Thanks for reading the first issue of my newsletter and for your interest in Lowell politics. An explanation of how this came about, and how it fits into the bigger picture of content creation, is on my richardhowe.com website.
Mayor Chau
Congratulations to Sokhary Chau, the newly reelected city councilor who was unanimously elected mayor by his colleagues at Monday’s inauguration ceremony which was held at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium rather than the traditional City Council chamber at City Hall due to the pandemic. First-time councilor Erik Gitschier was elected vice chair of the council, also unanimously.
Taking the oath of office were reelected incumbents Chau, John Drinkwater, John Leahy, Rita Mercier, Daniel Rourke and Vesna Nuon; and newly elected councilors Gitschier, Wayne Jenness, Corey Robinson, Kim Scott and Paul Ratha Yem.
Shortly after the council ceremony, the new school committee members took their oath of office at the Cyrus Irish Auditorium at Lowell High School. The new committee consists of returning incumbents Jackie Doherty, Andre Descoteaux, Dominik Lay and Connie Martin; and newcomers Eileen DelRossi and Stacey Thompson along with Mayor Chau who is the seventh member of the committee.
January 4, 2022, City Council Meeting
Some notes from watching the meeting live on Lowell Cable TV.
Preliminary Observations
The councilors all participated in person. As is usually the case, they were seated alphabetically from right to left as they faced the podium. With 11 councilors rather than 9, the councilor seating area seemed a bit crowded.
All councilors were wearing masks and most kept them on while speaking. Notwithstanding the masks, the audio quality was very good. A few times I looked up at the TV to confirm that the councilor who was speaking was still masked. They were but the clarity of the audio left me wondering.
The agenda was light due to it being the first meeting of the new council term.
Covid Discussion
Councilor Scott asked for and was granted a suspension of rules to discuss the city’s ongoing response to the pandemic. Since I was watching the meeting, I transcribed my notes in real time and have inserted them below as I recorded them at the time:
City Manager says cases have increased substantially. The Cawley site set a record last week by testing more than 600 people in a single day. They suspended drive up testing. Starting tomorrow the hours will be increased. New hours on city website. Dept of Public Health is trying to establish a second public testing site in the city. Also, the city is exploring ability to establish a testing site for only Lowell residents.
City distributed 72,000 home tests to Lowell residents in the week before the holidays. The city is also purchasing a “significant quantity of rapid tests” for distribution to city residents as soon as they arrive although what that will be is unknown.
Vaccinations continue to be available at the Old Ferry Road site. There has been an increase in the number of residents who are vaccinated. Now it’s over 70% that have at least one shot (not long ago it was just 60%).
The Health Department has made vaccinating school-aged children a priority.
CC Jenness asks about capacity at Lowell General Hospital and if we set up another testing site, can it be available for walk-ups for people who don’t have cars? Lisa Golden, the city’s director of Health and Human Services, says LGH has stopped all elective surgery so there are more inpatient beds available. They are somewhat short-staffed due to staff becoming infected. And the Covid patients who are admitted do not require the higher level of care of an ICU as was the case previously.
Golden explains that the home test (the antigen test) only shows when you’re highly contagious. The other test, the PCR test, is much more sensitive and picks up Covid at almost any time. The at home test is good for using before you go out to identify whether you are highly contagious. It doesn’t say definitively that you have or you don’t have the virus.
CC Yem asks about the schools, whether there are any plans to shift them to remote learning. CM says the state hasn’t authorize that, so the schools aren’t planning for it. However, the schools are monitoring staff and students and doing pool testing. If any are to close it will be done on a school-by-school basis. If that happens, parents will be notified as they would on a snow day.
