6.16.2026 Fall River City Council - Public Safety

City Council Committee on Public Safety dated for June 16th, 2026, set to begin 4.04 PM. Clerk call the roll. Councillor DeCaneol? Here. Councillor Rapposo? Here. Chair Beckham? Here. Pursant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium. Attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible. First item on the agenda, Citizen's Input. We have three people signed up. First on our list is Helen Reago, 41 Foster Street, subject Motorbikes.

Helen Reago, 41 Foster St. Thank you for allowing me to get this off my chest. My name I want to bring to the attention of the growing safety issue in our city. Recently, I was involved in a car accident near the Niagara fire station when a young man on a motorized cycle came barreling around the corner and smashed into the front of my car. I have 12,000 dollars worth of damage. He tore the plate right off the car. Seeing more and more of these you know and I had the right of way. I had the traffic on the left stop, the traffic on the right stop, and I had the leeway to go down but he just came barreling along and just hit me. So I think something seriously has to be done. Somebody's going to get killed there because we have a lot of accidents right at that corner. I want to thank you. Thank you Mrs. Reago. Thank you.

Next up is John Silvia, 51 Ada St. Subject Route 24 South Ramps. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thanks for letting me speak.

You know we all know there's been a homeless problem all over the city. But what's happening now is the Route 24 Southbound lanes off Brayton Avenue. There's some tents set up there in the wetlands area and what's happening is these folks are bringing wagons or they're riding bikes or they're walking up the ramps. And as you're taking the exit to get off at 30 miles an hour, 40 they just like stop walking in there. They have a wagon or they have a bike. I'm just concerned that you know it's going to be someone that's going to hit them. Their insurance is going to go sky high because these people are doing this and I just think that we need to kind of get this under control. I've spoken to a few people already about it. And you know we just got to try to keep, there meeds to be a solution to this homeless thing. You know getting a building and putting them in or something. But no matter where they are they clean them out and it does cause public safety things. Like these you know cars going around the ramps almost hitting someone. So we can't really rely on you know people because they're still doing that because we're letting them do that. There's gotta be a solution to this situation. Other communities are dealing with it and it just seems to be like swept under the rug. I'm just really concerned with these off ramps as cars are coming by, people drive as fast as it is. You're on a highway you're getting off, you don't expect somebody to be walking there with a wagon or a bicycle. So I really think something needs to be done. and it's wetlands there is actually the seagrass in there and there's tents in there. So thanks. I appreciate you. I will touch upon that Mr. Silvia. I did have a conversation Friday with a woman from DEP regarding that homeless encampment and I did send her some information today because I do want that rectified down there. I don't like the river use and the way the camp set up around that waterway. It causes an environmental hazard. So I went and contacted DEP myself directly. So if I hear anything I will get in touch with you. Thank you.

Next on the list, Sandy Dennis, 132 Highland Avenue. Motorbikes. Good afternoon. Thank you. My name is Sandy Dennis. I reside at 132 Highland Avenue and I would also like to speak about the growing safety concerns involving people on motorized bikes and cycles who are not following the rules of the road. The same type of incident just happened to me and my husband last week near Little Theatre. A car was stopped at the stop sign. Dave and I were coming through slowly and the young man on a motorized bike went right around the gentleman at the stop sign and plowed right through the intersection. Had we not stopped we would have went right into him. No plates on it. These are not isolated events. They're becoming more and more frequently. and I'm asking the city in Public Safety Committee to consider starting a bike or cycle safety program starting at the middle school level. Something that teaches rules of the road, safe riding practices, and the responsibilities that come with operating these motorized cycles. Education perhaps paired with enforcement can help prevent injuries and save people's lives. Thank you for your attention. We did something like this years ago with Mass In Motion and the Fall River Bike Committee which spurred off of the park advocates and there would be a lot of bike safety events and giving out helmets and trying to teach the kids but I think catching them at the middle school level and even teaching them the enforcement and what can happen like Mrs. Reago. I mean he's going to court she's going to court all over an incident that could have been deadly. So thank you and I appreciate you listening. Thank you Mrs. Dennis. Thank you.

I do have a written citizen's input. It's from Joseph Cavallo, 301 Milliken Boulevard, apartment 405. And it reads, "Committee Chairman Peckham and members Decalneol and Rapposo, I am unable to attend today's public safety committee. I ask that the committee consider requesting the Fall River Traffic Department chronicle traffic violations and traffic accidents occurring on the Route 79 Davol Street expanse along our waterfront. Given the concerns that citizens have... excuse me... already voiced on social media, local radio, and to me personally regarding the distracted driving and pedestrian safety and the negative impacts that the electronic digital billboard poses for drivers and pedestrians. I believe it to be the responsibility of the public safety committee to address these concerns. Respectfully, Joseph Cavallo.

Item two on the agenda is minutes from April 29th of 2026. Motion to approve. Seconded. Motion's been made and seconded. All those in favor. Aye. And no nays. Motion to take item four out of order. Motion so made. Second. There is a second to take item four out of order. All those in favor. Aye. Aye. No nays. Resolution item to make... lift item four from the table. Motion's been made to lift item four from the table. Seconded. Seconded. All those in favor. Aye. Aye. Resolution reads "it's to convene with cooperation counsel and police chief to establish a plan for motorized street bike safety measures". This was tabled on 4/29 of 2024. How we doing Chief? Good afternoon. Good. Thank you. J.T. Hoar, Chief of Police for the Fall River Police Department. Thanks, Chief. I know this has been an ongoing issue for probably like six years now with the ATVs and our dirt bikes. I remember when I was on in 2020 I believe there was the original resolution was filed for this. But I think over the last six years we've progressed from ATVs and dirt bikes into ATVs, dirt bikes, and e-bikes. These bicycles with motors. I'm starting to see more of those than anything else. So I figured because we've had so many complaints, not just tonight, but I know all of us councils have received complaints lately too, a lot of them in regards to these bicycles so figured I'd bring it to the table and see if we can come up with some type of fruitful plan to rectify some of this.

