City Council — March 12, 2026

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Today is Thursday, March 12th, 2026, at 7:02 PM.

We are in the City Council chamber.

The opening of the session is by myself, City Council President Ryan Pereira.

We will be led tonight in prayer by Pastor Morgan Proudfoot of Grace Harbor Church.

Pastor, good evening.

James chapter 1 says, if anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives all generously and ungrudgingly to them.

So God, this evening we pray and we ask for wisdom in days when it's confusing to lead Every side of the aisle has a view of how things should be done.

God, we pray specifically tonight for these civil servants of our city.

We thank you for their faithfulness.

We thank you for the ways that they work tirelessly and effortlessly for the good and the welfare of our citizens.

And we pray tonight, even as James reminds us, for wisdom in all the matters that would lie before City Council this evening.

God, we pray that you would bestow wisdom on these men and women to lead our city into flourishing in every way.

And we pray this in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Thank you.

Tonight we are led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Councilor at Large Brian Gomes.

Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Councilor.

I would like to note that this meeting is being livestreamed and recorded.

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

I am joined tonight in the council chambers by my colleagues, Ward 2 City Councilor Scott Pemberton, Ward 1 City Councilor Leo Choquette, Ward 5 City Councilor Joseph Lopes, Councilor at Large Brian Gomes, Councilor at Large James Roy, Councilor at Large Naomi Carney, Councilor of Ward 3 Sean Oliver, Councilor at Large and First Vice President Shane Burgo, and Councilor of Ward 4, Derek Baptiste.

I will ask the clerk at this time if there are any letters to be read into the record.

Mr. President, we have one from Councilor Abreu.

Dear Council President Pereira and honorable members of the council, I am writing to inform you that I'll be unable to attend the city council meeting on Thursday, March 12th, 2026, due to a prior commitment.

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

Sincerely, Ian Abreu, Councilor at Large.

A motion to receive— a motion to receive and place on file was made by Councilor Lopes, seconded by Councilor Burgo.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Move on to our hearing section.

Without objection, the chair will entertain, um, a motion to take, uh, to open, uh— well, we'll read the, uh, to take items 1 and 2 together.

I'll ask the clerk to read both of those together, please.

Mr. President, item 1 is a hearing from Enstar Electric Company, doing business as Eversource Energy, for the location of approximately 215 feet of duct encased in concrete in Coffin Avenue.

This work is necessary to provide upgraded service to 229 Coffin Avenue.

1A is the order.

And item 2 is also a hearing from Enstar Electric Company, doing business as Eversource Energy, for the location of 58 feet of duct encased in concrete in Acushnet Avenue.

This work is also necessary to provide upgraded service to 229 Coffin Avenue, and 2A is the order.

Sorry, motion to receive and place file, open the public hearing.

A motion to receive and place on file and open the public hearing made by Councilor Bergo, seconded by Councilor Carney.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Good evening.

Good evening, members of the City Council.

Mr. President as well, thank you for having me this evening.

Jessica Elder representing Eversource.

Eversource Energy is requesting permission to install approximately 58 feet of underground conduit, and this is going on the right-of-way on Acushnet Ave to connect underground electrical infrastructure associated with the installation of new electric service for 229 Coffin Avenue.

So the work will involve regular trenching and excavation, conduit installation, and restoration according to City of New Bedford's standards.

Construction is expected to take approximately— I mean, for both we're working on, as I said, Coffin Ave and Acushnet Ave— should take 1 to 2 days.

And of course, a detail will be requested.

I'm sure it'll be necessary for the safety of everyone.

And on Coffin Ave, we're, we're requesting 158 feet of conduit, 57 feet conduit within the right-of-way on Coffin Ave, and again to extend the electric service for 229.

And that's over by the old Sunbeam Bread area.

Okay, colleagues, any questions for Jessica at this time?

Councilor Oliver.

Thank you.

Just, uh, approximately how long is this going to take, the project?

A couple of days.

Okay.

Yeah, a couple days.

You had said that there was, um, you definitely requested— there's going to be— okay, absolutely.

Um, so a couple of days.

Um, is the entire street, that section, going to be blocked off, or that— well, I've never— Avenue, um, that's Isn't it one section that's a one-way section?

It's a, um, yeah, it's a one-way street.

It's one way up.

Yeah.

So you'll have, you'll have a detail then at the bottom and at the top on— I'll put in that request.

