7.14.2020 Fall River City Council Meetings

The Fall River City Council held a series of meetings on July 14, 2020, beginning with public hearings regarding curb removals, pole relocations, and underground conduits for National Grid, all of which passed without public opposition. The Council then convened into the Committee on Finance, reviewing written citizens' input that addressed substance abuse counseling outreach by Council members, housing eviction moratoriums, and unpaved roads and drainage problems in unfinished private developments like Linwood Street. Former and current officials from the Fall River Redevelopment Authority presented plans for the City Pier, confirming that approximately $1.6 million would be funded without municipal tax dollars to construct railings, lighting, and sidewalks.

Significant financial discussions centered on the FY 2020 year-end budget transfers. Finance Director Mary Sahadi clarified that a $480,000 transfer, which drew $280,223 from police department salary surpluses to fund Department of Community Maintenance trash disposal payments to Republic Services and insurance settlements, was merely standard year-end accounting to capture 13 billing cycles rather than an attempt to defund police operations. Frustrations surfaced strongly regarding the consistent absence of Corporation Counsel at Council meetings, prompting a unanimous vote authorizing Council President Cliff Ponte to seek a cost estimate from KP Law to serve as independent special counsel for the City Council.

During the regular council meeting, members adopted an August continuing appropriation budget for FY 2021 and approved the disputed FY 2020 year-end transfers by an 8-1 roll-call vote, with Councilor Christopher Peckham dissenting. The Council also voted to refer a five-year, $2.6 million school bus transportation contract with Whaling City Transit to the Committee on Finance for further review, designated the hydrangea as Fall River's official ornamental flower, tabled park commissioner appointments over legal questions under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 45, and created a three-member ad hoc committee to push for statewide subdivision zoning reform to hold developers accountable.

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