After more than 20 years of running Methuen like his own personal piggy bank, five years of scandal, cover-ups, and a police department in freefall, Methuen finally got the outcome residents have been demanding: former Police Chief Joseph Solomon has agreed to plead guilty to all 17 felony and misdemeanor charges against him, including perjury, procurement fraud, and civil service violations. He will serve jail time, lose his city pension, his firearms license, and his private investigator's license.

Mayor D.J. Beauregard didn't mince words, calling it the end of the “city's long nightmare” and crediting the late Mayor Neil Perry, former Chief Scott McNamara, and the prosecutors who refused to let the matter die. The deal is also expected to save the city roughly $3.7 million in pension liability over the next 20 years, and the city says it will pursue recovering close to $1 million already paid out to Solomon since his 2020 retirement.

Read the mayor's full statement here: https://cvcpl.us/9kOoZyw

This is a win five years in the making m for a community that watched a trusted institution get hollowed out from the inside, this is vindication. While it may not seem that way to many seeing as how Solomon will only see a maximum of 30 days in jail, this is a far better outcome then many predicted over the last few years.

So far, we have official statements from the mayor, the DA, and the AG but not a peep from Solomon's friends at the City Council table. It's funny because this is a group of people that love to post for the constituents after every event they attend (even if they weren't invited and nobody wanted them there) … they're silent thus far on the Solomon issue. The one standout being Councilor Simard who has been a driving force in this since his first term on the council back in 2019.

While the mayor's office, the DA, and the Attorney General's office did the work of holding Solomon accountable, the Council has had remarkably little to say… not during the indictment, not during the years of delays, and not now, as the case reaches its conclusion. Residents who lived through this scandal deserve to know whether their elected councilors were paying attention at all, or whether they were content to let the mayor's office carry the weight alone.

For me, I can't help but wonder why a man like Solomon would roll over and play dead like this.

Did he plead guilty here because it was the right thing to do? Well, I have serious doubts that all of a sudden is conscience developed and this is his way of making right by all the people he's wronged.

Or, the more likely scenario in my eyes, he plead guilty to protect those behind him who are accused in the Stirm report of helping him in this fraud like DA Paul Tucker, many at POST, and other officials.

Which one for you think is more likely?

And the case isn't fully dead yet….

Federal charges against Solomon remain pending, which raises a legitimate question worth asking out loud:

For now, Methuen has its justice.

Monday is a marathon, not a meeting. The City Council has three separate sessions stacked back to back starting at 6pm, and by the time the regular meeting gaveled in at 7 pm there was already a workshop and a public hearing in the rearview mirror.

The headline items are a data center moratorium ordinance up for a vote, a mental health coordination contract worth over sixty thousand dollars, and a batch of executive session minutes going all the way back to 2020 that the Council may finally vote to release or keep sealed.

There is also a fair amount of the usual Methuen bread and butter in here: utility pole grants, pavement crack sealing, and a long list of councilor requests ranging from barrel fees to billing software complaints.

Let’s get into it.

I’ll be honest, three agendas in one night from one council is a lot even by Methuen standards. The night starts in the Great Hall with a workshop between the full Council and representatives from the Greater Lawrence Technical School, then rolls straight into a public hearing about a couple of utility poles, and only then does the regular business of the city actually begin. If you’re tuning in on Channel 8 or the livestream, budget your evening accordingly.

City Council and GLTS Workshop, 6:00 PM

This workshop to discuss how GLTS can better serve Methuen students is likely going to be must-watch TV. Every time the GLTS Superintendent comes in front of the Council it is always a pissing contest. There is a lot of resentment over what Methuen pays to the school versus other member communities and the salary the Superintendent gets paid yearly which is Solomon like is size.

Why it matters: This is a joint sit down between the full Council and representatives from the Greater Lawrence Technical School, and the agenda item itself is deliberately broad, a workshop to talk about how GLTS can better serve Methuen kids. No specific proposal is attached, so expect a conversation rather than a vote, but it is worth watching for what direction the Council wants to push GLTS in going forward.

Public Hearing, 6:45 PM

P.S. Grant #31193015, Pleasant Street

National Grid wants to install one jointly owned pole on Pleasant Street, beginning at a point approximately 40 feet north of the centerline of the intersection of Pleasant Street and Independence Drive.

Why it matters: Utility pole grants like this one are routine, but they still require a public hearing before the Council can sign off, since the pole sits in the public way. Nothing controversial here, just the process working as it should.

P.S. Grant #31194501, Jackson Street

National Grid also wants to install one jointly owned pole on Jackson Street and Pleasant Street, continuing approximately 360 feet in a south direction.

Why it matters: Same deal as above, a second pole grant for the same general area of Pleasant Street. Both hearings feed directly into the Public Service grants item later on the regular meeting agenda, where the Council actually votes on them.

Regular Meeting, 7:00 PM

On to the big show.

1. Roll Call

The usual head count to make sure the Council has a quorum before anything else happens.

2. Acceptance of the Agenda

This simple procedural vote to formally accept the night’s agenda isn’t alway so simple. This part is always fun to see if anyone gets preferential treatment and is voted worthy of skipping the line.

3. Pledge of Allegiance, Invocation, Moment of Silence

The big watch here is how the council chooses to proceed with the invocation. More often than not, this becomes a religious invocation instead of general words meant to be uplifting and motivational. The council floor is no place for anyone to be invoking any god.

4. Public Participation

This is the time for you to attend and speak.

5. Organizational Business

No specific items are listed under this heading on the posted agenda.

6. Reading and Acceptance of Minutes from Previous Meetings

● Tuesday, September 8, 2026 Regular Meeting

7. Proclamations, Correspondence

No specific proclamations or correspondence are listed on the posted agenda.

8. Consideration of Appointments

None.

9. Presentations, Projects, Department Updates

No specific presentations or updates are listed on the posted agenda.

10. Mayor’s Report

No specific items are listed under the Mayor’s Report on the posted agenda, this is typically a verbal update.

11. CAFO Report

● Request for Update on Searles Estate Expenses & Revenues (Req. of Clr. Soto): Chair Soto wants a rundown of what the city has spent and taken in from the Searles Estate.

● Status on outstanding back taxes and recovery to date (Req. of Clr. Drew): This was asked at the beginning of the year, and Councilor Drew wants to know what progress has been made in collecting.

12. Requests of Councilors

● Cost breakdown and tonnage for the Methuen Housing Authority trash collection services through the city’s municipal trash contract (Req. of Chair Soto): Chair Soto wants to know exactly what the city is paying to haul trash for the Housing Authority.

This is a continuation driven by Soto on her revenge tour following a resident of Housing calling for her resignation along with two other Councilors.

● Request to the City Solicitor and the DPW to develop a dedicated section on the City’s website providing residents with a clear, step by step roadmap for the acceptance of unaccepted ways (Req. of Clr. Valley): Councilor Valley wants an overview of the whole process, an online application or petition form, eligibility requirements, fees and betterment assessments, estimated timelines, and contact information, all in one place for residents.

This request was already acknowledged and should be in the queue with the City. Not sure why is remains here in its original form.

● Whether the Echo Lane sewer connection will be included in the 2027 Capital Improvement Plan (Req. of Clr. Valley): A direct ask about whether that project is getting funded next year.

● Buildings Audit RFP Status update (Req. of Clr. Drew): A check in on where the buildings audit request for proposals stands.

● City employee email signature standardization (Req. of Clr. Drew): Councilor Drew wants city staff emails to look consistent.

I’m not sure why this lingers. This is something easy that IT could format and standardize on the backend within Outlook. This could have been an easy win.

● HHSI permit fees review and update status, discussed during the FY2027 Budget Workshop (Req. of Clr. Drew): Following up on a fee review that came up during budget season.

● Update on barrel fees, whether anyone is sending emails out and if there is no response whether the city is following up with a phone call (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio): Councilor DiZoglio wants to know if the barrel fee collection effort has any teeth to it.

This is still DiZoglio’s pet project. While he isn’t wrong - the City botched this big time - his approach hasn’t been working and blaming residents and labeling 1,000+ households as essentially deadbeats is not a good way to build a solution. The sticker approach was logical. Let’s hope that gains traction.

● Residents dealing with issues receiving their bills and the billing software in the Water Department and the Treasurer’s Office (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio & Chair Soto): A shared concern about billing problems residents have reported.

● Issues with some departments accepting checks and some not (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio): A basic consistency question about which city offices will take a check.

13. Public Service

A. Grants

● P.S. Grant #31193015, Pleasant Street: National Grid to install one jointly owned pole on Pleasant Street, beginning approximately 40 feet north of the centerline of the intersection of Pleasant Street and Independence Drive. This is the same grant covered in the 6:45 public hearing. View National Grid letter

● P.S. Grant #31194501, Jackson Street: National Grid to install one jointly owned pole on Jackson Street and Pleasant Street, continuing approximately 360 feet in a south direction. Also covered in the public hearing. View National Grid letter

B. Licenses

None.

C. Contract(s)

● C-27-29: Amendment of Employment Contract By and Between the City of Methuen and Scott J McNamara. This one is being removed from the table, meaning it is not moving forward at this meeting. View C-27-29

With the Mayor back in the building tonight, this should see some discussion. This will be a worth hearing to see if they kick in the extra 4 weeks.

● C-27-30: CARE SOLACE, Inc., 120 Birmingham Drive, Cardiff, CA 92007, for Mental Health Care Coordination Service, at $66,250.00. View C-27-30

● C-27-31: Seal Coating, Inc., DBA Indus, 825 Granite Street, Braintree, MA 02184, for Pavement Crack Sealing, High Performance, at $114,585.00. View C-27-31

● C-27-32: TEC, Inc., Phase 2 Pelham Street/Salem Street Roadway Improvements, in the amount of $255,000.00. View C-27-32

● C-27-33: TEC, Inc., Phase 2, Brook Street over Unnamed Water Body Culvert Replacement, in the amount of $30,000.00. View C-27-33

14. Other Officers and Committee Reports

No specific reports are listed on the posted agenda.

15. Unfinished Business

Resolution(s)

All of these are second reads. I don’t anticipate there being much discussion or any big surprises here.

TR-26-83: FY27 Budget True Up, an Order Concerning Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2026. Effective upon passage is requested, and it was requested by the Mayor and the CAFO. This item is being removed from the table for a vote. View TR-26-83 | View Sources & Uses | View Summary | View Summary Rev & EP

TR-26-84: A Resolution Authorizing a Transfer of $456,055 from FY27 General Fund Employee Benefits Health Insurance and $40,000 from FY27 General Fund Veteran Benefits Personal Services to various FY27 General Fund Other Expenses lines. Effective upon passage is requested, and it was requested by the Mayor and the CAFO. View TR-26-84

TR-26-85: A Resolution Authorizing a Transfer of $1,181,649 from FY27 General Fund Employee Benefits Health Insurance to various FY27 General Fund Personal Services lines. Effective upon passage is requested, and it was requested by the Mayor and the CAFO. View TR-26-85

TR-26-86: Complete Streets grant acceptance resolution for Methuen High School. View TR-26-86

TR-26-87: Castle Fund Resolution for First Church, Methuen. View TR-26-87

Ordinance(s)

TO-26-20 AS AMENDED: An Ordinance Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on Data Centers in the City of Methuen, requested by Mayor Beauregard. View TO-26-20 as amended

This is the ordinance to watch this week. A temporary moratorium would pump the brakes on any new data center projects in Methuen while the city figures out how it wants to handle them, and the fact that it’s back on the agenda as amended suggests there has already been some negotiating over the language.

16. New Business

Resolution(s): none listed.

Ordinance(s): none listed.

You read that right. Nothing new on the agenda. How do we even get to a point where there is nothing new.

The Council will vote on whether to enter Executive Session under Exemption 7 of M.G.L. c. 30A § 23(b). If the Council votes to go into Executive Session, it will discuss and vote on whether to accept and disclose the executive session meeting minutes from a stack of past dates: 5/4/2020, 11/7/2022, 1/17/2023, 4/3/2023, 5/1/2023, 6/13/2023, 7/10/2023, and 10/16/2023.

That is a five year old batch of minutes finally coming up for a release decision, which is worth watching for what it says about what has been sitting sealed since 2020. Per the agenda, following the conclusion of the Executive Session the Council will adjourn and not reconvene in open session, so do not expect any final votes read into the public record afterward.

