you Mr President again just for the record my name is Josh willly Smith attorney with law firm of bage and Dey uh here representing New England power company uh so to the council uh this is a second petition uh Grant of location request uh by the company this is with respect to another 115 uh KV uh transmission line uh that

is um going to be running through uh the city this is slightly different from the last petition in that there is existing infrastructure uh that runs through uh that with respect to the transmission line um however unlike the last uh petition what's proposed here is the separation of what's referred to as a double circuit Tower so there's an existing uh Tower uh transmission line

that that uh contains and maintains uh two transmission lines or two circuits uh that uh house this transmission line uh what the company is proposing to do is to separate those into two separate uh uh lines um the lines currently as they exist today uh are known as the n12 M13 uh 115 uh KV double circuit uh transmission line um the separation uh will um involve uh uh construction uh

and replacement and refurbishment of of various uh structures throughout the um maps have been uh submitted and attached as part of the petition uh so again we are seeking requests uh for Grant of location that is Street Crossings with respect to these lines uh as depicted on the maps uh and in this case there will be uh three streets uh in play with respect to the street Crossings North Main Street Highland

Avenue and Wilson Road and with that happy to answer any questions seeing none thank you for coming down gentlemen making the case appreciate it you Cann now leave the table thank you thank you thank you thank you are there any opponents to this public hearing any opponents at all seeing none motion to close the public hearing a motion to close the public hearing has been made and is

there a second second all in favor I any opposed this public hearing is now closed

you know what let's wait till councel H comes back

city council committee on finance will come to order the cler will please call the RO council is kadim here Dion here har here Kilby here Carrera here Pony here Roso here Samson here and president C here pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit this meeting to any medium attendees are therefore advised that

such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and not deemed acknowledged and permissible there's no one that signed of a citizen input time so we will go on to the first item which is a resolution item I mean resolution committee on finance Rec convened with the representatives from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the city

administrator and the city engineering for an update on the progress of the Route 79 Deval Street Cara Improvement project tabled on July 16 2024 could you please each to state your name and what who you represent please for the record good evening Dan AGA the director of engineering and planning for the city of Fall River I'm Valerie kilduff I'm uh the project manager from mot for this

project before we continue can someone lift the item from the table lift from the table second motion from Taylor Made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries Mr a give us a quick overhaul of what's taking place certainly it's great to see you all again at the holiday season it's been can't believe it was July I think the last time we were here um as you've all seen there's been incredible progress

made through this Route 79 Deval Street Corridor um I had always said in the past that for the last year and a half to two years everything was underground it was all utility stuff not sexy things that people want to see right for improvements but now that we see the U newly installed brick overpass retaining walls the god railing all of the numerous new historically correct street

lights that are being installed through the corridor new pavement that's being brought in the construction of some of the shared use paths and some of the outside portions of the project starting to look like something where normal people who don't look and read plans can now get an understanding of oh that's what it's going to look like still not even close to the final product but you

can finally start to see some some big improvements um we continue to meet every two weeks I go through the site probably every two days Val and I discuss many different things along with the construction superintendents from from DW white and their Engineers um so we've been very happy with the progress it appears as though we're ahead of schedule or they're ahead of schedule which is a great thing um

with very little negative comment or feedback at least through my office from cons consents and anytime that we do get something um Valerie is always immediate with response to to my concerns most recently we did have a question right after they closed the U-turn that would bring you back down onto Deval street so heading north on Deval past president Avenue there was a U-turn that would

bring you back onto dval providing access to Commonwealth Landing so that is an area where the contractors needed to get working on some drainage area with really no option but to close that U-turn I had explained to Valerie the concern that we had heard from residents of Commonwealth Landing some of the business owners through that Corridor and the following day we had a meeting of about 10 um to try and address the

situation this was I think last Thursday we did have another meeting yesterday our standard twoe meeting and there are plans being put into place to resolve that matter um we don't have the final idea yet I has sent over one proposal uh the one of the state Engineers came up with a second proposal which is a little bit more permanent or in the location where the permanent U-turn will be and

we anticipate that being implemented sometime in in January uh so that's the type of communication that we have it's very open um anybody calls hey you know what we think we need a sign to direct people to get over the Veterans Memorial Bridge easier so they know they got a right to take on Brightman and then there's Veterans Memorial Bridge and then there's 79 heading straight up so

