Appointments & Briefings Committee — September 15, 2026

Good morning, everybody, and thank you for coming to the Committee on Appointments and Briefings.

It is September 15th, 2006.

It is 7:02.

And we're beginning the meeting.

Note, this meeting is being live streamed and recorded.

City Council committee meetings can be viewed on the City of New Bedford's homepage under Quick Links, then Meetings.

In, in our chamber, we have Councilor at Large Ian Abreu, Councilor Ward 2 Scott Pemberton, Councilor Ward 1 Leo Choquette, Councilor Ward 5 Joseph Lopes, Councilor at Large Brian K. Gomes, Councilor President and Council Ward 6, Ryan J. Pereira, Councilor at Large James Roy, and Councilor from Ward 4, Derek Baptiste.

Thank you all for being here.

Do we have anything to read into the record?

I have one letter to read into— excuse me.

And we have Councilor at Large Shane Burgl.

Thanks for joining us.

Okay.

I have one letter to read into the record.

This is from Councilor Oliver.

I am writing to inform you that regretfully I will be unable to attend the Committee on Appointments and Briefings meeting on Tuesday, September 15th, 2026 due to a prior commitment.

Please read this letter into the record to make my colleagues and the public aware of the reason for my absence.

Okay, made by Councilor Burgos, seconded by Councilor Gomes.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Item number 1 is citizens input time, not to exceed the first 30 minutes of each meeting.

Each individual recognized will be allowed to speak for a total of 3 minutes.

1A is Kyle Fahey, 59 Shawmut Avenue, speaking on excessive car and motorbike noises.

Mr. Fahey.

Mr. Fahey.

Motion made to table by Councilor Pereira, seconded by Councilor Gomes.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

1B is William Lacey of 914 Lucy Street speaking on unsafe driving by New Bedford police officers on Lucy Street.

Mr. Lacey.

Thank you, Councilor.

It's nice to see you, Dennis.

If before my 3 minutes begins, just as a resident— so many know me because of my past career— thank you for this opportunity.

It's appreciated, and in today's world, this is an important thing.

Thank you, Mr. Lacey.

You may begin.

I'm going to begin by throwing out some numbers and facts because I know you people love that sort of thing.

The Ford Explorer is one of the larger SUVs from the Ford Motor Company.

It has a gross vehicle weight of 6,160 pounds when it rolls off fresh from the line, just over 3 tons.

It goes from 0 to 60, depending upon what it's carrying and its makeup, in between 5.1 and 5.9 seconds.

These numbers will become important.

Its stopping distance, though, 60 to 0, almost 110 feet.

That becomes even more critical tonight.

On the 14th of June, in 2026, my wife texted me.

I happened to be outside in the garden.

Took me a while first to see the text, a little longer to do something about it.

It said, police up the street.

I finished what I was doing, went, assumed that our neighbor far up the street had had another medical incident.

That was not the case.

The incident that occurred up the street is not of importance.

What occurred after that incident is.

At the conclusion of that incident, at 7:41, 3 New Bedford police employees in 3 separate Ford Explorer SUVs transited from Bartlett Street to LePage Street at speeds of probably 50 miles an hour or above.

If anyone wants to know how we deduced that, I have a way of telling you, but that's going to go beyond my 3.

They did so only with lights.

June 14th, the first weekend our children are out of school, 7:20.

Daylight lasted that night 8:30.

Our children are out, our elderly were out, and specifically a little boy I'll get to if you ask questions about was out.

Those 3 police officers did not use sirens while transiting Lucy Street, instead waiting until they got to the outlet where Route 18 and Kushnet Avenue occurs.

They took a left to head towards Trucchi's, and only then did they put on their sirens to warn of their coming.

Now, I have some thoughts, but I'm out of time.

If anybody would like to know more about that incident, I am here to answer a question.

I will give you another minute if you want to continue.

Thank you.

They continued past Trucy's with lights and sirens.

If you're familiar with the area, That's half a mile by that time, plus the quarter mile on Lucy Street.

My point is, I think they used reckless judgment that night.

But more importantly, I went and researched Mass General Law.

It allows them to do that in times of when there was high need and they had to operate silently.

If the need was on Lucy Street, the need was on the avenue, the need was on Phillips Road.

That little boy is 5 years old and he's autistic.

7 days earlier, we lost a little boy on a bike, 5 years old.

Stopping distance, 110 feet.

By the way, other towns and cities have enacted a quiet time.

In other words, when sirens are off, beginning at 10, lasting through about 5 AM.

You have the power to make certain this doesn't happen again, or worse yet, a little boy like Kevin doesn't meet up with the wrong end of a police cruiser.

Thank you, Mr. Lucy.

Does, does anybody have any questions?

Seeing none, thank you very much.

Oh, thank you, Councilor Socap.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Yeah, Mr. Lacey, so I apologize, at what time was it when this happened?

Was it dusk?

No, dusk would have been 45 minutes to an hour later.

Sunset on that evening was 8:30.

It's one of the longest days of our year.

Yeah, correct.

That's right.

Okay.

All right, yeah, let's, let's talk some more about this off, off here.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Thank you, Council Virgo.

Oh, I thought you waved.

Oh, okay, okay.

Anybody else?

Seeing— thank you very much.

I don't remember.

