Oct 4, 2023 Meeting Minutes

Welcome our newest member Amanda Gomez Realtor/ Brockton South Middle School Promoter

MONTELLO BUSINESS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES FOR April 2,, 2025 IN ATTENDANCE: Scott Dwyer President, Greg Belcher Treasurer, Lisa Waitt Belcher Secretary, Richard Gowell, Brendan Weeks Deputy Chief BFD, Councilor Win Farwell, Allen Davis, Cpt. Bill Hallissey BPD, Al Davis, Gale Lutz-Henrickson and Lee Henrickson, Derek Salamone BPD, David Lynch, Atty. Jay McLaughlin, Councilor Shirley Asack, Councilor Jack Lally, Vinny Colarusso, Atty. Phil Nessralla, Jeff Smith, Dan Trout. See below added names invited to join and/or speak. Special guest City Clerk Timothy Cruise. Jim Stapleton and Amanda Gomez from South Middle School appeared as well. Scott opened with Old Business, see last month posting. Greg announced Treasurer report. Bill Hallissey said lots of police activity this past month. Brendan Weeks said 9 new firefighters coming on board. Some days homeless numbers are up out in the street, some days much quieter. City Clerk Cruise said Inspectional Services is doing a good job with enforcing regulations and licensing, doing suspensions of licenses, trying best to shut down businesses if not operating properly, many steps need to be taken with these issues. The City Clerk cannot enforce but refers to entities to address issues. Licenses are requiring an engineered plan, many business purposes have different requirements for square footage, parking spaces, handicapped parking spaces, green space and many other aspects. City Council is the last step to approve the licenses. South Middle School PAC reps reported on their progress with activities and fundraising. Career day proposed for the school maybe June. Interesting updates to encourage great behavior by positive reinforcement. The PAC is intended to supplement student life with extracurricular items and activities to enhance overall experience beyond the school day. Street parking discussed with violations and intimidation of parking authority attendants to the point of assault and battery. Numbers of police are a concern as eligible people don’t exist. Police cadet program is a successful conduit to recruitment for the future per Captain Hallissey. Jojo Bayliss on behalf of Home Café addressed the parking issue and loitering on North Main St. Some characters outside are wearing full face masks and intimidating customers. Meters were suggested but Parking Authority has to be on board; ticketing is possible but traffic commission and Councilor Lally suggest Parking Authority be expanded. Win Farwell spoke about return on investment in our departments to bring in revenue, code enforcement, fines, towing being done to change the behavior of people in the city. Dave Lynch said towing associates will help clean up the streets. Not fixing problems encourages more problems. Councilor Asack had a meeting with the Pires Brothers and they were told it is a citywide issue that is being addressed and they need to comply with proper licensing steps. The Westgate Mall shooting incident is being investigated from all angles because of licensing hearings and the trampoline park not fulfilling their obligations. Private security requirements should be addressed as police will not take details due to liability. Meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m. “MAKE Brockton BETTER before you make it BIGGER” credit Win Farwell.

Date: April 2, 2025 Wed. 6 PM NEW Location Tinrays 9 Winter St Brockton, MA Time: 6PM Guest Speaker : City Clerk Timothy Cruise

MONTELLO BUSINESS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES FOR MARCH 5, 2025 IN ATTENDANCE: Scott Dwyer President, Greg Belcher Treasurer, Lisa Waitt Belcher Secretary, Richard Gowell, Brendan Weeks Deputy Chief BFD, Councilor Win Farwell, Councilor Phil Griffin, Cpt. Bill Hallissey BPD, Al Davis, Gale Lutz-Henrickson and Lee Henrickson, Derek Salamone BPD, Atty. Jay McLaughlin, Councilor Shirley Asack, Councilor Jack Lally, Sam Audi Bassam. See below added names invited to join and/or speak. Special guest Jeffrey Smith of the Community Court system was invited. Scott opened with Old Business, see last month posting. Snow parking regulations have led to midnight shift issuing some tickets. Policing issue brought up of trying to get a full-time dedicated traffic enforcement. Hopefully as well some new officers could be added to Brockton, academy sending some names over. Residency requirement may be holding back some out-of-town qualified officers. Treasurer Greg report. ARPA funds as well need applications to get money for loss of revenue due to street work. Documentation, get your facts and figures from your CPA at this time and apply. Jeffrey Smith introduced himself from District Attorney Cruz office. Grant-funded $900,000 for 4 years with other entities to establish Community Court. This will streamline homeless getting cited and will try to help them get services and resources. Case manager at Old Colony Y will try to coordinate their case charges to see what can be done for this population. Police reports: homeless still under bridges. Cleaned by DPW 3 times a week. Issue is what offenses are arrestable. Crimes, yes. Loitering, probably not. Law department has no clear guidelines regarding Constitutionality. Win Farwell suggested that unions ask law department for clarification in writing to protect officers from liability. Greg questioned current police station being left available when new building becomes occupied. Win said 54 North Main St. proposal of purchase by City for $1Million is in question. Also that a new purpose of the building should not attract the same homeless loitering as ever has been and at Perkins Park as well. Scott brought up all-day parking on North Main St. which should be addressed. By whom? Police vs. parking authority. Shirley will contact parking authority and question why they only monitor downtown parking garage. Jack said they DO have authority over the whole city but they need more resources to expand beyond downtown. Brendan said new recruits for fire department are coming in but there are also many retirements coming up. The firetrucks are mostly up to date and we will likely get 3 more this year. Scott said YMCA at 320 Main St. is up for sale. Question where are the entities going to end up which function there. Shirley said she will keep us posted on Pires Auto license application process. School departments are reviewing contracts for employees per Scott. Shirley brought up form-based code meeting recently at North Jr. High School. Stop N Shop leaving the North Montello St. store closed and still paying the lease will be approached to see if they will allow other tenant[s] to be there. Jack and Shirley will work on this. Membership renewal has been announced! Meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m. “MAKE Brockton BETTER before you make it BIGGER” credit Win Farwell.