I'll get a call like that I'll call Val within days there are new signs put up um answering those questions and guiding people in the right direction this is a a project that's ever changing traffic patterns change constantly uh but I have to say I've been very happy with working with DOT for the first time in my career I've always been on the opposite side never on the municipal side of dealing

with DOT where it's been difficult um but but they've been great to work with but if you have any questions specifically about the corridor or improvements that you see or what's coming up next um we'd be more than glad to answer those questions C C1 counc uh just a quick question can you just remind us what the um I guess the completion date is for I guess essentially to a point where we could

either turn it over convey the property to the city or to a developer or however that's finalized in the future I can let Val respond but at least it's my understanding that it's still 2026 okay yeah I think we're um we maybe the last schedule I saw was it said only a couple of like about a week ahead of schedule I think we're farther ahead of that they're just um play in their

schedule as much as they can but the conveyance is actually being worked on right now the discontinuance I'm um plans are in Lay are with right away in layout right now we should be have we should have have the discontinuance plans in ear early January that we can get over to I'll get those over to Dan in the city um so we can start that discontinuance process it's a pretty lengthy process and it's actually way

above my pay grade um that's because you don't get paid enough but um it is in the works um mot wants to get that done too um you know and we've made um through the process of the design we've made sure that everything that needs to be separated is so the city has you know their drainage their lighting all of that that's going to be conveyed to you guys and we have

ours and it's I think with the exception of one minor drainage area um that we will need an easement on to get to clean it I think um we have separated pretty much everything great okay thank you I yield thank you C con you have a question thank you um Mr President that was just the one question I had about that access road to uh Deval and heading into the um uh Commonwealth

Landing uh I got a I got a handful of calls about it so so probably the best thing so when I had called Valerie about it I'm going to let her tell the story because it's actually a good thing and it's the city of Fall River so I'll let I'll let Val explain this story yeah so I um the day before or the week over the weekend I was down here because my

daughter is um getting married so we were visiting the uh alexandrias say it the wedding dress location and I was driving the project and I was like I need to get over there how am I going to do that so um I said I I kind of knew that it was pretty a pretty long um detour and a little bit like I'm not sure where I'm going so um

he called me and I was like yeah I'm not shocked um you know the good part is is right now they're the only thing that that's delaying the them doing what they're ask what they're going to do is they want to make sure it's safe so they have to do some sight distance stuff and some of that so um I think the day we talked the day after I had sent the letter they had

already put their survey team out there to get started um talking to the engineers today that's what they were saying they said they have to do some sight some sight distance stuff and to make sure that it's going to be safe for people that need to do um a stop or how they have to how they have to handle that um but they're working on it so yeah it was just the fact that it was

there then then you blocked it off and I I I know people are over it already what you just go over the bridge and you come you turn back and well it's not even that the actual detour and whether it was signed properly or not is actually to continue up 79 to North Main Street and turn around so you you do not need to go over the bridge but I think that

may have been not represented well to The Travelers CU there was there were public discussions about it and on the website what's going to be happening but nobody looks at that right until they drive in the road like Valerie and said what happened I I can't get there from here like Redbud and they uh yeah and I was following a I was following ways or one of those things too and it was

taking me but people that live here are not going to do that they're just going to try to you know what I mean they they may try to circumvent a little bit but I didn't know where I was going I mean I drive down here but to be honest I don't really drive you get the dress through we did um I don't really drive through the project every time I come down so um you

know when I do I'm here I come down probably once a month now um but I don't drive it every every time I come and she drove through it a second time to go to barretts for lunch that's right so it wasn't so bad the urn wasn't so bad she she did make but when you want to get home you know if you're living at Commonwealth landing and you've worked

all day and then you find I have this three mile detour and that's about the total length of it um so it might be 3 minutes but 3 minutes at the end of your day is significant yeah you know so clearly understood yep that that was that that's the only question I had so thank you I yield thank you if it's 3 miles not going to be doing 3 minutes that's 60 M hour they're flying out

there F just refresh my memory did you say prior to this project you had never been to for River before that is true and now you're buying wedding dresses of for River to bars restaurant wonderful that's why I wanted her to tell the story because that's that's what happens in the city is that once people find it right and and they know what we're about they come back any other further