They didn't give me that information, but I certainly will pass that on.

I'm sure they've been doing this many times coming up from North Front Street.

I believe it's North Front.

Um, North Front.

Yep, because that's it right down.

And then obviously, um, that way just Well, no, it's a one-way, so you won't need it on Cushion Avenue.

So just on, on North Front Street.

So yeah, okay, okay.

Yep, no problem.

Thank you, Councilor Oliver.

Anyone else for Jessica?

Okay, seeing none from my colleagues.

For the general public, this is a public hearing.

Anyone who wishes to speak in favor, to speak in favor of this item?

To be recorded in favor.

To be recorded in favor.

If anyone would like to speak in opposition.

To speak in opposition.

To be recorded in opposition.

Be recorded in opposition.

Okay, seeing no comment from the public, colleagues, a motion to close the public hearing made by Councilor Lopes, seconded by Councillor Gomes.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Your pleasure.

Motion to adopt the orders made by Councillor Gomes, seconded by Councillor Lopes.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item number 3, please.

Mr. President, item 3 is a hearing from Enstar Electric Company— excuse me— doing business as Eversource Energy for the location of 118 feet of conduit in Foley Drive This work is necessary to provide service to Lot 132 on Foley Drive, and 3A is the order.

Motion to open the public hearing.

Motion to open the public hearing made by Councilor Oliver, seconded by Councilor Burgo.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Jessica?

Sure.

So work order number 22789410, uh, energy— uh, Eversource Energy is requesting to install approximately 125— 120 feet of underground conduit.

This is for the lot at 132 Foley Drive, which is actually number 32 Foley Drive.

So it's— Foley Drive is a cul-de-sac, so I'm not real sure if a detail will be really necessary there.

But we're going from an existing manhole to a custom-installed manhole, which is on private property.

Foley Street, of course, is off of Kushnad Ave. Like I said, it's a cul-de-sac.

Um, if, if you think that a detail will be necessary, I'll put in a request.

But because of, I, you know, driving by the street, I didn't think it was really too busy down that area.

Um, but there should not be any interruption in service for anybody in that location, and the work should take about a day.

Thank you.

Anyone on the question?

Chair recognizes Councilor Choukat.

Thank you, Mr. Chair— uh, Mr. President.

Um, hi, just curious, uh, what's the length of time you think that that will take place?

About a day, no more than 2, weather permitting.

Okay.

Yeah, thank you.

You're welcome.

All set, Mr.— Thank you, Mr., uh, Councillor Choukat.

Anyone else?

Okay, seeing no other question from my colleagues, make a motion to close the public hearing.

Oh, I gotta finish the public hearing first.

Sorry, sorry.

So I'll ask anyone from the public who wishes to speak in favor.

If anyone would like to speak in favor.

If anyone would like to be recorded in favor.

Be recorded in favor.

If anyone would like to speak in opposition.

Speak in opposition.

Be recorded in opposition.

To be recorded in opposition.

A motion to close the public hearing has been made by Councillor Lopes.

Seconded by Councillor Roy.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Colleagues, your pleasure.

Motion to adopt the order.

Motion to adopt the order made by Councilor Roy, seconded by Councilor Oliver.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Without objection, I will ask the clerk to take items M1 and M2 together.

Mr. President, M1 is communication from Mayor Mitchell to the City Council Submitting the appointment of Kendra Parker as acting administrative assistant to the Board of Assessors.

And M2 is a communication from the mayor to the council submitting a request for a waiver for the education and experience requirements for the position of administrative assistant to the Board of Assessors.

Motion to table.

Motion to table has been made by Councilor Burgos.

Motion to receive and place on file and refer to— seconded by Councilor Baptiste.

Refer to A and B.

A motion has been made to refer to the Committee on Appointments and Briefings.

Is there a second?

Hearing no second, the motion to table is before us.

All those in favor of tabling say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

The item is tabled.

I will ask the clerk to read M3, please.

Mr. President, M3 is communication from the mayor to the council Submitting a loan order appropriating $13,787,624 for the purpose of paying the cost of replacing the roof and accessibility upgrades at the Alfred J. Gomes Elementary School located at 286 South 2nd Street.

M3A is the loan order.

Motion to be received and placed on file and grant the order— and grant the loan order.

Motion has been made to grant the loan order by Councilor Baptiste.

Has to be passed to a second reading.

So the motion would be to pass to a second reading?

Pass to a second reading.

