Monthly Archives: August 2022

June 27 , 2022 7:00 PM.

LTC Meeting room

Minutes of the Meeting

Jack Moynihan called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm. Featured guests: City Manager Tom Golden;
Joann Marcos from National Park Service; and Erin Daniels, Arts and Cultural Programming, LFF; City
Councilor Wayne Jenness.
Because of a technical glitch, the minutes for the previous meeting were not available and will be voted
on at a subsequent meeting..
Treasurer Greene reported our current balance at $1,493.27 with expenditures outstanding to bring the
total to $1343.29
Captain Cullen from LPD presented the monthly police report for the downtown sector. With a total of
13 incidents, there was an altercation among people known to each on the 100 Bridge Street area with
2 individuals charged. A series of slashed tires in the River Place area resulted in an individual
apprehended and in custody. There were 4 burglaries, occurring in either businesses or construction
sites, where 2 of the perpetrators were caught in the act. Also, 3 vehicles were burglarized on Prescott
and William Streets. Captain Cullen reminded owners to lock their cars and keep valuables out of sight!
Re: the graffiti/tagging outbreak around DTL, the Captain stated that the matter has the attention of
LPD, and the new City Manager!
Lowell’s newest City Manager, Thomas Golden, gave a brief statement and then took questions. Seven
weeks into the position, he spoke of the progress he was making in building his own City Hall team and
filling the large number of open positions in city departments. He spoke of projects to improve the look
of downtown including painting light posts, removing excess signage and monitoring street cleaning and
trash removal.
In response to questions that came up: With 9 steel beams ready for delivery from Casco Maine, Mr.
Golden expects work on the Central Street Bridge to resume with the goal of having the project area
open to two-way traffic by December 2022 and final work completed mid 2023. With regard to the cost
overruns, the CM reported reaching an agreement with MA DOT to split the amount evenly between the
city and state agency.
Regarding the coming primary and state elections, the CM pledged to work with the Election
Commissioners to insure that voters were fully informed about any changes in voting locations as
determined by the recent changes in districts and precincts.
Manager Golden spoke of the need to create more housing, and mentioned the Hamilton Canal District
and the East Campus prime spots. On the question of revitalizing “upper floors” of many downtown
buildings, the Manager again saw affordable housing units as a good option. He also pointed to the
soon to be completed Lord Overpass project as benefit to traffic mitigation and new development in the
city. ​
A final question about the now vacant Court buildings on Hurd and Gorham Streets came up. The
Manager explained that these properties remain under the control of the state agency (DCAM) and he
would be investigating their status.
Councilor Jenness also contributed to the discussion and pointed to the progress made by having the
city require the developer clear, clean up and fence the construction site near the new sculpture at the
edge of HDIC and adjacent to the Lowell Justice Center.
The final portion of the agenda was devoted to plans for the upcoming Lowell Folk Festival on July 29-Joann Marcos with Erin Daniels reviewed the reconfigured festival including changes to some of the
stage locations and food pavilions. Along with mentioning parking sites, she also stressed that a free
shuttle was running from the Gallagher terminal to downtown during festival hours. Joann finally
sounded the clarion call for volunteers and provided applications.
Joann also announced that the Park Service was conducting Merrimack River rides on Monday and
Thursday evenings with canal tours Thursday -Saturday at 11, 12 & 2pm.
With no further business, the motion to adjourn from S. Cerand and S. Coulter passed unanimously at 8:25pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Robert Casey,
Secretary

Jack Moynihan called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm. Special guests included Christopher Pynn from
Lowell Pride and Jon Pierre Smith, proprietor of Flip Flop Store on Central Street.
On a motion from Stephen Greene and a second from Sally Coulter, the minutes for the April 25 meeting
were unanimously approved.
Captain Cullen from LPD presented the police report for the downtown sector. With a total of 12
incidents, slightly lower than April, there were a few assaults among people known to each other that
resulted in arrests. There were 3 burglaries, all in businesses, where 2 of the perpetrators were caught in
the act. As reported in The Sun, there was a prostitution sweep resulting in arrests. As noted the activity
was discovered on the outskirts of downtown in the Back Central area.
Questions came up regarding the uptick and annoyance of dirt bikes wreaking degrees of havoc on
downtown streets. Captain Cullen explained the safety oriented no chase protocol but emphasized that
the Department is actively working on the matter with various actions including confiscations of bikes
and citations to operators. Additional questions came up about security lapses at the Hamilton Garage
and the proliferation of graffiti in the district, both of which are under investigation.
Christopher Perna spoke next about upcoming events for Pride Month in Lowell which included June 4
City Hall flag raising followed by an afternoon festival and celebration at Kerouac Park. The festival was
to include bands, food trucks, and free tie dyeing for the children.
The final speaker on the program, JP Smith Sr fromFlip Flop addressed the mission of the store as more
than vintage retail, but also as a community out reach center promoting artists from under represented
areas; a commitment to assisting reentry for previously incarcerated and helping people struggling with
hunger, homelessness, and narcotics. Jon spoke with pride as a black owned business owner about his
desire to enliven downtown with both the rich array of merchandise but also and the style and grace of
a multicultural, family oriented business.
The meeting ended with a motion from Sally Coulter seconded by Bob Casey to adjourn at 8:12 pm
which passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Casey, Secretary