Lowell Downtown Neighborhood Association April 2026 Minutes
Ken called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm on April 27th, 2026.
Treasurer Update (Dom): There were no transactions and the current account balance is $1,314.29. We were able to acquire a new EIN number from the IRS and are in the process of transferring the account from Rockland Trust to Eastern Bank.
Police Report (Captain Demaris)
⁃ Downtown bike operations – police conducted an operation on April 22nd targeting reckless bike riders downtown and observed 8 juveniles riding recklessly. LPD plans to conduct similar operations in the future, including during vacation week
⁃ Broken windows – police were able to identify and arrest a single individual apparently responsible for the March spate of vandalism and broken windows on Merrimack Street.
⁃ Car break ins – decrease from 12 (February) down to 5 (March). Police have arrested and charged 3 individuals responsible for many car breaks in the area. Reminder to lock car doors and to avoid keeping valuables (purses, wallets, backpacks, laptops, etc) in plain site
⁃ Brief discussion of other incidents reported to police
Police Q&A
⁃ Discussion about alternative approaches to discourage reckless driving of bicycles in the streets downtown. Police are working the school resource officer to talk with families of kids to discourage the behavior. City is working on special events and is in talks with the Bike Connection and other partners to find alternative attractive places for kids to bike (e.g. a mountain bike trail in the Lowell state forest).
⁃ LPD confirmed there are no Shot Spotter devices in the city
17th Middlesex District Representative candidate introduction (Dr. Harini Aiyer) – Dr. Aiyer is running for the state rep seat for the 17th Middlesex District. She described her personal background and history, what drew her to Lowell, and her top priorities as a candidate – affordability, safety, and transparency. – Note: there are two other candidates for the position. We hope to hear from them at future LDNA meetings
Lowell City Budget Update (Lowell CFO Conor Baldwin and Deputy CFO Austin Walk)
– The CFO gave an in-depth presentation describing the process of creating the annual budget. The city sets tax rates in the fall, departments submit funding requests from the fall through the spring, and the city manager submits the budget to the city council in May for review and approval. The CFO identified 5 major fiscal challenges, including increased pension, health insurance, and energy costs, increased state assessments (especially for charter schools) and increased debt service costs for capital improvements like the new high school.
– The full budget is available online on the city’s website (https:// www.lowellma.gov/151/Budget)
– Discussion in the meeting focused on the parking enterprise fund, which is separate from the general fund. This enterprise fund accounts for the debt service and operating costs of the garages, and translates to the usage rate of the garages downtown. The increases in the downtown parking rates have gone to pay for debt services for improvements to the Downes and Ayotte garage and the construction of the Hamilton Canal Garage. Some residents expressed concerns that downtown neighborhood is disproportionately impacted by parking costs and parking enforcement relative to the rest of the city. The CFO discussed some anticipated upcoming relief (e.g. the Early Garage debt service should be paid of within 5 years).
City District Updates (City Councilor Sean McDonough)
– Sean discussed the process for and difficulties with repairing the sidewalks downtown. In some situations, abutting owners own vaults below the sidewalk. The vaults fail, causing a sinkhole in the sidewalk and leading to complications regarding who is responsible for fixing the issue.
– Sean is working on a list of sidewalks, fences, and bridges that need improvements in the district. The city engineer may also have a separate list of upcoming and recently completed road and sidewalk improvements.
– The association discussed ways for the city to improve communication about what’s been repaired and what is on the city’s radar for future improvements
Announcements from the President (Ken)
– Due to time constraints, we deferred conversation about the front-runner city program and the downtown business improvement district to June. (We will not hold a meeting in May.)
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.