3.14.2023 Fall River City Council

foreign

Dion here Kilby here little liberty chair Pelletier Herrera 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 20 medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or perceived by those present

and not deemed acknowledged and permissible motion open the public hearing second mission has made to open the public hearing has been made and seconded all in favor aye any opposed and we'll take them all together as we did last time the first one John gonzov's 149 Simmons Street Rehoboth Mass 02769 for the renewal of curbing as follows 644 Prospect Street and also on Robeson Street on the corner

existing opening is at 644 Prospect Street is 17 feet curb to be removed is 14 feet on the robesonside street curve to be added is none combined opening proposed after alteration is 17 feet on process 644 Prospect Street 14 feet on Robertson street both streets combined is 31 feet the possible van is on the corner lot with an existing 17 foot driveway curb opening on Prospect Street the owner is

proposing to create a new 14 feet driveway curb opening on Robeson Street this will result in a total combined opening of 31 feet the applicant shall also be required to repair any and all sidewalk roadway curbing affected by this construction activity item number is there any proponent to this public hearing any proponent is there any opponent the opponent's seeing none we move on to

the next one number two Cynthia tevs 26 McGowan Street for the removal of curbing as follows at 26 Montgomery Street existing opening is 12 feet curve to be removed is seven feet there's no curb to be added combined opening proposed after alteration is 19 feet the parcel of land has an existing 12-foot driveway curb opening on McGowan Street the owner of his proposing to extend that opening by removing an

additional seven feet of curbing resulting in a total of opening of 19 feet the applicant shall be required to repair any and all sidewalk roadway curbing affected by this construction activity is there any proponent to this public hearing are there any opponents to this public hearing seeing none we'll move on to item number three 82 Hartwell Street LLC 82 Hartwell Street for the removal of curbing as

follows at 82 Hartwell Street the existing opening is 16 feet grab to be removed would be removed is 6.5 feet curb to be added is none combined open and proposed after alteration is 22 and a half feet the existing commercial building is serviced by a 16 foot curb opening driveway on Hotwell Street the owner is proposing to extend the existing opening by six feet six and a half feet for a

total of 22 and a half feet the applicant shall also be required to repair any and all sidewalk roadway curbing affected by this construction activity is there are there any proponents to this public hearing seeing none are there any opponents to this public hearing seeing none we move on to item number four Louis colon for Downing Street for removal of curbing as follows at 4 Downing Street

and actually this is a on half a street as well both sides combined existing Opening 12 feet and half a street curb to be removed is 16 feet at 4 Downing Street there is no curb to be added a combined open proposed after alteration is 38 feet combined between four Downing Street and Hanford Street the existing parcel of land is at the corner lot with an existing 12-foot driveway curb opening on Hafford Street

the owner is proposed to create a new 16-foot Drive way curb opening on Downing Street this would result in a total opening of 28 feet the applicant shell also be required to repair any and all sidewalk roadway curbing affected by this construction activity are there any proponents to this public hearing you know proponent you in favor of it yeah want to come down and speak and state your name and address please for

the record and speak into the microphone please yes hi uh my name is Louis Tomlin thank you my name is Louis colon I am the landlord of Fort Downing Street and I have a four uh first floor uh tenant with three little children and um she's been complaining about cars driving by and I guess there's a couple handicap spots that are almost closer to her house and she has to park far away

and she's struggling with uh putting the kids in the car so I I promised her that I would uh uh fight for the for the driveway for her there is a garage but it belongs to the third floor and there's no room for her car and she's here today I don't know if she wants to speak we don't it's up to you again if you like to okay all right thank you that's that's good

enough for us I think thank you all right thank you very much thank you are there any other proponents other than the tenant who is in favor okay seeing none other are there any opponents to this public hearing any opponents seeing none we move on to item number five Carlos Estrella 3820 North Main Street for the removal of curbing as follows at 3820 North Main Street there is no existing opening curb to

remove to be removed is 32 feet could to be added as none combined opening proposal after alteration is 32 feet the owner is proposing a 32 feet curb opening to access a proposed multi-family building the applicant has received site plan review approval the applicant shall be required to repair any and all sidewalk roadway and curbing affected by this construction activity are there any proponents to this public

hearing seeing none are there any opponents to this public hearing seeing none we move on to item number six George Brooks 600 Montgomery Street for the removal of curbing as follows at 600 Montgomery Street existing opening is 16 feet curve to be removed is six feet crib to be added to zero combine opening proposed after alteration is 22 feet Apostle of land has an existing 16-foot

driveway curb opening on Montgomery Street the owner is proposing to extend that opening by removing an additional six feet of curbing resulting in a total opening of 22 feet the applicant shall be required to repair any and all sidewalk roadway curbing affected by this construction activity are there any proponents to this public hearing one proponent please come on down to take your name and address for the

record and

George Brooks I am the owner and Resident at 600 Montgomery Street Fall River in favor of this I applied for it so what's your favorite what would you like to tell us about it when you're coming down just well when I bought the house I had no driveway no garage so we made a driveway for my wife and I to park our cars next to each other and 16 feet isn't a lot of room to open

doors with two cars next to each other so we just want to make it a little bit bigger so there's a little more room fair enough thank you so much for coming down thank you are there any other proponents to this seeing none are there any opponents to this public hearing seeing none we move on to item number seven Martha Rosa 97 Terry Marie Way for the removal of curbing as follows at 97