Tanner Street
There was a public hearing on the relocation of a utility pole on Tanner Street. Usually this would pass without comment from me, but the National Grid representative explained that this is required for the city’s ongoing Tanner Street realignment. This is an exciting project. Tanner Street now intersects with Plain Street just a short distance from the Lowell Connector. This causes traffic problems for those going to and from Tanner via the Connector. This realignment will move Tanner Street away from the Connector so that it joins Plain Street on the far side of the Lowell Car Wash, just opposite the entrance to the Target Plaza. This will allow traffic on Tanner Street to utilize the existing traffic light at the entrance/exit to the shopping plaza. Hopefully this will make Tanner Street a more marketable place for businesses of all types.
Agenda for Jan. 11 Council meeting
Councilors have placed 15 motions on the agenda for their next meeting:
C. Yem - Req. City Mgr. Have Proper Department Place Wreaths And American Flags At All Veteran Gold Star Squares/Poles Throughout The City On Memorial Day.
C. Nuon/C. Yem - Req. City Mgr. Provide An Update On The Design And Timeline To Improve The Roberto Clemente Baseball Field.
C. Nuon/C. Drinkwater - Req. City Mgr./CFO Develop A Plan To Use A Portion Of The Federal ARPA Funding To Make Improvements To The City Parks To Address The Negative Health Impacts Caused By The Covid-19 Pandemic.
C. Drinkwater/C. Nuon - Req. City Mgr. Provide An Update On The Community Impact Submitted For ARPA Funding Suggestions, And The Process For Budgeting/Allocation Of ARPA Funds.
C. Nuon - Req. City Mgr. Have CFO/DPD Investigate The Benefit Of Establishing An Affordable Housing Trust.
C. Gitschier - Req. City Mgr. Have Proper Department Review Developmental Services Web Page To Ensure Proper Functioning And Updated Information For Residents.
C. Gitschier - Req. City Mgr. Provide Council With An Updated Report On Heating Issues In All Municipal Buildings And Schools.
C. Gitschier - Req. City Mgr. Update Council On The Current Renovation Project At Lowell High School; Include The Current Schedule, Change Orders And Future Maintenance Staffing Levels.
C. Gitschier/C. Robinson - Req. City Mgr. Provide Council With The City’s Policies Regarding Catch Basin Cleaning.
C. Robinson/C. Gitschier - Req. City Mgr. Provide Council With A Detailed Response On The City’s Current Policy, Practice And Procedures Regarding Hiring Of New Employees And/Or Promotional Appointments.
C. Robinson - Req. City Mgr. Hire Outside Legal Firm To Provide Detailed Outline On Steps Necessary To Change The City Charter To Include The Position Of City Solicitor As A Council Oversight Employee Similar To The City Clerk, City Auditor And The City Manager.
C. Robinson - Req. City Mgr. Update Council Regarding Flooding Issues On Jewett, Coburn And Lakeview Avenue.
C. Scott - Req. City Mgr. Have Appropriate Department Prepare A Plan For Street Sweeping That Includes Short Term Removal Of Vehicles And Enforcement Of The Policy, In Order For Streets To Be Properly Cleaned.
C. Scott - Req. City Mgr. Have Appropriate Department Provide A Status Update On Waterpark And Pool Openings For The Coming Summer.
C. Scott - Req. City Mgr. Have Appropriate Department Re-Stripe Crosswalk At Moore/Gorham Streets And Repaint Turning Lanes.
Hollywood Comes to Lowell 2022
Many will remember back in 2009 when Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and a large production company spent several weeks on location filming The Fighter, the story of Lowell boxer Micky Ward.
Hollywood returns to Lowell this week as another production company is scheduled to film scenes for The Boston Strangler movie which stars Keira Knightley, Chris Cooper, and others. Filming is supposed to take place in the Superior and District courthouses which were both vacated in March 2020 with the opening of the Lowell Justice Center.
On the Blog
If you haven’t already read them, please check out these posts on richardhowe.com from the past week:
Lowell 2021 in Review by Richard
Remembering Mary Richardson by Marjorie Arons Barron
The Poetry of Mapmaking by Christine O’Connor
“On America” and other poems by Daniel Conor Murphy
Thanks for resuming this, Dick. I appreciate your balanced view on local matters. I Wonder Why They Write Their Motions Like This.