Watch live:

• methuen.gov/livestream

• Channel 8 (Comcast) or Channel 32 (Verizon)

• YouTube: youtube.com/@MethuenMeetings

The City Council was down a member and up a headache Tuesday night, with Santos on vacation and the Mayor absent for most of the meeting … which meant an entire slate of councilor requests got bumped without so much as a hearing.

Still, plenty happened. The Chief Administrative/Financial Officer got grilled on tonnage data that apparently doesn’t exist. And a police chief’s retirement payout, 14 weeks of accrued time against a contract that caps it at 10, turned into a meditation on trust, precedent, and whether anyone actually reads these contracts before they’re signed.

Here’s everything, in order.

Roll Call / Agenda

Santos was out on vacation. Drew joined remotely at first, then arrived in person later in the meeting. DiZoglio was late. The agenda was accepted with no changes.

Pledge / Invocation / Moment of Silence

Standard invocation, nothing notable this time. A moment of silence was held for a Methuen resident who recently passed.

Public Participation

Diane Moore plugged this Saturday’s tours of the Searles Estate.

MaryBeth Donovan, a School Committee member, spoke in support of the Methuen Literacy Partnership, a kindergarten reading initiative she brought to the city along with Rep. Hamilton, and asked the Council to approve funding for it later that night.

A resident named Christina spoke in favor of the data center moratorium, as did Jack Boadin.

Another resident complained that there had been no notification about the meeting, and also voiced support for the moratorium.

Minutes

The August 10 regular meeting minutes were approved unanimously, moved by Pesce and seconded by DiZoglio. The August 13 special meeting minutes also passed, with Pesce voting “present” since she wasn’t at that meeting.

Consideration of Appointments — Matteo Zingales (Zoning Board of Appeals)

Zingales, currently an alternate on the ZBA, was up for full appointment. Moved by Pesce, seconded by Valley. Zingales, an architect who runs the well-known Zingales Real Estate Company, may have conflicts but according to Marsan if he had a conflict and would recuse himself. Pesce pushed back, saying a real conflict requires recusal under the law. Marsan said the city needs more people on these boards and vouched for Zingales personally. Valley clarified Zingales isn’t a licensed agent, just runs the business. It also came out that Zingales listed Soto as a reference on his application and that Soto originally recommended him for the board in the first place. The appointment passed unanimously, with Soto voting present.

Mayor’s Report

The Mayor’s report was submitted as a written memorandum; no live discussion was noted.

CAFO Report

Soto had asked for an update on Searles Estate expenses and revenues to which the CAFO said there’s been no real change, just utility costs. Drew had asked back in the beginning of the year for a status update on outstanding back taxes; the CAFO said the original ask wasn’t clear enough to act on and suggested it should’ve been sorted out before the meeting. Drew reminded everyone that commercial arrears stood at $10 million last time this came up and asked where things stand now. The CAFO promised an update for the next meeting.

Two other items surfaced: a new fee schedule for buildings is in the works, and ARPA funds need to be spent by the end of the year or the city loses them. A breakdown was provided, and the city expects to return roughly half of 1% to the state due to minor project scope changes.

Then came barrel fees. DiZoglio asked for a tonnage and fee-collection update … nothing new to report. He recapped how this request has been sitting unanswered and pressed for real numbers. Chief of Staff McCarty said the Mayor is aware residents are unhappy and is looking at a new plan involving colored stickers. DiZoglio wanted the city to call every household with a barrel, that’s over 1,300 people, to collect. McCarty said that’s not a good use of staff time. DiZoglio suggested a robocall instead, said he was tired of “throwing away the rest of the year,” and floated refunding people who already paid if the city’s giving up on enforcement. “This is just more money out the window,” he said.

[My take]: DiZoglio’s not wrong that this has dragged on with nothing to show for it, but “robocall 1,300 households” isn’t exactly a fully-formed policy either. Somewhere between “do nothing” and “cold-call the whole city” there’s an actual plan, and at this point, it’d be nice to see one.

Requests of Councilors (Skipped)

With the Mayor absent, this entire section was pushed … meaning a long list of pending asks got no airtime, including trash-tonnage costs for the Housing Authority (Soto), a step-by-step roadmap for accepting unaccepted ways (Valley), a Buildings Audit RFP status check (Drew), email signature standardization (Drew), HHSI permit fee review (Drew), the ongoing barrel-fee saga (DiZoglio), water and treasurer billing complaints (DiZoglio and Soto), inconsistent check-acceptance policies across departments (DiZoglio), and a 9/11 Memorial Service update (DiZoglio). All of it rolls to a future meeting.

However, all of it was addressed in the written statement the Mayor had attached to the agenda.

Vehicle for Hire License — Juan Lopez (Juan 89), 17 Woodland Street

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Drew. Marsan flagged that the building commissioner never signed off on the application. The CAFO said the City Clerk had approved it. Passed unanimously.

Licenses

Vehicle for Hire License — BFRANA, LLC, 131 Lowell Street #3

Moved by Drew, seconded by MacLaren. Drew noted the business certification was missing a notary seal and signature, and said without it she couldn’t verify who signed the document. The CAFO explained the City Clerk had signed it, so notarization wasn’t required. Passed unanimously.

Contracts

C-27-27: Catalis Tax & CAMA, Inc. — CAMA/SAAS AP-5 Subscription & Permit Module Maintenance, $83,572.36 over 3 years (FY27: $26,250.90 / FY28: $27,825.95 / FY29: $29,495.91)

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Valley. The CAFO explained this is a software renewal for the assessment tool, housed under IT. Soto asked which department owns it, then went on a tangent about the vendor marketing an AI product. Apparently, as stated, she’d tried the system over the weekend and called it “old school,” saying she prefers a competitor, Visions. The CAFO said the city evaluated options and prefers this one, but didn’t have an answer on the AI features. Drew caught a 40-cent discrepancy in the math, and a motion to amend the figures passed. The main motion then passed unanimously.

C-27-28: A/D Instrument Repair, Inc. — Equipment Maintenance, not to exceed $63,000 over 3 years (Year 1: $18,000 at $1,500/day; Year 2: $21,000 at $1,750/day; Year 3: $2,400/day)

Moved by Valley, seconded by Marsan. Drew asked for clarification, and the CAFO confirmed this is a do-not-exceed ceiling which means the city may end up spending less. The motion passed unanimously.

C-27-29: Amendment of Employment Contract — Scott J. McNamara

Moved by Simard, seconded by Pesce. This one got messy. Drew questioned the timeline, noting McNamara gave plenty of notice before retiring. The CAFO explained accrued time is normally paid out two pay cycles after retirement, but the Chief had banked more time than expected even though his contract caps payout at 10 weeks, and he’d accumulated 14. Legal reviewed and drafted an amendment pending a vote.

Marsan said he didn’t understand why McNamara hadn’t just taken the time off instead, and asked point-blank whether this was some kind of deal cut by the Mayor. Simard said the council should stick to the contract as written and vouched for the Chief’s integrity. Pesce suggested tabling until the council knew whether an actual side deal existed and what its terms were. Soto asked why there were no hard numbers in the proposal, dug into how the Chief’s 2023 contract eliminated a two-week buyback provision, and cited a DLS opinion suggesting this could amount to an impermissible gratuity of public funds. The City Solicitor disagreed, saying this is time McNamara actually earned … no gratuity issue. MacLaren said she was uncomfortable approving anything retroactively without more information. DiZoglio noted either the Chief or the Mayor could have flagged this to the council earlier, and worried about the precedent. Valley asked the Solicitor how legal it is to amend a retired employee’s contract after the fact; the answer was that it’s been done before and is legal. Pesce moved to table. Passed unanimously.

Committee Reports

MacLaren gave an update on the AV Committee’s work on the Great Hall. MCS Director Hayden said experts have been consulted on redoing the room, with a bigger presentation planned for October.

Unfinished Business: Resolution

TR-26-79: Resolution Declaring Surplus Equipment and Authorizing Auction (Sponsored by Mayor and CAFO)

Moved by Drew, seconded by Marsan. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-81: Resolution Accepting Gift of a Polish American Veterans Monument from the Julian J. Stopyra Veterans Post

Moved by Drew, seconded by Pesce. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-82: Resolution Transferring $1,000 from City Council Personal Services to City Council Other Expenses (Req. of Clr. Soto)

Moved by Drew, seconded by Valley. Passed unanimously.

Unfinished Business: Ordiance(s)

TO-26-19: Ordinance Amending Chapter 8 to Eliminate Certain Fees for New Business Registrations (Requested by Mayor Beauregard and Chair Soto)

Moved by Drew, seconded by Valley. Passed unanimously.

New Business: Resolutions

TR-26-83: FY27 Budget True-Up (EPA Requested)

Moved by Drew, seconded by Simard. The CAFO walked through a handout showing how new money would move to fund this and the next two resolutions. DiZoglio flagged that some of the funding is one-time money that won’t be there next year; the CAFO said only the Islamic Academy funds are one-time and everything else is part of a real plan. The Solicitor noted each budget increase needs its own vote. Drew asked whether the money was actual and recognized or just forecasted. CAFO said recognized then Drew questioned the rush. The CAFO said the city needs lead time if the council doesn’t approve now. Drew also said she didn’t believe the EPA piece had actually been approved yet. Drew moved to table, seconded by Valley. Tabled, 8-1, with Simard voting no.

TR-26-84: Resolution Transferring $456,055 from FY27 Health Insurance and $40,000 from FY27 Veteran Benefits Personal Services to Various FY27 Other Expenses Lines (EPA Requested)

Moved by Simard, seconded by DiZoglio. Drew pointed out this involves removing a secretary position from the VSO office. The underlying transfer passed unanimously, but the associated EPA request failed 3-5, with DiZoglio, Pesce, Simard, Drew, and Marsan voting no.

TR-26-85: Resolution Transferring $1,181,649 from FY27 Health Insurance to Various FY27 Personal Services Lines (EPA Requested)

Moved by Simard, seconded by Valley. Drew asked whether tabling the previous item meant this one needed to be tabled too. The CAFO clarified this is stop-loss funding being redirected to cover furloughs. The transfer passed unanimously; the accompanying EPA request failed for lack of a motion.

TR-26-86: Complete Streets Grant Acceptance — Methuen High School

Moved by Marsan, seconded by DiZoglio. No discussion. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-87: Castle Fund Resolution — First Church, Methuen

Moved by Marsan, seconded by Drew. Soto asked if this was for a dinner; the Clerk clarified it’s a concert. Passed unanimously.

New Business: Ordiance(s)

TO-26-20: Ordinance Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on Data Centers (Requested by Mayor Beauregard)

Moved by Marsan, seconded by Simard. Pesce read a letter of support from Senator Payano into the record (technically should’ve come during public participation). Marsan moved to strike a section requiring a public hearing to amend the zoning laws; Drew seconded, and it passed without discussion. MacLaren voiced support and listed concerns tied to data centers generally. Drew asked the Chief of Staff what prompted the ordinance; he confirmed there are no current proposals on the table, just social media chatter, and framed this as a proactive, one-year stoppage. Passed unanimously.

Executive Session

The Council also planned to vote on entering executive session to review an Open Meeting Law complaint filed by Gregory Gallant against the Council, and to act on the release of a long backlog of executive session minutes dating back to 2018. No open-session discussion followed; the Council was set to adjourn from executive session without reconvening.

That’s a wrap on September 8, 2026. The full agenda is available at the City of Methuen website and meetings are archived at MethuenTV.

Have a tip, a correction, or something you want covered? Reach out.

More information to follow after the press release from the City.

Let’s get the boring part out of the way first: 6,268 Methuen residents voted in Tuesday’s state primary out of 42,359 who are registered.

That’s 14.8 percent.

That is pretty wild when you consider the fact that most races were uncontested.

Of those ballots, 1,945 people asked for a Republican ballot and 4,323 asked for a Democratic one. Here’s every race, broken down, with the ones that were never actually contests called out so you don’t waste time wondering why a “race” had one name on it.

The Republican Ballot

Deaton beat Angelina for Senate, 1,666 to 5. Not a typo, five votes. Minogue beat Shortsleeve for Governor, 1,528 to 400. Oliver beat Martin for Lieutenant Governor, 1,494 to 56. Those three were the only real contests on the entire Republican ballot with more than one name in the ring.

Everything else? Either nobody ran, or exactly one person did.