questions counc seat five I just have a a clarification Dan if you wouldn't when you were going towards Freetown yep and you had that detour that brought you into um Performance Auto that is no longer going to be there so you're going to do one at Commonwealth Landing no so so explain that because that's the calls that I've gotten yep so as you were driving north on Deval Street heading towards Freetown

you were cross President Avenue and then there was a U-turn that could bring you back down onto Deval heading south over in front of Commonwealth Landing in front of Mr kamara's facility right it was up more near that one there okay so as soon as you made that U-turn you could get over quickly and get into his lot right so what what the or common with Landing right so what what what the

proposal was so those properties along that side all have physical access from Brownell and Remington as well so my proposal was was to bring over a new left-hand turn and line it up with brown l so everybody could access off of Remington and brown L and everybody was out of the way the state would like to lengthen the distance between President Avenue and then that NE next left turn

so what I what I understand the proposal to be is to because Brightman street is eventually going to be totally reconstructed through the site so the proposal now is to actually put this new U-turn where the final street is going to be of Bright Street which kind of makes sense uh so years ago they blocked off Brightman Street we couldn't turn and now we're going to be able to turn it that'll open

now when you before it was unsafe I'm really confused because it was you were entering into a different street at that point at that point you were entering into Route 79 so now you remember that councilor Camara oh I do so you will ultimately be able to go from what was Lindsay street at the end of Brightman through Deval Street heading north continuing West to Deval Street South two signalized intersections so that

would be the that's the last connecting street through this coridor so yes that will be a formal Street Brightman Street will now continue all the way through so the thought process is well let's build build this new temporary Road where the final road is going to be and that's what Val and her team is working on now all right just for clarification because I've that's the call I've gotten from

many people Y and I I've I speak to Mr Kamara often um not myself the other yes M Michael CRA who owns the uh the auto repair facility and I I I spoke with him he was in my office last week and that was part of what prompted my call to Val as well so I spoke to my husband to as one of my constituents okay you can have

him call me you can call me this for no he tends to bring place open again yeah I hope so he uh he he walks a lot so he tends to get information from people as he's walking and then comes home and gives me a list so it works with that I yeld Mr President thank you con to con yeah I just have one question so when you say um the target

gate it Target date excuse me 2026 early mid late any I mean we're not if I had to guess in my experience in the construction world it would be late summer early fall um of 2028 no 2026 no they can't do that I have to be in New Bedford believe it or not no believe it or not although it doesn't look it greater than 50% of the work is done you

know you just don't see it the pipes are late the utilities are extended gas work is done water lines drainage lines detention ponds all that kind of work is done that's what takes time I don't know I think you're starting to see some definition well that's and and you're starting to be able to um see some of the concept of this of the different um lots of land I think so well you can see

haway Street for instance now coming through right it's not open but when you drive by slow enough you can see now that haway street will be continuing across that Corridor you see all the street pedestals being put in and the lamps the bridge the bridge was a good portion of of this project um so to see that clean and that done I was actually surprised how quickly they started ripping up the old asphalt and

installing all of the street lights on the outside cars of of both sides of theall street so um I've been very encouraged yeah I must say uh of all the projects that have been done the I don't know this company is incredible they really are um we've we've been very happy with them yeah we have actually we I have two they've been uh they're Earth movers that's what they do so literally

literally it's what they do this this company um and they're they're they have been very easy to work with it's a good thing you don't get that too much anymore with that I yield thank you thank you councelor C C5 c i just give them credit because you're right Mr Agia what you said about you don't see all the underground stuff and value said the same thing because about four years ago when they did the first

portion of it they had all the duck Banks where all the wires go through the duck banks that was four years ago and they had to redo that whole thing rip those all out put in all new um duck Banks to fit wires through underground which I like um but people don't see that I mean I was a little upset you did something four years ago and now you're ripping it up to should have checked it

before but um things happen but I I do agree that they are they're very clean workers too at the end of the day you can get by they're not um in the way so that that's good I'm very happy with that company with that I yield thank you one of the things I do want to do and Mr Akens T is maybe you can help us with this is maybe we should have some people

from the state come down or and people from the city to try to discuss how that land or what the pro thought process is of how that land will be divided up or put out to bid or transferred to the council whatever the state's thought is on that property because I think I've been getting those calls people just want to know what's going to happen next it's nice that the work's getting