1C is— I'm sorry, 1C.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Okay, 1C is Carmen Norman, 941 Oakley Street, speaking on safety.

Concerns and traffic accidents near 5 Nauset Street, referred here on July 22nd, 2026.

Carmen Norman.

Carmen Norman.

Motion to table.

Second.

Motion made to table.

Councilor Pereira, seconded by Councilor— Councilor Roy.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Number 2 is a communication, Mayor Mitchell to the City Council, submitting an appointment of Brian J. Souza New Bedford, Mass., to the Election Commission.

This term will expire on April 29th— excuse me, April 2029.

It was afforded here on August 21st, 2026.

Number 2 is now before you.

Um, I just was going to tell you that I would like to leave it.

No, they're going to be here at 7:30, so we can either table or we can just go to the next item.

So we can just go to the next item.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Number 3, communication.

Councilor Gomes submitting a host committee agreement, a community agreement proposal application on behalf of Shamar James, founder, CEO of TH Connect LLC, doing business as— no, I'm sorry, Brian Souza is here.

It was just one D and one E that— no, but, um, Brian is here, but, um, because Manny wants to be here with him.

He's still here.

He'll be running late.

He called me and asked to do that.

It's going to be— Manny's just running a little late.

He wants me to support him.

Okay, what about 1D?

Yeah, let's just keep going.

Okay, okay, okay.

Doing business as House of Diesel seeking to operate a co-located adult-use marijuana retail and product manufacturing establishment at 301 Herman Melville Boulevard, New Bedford, Mass.

02740.

It was referred here on January 23rd, 2025.

February 18th, 2025, it was tabled.

September 16th, 2025, it was tabled with a related motion that a letter be sent to the CCC staff asking why they did not attend the meeting and request that the mayor reconvene the HCA screening committee as soon as possible.

November 18, 2025, it was tabled.

On December 9, 2025, it was tabled with a related motion that a letter be sent to the mayor asking him to enter into a host community agreement, HCA, with House of Diesel, enabling the organization to seek reimbursement from the state for funds previously expended.

On February 17, 2026, it was tabled once again, and it is now before you, and it remains on the table.

From the table, motion made by Councilor Gomes, seconded by Councilor Virgo.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Madam Chairman, could we hear from— I think we have some notes.

Yes, City Solicitor first.

Oh, okay, let's get— he's right behind you.

Good evening, Madam Chairwoman, councilors.

I spoke to Councilor Gomes earlier this evening.

I'll give you an update on where we are with House of Diesel.

Councilor Baptista is aware of where we are.

The committee met a few weeks ago.

We reviewed their proposal.

There were some technical errors in the proposal.

We wrote back to House of Diesel with questions, and today we received their responses this afternoon.

We are circulating their responses to those questions, and we'll meet again briefly.

And I will not commit to saying that we'll enter into an HCA, but I suspect that that is likely.

How close is likely?

I'm one member of the group, so I can't speak for the entire group.

But okay, I'll be saying yes.

I'd like to have your, your footsteps with this.

Sorry, I'd like to have your footsteps with this, the solicitor, to— we've been through this for a while and we seem to be making some progress little by little, and I would hope that you would walk it through as fast as we can.

The responses came in this afternoon and that we were sending out the acknowledgment to the folks at House of Diesel who I see in the back of the room.

And we were circulating through planning the materials.

Uh, I don't know if they went out yet.

Councilor, uh, Baptiste may know if he got his copy today.

They came in this afternoon, but he's not looking at me, so I don't know.

Okay, thank you.

Anybody have any questions for Attorney Jakes?

Um, Councilor Baptiste.

Thanks, Madam Chair.

I didn't, I didn't get anything yet, so, um, I just wanted to say there was very— how thorough was their application compared to the other dispensaries in the city?

I apologize for not being able to answer that.

Those prior applications came in before I was city solicitor counselor.

All right, all right.

But, but it was, it was very thorough, and I indicated that I was impressed with it.

The committee had a number of questions.

We sent them back out to House of Diesel and they answered them all this afternoon.

Yeah.

And knowing what they've done and knowing what they've been through, just going through us, like, I know I'm a yes.

So I'm a firm yes.

And as long as they, you know, going by what the city has asked, like, I don't, I don't see why it would be an issue having it.

I, I thought that the, that the board had simple questions that could be answered easily, and I think that, you know, the, the process has been taking so long to get them to be open that I think that we should, you know, hopefully move— we should move expeditiously to just get this stuff running.

Do you agree?

I do.

The councilor— the answers came in this afternoon.

Yeah, I read the answers this afternoon.

I instructed the planning director to forward the answers to all of the members of the committee.

That was at about 4 o'clock when I spoke to her.

Uh, if you didn't get it today, I suspect it'll go out tomorrow.

It'll probably come in tomorrow.

All right, I was just looking for it, that's why.

Because again, as I said, I was satisfied with the answers.

I'm one vote on the committee.

Yeah, so once, once I get it and, and look over it, like, I, I, after speaking to them personally right here.

Um, I know they're ready to go through the process and start, you know, opening up their, their business and getting their fit— their feet, um, wet in the cannabis business.

No.

Yeah.

So they got a great spot.

They got a great location, not around any houses, around a lot of, uh, businesses on a back street.

You know, the only thing in front of them is water and a lot.

So I think that we should, you know, be looking forward to having this group owner, you know, own dispensary in the city.