Of course. So just historically speaking, so four score and back to 2004 an ordinance was made for the regulation around motorized scooters. That is 70-14. With that said, the purpose of that ordinance was to enforce the pocket bikes that had erupted during that time which were those little miniature motorcycles that were rather amusing to watch grown adults drive. Kind of look like a circus act but although funny, dangerous. With that said, the ordinance in speaking with cooperation counsel and the assistant cooperation counsel as well as our motor vehicle enforcement unit, it was written very broadly but it also allows for some enforcement action to happen. So I think the plan that I had had... we've had numerous complaints come in not only through the Mayor's office but directly to the police department. Last Tuesday I took the liberty to do my own walking beat down on the rail trail as well as the boardwalk. The South Coast was having their gala out there so I was walking the boardwalk talking to some citizens and I did notice some e-bikes on the boardwalk. So with that said regardless of the ordinance, the law does not allow e-bikes to be on the sidewalk. So I think there's some confusion in the public that because it's pedal assisted it's not allowed on the sidewalk. So I think my intention with a plan is to come up with a public service announcement that we can put out through social media. Potentially put something together with the traffic department to get some signage made but I think the first thing to Mrs. Dennis' point is the education piece. I mean school's out for summer soon but I think educating the public on what the rules are and having signage so that they're aware of it. As far as what we're doing internally we've rerouted some of our directed patrols to be towards this. Our motor vehicle unit has a plan in place to address some concerns that have come up at Maplewood Park with a posse of these e-bikes that have been kind of torturing the neighborhood over there. They already had a couple operations which were successful in grabbing a handful of them. But with that said, we have to do some training in our department because this problem is kind of loophole-ish in the law. And I think what we encountered, I actually stopped an e-bike actually it would be considered an electric motorcycle based on how it falls into the classification. So it looks like a motorcycle, it's smaller, it travels fast. It doesn't have pedals so it's not a bike because it's not being assisted by human intervention. It's running on an electric motor. In doing some research, these bikes are being bought overseas, coming in. They can be modified locally here. They're typically not shipped with a battery because of shipping restrictions. They get higher voltage batteries and do certain modifications to create a boost factor in these engines and the one that I stopped was doing over 40 miles an hour on Pleasant Street. Um, so when that particular vehicle moves that fast it classifies itself as a completely separate item. It actually exceeds the moped restrictions and puts itself actually in a motorcycle class. So when we stop that although it looks like a toy kind of it looks you know miniature to a motorcycle it still is governed by the laws of motorcycle. So with our officers there's definitely a knowledge base gap that I've identified that they're not sure what to call it sometimes because a lot of these people that are driving these think that they don't need a license to drive them. in certain aspects they do. So if it goes less than 20 miles an hour and it's pedal assisted, it's an e-bike which you see those and a lot of people use that you know in Boston they see that. So I just had a mass major city chiefs meeting this afternoon in Lynnfield and I was talking about the urban struggle with these particular things. We already have an ordinance in place that we can use to enforce it. There might be some slight adjustments that we might seek to do. But a lot of them that are modified that go faster than they should fall under restrictions as far as your license is concerned so ultimately what could happen with an individual that has one that's been modified that drives 40 miles an hour that's operating a vehicle outside of your restriction if you don't have a motorcycle license. An unregistered vehicle, uninsured vehicle, and then obviously the speeding element. So with that said, the risk is some of these the trend we're seeing in law enforcement is they're creating these groups that are trying to bait the police to chase them. Um, so that's where we run the risk not only with creating the hazard and putting the city in liability but how do we go about effectively stopping them without causing a risk to our own safety, the public, and obviously the operator. So we will follow them obviously within reason of speed um but as far as going into crazy pursuits I'm not willing to authorize that but we're trying to do things a little bit more proactive as it relates to that. Um, with that said we have multiple avenues we can go for enforcement, it's just a matter of a training and realignment of expectation in our agency.

