12.3.2024 Fall River City Council

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going to do the public hearings clerk call the role council's kadim here Dion here Hart here Kilby here PTY here Roso here Samson president CRA and vice president Pereira here pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit that the meetings through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or transmission are

being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible motion open the public he second there a second second all in favor all item number one poll location Massachusetts electric company DBA national grid for two new solely owned polls located and one solely owned anchor as followed High Street two new pole locations and one new anchor install two new solely owned

polls and one solely owned anchor on High Street between Franklin Street and Pine Street proposed poll six will be installed approximately 100 fet orderly of existing pole five on High Street proposed poll seven will be installed 100 ft Northerly of proposed pole six on High Street and proposed anchor will be installed on the norly side of proposed poll s in accordance with the plan number 310 5185 uh any

proponents could you state your name sure please Aaron Roy 1250 Brighton Point Road Somerset representing National Grid good evening city council member uh National Grid is proposing uh and the customer at 439 Pine Street is proposing two new solely owned poles for electric and one solely owned anchor on High Street um the customer at 439 uh Pine Street the um the old Lincoln School uh requires three-phase power in

order to do that um we extend the pole line from existing pole five located in front of 159 High Street approximately 200 feet North to the corner of pine in High Street uh where the overhead power will will end and the underground power to 439 Pine Street um will continue to their Transformer um that's about it thank you thank you I have a question sure counc seat five counc pro thank you Mr Roy I

understand that you're here representing National Grid but I have a major concern that you're putting up these polls National Grid puts up these polls and it takes forever to get the other poll down if it's a new poll that's one thing but on the other polls that go up that second pole stays there from from Dunkin Donuts on Pleasant Street to St Anthony pada Church there's eight polls and if

you go through the Dunkin Donut to driveth through I know it takes time but if you go through the Dunkin Donut to drive-thru there there is a pole right near the drive-thru that pole has Ivy growing all the way up it took time for The Ivy I don't know what you can do to to let us know when other people will come and take their wiring off so and I know it's not National

Grids fault no right so so the system that everybody uses I'm sure you're aware it's um I can't think of the top top top of my head um but everybody uh uses these systems so when they're done with their work it they they move it down to the next uh the next company that depending on what's on the poll cuz every poll is different um the polls that you're um talking about on Bedford

and pleasant Street um not only have electric um Verizon cable they have fiber that's owned by the city I don't know if it's owned by the city but it might be a third- party fiber company there's not only one but two of them sometimes so the person who proceeds um the next uh the next company if they don't if they don't change the um um the position uh of of the company

um they it stays there forever and and that's what you're talking about so there needs to be I mean I've had this discussion with other people in the company there needs to be better communication between not only National Grid but Verizon and uh so on um but I I think we like like we tried to um a couple months ago to try to get Verizon here but um we need to get

everybody on the same page not just Verizon because they're the last ones to go so it's everybody in between um that need to be uh on the same page as well so I I totally agree with you um I I don't like looking at them and every time I see one um uh it's it's the same thing that comes up and I know it's not it's not your faults but to be honest

with you I'm kind of hesitant to change polls um because of what I see U but I know that the city clerk has reached out because I did file a resolution on this and Verizon and some you know they need like 3 months notice or what have you maybe they should wait three months for payment for Verizon cell phone users or something it just doesn't seem that they were very receptive cable the same thing

yeah yeah it all comes down to that one site that everybody uses right you know if the communication like I looked at uh a couple months ago when we when we came here originally um I could tell that 60 or 70% of the the polls the double polls that were out there weren't updated so either comes down to a group one person from each company going out and and checking this list

and updating the list appropriately um I know when when this uh issue arose the first time um we had half a dozen or so that were up to us and we eliminated all of them up to that you know so I mean we see we see the problem I mean we don't have an issue of res you know what I mean we'll do our part for sure you know

what we have have to do you know what we have to do so uh I know it's not your fault no um but I mean we can at least do our part and I think that's it comes down to everybody else too is doing their part as well so um it's just EXC thank you I yield Mr President thank you coun okay thank you item number two sacred hot Lofts llc3

Adam Street milky MK I didn't do we didn't do we just did proponents we hadn't done opponents on number one oh sorry I didn't realize that are there any opponents to this public hearing any opponents to item number one seeing no opponents I'll move on to item number two sacred hot lofs LLC 30 Adam Street Milton Mass for the removal of curbing as following at 160 Lindon Street seab

Berry Street existing opening is 19 Fe 6 in curb to be removed is 2' 4 in there is no curb to be added the combined opening proposed after alteration is 22 feet on Pine Street there is no existing opening curb to be removed is 22 ft curb there's no curb to be added combined opening proposed after alteration is 22 ft total for the 160 lyen Street proposal is 44 ft combined opening the

existing pel is currently serviced by a 19 foot6 in curb opening on seaby Street the applicant proposes to extend the opening by an additional 2 feet 4 in for a total of 22 feet Additionally the applicant proposes to create a new 22 for opening on Pine Street the total opening will be 44 ft are there any proponents to this public hearing any proponents if there are please come down

state your name and tell us why you're propon to this Scott we Prime engineering uh we did the engineering for Sacred Heart law so we're representing them and um like the president just said we are proposing a 2.4 foot opening uh along Seabury and a new opening along Pine Street um and it was previously approved by the traffic Commission on 1118 thank you that's it thank you thank you very much any other

proponents seeing none are there any opponents to this public hearing any opponents seeing none we'll move on to item number three Jeffrey Fado 118 primr Street for the removal of curbing as follows at 118 primr Street the existing opening is 19 ft curb to be removed is 7 feet there's no curb to be added combined opening proposed after alteration is 26 ft the existing parel is currently serviced by a 19t curb