Terry Marie way there is no existing opening you could have to be removed there's 26.2 feet curb to be added to zero combined opening proposed after alteration is 26.2 feet the owner recently purchased a new construction home where the contractor installed the driveway with 26.2 feet of coil opening is are there any proponents to this public hearing seeing none are there any oh you're a proponent yeah

purple you're in favor of it yes okay come on down and state your name and address for the record please and state your case foreign 66 Phillip Street and follow River I was the developer of that property the um the driveways is about 26 feet wide it was it was put in by um a licensed contractor in the city it turns out that it's wider than what the normal opening should be but nobody knew

at the time and he since passed away and we had somebody come in and pave the the driveway that he had prepared so I mean there were no other houses on that street but the two that I think of before you tonight um the only other openings on that street are across the street for condominium developments with about 35 feet of driveway of you know openings so there's no we're not taking any parking

away from any of the houses there that's about it I don't I don't believe the owners are here but I know they had a hearing so I just came down to support them thank you very much thank you are there any other proponents to this public hearing seeing none are there any opponents to this public hearing seeing none we move on to item number eight Jamal Irish 111 Terry Marie Way for the removal of

curbing as follows at 111 Terry Murray way existing opening is none curving to be removed is 25.5 feet equipped to be added is none combined opening proposed after alteration is 25 and a half feet the owner recently purchased a new construction home with the contractor installed the driveway with 25.5 feet of crib opening um that's it is there any proponents to this public hearing opponent as well come on down

you want to come down as well your proponent you're in favor of it you want to speak you don't have to if you like to you can still Desperado again I was the developer of that property as well Jamal who's sitting right there is the owner so same same applies the driveway was put in by the uh engineer contractor that we had we just finished it off and that was the width

of it there's no it doesn't seem to be any reason why it uh it shouldn't be approved it's there's nobody that's interfering with I agree and Jamal's uh the owner here if you want to come down it's up to you you purport you want to come down and speak or you don't have to if you want to you can if you don't want to you don't have to automatic okay but you're a proponent of this

correct yeah okay all right are there any opponents to this public hearing any opponents seeing none oh should I close the public hearing the motion to close the public hearing has been made and seconded all in favor aye any opposed public hearing is now closed pay the motion to adjourn motion public hearing motion to adjourn a public hearing has been made is there a second second all in favor aye any opposed public

hearings no regime need to take a two-minute reset so you guys want to keep going

thank you City College Community order clerk will call the road councilors Kadeem Dion yeah Kilby here well Liberty yeah Pelletier Ferreira here reposo here Washington yes yes 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 meaning to any medium attendees are therefore advise the touch

recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or perceived by those present and not deemed acknowledged and permissible we have a number of individuals signed up to come before us first we have Charles Chase um I don't really know what the subject matter is here I can't see well come down please Mr Charles Chase you have three minutes

thank you allowing me to speak today um and I appreciate what uh the way I was treated the last time I was here you can see very much if you like um well before sitting down I'm accustomed to any meeting I go to that I say that the Pledge of Allegiance we say the Pledge Allegiance at our regular city council meeting which will take place right after this meeting we say the

Pledge of Allegiance before we start the regular city council meeting which will take place right after this Finance meeting we say to every meeting all right thank you um first of all regarding the mayor's State of the State of the city um I have a little input um back in the 1950s the mid-1950s I used to travel through Fall River uh Fall River in New Bedford my father would make me

close the windows and lock the doors as I was driving him out to New Jersey to work it wasn't the nicest place in the world we thought and kind of dangerous I hear danger now but I don't feel that anymore I've been here for about 35 years and I think much has improved and it's it's really a pleasant place to live I just wanted to add that to what the

mayor had been saying there has been a lot of improvement here um I wanted to speak about the Armory today regarding the armory apparently it's up for a sale for two hundred thousand dollars according to the newspaper and I think that's a tragedy for the city that is one beautiful place I myself spent many years as a curator of museums this is one of the many jobs I did at the same time

as a curator and also as the chairman of the historical commission up in Middleboro I would hate to see that building be turned into something else I think the city could find much better uses for it and much better a better you know ways to use uh use it from you know tourism to you you name it there are a lot of things that could be done it is in a state of uh you know

under repair right now and very dirty inside from the pictures that I saw um I I hope that if something is done to save it for the city that the city citizens we all I will volunteer uh that this we have volunteers who go and help to clean that up and make you know give it what it deserves uh that was uh one of my worries I I