I yield the floor.

Thank you, Councilor Baptiste.

Anybody else for Attorney Jakes?

Thank you, Attorney Jakes.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

Madam Chair, could we hear from House of Diesel, please?

Absolutely.

You can, yep, you get, but you can state your name and address for the record for the people and for the rest of my colleagues.

All right, I'm Shamar James, CEO of House of Diesel.

We'll be located at 301 Herman Melville Boulevard.

Pull the mic closer to you.

I'm Shamar James, CEO of House of Diesel.

We'll be located at 301 Mervyn— uh, Melville— Herman Melville Boulevard.

Yeah, thank you.

And I'm Connie Sousa, same company, same location.

Thank you.

Okay, um, we've been told this afternoon that they received the application, went through it.

There was a couple of flaws, uh, something that had to be straightened out or whatever.

You have taken that approach and did that and submitted it today as the city solicited.

It says, are you happy with the— with— as the process is moving along?

This has been a long wait for you.

I know you're on the verge of putting out some more thousands of dollars to hold on to your spot that you've been holding on to for a long time.

Is this moving in the right direction on your behalf at this point?

Uh, yes, it is.

You're happy with what's going on, working closely, close with the city solicitor.

Now I'll say that publicly, and I've, I've asked him to do that, is to work as close as he can with you as, um, we move this process along.

Yeah.

Okay, you happy, Connie?

Um, yeah, we are happy.

We actually thank the city for that, for moving forward.

We thank all of you for your effort and your support and the fact that we are here.

So we appreciate all of you.

We are ready to do this.

We are ready to move forward.

The only ask that we have for the city of New Bedford is to please consider adopting the template that already exists by the CCC, which is state-approved, it's compliant, it's ready to go.

No need to reinvent the wheel.

Money, time, effort, personnel.

And if we could just use the— adopt the template at ACA, we would be okay to move along.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for your kind words.

I don't do it all alone.

It is a process, and I have 10 other men and women that are behind me to make it happen when it does happen.

And that's how I do business, and I'll continue to do business.

And I thank you again for your kind words, but again, it's the entire body that's been behind you, have supported my actions to see that this comes to fruition.

You have waited a long, long time, and I'm hoping that you can get your doors open as soon as possible.

I know there's been a lot of money spent, but you and your family and the corporation itself have been committed to doing this, and I think that's why you've hung in there as long as you have.

You could have packed up the bags and said, we can go elsewhere, but you wanted to make it happen here, and we're hoping that we can make it happen with you.

Yeah, we want to do business in New Bedford.

We want to invest in New Bedford.

We want to hire people in New Bedford.

So the next step is just being here.

We thank you for everything, and we look forward to being in New Bedford.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, and thank you so much for your patience.

Oh, don't leave yet.

Councilor Baptiste says don't go.

Councilor Baptiste, what's up, guys?

We spoke a little bit earlier, but, um, The asks weren't too much, right, to pivot on your end that the committee had requested from you?

No, they weren't.

And you got them done and you went through your whole thing and make— to make sure, like, so it was— so we don't have to— so they don't have to ask for anything anymore, like, so we can start moving forward.

So everything's all set.

Yeah.

They decide to move forward.

We're ready to, you know, hold another outreach meeting and, you know, get an HCA signed.

How confident are you coming into the city and being a new business and, you know, getting into the industry?

How confident are you guys?

I don't want to say we're overly confident, but from what I see in the industry and talking to other people, I truly believe our business model is going to work and it's going to work extremely well.

Thank you so much, man.

And thank you for coming into the city, man.

I appreciate you guys.

Good luck.

Thank you.

I yield.

Thank you, Councilor Baptiste.

Anybody else have questions for House of Diesel?

Seeing none, thank you so much.

And thank you for your patience, because you had patience.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, guys.

Did you have a question?

No, not a question, Madam Chairman, but I would like to keep this on the agenda.

Yes, still we're going to keep it tabled because this is our live bullet to bring all parties together.

It's not a done deal yet, so let's keep it on table.

So we're going to motion to table, made by Councilor Gomes, second by Councilor Lopes.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

We're on table.

Thank you so much.

Okay, we'll go back to number 2.

Number 2 is a communication, Mayor Mitchell to the City Council, submitting the appointment of Brian J. Souza, New Bedford, Mass., to the Election Commission.

This term will expire April 2029.

It was referred here on August 20th, 2026.

Number 2 is now before for you.

Motion made by Councilor April, seconded by Councilor Pabergo.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Okay, Rankin, you can take the podium.

And just to my colleagues, um, our commissioner wanted to be here with the nominee and he was running a few minutes late, so I told him that I'd hold off till he got here, and he's here now.

Thank you.

Hello, welcome.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

Please state your name and address for the record and we can move on.

My name is Brian Souza.

Um, I have been a lifelong resident of New Bedford and have served the city of New Bedford in a number of different ways going all the way back to 1979.

I don't know how many people on the council remember that they used to have auxiliary police offices in the city of New Bedford.

Who were volunteers, and I volunteered at that at 20 years old, worked there and was part of civil defense for a number of years until I went to work for the city— excuse me— as an emergency medical technician and eventually a police officer in the city of New Bedford.

I ended up leaving the city and going to work for the sheriff's department when they wanted to set up a training academy for them.

