3.14.2023 - 2023 State of the City Address

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join me in the city council and school committee will come to order clerk will call the road houses Kadeem Dion here Kilby here La Liberty here Pelletier Pereira here raposo here Washington here president Camaro 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 the

touch recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and not deemed acknowledged and permissible at this point will the chair of the school committee please call the room

America at this point I want to introduce the honorable mayor Paul E Coogan for the state of the City address

thank you well we missed the snow so God must be taking care of us in Fall River tonight good evening honorable members of the city council school committee members of our legislative delegation it's an honor to be with you for the 2023 state of the City address it is great to see business owners department heads board and commission members division managers and of course our residents who have joined us here in

the city council chambers or have tuned in at home thank you for being a part of this extended Fall River team that works day in and day out to move our city forward this team is led by an outstanding group of elected officials I'd like to recognize our city council our school committee who are both here with us today I also want to recognize our partners in state government that are

here I thank them all for their hard work in Boston Senator Michael Rodricks Representatives Carol Fiola Alan Sylvia and Paul Schmidt who will be missed in um I'm sorry for Thanking us I'd like to thank the baker Polito administration too who now are no longer with us they've been great for Fall River and it's been a terrific first few months with our team of Maura Healy and lieutenant governor Kim Driscoll there

is no doubt that they will continue to support the amazing partnership that we have established with the state in Washington we have a tremendous group of advocates in Senator Elizabeth Warren Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Jake Austin Kloss and I must take a moment of course to thank my anchor my wife Judy all my supporters my family and everyone else for their love and support they keep me

energized and they keep me grounded and of course I must thank all of our city employees who work hard day in and day out to serve the residents and prepare our city for the future there are a number of department heads here and together we work to make Fall River a better place I want to acknowledge our police chief Paul Garvin our fire chief Roger St Martin our EMS director Tim Oliveira and

our EMA director Rick aguiar they keep our community safe healthy and protected foreign

and I'd like to introduce a few new faces in Fall River since we last spoke Bridget almond is here she's our new CFO Cara hum our arpa coordinator Al Oliveira is in a new role overseeing facilities and Public Works Dan Lanes a City Assessor Cedric Souza is our assistant auditor and Jasmine Pereira is our new grant writer and only a few weeks ago we hired a new veteran service officer Michelle

Hamilton I look forward to working with her to improve the quality of life for the residents who fought for this country I want to take a quick moment tonight to acknowledge and thank our veterans who have made it possible for all of us to be here today with these new faces and our existing leadership we are focused on improving the culture and services within Government Center we have entered a new era in Fall River

one of energy hope and unprecedented growth and it has taken a lot of time and effort for Fall River to get where we are today and I am extremely honored to serve as mayor during this important time in history the job of Mayor city council and members of the city Administration is to balance the pressing problems of today while setting a foundation for the future I'd like to take time tonight to discuss

the challenges and solution plans and trends that Define our city and I'd also before I go too far I'd like to acknowledge a few other people that joined us tonight we have with us our state auditor Diana dezaglia um our former mayor will Flanagan we also have Caleb White from Senator Warren's office and Dana Hansen was nice enough to join us from Jake ockenclaw's office now let's look at our finances

like all communities in household we are grappling with inflation the cost of materials and services is risen with it our operating costs as we deal with Staffing shortages across the city Department's Public Safety agencies and our school department we have had to increase wages and salaries to reflect the cost of living and to attract and retain Talent and the goal of this Administration is

to try to keep the financial burden off of the residents fortunately the city is in a stronger financial position than we have been in years we currently have eight and a half million dollars in our stabilization fund with another 2.6 million available in free cash and we also have a large portion of our Opera funds remaining Arbor funds have given us the ability to invest in much needed Capital Improvement projects

without using funds from the existing budget some of these are infrastructure projects large and small upgrades to our Parks Trail and green spaces we've even bought some graffiti removal machines and we're working on a new website and software upgrades to improve city services and so many more a full list of all the Opera allocations can be found on the city's website projects represent important one-time

Investments that will improve the health safety and quality of life for our residents for years to come Beyond Opera which will not be around forever we still have reasons to be positive about Revenue growth in the future and our Administration is constantly seeking ways to cut costs and identify new Revenue sources however these projections about the future mean little to Residents who are

feeling the impact of our new tax obligations and the rising cost of living right now especially as Education costs crowd our budget and although we are a hundred percent appreciative of this new Educational Funding we receive from the state through the student Opportunity Act it has triggered an increase in net School spending obligation Fall River is in a unique position as we experience this increase it's at the

same time that we that our contributions to the new diamond and Durfee High School roll onto our taxes when you combine the growing size of net School spending and our payments for two new high schools the rest of our budget for example Public Safety and all of our city service money gets Tighter and Tighter as a solution my Administration is planning a home rule Petition of course with council's approval to

solicit the state legislature asking for a change in how they calculate net School spending each City and Town's contribution to education is mandated by law but our required contribution does not take into consideration the millions of dollars that we pay for school transportation or the payments we make for our schools bonds for example diamond and Durfee if our petition passes we can expect to