pray that uh it is not let out of the city's hands you have 30 seconds left Mr Jason and the last thing I want to mention is regarding unfortunately the school committee is not here but uh it's regarding the way the schools have run vocalism should not be used in the school's parents should have the right to find out what the kids are learning and how they are learning it

um there are many things such as I was at the library and was ashamed to see some of the books here we go we have to rethink our um you know morality I would say thank you so much Mr Chase thank you thank you thank you next we have Nelson Vasquez such metaphorical

a second uh well I guided myself here wow however what a beautiful crazy Stone speech that was you know he left out a lot of things here um again Nelson basketball 210 sons of Hell Fall River you know as I'm sitting there I'm shaking my head because he forgot to talk about some things that's currently going on first education you see we have school employees who work diligently to educate our children

and there's no question about that but this is from the state and we're not meeting expectations grades three through eight and grades 10 across the board and then 20 million dollars is coming down for more education and he's cited that the budget is going to be tight even though he is still giving out pay raises so so that's education crime I mean look image after image shootings stabbings

you name it he has done nothing to reign in the chaotic Police Department that I will find officers have to deal with every single day and that decreases morale it's so bad that just seven years ago you know we all know how crime was but let's bring it further you know just two years ago we were ranked seventh as the most dangerous city according to the FBI seventh and then two years later we're number one

it's all right here number one he didn't want to talk about that because he has no record to stand up because he has done literally nothing in regards to housing we all know what happened he had nothing to say when the woman called for him to talk about his plan but what's his plan let's transition out low-income families out from where they are but transition where the average rent is seventeen hundred

dollars well 300 shy from what Newton is paying in our average household income for for Fall River is 46 000. what the hell are they going to go that this is his answer but you want to know who else is not talking about transition people out is this mayor right here who was using Opera funds to to build I don't know affordable units to keep people in inside New Bedford this guy just talked about more of

exclusion this is this is just absurd this is his answer let's let's let's transition people who cannot afford Seventeen hundred dollars this is why New Bedford has it right and we have it wrong he ought to be embarrassed of himself you know what this is this was him just the other day trying on VR glasses okay virtual reality you know it's it's so bad that he literally fails to acknowledge what's going on and then

fails to acknowledge his own leadership yes sir is that not even virtual reality will enable him to see a failing school system high crime and father residents being priced up this man ought to be embarrassed he ought to just resign because that that plan he put forward is a disgrace and when we have other Mayors trying to keep their citizens in this city thank you very much that's

imperative thank you thank you thank you Madam who got invited

three minutes Mr season thank you well hello everyone I'm back happy New Year Merry Christmas been a long time but um I just I just stayed away for a little bit because I came to the conclusion that three minutes they will give it to us to address the uh the the chairman and the councils it's not enough time we don't have 50 people sign up to speak to you so but here he goes

three minutes and on the meantime too uh doing those three minutes City councils had to go to the bathroom had to refill water so it's three minutes they lost from our import that I think it's important no one's going to the bathroom feeling well you have a full attention right now okay so um who got invited that's what I want to talk about we have somebody on the sixth floor that this Council just give her eight

thousand dollar last year race that it's supposed to be working on emails and contacting us just for curiosity I went back on my emails the last time that I got email from the sixth floor was January 10th at 305.

2022.

and this is somebody that got eight thousand dollar raise on a budget last year for this year I don't know if it's another increase there but I will lock for that okay so let's stop talking about La La Land and talk about Fall River and let's talk about the Flint the state of deflate for this year stabbings shootings I don't think we had any this year there right okay I think I got my message

out Economic Development new business two businesses had to retire because they could not sell their business and they opened for 40 years I have two more retiring next year because they cannot sell their business and they wanted them it's in business for 45 years they're gonna go they're going to shut down why because they tired of fighting homeless sleeping outside their door every day

it's nothing I can do it's no connection it's no communication between neighborhoods and administration it's not so that the mayor didn't even mention neighborhoods he acknowledged residents wow half or the majority of the people who was working for the city so they had to be here they have to honor their president okay and the others just regular citizens well let me tell you Mr Mayor Niagara neighborhoods

South End Maplewood Bank Street this is not just ordinary residents these people work for free for years for this city they want the best for the city they're not just a regular resident acknowledge what the neighborhoods they come from the neighborhoods they fight for every day doesn't matter who's sitting on the sixth floor Pleasant Street Corridor was our saver who's going to save he's gonna all the

buildings gonna be sold again 15 seconds first meeting was January of last year second meeting was August of last year where's the corridor where's the economic development for Pleasant streets I got calls asking I don't know I don't know anything call the sixth floor I have no idea I have no phone calls I have no Communications and by what I saw today here that tells me not any other

neighborhoods have communication so with this Administration Carlos we need to wrap it up and I would suggest you I refer that maybe we should have a meeting in the office of Economic Development or maybe the council has a committee on economic development and we should if you want more time that would be the appropriate place to get it um so we can discuss this one I appreciate

other people's I appreciate it could you wrap it up when you get a chance that's my three minutes thank you thank you I think that would be the proper channel to go down colors so we have Robert Barlow subject matter Fall River

thank you thank you I probably want to fight Batman Forever got to give a hats off for me Public Safety he gave a game a contract good job got to fix a lot of other things in the city because I do go out and drop off supplies to homeless and our last run I got to tell you it's just getting worse and worse and I don't know what the fix is

