The Lowell City Council met on Tuesday, November 18, 2025. The agenda was relatively light considering there had been no meeting the previous week due to Veterans Day and the meeting before that had only lasted seven minutes because it coincided with the city election.

On Tuesday, the Council did pass an amendment to the city’s “Peace and Good Order” ordinance that bans “supervised drug consumption sites” in the city. The amendment, which is available online, operates by defining these sites as “Nuisance Health Establishments” which are illegal to operate. The stated rationale is that these sites rely on individuals bringing illegal controlled substances onto the premises and then departing regardless of their condition and the safety of the public. The ordinance empowers the Lowell Police Department, the Division of Development Services, and the Health and Human Services Department to enforce these rules. An establishment found in violation faces a fine of $300 per offense.

After a brief public hearing, the council passed the amendment (thereby enacting the ban) by a vote of 8 to 2 with YES votes from Corey Belanger, Sokhary Chau, John Descoteaux, Erik Gitschier, Rita Mercier, Corey Robinson, Paul Ratha Yem, and Mayor Dan Rourke. Voting NO were Wayne Jenness and Vesna Nuon. Council Kim Scott was absent.

Both Jenness and Nuon emphasized that they did not necessarily support supervised drug injection sites but that such sites are illegal in Massachusetts under current law, so prohibiting something that does not exist “puts the cart before the horse.” Both further explained that if the legislature ever does enact a law that permits such sites, the council could consider whether to ban them then, and in the process hear from experts in the field about the benefits and harms such sites would bring. Then, after being better educated on the matter, the council could make a rational decision on whether to allow such sites in Lowell.

Councilors who voted for the ban said that while supervised injection sites may not now be legal in Massachusetts, there are bills pending in the legislature that would allow them. Several councilors mentioned that two of the state representatives from Lowell support this legislation, with Councilor John Descoteaux saying, “we need to send a message to our left-progressive socialist state legislators that we oppose this.” Descoteaux, who sounded like he was auditioning for a job in the Trump Administration, added that he is a district councilor and as such is most interested in the opinions of the people in his district and that “90 percent of them oppose this.” As for learning from experts the pros and cons of these sites, Councilor Corey Belanger said, “I’m not interested in hearing from professionals; I’ve seen the damage that drugs cause.”

In the legislature, House Bill H.2196, An Act Relative to Preventing Overdose Deaths and Increasing Access to Treatment, is pending before the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery. The bill would authorize the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to license and regulate “overdose prevention centers” although such sites would also require local approval by the city council. The bill would provide immunity from state civil and criminal liability for the staff, property owners, and individuals using the sites, provided they operate within the regulations (including immunity from prosecution for “maintaining a nuisance” property). In addition to supervised consumption, the centers would be required to provide access to sterile supplies, overdose reversal care (naloxone), and referrals to addiction treatment and social services.

According to the legislature’s website, Lowell State Representative Tara Hong is among the 37 co-sponsors of the bill. Although State Representative Vanna Howard is not currently listed as a co-sponsor of this bill, she did co-sponsor in the previous session an almost identical bill, S.1242, which died at the end of that legislative session. Presumably, she is the second state legislature, along with Rep. Hong, referred to by city councilors. I believe that Lowell’s third state representative, Rodney Elliott, opposes supervised injection sites.

As for the theory behind these sites, those who support them argue that these sites save lives by allowing staff to immediately intervene with oxygen or naloxone during an overdose. Also, by providing sterile equipment, the sites reduce the transmission of blood-borne diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C caused by needle sharing. The sites can also serve as an entry point for users to access addiction treatment, medical care, and social services they might otherwise avoid. Finally, supporters contend that these facilities actually improve public safety by reducing public drug use and the amount of hazardous litter (such as discarded needles) on streets and in parks.

Opponents of these sites argue that they normalize illegal drug use and attract drug dealers and increase crime, loitering, and social disorder in the surrounding neighborhoods. They also argue that whatever resources are available should be directed to treatment and detoxification rather than a facility that allows continued drug use.