completed but they're just curious as to how and who and what's going to go there and I think we have to have those conversations at some point I agree so could you do that Mr Aikens just see who could come down and talk to us from either the state or the city and just explain how what the thought process is I I think I can probably make a pretty good guess as to the

willingness and who might come down I it's it's you know not probably a decision that's going to be made here or anywhere near here uh and it certainly hasn't been made yet uh but I can certainly ask and see if there are folks that are willing to at least uh speculate on it but um but at this point it's it seems like it's pretty far from from being decided and uh and will not

be decided by anybody in this room I understand I mean but the state must have guidelines of how the land is disposed of whenever you go from State Property to a city municipality don't isn't there something that someone that can explain it to us sure yeah I mean there's a bunch of not a bu there's probably three or four different options um as to who might end up with that land

um I don't know that there's any sort of legal basis to to speculate as to how it's going to happen uh because all of the options are are on the table but I can certainly find uh yeah I just want to get some clarity as what we'll be looking at come next year year after year after that whenever it does take place certainly thank you it's past pres past precedent as well so whatever I

don't I just want to know what the what the thought process is um thank you very much for coming down I appreciate it thank you thank you motion to table anytime motion to table has made second all in favor any opposed motion is now table motion tojn Finance motion toin Finance has made and seconded all in favor any opposed city council commit on finance nowour thank you all have a nice holiday thank you

keep up the good work

city council please come to order clct will call the RO Council here Dion here Hart Kilby here Pereira here PTI here raposo here Samson here president CRA here will everyone in the council chair please rise for a moment of Silent

prayer please remain standing for salute to the flag Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit this meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised such

recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and not deemed acknowledged and permissible mam CLK the first item before you is a communication from the mayor and an order accepting a donation in the amount of $1,000 from maryan Dylan to the for Public Library motion to adopt second motion to adopt has been made in second at all favor I any opposed motion

carries item two is the mayor's request to establish an ordinance creating the position of Deputy Chief of Emergency Medical Services budget and compliance motion to refer the committee on ordinances second motion to refer the committee on ordinance legislation has been made in seconded all in favor I on a motion sorry I didn't see you councelor counc see to councel Dion yeah um is it possible to ask a couple of

questions because I see people in the audience who well we're in regular committing you'd have to wave the rules councilor motion to wave the rules second motion to wave the rules has been made in second all in favor I I any opposed motion carries who you would you like to come down um the city administrator Chief okay you have a couple of questions go ahead and Council C2 Council Deion yeah

I'd only like to ask a couple of questions because not not being on the ordinance committee I won't have the option uh or the ability to to so my first concern is when I read um the whole packet um I feel like we've had somebody in this city for over 30 years who's been doing this um that this job is already being done so I guess my question is do you have somebody in mind to fill

this position that you want to create we do there's a person that's been in the city for over 30 years doing this and she's the person I have in mind to to be in the job here's here's the reason I know it's it's a little bit backwards right because you're backward we already have somebody doing it but but in in reality it's it's sort of not um so that person has shouldered not only this

responsibility but a number of other pretty significant responsibilities as a deputy chief uh and she's amazing uh I think everyone agrees um that um you know there's nobody who who uh I think has been more instrumental in growing EMS and in making sure that um as it grew EMS uh was able to do so in a healthy and you know just someone who's who's been a remarkable Steward of the

resources the EMS has generated in order to help it build um that said it's become clear with EMS basically doubling its Revenue over the last three years and likely to continue on that trajectory um that the position of deputy chief Chief with a number of responsibilities including um investigations and and quality assurance um uh as well as some of the disciplinary stuff and some operational

stuff and mobile Integrated Health and all the things that have been part of uh that deputy's position um that basically the the budget money and compliance piece has become too massive for it to be just a portion of somebody's job it really needs to be somebody's job and at the same time the operational demands on a deputy have become so significant that what we really need is we need a deputy

to deal with uh the mih part which is the home visits which are beginning in Earnest in a way that they've never had before it's kind of a remarkable um extension of um normal of ordinary primary medicine in this city so so we have the 911 side right uh the 911 side is the ambulance side you have an emergency you call 911 but we also have the mih side uh which which is where

paramedics are now able to do home visits they're able to do remote Health coordinating with doctors um in the hospital while the paramedics themselves are out there they're able to follow up with people that have been discharged to make sure that the hospital doesn't want to bring them back in is is is willing to continue to have them out or or if their outcomes are are you know better