I don't think it's the first step in it's just it's just not getting there and I mean just the bottom of Kennedy Park first time we did it we had two tenths now last count there was 14 and the total count was well well over 120 that we count ourselves that are out there that hopefully got shelter for this little storm but I mean I don't know what he's going to do I heard something about Gilbert's

Jewelers he was supposed to do something with that miraculously nothing's got done I I mean he it we have to do something because it's just getting worse and worse every time we go there's more and and as families literally mother and son living in cars it's just I don't know what his plans are but he's out of touch he's out of touch with these neighborhood groups and I Gotta Give she's a credit I mean I

call this guy Sunday they were down there playing hockey supposedly they got Security on celebrating shirts this guy was sleeping in his car well there were people in that milk and when I told them there were people in the middle he went right to where an open door was mind you he said I'm God and all he did was basically brace the door so guess what if they let a fire there goes Direction I mean it's

just something's got to be done about that MILF has to be done and they're starting to use that rank to play hockey every Sunday and the group's getting bigger and bigger and they've said that Rick is is damaged it needs to repair I don't know if you guys can send somebody down there but it really does these guys deserve it there's little kids playing and it's every every Sunday they're down there

take a trip they get down there about 9 30 and they played all about 12. every Sunday but hopefully we can reign in something to do with this homeless stuff because it's just getting worse every time we go out there's more people more tents that that's what I gotta say I mean we have to do it thank you very much thank you thank you

next we have transfer Appropriations demand and orders appropriating 1A 183 000 from the operating Reserve fund two and there's a few of them so I'm gonna do more by order collect the salaries for retirement buyout of twenty thousand dollars purchasing salaries reorganization fifty thousand dollars City Administration retirement buyout fourteen thousand dollars code enforcement salaries contract settlement

eighty seven thousand dollars help and administrative salaries contract settlement three thousand eight hundred dollars City Council salaries retirement buyout five hundred dollars Council on Aging salaries contract settlement seven thousand seven hundred dollars any discussions on item 1A any of those please I don't

control T2 good evening good evening I'm gonna assume that two out of the three retirement buyouts we didn't know in advance it was something that came up yes that's correct well no the second retirement bio there was money budget it was just a little short of what the amount ended up being in the city Administration no so the city Administration we did not know about and the collectors we were

not aware of until after the budget was passed and didn't happen so the third one sorry third one yeah yeah that was anticipated just short yep okay um the re-log in purchasing salaries um is it did we 've finally put somebody in that in the position of purchasing agent um what so that had to do with the um the reorganization that came down uh months ago this is just realigning it so there

was a person that was doing the position but it was just a stipend for that so we actually have a person that's dedicated to the doing that full-time so we actually had to put a full-time salary in that line yeah I think the statement was 10 000 give or take yeah and so it wasn't fun it wasn't budgeted correctly for what after the reorganization which happened after the budget so the purchasing salary is 50 000 or

it's or is it in addition to what was already there there was some funds already there so this is just to make to to realign the budget so there's no negative so there were funds budgeted there just was it was a part-time budgeting so what's the actual salary of the purchasing I believe it's about seventy thousand okay um that's basically that's that's that well my questions thank you I would I'll yield

no further questions okay we'll go on to item 1B 1 million one hundred forty four thousand from the EMS stabilization account to EMS salaries for eight hundred and thirty thousand dollars and EMS expenses three hundred and fourteen thousand dollars no questions and I'll entertain is there a motion we kind of had gone off with that before when you they gave them the rate the council voted on it so I don't have any

questions okay motion it's already informed motion to adjust Finance is nowhere the magical Finance wasn't that number two the water yeah that's in the regular menu in a regular meeting this is all we have for finance motion to join Finance as we made in seconded on favor any opposed Finance is now adjourned City College will come to order clerk will call the roll ing Dion here Kilby here while Liberty here Pelletier

