The Worcester City Council meets Tuesday at 5pm. The agenda is here.
Virtual Meeting: https://cow.webex.com/cow/onstage/g.php?MTID=e2a75ed80f4f098d4fd9152806ba701a3
Indian Lake Jet Ski Ban: The Council will vote to ban jet-skiing on Indian Lake for one year, during which time they hope to formulate more nuanced restrictions. Normally they have to vote on these ordinances at two consecutive Council meetings, but they’ll be taking a special vote to skip the second vote. The vote to skip requires a two-thirds majority (8) and the vote to ban a simple majority (6).
Boards and Commissions: The Council will vote whether or not to appoint Violet Kabaso and Martha Benitez to the Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.
Manny Familia Way: There’s a request to rename Skyline Drive after the late Officer Familia. The request will go to the Public Works Committee for further discussion.
Worcester at the Olympics: Councilor King has a couple items asking the Council to honor two Worcester-connected Olympians. They will vote whether to have a Wadeline Jonathas Day and Nadia Eke Day recognizing “Doherty Memorial High School Alumna Wadeline Jonathas for representing the United States of America in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in the 400 meter and 4 by 400 meter relay” and “Holy Name Alumna Nadia Eke for representing Ghana, her birth nation, in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo by being their Torch Bearer and as an Olympic qualifying athlete competing in the triple jump.” (I will mention in passing that the Council agenda consistently misspells “alumna,” please let’s get this right guys.)
Early/Mail-In Voting: Councilor King has an item asking that the Manager make sure we’re properly funded for early/mail-in voting for the September 14 and November 2 municipal elections. The City Clerk has a memo on the agenda noting that we’re all set.
Assistant City Clerk: The Council will vote whether or not to appoint Clare Robbins as Assistant City Clerk.
Buying Becker Properties: The Council will vote to appropriate $5.5 million to buy and renovate the old Becker College properties at 28 Roxbury St and 51, 61, and 69 Sever St. They’d use the properties for school and Health Department stuff.
Tax Break for Mt Carmel Site Housing: This was approved by the Economic Development Committee, so now the full Council will vote on an estimated $10 million (over 15 years) tax break for a plan to build 371 units of market-rate housing at the site of the old Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.
Zoning: There’s a request to turn 18 Mountain Street East from residential to business. The Planning Board will discuss this. Several other requests have been approved by the Planning Board and it’s now up to the Council to sign off on those. One is to tweak the residential zoning for 316 Lincoln Street. Another is to change the zoning of the Table Talk Pie store and another parcel on that block from 4-story business to 6-story business. A third is to rezone the center of the block Saint Spyridon is on from RL-7 to RG-5, so the minimum lot size would be 5,000 square feet instead of 7,000.