At first glance, the concept of supervised injection sites seems misguided, but history is replete with examples of things that seemed wrong turning out to be right. Three hundred years ago in Boston, the minister Cotton Mather argued for widespread inoculation to prevent the spread of smallpox. Most people thought that purposely injecting a healthy person with the smallpox virus was insane, but that turned out to be an effective preventative measure that saved thousands of lives.

The bigger story from Tuesday night’s meeting is not that the council pre-emptively banned safe injection sites, but that a majority of councilors were unwilling to consult with experts before deciding a complex public health matter and instead relied on gut instincts.

****

Another item that triggered considerable discussion by councilors was a request from City Manager Tom Golden that the council appropriate an additional $500,000 to the Fire Department’s overtime account. For fiscal year 2026 (which runs from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026), the city appropriated $2 million for Fire Department overtime, however, as of this month, which is just more than one-third through the fiscal year, the Department has already spent $1.4 million of that $2 million appropriation.

Memos from Fire Chief Phillip Charron and Manager Golden in support of this request stated that the faster than forecast expenditure of overtime was due to a combination of vacancies, sick time, and Family and Medical Leave requests. To help close the funding gap, the Chief proposed stricter scrutiny of sick time usage, transferring firefighters with administrative assignments to line duty and closing one fire company per shift. However, even with these measures, an additional $399,000 would be needed, hence the need for the supplemental appropriation.

Councilors objected to closing fire companies as a tool to cut overtime spending. The inclination was to send the vote back to the City Manager with instructions to craft a solution that did not involve closing companies (also known as “brown outs”), even if it meant more money for overtime. However, CFO Conor Baldwin explained that the timetable of city finances made it imperative that the council address this issue immediately. Councilors then asked if transferring $750,000 rather than the $500,000 initially requested would cover overtime through June 30, 2026, without closing any stations. When the City Manager and Fire Chief assured councilors that it would, the vote was amended to the higher amount and passed unanimously.

****

The City Manager also presented a Loan Order to councilors that would borrow $40 million for the Lowell High School project in addition to the $382 million already borrowed. This additional money is to remediate the floor and foundation problems discovered in the 1922 building during the project.

An earlier increase of $40 million due to a Covid-related spike in material costs was covered by State Building Authority funding, however, according to Manager Golden, this new overage will fall entirely on the city which will result in a 1.6 percent tax increase in the coming fiscal year.

As they were obliged to do, councilors – with some grumbling – referred this to a public hearing at the December 2, 2025, council meeting.

****

The recount in the District 3 city council race was held Friday at City Hall. The election night result stood with Belinda Juran defeating Dan Finn. The initial unofficial count on election night gave Juan a four-vote margin of victory with her receiving 1143 votes to 1139 for Finn. A small batch of ballots that had to be counted by hand the day after the election added six more votes to Juran’s lead. After the recount, Juran’s total stood at 1149 with Finn at 1138.

Another element of a recount is for the candidates to challenge the decision of the election commission on contested ballots. If the matter was to be further challenged in court, the judge’s review would be limited to those contested ballots. My understanding is that the number of ballots contested by Finn during the recount was fewer than Juran’s margin of victory, so even if a judge sided with Finn on all of those ballots, it would not yield enough votes to change the outcome so it’s likely that the result reached on Friday will be final.

****

The Spinners are back! It has been previously reported that UMass Lowell and the Futures Collegiate Baseball League had agreed to bring a team from the Futures League to the University’s LeLacheur Park for next season. On Tuesday, the University introduced the owners of the new team which, we also learned, will use the Lowell Spinners name.

The original Spinners were born in Lowell in 1996 as the New York Penn League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The team played through the 2019 season, had the 2020 season cancelled due to Covid, and was then disbanded when Major League Baseball contracted the number of minor league teams it supported.

This is great news for the city and should help build momentum for the University’s LINC project.