So I went to work for the sheriff's department and worked there until an injury forced me into retirement.

I am also— have been a pastor in the United Methodist Church and now the Global Methodist Church.

We are— I pastored here in New Bedford at the Center Trinity United Methodist Church on County Street, which is now falling apart and breaking my heart.

But I served in that way for a long time.

I also served as a deputy director of emergency management back when it was civil defense.

Um, and that's kind of my, my little bit of history with the city.

Thank you.

Does anybody have any questions?

Councilor Bergo.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here tonight, Reverend Souza.

How are you doing?

I'm doing well.

Um, I— first question, I know it sounds silly, but in your appointment letter to us, um, your last name was spelled with an S or Z.

It is changed.

It is with a Z.

With a Z.

Okay.

Yes.

So I just want to confirm because on our communication it's with an S and then in the mayor's letter it's spelled in one sentence with an S and then again with a Z and then it's like flip-flops.

So I just wanted to confirm with you if it's a Z or an S. So it is officially Reverend Souza with a Z.

Thank you for that.

I guess my first question to you that seems, um, very clear based on your actions, which I want to commend you for, is if appointed, who do you feel that you're accountable to, the mayor or the voters and laws?

Oh, elections, voters in the city of New Bedford, always.

Yes, I felt that as a police officer.

I felt that as in any position I've held.

You know, my, my loyalty is to the city, the voters and the people, the city residents of the city of New Bedford.

And it sounds like you, if I'm understanding correctly, you're part of the Republican City Committee here in New Bedford, and you put your name forward to serve in this capacity, and your name was submitted by the chair of the Republican City Committee, correct?

Okay.

And that was done months ago, back in April.

Just wanted that for the record as well.

And so I want to thank you It sounds like you have a long history of service, so I thank you for your public service to our community.

And it sounds that you're willing— again, on the record, you would commit to making decisions independently, even if that decision may be politically unpopular.

Correct.

Great.

I just want to commend you and apologize on behalf of the city, because obviously I'm sure you're aware you were really caught in the middle of a political tug-of-war.

I hope you understand that had nothing to do with you or your appointment.

So I just publicly want to make sure that you know that was nothing about you personally.

Has to do with, obviously— and that's why I asked my first question about the laws governing elections, because there's been a long dispute long before you came along with even your commissioner, if everything goes well for you tonight, which I plan to vote for you.

You'll join your fellow commissioners like Daniel Higgins, who also had a similar situation where this mayor attempted to appoint by emergency, which is not allowed in the city of New Bedford.

So I want to commend you for being as honorable as you have been by not showing up and potentially causing legal problems with this election and still showing up today and serving in this honorable way.

So I want to thank you, Reverend Souza, for that.

That's all, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Councilman.

Councilman Baptiste.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

How you doing, Reverend Souza?

How's everything today?

Excuse me, I'm sorry.

I said, how's everything today?

Doing well, Councilman.

Good, good.

So with all your years of service, um, what made you want to be on the Election Commission?

Why do you think it's so significant that you take on this role?

I think one of the most pressing questions for most people today around the election process is election integrity.

And it's gotten a lot of negative press all the way around from both sides of the realm.

I just want to make sure that in the city of New Bedford, that people can have confidence that when they vote, that their votes are done in a proper way, in accordance with law.

And, you know, everything is done on the up and up.

How helpful has the Election Commission been, the commissioner been with you?

How helpful?

Yeah, how helpful has Manny been with you?

Manny's been tremendously helpful with me.

I mean, he's been very knowledgeable, asked me any questions that I might have had, he's answered.

He's been a great help.

Like we said, like the councilor before me from Purchase Street said, it's sad that, you know, you put your application in so early and they waited so late to submit it.

You know, that should have been done earlier so we could have already been through this process and you could have been up and running.

So we're sorry for that, but, um, good luck.

I, I plan on supporting you as well, and, um, I hope you serve the city well.

Thank you so much.

No apologies are necessary.

Thank you, Councilor Baptiste.

Councilor Abram.

Thank you, madam.

Uh, good evening, Mr. Souza.

Good to see you.

Thank you, Councilor.

Good to see you again, as always.

How important is trying to work with the commission and the community to increase voter activity and voter turnout?

I mean, the federal stuff, I'm not too concerned about that.

People come out for president, they come out for U.S. Senate, they even come out with the state for the most part for the governor and state reps and things like that.

But let's talk about municipal every other odd year.

What we do in this building, whether upstairs or in here on the second floor really impacts our residents and their lives every day, day to day.

You know that.

You were a police officer.

You've served.

You get it.

What can we do to increase our voter activity and voter turnout, to let people know that what they do when they cast their ballot every other odd year, not the even years, it really does matter?

Councilor, this was the first question I asked Manny when I met with him the first time.

And I said, you know, I vote at the Parker School.

And I think the last city election, we lived right in the neighborhood, we walked over.

At the end of the day, there were 64 people that had voted in that precinct.

64.

And so I think, you know, we've tried to do a bunch of education, we've tried to do a bunch of— you know, not we, but, you know, it's been trying to get out there.

I think this just has— I don't know what exactly to do other than try to show how important it is and to try to stop some of the apathy that when it's not a popular election or when there's not a major issue on the ballot.

I mean, I get it.

We're not on CNN.

We're not on Fox News.