free up close to 11 million dollars which we can then use to offset the bonds for diamond and Durfee however this petition may take time and residents need financial relief now that is why I am announcing tonight for the second year in a row we will use a portion of our Opera loss Revenue funding to cut this year's Durfee High School contribution in half and provide relief to taxpayers right now

at the end of the day despite the strain on our budget we have an unprecedented amount of funding being provided to our schools within the fall this fall of the school department we have faced some challenges as most of the schools across the country especially when it comes to Staffing and recruitment another another major hurdle that has been getting students caught up academically while

balancing the social emotional impact of covid on our students still our Educators have been doing a fantastic job getting our students back on track we have added dozens of new positions to meet the Mental Health social and emotional needs of our kids and there's more to come we have been aggressive with our recruitment efforts and our attempts to fill both new and existing positions and and we have also grown our

partnership with UMass Dartmouth to help over a hundred new Young teachers get their master's degrees this has been a fantastic tool for our district to grow Talent from within in the near future the school department is looking to rapidly expand Pre-K offerings in the city meeting another major need if we move on to Public Safety which we know is a top priority for most of the residents here tonight

similar to our school department recruitment has been a major struggle for our Public Safety agencies particularly our police force officers have done a tremendous job these last few years under extremely difficult conditions however our goal is to fill the Department's vacancies so officers have the support and Manpower they need we have invested in Creative Solutions to meet that goal the fall the Fall River School

Department launched an initiative for a police department sorry guys to launch an initiative to provide loans to those entering the police academy the city agrees to pay The Upfront costs for equipment and will forgive the loan once the recruit serves five years in Fall River the this way we can eliminate one of the major hurdles to joining the force and retain our new recruits for years to come

we also negotiated a new contract with our police putting our salaries on par with other communities the fall of the EMS division also saw an increase this has been an important measure to address similar staffing issues our fire department is adding 10 new recruits right now getting them set to enter the academy all branches of Public Safety police Fire EMS and EMA have worked through

periods of financial strain and have made do with limited or outdated equipment that is why we have made long overdue investments in technology vehicles and training for our Public Safety agencies these include new medical rescue vehicles improvements to our 9-1-1 dispatch system police cars and much more for the fire we have purchased a new ladder truck a new pumper turnout gear breathing apparatus and a refurbished

three other additional pieces of equipment that we can use as backups an arpa funds have been used to purchase body cameras and the software needed to run them the body camera program for our offices is expected to be rolled out by the summer and we hope that will increase trust and transparency between the police and the public over the last few years our Public Safety agencies have become key players

in our efforts to address issues of mental health substance abuse and homelessness like most communities across the country we have seen an increase in our homeless population and in the need for Substance Abuse Prevention and treatment the first step in and the Tomato Center our overflow shelter sadly have been very very busy this winter but we have been fortunate to have 37 extra beds to accommodate that demand

as we see right the rising need for services we will be opening the city's first homeless drop-in center where individuals can access the support they need whether it's assistance with housing employment or health care with CDA funding we have purchased new Outreach Vans and soon we'll have two other trailers one that will have portable bathrooms and showers another with a mobile washer and dryer

and through a Federal grant we have a six person team called the fast team this group which is integrated with the police department and includes a fall of a police department officer who works around the clock to connect people with the services they need Fall River has also received a large pot of money from the national opioid settlements and we are working with a consultant to inventory our current

services and make long-term plans on how to use these funds in the middle of a national housing crisis we hear all the time from our residents about the rising cost of rent and we're looking to create a new facility called single room occupancy and Supportive Service for some of our residents we are also partnering with the housing authority to start a program called moving on which will help those

living in public housing transition out this not only helps residents improve the quality of their life but it also frees up units that are in high demand with our community development agency we have worked to expand affordable housing in Fall River we have recently created 23 affordable units across the city and two more projects are in the work that will bring in another 40 units in the middle of a housing crisis

bringing any new or renovated units into the housing market is a top priority and one major goal of my Administration has always been to support the private Rehabilitation of housing stock this gets properties back on the tax rolls it eliminates the safety risks and Ice laws of our abandoned property and it helps us meet the demand for housing and if you take a ride around Fall River you will see

house after house being renovated in one form or another long abandoned schools are being renovated now the Lincoln School the Notre Dame school and two former Atlantis Charter buildings are all in process or being renovated right now we have also see growth in our single family home construction and duplexa townhouse style developments which balances our housing market and accommodates the needs of our residents

and interest and investment in fall river is not limited strictly to housing Fall River has gained a reputation as an affordable welcoming place for companies large and small right now our main struggle when it comes to supporting industry in fall river is one simple word space our three business parks in the North End of the city right now have an occupancy rate of 95 percent large projects are in the works to help

meet this demand for example 20 acres of land was recently purchased to build the new campus at Innovation Way which will create 950 000 square feet of space this project alone is expected to bring in hundreds of jobs adding to the six thousand plus already in that area of Fall River offshore wind is another industry that is set to expand in Fall River the South Coast wind project is set to create 250