Walsh ran alone for Attorney General and picked up 1,653 votes because that’s what happens when you’re the only option. Dionne did the same for Treasurer, 1,561 votes. Grossi ran unopposed for Congress in the Third District, 1,490 votes.

Then it gets fun. Nine, count them, nine races on the Republican ballot had no candidate on the printed ballot at all. Secretary of State, Auditor, Councillor, Senator in General Court, all three State House districts, District Attorney, and Register of Probate were decided entirely by whoever residents felt like scribbling in.

Anne Brensley led the write-in pack for Secretary of State with 119 votes. A write-in effort for sitting State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, a Democrat, somehow picked up 23 votes on the Republican ballot, because apparently some Methuen Republicans just really like her. District Attorney and Register of Probate didn’t even have a leading write-in name worth reporting, just piles of scattered votes and thousands of blanks.

Which brings me to the Fourth Essex District.

Ken Willette wrote himself in for State Representative and got 24 other votes. Twenty five, total. Out of 456 total ballots cast in that district. Three hundred and forty seven of those same voters looked at the ballot, saw no candidate, and just left it blank rather than write his name down. If you’ve heard Ken talk about this race, you’d think he was running a juggernaut operation. The numbers say otherwise and look as bad as the AI-generated videos he made of himself speaking Spanish during the campaign.

For comparison, next door in the Fifteenth Essex District, Ronald L. Heiseler III wrote himself in too and pulled 839 votes out of 1,152 ballots. That’s what an actual write-in effort looks like when people know your name and show up for you. Anna Levy managed 9 votes out of 337 ballots in the Sixteenth Essex District, so at least Ken’s not in last place.

The Democratic Ballot

Markey beat Moulton for Senate, 2,763 to 1,509. That one was real. Everyone knew it was real. Everything else on this ballot was a coronation.

Healey for Governor, Driscoll for Lieutenant Governor, Campbell for Attorney General, Galvin for Secretary of State, Goldberg for Treasurer, DiZoglio for Auditor, Trahan for Congress, Zeigler for Council, Payano for State Senate, Hamilton for State Rep in the Fifteenth, Reyes for State Rep in the Fourth, Tucker for District Attorney, and O’Brien for Register of Probate. All thirteen ran completely unopposed. Nobody so much as showed up to lose to them.

The one exception, the only other real race on the whole Democratic ballot, was the Sixteenth Essex District State Rep race, where Francisco E. Paulino beat Celina A. Reyes, 408 votes to 307.

Small side note on that Fourth Essex District seat: Estela Reyes ran unopposed on the Democratic side and took 1,096 votes without breaking a sweat. She’ll presumably face off in November against whoever the Republican write-in effort actually nominates, which, again, currently stands at Ken Willette and his 25 votes.

The Scoreboard

Fifteen races on the Republican ballot. Three were real contests. Three had a single unopposed name on the ballot. Nine had nobody on the ballot at all and were decided by write-ins, several of which barely cleared double digits.

Fifteen races on the Democratic ballot. Two were real contests. Thirteen were unopposed coronations.

So if you’re wondering why turnout was under 15 percent, maybe start there.

Source: Official Results Page on the City Website

The City Council meets Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Searles Building, 41 Pleasant Street since Monday is a holiday. Using the agenda that was amended on 9-3-2026, here is a full rundown of what’s on it and what it means in practice.

1. Roll Call

The meeting opens with roll call. This is the last “summer meeting” before we get back to our regularly scheduled business.

2. Acceptance of the Agenda

The council will formally accept the agenda as presented, including any amendments. This part can get interesting when you see who gets moved up in the list and why.

3. Pledge of Allegiance/Invocation/Moment of Silence

The meeting continues with the Pledge of Allegiance, an invocation, and a moment of silence.

We’ve seen over the last few months that the invocation has leaned heavily on explicitly religious language more often than not. It is worth asking, gently, whether a body that represents every resident, regardless of faith or lack of one, needs a standing prayer line on its weekly to do list right between the Pledge and public comment. A moment of silence covers the same ground and asks nothing of anyone. Beyond that, it’s a public government meeting; religion has no place here.

4. Public Participation

Time is set aside for members of the public to address the council.

5. Organizational Business

No specific items are listed under this heading on the agenda.

6. Reading and Acceptance of Minutes from Previous Meetings

The council will read and accept minutes from the Monday, August 10, 2026 Regular Meeting and the Thursday, August 13, 2026 Special Meeting.

7. Proclamations/Correspondence

No specific items are listed under this heading on the agenda… but this has never stopped them before.

8. Consideration of Appointments

The council will consider the appointment of Matteo Zingales to the Zoning Board of Appeals. He currently serves on the board as an alternate.

I anticipate this passes with little discussion. Zingales is a known name in the City and in the Real Estate world where some of our Councilors spend their days.

9. Presentations/Projects/Department Updates

No specific items are listed under this heading on the agenda.

10. Mayor’s Report

Unfortunately for us, we won’t have the Mayor on hand due to a prior standing Tuesday night conflict but we will have a written Mayor’s report.

11. CAFO Report

Two items are listed under the Chief Administrative and Financial Officer’s report. The first is a request for an update on Searles Estate expenses and revenues, requested by Soto. The second is a request for a status update on outstanding back taxes and the recovery made to date, an item first raised earlier in the year, requested by Drew.

Looking past the Searles Estate as an old and ongoing issue, the back taxes is new. You may have seen the press release of the recent filings for back taxes, some of which were under $100… more on that in a different article. This will be interesting to see evolve.

12. Requests of Councilors

Several councilor requests are on the agenda.

• Soto is requesting a cost breakdown and tonnage figures for the Methuen Housing Authority’s trash collection under the city’s municipal trash contract.

  This is part of the ongoing retribution against the residents of Housing for telling her and others to resign. This is far from over.

• Valley is requesting that the City Solicitor and the DPW build a dedicated section of the city’s website walking residents through the process of getting an unaccepted way accepted, including an application or petition form, eligibility requirements, fees, betterment assessments, timelines, and contact information.

  This was disccused at the last meeting. It was agreed upon. This is possibly a holdover or the City isn’t moving fast enough for her liking.

• Drew is requesting a status update on the Buildings Audit RFP, a request for city employee email signature standardization, and an update on the review of HHSI permit fees discussed during the FY2027 budget workshop.

  All standing issues. I suspect Drew doesn’t get the answers he wants today.

• DiZoglio is requesting an update on barrel fee outreach and whether unanswered emails are being followed up with phone calls, and separately, with

  DiZoglio continues with his insistence that most of Methuen is purposely withholding barrel fees. This one is comical because we have no idea who has barrels so how can we bill them?

• Soto is raising concerns about residents having trouble receiving bills through the Water Department’s and Treasurer’s Office’s billing software.

• DiZoglio is also raising an issue with some departments not accepting checks, and is requesting an update on the Methuen 9/11/01 Memorial Service.

13. Public Service

This section of the agenda covers grants, licenses, and contracts.

A. Grants

No specific items are listed under this heading on the agenda.

B. Licenses

Two vehicle for hire company license applications are listed. One is from Juan Lopez for Juan 89, located at 17 Woodland Street (view backup). The other is from BFRANA, LLC, located at 131 Lowell Street, Apartment 3 (view backup).

C. Contract(s)

C-27-27 is with CATALIS TAX & CAMA, Inc. of Alpharetta, Georgia, for a CAMA SAAS AP-5 annual subscription and CAMA SAAS AP-5 permit module maintenance, totaling $83,572.36 over a three year contract. The breakdown is $26,250.90 in FY2027, $27,825.95 in FY2028, and $29,495.91 in FY2029.

C-27-28 is with A/D Instrument Repair, Inc. of Hampstead, New Hampshire, for yearly maintenance only, totaling $63,000 over three years. Year 1 (FY’27) is $18,000 ($1,500 per day), Year 2 (FY’28) is $21,000 ($1,750 per day), and Year 3 (FY’29) is listed at $2,400 per day.

C-27-29 is an amendment of the employment contract between the City of Methuen and Scott J. McNamara. The amendment would now allow McNamara to sell back 14 weeks of unused vacation time.

14. Other Officers and Committee Reports

No specific items are listed under this heading on the agenda.

15. Unfinished Business

Resolution(s)

TR-26-79 is a resolution declaring surplus equipment and authorizing the auctioning of that equipment, sponsored by the mayor and CAFO.

TR-26-81 is a resolution accepting the gift of a Polish American Veterans Monument from the Julian J. Stopyra Veterans Post, requested by Mayor Beauregard.

TR-26-82 is a resolution requesting a transfer of $1,000 from City Council Personal Services to City Council Other Expenses, requested by Clr. Soto.

This is a second read so it will likely pass without much discussion. However, it’s ridicolous of Soto to ask to move $1,000 to an account for food for the Council when we cut so much from everywhere else/

Ordinance(s)

TO-26-19 would amend Chapter 8 of the Methuen Municipal Code to eliminate certain fees for new business registrations, requested by Mayor Beauregard and Chair Soto.

16. New Business

Resolution(s)

TR-26-83 is the FY27 Budget True Up, an order concerning appropriations for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026. It is listed as EPA requested and brought forward by the mayor and CAFO.

TR-26-84 is a resolution authorizing a transfer of $456,055 from FY27 General Fund Employee Benefits Health Insurance and $40,000 from FY27 General Fund Veteran Benefits Personal Services to various FY27 General Fund Other Expenses lines. It is listed as EPA requested and brought forward by the mayor and CAFO.

TR-26-85 is a resolution authorizing a transfer of $1,181,649 from FY27 General Fund Employee Benefits Health Insurance to various FY27 General Fund Personal Services lines. It is also listed as EPA requested and brought forward by the mayor and CAFO.

The two items above move “new” money into accounts reduced during the budget cycle that stops the furloughs.

TR-26-86 is a Complete Streets grant acceptance resolution for Methuen High School. This is $150,000 for design work for the High School Transportation entrance.

TR-26-87 is a Castle Fund resolution for First Church, Methuen. This is for $3,200 to the First Church Congregational Methuen for a concert to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Methuen and educate attendees about Methuen's history

Ordinance(s)

TO-26-20 would establish a temporary moratorium on data centers in the City of Methuen, requested by Mayor Beauregard. Why it matters: moratoriums like this typically pause new permitting or siting activity for a set period while the city studies or drafts longer term zoning rules for a particular use.

17. Any Other Business for the Good and Welfare of the Community

Time is set aside for any additional matters councilors wish to raise.

Executive Session

The council will vote on entering executive session under Exemption 7 of M.G.L. c. 30A, §21(a)(7). If the council votes to enter executive session, it will review and act on an Open Meeting Law complaint filed by Gregory Gallant against the Methuen City Council under M.G.L. c. 30A § 23(b). The council will also discuss and vote, under M.G.L. c. 30A § 22, on the acceptance and disclosure of executive session meeting minutes from the following dates:

2018: 7/26/2018, 7/30/2018, 10/16/2018

2019: 7/20/2019

2020: 5/4/2020, 5/23/2020, 12/14/2020

2021: 1/27/2021, 6/23/2021, 7/6/2021

2022: 1/20/2022, 3/4/2022, 3/16/2022, 3/22/2022, 5/17/2022, 8/1/2022, 11/2/2022, 11/7/2022, 11/21/2022

Following the conclusion of the executive session, the council will adjourn and not reconvene in open session.

How to Watch

The Methuen City Council meets Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the Great Hall, Searles Building, 3rd Floor, 41 Pleasant Street, Methuen, MA 01844.

Residents can watch live on Channel 8 (Comcast) or Channel 32 (Verizon), or stream it online at Methuen.gov/livestream. The meeting will be archived and available on demand within one to three business days at Methuen TV Cablecast.

The full agenda is available at the City of Methuen’s Agenda Center.

Anyone needing an access accommodation to participate in City of Methuen programs or services should contact Sandy Almonte, ADA/DEI Coordinator, at 978-382-2123 or salmonte@ci.methuen.ma.us at least two weeks in advance, or two business days before any board or commission meeting. This notice is available in alternative formats upon request.

For those of you who don’t get the Eagle Tribune and didn’t see the article, last Tuesday (8/18), the School Committee held a meeting of the School Finance Committee. It was held in the Superintendent’s office and was overall unremarkable for the first 30 minutes. Then the CAFO dropped a bomb and the Mayor backed her.

You can watch the meeting here. This happened around the 30-minute mark.

Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Maggie Duprey told the room she would recommend against any raise in the first year of every new municipal contract negotiated this fiscal year. Police, secretaries, building inspectors, and school nurses are all set to expire before the end of next summer.

Mayor Beauregard didn’t let her carry that alone.

He backed her up in the room, saying it would be irresponsible to even consider anything beyond a zero in year one.

Do you understand how impactful this is?

That is not a normal thing for an elected official to say out loud, especially about union contracts, especially with elections coming next November which is not long after these contracts would need to be signed.

The biggest issue with this statement… they are right.

Methuen didn't arrive at this moment overnight. Years of contracts that outpaced revenue, spending that didn't always get the scrutiny it should have.. or any at all…, and projects that got started and then quietly forgotten or completely ignored all added up. Some of those same contracts were approved back when Beauregard was still on the council, which makes this moment a little more complicated for him personally. But even under the most optimistic revenue projections at the time, those deals negotiated by Mayor Perry were never going to hold up against a 2.5 percent levy cap forever. Someone was eventually going to have to say so and that is like signing your own death certificate.

Reality is, Massachusetts law caps how much a city can grow its total tax levy each year at 2.5 percent, override votes aside. Methuen has been handing out raises closer to 3 percent in recent contracts. Add in the rising cost of special education, transportation and insurance, and you get exactly what the city has been living through for years, a budget that never quite balances and reserves that keep getting drained to cover the gap. Beauregard put it plainly. The city is overextended.

None of this is a knock on the employees asking for more. Plenty of them have earned it, and plenty of them need it. That is what makes this hard. Nobody wants to be the person telling teachers, dispatchers and secretaries that this isn’t the year. It would have been so much easier for the mayor to let the finance officer be the bad news and stay quiet himself. He didn’t do that. He stood next to her and owned it. Kudos to them both!

It is worth being clear about the statement the Mayor and CAFO made during this meeting… this is about the Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) that the unions get in addition to their step increases. Step increases are the yearly increases that come from just surviving and making it to the next year. Those steps are all different percentage increases based on a table that has long existed and does get updated from time to time during collective bargaining. The Unions also get COLA’s on top of that increase. We usually hear "it’s only 3/3/3” which would mean it's a 3-year deal giving a 3% raise each year. However, that is never truly the case.

It also helps to understand why a contract that looks like 3 percent, 3 percent, 3 percent on paper never actually costs the city just 3 percent a year. That number is only the cost of living piece. Layer step increases on top of it for every employee who isn’t already at the top of the scale, and the real year-over-year growth in payroll is higher than the headline number suggests. Then add everything that rides along with a union contract beyond salary, health insurance premiums that the city mostly covers and that climb every year on their own, longevity pay, overtime rates calculated off the new higher base, sick and vacation buyback, pension contributions tied to salary. For some unions, they get loads of special stipends to get accreditations, and clean their uniforms, and wear a body camera, and so many other things. A 3 percent raise on the surface can easily translate into a much bigger real increase in what the city has to budget for that same group of employees. That is the part that rarely makes it into the conversation, and it is a big reason why a levy cap of 2.5 percent and a raise pattern of 3 percent were never going to coexist for long.

Beauregard also isn’t pretending the city can fix this alone. He pointed to Beacon Hill, noting that Governor Healey’s push for a hundred million dollars in supplemental school funding is exactly the kind of help cities like Methuen need, even though he isn’t optimistic the legislature will come through. That is a mayor doing both jobs at once, making the unpopular call at home while still asking the state to do its part.

None of this comes free, politically.

Municipal unions turn out voters. They organize, they endorse, and they remember who stood with them and who didn’t. Telling them this far out, before negotiations have even really started, that this isn’t their year is exactly the kind of thing that gets brought up at every doorstep and every union hall until the election results post. Beauregard knew that when he said it. He said it anyway.

That is worth noticing, because most elected officials in his position wouldn’t.

The easier path is well worn. Let the finance officer deliver the bad news. Stay vague in public. Let the actual numbers come out quietly during negotiations, away from cameras, so there’s no soundbite to run against later. Plenty of mayors have managed entire careers that way, saying just enough to sound responsible without ever putting themselves on the record in a way a union could use.

That is performative politics and what Methuen has far too much of these days.

Beauregard didn’t take that path.

He stood with Duprey and said the number out loud, in a public meeting, months before any contract negotiations actually even started. That is not the move of someone protecting his own reelection. It is the move of someone who decided the city’s finances mattered more than his own political comfort right now.

Methuen has spent years avoiding this conversation because it was easier not to have it. Same goes for the insurance issues Beauregard just settled. Every year that went by without anyone saying it plainly just meant a bigger problem for whoever finally did. Now someone finally had it, in public, knowing exactly what it might cost him.

That is not the kind of thing that should end a political career. It is the kind of thing that should be rewarded. If Methuen wants more honesty out of the people who run it, this is what that honesty actually looks like when it shows up. It rarely arrives at a convenient time, and it never arrives without a cost to the person saying it.

By now, every news outlet is reporting the current situation facing the Mayor of Lawrence, Brian DePeña. For those new to the story, I will save you a quick Google search…

Friday morning, FBI agents showed up at 5 Oakland Road in Lawrence and took Mayor Brian DePeña into custody. A criminal complaint was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Boston, charging him with wire fraud and money laundering. He’s expected to make an initial appearance in federal court Monday morning when and where a judge will decide whether he’s held or released on bail.

DePeña tends to be the epicenter of chaos. This spring, state police executed a search warrant at Lawrence City Hall as part of an Attorney General’s investigation into secret recordings. This was a pretty public scandal that started with a leaked tape of his former chief of staff arguing with the city’s airport director and ended with the New England Police Benevolent Association calling for DePeña’s resignation. Before that, another former chief of staff was arrested on child pornography charges. It has been, to put it mildly, a rough stretch for the DePeña administration. Let’s not forget the State’s involvement in the November 2025 election…

… But This is Methuen, Why Should You Care?

It feels like yesterday… Rumbo ran a full front page celebrating DePeña’s “overwhelming support.” He was endorsed by more than 16 leaders from the city, county, and state. It’s a who’s who of the Merrimack Valley’s political establishment, and Methuen is all over it: City Councilors Neily Soto and Ron Marsan, former Mayor James Jajuga, plus the broader Essex delegation whose districts run straight through our city… State Senator Pavel Payano, State Representatives Estela Reyes and Frank Moran, former Rep. Marcos Devers, State Senator Barry Finegold, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, Congresswoman Lori Trahan, DA Paul Tucker, and others.

To be fair to everyone on that page: an endorsement doesn’t automatically make you a co-conspirator in a federal indictment, and DePeña hasn’t been convicted of anything yet. Courtesy of what is left of our Constitution, he’s entitled to the presumption of innocence like anyone else.

But it’s fair, and it’s the whole point of local politics, to ask what these officials actually knew, or should have known, when they lined up behind him. The wiretapping scandal, the chief-of-staff arrests, the general air of chaos around that administration… none of it happened in the dark. DePeña’s reputation was never what anyone would call anything resembling “good.” He led through fear and intimidation tactics. So much if done publicly and documented by the Eagle-Tribune, on WBUR, or in city council meetings. Anyone paying attention to Merrimack Valley politics saw the pattern forming well before this morning’s arrest.

So, here’s the prediction: watch how fast that endorsement photo disappears from campaign pages and social media this week.

Watch the statements roll in about how “deeply troubled” everyone is, how they’re “monitoring the situation,” how the presumption of innocence is “sacred”… that is right up until it’s politically inconvenient to keep saying it. It’s a move as old as Merrimack Valley politics itself: stand next to power when it’s popular, sprint away the moment it’s radioactive.

This is when the rats start to run from the dumpster fire.

Why am I telling you This?

Here’s the actual ask, and it’s not complicated: stop endorsing people because they’re big, because they’re loud, because they can move votes, because crossing them feels scary.

That’s not political strategy — it’s the exact instinct that lets patterns like this repeat for years before anyone in office says anything. Methuen’s own delegation has the standing to set a different bar: back candidates because they’ve earned it, not because they’re powerful enough to make you nervous. If a pattern of scandal is visible from the outside, it should be visible from the inside too — and it shouldn’t take a federal complaint to say so out loud.

DePeña has not been convicted of any crime, and the charges against him are allegations that must be proven in court.

Easier Access to Low-Cost Feline Spay/Neuter

With Expanded Catmobile Schedule

Salisbury, Mass. – August 11, 2026 The Catmobile, Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society’s (MRFRS) convenient mobile low-cost cat spay and neuter clinic, today announced the addition of a full-time veterinary team and an expanded operating schedule to better serve cat owners throughout northeastern and central Massachusetts. Starting in August, the Catmobile will operate Monday – Thursday each week, bringing accessible spay and neuter services directly to local communities, including Methuen, Lowell, Framingham, Salem, and other surrounding cities and towns. The expansion includes a dedicated full-time staff of veterinarians and veterinary technicians committed to high-quality, compassionate care. Appointments are now available for August. cat owners are encouraged to visit mrfrs.org/catmobile to book online or learn more about upcoming locations.

Catmobile’s fully equipped mobile surgical clinic offers low-cost spay and neuter procedures in a stress-reduced environment, with the added convenience of coming directly to local neighborhoods, community centers, and partner locations. The spay/neuter package include pre-surgical exams, surgery performed by licensed veterinarians, vaccinations, microchipping, and heartworm and flea preventatives.

“Removing barriers to responsible pet care aligns with our organization’s mission to help cats and the people who care about them,” said Erin Watson, Executive Director of MRFRS. “By adding full-time professional staff and increasing our availability to four days a week, we’re making it easier and more affordable for families, students, young professionals, and budget-conscious cat parents to spay or neuter their cats. This directly helps reduce overpopulation, prevents unwanted litters, and improves the health and well-being of cats across Massachusetts.”

Catmobile’s Key Benefits for Cat Owners:

• Significantly lower costs compared to traditional veterinary clinics

• Mobile convenience—no need to transport cats long distances

• Expanded availability with a four-day weekly schedule

• Focus on compassionate, high-quality care for feline patients

The expansion reflects growing demand for affordable veterinary services amid rising pet ownership among younger demographics. MRFRS’s Catmobile remains committed to making spay and neuter procedures accessible so that cost is never a barrier to responsible pet ownership.

About Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society (MRFRS)

MRFRS was founded in 1992 in response to the 300+ cats along the Merrimack River in Newburyport. The effort the organization’s founders launched was one of the first in the nation to use the Trap-Neuter-Return process to improve the lives of free-roaming cats. Once all the cats had been trapped and fixed, they were fed twice a day at the waterfront feeding stations and monitored for illness, injury and any new additions. In 1993, MRFRS opened its first adoption center and then, in 2003, moved to the current location in Salisbury, MA. In 2000, the organization started offering free monthly spay/neuter clinics for feral cats, and in 2008, launched the Catmobile program to provide convenient and low-cost spay/neuter services in local communities. Since its inception, MRFRS has improved the lives of over 151,000 cats and kittens.

Media Contact:

Erin Watson, Executive Director, MRFRS

erin@mrfrs.org

603-396-6367

Catmobile Photo (credit MRFRS Staff):

New news on the Solomon front….

In the case that just doesn't seem to move… we finally have some progress. A final pretrial conference in the criminal case against former Police Chief Joseph Solomon is set for Friday, August 14 at 11 a.m. at Essex Superior Court in Salem, another step toward a trial now expected to begin in September. This is the first major court date in the case since the co-defendant at the center of it, former make-believe police officer Sean Fountain, pleaded guilty and was sentenced.

“Sentenced” is a strong word there since he basically walked with a slap on the wrist.. but more on this in a minute.

Solomon, who led the Methuen Police Department for years before stepping down, faces two Essex Superior Court indictments, docket numbers 2377CR00451 and 2377CR00452, alleging he abused his authority as chief to circumvent the state’s civil service hiring rules and then lied about it to state regulators.

The Fountain Case Already Played Out and Angered City Hall

Solomon wasn’t indicted alone. He was charged in 2023 alongside Sean Fountain, the Methuen City Councilor turned Police Officer, accused of never having been a legitimately trained police officer at all. Prosecutors said Fountain forged a certificate claiming he’d graduated from a 1995 police academy class, doctoring it from an authentic certificate belonging to a retired officer, and then spent roughly four years working the job anyway, arresting, searching, and initiating prosecutions against more than 40 Methuen-area residents who had no idea the officer detaining them lacked any legal authority to do so.