I get it.

But what we do is important.

It really is.

And you understand that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, We're supportive, we're here, and I'll defer to you and your fellow commissioners and your judgment how we can increase the turnout.

If you have any ideas, something we can run with, let us know.

But I wish you well.

Thank you.

And that is, that is a huge thing on my heart that I think, you know, is to try to get voter turnout to a point where, you know, it matters, because you can't complain, constant complain on Facebook that everything's bad.

And nobody votes.

So that's true.

That's— thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Souza.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll yield.

Thank you, Councilor Abreu.

Anybody else?

Questions for Mr. Souza?

Reverend Souza?

Madam Chair, I just want to make a motion to amend the communication to correct the spelling of his name from a Z to an A for Souza.

Motion's been made.

Oh, I don't know if that's necessary.

No.

Oh, okay, great.

So the motion to refer out to the full City Council for approval— motion made by Councilor Bergo to submit, to put out to the full City Council for approval.

Second by Councilor Abril.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

And it'll be reported out— what's the date on the next City Council meeting?

It will be on September 24th.

So September 24th.

Reverend Souza, if you want to come, we will— we can swear you in then.

Did you hear me, Reverend?

Reverend Souza, on September 24th, it'll be reported out with a favorable recommendation by the City Council.

If you'd like to be here, we can swear you in then.

Okay, then you can go see the clerk after that and he can swear you in.

Thank you so much, and thank you for serving.

Item number 4 and 4A before us.

Written motion, Councilors Abram and Pereira requesting that the Committee on Appointments and Briefings discuss the ongoing construction project on County Street, and further that the committee meet with local businesses to discuss the impact of the street disturbances.

It was referred here on May 7th, 2024.

July 16th, 2024, it was tabled, and it was heard again and then tabled on June 23rd, 2026.

6, where it was tabled.

4A is a related motion.

Councilmember requesting that the Committee on Appointments and Briefings meet with County Street business owners and a representative from MassDOT, Mayor Mitchell, DPI Commissioner Jamie Ponte, State Representative Antonio F.D.

Cabral, and State Senator Mark C. Montigny for a discussion regarding the future projects, including the upcoming TIP project and possible issues that may arise.

That was referred here from committee.

On July 16, 2024.

Motion to receive and place on file.

Number 4 is on the table.

Oh, motion to remove from the table.

Okay, motion made to remove from table, made by Councilor Roy, seconded by Councilor Abril.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

If we could hear, um, I received communication, Madam Chair, from Commissioner Ponte, and, uh, he has a representative here.

Okay.

Perfect.

You, you.

Oh.

Yeah.

Hello, how are you?

Could you state your name and address, your name for the record?

We know you work for DPI.

Good evening, everyone.

Jim Costa from DPI.

And your position?

Uh, wastewater superintendent.

Okay.

Um, so I'm here to speak, uh, briefly on the County Street project, uh, on behalf of DPI.

Um, PA Landers is currently working in their phase 2 of the project between Rivet Street and Allen Street.

As of now, the utility work is complete and binder course pavement has been installed.

Right now the project is going to be wrapping up all their sidewalk work and should be completed this fall.

DPI, PA Landers, and District 5 have all been working together fielding requests from residents, outreaching to businesses, and anything that comes our way, working together.

The contractors right now are continuing to utilize police details, and they haven't approved traffic management plan for detours.

So they've been working on through that plan to make sure everything is flowing as good as it can be flowing.

Um, it's anticipated that the contractor will, uh, have all their site cleaned up before the pause in, uh, as the winter moratorium comes.

This week, District 5, Landers, and DPI will be meeting with Eversource Gas and Eversource Electric Um, all the management teams will be talking together, um, to coordinate their schedules for the Phase 3 portion of the project.

Um, it's the update that I've got from DPI.

Councilor Pereira, please.

Thank you.

Um, so basically, so are we on schedule, Jimmy, you think, or— We are.

Okay, perfect.

And rough, obviously things might happen, but rough schedule still probably about 2 years, one more year probably major construction.

I believe that is the outlook, yes.

Punch list and stuff that might occur after that.

And you said, um, you anticipate all the sidewalks to be completed by this year, the— in that Phase 2, in that— in the Phase 2 section, correct?

Okay.

My only concern that I do have, and I ask that you take back, is I know, uh, when I— I believe when I last spoke with, uh, Jamie was that once the project's done, they're going to do one final coat on the road so it's seamless all the way down.

Um, one last layer.

Yes.

Can we get some better temporary paintings on the road just for safety of driving on the road, the yellow line specifically?

Sure.

Yeah, I'll bring that.

Just bring that back to them and just see if we can— what we can do to try and just get something there.

I know that the majority of this phase is, is in my colleagues' wards.

Um, so I'll yield if my colleagues have any questions and then take it from there.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Councilor Baptiste.

Thank you.

What's happening?

How you doing today?

Great.

How are you doing?

Good.

Um, so most of the stuff that, you know, Jamie and Manny, and they're very direct with everything that's going on and what's going on with the project.

The only, like, the only concerns that I had was, um, some of the neighbors in the area, when the guys were working, the construction workers were working, it tough for them if they work from home to leave and come back or get their trash picked up and, you know, their mail delivered.