Date: March 5th 2025 Wed. 6 PM NEW Location Tinrays 9 Winter St Brockton, MA Time: 6PM Guest Speaker : Jeffery R Smith with Community Court Coordinator Second Speaker Amanda Gomez with Lamacchia Realty

Montello Business Association is proud to announce our newest member Westgate Lanes Pub & Grille 65 Westgate Drive, Brockton Ma 02301

MONTELLO BUSINESS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES FOR Feb. 5th 2025 IN ATTENDANCE: Scott Dwyer President, Greg Belcher Treasurer, Lisa Waitt Belcher Secretary, Fran Fistori, Richard Gowell, Councilor Win Farwell, David Lynch, Cpt. Bill Hallissey BPD, Al Davis, Gale Lutz-Henrickson and Lee Henrickson, Derek Salamone BPD, Sam Audi Bassam, Atty. Jay McLaughlin, Shirley Asack Ward 7 Councilor, BFD Deputy Chief Brendan Weeks, Vinny Colarusso, Mike Dadak. See below added names invited to join and/or speak. Scott Dwyer opened with Old Business, see last month posting. Last meeting was the Christmas party in December with a good time had by all and a good collection for Toys For Tots. Ed Williams honored as well at the time. Treasurer Greg report. Memberships to be renewed soon. Shirley Asack spoke with regards to Pires Auto Repair at 744 North Main St. regarding their operational status. City offices have been contacted including Inspectional Services to make sure all licensing is being done properly. Their operation has been very busy with extra cars overflowing into the One Hour Parking spaces on North Main St. The numbers of cars allowed to be worked on is questioned by Scott and Shirley confirmed this as an issue with permitting and license renewals. Pires also bought Harborone Bank at 820 North Main St. which Citizens Bank is rumored to be leasing the property soon so the parking situation will be monitored. Issues of overnight parking are arising with the winter season in full swing. Snow parking bans for street parking are in force at this time. Manny Buginga from MJM Construction was invited to speak regarding truck parking issues. He will be speaking to invite the big trucks to utilize space on his property in West Bridgewater. Manny spoke regarding his parking availability on Manley St. in West Bridgewater with 7 acres of parking. He brought brochures to be distributed for the big trucks illegally parked in Brockton to have a place to go. Scott invited Francine Kaiser from Westgate Lanes to join us as a new prospective member. Greg spoke regarding inviting Rob May to attend regarding the form-based code. He presented concerns about Montello MBTA station approved for form-based code which will override current zoning. The congestion for traffic, concentrated housing, and public safety needs as well as the school system being strained was spoken about. Fran from Westgate Lanes spoke regarding the homeless encampments, rubbish being left on the property from them and their abandonment of items, and in general commercial trucks dumping full loads on their property and on other properties in the Westgate Mall area. When police are contacted with plate numbers the station says the trucks are registered out of Brockton so they cannot help. Jay McLaughlin advised to have businesses file complaints at Brockton District Court with the same information to get these parties to have to come to court. Win Farwell and all agreed that the drug and mental health issues and free needle programs all contribute to the societal problems. Police understaffing as well is an issue. Pot shop taxes questioned by Gale, Win said there are city programs and school programs which are supported but he does not have exact figures. Some shops owe money to the state for their licenses and the Cannabis Control Commission regulations are not clear. Win spoke about the Fairgrounds property: zoning overlay district is being worked on, 1500 to 2000 upscale residences are being proposed. Important: Project development agreement will be required by the city so that all permitting is in conformance with the agreement. Win also stated that our city has dedicated more than enough for social services, drug problems, and homeless issues. “MAKE Brockton BETTER before you make it BIGGER,” stated Win. Keep your eyes and ears open so we do not keep losing the battle. All agreed, well said. Win as the usual informative source of government process is trying to make us aware of how things work. Education concerns like McKinney-Vento ruling on the federal level regarding major costs of education and transportation were mentioned as well. Membership renewal has been announced! Meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m.

Date: Sept. 4 2024 Wed. 6 PM NEW Location Tinrays 9 Winter St Brockton, MA Time: 6PM Guest Speaker : Manual Buginga with MJM Construction Meeting will Discuss: Trucks, Zoning, Ordinances

Happy New Year 2025 from Montello Business Association. We will resume our next meeting on February 5th at Tinrays 6 P.M.