I'm sorry.

So motion to pass the item to a second reading has been made by Councilor Baptiste, seconded by Councilor Choquette.

Any discussion on passing the item to a second reading?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item M4, please.

Mr. President, M4 is communication from the mayor to the council submitting an ordinance within Chapter 16, Article 8 for stormwater management.

M4A is the ordinance.

Motion to receive and place on file and refer to the Committee on Ordinance.

Motion to refer the item to the Committee on Ordinance made by Councilor Burgos, seconded by Councilor Lopes, I believe.

Anyone on this?

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item M5, please.

Mr. President, M5 is communication from the mayor to the council submitting an ordinance amending Chapter 9, Section 4100A, relative to municipal facility conversion.

M5A is the ordinance.

Same course of action.

This is a Chapter 9, so it would also have to go to the planning board.

That's okay.

So a motion to refer to the Committee on Ordinance and the planning board by Councilor Burgo, seconded by Councilor Carney.

Anyone on the discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I'll ask the clerk to read item M6, please.

Mr. President, M6, communication from the mayor to the council.

It's made in the appointment of Renee Ledbetter of New Bedford to the Election Commission, replacing Donald Gaudette Jr., who has resigned.

This term will expire in April of 2027.

Motion to refer to the Committee on Appointments and Briefings.

Motion to refer to the Committee on Appointments and Briefings, made by Councilor Oliver.

Seconded by Councilor Burgo.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item M7.

Mr. President, M7 is communication from the mayor to the council submitting the appointment of Virginia J. Senna Davis of New Bedford to the Veterans Advisory Board, replacing William Andrews, whose term has expired.

This term will expire in December of 2028.

Motion to receive and place on file.

Grant the appointment, waiving Rules 38 and 40.

Motion to waive Rules 38 and 40 and grant the appointment made by Councilor Burgo, seconded by Councilor Gomes.

Anyone on the question?

Chair recognizes Councilor Burgo.

So I've spoken to you all about this situation previously when we've had an appointment to the Veterans Advisory Board earlier in the year.

This is not typical.

I would not ask this this in any other circumstance.

They are still short, I think now since we appointed someone previously, only 2 vacancies.

This is a board that has been hindered in meeting due to a quorum.

Unfortunately, in very sad situations, they appoint someone, someone may die, someone may resign.

So they're trying to build back up the Veterans Advisory Board.

This is a person that many of us know.

She was recently the parade marshal.

This is a disabled U.S. Navy veteran who continues to volunteer for other disabled veterans.

She is battle-tested, and I think that her resume speaks for herself.

So I would ask that you waive the screening for this candidate and approve this appointment, as I've asked you previously for someone just for this Veterans Advisory Board due to the fact that they are unable to meet due to the lack of quorum.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor.

Anyone else?

Okay, seeing none at this time, I'll ask the clerk to call the roll.

Councillor Baptiste?

Yes.

Yes.

Councillor Burgot?

Yes.

Yes.

Councillor Carney?

Yes.

Yes.

Councillor Chauquet?

Yes.

Yes.

Councillor Gomes?

Yes.

Yes.

Councillor Lopes?

Yes.

Councillor Oliver?

Yes.

Yes.

Councillor Pemberton?

Yes.

Yes.

Councilor Pereira.

Yes.

Yes.

Councilor Roy.

Yes.

Yes.

Passes 10 to 0, Mr. President.

Item passes 10 to 0.

All right, now moving on to new business, I will ask the clerk to read item number 4.

Mr. President, item 4 is a written motion from Councilor Gomes requesting that the Committee on Appointments and Briefings meet with James Marshall, Director of Cable Access, for the purpose of discussing why the educational channel was changed from 9 to 96 and why the government access channel was changed from 18 to 97, and further requesting that Cable Access return the channels to their original listings, as this change has been very troubling to many Cable Access viewers.

It's in briefings.

Motion to refer the item to the Committee on Appointments and Briefings made by Councilor Gomes, seconded by Councilor Lopes.

On the question, chair recognizes Councilor Gomes.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Mr. President, I've ran into several constituents.

I don't know if my colleagues have, who at first thought that cable access wasn't carrying the City Council anymore.

I don't think, number one, did a good job of telling them that we were switching the channel.

Second of all, I went to the channel to see what was taking its place.

Absolutely nothing.

So I don't know what the plan is here, or is it to divert people, or to divert people from especially the City Council and government affairs or whatever.