So just making sure that what you guys are being— just everybody's being courteous with understanding the neighborhood, understanding there's still people that live on that stretch of road, and they can get in and out their house and make sure that their trash receptacles can get picked up and their mail can get delivered.

That was the only issues that we had from my constituents that I knew.

There's a couple of business It's not in my ward, um, that had some complaints.

But, you know, the people in my ward that was actually— that actually living over there were just worried about how when the trucks were parked and the construction was going on, if they work from home, how they can get in and out of their homes.

And their trash wasn't getting picked up on time due to the construction work.

So just making sure that we can get them little things done and, you know what I'm saying, streamline that.

But you guys pretty good with that.

I haven't had no complaints lately, so I'll knock on wood with that.

And thank you for all you do.

Great.

Now understood, and we'll continue to work with everyone as, as questions and concerns come in.

Thank you so much, and I yield the floor.

Thank you, Councilor Baptiste.

We have Councilor Lopes.

Thank you, Council Chair.

My only complaints are the same ones that I brought up last time.

I bring to Jamie all the time.

Try to keep it to one lane always being open to allow traffic, and then the timely relocation of the porta-john.

Nobody wants a porta-john in front of their house for 6 weeks or 7 weeks at a time.

Understood.

And then I asked, now that we're getting a little closer to the potential snow, we know what happens when snow gets plowed— porta-john gets moved.

Can we be mindful of that and potentially move a porta-john before a heavy snowfall?

Yes, we will.

Thank you, because nobody wants to deal with having to deal with snow that has some attention given to it.

Understood.

That's all I got.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Councilor Lopes.

Anybody else have any questions?

Yeah, Councilor Baptiste.

I don't have no questions, but I got a statement.

Um, What, what they did tell me about the, the one lane being open, sometimes they have to close the traffic due to not as many cops being able to work a detail.

So when they don't have enough officers for the detail, that's why they was— because I had them questions too, and I was like, you know, they're supposed to have one lane open, why aren't they having one lane?

Why don't they have one lane open?

And, um, traffic was going all over the place.

So what I was told was they're supposed to have one lane open, but if they don't have enough officers for detail, that they will have to close both lanes because they wouldn't be able to do it with all the construction going on in the city.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

And we're unfortunately at the mercy of who's filling— how many people are filling the details.

So when that happens, we try our best to get things done as quick as we can.

Yeah.

And that's not on you.

And that's the police department's end.

We're not having enough.

They just don't have enough bodies.

So, correct.

Thank you.

I wish Reverend Souza was still here and the auxiliary police officer.

Maybe he could have Maybe he could have been out there, man, working the detail.

But, um, thank you.

I yell.

Thank you, Councilor Baptiste.

Anybody else have any questions?

Seeing none, um, okay, so Madam Chair, this— yep, sorry, go ahead.

No, I'm just saying at 4A, we don't have the representatives there.

I don't know how far you want to take this.

Do we have business owners here to want to speak?

Yeah, so, so In regards to 4A, uh, I— that was— I am satisfied with, uh, where we're at with 4A.

Uh, I, I'll yield to my colleagues regarding 4 if they would like that tabled.

While that project probably has another 2 years worth of life, in regards to my ward, that project has been pretty much wrapped up and I'm satisfied with it.

But I, uh, it's here.

I, I'll just look to my colleague to my right if he wants table it up.

And I just want to see if— do we have any business owners here that want to say something?

No?

Okay.

So I got a nod from a couple councilors.

We're going to motion to table at this time.

Second.

Motion to table has been made by Councilor— it's Councilor Lopes.

Second.

Second by Councilor Pereira.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Okay, so 5 and 5A together.

Yeah, Ryan.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah, you can go.

You go.

I'm back for the next one.

If you'd like to stay there all night long, you can, but no, but yeah, Madam Chair, this too.

Yep.

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

Madam Chair, I'm just curious about, um, 1D and 1E.

Are we going to check to see if those individuals from citizens input time Or did they send communication that they're not coming?

I know a couple for Catherine and Brian.

No, we tabled those.

Yeah, I'm sorry, we did not table those.

So that's what the confusion was at the beginning.

Can I answer that?

And William Lacey, 1E and 1D, they were unable to attend and both asked if they could come to the October meeting and Instead.

Oh, okay.

So I, I wasn't aware of that.

I apologize.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Okay, so those were going to be punted to the October meeting.

I apologize.

I did not read it in the beginning of the meeting, but you happen to be late, so— oh, okay.

I was in the bathroom.

Thank you.

Oh, it sounds like the rest of the body didn't hear it.

Well, thank you for clearing that up.

Thank you.

So would Councilor— would you, would you like him to move to table those 2 items?

So do we have to table them items?

No, they're still on.

All right.

Oh shit, yeah, but I'm saying, okay, we can table.

Do you want to move to table?

No, they weren't read into the record, so they don't need to be.

Okay, yeah, okay, we're good.

Thank you.

Okay, that's it.

Okay, 5, 5A, can we read it?

Yep.

Okay, thank you.

Number 5 is Communication Council Pereira and Abril and Gomes committing a petition for the residents of the south end of the city of New Bedford related to the sewage treatment facility located on South Rodney French Boulevard to be referred to the Committee on Appointments and Briefings, the Department of Public Infrastructure, the administration, and the state delegation.

It was referred here on September 26th, 2024.

On October 15th, 2024, it was heard and then tabled.