opening the applicant proposed to extend that existing opening by an additional 7 ft the total opening for the location will be 26 ft are there any proponents to this public hearing please come on down and state your name and tell us why you're proponent

uh good evening U I'm Mr Fado um the owner of the 11 18 pero Street and um we have five working adults that all have five vehicles and four car driveway so the extra length would help to keep Vehicles off the street and keep our mirors from being broken because it did happen the summer so that's it thank thank you very much are there any other proponents to this public hearing any other

proponents seeing none are there any opponents to this public hearing any opponents seeing none I'll entertain a motion close public car motion to close the public and second all in favor any oppos motion carries there's no more items um Now we move on to committee on finance must the council needs to take a break you good public hand is closed city council comme Finance to come to order collect will call the

rooll council is kadim here Dion here har here Kilby here Pereira here Pony here raposo here Samson here 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 through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present not deemed

acknowledged and permissible are there any no one of a Citizens input time so we will go on to item number two it's a resolution convey quarterly with the administration and representatives from the historic commission regarding funding plans for the renovation of the bank Street Armory was adopted on August 13 2024 we're going to hold discussion like to come down to the table please

good evening hello good evening are there any Council that have questions or you want to just get into have them can you just open it up for us and tell us if where we are right now with the bank Army okay good evening Seth Aken City administrator with regard to the city's current position um the uh entity that has been interested in the armory uh to put I guess what you could describe as a

scholarly um archive and Museum uh in the space remains interested we were contacted by uh their point of contact the person we've been dealing with today their architect did get back to them with some numbers and some ideas um and uh We've uh because it's U kind of a New York and Stoten based group so closer to Boston of course New York um I think the the next step is is while they're looking uh at those

numbers and figuring out if they believe it's feasible for their group um the mayor uh would ask that they also allow us to uh have some local folks uh that have that kind of capacity to do a job like that look uh at the the drawings and the ideas uh because I think we we believe that Fall River uh prices might be a little more down toe than uh close

to Boston and New York prices um so that is the update on that um group right now it Still Remains very much alive uh and from what I understand they've finished their um uh initial design process with their architect thank M um counc seat 5 CC you had your hand up to general question um the only thing that I would add is that there was a meeting and I was in attendance at that meeting

when we were told and both um gentlemen at the table were also at that meeting we were told that we hear something they'd get back to us so what I'm hearing now from um the city administrator is that that is still happening do you have a date of when they're going to make a decision because one of the things that Historic Society did we added some members through a v of this Council so they're eligible for

more grants so you're with they're kind of being held up from applying for different uh funding uh when will we know or did we give them a deadline or so I guess reasonable people could disagree I don't know that we're in a position to be giving them deadlines about this decision that they're going to make um but they are they did notify us of this this morning uh so this shortly before lunch is when the mayor

got uh that communication I understand they're meeting in the next couple of weeks is what we're told I don't know whether that means 2 weeks or 3 weeks or before Christmas hopefully uh with their membership to decide if they want to go forward um the mayor made the requests that they give him their numbers uh and there was no response yet to that uh which is the last time I spoke to the mayor about that was

around uh I guess 4: p.m. this afternoon uh there hadn't been a response yet so I don't know about a deadline I don't know about the exact time when they intend to meet uh but I do understand that there is going to be a meeting of their membership to make a decision well I just wondered if they said we'll know by this time not us giving them a deadline but rather they saying you know we're

going to meet with membership whatever we'll know by this whatever so I think they give you a time from what I'm hearing and again it's all secondhand from you know through the mayor who's you know trying to keep the the circle fairly small so there's you know there's not you know mixed messages uh as there sometimes can be in these things um the they communicated we're going to sort of vote and I think he countered

with can we see the numbers to see if we can give you a more realistic estimate of what it might cost to do that project here as opposed to where you are um so I don't know if his sort of request to them somehow would have changed their timeline so it's it's hard to speculate one of the things that I was kind of surprised with was the basketball area uh and what is underneath that I was

kind of surprised with hearing I thought that whole basement went through and that it was all cement Foundation um and I guess that um that may not be accurate and that was surprising to me I don't have any any other questions I just uh kind of wanted to see where we were at on it because you know to get funding for this we need to start um if this doesn't go through hopefully

hopefully it will I think you know that type of a museum I think it's a great idea for the city and it brings a lot of people in that's tourism that's good Mr President I yield thank you Council can the other two gentlemen at the table just give your name and what entity you would I know we know who you are but the public just so oh sorry uh yes uh Jason

bushard nqi uh 45 Bigalow Street I chair the historical commission Alexander Silva 148 Purchase Street I'm the president of the board of directors of the preservation Society of Far River thank you counc C4 Council Kilby just couple of basic questions um first of all how's your relationship with the administration right now Mr in terms of sharing information um but let me please continue um so that's ve that's very

very important um and at the the meeting when this was brought up in terms of this entity that was interested in the Armory I didn't know about it and um as I said prior this this issue with the Armory was a hard vote for me because I I was in favor of selling it to the developer so it wouldn't sit there um so I'm I'm looking this is probably to everybody this question but uh so first

of all the relationship hopefully is well because we want to see whether or not uh this a project a potential project moves forward which benefits the community um through Public Funding or a developer will acquire it and use you know use it for another use so it was a surprise so that's it's a compounded question that's the first question the second thing is um I would like the administration I know to keep me more