Primera here reposo here Washington here president Camaro here will everyone in the country Channel please rise for a moment of Silent prayer

please remain standing for salute to the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all pursuant to the open meeting law and law and 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 where they're perceived or unperceived by those presents and not deemed acknowledged and permissible and Clark present the first item before you is the request from the mayor for two Financial orders the first is that the sum of one hundred eighty three thousand dollars B and the same as hereby transferred from the operating Reserve fund to the

following collect your salaries twenty thousand dollars purchasing salaries fifty thousand dollars City Administration fourteen thousand dollars code enforcement salaries eighty seven thousand dollars Health admin Health Administration salaries thirty eight hundred dollars City Council salaries five hundred dollars Council on Aging salaries seventy seven hundred dollars

any opposed motion carries and the second is order is at the sum of one million 144 000 B and the same as hereby transferred from the EMS stabilization fund to the following EMS salaries and the amount of eight hundred thirty thousand dollars in EMS expenses in the amount of three hundred fourteen thousand dollars

item number two is a communication from the mayor and the proposed FY 24 budgets for water and sewer divisions and proposed ordinances for the fiscal year 24 Water and Sewer rates if you can refer to audience second Finance appropriate so the budgets would go to the community in finance and the ordinances to the committee on organisms motion has been seconded ocean counties item three is a request from the mayor

and the um to increase the allocation from the Opera Bristol County Treasury American Rescue plan act the amount of six thousand four dollars and fifty six cents for which was funding for two infrared hot box asphalt arrays for pothole and Road repair communication and approves request function motion has amazing second second all in favor any opposed motion carries for item number four we have a number of

recommendations to amend the traffic ordinances most northern Connecticut motion has been made and seconded to refer to ordinance committee and legislation all in favor aye any opposed motion carries whereas many schools and businesses rely on their internet and cable service providers and for accessibility and education with various mediums and whereas there are limited provider options for obtaining these services

within the city and the providers costs have steadily increased over time and whereas the city's current rates cannot be renegotiated until 2032 now therefore be resolved that the committee on finance convene with cooperation Council to discuss how the city's cable contract agreement process is reviewed modified and approved most sure defer the community on finance motion for the community of Finance has

made it in a second second just one question hold on I'm the motion constant C six Council vice president program the problem I have with this is I had put in resolutions before for an update on cable Etc never heard anything all of a sudden again I'm checking because I'm getting calls from people concerned with the amount you know the price of cable we find out that I find out that the

contract was signed in November K.P Lord uh law is the one that negotiated the contract we have a 10-year contract I checked with colleagues in New Bedford of mine that they are saying that they did theirs for five years the thing that bothers me the most is that we had talked about getting cable in uh getting internet access in all the parks in the city I don't even think

that that was put on the table if we want to do that I guess we have to do that now with Opera money but there was no public hearings for people to come and talk about cable and what they felt about you know what was going on with cable many senior citizens the cable cost is high if they watch Lifetime or Hallmark Channel they switch those channels into different categories like

um with sports that maybe a senior citizen doesn't want to watch sports but they want to watch Lifeline so in order to get that you got to get this you know um and when I I asked when was the public hearings done you know when they were done 2018.

two days one day they had it in the afternoon and at night and the following day they had a meeting at night in 2018 for contract that we signed in 2022.

there's got to be a better way in 10 years is crazy I know they also deregulated I talked to um Congressman Arkansas's office about that about the deregulation so that they can kind of charge whatever they want um hopefully I mean I thought we were getting FiOS I thought that there was wireless internet that maybe we could get other providers to come in but you know the big thing is we're getting like

1.6 million where we got 600 000 for BCC in Durfee to keep those getting going and we have high res so now when we're on TV guys we're not so fuzzy it's going to be a little clearer I'd rather have us fuzzy and give something to our senior citizens and veterans but with that being said there's got to be a better way of doing this contract and I

think in 20 years I may or may not be here and I'm certainly not going to be fighting for it so I figure this is my opportunity to fight for it with that I yield thank you thank you Council okay no problem s all in favor aye aye any opposed motion carries whereas the Veteran's kitchen is a non-profit volunteer organization that serves free hot meals to Veterans and whereas the services provided by the

veterans kitchen provides not only hot food but Community engagement and events within the city and whereas they rely on donations from residents and local businesses to fund the fresh homemade meals that are served now therefore be a resolved that the city council support a future application for Bristol County American Rescue plan act funding in the amount of fifty thousand dollars to help

this non-profit organization continue to provide meals and events for veterans in the city motion to adopt motion to adopt hasn't been executive and the motion contest today Council Washington so I put in this motion um to get support from our counselors before we put it in because it's a it's a big undertaking to put in these upper fundings but I just wanted to give a little background on this non-profit so

they're a full River non-profit that feeds our veterans this group solely relies on volunteers nobody takes a salary there's no exorbitant salaries they are serving tremendous meals I mean like five star meals to our veterans it is so humbling to go there and see what they do it is free for our veterans Unfortunately they can only do it one day a week they rely solely on donations

from the community and businesses and they were able to continue throughout covid they were serving these veterans throughout kovid and you know they're giving out more than they're taking in so the least we could do is provide them fifty thousand dollars to continue to feed our vets I recommend anybody that is here that is watching this see the operations that that Veteran's kitchen