Thank you Chief. Councillor Rapposo. So are you prepared to sit and discuss and modify the ordinance at this point? So I think the ordinance right now defines motorized scooters as a two-wheel device that has handlebars and is designed to be stood or sat upon by the operator and is powered by an electric, gasoline, or alcohol-fueled motor that's capable of propelling the device with or without human propulsion. It then carves out a motorcycle or motorized bicycle which is synonymous with moped, is defined in MGL 90 section 1 as not motorized scooters. So as you can see it's very wordy when you read that and the classifications become motorcycle, motorized bicycle, class 1 e-bike, class 2 e-bike. There's multiple levels. I think what the ordinance does is actually restrict the e-bikes not only in law but the ordinance prevents them from being on any- it says no person shall operate a motorized scooter on any way or any sidewalk thereto or in any place to which the public has right of access. So basically it bans them everywhere. What the enforcement action with that is and it goes on to talk about or any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees or on any public property, schools, playgrounds, or parks within the city. So finishing that part A of 70-14 in the city ordinance, that's super broad and we can enforce that to a level where we take custody of the e-bike or the motorized scooter or the moped and then they're fined 100 dollars. So that's kind of where we're looking at going with this as far as it relates to enforcing in public areas so the rail trail isn't an exception because it's considered a bike- there's bike access there. So e-bikes can operate on a bike trail if you will um but they can't operate on a boardwalk where people are walking. So I think the city needs to just define where we want to enforce that. I don't think we need to change- I think being broad and just narrowing it to sections is something we can have a discussion about for sure. Okay because I guess I'm just wondering it only says motorized scooter. So should we specify a little more closely? Is that helpful or not? You could. I think the fact is is that banning the e-bikes from being in those areas uh typically when you're operating a vehicle that's going to over 30 miles an hour it's a motorcycle so it's automatically going to be in violation if you're driving it on a sidewalk. Um, I think what I need to do is speak with our training division and just come up with something we can put out to the public as well as the Council on defining what it is and then see what the enforcement looks like and then maybe adjust from there. And what defines the 100 dollar fine? The city ordinance. Okay. As far as the lawful way to go is then some of these are criminal so they would be summonsed to court. But there's a competing interest there, 100 dollars is revenue for the city and then the motorized scooter, moped, e-bike, whatever we're confiscating goes to the person that's next up on the tow list. So that's what the tow companies have as far as towing for the city is that they take custody that and eventually they'll either forfeit custody of that or auction it off.

Now I don't know if I can interject here. I know with the commercial vehicle issue we up the fine to 250 to make sure that people weren't parking overnight taking a 25 dollar hit and then doing, you know, it was cheaper to do that than it was to pay for parking. So we- well the ordinance committee up the fine to 250 I believe it was. Um. I don't know if there's an appetite to do that here but I think if fines start going out and they're a little heavier than 100 dollars there might be some thought into it the next time they go to go out on the road with their bike. I think the law right now is as it relates to class 1 and class 2 e-bikes, electric bicycles are designed closer to be traditional like traditional bikes with assistance. Um. The bigger thing is is that in Massachusetts they can only be ridden on roadways, bike lanes, bike paths, but they're not allowed on sidewalks. So I think the biggest thing I see is they're on sidewalks which creates a hazard because it's going faster than you can traditionally pedal a bike because of the assistance. The other situation too is the the age situation for riders under 16 have to wear a helmet, um and then here's- here's where it becomes scientific. Somebody could be doing 20 miles an hour on an e-bike but if the engine on it is 750 watts or more then it's out of an e-bike restriction. See the same thing with some of these mopeds that they were modified to go faster. So typically when it's labor intensive when we- we stop one we have to go through and- and identify what kind of engine because sometimes we might let someone fall through the cracks if they've got like a 950 watt engine in there then it takes it out of the e-bike classification, potentially put it into a motorcycle class. Okay if there's a desire to- to change the ordinance let me know so we can put that in the ordinance committee. Of course. Of course.