more informed and other councilors more informed in terms of this entity that's interested I I really know not much about it I know that's why we're here but I would uh prefer to get notice whenever it's it's our vote that is is going to dispose of this eventually it's our vote so I I just would like to to be invited more not invited I'm sorry to uh just to to uh get emails and copies of

the proposals or interest in in what they plan on doing so um so with that said the first first question I'm sorry Mr araki if you could answer that of course uh no our relationship with the administration is is is good uh we just recently um work with the the mayor to uh for our uh application for certified local government which is um it's a program through the National Park Service and administered by the state uh

historical commission we just uh as of last month received our certification which is great it's uh we are the 31st out of 350 plus communities in the state that is certified so we have have access to a specific pool of Grant funds um and getting approval processes with the state um if it involves anything pertaining to the historic tax credits um if there's any questions related to

the uh the building uh the Armory has a preservation restriction on it um held by the state commission um that process is a little bit more um it's more expedited uh because we are now officially a CLG community so there are benefits for that um so so and that was a big project of ours to get that up and running um between excuse me can you put the microphone a little closer so we can

hear you sure um that was a um a large project between the historical commission and also working with the preservation Society to see that project through um so without the mayor's support on that and then in addition to that we do have other projects that we are um that we do keep involved in um the expansion of the historic district in the highlands that's one of them so there's a number of different other

projects okay so yeah would you ever be opposed U I know it's a hypothetical um if time goes by and plans uh as you would would like to see fit your your group uh would you be a after all options are you know uh completed and it can't be done would you still would you go along with another alternative of course um so part of what we had discussed when uh when we were

asked when the commissioner was asked uh to weigh our opinion on the sale of the Armory for an apartment building um we looked at the restriction for example and there were some questions that we had that weren't we didn't have the answers right away um involving um uh the changes being made proposed to be made to the building um so that's why why we had asked just to pause that sale

I know that was not the question that was before the council um but just dep pause that sale so we can get those answers and proceed um but uh I mean we you would be a we would have to look at it yes things are exhausted so maybe in retrospect it was a appropriate vote to take um and u i just uh just want to see something done with the building like we all do and the

community does so thank you Mr Nori you're always uh well spoken you're always uh you know not to go personal stuff but you're you're father was my vice principal my father-in-law yes had more than many years ago so um but thank you for your what you do you thank you thank you counc c c to council DM hi good evening um so when you say that um the administration would like to work with

local entities are we speaking of the historical commission and the preservation Society no contractors people that that can actually do the work people doing the work so um I would like to think also that their input would be involved in in the whole process okay um I mean they obviously have the expertise um they they're aware of the deed restriction they just had there just a

world of knowledge that most of us don't have so uh for my part I would encourage the administration to keep them in the loop and make them part of the discussion um and just on a personal level I would like to publicly state that so when we voted on selling or not selling the omary um the historical commission played no part in that vote um their recommendation they never were negative

or positive about selling or not selling their recommendation was pause the vote so we can get more information we as a council took it upon ourselves to make the decision to to sell or not sell the omry and ended and it ended up not there were people in the beginning who were who voted yes to sell the omry after um make taking a tour of the omry people changed their minds they felt it was worth

saving um and I've said all along moving forward I can't I don't believe that if we don't make the envelope better that the building won't have more value to it you know any Improvement you make if you put put a new roof you put Windows the pointing the heating system it's going to add value to the building and I think more people would be interested in it and at the time we were told that the

funding would be available we would be able to get the funding to accomplish those goals so I will ask if either of you if anybody at the table is aware of do we still have funding if that ends up I understand this whole new project is a whole separate thing and needs to be explored before before we go to step two which used to be step one but in the

event that we would have to do that is the funding still available in terms of in terms of uh CPA funding uh they could uh hello uh so uh in terms of like a backup plan the same Avenues of funding are there if not more um as Jason mentioned we're now a certified local government so if all current um you know proposals fall through and we have to start you know from the get-go

that's the funding that's used for you know studies depending on the use that the city would want uh and conditions assessments CPA funds will always be available as long as this community community preservation Act is passed in Fall River um and that is you know done on a year-by-year basis at the will of that committee um which I'm also on uh and um once you narrow down the preferred use that actually opens up

different Al different Pathways to funding like if if it was indeed a museum that would open up specific cultural uh funding sources you know from the state or even private organizations um and to your concern about the building envelope I believe uh recently the ceiling the the higher roof was uh fixed so it's at least not leaking water in that spot and I think that was done within the municipal

budget or the maintenance budget that's already being out at for those types of projects so in terms of its condition at least it's not worsening in that regard of course there's still much work to be done but at least um I think that was the primary concern for most people um and yeah that answers all your questions yeah I know one of the concerns also was um a feasibility study um because as we

know the market everywhere has changed um I don't think that there's property anywhere that isn't worth something just the way the market maret has gone and and the influx of of investors coming into the city Etc um so I would think that a feasibility study would still be a really important tool um moving forward and instituting some plan would that be correct yes um and we um and that's

something that we can certainly apply for uh grants from the state for um they have it specifically for um preservation and planning um we had a um just a I think we had a a ballpark unofficial uh estimate for fusibility feasibility study for that around 50 to $60,000 um so that's yeah we've gotten some quotes we' got some clot yeah in a project of that size that's short money right it's step on money yeah yeah um

with that I'll y all thank you thank you con C6 thank you Mr President um so I want to take this back a little a little bit because I'm I'm a little confused I I know Mr Aken you mentioned um work being done or bids I'm confused what what is the vision you're getting bids or you're getting proposals is that for somebody to restore something help me understand where we are at because I