does it is so humbling to see what they do for our veterans and so hopefully um you know they can increase their day that's that's ultimately the goal but I think of fifty thousand dollars is just a drop in the bucket that we could do to support their efforts in feeding our veterans they provide them closed activities and I'll tell you what it's full of our veterans that go down there

it's not like you know one or two it is full of them so you know I'm just looking um for support from my colleagues uh to put that in um um so with that I yield thank you yeah just a question to my colleague in seat eight um under what classification would this fit for for arpa money do you have a sense yeah well you know the Opera funding is to restore the community and stuff that

was taken away so they continue to operate um out of need and we're unable to um do that and so for outreach so this is a huge Outreach effort that I would say that that would fall underneath um so they can continue to outreach to the veterans Liberty thank you so I have been to the veterans kitchen many times and and understand everything that they do there and it is an amazing organizational volunteer I

guess I I just have a couple of questions I was hoping the city administrator was going to be here because I didn't have a chance to reach out to him but he's on vacation this week through the president to my colleague in C8 I guess what is the fifty thousand dollars going to be used for for food and supplies and and things of that nature yeah I'm asking because I

someone had said oh it might be about purchasing a building no I please those those Club buggers I think should get out of that building that they're in but there they are so it's they literally um to continue to provide food and possibly add on another day I mean they are constantly getting new veterans and I mean they're here um but yeah food so then I guess then my only other question is um

and I don't know perhaps your Comfort Seats six knows the answer to this um the veterans Advisory board that was put together last year by the city administrator is that happening so yeah we have but we haven't met since the new um the new vso has come down okay and then my other question is I know at one of the last meetings funds were given to each of the veterans organizations I

always want to give to our veterans and I want to support this but I also want to make sure it's fair that any other veterans groups that are are in need that that it's fair across the board for everybody I don't want them to think we're you know favoring one over the other so if either of you have I know we gave there was certain amounts given to each group

every group let us say if you have a question just through the channel and someone okay without being called upon if either the of the veterans Liaisons every group got the same amount of money um you know to do their quarters money to do with what they had to do with but right now the veterans kitchen was under the umbrella of the war council however they have gotten their own 501c3

and they Independence so as Michelle I believe would counselor Dion would be able to tell you some of the non-profits that received APA funding from the city so this is no different that it's a non-profit that we're trying to support them even through covid they were making meals and people were coming and picking them up or delivering them when they couldn't all be together but they're

struggling with you know keeping up with supply and demand Angels Anonymous went by last Wednesday when I was the uh last Wednesday when I was there this tomorrow they're not having it but they went by with food and donations that they had so that they Supply to them as well which was a good thing and people donate and they're doing it all on donations and little little fundraises that they may

have I know Dawn was thinking of having something um to celebrate the Titanic and have a meal and sell tickets to try to raise funds on their own um but and when Council Washington talked about the quality of food that they serve Chef Sandy who's there or Chef Rob they are both educated chefs and the food that they make is is very good very healthy and there's a lot of camaraderie for some of the veterans

that's the once a week that they get to be out and talk to other people so I mean I was in support of the fifty thousand dollars because they could they could use it for all the work that they do okay um thank you thank you oh actually I'm sorry one last question to council Washington is this going to be coming down in a in an app in a specific ask so

I have to uh sit with Cara and go through the whole application it's quite that process so and um council president I had asked the um Madam clerk on the break I had thought um at one point we had added the veterans to one of our Council committees or we at least talked about it but I it didn't it never happened and um I think that should happen to maybe have

to do that in the form of a resolution but I think the veterans should absolutely be included in one of our standing committees maybe it's Human Services uh but I'll put that in the form of the resolution thank you thank you Council C2 concert DM just so my colleagues know I'm calling you base I want to see your hands go up initially the three of you raise your hands and they come to the

other engine afterwards and you raise your hand after that and she thought you amazed it but don't get upside down so if you called on the last because I'm calling everyone and they way their hand goes up so I'm not picking on anyone I don't care who speaks as long as you want to talk raise your hand you get called in that order counseling seat too um so I have no problems supporting

veterans whatsoever I think it's something very important that needs to be done I find it odd that we would vote and show favor on a future application it would seem to me that you would vote after you heard the application after the application was submitted and you knew exactly um what the situation was in terms of the sale of the kwaki row Club the veterans kitchen from what I

understand is in the process of trying to purchase the Corky row club for fifty thousand dollars there was a post by one of the members of the on Facebook in regard to the the day the vote was taken uh by the Corky role members to sell the club to their organization which really is neither here nor there I was just following up on councilman seat Four's um question the City Opera committee put aside money

for non-profits any uh any non-profit organization can submit an application to the City Opera committee it has a cap of fifty thousand dollars that this would be exactly what that was set up for um I personally would like to follow their example and set up a veterans um a veteran's fund like they set up a not a non-profit organization fund so that we include all veteran organizations