Fountain was set to change his plea back in November 2025, but the hearing was derailed when Superior Court Judge Thomas Dreschler raised concerns about victim-impact statements submitted by Mayor D.J. Beauregard and current Police Chief Scott McNamara, both of which leaned heavily on the city’s potential civil liability… a factor the judge said had no place in a criminal sentencing decision.

Fountain ultimately pleaded guilty on December 17, 2025. The judge ruled the City of Methuen didn’t legally qualify as a “victim” and barred Beauregard and McNamara from reading their statements aloud in court. Fountain was sentenced to probation, with no jail time and effectively no restitution. This outcome was later blasted to the public by the mayor and chief as a “slap on the wrist.” All and all, it was a major failure and blackeye for the Commonwealth and all parties involved but nobody seemed to care besides the residents of Methuen.

SOME city leaders have made no secret of where they think accountability should go next. After the November hearing, Mayor Beauregard told reporters that accountability was needed for everyone involved in “this conspiracy,” not just Fountain. Chief McNamara has been just as direct, calling the scheme a “criminal conspiracy” and describing Fountain as, in effect, a civilian who’d been “masquerading as a police officer” for years with others in positions of authority aware of it.

What Solomon Is Accused Of

According to the Final Pretrial Conference Memorandum filed jointly by prosecutors and defense counsel, the Commonwealth alleges that between 2015 and 2020, then-Chief Solomon improperly hired six individuals, who were on Methuen’s non-civil-service intermittent roster, into positions as full-time civil service police officers, complete with all the pay and benefits that come with full civil service status.

This played out pretty publicly in the 2019 budget cycle.

Prosecutors go further, alleging Solomon committed perjury by knowingly listing those improperly hired officers on an official document submitted to the state’s Human Resources Division.

A separate and more specific set of allegations centers on one of those officers, Sean Fountain. The Commonwealth alleges that throughout Fountain’s employment, Solomon made materially false statements about Fountain’s qualifications to serve as a police officer and uttered a forged document related to those qualifications. Discovery filings in the case reference a “Copy of Sean Fountain Forged NERPI Certificate,” along with a denied search warrant application and a later granted one, both tied to an affidavit asserting Fountain graduated the police academy in May 1996.

Solomon denies all of the allegations. He is not in custody. The icing on the cake is that he is drawing a massive pension from the City.

The Scope of the Case

If the witness list is any indication, this is not a small case. According to the State Court website, this case is on the DCM Track - Most Complex. The pretrial memo lists 44 potential witnesses, including:

• More than two dozen current and former Methuen city and police personnel

• Officials from the state Human Resources Division and the Civil Service Commission

• Massachusetts State Police investigators

• A Homeland Security Investigations agent

• Keepers of records from the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission and the Massachusetts Police Training Council

• Sean Fountain himself, along with his wife Terri Fountain, who was also a Methuen officer

It is worth looking at the list of individuals listed by Solomon and his team that can/may be called in his defense.

Solomon’s own attorneys have signaled he may take the stand in his own defense as his name appears on the supplemental witness list his team submitted. If he does, it cuts both ways: it also opens him up to cross-examination by the prosecution, which alone will be worth the trip to Salem.

But Solomon isn’t the only name on that supplemental list worth a second look. A handful of the additions are Methuen political insiders whose presence signals the defense wants firsthand accounts from people who were inside City Hall, or close to it, during the years in question:

• Paul Fahey served as chief of staff to Mayor James Jajuga from 2018 to 2019 putting him squarely inside the window (2015–2020) when the Commonwealth alleges the improper hiring took place. As the mayor’s top aide during that stretch, Fahey is positioned to have firsthand knowledge of what City Hall knew and when. It begs the question… is he a charter witness or is Joe using him to show wrongdoing by someone else?

• Jana DiNatale, a former Assistant District Attorney, served as chief of staff to Mayor Neil Perry from 2020 to 2021, meaning she’d have had a City Hall vantage point on the tail end of the alleged scheme and its immediate aftermath. She’s been publicly supportive of Solomon. The same question persists here, is she a charter witness or is Joe using him to show wrongdoing by someone else?

• Andrea McCann (Traficanti) is a familiar name around Methuen and Lawrence political circles, largely through her husband’s history of city employment and involvement in local politics. Frank McCann is the former Lawrence DPW director, and her former boss, who also did a stint as Methuen’s DPW Deputy Director under his good friend former Mayor Jajuga. This was the catalyst that drove Director Pat Bower out of Methuen the first time. By reputation, she remains extremely active behind the scenes working to advance her agenda and those connected within City Hall.

• Ron Marsan, the currently sitting East District City Councilor, is also on the list and he’s been an open, vocal defender of Solomon’s. The question here is can he both serve the City as a Councilor and defend someone who has, beyond any reasonable doubt, committed atrocities against the City he was sworn to protect and serve?

Whether any of them add real substance to the defense’s case or simply speak to Solomon’s character, watching City Hall–adjacent figures take the stand and face cross-examination is likely to be one of the more closely watched parts of the trial.

The Commonwealth’s exhibit list is similarly sprawling… printed statutes, emails, civil service records, training certificates, recordings of Civil Service Commission hearings, MPTC/CJTC training documents, and City of Methuen records including the city charter.

A companion discovery filing, the Commonwealth’s sixth notice of discovery in the case, shows prosecutors have turned over a dense trove of material to the defense: forensic lab reports from Homeland Security Investigations, personnel files, interview records with more than a dozen current and former city and department figures, an FBI property inventory referencing bags of evidence recovered from what’s described as “yellow cards,” and records tied to a since-filed lawsuit by Sean Fountain against the town.

What’s Left to Decide

The parties say they still need to litigate “required findings” motions and at least one motion in limine over how statements by an alleged coconspirator can be used at trial. Both sides note additional pretrial motions may surface as the case heads toward trial. For those who didn’t go to law school or major in latin, a motion in limine is a request one side files before trial asking the judge to decide, in advance, whether a certain piece of evidence or testimony can be allowed in, or has to be kept out, once the jury is seated.

Andrew Gambaccini is representing Solomon. Marina Moriarty, a Special Assistant Attorney General assigned through the Essex District Attorney’s Office, is handling the case for the Commonwealth.

Thursday’s conference in Salem is largely procedural… a final tune-up before trial, which the pretrial memo and prior reporting indicate is expected in September. But for a lot of Methuen residents, the case never really felt procedural. It’s the reason more than 40 arrests made by an unqualified officer are now legally vulnerable, the reason city leaders are bracing for civil lawsuits, and, in the mayor’s and chief’s own public words, the reason they don’t consider the story over just because Fountain’s case closed with probation. As Chief McNamara put it after Fountain’s plea: the city expects it will be held accountable for those arrests “the day will come, I am certain of it.”

Solomon has not been convicted of any crime and, legally, remains presumed innocent unless and until a jury says otherwise. But it’s worth being clear-eyed about why this trial matters to Methuen: the city’s own current mayor and police chief have publicly and repeatedly said, on the record, that they don’t believe the conspiracy stopped with Fountain. Thursday’s hearing in Salem is the next real step toward finding out whether a jury agrees.

For those of you who want to see the documents in all their glory for yourselves, we’ve added them to our google drive site…

Pre-Trial Memo

Commonwealth’s Notice of Discovery

Starting off tonight with a TL/DR for those who don’t want to read and don’t want to download the app so it will read it to them….

Big money night. The council put $2.5 million behind the Constellations behavioral services program for the schools, and honestly, for once, almost everyone was on the same page about it which for this body counts as a minor miracle.

There was also a genuinely uncomfortable stretch where the Housing Authority’s trash collection came up. There’s a real conversation buried in there about deferred maintenance and municipal trash contracts, but the framing around it felt less like oversight and more like payback for a resignation call made by a resident as a former meeting.

Best councilor of the night goes to Pesce which I am sure will come as a shock to her seeing this from me, who cut through weeks of vague trash-barrel-fee hand-waving and just said the quiet part out loud: nobody in that room actually knows how many extra barrels are out there. It was the most useful sentence said all night.

Here’s everything, in order.

Roll Call / Agenda

Everyone present, in person.

Under acceptance of the agenda, Drew moved to push C-27-22 down on the agenda to right after TR-26-77, seconded by Simard. Passed unanimously. Marsan then moved to relocate Item D (the order calling for the 2026 State Primary Election) to right before the Mayor’s Report. Passed unanimously. The amended agenda then passed unanimously.

My take: Drew’s move made sense… it puts the Constellations funding item right after the program itself gets approved, so the sequence actually tells a story. Marsan’s move didn’t come with a stated reason. Not a big deal, but if you’re going to shuffle the agenda, say why.

Pledge / Invocation / Moment of Silence

Moments of silence were held for Alex Putterah (spelling uncertain), Michael Lough, and Soto’s mother. My sincere condolences to Soto. No context was given on who Putterah or Luff were or why the council was recognizing them other than they passed.

My take: The religious content built into these City Council openings keeps striking me as more than what’s appropriate for a municipal meeting. Not sure why that’s the norm here. You can be uplifting without invoking any religion. I’ve also learned (with the correction of the name I heard) that Mike Lough was a long time DPW employee.

Public Participation

Cesey Avedo spoke about special education, arguing that IEPs aren’t being met and asking where the accountability is. She shared that her own child’s IEP failed and suggested the city’s legal fees on these disputes would be better spent training staff.

Bill Willette raised Constance Avenue, an unaccepted roadway, asking why it hasn’t been accepted or added to the paving list. He maintains everything was done correctly on his end. He also flagged the light at the MSPCA/Route 28 junction and suggested traffic cameras to catch drivers running the red.

Mike Welsh, the city’s paid roadway consultant, pushed back hard on the city’s continued use of the 2024 paving survey, which he says he’s already shown is inaccurate. He listed a string of problems with the paving plan, including unaccepted ways and private ways inside condo complexes.

Alejandro Beaz, a School Committee member, opened by congratulating Victor Rivera on his citation (see below), noted his comments were his own and not the committee’s, and spoke in support of Constellations.

Minutes

Minutes from the Monday, July 6, 2026 regular meeting… passed unanimously.

Proclamations / Correspondence

A citation was presented for Victor Rivera, Jr., one of 55 recipients nationwide for his award (covered in our Council Preview). He also received a citation from the Mayor’s office.

Consideration of Appointments

Pamela Bertheim — Constable (re-appointment). No discussion. Passes unanimously.

Bryan Chase — Licensing Board (re-appointment). Santos asked how long he’s served; Soto noted the paperwork shows 10 years. Santos asked whether the city is looking for new candidates. The Mayor explained this is a three-person board and Chase is the institutional knowledge alongside two relatively new appointees. Santos asked about term caps to which the Mayor said it follows the same charter rules as every board. Simard and Drew both endorsed the appointment. Soto said she’d vote yes despite her usual no on 10-plus-year appointees, citing the value of experience here. Passes unanimously.

Douglas Cairnie — Registrar of Voters (re-appointment). Required under state law per the Mayor. Soto asked if the position is paid and it turns out that it is a stipend appointment. Passes unanimously.

David Veit — Historical Commission. No discussion. Passes unanimously.

2026 Poll Workers List for the September 1, 2026 State Primary. DiZoglio asked whether the council also needs to vote on poll workers for the general election; the Mayor said probably not. Passes unanimously.

My take: Nobody flagged that some of the people on this poll worker list are from Lawrence and other communities, not Methuen. Might be totally normal. Might be worth a question next time. You will also notice a continued trend of some Councilors asking questions seeking information that is clearly in their packets and reported in our Council Preview. Hoping this little comment of mine hits a nerve and they read at least one of the two documents for the September meeting.

Order Calling for the 2026 State Primary Election

Moved up in the agenda per the earlier amendment. Order calling for the State Primary Election, Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Passes unanimously.

Mayor’s Report

The Mayor opened with condolences to Soto for her loss. He revived the community foundation award and presented it to Kristen Snay (sorry if I spelt your name wrong) from Texas Roadhouse, detailing her community work. He then recognized the Key Program, a youth and families residential program, for its work in the city. Nancy Reardon shared how the program helped start a community garden and neighborhood park.