missed it totally missed it so there's an organization that has expressed interest in buying the Armory okay they have been to the site twice yep they've asked that we not publicize the name of the organization uh or disseminate specific information about out their interest because they're looking at several sites okay um they seem to be extremely interested in this site uh because they've come back twice and the

second time they came with an architect and drones and all sorts of equipment to try to assess as closely as they can the condition of the building from there their architect went back and prepared some initial not really plans uh drawings ideas kind of a proposal uh and tried to attach some numbers to that proposal so they would understand what the cost of the project that they want

to do would be um the uh one of the the big things is what council pra alluded to um which is that there's a strong possibility that the basketball court may not be on a foundation or slab or anything it's just dirt um and so that would require potentially some some additional uh work that was unexpected all that said um I think the mayor's concern is that the numbers that they're

looking at excuse me are New York and Boston numbers so if you were to this is the I'm sorry M aen this is the purchaser who's looking to purchase who's currently getting engineering bids and looking at a feasibility in terms of what it's going to cost to do what Their vision is Right correct okay and so I think the mayor's concerned that they're going to be looking at numbers that are

you know whatever percentage higher uh because of the proximity to Boston or New York depending on who they're using and talking to um without maybe realizing that you know we happen to live in a a uh corner of Massachusetts that still has some value um and you can get value out of uh projects more than you might be able to the closer you get to Boston um so I think the mayor's uh thinking that

you know if we can uh have a conversation um with their architect and the members of this group um and show them that there are very skilled uh contractors in this area that would be able to do this work uh and maybe be able to do it for Less Les than you would if you were to hire a Boston firm uh that might entice them even more um and in addition to that U Jasmine our

grant person uh who's really brilliant and Incredibly effective um is looking at um you know all sorts of uh avenues for grant money and earmark and whatever else that we might be able to um put towards not necessarily this purchaser but anybody that would want to buy this for a cultural purpose so I guess that my question is is the administration's plan obviously the administration heard that the

council at least in the beginning part of this term didn't have an appetite to sell it to the potential buyer uh obviously you and the mayor and your team decided to all right let's explore other options because it wasn't the will of the council at that time to sell it to the to the developer who submitted an offer to the city in the case that this potential purchaser whoever that may be's Vision doesn't work

are the cost is too expensive is the plan again to just sit on it or just say you know throw a h Mar in the air or continue to find other ways to develop it plan the plan is at the very least to to make sure it's buttoned up right to make sure it doesn't further degrade um that's at the present though that's that's today and tomorrow and the next

day sure but I I I'm looking a little further down that road I know that we have okay I don't mean to interrupt you so I I I understand what you're saying that the that the administration heard that the council did not have a will to sell it but I would not say that the administration changed its intent regarding the building based upon that I think we can certainly disagree as to

the best purposes um and I would imagine if either branch of government changed its position simply because the other branch of government disagreed that government would stop working right so so the the administration's position still is that it is not a feasible project for the city to do internally and that there isn't a clear purpose for what that building could and should be if we were to try to rehabilitate it

interally we still do believe that development of some in some way whether it's development with retail and cultural space activity space or some combination of that and some housing is still the best way to do it with monies that are available to outside contractors who could get Aid and get grants and get you know other things um you know for the effort right um That Remains the administration's um belief

and I think that our understanding from the vote was not necessarily that the council was entirely opposed to selling it but rather that the council was opposed to selling it for housing exclusively housing that if there was additional purposes um that that actually might be a more reasonable conversation to have so I think that's the the understanding that we're we're proing on right so the current plan

that's the current potential purchaser that's before us if they're not interested in moving forward my question to you is what's next what's next would be to um make make sure the building is not going to degrade any further because there are some additional things we can do if if we think that thing's going to sit dormant for some period of time six months whatever that is I think there's

a few additional things we probably should do just to make sure that building is safe is there anything we need to do right now no okay so it's it's the roof is good the roof is good obviously it's winterized there's no heat going in that building correct and it's secured there there's no issues with vandalism of any sorts nope yeah it is secured um we have people that go in

there from time to time just to make sure there's nobody that's broken in living there uh a danger to themselves and the building um you know there there are facilities people regularly going into that building and there are projects around that building that have been on the facilities list not currently but but leading up to little patches and other things just to make sure that that is a water type

building and nothing's really changed to your point Mr aen nothing's really changed from the administrative uh the administration's point of view on the city having the financial resources to make that a community center or a veteran Center or anything along those lines that remains your position that you don't have the funding mechanism or the resources to do that right now correct okay um I I just want to say a

couple things you know I this kind of has the the rhyme of other decisions that councils in the past have made to sit on real estate and then we have a police station like we have in Fall River okay um we sold schools for $4,000 they remove espes and sell them for 100 right it was just the circumstances that we that that council at that time was at and had to you know make a decision on

what they were going to do the city has a terrible track record it doesn't matter who the administration is on disposing managing and maintaining real estate it's a really challenging Expedition process whatever you want to call it okay so I agree with my colleague in seat 4 that I I think we need to be aware of what's happening and it isn't a type of a real uh a type of

real estate that we want to just sit on for years it isn't it has to be a goal I think of this term that between the mayor and the city council with work of the historical society and the preservation committee that we do something with this building we cannot sit on this thing for a decade all right we can't do it we cannot do it it's bad business it's not in the best

interest of the taxpayers I get the the the emotional aspect of everybody played basketball there you know um you know mankind was here wrestling in the gym I I get all that that's great right we all have been there the reality is we are not going we really have to make this a goal of this Council I think in this term to with this mayor to decide what we are doing