But I'd like to see the channel go back to 17 and 18 where people will have been used to it for, I have to say, decades now, holding that channel, the council and all of us.

It just didn't make sense.

And I would like an explanation from Jim Marshall.

And I think the public deserves it because those that follow government and the educational channel are not finding the channel until someone has told them.

So I hope my colleagues will support this and we can get Jim in here.

And again, I'm going to repeat, gentlemen, go to your guide and see what is on that channel.

Absolutely nothing.

Infinity, whatever.

It's almost like a commercial.

Put the channels back where they were so the public knows where the government and educational channels are.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you, Councillor Gomes.

Chair recognizes Councillor Burgos.

Yeah, I just— I want to piggyback on my colleague from Clara Street.

Oh, I was like, sorry.

I had similar concerns from— contrary to popular belief, there are many residents that do watch public access.

What I did come to find out, though, about this is that it's cable access and a federal whatever commission that dictates these channels, not necessarily cable access.

However, I do agree that we did not do a good enough job of alerting people to this.

They posted it on our Facebook page, but the people that were mostly affected by this do not have social media.

They're watching— if they're watching cable access, I'll tell you, they don't have a Facebook account.

And that's not a dig at any of our golden citizens, as I sometimes refer to them as.

But what I will say, that we've had changes in the past.

For example, I remember back in when I was in high school, it was Channel 17 before it was Channel 18.

But as you can see, that's just a one-channel difference.

This is a huge drastic difference from 9 to 96, 18 to 9.

So if you are someone who might be flipping through the channels thinking, oh, I thought it was 17, then you click up, oh, never mind, it was 18.

So I would like to hear about ways that we can maybe educate the population that is tuning in to try to stay in tune with their government, how we can inform them of this change.

I don't know if there is ways to invite the actual powers that be that control these channels into office, if we can look into that, and maybe a representative from the mayor's office.

I know that's like pulling teeth around here to come in and also figure out how we can notify the public of these changes when they happen, a smart way of doing it.

But I support this motion and helping people stay connected with their government.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Burgo.

Anyone else on their first?

On their second, Councillor Gomes.

Thank you.

By the way, Councillor Burgo, it is Clara Street.

Um, I just want to come back because, uh, Councillor— the good councillor that spoke just before me talked about the federal regulations and whoever regulates these channels.

Let me tell you something, we didn't even— we didn't even negotiate this last contract with them.

I've seen cable take a complete 180, and many of you in this room have.

They took away cable access news.

You know, our news is limited in this city.

The information is limited.

The information that comes out of this council is limited to the media, which they pick and choose what they want to publicize or run news stories.

I come from old here where they ran everything.

They almost ran everything.

They were at every committee meeting.

The following morning, the people who knew what was going on.

People are not unlimited.

And for you to change this channel, I want to fight to get this channel back to where— for its original placing on the cable.

As I said, we went through a contract that was just signed.

We didn't get— we don't get no bennies.

We don't get nothing from them anymore.

And we should have been fighting for the people, actually for lower rates and all that.

And that's a whole different story, but we'll let that ride right now.

That falls on somebody else's back, not this city council.

Because if it came before the city council, I'm sure the city council would have fought for the people of this city.

With that said, I would hope that my colleagues would support this.

I would hope that we would find a way to put those channels back where they're easier to find for our senior citizens and those that want to watch the city council.

It's that simple.

It was there forever.

Moving it— I'm very suspicious of the move.

And maybe the move was— there's a reason why, but I'm suspicious of the move because I feel that the public is being neglected in this city as far as media coverage.

We don't have a newspaper like we used to.

We don't have that anymore.

We don't have anybody, as I said, giving the real news of the city of New Bedford.

They give the news with what they want, and I'm not going to tolerate that.

I'd like to see the cable TV be at least stay where it was, and as we continue to fight for good media coverage in this city.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor.

Anyone else?

Okay, the motion's been made and duly seconded.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I'll ask the clerk to read item 5.

Mr. President, item 5 is a written motion from Councilor Gomes requesting that the Committee on Public Safety and Neighborhoods meet with DPI Commissioner Jamie Ponte, Police Chief Jason Thode, Fire Chief Brian Medeiros, Emergency Management Director Brian Nobriga, Cable Access Director James Marshall, and a representative from the mayor's office to recap the blizzard of 2026 and put a blizzard storm playbook together for future use in anticipation of another blizzard of this magnitude.