Councillor DeCagneol. Thank you. You did answer the question around the fines. I think as far as upping the ordinance I really think that if someone is doing 40 miles an hour on one of these, you know, that's a huge difference than someone doing 20 or 15 on a sidewalk. I think one of the things I'd look at to you I think in your guidance in terms of the enforcement... right now I'll just start with the actual 70-14 you cited it says motorized scooters period. I don't know if we need to add a section that you know updates to either specifies these different classes right the- the modified or... So I think the e-bikes get- this is where it gets confusing because obviously you have ordinance and then you have law that comes in. So the motorized scooter is obviously a different definition than an electric bicycle. Electric bicycle gets governed by the law and it's restricted to be on- not on sidewalks. So that's where it gets confusing. So I'm working on it right now with our training division to kind of come out with like a one-page handout so that we can put it out there on social media but it's also for our officers too because sometimes they- you run into this situation and you don't know what you got in terms of "hey it looks like a bike, it rides like a motorcycle, what are we supposed to do?". So I think when we have more confidence in our enforcement action then you'll see better results as it relates to quelling it but we also intend on- I know a lot of these have been getting gifts for kids that have graduated high school or graduated middle school and not always is it to tow it and charge them lawfully. We have to come up with some type of handout that we can give to the parents when we have to have them come get it and say "hey this is where you can ride these things"' because a lot of them we had a- we had a group of them come down towards um Ponta Delgado Boulevard over the feast that was down there the day of Portugal, they were actually electric dirt bikes. So some of these are sold as electric dirt bikes and I know neighboring communities Westport is dealing with the issue too because they're riding in the farm areas which is fine, that's off-road use but when they're commuting to a set area that's when it's an off-road vehicle on a public way which then puts it into the same thing we were dealing with with the ATVs and the dirt bikes that were going through the city a couple summers ago. Yeah I mean just my kids were playing in you know the ballfield at Kennedy Park and I know you mentioned Maplewood, you know they're going up and down the sidewalks of Kennedy as well and they're not just going up and down they're doing verticals and things like that and you know they're going to hit somebody potentially just walking back and forth so I think in terms of our efforts to stop them uh you know do we- how are we- I know you said you did something in Maplewood but these are- they're all over and they seem to be in groups too I'm noticing too at least as I- as I go there's usually five or six sometimes all together and they're- you know just going up or down a certain area. So I will say that our motor vehicle unit has been clever in doing it. I'm not going to release how they're doing it but they're doing it. Um. and I'll just say to the folks out there we have our own e-bikes too so we- we can chase them on our e-bikes if we have to. But I think it's just a matter of anticipating where they might be and then obviously intercepting them that way. I'm not one to have the police cars you know ripping through Kennedy Park trying to chase after them because that just makes- they're baiting us to have that. It's more so of a surprise tactic and potentially using some unmarked vehicles in- and setting up kind of a sting operation is where we've had success. and when you say you're- you're taking these vehicles, they're not getting them back at all? No I mean at this point the only way they would get them back is getting them back from the tow company. So it doesn't allowed, it's not like you've seen like in other communities where there's a big sweep and then we're having items, you know, compressed by a- a crusher or something like that. This is a vehicle that gets towed so it gets towed to a tow yard. Many times based on what the tow cost is for that vehicle to be towed to the tow yard it exceeds the value of the actual bike so some people won't even pay to get it back. But in most cases they're the nicer ones they will pay to get get back so that's the stiffest penalty that we can do is tow it, tow it to the tow yard, charge them criminally, and then it would be the same as if you were driving an unregistered motorcycle and it got towed, you could go buy it out of the yard and pay it out and then take it back. So we don't have an option to do, I think I've seen other communities do, which is just crush them? No I mean we don't have that written in the ordinance that it's an immediate forfeiture. So I guess that's where I'm going. and here's the other issue I don't want them back in their hands. I think. I don't disagree with you I think where are we going to keep them? and what are the- where is the proceedings going to look like when we hold them for a particular amount of time for forfeiture? So we can come up with that process. It's just a matter of setting it up which is not built out. Now do you guys track like I know if you pulled me over you would be able to say "hey the history of this vehicle in terms of pull over". If you pull somebody over, do you know if this is their first offense, their second offense, third offense? So we'll know if their plates's been run if there's a license plate attached. The problem with these is none of them have license plates on them because some of the people don't even realize they need to be registered. So it really links to the person getting put in the computer. So if you're given a warning or a citation it automatically goes in and the thing now is all of our cruisers are equipped with the e-citation format so the only time we're going to be giving you a handwritten citation is if the system's down or if you have somebody on like a walking patrol or someone that doesn't have access to a laptop um but once it's put into the system it's immediately on your- even if it's a warning it's immediately on your driving history. What I've asked is we do better documentation even if we're doing discretionary stops. So if we stop a bunch of 16- or less- year-olds and we want to do an informative thing then it's a field encounter, it's more of an educational stop and then there's their chance. The next time we're going to do something. When I've got a 22-year-old person driving around on one and they're cutting through traffic and causing issues I would say there's no discretion that we're going to allow on that. Okay. So yeah I think for me, I don't know that, you know, them even having a mechanism to get it back if they've been doing what you described, you know, being reckless or causing accidents, things like that, you know. It's hard enough to stop these vehicles I think if we- if we are able to do that, I think we take it and we don't give it back to them. That's where I would like to see the ordinance go. Okay. I yield.

Thank you Councillor. I can say I've worked for a tow company and I've dealt with these the a lot of scooters. Tow companies fall under their own separate laws. There's a ton of them that I didn't even know existed. So for them to take the bike, I guess it would be chain of command there and then they take it and that's as part of payment. So be tough for us to have them tow it. There's a cooling-off period or they have to hold it for 70 days I believe and then they can- they have to notify by certified mail and then they end up it's a forfeiture at that point. The same thing would happen if you abandoned a vehicle that they towed, you're essentially forfeiting it to them. Yeah and then it becomes a small claims thing and it's a process but I have nothing else to add if nobody else does. oh go ahead Councillor. I was just going to say let the Chief- let the Chief come up with his actions I think at this point um and to Councillor DeCagneol's point if there's a point that we need to amend the ordinance or specify you know I don't disagree with you. I think if there's a way we can put into ordinance to clarify, I think especially between licensed operators and unlicensed operators. I think there already a different treated differently right off the bat. 100 percent and then a lot of the people that are operating them are operating out of license restriction so then you're essentially unlicensed just because you have a driver's license and then you have a e-bike or an electric motorcycle if you will going over 30 miles an hour you put yourself in a different class. Okay so I- I would say you know the Chief's got some actions he's going to take but I think him and I are going to have a discussion about bringing the ordinance to the ordinance committee and see what we can strengthen on that and then take it from there. I think that would be the best thing. So I'll make the motion to table at this point. I'll second that. Motion to table so made and seconded. All those in favor. Aye. Aye. No nays. Motion lifting item three from the table. Motion to lift item three from the table's been made. Second. Seconded. All those in favor. Aye. Aye. Item number three resolution Committee on Public Safety convene quarterly with Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Chief of EMS for updates. Tabled 3/19 of 2026. How you doing, Chief? Good. How are you? Jeffrey Bacon, Fire Chief, City of Fall River Fire Department. Richard Aguiar, Director Chief Inspector Services. Thank you Chief. and I think Chief Fantes is with SCOPE. we could start and she'll come to the table. I obviously the quarterly meeting, it's a quarterly meeting so here we are. Um. I just wanted to touch base where the departments are at. I know we're going through the budget discussions now so a lot of the conversations we're going to have for requests or me to ask anything right now wouldn't be the time but I- to go around the table see where our departments are at, you know. and then I did want to have just a very short brief discussion on the actual Emergency Operations Center. Um. It was in our discussions the last time so maybe two minutes of this I just want to touch upon that. So Chief Hoar if you don't mind going first.