with this building we can't sit on it it's going to be I'm telling you in five years from now we're all going to look back and say it's just like the police station that has mushrooms growing in the floor and and we don't know what to do with that I'm not saying it's a same type of real estate but I'm saying it has very similar components and attributes it has no parking the

building's in tough shape it's only it's a niche type property that only specific buyers are going to be able to do something and develop doesn't have any Windows right it has failed heating systems it's a tough piece of real estate so I I just I just want to urge like for whatever it's worth that we can't sit on this we can't we cannot do that it's it's not in the best interest

of the taxpayers I applaud you for trying to find other ways to repurpose the building utilizing the council's comments and saying let's make it somewhat of whatever we want to do and I I appreciate and applaud your efforts on that but to my colleagues point in seat 4 I'm going to just say that I'm going to I I'll continue to push for whatever I can to let's do something with that

because I'll tell you right now if December of next year comes and we're in the same situation that the mayor and the administration and with the work of your two committees are out there trying to find buyers to maybe develop it and he we realize it needs too much I think think we should make a move and it might not be politically popular it might not be something people like to hear but if

we have to we have to put this back up for sale or accept an offer that is more appealing that's something we we really need to consider because when looking back at old memories isn't doing anything for today's current tax base right so um May might not be politically popular I really don't care but I'm just telling you my my opinion as a counselor that we need to do we need to figure F

out what we're doing with this and we can't sit on it so I don't know if you if I interrupted you on any more mistake and if you had anything else to say no sir okay thank you I Y thank you counc C I do want to say there is parking at the very limited about 15 spots and not a lot and there are windows in the offices in front point of clarification I a

developer we all know very very well um brought up that issue to me in terms of parking and they have and to give a little hint not going to say his name but they'd have to rent next door to someone who owns a big parking lot there right but there's parking there so well potentially but not owned so parking is an issue Council party hit it right on the head that was it was a tough

political vote for me the administration wanted to move the building to the developer I thought it was appropriate vote but correct to councilor pont's Point um we have to make a decision on this again and revisit this and Mr President that's why we're here we're here because you put it in finance for a discussion sure but if a year goes by and it's still there next December with

nothing I mean everybody has to come to a consensus that something has to happen I think we already agree on that counc we're at that point Thank You C SE six five C vice president you know I sit here and I say oh something needs to happen well what have we been doing for the past year trying to make something happen because that is the last historic building that the city of for River owns

the last historic building think of all the buildings we've had that have been demolished or taken over and this is the last one it could be a community center you could have a tourism office there I mean we have a a Viva for River office on Franklin Street Street in the middle of nothing I mean have it where you've got it connected to what you're doing on the waterfront these people that came

forward with interest the man didn't go and search them they came and said we're interested in this building and both historic and preservation were ready to run and do the things they needed to do to get the grants and money let's start working at that you could rent out so many of those offices to things it would money would be coming in let them handle that like my colleague in seat number

two said they're more experts in it so let them do it but this this company came in this may be viable and it's going to be open to the public it'll be a public location that's my concern we don't value our history in for River we don't we have a beautiful library that was a museum when it first started the children's book started with two books Allison Wonderland and one other book let's stay focused on the

look at how it stay focus on what's before I get you but I am very passionate about the history of this city that we tend to oh we're going to move and do this and do this and I I agree the police station you and I voted to sell to different people the votes weren't here but I agree that should have been sold however I wish Council ponts more times people would listen to

me than they have but it is what it is um but I applaud the administration for working with this group if they can come in and do something fine if they can't then there's a whole committee that want to save the Armory you know they even did that years ago I somebody gave me a button save the Armory so then they can go forward with it but I do agree that the other colleagues should be made

aware of what's transp firing with the Armory maybe you could call everybody I thought people were being notified as well obviously I'm hearing today that they wer it's confidential thing I guess right but to know that at least somebody's interested with that I you Mr President counc C counc Simpson thank you council president so I have to say um I agree with Council Ponte that um

we've got to move this project I think though and I have to say this that we all want to save the omry I was not for um not selling it I thought it should be sold to the developer to save the Armory I think hav we done that it would construction would be underway we would have been moving we can save the omry I think the difference is what are the

uses for it and and that's what we're looking at I mean now we sit a year later we didn't sell the omry not much has happened not the fault of you but now we find that the floor is dirt which is probably why the floor was buckling in there so bad so are we even going to have those people that were interested before want to come back because it's

more money to put in so I think that we all want to save the omry we don't want to see the omry sit there and destroyed what that use for the omry I think that could be up for debate but I I guess my question is um for the city administrator has anyone else besides um this company um come in and asked or excited that it's back on the market or

will be back on the market of people knocking down the doors to buy it or or use it I I guess that question is for anybody I mean what what are people thinking are it's there we have not been contacted by anybody else I know there was talk of a nonprofit being formed during the conversations in front of this Council we haven't heard from them um I would imagine you know maybe

they're just trying to figure out where to go next ducks in a row that sort of thing um but the only uh group that we have heard from is this organization um and those are my concerns is that the longer we wait the more damage is done the more we keep having people inspect the more things are going to pop up and um it's it's just a say it's a shame so

uh with that I yield thank you you Council morning Council kadim thank you um so I wasn't really gonna speak much because I I feel like we're just going around and around on this topic and not really gaining any new information um so the one question I I did have and I I think you folks kind alluded to it but I just want to make sure that we we do get

it on the record so the conversation that's taking place between the mayor and maybe you don't know this officially but um conversations that's taking place between the mayor and the organization that's interested in the building um seems like I guess cost may be something that uh might be a concern to them so are we I guess articulating to them that there is potentials for the the grant

