NovusAGENDA


CITY COUNCIL CALENDAR Thursday, September 23, 2021 *************


NOTE:


THIS MEETING IS HELD AT 7PM CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS - ROOM 214, CITY HALL, 133 WILLIAM STREET, NEW BEDFORD, MA - FOR OFFICIAL POSTING, PLEASE SEE CITY'S WEBSITE
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OPENING OF SESSION BY


CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT JOSEPH P. LOPES
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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE


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MAYORS PAPERS


		M1. COMMUNICATION, Mayor Mitchell, to City Council, submitting the APPOINTMENT of LEE BLAKE, New Bedford, MA to the BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS, replacing Paula Robinson Deare, who has resigned; this term will expire May 2026.

		M2. COMMUNICATION, Mayor Mitchell, to City Council, submitting the APPOINTMENT of JOHN LOBO, New Bedford, MA to the COMMISSION FOR CITIZENS WITH DISABILITIES, replacing Viorica Ivone Silva, who has resigned; this term will expire May 2024.


NEW BUSINESS


		1. REPORT, Committee on Finance, recommending to the City Council APPROVAL of the CPA annual budget for fiscal year 2022. 1a. COMMUNICATION, Community Preservation Committee to City Council, submitting the CPA annual budget for fiscal year 2022. (Referred to the Committee on Finance – July 15, 2021.)

		2. REPORT, Committee on Finance, recommending to the City Council Approval of the request to hire the Department of Resilience and Environmental Stewardship’s Environmental Project Manager, Courtney Cohen, at Grade M-12, Step 4 to compensate her commensurate with her expertise and decades of relevant experience. 2a. COMMUNICATION, Mayor Mitchell, to the City Council, submitting a request to hire the Department of Resilience and Environmental Stewardship's Environmental Project Manager, Courtney Cohen, at Grade M-12, Step 4 to compensate her commensurate with her expertise and decades of relevant experience. (Referred to the Committee on Finance - August 19, 2021.)

		3. REPORT, Committee on Finance, recommending to the City Council ADOPTION of the LOAN ORDER appropriating $57,000,000.00 to finance the costs of projects outlined in the City’s Long Term CSO Control and Integrated Capital Improvements Plan. 3a. LOAN ORDER,

		4. REPORT, Committee on Finance, recommending to the City Council ADOPTION of the LOAN ORDER, appropriating $71,800,000.00 to finance the costs of Capital Planning and construction of water distribution and treatment systems improvements including Quittacas Water Treatment Plant upgrades, a lead service abatement program and general system improvements. 4a. LOAN ORDER, (Passed to a Second Reading - June 24, 2021.)

		5. WRITTEN MOTION, Council President Lopes, requesting on behalf of the residents that live near the Dennison Memorial Community Center that the Traffic Commission install CITY-OWNED LOT AND POLICE TAKE NOTICE signage on the lot across the street from the Community Center. (To be Referred to the Traffic Commission.)

		6. WRITTEN MOTION Council President Lopes and Councillor Gomes, requesting that the Committee on Ordinances and the Commissioner of the Department of Inspectional Services review and consider the following change to the City’s Building codes to allow the establishment of Garden Style apartments in Mixed-Use Business Districts at heights, and density that other multi-family projects are afforded. (To Referred to the Committee on Ordinances, the Planning Board and the Commissioner of the Department of Inspectional Services.) 6a. COMMUNICATION, Council President Lopes, submitting proposed Amendments to the City’s Building code from Attorney Michael Kehoe. (To be Referred to the Committee on Ordinances, the Planning Board and the Commissioner of the Department of Inspectional Services.)

		7. COMMUNICATION/ DEMOLITION, New Bedford Historical Commission, to City Council, re: BUILDING DEMOLITION REVIEW OF 94 CLARK STREET, (MAP 84, LOT 134) a Circa 1911, three story wood-framed residence – Partial demolition: Porches, advising that “the building is associated with the architectural, cultural and social history of the City, as it is a prime example of a middle-class tenement, the iconic building archetype built to house the immigrant groups who came to New Bedford for employment in the textile industry; the building is architecturally significant as it embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Colonial Revival style with details such patterned shingles, wide cornices, tapered columns and the use of monumental center porticos capped by a triangular pediment, the porches dominate the front façade and are a defining feature of the building; the City’s Demolition Ordinance promotes the public welfare by making the City a more attractive and desirable place in which to live and work by preserving and protecting significant buildings, structures, streetscapes and neighborhoods, the loss of tenement porches has been widespread and often results in an unattractive, blank building that no longer contributes to a neighborhood, and may assist in the neighborhood’s visual, physical and social decline; if a demolition permit is granted, the Commission has sought that the current small porch windows be replaced with more appropriately sized windows, “in light of these findings, the New Bedford Historical Commission has determined that the building at 94 Clark Street is Historically Significant and a Preferably Preserved Historic Building or Structure.”

		8. COMMUNICATION, City Clerk/Clerk of the City Council Farias, submitting a copy of a letter from SEARCH giving notification that the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) issued a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Sunrise Wind Farm Project in the Federal Register. (To be Received and Placed on File.)


TABLED BUSINESS


		04/22/2021 WRITTEN MOTION, Councillor Gomes, Council President Lopes, Councillors Markey and Carney requesting, that the City Council go on record in opposition and condemnation of the Boston Globe’s article along with the report done by Citizens For Juvenile Justice, titled, “We Are The Prey”; and further, that the New Bedford City Council also go on record in support of the men and women of the New Bedford Police Department as this report was not fairly done, and does not fit the image, the profile and the mission of our law-enforcement in the City, this report condemned our Police Department for racial profiling of minority groups of juveniles; and further, that the department continues to enforce law and order and justice for all Citizens of the City of New Bedford; and further, that Acting Police Chief Paul Oliveira reassure the people of the City that his leadership and New Bedford Police Department will mirror an image and commitment that all Citizens of the City of New Bedford will be treated fairly with no bias, only law and order and protection of all City residents.

		07/15/2021 COMMUNICATION, Mayor Mitchell, to City Council, submitting the REAPPOINTMENT of DAVID KENNEDY, New Bedford, MA to the REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY; this term will expire July 2026.

		07/15/2021 COMMUNICATION, Mayor Mitchell, to City Council, submitting the REAPPOINTMENT of PAUL CHASSE, New Bedford, MA to the REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY; this term will expire July 2026.

		07/15/2021 COMMUNICATION, Mayor Mitchell, to City Council, submitting the REAPPOINTMENT of CELEINE SARAIVA, New Bedford, MA to the PROBLEM PROPERTIES APPEALS PANEL; this term will expire June 2024.