Worcester City Council Agenda Preview: October 3, 2023

A short agenda

The City Council meeting is Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The agenda is here.

This week: A bunch of stuff from last week, police robots, Airbnb.

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/91727574825

• Held Items: Several notable items from last week’s meeting were held over to this week, including registering municipal lobbyists, hiring a new police chief, crisis pregnancy centers, and accessory dwelling units.

• Google Maps: There’s a request that the City Manager submit road closures to Google and Apple Maps, “both of which have free tools for cities to submit closures.”

• Boards and Commissions: The Manager is appointing Walter Weeks to the Worcester Redevelopment Authority. The Council will vote whether to approve Monica Adwani and Eric Stratton to the Community Preservation Committee, and Kathryn Roy to the Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.

• Police Robots: The interim police chief has a report on “the use of a robot in critical police incidents.” The WPD used a robot “provided through a mutual aid agreement” during the 13-hour Colby Avenue armed standoff. Buying its own robot would cost $100,000. During the standoff the robot explored the property, provided video and audio, and was used to find and isolate the suspect.

• Airbnb: The city is creating a “rental registry” and a report clarifies that Airbnbs would be required to register. Additionally, if an Airbnb allowed 4 or more unrelated people to stay there at one time, it would have to register as a lodging house.