Yep. So before I forget the front burner item is the scuttlebutt going on about the billboard causing distractions and car accidents. So I did some analysis. I did hear that gentleman today on WSAR and my own for my own knowledge we did some crime stats analysis down there. We've had one more accident than we did last year through this time so it's pretty much on par. there were 30 accidents in 2025 from January to this date, last year there's 31. Um. I'm going to dig a little bit deeper. I know the talk was distracted driving it would be hard to prove unless someone would admit they were staring at the billboard to cause a distraction. Um. The only other distraction driving that we would have is if somebody was manipulating a phone outside of using GPS but um I don't know if I've ever had somebody fully admit that they were distracted by looking at something on the side of the road. Um but just so you know we're trending in the same direction over there. As for the department's concern, staffing we have 13 officers that are starting at the police academy next Monday. Um. We are battling some attrition, we have some people leaving, and that 13 is going to kind of be a net zero. So we're working on getting another group into the academy in August and then another larger group in January. The MPTC which is the training committee for the state for police has went to a standardized way they're doing the academy so they used to do pop-up ones if you could express the need they're really trying to get into a momentum of just consistent perpetual academy so we are looking at if we don't have- once we get them in January the next one would be in the early spring. So there's kind of an offset there. There is a Cape Academy that they're using, they're only going to be doing one academy a year through that down there so there's some availability but competing interests every department's hiring. Um. but other than that the department's moving forward. I did send an update to Council President to send out to the Council as an update over the last few weeks what we've been able to work on. Working on a neighborhood presence project where we'll be out there with some officers being encouraged to get out of the cruisers during their tour rotation. I think you saw that on a couple of our Facebook posts where they've set up and had some impromptu basketball games at Griffin Park and we're also going to be doing some of our neighborhood oriented problem solving in the neighborhoods. So we'll do our traditional role calls at the station, we'll have the officers deploy to a local park or an area where we can be visible, we'll talk about community concerns and then deploy from there. Um so we're kind of breaking down the sectors the way we're doing things and trying to look at more of a intelligence-led policing and putting resources where we're having the most problems rather than just stick to route-based, so it's kind of the things we're doing right now.

Thank you for the update. I love the idea of the roll calls in the parks. I think- I think there's been some suggestion just with everything that's happening about you know revisiting police substations or things like that and I think those type of things are not quite formally where you're- we're having to expenditure permanent infrastructure but I think that's a great way to kind of bring up that police presence in the communities and the neighborhoods. Um. I did speak with that gentleman um with the billboard on Davol Street um just as far as the statistics I would say that the sign just went on recently I think in the last- I think it's in the last three-ish weeks so something to watch closely as we especially over the summer as we continue. and I think we'll need to continue to monitor once it's actually developed too more traffic's down there but I agree with you it'll be hard to prove I think outside of just potential increased numbers so I yield. Thank you.

Thank you councillor. I like the neighborhood presence obviously the idea too because the optics of it just the presence is a deterrent so um I think that's great I like the way that the department's been going. Um. I don't have anything negative to say. Very comfortable with what I've seen from you Chief over the last few weeks and I want to thank you for going out on the rail trail because I had called you for something and you were actually out there so I wanted to thank you for doing that. Councillor Rapposo on anything? No sir. Thank you. Hi. She is behind the wall. Chief just introduce yourself please.

Hi Chief Fontes from Emergency Medical Services. Um so our department um is trending by the end of this fiscal year to look at at between 10 and 12 percent increase in 9-1-1 calls. Um. our busiest truck is doing trending to do rescue 4 is looking at doing 4,600 calls this year. Um. we are potentially going to look at talking to the police department about maybe one of our districts rescue 6 kind of falls between rescue 4 and rescue 3 and maybe trying to increase them a little bit outward on both sides so maybe they can help pick up some of the impact because they're only in the 3,000 to 3,200 call range. Um but it's been going well. We increased our mobile integrated health home visit program we're doing six home visits a day and they're very well received. The public is very fond of the program. Ultimately when the program gets into full bloom and if it increases it may decrease some of those 9-1-1 responses for people that have recitisisms so but right now it's moving in the right direction. and that MIH program is also the one that does our community service. They go out into neighborhoods they go to all the launch parties for the school department and recreation centers so I feel like we're getting more and more visible in the community. Our MIH division um has increased maybe between 500 to 750 calls this year. That's totally driven by availability. Sometimes people are getting discharged from the hospital and they're all getting discharged at the same time so it's almost impossible to try to predict how that's going to fall. Um but we've been holding strong. We had the command center down at the Gates of Portugal this weekend, we had two coolers full of water and Gatorade um brought some like fresh fruit and stuff and put it inside so that the guys could get out of the heat. the public safety employees could get out of the heat and it was very well received and I think that we're starting to get our department to try to with the help of the police department try to look at the way we visualize events. We know who- who his incident commanders are, he knows who our incident commanders are, trying to look at if we was at the gate support when we had an event we had an incident like where would we go because I can tell you from the off-ramp on 79 all the way down to the battleship there's not really any area for that. So we just started we're starting to visualize that and try to come up with some consistent pre-plan because most of the events are all in the same area. So um we transported I think four at the Gates. heat and alcohol mostly, that happens to anybody. Um but other than that I think things are going relatively well. Good. Thank you Chief. Anything? Go ahead councillor. I just want to ask about the 10-12 percent increase in calls, is there any nature of those calls or area that's driving that? just kind of that's a big increase. I find that between 5:00 and 7:00 o'clock I'll say is are be witching hour. It seems like um maybe there's more traffic at that time, I don't know if we have more cars in the city. That seems to be our busiest time and then the elderly if they're waiting to get a phone call back from their doctor and it turns to five o'clock and they haven't heard back from the doctor then well now it's time to go to the E.R. So that just seems to be like our- I can equate that to early in the morning and that five o'clock hour are busiest hours. We haven't had to resort to mutual aid we've- we've seemed to manage it pretty well but it does kind of kick- kick the employees in the butt a little bit especially in this weather. So we try to- we have one of our officers kind of do roving like support vehicle and we have him with a cooler of water we buy freeze pops like I- just try to go out and just try to make sure that we try to keep them hydrated and make sure they're you know doing well. All right thank you. thank you Chief.