money they they understand I know you mentioned they're located in Sten as well so the sure they're familiar with CPA funds and things that nature so that there's I guess there's a potential not not committing to a dollar amount but there's a potential for a private public partnership in some fashion oh absolutely yeah the mayor's made that very clear that um we'll do what we we must uh to help

if you know if the resources are out there um you know this is something we're looking at and have been looking at um this has been a significant part of of Jasmine's work over the last couple months is looking at what are the opportunities the the unfortunate thing is is when it comes to just basic restoration there's a lot of stuff out there but the the dollar amounts are just not that high considering what

needs to be done right there's there's definitely some very generous grants and and opportunities but when you're looking at a you know 10 to 14 million project you're just not going to you know you'd have to put together a lot of $10,000 grants to get there um there are other ways to to do it obviously Community preservation money is a significant part of that um so yeah we've made that very clear we continue

to make that very clear it's the reason why um the mayor is asking them for the plan and the drawings because you know not only through grants but can we can we show them that this is a this is a more economical place to do business and to build and a rehab um so we're trying to attack it from from all the ways and I guess just to I guess make a statement

well I I guess my second question did you say there's there's no heat on in the building so it's just essentially Cold Storage it's winterized so I think I I don't think there's any liquid in pipes there's no heat on I I think there's it's basically in stat in stus okay um I guess you know my my I guess my only statement would be that we we might want to consider just minimal heat right

to F just internal um I guess saving the building from deteriorating even more I know the envelope itself is secure now that we have the roof and and uh potentially I guess I don't know if the windows are windows are sealed are good they are sealed um but some some type of heat and I know that's just another expense for us but uh just to make sure that you know you're G to get the paint

peeling which is probably minimal because you're going to have to do demo work there anyways but um that's the only thing I would I would suggest but I guess to get piggyback on what my colleague in C 2 had mentioned and then my colleague in seat um it 876 you6 you six okay uh had mentioned and and I uh I I know you had asked the question what are we

looking to do but I I I think internally and it's just whether or not we want to invest uh resources into this building knowing that there's potentially somebody that might be interested in the building but from my standpoint I I agree with uh my colleague and see to that a feasibility study is probably the most advantageous um item to take on uh just just to be able to see what our options

are try to get some public input in terms of what you know the residents want to see in there and if it comes back it's housing then then at least we know um that's what folks want to see uh to me I think that building has a lot more potential than housing I think it's just going to require uh a a greater partnership to for everybody to be creative and get people to the table and

and kind of help facilitate maybe some of the development that's needed in that building so it's not going to be easy but um to me it's just more than memories I didn't realize mankind was there I mean I put mankind higher than Hulk Hogan but I I listen I I you know Paul Hart played there so uh he play everywhere that he's way above Hulk Hogan in my book so um you know I'm all about making

sure that we maintain that building but it but it's it truly isn't about just the memories I think it's uh to council perea's point it's it's really truly the last historic building that we that we own and we want to make sure that we do it right uh too often that you know these historic buildings just either get demolished or you know looking at all these old photos and saying why can't we

bring these buildings back I mean they don't they don't make these buildings anymore so um I I understand it needs to be economically feasible for both a developer um and it needs to make sense that we're not you know wasting taxpayer money but I I I think it goes more Beyond than just that memories uh of that and I think a lot of the generations growing up don't even have

any memories of the of the the building itself it's been closed that long so uh from our standpoint I think we just need to make sure we do the right thing but it's going to take some hard work and and a lot of uh facilitating from from different organizations to get people to the table to to make it interested interesting and and we just we just got to recognize if we want to truly see

this flourish like the potential it has we might just have to invest money you know public money taxpayer money's into that and so I for one would support that in terms of parking I mean we can we can talk about parking you know whether you do housing there you're going to need parking for housing so it it you know it works either way if if it's office space if it's a community center we need the

parking regardless of what it is so it's just let's make sure we get it right um and hopefully you know the organization that's interested in it um continues to be interested in it and pours the money and and then we're talking about this next year when the ribbon cnon is going to be so with that I yield thank you counc just want to point out that councila and I did play they on the same

team during those during those basketball games there was wrestling matches and boxing matches that did occur on occasion just so you'll know three for one just so you'll know counc C2 Council you have a followup yeah I don't know if um you're at liberty to answer the question or not but the interested party um would they be and I don't know a different way to ask the question a for-profit or a nonprofit um it thank

you um yeah so they're nonprofit um I don't know that so the the thing about nonprofits right is that the property that they own is not taxable taxable right yep there's no real you know contribution to city services right by law unless they agree to a pilot from what I understand there are aspects of this organizations's operation that actually could generate some Revenue um but I don't know the

extent of it so that was really the basis for my hesitation I also try to think before I answer some of these questions no they're they're tricky well the reason I asked was um I mean if the if these people are coming out of New York or whatever um obviously they've been successful in other places with everything on the waterfront that's happening and going to be coming our way um I would think that could be

something that would attract people the more people you attract to the city the more people are out to spend money in the city so in in that regard it's going to generate revenue for the city um but the main reason I asked that was being a nonprofit would put them in a position that they are able to apply for Grants and funding that somebody else wouldn't be able to apply for which would help the process you

councel I yield you have a followup as well yeah um what's the process of getting a feasibility study done um there's a number of so we have a couple um they're not really blanket our uh blanket contracts there's a couple what's the name for them we did an RFP about a year ago for um to have on call engineers in Design Services um we would probably look there first to see if we had anybody in that

group of on call um designers and Architects um to see if any of them has experience with historic structures especially you know large historical structures I think you know somebody that just does a lot of historical residence work is different than this you know the stonework the roof uh the you know the flooring and all that sort of thing that's the first place we would look if we didn't have

