City Council - Ordinance Committee

City of Chicopee City Council Ordinance Committee Members Fred Krampits, Chair Shane Brooks, Vice Chair DRAFT Abigail Arriaga Gary Labrie APPROVED 4-23-2024 Jerry Roy MINUTES March 21, 2024 The following are the minutes of a public hearing held Thursday, March 21 2024 at 6:30 PM in the Auditorium, 3rd Floor, City Hall, 274 Front Street, Chicopee, MA 01013 and via zoom. Members Present: Krampits, Arriaga, Labrie Member Absent: Brooks, Roy Also Present: Timothy Reilly (Associate City Solicitor), Doug Ellis (City Engineer), Frank Boron (Building Commissioner), Lisa Sanders (Health Director), John Beaulieu (Assistant DPW Superintendent), Elizabette Batista (DPW Superintendent) The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM In compliance with the open meeting laws the Vice Chair asked if anyone in the audience was recording the meeting. Hearing none, the meeting continued. Councilor Arriaga motion to recess – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga X Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Labrie motion to return to meeting – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga X Labrie x 1  Roy x Motion passed. Item #1 Chapter 260-27. Parking for handicapped. A. No person shall park a vehicle on any street or parts thereof, or in any municipal off-street parking area or parts thereof, as listed in 260-28 of this chapter, except those vehicles which bear the distinctive “HP” or “DV” number plates or plates with the international symbol for the handicapped, paratransit vehicle for the handicapped and bearing the international symbol for the handicapped, or a Chicopee Council on Aging transit vehicle in the performance of an assigned route. B. Any person convicted of a violation of this section, except as may be otherwise provided, shall have his or her vehicle towed as well as fine of $100 for each offense. Public Input Dino Brunetti, Belchertown stated he has been a staff driver for the Council on Aging for six years. We have two vans that have handicap access with wheelchairs. I do a lot of training for the city of Chicopee. Our drivers do a lot of training. We do handicap CPR, disability, defensive driving. Quite a few other classes. He stated it was wrong in making that statement. So I take offense to that because we have good drivers for the gentleman. What happened at Walmart is very unique. It's a mess. I don't like going there personally to go drop somebody off or pick somebody up, but I have to. It's a terrible nightmare for any of us to drive there. He stated he took offense to the councilor that said we have to be retrained. Councilor Labrie motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga X Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Labrie motion to allow withdrawal of the order– Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga X Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #2 Chapter 201-1 Light Pollution 2 Due to the detriment to human health that light pollution poses, it is prohibited for a property owner to have exterior lighting that shines directly onto abutting property, public sidewalk, public street or towards the sky. Failure to comply shall result in a non-criminal fine of $25.00 enforced by the Health Department. Property owners seeking building permits shall not be issued a building permit until their exterior lighting comes into compliance with this ordinance. (Pniak- Costello) Public Input Mary Beth Costello 66 Voss Avenue stated that I appreciate the suggestions that have been made by these two department heads, Building and Health, in regard to the implementation of this ordinance. Councilor Labrie motion to close public input– Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga X Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Frank Boron stated that as we look in the industrial zoning areas with the lighting, it really only applies to industrial zones. I think the wording should say all commercial and industrial properties. So because it's mostly all commercial property and industrial property that have that ordinance 275-63-1. I just think a little change of all commercial industrial should be added to that ordinance. Councilor Labrie stated it doesn’t mention anything about public lighting. So if we're restricting lighting from people's businesses and homes, what's to stop them from complaining about the streetlight coming into their house. Frank Boron stated that we don’t get a lot of residential complaints in our department. There is nothing written on residential complaints. Councilor Krampits stated that, I certainly understand about if somebody's got a spotlight mounted on the side of their house and your house is ten feet away and it's shining right into your bedroom window, that I can see as being a legitimate complaint. I just worry about you being inundated with complaints. Frank Boron stated that I think more language probably needs to be added to this, so it covers all bases. Councilor Labrie motion to place on file– Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga X Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #3 Be it Ordained that Chapter 16, Articles XI §43 and Article XXVI §113 and §114 of the Ordinances of the City of Chicopee as amended be and is hereby further amended by striking out $2,000,000 and inserting in place thereof, $5,000,000 in Article XI § 43 and Article XXVI § 113, and amend Article XXVI §114 by adding or designee to lines (2), (3), (4), and (5); and 3 further by striking line (7) and inserting in place thereof, (7) An Elected Official, Department Head, or administrative employee of the City of Chicopee with finance expertise; and adding line (11) Commissions formed under the Massachusetts School Building Authority, (MSBA), seeking reimbursement from the MSBA must comply with MSBA requirements. The revised Chapter 16, Article XI §43 will read: All municipal buildings constructed for use by the City of Chicopee or any of its departments or residents as well as renovations to existing city-owned buildings or municipal construction projects where the total contract price totals $5,000,000 or more shall require the appointment of a Municipal Building Commission formed and empowered to act under the provisions of this article. Each such municipal project shall have a separate Municipal Building Commission. The revised Chapter 16, Article XXVI §113 will read: §16-113. Projects Requiring Commission. All buildings constructed for the use by the City of Chicopee School Department or any of its departments and any renovations to existing school buildings where the total contract price totals $5,000,000 or more. Each such project shall have a separate Building Commission. The revised Chapter 16, Article XXVI §114 will read: §16-114. Composition. A. Upon the solicitation of request for a proposal in connection with a bid for construction of any project requiring a Commission in accordance with Section 16-113, the Mayor shall appoint a total of 13 members, as follows: (1) A member of the Chicopee School Committee, (2) The Chicopee Superintendent of Schools or designee. (3) The Inspector of Buildings or designee. (4) Director of Maintenance for School Department or designee (5) School principal of the subject school or designee (6) A member who has knowledge of the educational mission and function of the facility to be built or renovated. (7) An Elected Official, Department Head, or Administrative Employee of the City of Chicopee with financial expertise. (8) Members of the community with architecture, engineering and/or construction experience to provide advice relative to the effect of the proposed project on the community and to examine building design and construction in terms of its constructability. [See 963 CMR 2.10(3)(b).] (9) The City Council shall recommend five appointments to the Mayor from Subsection A(8). (10)The Mayor shall appoint one member from Subsection A(8) (11)Commissions formed under the Massachusetts School Building Authority, (MSBA), seeking reimbursement from the MSBA must comply with MSBA requirements. B. All appointments by the Mayor to the School Building Commission must be submitted to the City Council for confirmation by a majority vote of seven except for Subsection A(1) through A(7). (Shumsky/Laflamme) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits motion to approve. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x 4  Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Krampits stated this has to do with the building commissions for public school projects that are to be selected. Councilor Labrie stated that my interpretation of why this was changed is we have a lot of $2 million projects going on in schools. We have enough trouble getting people to get on these committees as it is. So they wanted to raise it to 5 million. Councilor Labrie motion to approve – Councilor Krampits motion to approve. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #4 MONTCALM STREET - Entire length- COMMERCIAL VEHICLE EXCLUDED (Pniak-Costello) Public Input Mary Beth Pniak-Costello stated I requested this because a constituent that lives on Montcalm Street has been very concerned about the amount of truck traffic that goes down Montcalm Street. They have a lot of 18 wheelers. It's a street that feeds into a park. It feeds into a school. It feeds into a complex that is for the senior citizens and disabled. there is a lot of residential activity in homes in this area. Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Doug Ellis stated that if you get a commercial vehicle exclusion, you need to have a traffic study. It has to go to the state. The problem is right now, that's a construction zone, so we can't even do a proper study there. It's going to be influenced by construction vehicles. Not to mention that our equipment will be in the way of construction. So we can't even really do a proper study right now to even begin this process. 5 Elizabette Batista stated that Ludlow Construction is projecting two full summer seasons. So it's likely not until spring of 2026 that they'll be out of there. Councilor Labrie stated that let's say there's ten trucks an hour going down Montcalm Street. Don't they normally say, you can't stop those trucks because they're already using it as a truck route. Doug Ellis stated that more than 5 to 8% is a truck route that needs to continue. Councilor Labrie motion to deny – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Item #5 IDEAL AVENUE - Travelling north at the intersection of Britton Street and Ideal Avenue- ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak-Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Doug Ellis stated that he just suggested that maybe you could strike out and Ideal Avenue, but that's really not necessary. Councilor Labrie motion to amend to read as follows – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Travelling north at the intersection of Britton Street. Item #6 MEMORIAL AVENUE - Travelling north at the intersection of Memorial Avenue and Britton Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak-Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. 6  Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #7 HUDSON AVENUE - Travelling north at the intersection of Hudson Avenue and Britton Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak-Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to place on file – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #8 GLADDU AVENUE - Traveling South at the intersection of Britton Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak- Costello) 7 Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Labrie motion to approve – Councilor Krampits Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #9 GUERIN STREET - Traveling east at the intersection of College Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak- Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Labrie stated do you think every intersection off of Main Street should have a stop sign, or did we had them in the past and we just didn't have an ordinance for them. Doug Ellis stated if you're going onto Main Street there should be a stop sign there. You would think that people would just stop entering a Maine road. But there are many that don't have stop signs now, as you can see from the agenda. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. 