Thank you. Chief Aguiar. So as far as um EMA goes, um we received a grant for 35,000 dollars um this year an EMPG grant, I'm replacing all our radios. Um. The radios are about 1,800 dollars a piece with the chargers, the battery, the antennas, everything separate. So I'm updating our radios for that. Last year we received a grant for 12,500 and the repeater was not working so MEMA granted me a grant so I could replace that. So that- we replaced that at no cost to the city either that's at the tower. Um. So the first phase was with the repeater the second phase was with the radios. So now we're going to have a complete new set of radios and they repeater to go along with the radios. The radios are all high-tech like what the Chief has um the capability now because they certain criteria that you have to meet with MEMA for them to give you the money. You can't just go out and buy any radio, they have to have the qualifications that they require. As far as the command center goes it worked out well because we had our command tent set up as well um all these large events um MEMA requires us to have an evacuation plan so when we do the evacuation plan um the facility or the people that are putting on the event they have a command they have the copy of the evacuation plan as well. I go over it with them do they use it I don't know but at least they have it. Um. Fift is um we been very involved with MEMA regarding that. they want all current information um I think the Chief knows because at Chiefs meeting they been talking about that as well so this is a big thing in Massachusetts and they want to know people they want to know evacuation routes they want to know the vendors they are going to be there they want to know how many EMS and how many police officers if we're going to have a fire detail so all this stuff I send to them describing them what we're doing um when I speak my contact is Nate Kratch who the Chief knows as well he's our region 2 director our coordinator um so he okayed everything through the plan everything's been all set so we're ready to go tomorrow um I guess the event runs from 12 until 6. They're anticipating about a thousand people. That's what I been told I don't know but I when I did the plan I submitted to MEMA I did a thousand people. um they'd rather have more than less um in case something happens we have to have the task force state police and that's on a police side of course, ambulance task force that's Chief Fontes so they take care of all that stuff I just have to communicate to MEMA regarding that stuff and they'll send the resources as they need it. That's all I have.

Thank you, Chief. Any questions? Go ahead, Councillor Decandyeol. Just want to thank you for all that you're doing with grant money to update your equipment and things like that, really tremendous, all the things you are able to do and acquire for us at no cost, appreciate those efforts. So the grant's are out there through MEMA we just have to apply for them. Um. Since I been the director here since 2003 I think I received like 600,000 dollars in grant money no cost to the city um all my equipment I purchase through the grant money so um it's a very good thing for us EMA directors that they offer us that money. um as long as we spend it wisely if we don't spend it wisely they're going to question us why we didn't spend it wisely. um we have to document everything we purchase and um once we send them the invoices everything um gets paid back to the city. the city originally pays for everything but they get reimbursed so it's a good it's a good thing.

Excellent. Thank you Chief. Chief Bacon. All right, so we have um our recruit training academy, the regional academy that we um have been running with Westport and Taunton at our facility, is graduating nine Fall River recruits on July 2nd. um it's actually really good timing um none of them will have vacation time so we'll be able to um that's a direct impact of two less overtimes per shift all summer. um so that's going to help us out a lot as we- as we move forward and- and plan for our overtimes and our busiest vacation times through the summer. um we're hopeful the fiscal 27 budget will be approved soon so that we can start the hiring process because our goal is to get the recruits that are um graduating in July into the EMT academy in October with five to nine based on retirements new recruits if we can get that hiring process done quickly so that we can have 16 to 18 people in that academy for EMT and then send them to the Mass Fire Academy um so that we stay in this constant rotation of hiring um based on the five added positions in this in next year's budget and the four anticipated retirements we have coming up in January. um I just want to give credit to Chief Banville and Captain Boldi of my training division for running a tremendous academy um we- I will say we've had the discussion I know we- we've had the discussion in front of City Council and- and this committee about the benefits of running our own academy versus sending to the Mass Fire Academy. and while they did a great job, um they're strapped with resources and it came at a cost of 17,500 dollars in overtime to the city to run this academy. the Mass Fire Academy is free um and I- I will- I will say I still think that that is the best route if we can navigate through the challenges of getting people into the Mass Fire Academy. that appears to be the best route for because there's certainly better places I could have spent the 17,500 dollars if we could have gotten the training for free. um as you are aware if you are on the Facebook page the Union's Facebook page we've had our typical challenges with apparatus um a few weeks ago we had a ladder truck overnight in a um backup heavy rescue uh so they were able to do everything except their actual ladder functions. just today we had an engine company in our brush truck for four hours while um we had a spare apparatus that went down but we got the frontline apparatus back up and running. so our shop's been working really hard um one of the things that we're doing to um to try to buy time until we get our new apparatus in is um the dealer just gave us a loaner it's a 2002 um HME is the brand it's got 30,000 miles on it it's a ridiculous upgrade from what we have in our 1997 and 1998 trucks it's from a fire department in Maine we have it on site we're just waiting for the shop and my training division to be able to equip it to get it into service and they're also sending us a ladder truck we're waiting to hear from them um what the options are to get a ladder truck because of the delay in delivering Ladder 4 so we'll have another viable backup so we don't run into I'm not going to say we don't run into this because the apparatus gremlins come at you when you least expect them. um they're big trucks and they're very complicated so we never know when one or two or three are going to break down but the more capable ready reserve spare apparatus that we have the less likely we are to run into what we ran into today. Now if you don't mind me just interjecting there. Sure. what do we have for equipment down now? do you have a list of what we have for trucks that are down? Engine 5 is down right now it needs a new engine but it's going to stay in service, it's got a little bit of engine blow-by so we're going to price out for a new engine for it but in the meantime the engine's running fine and it doesn't affect its capabilities we'll monitor that in the meantime we did the same thing with our platform a year ago where we kept it in service until the engine repair on a engine replacement. so Engine 5 is down right now um and I think that's the only frontline engine that we have down right now because Engine 4 went back in, Engine 2 went back in, our spare Engine 26 blew some airlines so that's being repaired right now so we can get it back in service, and our Engine 24 we actually took out of service when we put Engine 11, the Easton pump that we purchased when we put that in service. that truck is getting rave reviews from the crews that have worked on it um but we do have the capability to put Engine 24 back in service and it will be available as of tonight. the recruits were um were doing their um their training on it today they were actually being tested on firefighter 1 and 2 and they were utilizing that apparatus so we weren't able to to remove it to put it into service. um our Ladder 4 is um getting springs done I believe or no I'm sorry it had the springs done, we took Ladder 4 out of service for its annual major preventative maintenance run um and that was the poor timing of Ladder 3 then breaking down blew an airline overnight and we had to get an airline custom-made and had it back in service the next morning. so right now the trucks that are out of service are Ladder 4 and Engine 5 and the backup truck Engine 26. All right. Thank you.