than expected or worse than expected so it's kind of this extension of medicine that to that the city desperately needs because as youve probably all heard um it's almost impossible to find a primary care physician in the city um and that's why uh uh Chief Silva formerly Captain Silva and Deputy font who's in the um the bleachers um started the vaccine clinic a year ago um because there were

kids that couldn't get a primary care physician they started a vaccine clinic they got it through State Licensing and now they they vaccinated hundreds of kids that wouldn't otherwise be able to go to school so this is all kind of an extension of this idea that there's a massive need and um what we're essentially doing is taking one position and dividing it up uh we're just doing an exclusive exclusively budget and

compliance position um the compliance is not just the money part but making sure that every way in which we Bill and every way in which we record the medical transactions um between paramedic and patient uh is done in accordance with uh state law uh and then the billing part is of course kind of part and parcel to that but feeds the budget so the idea is to create a position just for that

person because there's really no one close to her um in her ability to do that and then allow another Junior Deputy to take on the operational part because that itself is growing as well uh just the number of runs that has been added with the Charlton um contract so there's an agreement with Charlton uh for fall over EMS uh to be um a kind of primary carrier with them there's conversations about trying to also so

make that work with brown Health uh formerly St an's uh what's the addition additional number of runs with Charlton it's 900 a month so we added literally one day turned the switch on and added 900 additional calls a month which is in addition to them what was the number before that uh 325 so we essentially quadrupled the total number of runs we were doing um so you just you need

somebody to to to mine the store and make sure that the budgeting the the grant writing um and the compliance is perfect um and there's really only one person I know that can do that and I would agree and me being me um it's very rare in this Council or that you hear accolades like you just did tonight about an employee or a person um and no slight to

you and I don't expect an answer to the question but it ends up begging the question why that person didn't become Chief um but that's just me my heart um my other concern is so I agree that person should absolutely have this position um hands down I don't know that I agree that we need a deputy chief still on the other side like do we have somebody in a supervisory position at a

level that can do that other part I don't for my part if we're going to create the deputy chief position which I think is fine that we eliminate the deputy chief on the other side and have somebody who's already in a super supervisory position oversee that other segment of it would that make sense so it doesn't to me it doesn't make sense and I think reasonable people can disagree about this but if you if you

look at so fire departments a is a good example of this right so the fire department has one Chief they have two Deputy Chiefs and they have nine District Chiefs how many eight eight District Chiefs all right so before you even get to their captains there are eight nine 10 11 people starting with the chief going down to the deputies in districts and the idea there is that they um you know they supervise

different you know manageable groups of people and and fire companies right police is a little bit different uh but police has their separate units so not so you have a chief and then you have the two Deputy Chiefs but then under that you have captains that have very specific units with very specific missions what we have here is we have a 911 side which is pretty massive and it's probably the most sort of the

operational Tempo is huge right um and so there's a deputy chief that that oversees the operational side and the plan would be a deputy chief to also oversee the mih side which anybody that kind of knows EMS will tell you and I'm not telling you as an expert I'm telling you just because I've heard this so many times that mih Community medicine is really the future of VMS like 911 is

always going to be there but the growth is going to be in doing home visits and doing in basically reaching out to people that right now are undoctored uh who don't have access to traditional primary care and we've got a lot of those people in the city both children and elderly um and you know those people are you know on on the um you know socioeconomically um vulnerable side of

of the spectrum um so to have a a city Department who is dedicated in part to to being able to do that Outreach is really important and uh we got a earmark uh from Senator Rodricks uh and there's a number of other programs that have all come to Bear to start that um actually Captain Sylvia now Chief Sylvia is the one who created the program three or four years ago and has been building it

up to this point where they can start uh doing that Outreach so the community medicine piece is is kind of this new movement in EMS uh and ours is probably one of the most sophisticated in the State uh and so the other deputy chief would be responsible for for that piece which is just a very different it's different equipment it's different Personnel it's different Specialties um it's it's frankly a whole different

focus of customer service and Patient Service then on that 911 side so it would be a chief it would be a a finance deputy chief uh working with the chief to to understand the budget understand the needs understand the compliance and then two operational Deputy Chiefs that would each do those two loes of of uh so at the present time how many Deputy Chiefs do we have two we have two yes okay so

