Here’s Part II of my coverage of Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting. Part I of the coverage was posted last night.  

HCID Garage Presentation – This garage will be the city’s presence in the Hamilton Canal District and is has to set the standard for what is expected from future developers. Presentation by Walker Consultants which has been designing parking garages for 60 years. Bids will be advertised in July 2018, bids due in August, construction to begin in October 2018 and completed by end of 2019. The roadway the will pass in front of the garage is being constructed now. It’s a new street that will pass in front of the garage and cross the lower Pawtucket Canal to connect with Canal Street. Goal of architects was to maximize the amount of parking on the footprint available for the garage. One challenge is that the Merrimack Canal (running along Dutton Street) is much higher than the Pawtucket Canal (running down to Central Street) so designing the garage on this slope is complicated. There will be two elevator/stair towers, one on the Judicial Center side, the other on the National Park Visitor Center side because garage users will approach from both directions. On the side facing Canal Place which will be 40 feet away, there will be a green roof and a green wall which will be plants that climb the wall of the garage.

The project will be funded through the Parking Enterprise Fund with overall costs of $32.5mil and “soft” costs of $5mil for a total of $37.5mil cost. The garage will have 930 spaces. The ground floor will have some commercial space but the size is not yet determined. It will be about 1200 square feet, about enough for a coffee shop. It would be tough to make that bigger because it would add about $500,000 to construction costs.

Communication – City Manager request Out of State Travel (1) DPW.

ORDERS FROM THE CITY MANAGER

Order-Dedicate intersection of Winthrop Avenue and Wilder Street Dr. L. Rodger Currie Memorial in Honor of Dr. L. Rodger Currie

ORDINANCES FROM THE CITY MANAGER

Ordinance-Create New Chapter 199, Entitled Marijuana Licensing. Referred to public hearing.

REPORTS (SUB/COMMITTEE, IF ANY)

Zoning SC May 22, 2018. The zoning subcommittee discussed “stealth dormitories” which are apartments around the city that are filled with students. These create parking and traffic problems, as well.

PETITIONS

Speedway, LLC. request license for additional storage of flammables 28,000 gals. gas UST; 12,000 Diesel II UST at 566 Pawtucket Street.

Misc. – National Grid request permission to install (1) new pole to service new home at 16 Clarendon Street.

Misc. – National Grid request permission to install handhold to service 16 Clarendon Street.

CITY COUNCIL – MOTIONS

Conway – Req. City Mgr. explore the feasibility of re-locating our police station to the site of the District Court located on Hurd Street when vacated by State.

Elliott – Req. City Mgr. report on City adopting MGL property exemption for veteran volunteer program.

Mercier – Req. City Mgr. have proper department install security cameras on 1st Street as well as address issues of lighting, excess trash, beer bottles and drug paraphernalia.

Leahy – Req. City Mgr. have Law Department draft ordinance that would fine utility companies $100 per line after they were notified that such lines were illegally hanging from their pole.

Nuon – Req. City Mgr. provide a report on challenges and successes in relationship between Lowell Career Center and clients of local non-profit who aid in addiction recovery.

Nuon – Req. City of Lowell continue its support of non-profits that provide services to our residents in need and request City Mgr. provide periodic reports on progress and advise on how to strengthen results.

Nuon – Req. City of Lowell join with non-profits to send a letter to the US Senate and House of Representatives in support of Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency Act (CARE) proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Elijah Cummings to begin treating the opioid crisis like the critical public health emergency it is.

Nuon/M. Samaras – Req. City Mgr. have DPW work with representatives from Roberto Clemente Baseball Field to install lighting with a scoreboard on the field and to concession stand in the near future.

Nuon/M. Samaras – Req. City re-establish the Youth Council and/or Commission

Samaras – Req. City Mgr. instruct the Law Department to draft a home rule petition to allow the City to appoint retired Lowell police officers to work paid detail assignments.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

ADJOURNMENT