because these aren't the only people the only or this is not the only organization that feeds people it's not the only organization that helps clothe people there are other veterans groups that do do it in the city and any veterans group can come forward for funding I would like to see to start with a hundred thousand dollar fund with a twenty five thousand dollar cap that all veteran organizations could

apply for funding for example Pine Street feeds people they could also put in an application for the funding for what they do um the VFW on Bedford Street needs a new roof they could apply for funding and this funding can be used for that purpose and how I know that is I had a conversation with Cara the director and she was the one who said that yes that funding can be used for a new roof

and that she also felt that um she would like to see it also be inclusive of all organizations let you know let them put in the applications let them all come forward and share the pie with everyone as opposed to only one group I'd like to see all veterans all organizations because they're all out there's many of them out there that are helping each other helping veterans helping families and um

for my part that's what I would like to see I would like to see a fun setup and everybody get an equal share of the pie with that I yield yeah you got a 1066 president a couple of things number one Pine Street does feed people but Pine Street has a line item at the state where they automatically get money from the state I think they're getting close to a million dollars

I think they get close to a million dollars they get money from the state as far as every organization getting the same amount of money I agree with that and that's what the vso does so perhaps we should talk to the vso not every organization needs additional money besides the money that they get from quarters but Pine Street does get money and they they are a line item when Al

Herron was a State Rep that was put in as a line item then and they get a lot of money every year from the state as well this is a non-profit that doesn't get any money from the state so that's the difference as far as any place needing a roof I think you need to look at was there a loan taken out to repair the building how much money was given last

year by the former vso to repair the roof or other things that are done there um because there were things that are done and those I think the commander of the War veterans Council this year happens to be Charlie denmead who's the commander of the AmVets and nine other organizations and here and the vso who's working with them on doing that um as far as I know I don't even think

that they were cooking anymore at Pine Street because they need an ansoul system and they need all this stuff that the food is coming delivered from a church so it's not like pitting one against the other we want to be able to help them all but others do get help do get money do get assistance from churches just like quite frankly the vet center I mean they get help from the

church that comes to the vet center to feed but also on Easter or a Christmas a big holiday meal when so many people come there's not enough room in the parking is difficult at Corky row so they end up going to Father Rob's church and they bring you know this stuff to cook we go and we help from there so there's a lot of other things I just think that they don't have it at this

point and if they can get 50 from the Opera on your side fine from you know the city fine but if they can get it because we have control over what the money from Bristol County APA we have control over that so that's why and I honestly think why would you have Cara the Opera person write up a whole thing if we're not going to have consensus on the council if there's consensus then

she writes it up and it comes back to us but at least there's consensive why work it's like you're putting the cop before the horse let's know that this is something the council is in agreement with and then she can write it up I think doing it the other way is wasting her time if the majority of us don't feel that this is a worthwhile expenditure of opa dollars I don't know

that's my thoughts on it but with that I yield thank you I hope I was able to close to Washington yeah so to clarify some of the confusion that you had why I brought this down was this exact reason so not to have to go through the whole application and then you know there's miscommunication out there so let let me just piggyback on Council C6 the miscommunication those organizations punch there are

people that take salaries they are not able to feed people right now the veterans kitchen are cooking and feeding people solely based with nobody taking a salary so I personally think we should be able to give them way more than fifty thousand dollars I think it's great that fifty thousand dollars come from that side of fifty thousand dollars come from this side they are feeding veterans our

veterans the world there's tables full of World War II veterans so if you want to cap it at twenty five thousand dollars if I'd be a few you'll have time to vote but they deserve far more than twenty five thousand dollars that group is solely based on um volunteers they're clothing them they're feeding them they're so so hopefully that clarifies some of that and the uh the VFW the VFW is given

money to do that roof I don't think the roof has been done I don't know but uh so to give them more money so everyone's equal playing Ground it's not equal playing grounds because that group isn't taking a salary you have five star chefs cooking for our veterans in a dignified manner so we need to be able I think to support them so you'll be able to vote your way

but this is why I brought it here so we can clear up any miscommunication with that I yield too so first of all they were just examples of other groups there's plenty of people out there that are feeding people for free you're not getting salaries that that's not the issue and like I said it's not that I don't support these people and their Endeavor I think what they're doing is great my point is there already is

non-profit funding available at fifty thousand dollars through the city offer funding that's number one that's the dollar amount that's here that's what they can get approved for with the city if the city council would have set up a fund with the Bristol County money with a cap of 25 000 they probably could apply to both and end up with 75 000 or 100 so I'm not trying to cut I'm not

trying to uh cut anybody's throat I'm not trying to not support anybody but I'm sure there are veterans groups out there that also can you could use some assistance um I just want to be all-inclusive not exclusive um and again we're talking about a future application an application hasn't been filed um I think we could have a better discussion if if it were filed already um just I I would make a motion to set up a