somebody that was appropriate uh we'd probably have to go outside do another RFP for that because of the cost uh but either way um I think within a few months we could have somebody so is your is your is your priority going to be to do a feasibility study or do you need a vote from this Council for the support to get that done um I don't know that so given those two options I don't

know that I would pick either one to be very honest and here's why um one I I feel like we're um you're you're sort of asking me for an opinion on something that there just hasn't been conversation about on the sixth floor as to like what happens if if this doesn't happen my sense and I've talked to the mayor generally is that we're going to make sure the building is protected no matter what we'll make sure

the building is protected the next step is the thing that there's a lot of different opinions about so if it's a question of a feasibility study um you know that probably is the next step but if there's a different opinion and the mayor decides no that you know i' you know I have somebody else I'm I've been talking to or I know of something else or I want to put the RFP back out uh I

think the the issue we have that may have been a little bit forgotten is that leading up to um the last uh proposed purchaser that we had the one whose whose proposal failed there was a couple folks before that that did look at it that do did due diligence and wanted to to think about this as a as an event space as a retail space as a mixed use space with some

retail and some a Vander cultural space and uh form the opinion that it just wasn't feasible so I think one of the reasons why the the administration probably hasn't done the feasibility study or an update to the one that you've all seen that said it had zero value is that it feels like we would just be confirming what we already know right but if the council needs the see a feasibility study from an independent

person in order to confirm that that's probably the right thing to do but I would have to get the Mayors go ahead to do that praise um that was a great answer thank you to a very simple question question now I am very I'm more animated about it now than I was when I asked the question so let me let me break that down a little bit would would would you say that you

probably want to hold off on the feasibility study right now until you find out what this possible purchaser will do yes okay so when do you expect that timeline to be concluded I think we'll know in a couple weeks couple weeks so in a case in a couple of weeks and the council meets again in a in a couple of weeks not saying you'll have an answer by whenever we meet

next would it be the will of the C I mean I I'd put this in maybe in the form of a motion if I could get a second that if the current potential purchaser is not interested in moving forward to the next phase of a purchase would be to urge the administration to put an RFP out or or find a a company to get us a feasibil feasibility study so we can find out

possibly what the highest and best use of that building would be I think that's probably in the best interest of the community second second is this holding discussion right now if you want to file that type of motion we do a regular meeting in the resolution and can why wouldn't we do that in finance we're just holding we're just holding discussion on the motion to send a letter to the administration there's no

action to be taken on this you can do it at Council can I throw something out that doesn't make any sense Mr President we we don't have it you want to make a motion follow a resolution let everybody vote on it all right that's just delaying the process it's ridiculous it's a council meeting tonight you can do it tonight Council it's fine not it's not in full Council it's not on the

agenda in full Council how am I going to make a a vote put a resolution in you want to refer this item to full council tonight from you can make a resolution whatever you want Council in a regular council meeting doesn't have to be on the agenda to make a resolution on something okay I'm sorry M aen I was just going to say um you could certainly direct the city

to do that um um or urge the city to do that um the wrinkle I might add is is I almost feel like the preservation society and the historical commission given the new status of uh local government and the opportunity to seek grants to support these things and the expertise as uh councelor Dion pointed out in historical Rehabilitation and um standards might actually be in a better position to put together a spec and

commission that feasibility I agree with you yeah um it it would also be something that it's not that the city couldn't find the 60,000 it's that that's not an insignificant amount of money to add in when the budget is already kind of set um and um you know if we can partner with folks that have the opportunity to seek uh grant funding for that sort of thing it would

certainly uh you know be less of a buron um so there's a number of reasons why I think uh to to put it on the city exclusive ly maybe may not be the most effective course of action okay um I'll write a resolution I'll give it to the Clark and we can add it to the City council's full Council which I think is silly I don't know why we can't just

make a motion here table it in the committee on finance and ask you can table Community Finance councel to make them take action on something that they's not going to have any action taken to it is is is what it's silly you can file a resolution you can table it in Cut Finance may I I think the appropriate uh thing is to table this and um I mean we have a representative

from the administration and this uh this issue requires a response from the mayor in a timely fashion it's the will of the council that's all Council seat six will have the floor I'll yeld thank you Mr President thank you what if I just report back on the next meeting have a conversation with the mayor say hey you want to do a fuity study he says yes or no and I'll tell you on the 17th 17th sure

y that Cy too yeah I think the idea of putting it in the hands of the historical commission and preservation Society is a very wise statement um they do have the ability to apply for the funding to pay for the feasibility study so it would not have to come out of the budget or out of the city coffers um and if I'm not mistaken if memory serves me correctly and if I'm

wrong feel free to tell me I don't believe what we got before was a feasibility study I believe it was an appraisal that's true yeah it was an appraisal because there was no speculation as to what might be done with the building just what the cost of replacement would be or or Rehabilitation to the to the to the former condition is that a fair statement so for I mean from my point of

view I think the resolution might be um put in the hands of the historical commission as opposed to the city for the feasibility study they have the expertise they have the ability to to apply for the funding with that I yielded thank you coun there being no further questions thank you all for coming down motion to table has been made is there a second second motion T made in second all in

favor I any opposed item is tabled thank Youk you motion to adjourn Finance motion to adjourn Finance as there a second second all in favor any opposed city council committee on finance is now adjourned regular city council meeting will begin at 7 o'clock

hey hey

city council please come to order the CL we call the Road Council kadim here Dion here Hart here Kilby here Carrera here HTI here raposo here Samson here president C here will everyone in the council ch please rise for a moment of Silent

prayer please remain standing for salute to the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for 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 Madam clerk the first item before you is the mayor's request for the confirmation of the appointment of Nicholas Silva to chief of Emergency Medical Services motion to confirm second motion to confirm has been made and seconded all in favor I any opposed

motion carries congratulations Chief

congratulations beautiful family cute little girl little ribbon in her hair the shoelaces matching ribbon too for him M CLK item two of the mayor's requests for confirmation of reappointments to the library Board of Trustees the first is for Katherine Clarkin motion to confirm second motion to confirm has ad made in second all in favor I I any opposed motion carries the second is for Sharon