Councillor Rapposo. Thank you. the only thing I got was the um we had a discussion during budget time about the PFAS-free equipment. oh yeah. and you and I had had a discussion about that um I didn't get a response from the administration on modifying the- the capital improvement plan but you and I did have a conversation post the Memorial Day Parade... Veteran's Day I should say. uh so if you can speak to that that would be great. Yeah no problem so um due on Monday is the FEMA assistance to firefighters grant, we are putting in for um um I'm going to have the exact number of- of sets of gear that we need tomorrow, our training division went through and checked the tags on every set of turnout gear and anything that's 2017 or 2018 will be out of its usable service life over the performance period of this grant so we'll be able to utilize this grant to purchase those sets if we are awarded um I'm thinking it's in the ballpark of 70 to 80 sets of gear and it's going to be about 5 to 6,000 dollars a set because the AFG allows you to put in for a helmet, um two hoods, gloves, pants, suspenders, a gear bag, boots, it's the whole show, not just the pant and coat. um so any money that we save in doing that from the capital budget I would- I would like to use to buy some- some much needed equipment, thermal imaging cameras and things like that so that could be an impact of potentially you know 3 to 400,000 dollars in this grant. and there will be a match it's a 10 percent match but- but it's a significant savings for the city. Good and- I- I just want to repeat what I said when I had that conversation with you is that I want to make sure that we're not in a situation where you know x-amount of firefighters are getting equipment first and then the other group of them are waiting you know six months eight months to get the same equipment. I want to make sure that if we're going to do it as we discussed in a foul swoop but at the same time do your due diligence to test the equipment to make sure it's truly PFAS-free. Yeah I think it's about a year process and as much as I would like to get everybody into that gear right away I- I- I think it's more prudent to- to make sure that the gear is quality and um- just because this is year 2 or year 3 of fully PFAS-free gear and um there's a lot of new products that are coming out on the market. even right now the gear that our recruits have right now that is PFAS-free in the academy we're finding that they are overheating a little bit quicker, right. so now we got to look at that and say alright do we need to work the numbers because the way gear works there's three layers, there's a moisture barrier, there's a thermal barrier, and then there's the exterior shell, right. and you can play with different fabrics, different thicknesses, and different protection levels. so you can say we're going to go a little less protection on the- from heat from exterior heat to give a little more breathability so they don't overheat or do we want to risk that? and so anything we order will be within the acceptable range right but what works in Fall River doesn't necessarily work for a Swansea, Tiverton, right because we do a lot more interior structural firefighting. so we're trying to find that balance right now so I don't I think if we were to mass order this gear that we have for these recruits then maybe we would have more heat-related injuries this summer so we're trying to balance this out and figure it out. that's understood um when do you expect the answer on the grant? September. oh actually end of August, beginning of September. okay so- we know that there's- there's gear that we can purchase right from the- from the capital improvement plan so once we know what gear it will be eligible to be purchased through the- through the AFG we can start purchasing that other stuff, yep, the hundred other sets that we're going to look at we can start purchasing that through the capital improvement plan um as soon as you know next week. Okay so if you- if you could possibly keep us updated on- on the grant and how that what that falls out to be. um but I still would like an answer from the administration on the capital improvement plan. so I'm going to ask through the chairman to the Clerk if we can send a letter to the administration to get an update on the original request of the modification of the capital improvement plan to ensure that funding is available to provide the full set of gear for all the Fall River firefighters um regarding PFAS-free equipment. um thank you. Second. you got that Clerk? thank you. a second to that. all those in favor. aye. aye. no nays. we will send that letter to the Mayor. um and I will yield. thank you.