fund um available for all veterans groups to be able to apply to that's I don't think that's a bad thing with that I yield here because the country forecast Liberty County city council Washington I yelled because it's three Council company yes um debate's always good but I think this is unnecessary debate um I think the intent of the uh the resolution is great I mean we all all want to help our

veterans especially uh you know our elderly veterans um and fifty thousand dollars in my opinion is not enough but I just do want to State this a resolution is only an expression of the city council's intent so it'll go up to the mayor's office an application will be prepared and we'll vote on an application and when that comes down I'm sure when we make our vote we can amend it if we

want to increase the appropriation or not so again debate is great but I I really uh like Council Washington's passion on this and um I think it's a it's a great start I've cut my Council colleague to my right uh wants to do some amplify that and do something more then I urge her to put a resolution in which specifically states that I'm sure you'll get unanimous support uh of that so that I yield thank

you councilman motion has been made in seconded all in favor aye aye any opposed ocean cows we have a citation for Blessed Trinity Parish 125th anniversary I got it I got a motion to adopt the citation it hasn't made in second at all in favor any opposed oh should it say eight through fifteen together second motion to take care removals um Mr President could I take item nine out of there

and let's do item eight nine I'm sorry yeah it is nine yeah let's just keep going okay okay with motion after item like that item eight is a curb removal of um permission granted order granting permission to John Gonzales to remove 14 feet of curbing on Robeson Street at 644 person to approve second motion to adopt has been made and seconded all in favor any opposed ocean carries item nine nine is the order granting

permission to Cynthia teves for the removal of seven feet of curbing at 26 McGowan Street could we I make a motion that that be referred to committee on uh regulations motion has a major Fair item number nine to community regulations is there a second second all in favor aye any opposed refers I'm sorry do you want to Point Public Western Transportation instead Transportation fine that's fine but Mr

President just so that uh I should have I know my was chatting over there before I received a call on this McGowan Street the owner of the property claims that she did not make this request that someone else is making it so I think we need to get that clarified before permission is given good point motion has been made public reports of transportation and seconded all in favor any opposed okay good question you have

a question Council seat seven continent do we have the application is it squared away good and all that

who's the who's the person we're looking into it it says on here

recess um yeah we do have an application and we get every we get all the sign offs and everything so we have an application there was some confusion when it was received by an applicant there was someone that stopped by the clerk's office so I'm not sure this could be there's no notation on it so I'm not sure if this is the one but if counselor that is the one okay because the woman

indicated to me when she called that she came to City Hall this person doesn't own the property and she owns the price and I don't know the details of it so let's find out believe it was the daughter that may have spoken to you so yeah who's the owner of the property um uh well the person here is Cynthia tev so I think the owner of the property um I think it is two names because that

is the applicant and Carol noun n-o-u-n no excuse me Nolan so that's two names yeah two names listed on the property card yeah right on the website it shows but the I'm sorry who who just to clarify who is on the application Cynthia Tubbs is on the application but the own property owner is Cynthia tebs and Carol Nolan and Miss Debs is saying that she didn't file this the other owner's saying it

yeah okay supposedly the best way to get our answers yes refer to the committee and it'll get worked out the owner will show up the applicant will show up and we'll decide whether we want to go any further motion Hazard made incentive for the community and transportation Public Works and second it all in favor any opposed can we take items 10 to 15 motion to take items 10 through 15 has

been made is a second second second all in favor aye any opposed motion carries I'm 10 through 15 please could just read them items 10 through 15 are orders granting permission to remove curbings at the following addresses 82 Hartwell Street LLC is removed six and a half feet of curbing at 82 Hartwell Lewis colon for removal of 16 feet at 4 Downing Street Carlos Estrella for the removal of 32 feet at 3820 North Main

Street George Brooks for the removal of six feet at 600 Montgomery Street Marta Rosa for the removal of 26.2 feet at 97 Terry Marie Way and Jamal Irish for the removal of 25.5 feet at 111 Terry Marie Way motion to adopt items 10 through 15 hasn't made and seconded all in favor any opposed motion carries item 16 is the application for the renewal of an auto repair shop license at 163 and 165 Aberdeen Street for

Aberdeen Auto LLC motion to approve motion to adopt has an amazing second second all in favor aye aye any opposed motion codes we have the police Chiefs report motion to accept and place on file hasn't made no Bush to adopt actually hasn't made and seconded all in favor any opposed motion Council we have requests for the acceptance of streets for um Weyland street we have a number of

them Weyland street from North Main to a dead end Highland Farm Road from Highland Avenue to Hayfield Lane steep Brook Terrace from Highland Farm Road to terminus old pasture way from Highland Farm Road to terminus and Hayfield Lane from Highland Farm Road north and south to terminus yes yes motion soulmate motion has been made second and seconded all in favor aye any opposed motion carries

item 19 a drain layer licenses has been made in second at all in favor aye any opposed motion camps oh that's all we have motion to again seven million seconds all in favor any opposed city councilman is now adjourned good night everybody