Following a second recess for photos, the Mayor acknowledged acting Chief designee Jamie Moore, then turned to the Constellations program, making the case for a one-year capacity investment built around staff training aimed at keeping students in district. He was clear this isn’t a guarantee every student can be kept in district since other factors are outside the city’s control. The ask later in the agenda is $2.5 million of roughly $6.5 million in the Stabilization Fund, which he said is exactly what that fund exists for.

On roads: the full depth reclamation program starts this week, covering 12 miles of the worst roads in the city, with more work coming.

On the budget: savings from no longer needing stop-loss insurance, the Islamic School Fund, and other items are bringing additional money to the council soon for a budget true-up.

GIC enrollment opens October 1, with a go-live date of January 1, 2027.

The grant company is performing well, with more details to come, plus upcoming city events.

CAFO Report

The CAFO confirmed new budget items are coming forward in September thanks to newly available funds.

Three councilor requests were answered here directly:

Searles Estate expenses and revenues update (Req. of Clr. Soto) — nothing new to report.

Trash barrel fees and fines status (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio) — roughly $13,000 in renewal payments collected over the past few months. However, there is some confusion if this is new money or not.

My take: This is why I agreed with Pesce. We have no idea. Everything around trash is talking in circles.

Five-year history of fee and fine revenue (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio) — CAFO said it will be sent out by email within the week.

Requests of Councilors

Housing Authority Trash Collection Costs (Chair Soto): Soto requested a cost and tonnage breakdown for Methuen Housing Authority trash collection under the city’s municipal contract. The city has picked up this trash since 1994. The Mayor suggested Soto take the discussion directly to the Housing Authority team and it was clear his intent was they meet and discuss although he did reference ot them in the room. Soto explained the request stems from a prior call for her and others to resign over not voting on a trash tonnage transfer. She was clear that the comment started the digging which is why this whole thing felt targeted. The Housing Authority’s Executive Director cited deferred maintenance issues that make shifting trash pickup to residents impractical, and noted every municipality handles this differently. Soto suggested involving the legislative delegation. Drew suggested revisiting the issue at the end of the Harvey trash contract, once further research is done.

My take: Soto’s underlying point that the Council gets a massive amount of scrutiny for trying to do the right things isn’t wrong. But the way this particular thread has unfolded, tied back to a resignation call over a single vote, does read as targeted rather than a neutral policy inquiry. There is also some level of tact required by elected officials that seems to be either forced or completely missing at times with the body.

Unaccepted Ways Web Resource (Clr. Valley): Valley requested the City Solicitor and DPW build a dedicated webpage walking residents through the unaccepted-ways acceptance process and that is should contain, at a minimum, an overview, application/petition form, eligibility, fees and betterment assessments, timelines, and contacts. The Mayor agreed and cited Gloucester’s website as a model to follow. This will be started soon.

Buildings Audit RFP Status (Clr. Drew): The Mayor is working with the Assistant Solicitor and a state group on a possible grant and CIP inclusion next year. Biggest concern flagged: the Timony roof, which is causing water damage. Drew and the Mayor went back and forth on the audit’s purpose and cost estimates.

City Employee Email Signature Standardization (Clr. Drew): No update. The Mayor joked about the room’s evident passion for the topic.

My take: This should be low hanging fruit which Drew says several times. IT should be able to set it automatically and it could be done. It would be a good win for the Mayor and clear one recurring item off this list.

HHSI Permit Fees Review (Clr. Drew): Raised during the FY2027 budget workshop. An update exists, but the Mayor didn’t have it on hand.

Trash App Implementation from Harvey (Clr. Drew): The app is still not done. Drew noted the app was contractually required and Harvey hasn’t delivered. Simard called it more broken promises but acknowledged the city is effectively stuck with the vendor. The Mayor said switching vendors isn’t realistic and reality is that no perfect option exists and it would be costly while reminding the council this is happening while the broader trash program is being fixed. Soto raised that AI is being used elsewhere in city operations and suggested the Mayor’s Chief of Staff start clearing items off this list, then pressed the Mayor to move faster.

My take: On the legal side, Drew’s right that Harvey is in breach. But practically, it’s hard to argue with the Mayor here… suing over a missing app isn’t going to be worth the disruption of switching vendors mid-contract. Going out mid contract to source a new vendor would undoubtedly cause service interuption and increased cost. It’s also funny how often Soto just says AI like its the magic wand for every problem.

9/11 Memorial Service Update (Clr. DiZoglio): Proceeding as planned.

Boards and Commissions Vacancy Status (Clr. Drew): A rundown can be provided. The Mayor acknowledged the city’s website listing is outdated and will be fixed.

Depot Overhang Ownership, Laborers Union Building (Clrs. Valley and Drew): The Mayor opened this by saying there was movement as it is not high on the priority list. The Solicitor chimed in saying he has met with several parties but has determined the overhang is privately owned and therefore private property, with no clear path forward yet.

My take: The Depot will be back… mark my words. The Laborers Union wants no part of fixing it. However, now it is no longer questionable who owns the overhang… until some time passes and it becomes questionable again.

Public Service

A. Grants: Public Service Grant 301043582 — Temple Drive, Westgate Circle, Jewel Circle. National Grid will replace existing direct-buried cable with a conduit system, including curb-to-curb cutting. Removed from the table, then moved by Drew, seconded by Valley. Passes unanimously.

Contracts

C-27-6: TEC, Inc. — FY2026–FY2027 Paving Program Construction Administration Services with DPW — $190,000.00.

Moved by DiZoglio, seconded by Valley. Marsan asked who writes the scope of services; DPW’s deputy explained the process. Passes unanimously.

C-27-7: Water Safety Service, Inc. — Backflow Prevention Device Testing & Cross Connection Program, Water Treatment Plant, FY2027 base plus two option years — $137,637.00 total ($42,627.00 FY2027; $45,825.00 FY2028; $49,185.00 FY2029, extensions subject to appropriation).

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Santos. Drew asked whether this is testing-only, and who does repairs and DPW confirmed repairs are handled in-house where possible, and the testing is mandated under drinking water regulations. Marsan questioned why this sits with the Water Department rather than the city broadly; staff explained it’s housed there but serves the whole city, with costs ultimately passed to businesses requiring testing. Passes unanimously.

My take: This got a little confusing for people. Ultimately, this contract is for the City to inspect buildings, both public and private. Let’s say a restaurant is inspected… they are billed for that inspection. If they fail, they are required to get it fixed and the City will reinspect.

C-27-8: Holland Company, Inc. — Aluminum Sulfate, 50%, delivered to the Water Treatment Plant — $150,000.00 ($1.78/gallon).

Moved by Marsan, seconded by DiZoglio. Drew confirmed this is a max contract value and unspent funds return to the general fund. Passes unanimously.

C-27-9: Borden & Remington, Corp. — Sodium Hypochlorite, 15% solution, 3,000 gallons, Water Treatment Plant — $90,000.00 ($0.1509/wet pound).

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Drew. Same repairs question from Drew as above, noted as consistent across the water contracts. Santos asked whether this should be handled by the Water Department directly; the Mayor confirmed it’s paid from the enterprise fund but still requires council approval. Passes unanimously.

C-27-10: Energy Source, LLC — Energy Conservation Project via National Grid & Eversource Expediter Program, weatherization at North End Fire Station — $25,221.00.

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Santos. Marsan wanted the roof done first so it doesn’t disrupt spray foam work under a related contract. Drew asked about term, interest rate, and when energy savings would materialize; that information will follow. Passes unanimously.

C-27-11: Corolla Contracting, Inc. — Shingle Roof Replacement, North End Fire Station — $37,130.00.

Moved by Marsan, seconded by DiZoglio. Marsan commented on roofline venting. Passes unanimously.

C-27-12: Providence Capital Network — Financing for 1,045 Education Edition Chromebooks & Licenses, 48-month tax-exempt lease purchase, 4.98% rate, $1.00 buyout — $124,358.00 annual payment.

Moved by Marsan, seconded by Santos. Drew asked the CAFO about the rate and rationale for leasing. The CAFO said the oversight agent advised this approach for value reasons. Soto asked that IT weigh in when items like this come up. Drew asked about the fee breakdown and the Superintendent explained it covers replacement parts and break-fix costs. Passes unanimously.

C-27-13: Apple Financial Services — Class of 2030 financing for 550 iPads, AppleCare, and STM DUX Ultra cases, 48-month lease at 1.90% — $244,722.50 four-year total.

Moved by DiZoglio, seconded by Santos. The CAFO corrected the annual payment figure from the printed amount to $62,918.69. Passes unanimously.

C-27-14: International Dioxide — Sodium Chlorite, 25% solution, 1,500 gallons, Water Treatment Plant — $70,000.00 ($0.8200/wet pound).

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Drew. No discussion. Passes unanimously.

C-27-15: BETA Group, Inc. — Engineering Services for Pavement Management — $88,650.00.

Moved by Santos, seconded by Pesce. No discussion. Passes unanimously.

C-27-16: BETA Group, Inc. — Engineering Services for Sidewalk and Curb Ramp Inventory, ADA Compliance Plan — $42,900.00.

Moved by Santos, seconded by Pesce. Brief discussion on who currently handles this work. Flex Garcia was identified as the responsible party and this is already in scope as part of existing duties. Santos asked about a tracking list. Soto again raised AI, noting the paving truck uses it to target specific streets. The Mayor confirmed software with AI components is in development. Passes unanimously.

C-27-17: ESO Solutions, Inc. — ESO Software, EHR Fax, Fire Incidents, ESO Fire Bundle, and EHR CAD Integrations — $27,071.28.

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Santos. No discussion. Passes unanimously.

C-27-18: Systems Electrical Services, Inc. — LED Lighting Installation, MHS Stadium Lower Turf Field — $169,000.00.

Moved by Santos, seconded by Pesce. Marsan confirmed this is labor-only. Passes unanimously.

C-27-19: Carahsoft Technology Corp. — Cloud-based Occupancy/Inspection Software renewal, via COMMBUYS Contract ITS60 — $31,133.77.

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Santos. Drew asked the Fire Chief about integration with software from an earlier contract; confirmed they integrate. Passes unanimously.

C-27-20: UNIVAR — Sodium Hydroxide, Caustic Soda, 50% solution, 4,000 gallons, Water Treatment Plant — $90,000.00 ($0.1681/wet pound).

Moved by Drew, seconded by DiZoglio. No discussion. Passes unanimously.

C-27-21: D & J Landscaping — Landscaping Maintenance for three parks (Charles Street, Osgood Street, Grey Court), 3-year contract with two optional 1-year extensions at the city’s discretion — $86,658.00.

Moved by Santos, seconded by MacLaren. Marsan asked whether other bids came in, and whether any Methuen businesses bid the work. The Mayor confirmed this was the lowest bid on a commercial solicitation with no local bidders. Santos questioned why this work is outsourced given the city recently purchased a lawnmower, and whether hiring in-house would be cheaper. The Mayor said maybe, but argued outsourcing is the better option given DPW’s existing workload. DiZoglio floated using the Sheriff’s Department for landscaping to which the Mayor noted they already handle graffiti and litter pickup. Drew, clearly having read the Council Preview (thanks, John), asked how work quality will be tracked. This too appears to fall to Felix Garcia. DiZoglio asked why graffiti removal is included in the contract. Garcia clarified it’s included so the city has the option to use it, not an obligation. Passes 8-1, Santos voting no.

C-27-23: Trane U.S., Inc. — Marsh Grammar School, replacement of three rooftop AHUs with new Trane Performance Climate Changer units — $399,402.00.

Moved by Santos, seconded by Drew. Marsan pressed for system specs, which weren’t listed in the packet in a clear way. The Mayor cited preventing a repeat of a prior frozen-pipe incident but didn’t answer the specs question directly. The Solicitor explained the products are specified rather than listed by model/BTU number and said he’s comfortable with that approach. Passes unanimously.

My take: Marsan is on to something here. Really, it’s the bigger problem with most contracts the City executes. We need to be clear about what we are buying. A model number of a unit tied to a Manufacture would be fine but a random number in a spec sheet with no real source is not good contracting practice.

Committee Reports

Valley reported that the Unaccepted Way Committee met and discussed the Jade Street acceptance request, determining it needs to go through the standard process. Whitney Street was also discussed, along with the unaccepted-ways web resource covered above.

Unfinished Business — Resolutions

All second reads, previously discussed. This is the reason that there is little to no discussion on these items.

