City Council

Unfinished business from last week: Councilor Belanger moves to delay executive sessions from tonight to the next council meeting. Unanimously approved. Motion by Mayor Elliott to set up joint subcommittee of council and school committee to assess recently completed Lowell High School facilities assessment report. Unanimously approved. Motion by Mayor…

The Lowell City Council held a special meeting tonight (March 3, 2014) to decide the next steps in the process of selecting a new city manager and a new city auditor. Councilor Mercier opens by moving that a period of citizen comment be allowed prior to the interviews. Councilor Belanger…

I wasn’t sorry to see February come to an end but when I stepped out the door yesterday and found that March had arrived with air chilled to 3 degrees and talk of more snow tomorrow, I already started to looking forward to April. When I posted my council meeting…

Communications from City Manager Report on Shot Spotter technology referred to Public Safety Subcommittee. (Three year subscription for 1 square mile would be $235,000; 2 square miles would be $340,000; 3 square miles would be $415,000). Vote to authorize third amendment to development agreement between city and Trinity Financial for…

With a Monday holiday (Presidents Day), school vacation week, a big snowstorm that cancelled Tuesday’s city council meeting, a series of smaller storms that made getting around each day a challenge, and a brilliantly sunny Saturday for Winterfest, politics was not foremost in the news this week. The biggest political…

After being AWOL the past two Tuesdays, I resumed note taking just in time for this marathon council meeting. There were important presentations on two new development projects in the city but most of the rest was anti-climatic. Bagshaw Mills – Recycling Site Mark Regan speaks on Bagshaw Mills (128…

Thanks to Jack Moynihan for pinch hitting for me tonight on the city council note taking shift. Here’s Jack’s report on the meeting: Mayor Elliot called meeting to order at 6:14. Minutes were accepted unanimously. The first motion is by Rourke to take the motion to appoint Salmira Mitchell to…

Special meeting to appoint acting City Manager effective March 10, 2014. Kennedy moves that the council appointment Michael Geary acting city manager effective March 11, 2014 and that appointment stay in place until a permanent manager is hired. Councilor Martin says he supports Geary but he wants to address the…

Last week I purposely avoided any mention of Mayor Murphy’s portrait for several reasons. Like the Nativity Scene controversy and to a lesser extent, the controversy over board appointments, I considered it a diversionary tactic used by some to draw attention away from important matter such as the process for…