that then we would have three so what's the complement in EMS compared to the complement in the fire department the fire department we're at 200 no what we at what are we at 190 no 185 185 and that's that's Soup To Nuts that's officers firefighters so 180 185 and EMS we're about 100 about 100 all right so I guess something I'll have to digest and think about and not I think

it's important to note that that EMS could even break 40,000 calls this year um so in terms of the the number of calls when I started a city administrator they were around 24,000 calls a year uh and they've increased that by a factor of almost 15,000 uh just in the last three years so the the growth is is unbelievable um I think it has to do somewhat with population growth uh has some somewhat to do with

um just you know there's more certainly medical needs uh out there there are people that are not able to get to doctors that emergency rooms are overwhelmed so they're filling a really important need um and this is a way to to help them try to do that in the most professional and effective manner possible so let me ask this with the increase in transports the community medicine is it causing us to sideline ambulances

for emergencies in the city so in other words we have X number of ambulances we they go out on calls every day somebody broke a leg somebody had a heart attack are we sidelining any ambulances because we need the ambulances to to perform these services that we're performing now for the community medicine no we we' we've added rescues and the added rescues actually add additional backups to the 911 side

so if they're not busy doing a transfer or working for Charlton or anything like that they are actually available for 911 calls in the city okay because I wouldn't want to see an increase in our um Mutual Aid necessity yeah no we we monitor that very closely and if there are comes a time or a point that we need to add another 911 Frontline rescue we'll certainly look at that and probably do

it okay thank you with that I yield that's there be no further con 7os yeah not not to belor the conversation because it's going to go to ordinance but it would be possible to help me understand a little bit more with this create if this is created how this orc chart then changes because I'm assuming that there's some blocks I'm looking at the orc chart from the budget that some of these positions may be moved under

this proposed new Deputy Chief or am I wrong in that assumption so I think we're still kind of working that out okay um so Chief Sil has only been on the job what two weeks yeah uh you know the the the first thing he identified is is that um you know the finance piece is is so massive and so important um that you know we we really need to to allow a

person to really focus in on that um and that uh with the beginning of Charlton I believe in October is that right yeah October 1 um so we've been doing this this additional basically you know three time times the number of calls you're doing before um you know only for the last couple months so kind of understanding what that Revenue looks like it's already certain beyond what we

expected so so there is a revenue piece here that's important and and knowing that we're in compliance all the time with that is is critically important so basically the only change to the or chart would be that you'd have a a deputy a senior Deputy Chief of finance that would um you would basically put that person on the same line as the deputy Chiefs and under that person would be uh billing and the other kind

of administrative duties that would that would essentially um fund and feed the budget and the financial operations understood yeah so I'm on the ordinance committee so if possible can we provide a proposed or chart with the addition of that position yes thank you I Y thank you Council C see two Council follow yeah I'm sorry um so along that same line so our next city council meeting is

January 14th we're looking at roughly a month um so you say this is basically still a work in progress to a certain extent do you feel that you can have a comprehensive report by that date so that we know exactly it's this it's this and this so we have something concrete not we're going to vote for the new position but we're not quite sure what we're doing on the other side yet so we

have a full picture sure yeah I mean I think we'll have a full picture pretty soon um one of the things it's important to note is that the other deputy chief retired um Captain Silva became Chief Silva there was a number of changes within EMS that left a whole bunch of slots so we we basically spent most of the day today doing interviews for captain and and uh deputy and you know

all the different spots we need to fill for the existing spots and then we also are going to spend about five hours tomorrow interviewing for lieutenant spots the amount of flux and new blood in EMS officer Corp is going to be really kind of uh it's going to be a significant change a really important and awesome change um and so yeah we can you know once that is complete we'll know where everybody is and what we

expect everybody to do um you know Chief Silva you know in my view you know from a from a from a strategy standpoint is is a real Visionary um you know that that to me is the great strength that he brings is is an organizational Vision um and I think uh some of the stuff that that he's told us you know about and changes from uh what the former Chief

had done or just kind of allowed to just fall into place a little bit willy-nilly this is going to be a much more intentional way to do EMS that I think is going to serve the residents uh better than it ever has it's already been exceptional this is going to be really Next Level so that's my belief at least but sure we can we can have as clear of a picture as we can give you by

that date I would appreciate that very much thank you with that I yield thank you coun no no further questions thank you very much for coming down gent thank you thank you motion has remain in second middle of a roll call vote all in favor I I any opposed no motion carries M cour whereas a class of sixth grade students from Holy Trinity School wrote letters regarding traffic safety

concerns at the Stafford Road exit area of the South Coast Marketplace and provided suggestions to address this matter and where as many drivers and pedestrians utilize this Plaza each day as it is the location of a grocery store movie theater shopping centers and restaurants now therefore be it resolved that the Committee on Public Safety convene with the director of traffic and a representative of the Fall River