I do have questions in regards to the Emergency Operations Center. Like I said in the beginning, um we're sitting here picking up part a budget and I've been very vocal about us not having a lot of money moving forward and we got to be um frugal with our spending so I'm not going to sit here and say I know the Emergency Operations Center needs a lot, right? updating it needs um it's been a few years since we've updated it and no fault to anybody um budget wise but to sit here and say that we're going to throw all kinds of money at it to make that happen right now I don't see that happening. Um, so what I would recommend is and if it's okay with you guys the next public safety meeting that I hold I would like to address the Emergency Operations Center um just that and I would like to actually hold the meeting at the Emergency Operations Center so we have a visual of what's there you know? You're talking about the training classroom? Yes sir. Yeah okay. and I will note that there because we've discussed this there are funds through um FEMA for E.O.C. upgrades, grant money. Fantastic. I will look at that and see when that next round opens. I know the next round of EMPG opens in July so if those align then we could be submitting for that in July to um to upgrade that. Great. Yeah so I think just having conversation keeping it in mind that we are going to try to move forward with that room as well. um the trailer was fantastic we got it done really quick. um the public seems to like it. um I was down at the Battleship Cove the first time I was out for the seafood festival but I wasn't able to make it down to the gates this weekend um but I would like to get the- you know keep the conversation going because we know what happens. If we stop the conversation a million other things pop up and it goes by the wayside. So I am going to schedule a public safety meeting in the near future just to address it and we'll do it at that location if everybody's okay with that. I feel like where the- the trailer was set up for the Seafood Festival was not really functional um I feel like I want to go down there and talk to the guy from the- I don't know his name- from the state so that way we can look at the 4th of July because 4th of July we cover a lot of area. We go all the way from um Point Gloria to the Norton pier to the boat- boathouse all the way down to the carousel and I feel like having it all the way down to the carousel is kind of- I don't know. I- I feel like it should be- it should be a discussion. Yeah definitely. and I think with July 4th fast approaching that's a- you know conversation that has to be had. I don't know and I don't know the logistics of this or how you would make that happen but what about a halfway point there with that large grass area across from- We typically set up police resources in that center area right next to where the stage is so we could put it there. Fantastic. I just want- I just want to talk to the guy from- talk to the gentleman from the state he's always very amenable but I just want to make sure the other thing I- we had talked about um is that after July 1st after the budget we'll try to meet with Jasmine to see if we can do some sort of a collaborative grant to try to get the mobile command center like we had talked about and um I feel like I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't um mention that there's going to be a um memorial for I don't know if we're going to have a public safety meeting before then, July 13th they're going to do a memorial at the Gabriel House outside of the Gabriel House for like one hour 6:00 to 7:00 you talking about Father Rob's and Father Rob is going to be doing that where he'll have speakers and he's going to read off the names of the um people so I think to- worthy to mention that if anybody is interested that they should be there. Okay, thank you Chief. Chief Aguiar.

So down at the carousel there's one area that we um setup a command center EMA and um a lot of action down there a lot of foot traffic. um Chief can attest to this because he been down there and a lot of medical emergencies we refer them to EMS. um I like to speak to Chief Fontes about having an EMA personal stationed at our command center. um People trip on the bridge, people just trip in the parking lot. bandaids, small time types of things. But um we always take care of that end um of the park down at the carousel a lot of foot traffic, a lot of a lot of a lot of people come through there. So if we have a command center there which is ours and somewhere else that to take care of both areas that work. I think what we're lacking um is communications um we have to update our communication now we can update it because I have a police radio like the Chief does they give it to me so we can contact the police directly as soon as it should happen down there. um Even though they have police patrol down there but sometimes they somewhere else and something should happen and we have to call them to get there right away even though they're walking around the area. um because it's a large area that you have to cover. Um also state police is down there as well, cover because it's a state park area. So we see them down there but I think the most important thing is um communication between the um command center um will be an important thing this year as well and um having an EMS person with us down there just in case there is a medical emergency. Thank you Chief. Councillor Rapposo. Yeah the only thing I would say I would imagine our next public safety meeting will be after the 4th of July so in that conversation I'd like to hear um because in our last time we just talked about upgrades that need to happen to the vehicle. So now the Seafood Festival, the Day of Portugal, and now the 4th of July would be the three kind of tiered events that would be the test of this- of this EOC. so if there's anything you can all bring to the table about upgrades or things that need to be added after those three events I think that would be useful. um you know I think EMS has been great with the supporting- the financial piece behind it but if there's more to be had I think we need to have that discussion. So if we can come up with that information that'd be great. and I think the Chief- Chief Hoar can probably elaborate on- on Dean who's been meeting with MTSI to try to get some of the computer stuff set up. Correct. That was part of our discussion last time but I think once we go through those three events if there's anything you want to bring to all- to us about that I think that would be helpful. I added the um telescoping lights and the um telescoping cameras to my capital budget so if my budget gets approved then we'll um we'll have that. I did want to try to um get an invoice for some of the um computer equipment they're going to try to work on that so I could encumber some of the money that I have left from this year to try to take care of in other words just put it in the bank. So I think we're moving forward um it's good I think the air conditioning was good this weekend anyway it's nice it was real- it was really hot. you yield? You yield?

Yeah no I appreciate your efforts um Chief I really do. uh they've been fantastic with the trailer and all- all you guys it- it was great doing the trailer and watching everything move so you know quickly and fluidly it- it was just it was nice so I do appreciate you guys. Councillor Decandyeol do you have anything? No, nothing. With that being said, I have nothing else to add so motion to table, a second, all those in favor, aye, I, no nays. Motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn's been made and seconded. all those in favor. Aye. Aye. No nays. Have a good night everybody.