TR-26-67 As Amended — Declaring the Pleasant Valley School property (180 Pleasant Valley Street, Parcel #1109-78E-45) surplus and authorizing sale/redevelopment.

Moved by Santos, seconded by Drew. Passes unanimously.

TR-26-68 — Declaring the Currier School property (36 Boylston Street, Parcel #914-105-63) surplus and authorizing sale/redevelopment.

Moved by Drew, seconded by Santos. Passes 8-1, Santos voting no without stating a reason.

TR-26-69 — Accepting $15,795.31 in FY2027 State 911 Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Grant funds.

Moved by Drew, seconded by Pesce. Passes unanimously.

TR-26-70 — Accepting $168,186.09 in FY2027 State 911 Department Training Grant funds.

Moved by Drew, seconded by Pesce. Passes unanimously.

TR-26-73 — Declaring 30 Railroad Street (Parcel #716-14-16) surplus and authorizing sale/redevelopment.

Moved by Drew, seconded by Santos. Passes unanimously.

TR-26-74 — Transferring funds from the Edwin J. Castle Fund to the Methuen Literacy Project/Nevins Library and Methuen Public Schools/CTE Early Childhood Care.

Moved by Drew, seconded by Santos. Soto asked for the amount (available in the packet); the Mayor noted it supports the literacy project. Passes unanimously.

Unfinished Business — Ordinances

(Also second reads.)

TO-26-18 — Amending Section 8-5A of the Municipal Code to increase ambulance rates and charges and establish a new lift-assist fee.

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Drew. Drew reiterated this doesn’t create a new fee for residents. Passes unanimously.

TO-26-16 As Amended — Amending Section 9-52, “Trash and Recyclables Collection” (sponsored by DiZoglio).

Removed from the table, moved by Drew, seconded by DiZoglio; passed unanimously. Main motion by Drew, seconded by DiZoglio. DiZoglio explained the updated fee structure, noting that after six months, unpaid fees could hit the property tax bill. Santos raised concerns about dumpsters at the Housing Authority and other bin types to which DiZoglio clarified this ordinance covers residential barrels only and not commercial trash or dumpsters. The Solicitor noted it could be amended later to include commercial accounts, defined as anything over five units. Pesce directly stated she doesn’t believe anyone actually knows how many extra barrels are out there (I clapped) and DiZoglio didn’t immediately seem to follow the conversation and Pesce seems to try and and simplify the point. The new barrel fee is $250, voted annually. Drew noted the barrel fee assumptions were already built into the budget and pushed to move forward. Drew moved the question, seconded by Valley; DiZoglio voted no on ending debate to let further discussion happen. Question moved. Passes unanimously.

My take: Pesce’s comment here was the most honest thing said about this ordinance and the trash program all night. The city has been building fee assumptions into the budget without a real handle on how many barrels are actually in circulation, how to bill them, or how to solve the problem. Good on her for saying it plainly instead of letting it slide.

New Business — Resolutions

TR-26-75 (EPA requested) — Amending Traffic Rules and Regulations to require parking only on the even-numbered side of Elmwood Road (sponsored by DiZoglio).

Moved by Pesce, seconded by DiZoglio. Acting Chief Moore supported it for fire truck access and safety. Drew asked why the smaller side of the street was chosen and Moore explained it preserves hydrant access. Passes unanimously. EPA passes 8-1, Simard voting no, consistent with his standing position on EPAs.

TR-26-76 (EPA requested, requested by the Mayor and CAFO) — Abandoning the remaining FY26 Capital Improvement Plan funds for the Methuen High School water heater project and transferring $295,500 of those borrowed funds to cover the Marsh Grammar School air handler replacement.

Moved by Drew, seconded by Pesce. The Mayor explained the reasoning; the CAFO corrected the resolution language. Marsan asked whether the original water heaters had somehow fixed themselves and the Mayor said the air handler project is the more time-sensitive priority. Passes unanimously. EPA passes unanimously.

TR-26-77 (EPA requested, requested by the Mayor) — Appropriating $2,555,280 from the General Stabilization Fund to the FY27 General Fund, Methuen Public Schools line, for purchase and implementation of the Constellations Behavioral Services Program.

Marsan recused himself, citing a family member in the program.

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Drew. Drew spoke in support, urging investment in the schools. DiZoglio and Simard also backed it, with Simard yielding time to school staff and the company representative (which they didn’t get until a little later). Finally, the acting superintendent addressed questions: the program targets a growing K–4 need and aims to build in-district capacity through training and program review, with the goal of keeping more students local though she was clear the district can’t force families already placed out of district to return. Soto asked the School Committee to stand behind the superintendent if questions came up. In response to Soto’s assertion that “this was brought up before and the previous committee didn’t support it,” and the Mayor corrected the record stating it was cut from the budget for funding reasons… a point the superintendent didn’t clarify for the record, though the Mayor did note funding as the actual prior obstacle. DiZoglio asked who oversees the program which gave us the news that an additional SEA was added at the Marsh to manage it, along with Mrs. Bozek. Valley asked how many special ed students are currently out of district: 172, with 58 matching this program’s services. Valley also asked how the city gets reimbursed for these placements so the superintendent explained the Circuit Breaker program. The Mayor noted the vendor selection went through a competitive bid “out of an abundance of caution” following conversations with the State Inspector General. Drew proposed an amendment focused on accountability and visibility into results. It didn’t go over well at all. The Mayor committed to providing updates, whether or not that’s written into the resolution. Just before the vote, School Committee member Baez approached the podium, which should not have been permitted at that point but was allowed to, to give props to the School administration. Passes unanimously. EPA passes as well.

My take: This is a huge step for the district and the students who require these services! However, having the School Committee stand behind the Superintendent was a real trashy power move by the Chair. She knows full well (and if she didn’t the Solicitor or Mayor would/should have set it straight) they can’t speak for the Committee when it is not in session. Any discussion by them would have constituted an open meeting violation.

Contract — C-27-22

C-27-22 — The Stepping Stones Group — Educational and Behavioral Services — $2,555,280.00.

Moved by Santos, seconded by DiZoglio. Passes unanimously.

(Simard exited at this point due to a standing conflict.)

New Business — Resolutions, continued

TR-26-79 (sponsored by the Mayor and CAFO) — Declaring surplus equipment and authorizing its auction.

Moved by Pesce, seconded by Valley. Valley questioned why vehicles from 2022/23 are being declared surplus, noting her own older car still runs fine and who sets the sale price. It was explained that these are 300k miles plus making them unsafe and the CAFO confirmed the sale price determined by the auction. Passes unanimously.

TR-26-80 (EPA requested, requested by Mayor Beauregard) — Accepting and expending a $1.7 million Green School Works Program grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for energy efficiency infrastructure at the Donald P. Timony Grammar School.

Moved by Pesce, seconded by MacLaren. The Mayor noted this was a highly competitive grant and the city received a larger award than typical, covering the first phase of repairs at the school. Drew confirmed there’s no municipal match required. Passes unanimously. EPA passes as well.

TR-26-81 (requested by Mayor Beauregard) — Accepting the gift of a Polish American Veterans Monument from the Julian J. Stopyra Veterans Post.

Moved by Marsan, seconded by Pesce. Passes unanimously.

TR-26-82 (Req. of Clr. Soto) — Transferring $1,000 from City Council Personal Services to City Council Other Expenses.

No formal motion recorded, Soto just read the title and began discussing it directly without passing the gavel. Drew noted there’s no dedicated line item for food to which the Solicitor explained it falls under an existing subcategory currently sitting at a zero balance. Passes unanimously.

New Business — Ordinances

TO-26-19 (requested by Mayor Beauregard and Chair Soto) — Amending Chapter 8 of the Municipal Code to eliminate certain fees for new business registrations.

Moved by Marsan, seconded by Santos. The Mayor tied this back to earlier budget discussions on business fees, framing it as a first step. Passes unanimously.

Any Other Business

Executive session was postponed and will instead be added to an upcoming Zoom meeting. The council was slated to consider entering executive session under Exemption 7 (M.G.L. Chapter 30A, Section 21(a)(7)) to review past executive session minutes from July 13, 2020; June 10, 2021; June 23, 2021; September 8, 2022 (two entries); October 17, 2022; and December 19, 2022. That discussion did not happen tonight.

That’s a wrap on August 10, 2026. The full agenda is available at the City of Methuen website and meetings are archived at MethuenTV.

Have a tip, a correction, or something you want covered? Rea

Links to original agendas

• City Council Regular Meeting Agenda, August 10, 2026

I’m a little wait this week but that doesn’t stop the world from spinning. Council is back in the Great Hall at the Searles Building Monday at 6:00 P.M. We are kicking off the fun an hour earlier to cover everything they’ve packed into this agenda… 23 contracts, six resolutions carried over from last time, seven new ones, two ordinances, and an executive session to close it out. +

Grab a coffee or mix your drinks… here we go, section by section so those playing along at home can follow.

Roll Call / Acceptance of the Agenda

This should be pretty typical and uneventful. However, given the recent preference to move our friends up the agenda so they don’t have to wait in wings of the Great Hall, it’s fun to guess who the golden ticket receipt may be tomorrow night.

Pledge of Allegiance, Invocation, Moment of Silence, Public Participation

Standard open with public participation as usual. There is so much on the agenda that people may want to talk about.

Organizational Business

None.

Reading and Acceptance of Minutes

Minutes from the Monday, July 6, 2026 Regular Meeting.

Proclamations and Correspondence

A citation for Victor Rivera, Jr.

This is the carry over from the last meeting where he was unable to attend. The Methuen native and Marist Social Work major was recently named the university's first-ever Truman Scholar, one of 55 picked nationwide this year for a career track aimed at policing informed by clinical mental health training.

Consideration of Appointments

• Pamela Bertheim – Constable (re-appointment) - Back up

• Bryan Chase – Licensing (re-appointment) - Back up

• Douglas Cairnie – Registrar of Voters (re-appointment) - Back up

• David Veit – Historical Commission - Back Up

• Approval of the 2026 Poll Workers List for the September 1, 2026 State Primary (backup attached)

Why it matters: Three of the four appointments are re-appointments, so this is mostly a check-the-box exercise. The poll workers list is the one with a hard deadline attached since the State Primary is three weeks out.

I’ve attached the back up from the agenda so you can see what the Council will see on each individual.

Presentations, Projects, Department Updates

Nothing listed this week.

Mayor’s Report

As usual, this section is blank but will cover many of the items listed below in Requests of Councilors plus whatever else the Mayor has to share.

CAFO Report

You can view the actual report here.

• Update on trash barrel fees and fines (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio)

• Five-year list of revenue from fees and fines (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio)

Why it matters: DiZoglio has been pushing on trash and fee revenue for a while now. This is the kind of recurring-line-item accounting that doesn’t make headlines but shapes next year’s budget fights. The problem is his complete blind eye to the City’s historical incompetence as he consistently lables every resident as purposelly withhold their extra barrel fees.

Requests of Councilors

• Update on Searles Estate expenses and revenues (Req. of Clr. Soto)

• Cost breakdown and tonnage for the Methuen Housing Authority’s trash collection through the city’s municipal trash contract (Req. of Chair Soto)

Worth watching — if MHA is riding on the municipal contract, this is really a question of who’s subsidizing whom.

• Request to the City Solicitor and DPW to build a dedicated section of the city website walking residents through the process for accepting unaccepted ways — application, eligibility, fees/betterments, timeline, contacts (Req. of Clr. Valley)

This is a real gap. Unaccepted ways are one of the more opaque processes in city government, and right now there’s no public roadmap for how a resident actually gets one accepted. The question to watch for here is how hard some Councilors push to use City money do offset the cost to residents… keeping in mind it is illegal to use public money on private property.

• Buildings Audit RFP status update (Req. of Clr. Drew)

• City employee email signature standardization (Req. of Clr. Drew)

• HHSI permit fee review and update status, following up on the FY2027 budget workshop discussion (Req. of Clr. Drew)

• Update and implementation plan for the Trash App that Harvey is contractually required to deliver, plus a correction path to get them into compliance (Req. of Clr. Drew)

This has been outstanding long enough that “correction path to get them in compliance” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

• Update on the Methuen 9/11/01 Memorial Service (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio)

• Boards and Commissions appointment/reappointment status update — vacancies, expired terms, members serving past their allowed term, and the administration’s timeline for filling seats (Req. of Clr. Drew)

• Request that the City Solicitor update the council on ownership of the Depot Overhang associated with the Laborers Union building, including whether any title or deed information has been identified (Req. of Clr. Valley and Clr. Drew)

Inside Methuen actually did a pretty detailed story on this that may save the City some time. You can read it here: The Saga Continues: The Story of the Depot Overhang

• Boards and Commissions appointment/reappointment status update — vacancies, expired terms, members serving past their allowed term, and the administration’s timeline for filling seats (Req. of Clr. Drew)

This is the same request listed twice on the posted agenda, word for word. Either a drafting error or Drew really wants an answer.