On May 20th, 2025, it was heard and then tabled.

On May 19th, 2026, it was heard been tabled.

5A was a related motion, Councilors Pereira and Gomes, requesting that the administration and the Office of Environmental Stewardship meet with the Committee on Appointments and Briefings to discuss whether a company can be hired to conduct an odor analysis in the south end of the city, and further to report to this committee the amount spent on said analysis and provide a timeline of study and data once an analysis is concluded.

It was referred here from the committee on October 15, 2024.

On May 20, 2025, it was heard and tabled.

On May 19, 2026, it was heard and then tabled.

5 and 5A are now before you.

Motion to remove the items from the table.

Thank you.

Motion made by Councilor Pereira, seconded by Councilor Abreu.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Madam Chair.

Councilor Pereira.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

So Just to brief my colleagues, I had many conversations leading up to this meeting.

We're starting to get some more information rolling in that we've requested.

I know that Wendy and Tracy are here.

I spoke with them.

I thank them for coming.

We're still kind of in the fact-finding section.

We've been doing some research, getting some more information.

One piece of information that was a little new nugget that was dropped on the airwaves by the administration was that the only people complaining about the odor were from out of town.

So I guess he probably did not read the petition from the residents of the South End complaining of the odor.

That's first and foremost.

So one request that I did make that I will ask Jim if we have some information on is an odor log.

I spoke with council— my colleague from Ricketts and Ricketts and Straight And, uh, so are you able to provide a list of the odor logs?

I do.

I have a, I have a summary of the 2026 odor complaints here.

Okay, so that's all the complaints that were logged this year?

Everything that's been logged since January of this year till current date.

Perfect.

So, uh, at an appropriate time, before we receive and place anything on file— we haven't got that information yet— I'd like to just go over and read it first.

So I'll get that information tonight from Jim, then we can kind of see where that's going to go.

Um, uh, what I would also like to say is, um, the other, other part of this is ongoing conversations with the Board of Health in regards to just general concerns in the area, um, as we, we look forward, um, to checking out some potentially, uh, health issues in the area too.

That may or may not be related to the sewage treatment plant.

I don't at this time— to my colleagues, Jim is able to provide that odor.

The other item that the commissioner— that's the other item, excuse me— the commissioner said was that very shortly will be some public-facing data regarding the odor monitors installed by— paid for and installed by Veolia.

So we'll have some of that data to be presented, and then we can maybe match that up with the logs and and dive into that further.

Uh, but other than that, I don't have any questions for, uh, Jim.

I just— I'm appreciative that you came and that he has that log for me to receive.

I'll make copies for everyone, and then we can look at that before we, uh, uh, receive and place it on file or make any changes or anything like that.

So thank you, Madam Chair.

I don't know if my colleagues have any questions, but that's it for me.

Thank you.

Councilor Abrams.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

And through you to the Ward 6 Councilor, yes, in that motion that we had filed the last full council meeting.

I do plan on having a hearing expeditiously in the Environmental Affairs Committee, which I'd chair, to go over these logs as well, because it is a problem.

And to his point, he's right.

I heard, I heard what was stated on local radio, and there could be some people from out of town calling.

There could be.

But I get the calls all the time.

I know he does.

I know many others in this room do.

You probably do.

Other at-larges do.

Um, so, and they're residents, they're actual residents of the city.

And I have filed complaints myself.

I— there's no councilor or elected official even in the city that lives southernmost point, closest to that plant than me.

So, um, I think I know what I'm talking about when it comes to these odors.

And it's not all the time, but man, when, when it's there, it's there.

And You know, it's, it's a problem.

So, um, not looking to beat anybody up.

Jimmy, you do a great job.

I appreciate everything you do.

Every time I call you, or Jamie, or Manny, you're right on it.

You really are.

I want the record to reflect that.

You're not asleep at the wheel.

You're always there.

And I appreciate you taking my calls.

So thank you very much.

That's all I wanted to say.

We're going to go over this environmental affairs to Ryan— excuse me, Councilor Pereira's point.

We're going to roll up our sleeves on that, look at the patterns, look at where people are calling from, what the issues are, Now, I do have a question actually for you, Jimmy.

The, the logs that you have, does that include emails as well and elected official calls, or is it just calls into the actual Veolia line?

So it's calls into the Veolia line.

But to use you as an example, Councilor, when you text me or call me, I refer directly to the Veolia folks so that it is logged in that way as well.

And if they have your information or the resident's information or address, um, Edwin makes it a point to visit the house or, or business in question and get— you know, they, they have their SOP that they follow and continue to, to get the data from.

And then Be Connected is connected into this, for lack of a better— okay, good.

Thank you, Jimmy.

Well done.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

That was all.

Thank you.

Councilor Ferreira.

Thank you.

Um, the only other question I had that I forgot to ask is, uh, and I— when I spoke with Commissioner Ponte, I forgot about to mention this as well.

Can we also get a, um, a listing of anyone who reported via NB311 for odor complaints?

Yes, they're on here.

Oh, okay, okay.

And we had one recently that the resident had left their email address.

We reached out to them, made contact Again, the Veolia folks follow their SOP and do what they need to do.

All right, great.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll yield until we can review this data more carefully.

Thank you.

Does anybody else have any more questions?

Thank you.

So we have a couple more invitees on there.