8 Item #10 ST. JACQUES AVENUE - Traveling east at the intersection of College Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak- Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #11 KURTZ STREET - Travelling east – At intersection of Old Field Road - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Goff) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x 9  Roy x Motion passed. Item #12 LABELLE DRIVE - Travelling south – At intersection of Burnett Road - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Shumsky/Laflamme) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #13 78 Muzzy Street – HANDICAP PARKING (Krampits) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Krampits stated he received a handicap request for Muzzy Street. He read into the record: Commission on Disability, February 20th, 2024 already has handicapped parking 78 Muzzy Street. Our review shows that a space is available safely for the proper area in front of the house, with sufficient space for access to the street at the intersection, and that this request should be granted. That was from Al Kendall, the Commission from disability. 10 Doug Ellis stated that this house has a driveway off of Charles Street, and we typically don't recommend handicap spaces when they have off street parking in a driveway. Elizabette Batista stated that this is one of those situations for years since I've been with the city, it's always been a struggle. One thing that we really stress, that if they have their own off-street parking, there really should be no reason why we are providing replacing any handicapped parking. This misconception that it now reserves this person a space. It does not reserve them a space. Anybody can then park in that who has a handicap placard. Councilor Labrie motion to deny – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #14 CINNAMON DRIVE - Travelling west – At intersection of Basil Road - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Shumsky/Zygarowski) Councilor Labrie motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #15 BROAD STREET - Traveling west - At the intersection of Broad and Montcalm Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak-Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x 11  Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Doug Ellis stated that This is within the South Fairview construction project. The sewer separation project. So if we were going to try to install signage there, it's likely to get disturbed by the construction. So I don't know if you want to approve it at this time. Once they install the signs, they could be damaged or have to be moved. Elizabette Batista stated that I don't recommend installing it until construction is completed, because they try to make a record of all the signs that get impacted and get replaced. A lot of times, things don't always make it back up. Motion to approve but install after construction has been completed. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #16 HANSEN STREET - Traveling east - At the corner of Hansen Street and Montcalm Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak-Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Motion to approve but install after road construction is complete. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. 12 Item #17 WILEY AVE - Traveling east - At the intersection of Wiley Ave and Montcalm Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak-Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Motion to approve but install after road construction is complete. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #18 LANGEVIN STREET, SOUTH - Traveling east - At the intersection of Langevin Street and Montcalm Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak-Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Motion to approve but install after road construction is complete. Councilor Arriaga motion to place on file – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. 13 Item #19 LANGEVIN STREET NORTH - Traveling east - At the intersection of Langevin Street and Montcalm Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Pniak-Costello) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Motion to approve but install after road construction is complete. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #20 AMERICA STREET - Traveling East - At the intersection of Chicopee Street- ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Goff) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x 14  Roy x Motion passed. Item #21 GRANVILLE AVENUE - Traveling East -At the intersection of Chicopee Street - ISOLATED STOP SIGN (Goff) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Arriaga motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #2 2 50 PELOQUIN DRIVE - HANDICAP PARKING (Goff) Councilor Arriaga motion to close public input – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Councilor Krampits Read these attachments that came with the application. Hilltown Community Health Center. Hometown HHC medical. Beryl Lofton, to whom it may concern the patient listed was seen. He has medical issues. Doug Ellis stated that There's three handicapped signs out there that were not approved. What they're doing out there is they're putting the house number, the unit number on the handicapped sign, and there's three of them out there that weren't approved for units in front of units that were never approved. Then there's four that do have existing ordinances that there's no signs anymore. I don't know if the people moved or what have you, but we're going to talk to the director of Chicopee Housing about that. To have people putting unit numbers on these signs. He stated the one at 50 Granville Ave that's at the end of the cul-de-sac, they do not have off-street parking of the road. 15 Elizabette Batista stated that Pelican Drive have already several part handicapped parking spaces or signs, in the Cul-de-sac area. If we continue to approve additional handicapped signs, it's like we're making the entire cul- de-sac handicapped. I feel like we are making accommodations where they're taking it upon themselves to designate the signs with their own housing units as if it's reserved parking. It’s a public street with access to Chicopee housing authority. Councilor Labrie motion to postpone to the call of the chair – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #23 Minutes – February 1, 2024 Councilor Labrie motion approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Item #2 4 Adjournment Councilor Labrie motion approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion. Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Krampits x Brooks x Arriaga x Labrie x Roy x Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM Initials______________ 16