Discussion can include what went right, what went wrong, and how we can improve our response time next time.

As well as snow removal equipment, the safety of our police, fire, and EMS personnel, and the effects this storm had on the entire city as a whole.

Refer to the Committee on Public Safety and Neighborhoods.

Second.

Motion to refer the items to the Committee on Public Safety and Neighborhoods made by Councilor Gomes, seconded by Councilor Carney.

Anyone on the question?

Chair recognizes Councilor Gomes.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Let me start off first of all tonight, um, and I, I believe I can speak on behalf of most of the councilors.

If I can't, please rise.

I want to first commend the DPI and the crew for the work that was done.

Many of us that were out there when we could get out there watched the work being done.

We took our phone calls.

We heard the cries on the phone of everything from sick people that couldn't get out of certain areas to people that had to get to work.

I realized that also— let me first finish this.

They did a magnificent job under the circumstances, and you had to know the circumstances that were out there.

There was snow that was drifted in some places 6 feet tall.

Some streets were just unpassable.

What, what they did and continued to do with a limited amount of equipment that we had, I thought, was of the best that we could do, assisting police, fire, all those emergency services did the best job that they can.

And I want to stand as Public Safety Chairman tonight and thank them, and thank them for everything, and thank those that went out of their way to give services, whether it was police officers, firefighters, plow drivers, backhoe drivers that were pulling some of our equipment out, pulling regular people out.

The, the city of New Bedford, um, it should be given, given thanks.

Now to this here, the reason this motion is here, and it's funny because I put this— I had this thought about this motion.

Me and you had had conversation prior to, um, not prior to the storm, but as the storm was coming down on us and we were dealing with what we were dealing with.

I said, they're going to get the Public Safety Committee together, bring everybody together, let's put a playbook together.

So that when this happens again, at least we're ahead of the game in some places.

You know, I walked into a press conference in support of the mayor, and as I said to you that day, the gloves were off.

There's no arguing at this point with any issue or anything.

We had a city that was under duress, and we had to do something, and we had to stand together to do that.

And when it's like that, you take the gloves off and you forget about them other things and you take care of what's at hand.

When I said to put this together was because I feel that this could happen again and we can make it better than last time.

Now I know the mayor has sent out, or they came through in an email, for us to provide any concerns we had by March 10th or whatever.

I wanted everybody to breathe a little.

Let's breathe a little.

Look at the snow's gone.

The past couple of days the temperatures went up.

You're seeing the grass again.

Let everybody take a breather on this.

Because I can— I believe that I can speak on behalf of this council.

Council worked very hard.

Each and every councilor was receiving them calls.

You were taking my calls.

You were taking my calls late at night.

The commissioner was taking the calls any given time you called.

The phone might have rang a long time, but he answered or he got back to you.

And I'd like to just bring everybody together, brainstorm, and what can we do to make sure that this does— next time time, we are better equipped to deal with a storm of that magnitude.

That day that we had the press conference, there were some questions I automatically asked.

I think you were right there.

I wanted to know where the Hummers were that we once had in this city that would have been very beneficial to the police department.

They were gone.

Where's the Jeeps?

They're gone.

Do we have any snowmobiles?

We don't have anything like that.

Have we put any backhoes, the big backhoes at some of the main stations and fire stations, so that when them emergency calls came out, at least they could make a path to where they were going.

That was done.

That was done.

But I want— I was asking those questions.

And as Public Safety Chair, this isn't my first rodeo.

I've been through this many times.

2015, going back where it just didn't stop.

Streets in the same situation.

So basically, I'm asking that we refer this to Public Safety.

We all brainstorm.

I don't know who submitted who to, and this is not a back slot on Emergency Management or Brian Nobriga or the administration.

This was something that I had thought about and I put forth to make sure that if it happens again, we're better equipped and maybe we've got some great ideas that come from everybody, because success comes to everyone when you work together.

And this issue needed to be worked together.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Thank you, Councilor.

Anyone else?

Okay.

On referral to Public Safety, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I'll ask the clerk to read item 6, please.

Mr. President, item 6 is a written motion from Councilor Gomes requesting on behalf of Pastor Harold Taylor of the United House of Prayer for All People that Emerson Street between Mill Street and Kempton Street in a north and south direction be renamed Charles Manuel Bishop Daddy Grace Way in recognition of his contributions and historical significance to the city of New Bedford.