We've got Tracy Wallace and Wendy.

Do you either have anything to say on this?

Okay, okay, all right, sure.

Okay, thank you.

Wendy Morrill, Farm Street.

Uh, I just have a comment, not, not directed towards, um, Jimmy or Jamie or any of them, um, more towards the mayor.

I find it interesting that he went on the radio and made a comment that the only complaints are coming in from outside of the city.

So that begs the question, how far are the odors traveling Just saying.

So yeah, I just wanted to also just give a little bit of information.

You know, Wendy and I are working with a group down in the South End.

We meet with them every other week, and they constantly report what their community is doing and who they're calling, what they're doing, how they're making it known.

And I just wanted to, I guess, ask if the NB Connect app is being looked at as well in logging all of those complaints, because a lot of the people down there are using the NB Connect like the city has been promoting it.

Also, if, if those complaints are just being forwarded to Veolia, then what is the point of even contacting the city?

So like, oh, we're just gonna push them onto the company?

Like, I don't know.

Um, so yeah, it— I guess it seems like there's more that, that really needs to be followed up on and, and done maybe from the city's end.

Okay, thank you.

Anybody have any questions?

Seeing none, thank you.

I'm going to bring you up in a minute for the last thing.

Yeah, I also do know of at least a couple of complaints that were issued during the summer that they called the company directly, the water— the wastewater treatment plant directly, and the person that they reached said, oh, I don't— I don't normally do this.

I have no idea who to refer this to.

So that was concerning as well.

Thank you.

Somebody— Councilor April, actually, one quick question for Wendy before you go.

Wendy, I want to get you on the record on something before you settle in.

I asked this of you last time.

I'll ask you again.

Have you heard from DPH at all?

Has the group heard from DPH?

I know there's been reachouts to the state, and has there been any maneuvering or any movement on that?

No.

So nothing has changed from last time we did this?

No.

Do you expect anything will change?

No.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Councilor Avril.

Any other questions?

Okay, motion to table.

Is that made by Councilor Pereira?

Second by Councilor Roy.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Number 6 is now before us.

Number 6 is a written motion.

Councilors Carney, Gomes, Abreu, Oliver, Council President Morad, and Councilors Giester and Marchi requesting that the Committee on Appointments and Briefings meet with Wendy Morrill, uh, from South Coast Neighborhoods United organization and Stephanie Sloan, Director of the Health Department, to speak on the South Coast Renewables LLC, formerly known as Parallel Products of New England, project being proposed for the city of New Bedford.

It was referred here on June 22nd, 2023.

On July 18th, 2023, it was heard and tabled.

On July 17th, 2025, it was heard and tabled.

Number 6 for you, and it's on the table.

I need a motion to remove from the table.

Motion to remove from the table.

Made by Councilor Roy, second by Councilor Lopes.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed?

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Wendy Moore, Elm Street again.

Thank you so much.

So I know that we've come to the head, and I know you can't say much about anything right now, but whatever you can give us a little update, give it to us, because we had the court date was last week.

So the appeal hearing was on September 3rd.

There was a group of about 17 community members, 2 of which were Councillor Choquette and former Councillor Mourad.

We organized a bus, we all went up, and I can't speak to too much of it because it is a legal proceeding, um, but now we're waiting for the, the judgment from that.

There were questions asked, I guess, for— from the judge for clarity from all of— from all of the parties that were present.

Present were the attorneys for SCR, for the Board of Health, and the Conservation Law Foundation.

So all of them got pretty equal time to state their piece and answer the questions and provide clarity for the judge.

I mean, the hearing lasted over an hour, so there was a lot of information covered even on just a few of the areas that she wanted clarity on.

And I will say that at the end, she recognized that, you know, each of the parties didn't necessarily get to give the soliloquies that they had planned, instead just addressing the questions she asked, but that the hearing was unusually long for that type of a hearing.

And then she also very graciously acknowledged the the community that was present there that was clearly invested in being there and in hearing everything out.

Anything you want to add?

Excellent.

October 23rd, right?

October 23rd.

I believe that the— so I thought it was 30 days.

On the website, it says on the docket Yep.

Decision has to be rendered by October 23rd.

Decision has to be rendered by October 23rd.

Um, so we're just waiting.

It doesn't mean that it will be October 23rd.

It could be any time between now and then, right?

So I'm just hoping that the judge sees that the Board of Health's decision was not arbitrary or capricious and that it had a basis and, and upholds that.

So thank you.

I know that there can't be many questions you can answer.

Is there anything that the council— councils would like to speak on?

Seeing none, thank you for the update.

We're at the end and we just keep our fingers crossed and be happy.

So how would you like to— would you like to keep this on the table?

Okay, second.

Motion made to table item number 6, made by Councilor Pereira, seconded by Councilor Lopes.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Yes, I make a motion to waive the readings of items number 7 and 8, refer it out to the full City Council for no further action.

Made by Councilor Pereira, seconded by Councilor Abreu.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Motion to adjourn.

Motion made to adjourn, made by Councilor Baptiste.

No, I was just, I was just waving to Manny.

Oh yeah, he was waving at me.

Second by— I second myself.

Yep.

Oh, made the motion Councilor Roy.

Second, second Councilor Haber.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Motion to adjourn.

At 7:58.

Thank you very much for coming.