Police Department to discuss traffic flow in the area of the Stafford Road exit of South Coast Marketplace and potential modifications to existing traffic patterns to increase safety of drivers and pedestrians adop to ad second on a motion yes thank you Mr President so on this I received the um I'm sure it was a class project but some um 27 personal um letters from the sixth grade class at

Holy Trinity um I spoke with the principal I spoke with the mayor's office um I spoke the May the chief of staff did indicate to me that she was going to try to work on ways where uh we can try to address this what is called a public safety issue within this area in addition to that um I believe the traffic board was notified of this uh as well so um you know it's a school that

is very very close to South Coast Marketplace um and for an entire population class and their parents to uh voice concerns about uh a public safety issue I'm I'm urging that the Public Safety Committee convene and work on a way to make sure that this is safe as possible whether it's a red light up that area or something I think something needs to be needs to happen over there um for the safety of of the children

children and obviously the neighborhood so that was the reason for this resolution I appreciate the uh unanimous support on this I yield thank you councel motion to adopt how a minut second all in favor I any opposed motion carries item four is a citation for Leanne verville for her retirement after 30 years of service at the full Public Library motion to adopt ad as made in second all in favor I opposed motion

carries item five is a citation uh celebrating the 90th birthday of Joseph sanquini motion to adopt made in second all in favor I I any opposed motion carries item six is a citation um for the owners of misum restaurant Kenneth and Regina Mark um for owning the restaurant from 1950 to 2024 motion to adopt second to adop Second all in favor I any opposed motion carries item seven is the order granting

permission to New England power for the copaa and quog roads motion to approve I like thee call vot motion to approve i' like the table how do I do that can we table this oh she say you make a motion table I'd like to make a motion to table this I'd like to see um what's going on down there I think I owe it to the constituents to the community to see the

scope of the work and if there is going to be damage to Wildlife trees down there I think without a commitment to replace trees I think we should table it second moot motion to table to me and second itoll call on the motion to table council is kadim yes Dion yes Hart Kilby yes Pereira yes Ponte no raposo no Samson yes president kamaro yes Mr President just through you can I

just ask my colleague if you can just try to make that happen as quickly as possible so we can they can let me know exactly where it is I'd like to go there this weekend Saturday rain or shine back on the agenda have it try to yeah put it back on the agenda till the next meeting next meeting I agree CL item eight is in order granting permission to New England power for the

transmission lines at North Main Highland Avenue and Wilson Road motion to adopt second motion to adopt as remain second all in favor I any opposed motion carries have the police chief's report on licenses motion to adop second motion to adopt report license have made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries item 10 is are applications for the renewal of an auto body shop license

at 4213 Street motion to adopt motion to adopt has been made is there a second second second all in favor I any opposed motion comes we have the renewal of order repair shop license applications um at 745 Bron Avenue and 326 Pleasant Street motion to adopt second motion to adopt has remain in second it all in favor I any opposed motion carries item 12 is an application on behalf of

um Thiago Batello doing business as mil City diesels um transferring his business to Justin pachico for this auto repair shop located at 1139 Slade Street motion to adopt second motion to adopt has made in second all in favor any opposed motion carries item 13 is the schedule of city council and finance committee meetings for 2025 motion to adop to adopt has made and a motion C I'm just curious if

we want to entertain an idea of amending the order to reflect the regular meeting to start at 6:30 as opposed to 7 so this way we don't waste time because there are some meetings that we have a f minute Finance meeting and we're here for 55 minutes I think I think that's probably happened twice in the entire year but it's up we mentioned it throughout the year so I'm just curious if there's appetite to

consider that I just think what happens council is that it's misleading if someone comes down for 6:30 for a regular council meeting and finance goes on till 8:00 sometimes now they're here waiting for no reason that's the reason we said it back they begin with years ago same thing vice versa but but it's like I said it's only happened a couple of times but it's up to the will of the

council you put the motion out there is there a second to the motion no I he thank you hearing no second M CL motion to adopt has been made and second all in favor I I any opposed motion carries about it next time item 14 is is in order which I will read for you order that we now proceed to elect by a via vosi vote a president of the city council for the year

