5.21.2025 City Council - Ordinances and Legislation

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Hey, hey hey.

Hey, Committee on Ordin. Since the legislation come to order, the clerk will call the role. Council here.

Council here. Council here. Council here. 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 transmission are being made whether perceived or unpersceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible. Uh item number one is citizen import.

We don't have any citizen info that later. Um, item number two, the minutes of the May 12th, 2025.

Motion to approve. Motion second. Is there a second? Second. All in favor? I.

Item number three, proposed ordinances.

Traffic handicap parking Haram Street 20 ft west of Raymond. Hunter Street East 1256 ft of Hope Merchant Street North 40t of 17th Street. Britishan Street West 255 ft south of County Street. Ridge Street 136 ft south of Osborne. Motion for emergency preamble. Second. Motion for emergency preamble. Is there a second? Second. Roll call.

Yes.

Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Motion pass through all rings.

Seconded. All in favor? I. Item number four, miscellaneous traffic. Parking prohibited at all times. Blossom Road East 20 ft north of Boston Road for a distance of 775 ft. Northerly. Indian Town Road north 20 feet east of Blossom Road for a distance of 775 ft. There motion motion to pass through first reading.

Seconded council proposal. Yeah. Just just want to clarify. Is this after the split?

Sorry. Come on down. Come on down.

This has been quite the ongoing issue.

No. So, it's actually right at the split. So, right at that split there is no sidewalk. So, the residents um are having issues with the bus stops um students coming off the bus stop and walking in the road because there is no sidewalks there. So, it's right at that split of Blossom Road and Indiantown Road. All right. Awesome. I yield. Thank you. Okay. So, there's a motion and a

second. All in favor? Do section two at the same time or you want? We can.

Section two is handicap parking and these are for strikeouts of Chestnut Street um west 45 ft north of President Avenue, Hunter Street West, 12 ft south of William Street. Plain Street West 154 ft south of Cherry Street.

Motion to pass both sections for first reading. Second to pass the first reading. There's a second. All in favor?

I.

Recommended ordinance um the appointment of the chief of police. That was for a one-year contract with switching to um switching. Come on, help me. It was just aligning with the Massachusetts General right?

Come on. Who can remember? Civil service. Yep. Okay. Motion to pass your first reading. Can you look from the table? Yeah. It's just a good This is just changing it. This is a separate item. Okay. All right. It's not civil service, right? No. No, no, it's for the witch. Okay. But it has um there's a pass through first reading. Motion was made by council opposes. Is there a second? Seconded. All in favor? I I

motion with item six. Actually, I take that back. Um Madam Chair, good question. Um since anybody's here for this, do we want to discuss item six or do you want to table it? We can we can table it. However, um there was one woman, Danielle from one of the traffic cap for river taxi service incorporated.

She wanted to be here. She had called and asked a lot of questions, you know, had concerns. However, unfortunately, uh there was a medical emergency with her mom and she's not able to be here and she wanted that stated for the record.

Um but she said, "I hope this message finds you well. I appreciate you reaching out to me." So, motion to lift from the table. Second. All in favor? I thought we had lift today. So basically, I think she does want to be here. Some of the the things that she's concerned with. While rates increase and medallion limits are important to discussion, I'd like to emphasize the following additional concerns that are directly

impacting small local business like ours. One, unlicensed operators endangering public safety. Individuals, such as one known as Shaby the Cababie, are impersonating legitimate taxi companies. intercepting our radio dispatch and picking up passengers without a license, meter, or proper insurance. Despite multiple reports and evidence provided, this illegal activity continues unchecked. And two, unfair

competition from the city funded free bus rides. Last year, city- funded free bus ride programs, while well-intentioned, significantly hurt our business. Extending the program beyond its scope forced us to compete against a taxpayer subsidized service while we continue to bear the full weight of regulatory compliance cost. We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for fair enforcement existing

laws and a level playing field for those who are doing the right thing. I look forward to attending the meeting. Um and she will attend the meeting in a future.

and then she sent another one because she wasn't here today. And some of the talking points is that her name is Daniel Cabaral. She's one of the owners of For Taxi and she appreciated the opportunity to speak tonight however she can. Um it's really about the current taxi meter rates and she proposed that discussion around medallions. Why are we here? It's now been nine years since the last rate

increase for taxis operating under the city of Fall River. In that time, drivers have seen no increase in earning despite a major rise in fuel, insurance, vehicle, and maintenance cost. The current taxi ride in Fall River when they dropped the flag is $3 for initial pickup, 30 cents per onetenth of a mile.