full-time jobs and we can expect further growth down the line many of fall River's past struggles were partially because of our Reliance on the textile industry we didn't have the diversity or the flexibility to Pivot once manufacturing jobs moved today we have so many different Industries and employees expanding in Fall River from distribution manufacturing biomedical science Cold Storage much much more

fall River's unemployment rate is of December of 22 was 5.6 percent compared to 7.3 percent just a year ago this is a 20 decrease in our unemployment ten years ago our unemployment rate was 10.6 around twice as high as it is today of course to support fall River's growth and to improve the quality of life for our residents we must invest in Long needed infrastructure and capital Improvement projects

and the city certainly has a hefty to-do list with many streets sidewalks parks and water mains in need of repair funding is a constant challenge for these large projects we utilize all kinds of funding like our annual chapter 90 fronts from the state or grants from the federal government to get these projects done we also strategize with our Utility Partners like Liberty Utilities and our very own

water department to coordinate efforts and find ways to save money this city is slated for another very very busy summer of construction when it comes to streets and high sidewalks they'll be being done everywhere I hope you all agree with me that the temporary detours are sure a hassle but they are well worth it down the road some of the construction you see may be repairs to our water infrastructure like

Mains and Lead Services into our homes a combination of Opera funds and grant money have resulted in around 25 million dollars towards water infrastructure in the coming years and we have invested a million dollars of arpa funds for tree plantings and stump removals across the city which will complement the work on our streets and sidewalks the city has purchased two new street sweepers with Opera and we will be

expanding our residential street sweeping Services beginning in the spring and everyone knows I hate litter we are also in the midst of a multi-million dollar campaign to repair and upgrade our city parks from 20 to 22 we invested over three million dollars in parks with a little under eight million dollars committed for ongoing and future projects new relaxed Opera regulations were

recently announced freeing up even more money for infrastructure of course one area in particular is seeing unprecedented in infrastructure investment after Decades of work Farmers Waterfront is about to undergo a major transformation the two important features of this revitalization are well underway Route 79 and South Coast rail Take a Ride by High-Speed Rail will be fully operational at the end of the year

and will re-establish the commuter rail from Boston to Fall River for the first time since 1959.

the 135 million dollar Route 79 project is Broken Ground and will be completed by 2026. this will result in 19 Acres of space along fall River's Waterfront Waterfront which we can use for things like mixed juice housing restaurants coffee shops office space retail Recreation anything you can think of the Route 79 project is expected to bring in over 600 million dollars in private investment and generate hundreds of

thousands of dollars in new tax revenue for our city the main challenge that comes with a project like 79 and other developments down there is of course the need for parking we are working with massdot and other partners to identify temporary locks that can be used this summer while we adapt to these new traffic patterns we've had a slight change to our plans to relocate the salt sheds under the

Braga Bridge we'll still be doing it to open up more spots and we will be able to combine state and city property next to the sheds to create 200 permanent and seasonal off-street parking spots and we also plan to add a pedestrian walkway through Pond Street hopefully to connect to the back of those Mills we also hope to expand parking and create new commercial or recreational recreational space at the former Liberty

Utilities complex on anawan Street significant remediation work is finally coming to an end and the Redevelopment Authority expects to close on the property in August and the Waterfront is home to some of our many attractions and it is destined to be a hub for visitors and residents alike while there is need to uplift all of the great things in fall river that we offer we have a long way to go before

we begin can be considered a true travel destination and we need to be thoughtful about how we invest in tourism using arpa funds the city has formalized the partnership with local organization Viva Fall River to complete a two-year tourism pilot program of sorts UMass Dartmouth Charlton School of Business has assembled a team of Consultants to conduct a tourism study something that to my knowledge has never

been done in the city this study will help us set a Baseline and goals for the future which can be used if and when the city decides to hire a full-time in-house tourism director we are also looking to lease or purchase trolleys so that we can use them for future tourism projects and events as you can see we share many challenges with the rest of the nation like the rising cost of living and Staffing shortages

and we also have a number of unique advantages like the explosion of private interest in housing or industrial space and the number of transformative infrastructure projects going on in our city in between the major projects and Trends I spoke about tonight there are always small challenges and small victories that I simply don't have time to talk about or elaborate on whether it's

correcting traffic traffic patterns at Durfee Atlanta so Letourneau pursuing a right revitalization plan all along Pleasant Street or continuing to work with developers on the bank Street Armory and the former police station those things haunt me we work every single day on issues like these with one goal move the city forward and just so you all know I love my job as mayor I love the daily

challenges and I do love the residents of this city this is a great City that I do love together we will continue to work forward what I know can be a bright future for the city of Fall River thank you all very much for listening a little long God bless you and God bless the city of forever thank you guys thank you

entertaining to a antenna motion to a joint meeting seconded all in favor aye any opposed motion carries this meeting is now adjourned