Refer to the Special Committee on Memorials and Dedications.

Refer to the Special Committee on Memorials and Dedications, made by Councilor Gomes, seconded by Councilor Burgo.

Anyone on the question?

Chair recognizes Councilor Gomes.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, many of you are aware of where this location is.

The location on Emerson Street, there is no effects on any addresses anyone on this, uh, short plaza of street.

We've done this before.

I did July Gonzales Way.

I did, um, Manny Costa's Way down at Butler Park.

Councilor Baptiste has done Tavares Way, and we've done a few others in my time that have been here.

This will not affect the residents of the city, such as one that we did up the North End where actually the family paid for each resident.

If you remember, Joe's shaking his head.

Paid for each resident so that we named it after a firefighter who we lost, Eric Sway, under a very tragic accident in the city of New Bedford.

So again, um, the, the Daddy Grace Church has been a beacon within the city of New Bedford, within the West End.

I could stand to be corrected.

I think this is one of the first that, um, of the churches that were located here in New Bedford, Massachusetts The contributions of this church and, and, and Daddy Grace are phenomenal.

If you read some of the history— I'm not going to sit here and go through it.

I just support the action.

They're requesting it, and I think it's way overdue and an opportunity for us to recognize a person in the Reverend Daddy Grace who did a lot for the people of the city, and that church continues to do a lot for the community and the city of New Bedford.

You for the opportunity.

And if any of my colleagues would like to co-sponsor, I have no problem with that.

I did not send that out through the council, and I apologize for that.

If anyone would like to add their name, I see Councilor Carney, Lopes, Burgo, Baptiste, Roy.

Anyone else like to add the name?

Oliver, Choquette, Pemberton, Pereira.

Why don't we just say everybody?

All right, everybody, everybody.

Perfect.

The motion before us, um, made now by the entire City Council, um, has been, uh, has been made and duly seconded.

All those in favor of referral say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item number 7, please.

Without objection, could you read 7?

8 and 9.

They're all renewals.

Read that.

Just read— motion is 7 or 8?

Okay, I'll ask the clerk to read items 7 and 9 together, please.

Mr. President, item 7 is communication from the clerk to the council submitting an application for the renewal of a private livery license on behalf of Franklin Lobo at 2220 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford, doing business as Frank's Transport Service at the same address.

This Term of this license is July 1st of this year to June 30th of '27.

And item 9 is also a communication from the clerk to the council regarding a renewal of a private livery license on behalf of Isabel Gomez Hernandez at 92 Ruth Street in apartment 1 in New Bedford, doing business as Jessica Correa's Transportation at the same address.

Same term of license.

Motion was made by Councilor Carney to grant the renewals on items 7 and 9.

Seconded by Councilor Baptiste.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I'll ask the clerk to read item 8.

Mr. President, item 8 is communication from the clerk to the council submitting an application for renewal of a private livery license on behalf of Camille Taylor of 14 Beale Street, Apartment 1, in New Bedford, doing business as CT Live Your Best Life Transportation Incorporated at same address.

The term of license is from July 1st of this year to June 30th, 2027.

Motion received and placed on file and sent to the Committee on Appointments and Briefings.

Second.

Motion to refer to the Committee on Appointments and Briefings made by Councilor Oliver.

Second.

Seconded by Councilor Carney.

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I'll ask the clerk to read item 10, please.

Mr. President, item 10 is communication from Janine Chairperson of the Community Preservation Committee, submitting the Community Preservation Committee's FY26 project funding recommendations.

Motion received and placed on file and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Second.

Motion to refer to the Committee on Finance made by Councilor Liburgo, seconded by Councilor Oliver.

Any discussions?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I'll ask the clerk to read item 11.

Mr. President, item 11 is communication from the clerk to the council.

Submitting a copy of a letter sent to the Office of the Attorney General notifying them of 2 ordinances that were passed or amended regarding Chapter 9, Comprehensive Zoning, in compliance with Mass General Law Chapter 40A, Section 5.

Motion received and placed on file.

Second.

Motion received and placed on file made by Councilor Burgo, seconded by Councilor Carney.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Motion to take up and adopt consent.

Motion to take up and adopt consent made by Councilor Oliver, seconded by Councilor Lobergo.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Seeing no further business before us, motion to adjourn.

Motion to adjourn made by Councilor Lobergo, seconded by Councilor Roy.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

We are adjourned at 7:35 PM.