The last increase was in 2016. Prior to that, the rate was $2 pickup and 20 cents per mile. And they have a comparison. Um, for example, Boston, they dropped the flag. It's $260, but then it's 40 cents per quarter mile.

That was last updated in 2012. New York is $3.50 for one10enth of a mile. That was last updated in 2022. New Bedford is 250 and it's 25 cents per mile. Fall River drivers are working under the rate and are behind not only larger cities but also comparable municipalities. Cost increases since 2016. Inflation has been over 28%. Gas has increased by more than a$150 a gallon at times. Vehicle cost

and repair expenses are up across the board. Our drivers cannot adjust their pricing to keep up with the realities like ride sharing drivers can. And on the medallion, she said, "I understand there's discussions about capping the number of medallions in the city. I support capping them to prevent random individuals from obtaining taxi cab or medallions and then operating outside city rules such as offer flat rates

within city limits, which we are not allowed to do. If individuals want to operate under a medallion, they should be subjected to regular checks to ensure full compliance with city regulations.

If they are not following the rules, their medallion should be revoked.

Medallions are a valuable asset, but they only work in as their fair endorsement enforcement and the business model is sustainable for those who follow the rules. Um, her request would be to raise the meter rate to reflect modern cost of living and operation.

Consider reviewing the rate structure every three years, even if no change is made, and make sure any cap on medallions is done with drivers in import economic viability in mind. In closing, our drivers are hardworking, regulated, and committed to the safety of our community. We deserve a fair wage. We're not asking for a handout, just an update that reflects the reality of 2025, not 2016.

So um I did reach out to RIP Fiola to ask for what if anything they had done at a state level. They really haven't done much. Some of the things that they have done for example Logan Airport Uber and Lift drivers can't go to the there's a certain place where they have to wait to pick you up. Um but other than that they can't. I think they pay for one medallion 3,000 6,000 they pay thousands

but you're talking Boston not yet. Um, and then I did speak to um, attorney Ramsey and attorney Ramsey's feelings are he doesn't understand why there needs to be a medallion. Why are people paying for medallion? Um, but I think that that's just to limit. But a few years ago, we opened the number of medallions, remember? And more people were getting them, but they're not using them now.

Um, those people, I think Mr. Gonzal from the driving school had one um and he was transporting people but he's not even using it anymore. This shabby the cababby I've seen this car around. They tend to park on Quicoan Street. You know the gas station uh council tip near the gas station on where community center. Yeah. Right across I see that Shabby the park there sometimes and he doesn't have a

medallion. If he doesn't have a medallion and he's going into their dispatch system, that's concerning. Is that something we should have police look into? Council Pos. So I I get, you know, I think a further discussion needs to happen if corporation council would be present. But ultimately the question of legality if it's an open air system, you mean I don't know what you can really do

about it. I guess my my questions around her concerns especially about the other essentially competition, right? You know, is there is there much you can do about regulating what is the lift and Ubers of the world as well as companies that are now essentially private transportation? I mean, I see them all the time of, you know, small companies that are transporting people from here to Boston and back to the airport.

They're not taxis, they're private transportation. So, I'm not sure how you can address that piece on the medallion part. I mean, it seems to me to be a little bit of an antiquated thing if you really think about it. So, I agree. So, but I mean, I I would rather as far as the concerns about those individuals and the one mentioned in the letter, I feel comfortable with corporation council

seeing address. So, I'm I just think it's like a lot of other things. Many many years ago, you had um an ice um you know, the ice man would come by your house and he'd bring you ice to put in to an ice box. And then with the invent of the refrigerator, ice company went out of business. You never saw them anymore. And I think that cab companies with new technology, you know, you get

an Uber, you get a lift, you call, it'll tell you when they're coming, when they're going to arrive, and what your price is going to be. Cap companies haven't kept up with that. You know what I mean? It's a different technology and it may be, you know, less expensive to take a cab than it is to take an Uber in some place in the city. I don't I don't know. Yeah. I mean, and the conversation

is worth having about the rates, per se, because obviously all those pieces are important, but we also have to weigh the idea of there are other there are forms of transportation people can take and especially like the buses that were running for a bit. The train right now was running for free for a bit. So, we have to kind of weigh all those options, but to help out the people who are

working at the taxi companies, I think a rate increase would be a good thing to look at, but we have to be mindful of, you know, we don't want to hit people in the pocket more and more, especially those who rely on taxi cab transportation. So, I'll yield for So, do do we want to make a motion to table?

Motion to table. Yep. Second. Second.

Yep. All in favor?

I motion to adjurnn. Motion to a second.

All in favor? Hi.

You know what's strange? You talk about I was at the club today.

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