L Quinn motion to confirm second motion to confirm made in second all in favor I any opposed motion carries in third is for Fran e rackin motion to confirm second motion to confirm is made in second all in favor I any opposed motion carries item number three is a communication from the mayor in an order accepting a donation in the amount of $70,000 from the Josephine M Turner trust to be used for general maintenance

and repair of memorials and structures at Oak grve Cemetery motion to adopt motion to adopt has I made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries have the traffic commission recommending amendments to the ordinances motion first on ordinances second motion to refer to the committee on ORD legislation has a made in seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries it's up to you does the council

need the clerk to read the entire resolution no you can just read the abbreviation part so motion to adopt the resolution um is asking that the council urge the approval of the 3M 310 CMR 9.21 variant request sought by 52 Fairy Street LLC motion to adopt second second motion to adopt hasn't made and seconded all in favor any opposed I'd like um could we have Council kadim filed this if he just

wants to give a brief rundown of what this is for you like I think it's a good idea but yeah so I I was I was approached by uh Mike Lund because he's looking to uh get support for a new Mariner in front uh of his his business so um I put this forward I think it's just going to be the fact that we have a a new Mariner out there would attract to

the uh the businesses down in the Waterfront and uh be beneficial so I told him I would absolutely file it I think him and his family do a phenomenal job down uh off of Ferry Street in uh bordon bordon light Marina so I I think this would be a benefit for for the I agree thank you for filing it I I think it's a great a great idea so support with that I yield thank you

Council motion to adopt Hazard meeting second all in favor I any opposed motion carries item six is a citation um for ELC odet for the celebration of her H 100th birthday motion to adopt motion to adopt has been made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries item seven is the order granting permission to Mass Electric company for the two new solely owned polls and one anchor on

High Street motion to adopt second motion to adopt has a made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries we have the order granting permission to Sacred Heart lops LLC for the removal of curbing at 160 lyen Street motion to adopt motion to adopt has am in second all in favor I any opposed motion carries item nine is the order granting permission to Jeffrey Fado for removal

of curbing at 118 Primal Street motion to adopt second motion to adopt has been made in second all in favor I any opposed motion carries have the police chief's report on licenses motion to adopt second motion to adopt Chief's report has been made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries item 11 is the application for the renewal of an auto repair shop license at 1138 Pleasant Street we did receive

recommendations of denial by the police chief and the city collector motion to refer to regulations second motion to refer to the committee on regul viations has been made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries have claims motion for the corporation councel second motion further claims The Corporation Council has been made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries item 13 was a request um

from a business owner regarding the lack of emergency exit easement at 239 Bedford Street we did receive a follow-up email um at the end of the day yesterday um the gentleman is requesting that this item be granted leave to gr motion to Grant Le to withdraw has been made and seconded all in favor any opposed motion carries have a drain layer application motion to approve motion to approve the

drain layers application as a made and seconded all in favor I I any opposed motion carries we have minutes of the Zoning Board of appeal motion accept place on file second motion accept the minutes accept and place on file has been made and seconded all in favor I I any opposed motion carries have minutes of the committee on finance held on November 19th motion to approve second

motion to approve has a Mee and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries we have the minutes of the regular meeting of the city council held on November 19th motion to approve second motion to approve has been made and seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries have a communication from DP regarding a the responsibility of diesel fuel release um at 14 Rodman Street Mo should accept place on

motion to accept and place on file has been made and seconded all in favor question counc seat One automatically get refer to the Board of Health I believe they were also notified okay thank you motion has been made in seconded all in favor I any opposed motion carries item 19 is um on behalf of gei Consultants a communication and notice of a release abatement measure plan for 120 Charles Street motion accept place

on file motion accept and place that file has a made in second all in favor I any opposed motion carries and lastly we have the mayor's communication and an order accepting a donation in the amount of $500 for the follow of the public library from climate democracy motion to adopt motion to adopt has a made and second all in favor I any on the motion counc seven just curious the $500 to use

library in a general sense any particular purpose we do have a communication from the library administrator it simply says that it would be used by the library good enough thank you thank you councel motion has been made and seconded to adopt all in favor any opposed motion carries that's all we have hold on we have a resolution you want to file councelor I mean yeah I'm sure I read I

wrote it well if we adjourned you're not going to be able to vote it in so now would be the can you can you read it can you give it to the clerk I give it to the clerk I don't know if she can read my handwriting but you can read it and and you can interpret it whatever I like when cops AR see sex read I like what eles tell

stories that's impressive really perocho school fth till fifth grade quick where is the bank Street Armory is currently reviewing a bid for the bank Street Armory whereas a buyer should have an answer in a matter of weeks be it resolved if this buyer does not move forward that the administration explore a feasibility study to determine the highest and best use of the property wow motion to adopt motion to adopt has a

remain in second all in favor I any opposed motion carries motion to adj Second motion to adjourn has been made in second of all in favor I any opposed motion carries good night everybody good job meeting is now adjourned

over over

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