2025 motion to adopt motion to adopt and second all in favor I I I as the counselor's names are called please reply with the name of the candidate of choice for the office of President Cil Joseph k councelor Hart councelor Kilby Joseph C councel Pereira you went by Michelle oh I did I'm sorry Michelle doesn't want to vote anyways Council Dion uh Joseph Kamar Kilby was Council Council Council Pereira Joe

Camara councelor Ponty Joe CRA councelor Roso Joe CRA councelor Samson Joe cra and president CRA Joseph CRA thank you very much colleagues I really appreciate it having received eight votes is declared President of the city council for the year 2025 no speech thank you thank you very much I think I will faith and office of city council president of the city of river to the best of my ability and

understanding in accordance with the constition and laws bringing on of the United States this common and the ordinances of the city she's not thece president you

let's vote for someone let's vote fory I I didn't call anybody I'm serious call me yeah I'm just going to be extremely brief I want to thank my colleagues for the vote of confidence and I do want to state that the past year serving as president I'm honored to serve with all of you um the questions that you guys ask the administrators the way you treat people that come before you very respectful and good questions

and I can tell you um we put them on a spot as much as we need to you guys do a fabulous job of asking demanding for things and um I think it's been a positive for throughout the city people compliment this Council a lot more than they have in the past and I've been on the council for a long time there's been a lot of meetings that I've been a part

of years ago that were not very Cal and people were intimidated to come down here and speak at times and I'm not talking past three or four or five years 10 15 20 years so you we've changed that around a lot uh working to get a lot done in the city um it's all because of what you people have done in a daily basis putting in all the hard work and I appreciate being your president thank

you very much thank you thank you m clerk item 15 is the election of Vice President order that we now proceed to elect by a via vosi vote a vice president of the city council for the year 2025 motion to adopt second motion to adopt as a remain and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries as council's name is a call please reply with the name of the candidate of your choice for the office

of Vice President councelor kadim Linda Pereira councelor Dion Linda Pereira councel Hart councelor Kilby Linda Pereira councelor Pereira Linda Pereira councel H Linda Pereira councelor Roso Linda perea councelor Samson Linda Pereira and president CRA Linda Pereira Council Pereira having received eight votes is hereby declared vice president of the city council for the year 2025

swear that I will faithfully and impartially perform I will Faithfully andar perform the duties of the office of city council Vice presid of the city of river to the best of my ability and understanding of my ability and understanding in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the United States and and the ordinances of thank you thank you all

M clerk item 16 are minutes of the planning board motion to approve second motion to approve has made in seconded all in favor I any opposed motion accept on place on file as made in seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries motion to take 17 and 19 together second motion to take items 17 18 and 19 has been made and second it all in favor I any opposed motion carries M Qui we read

17 18 19 please yes we have minutes of the public hearings held on December 3rd the committee on finance held on December 3rd and the regular meeting of the city council held on December motion to approve second motion to approve has been made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries the committee on ordinances and legislation at a meeting held on December 17th voted unanimously to

recommend that the accompanying proposed ordinance accompanied by an emergency Preamble be passed through first reading second reading pass to be enrolled and passed to be ordained motion to adop suble motion to adopt the has been made is there a second second roll call an adoption of the emergency Preamble council is kadim yes Dion yes Hart Kilby yes herera yes Pony yes reposo yes Samson yes president yes

motion to pass to all readings motion to pass to all readings has been made and second it all in favor I any opposed motion carries committee on ordinances and legislation at a meeting held on December 17th voted unanimously to recommend that the accompanying proposed ordinance be passed through first reading this a miscellaneous traffic ordinance motion so made second motion has been made in

second and all in favor I any opposed motion carries the committee on regulations at a meeting held on December 17th voted unanimously to recommend the accompanying order be adopted this is in order granting permission to Lewis pental to operate an order repair shop at 1138 Pleasant motion to adopt second motion to adopt has been made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries that's all

we have Mr President motion to adjourn second motion to adjourn has been made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries good night everyone and Merry Christmas to everyone have a nice holiday

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