Public Service

A. Grants

• Public Service Grant 301043582 — Temple Drive, Westgate Circle, Jewel Circle: National Grid will replace existing direct-buried cable with a conduit system (removed from the table)

Why it matters: This had been sitting on the table. Taking it off doesn’t mean it’s approved… it just means it’s back in play for a vote.

B. Licenses

Nothing listed this week.

C. Contracts

Before we get into the Contracts on the docket for this evening, I think it’s important to note how fundamentally flawed procurement law is for cities and towns. Granted, we have no control over this, but it’s worth noting that while cities and towns are generally bound to award to the lowest responsible bidder under M.G.L. c. 30B for supplies and services, and M.G.L. c. 149 for public construction… the state itself, under 801 CMR 21, operates on a “Best Value” standard: a weighing of price and performance and not just whoever comes in cheapest.

To be fair, c. 30B does give municipalities an RFP track that can weigh criteria beyond price, but in practice, Methuen and most of its peer communities default to the lowest-bid IFB process for the bulk of what shows up on a contracts list like tonight’s. The state carved out more flexibility for itself than it extended to the cities and towns actually spending the money.

Why does this matter? Because “cheapest” and “best” are not the same thing, and a council voting on 18 contracts tonight has almost no legal room to weigh a vendor’s track record, reliability, or long-term value against a lower number from someone else. It’s a structural issue, not a Methuen issue, but it’s the water this whole Contracts section swims in, and it’s worth keeping in mind every time we hit a line that reads like the lowest bid won by default. Again, when you look around and ask yourself “we paid for that" with disgust in your voice.

Ok, off my soapbox and back to the agenda…

(Also, you can click the C-##-# for the backup on each contract.)

• C-27-6 – TEC, Inc. (Lawrence) — FY26–FY27 Paving Program construction administration services with DPW — $190,000.00

• C-27-7 – Water Safety Service, Inc. (Woburn) — Backflow prevention device testing and cross-connection program, one year plus two one-year extension options for the Water Treatment Plant — $137,637.00 total across all three years (FY27: $42,627.00; FY28: $45,825.00; FY29: $49,185.00, extensions subject to appropriation)

• C-27-8 – Holland Company, Inc. (Adams) — Aluminum sulfate for the Water Treatment Plant — $150,000.00 ($1.78/gallon)

• C-27-9 – Borden & Remington Corp. (Fall River) — Sodium hypochlorite, 3,000 gallons for the Water Treatment Plant — $90,000.00 ($0.1509/wet pound)

• C-27-10 – Energy Source, LLC (Smithfield, RI) — Energy conservation project through National Grid/Eversource’s Project Expediter Program under M.G.L. c. 25A, § 14, for attic insulation at the North End Fire Station — $25,221.00

• C-27-11 – Corolla Contracting, Inc. (Winthrop) — Shingle roof replacement at the North End Fire Station, 250 Howe Street — $37,130.00

Why it matters: C-27-10 and C-27-11 are both North End Fire Station work in the same meeting… one’s weatherization, one’s the roof. Makes sense to bundle the read: this station is getting a real capital push this cycle.

• C-27-12 – Providence Capital Network (Charlotte, NC) — Tax-exempt lease-purchase financing for 1,045 Chromebooks and licenses for education — $124,358.00 annual payment, 48-month term, 4.98% interest, $1.00 buyout

• C-27-13 – Apple Financial Services (Scottsdale, AZ) — Financing for 550 iPads, AppleCare, and STM DUX Ultra cases for the Class of 2030 — $63,016.85 annual payment, 48-month term, 1.90% lease rate factor, four-year total $244,722.50

Why it matters: With the school year starting in a few weeks, losing a week on this hurts. These are machines issued to students. Teachers plan around these machines and now we run the risk of them being late.

• C-27-14 – International Dioxide (North Kingston, RI) — Sodium chlorite, 1,500 gallons for the Water Treatment Plant — $70,000.00 ($0.82/wet pound)

• C-27-15 – BETA Group, Inc. (Norwood) — Engineering services for pavement management — $88,650.00

• C-27-16 – BETA Group, Inc. (Norwood) — Engineering services for sidewalk and curb ramp inventory / ADA compliance plan — $42,900.00

• C-27-17 – ESO Solutions, Inc. (Austin, TX) — EHR fax, fire incident, and CAD integration software for the fire department — $27,071.28

  With the back up provided, this appears to be new software requiring real integration. Anyone fimailir with software will tell you that integration is the hard part (just look at our integration of Munis…). There is nothing to talk about who is going to manage this intergration. Hopefully, someone asks…

• C-27-18 – Systems Electrical Services, Inc. (Chelsea) — LED lighting installation at the MHS stadium lower turf field — $169,000.00

• C-27-19 – Carahsoft Technology Corp. (Reston, VA) — First Platform cloud-based occupancy/inspection software renewal via COMMBUYS contract ITS60 — $31,133.77

• C-27-20 – UNIVAR — Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), 4,000 gallons for the Water Treatment Plant — $90,000.00 ($0.1681/wet pound)

• C-27-21 – D & J Landscaping (Merrimac) — Landscaping maintenance for Charles Street, Osgood Street, and Grey Court parks — $86,658.00 for a three-year term, with two optional one-year extensions at the city’s sole discretion

  In typical municpal contracting fashion, this contract is up for approval to the lowest bidder without a single word of how we measure success. There is nothing in the attached contract to say how we determine if this vendor is doing a good job. Oddly, Question 6 on the Intent to Award form says "Does the item require a service contract to guarantee proper performance? YES" but nothing in the actual agreement functions as a performance guarantee beyond the general "failing to perform to the satisfaction of the CITY" language in the termination clause. That's a checkbox that doesn't match the document behind it. This is just a piece of the reason we spend so much on legal bills.

• C-27-22 – The Stepping Stones Group (Boston) — Educational and behavioral services — $2,555,280.00

• C-27-23 – Trane U.S., Inc. (White Bear Lake, MN) — Replacement of three rooftop AHUs at Marsh Grammar School with Trane Performance Climate Changer units — $399,402.00

Why it matters: Hold onto C-27-22 and C-27-23… both come back later tonight under New Business, funded by resolutions that specifically reference these dollar figures. This is the contract, and later you’ll see the money.

D. Election

• Order calling for the 2026 State Primary Election on Tuesday, September 1, 2026 (backup attached)

Other Officers and Committee Reports

Nothing listed this week.

Unfinished Business

Resolutions

• TR-26-67, As Amended — Declaring the Pleasant Valley School property, 180 Pleasant Valley Street (Parcel #1109-78E-45), surplus and authorizing sale/redevelopment

• TR-26-68 — Declaring the Currier School property, 36 Boylston Street (Parcel #914-105-63), surplus and authorizing sale/redevelopment

Why it matters: That’s two former school buildings up for surplus and sale in the same meeting. Worth watching what “redevelopment” actually means for each parcel and whether there’s already a buyer or developer in the wings. The highlight is that the Mayor has openly committed to these funds being used to update the school facilities. Before you push for them to be used elsewhere, by law they need to be used on facilities.

• TR-26-69 — Accepting $15,795.31 in FY2027 state 911 Emergency Medical Dispatch grant funding

• TR-26-70 — Accepting $168,186.09 in FY2027 state 911 department training grant funding

• TR-26-73 — Declaring the property at 30 Railroad Street (Parcel #716-14-16) surplus and authorizing sale/redevelopment

That’s a third surplus-property resolution this meeting. This reads less like disposing of odd lots one at a time and more like the city working through a backlog systematically… which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s worth naming as a pattern rather than three unrelated items.

• TR-26-74 — Transferring funds from the Edwin J. Castle Fund to the Methuen Literacy Project/Nevins Library and to Methuen Public Schools’ CTE Early Childhood Care program

I’ll save you some time. This is for $10,000 to launch a pilot early learning initiative for Methuen families who have children entering kindergarten in Sept 2027.

What does that mean in action? Wish I could tell you but that is all the documents give us.

Ordinances

• TO-26-18 — Amending Section 8-5A of the Municipal Code to increase ambulance rates and charges and establish a new lift-assist fee

Why it matters: This is the second read. For those that missed the first… this DOES NOT impact residents. This is a fee for nursing homes and the like when they call in MFD to lift a fallen patient because they don’t want the liability of doing it themselves.

• TO-26-16, as amended — Amending “Section 9-52. Trash and Recyclables Collection” of the Municipal Code (sponsored by Councilor Ryan DiZoglio), removed from the table

This is DiZoglio’s trash ordinance coming back off the table the same night he’s also got two CAFO Report requests in on trash fees and fines. Consistent focus, at minimum.

The original fined a first overflow or contaminated-barrel violation $50 outright; the "clean" version softens that into a warning-only first offense (a sticker on the barrel, a written notice, no fine) before the $50/$150/$300 ladder kicks in on the second, third, and later violations. The amendment also gives residents four more days to appeal a citation (14 instead of 10) and drops the ordinance's own bespoke late-fee schedule in favor of a cross-reference to the standard late-fee rules already in the Municipal Code. Net effect: a bit friendlier to a first-time violator, a bit less specific about what happens if you don't pay.

New Business

Resolutions

• TR-26-75 — Amending the city’s Traffic Rules and Regulations to allow parking only on the even-numbered side of Elmwood Road (sponsored by Clr. Ryan DiZoglio; EPA requested)

Why it matters: This is being pitched as a safety issue since the street isn’t wide enough to be lined with cars and allow a fire truck to pass safely.

• TR-26-76 — Abandoning the balance of the FY26 Capital Improvement Plan for the Methuen High School water heater project and transferring $295,500 of the remaining borrowed funds to cover the Marsh Grammar School air handler replacement project (EPA requested; requested by the Mayor and CAFO)

Why it matters: This is the funding mechanism for C-27-23, the $399,402 Trane contract for Marsh Grammar’s rooftop units. $295,500 of it is coming from money originally borrowed for a different project,the MHS water heater, that’s apparently no longer moving forward. That’s a real reallocation of borrowed capital funds, not new money, and it’s worth asking what happens to the water heater project now.

• TR-26-77 — Appropriating $2,555,280 from the General Stabilization Fund to the FY27 General Fund’s Methuen Public Schools expenditures line for the Constellations Behavioral Services program (EPA requested; requested by the Mayor)

Why it matters: This is the ongoing Constellations conversation that has been ongoing for months now. This is a great use of Stabilization Funds, esepcially if this systematically transforms the way MPS delievers special ed services going forward. The trick here is going to be tracking spend which will be tricky because every student is different.

• TR-26-79 — Declaring surplus equipment and authorizing its auction (sponsored by Mayor and CAFO)

• TR-26-80 — Accepting and spending a $1.7 million Green School Works Program grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for energy efficiency infrastructure at Donald P. Timony Grammar School (EPA requested; requested by Mayor Beauregard)

Why it matters: $1.7 million in outside grant money for Timony is a real win if it comes through clean… worth watching whether there’s a local match requirement buried in the grant terms.

• TR-26-81 — Accepting the gift of a Polish American Veterans monument from the Julian J. Stopyra Veterans Post (requested by Mayor Beauregard)

• TR-26-82 — Transferring $1,000 from City Council Personal Services to City Council Other Expenses (Req. of Clr. Soto)

Why it matters: Remember the hot dispute over the Youth Summer Program that was ultimately reduced in the budget hearings? Well, now Chair Soto is asking to move the the remaining $1,000 from that program to “Food & Related Items, Etc.”. For the record, that line doesn’t exist in the published budget.

Ordinances

• TO-26-19 — Amending Chapter 8 of the Municipal Code to eliminate certain fees for new business registrations (requested by Mayor Beauregard and Chair Soto)

This is a nice start but this only $25 removed from the Zoning Clearance for New Business. We need to keep working if we want to attract business.

Any Other Business for the Good and Welfare of the Community

Executive Session

Council will vote to enter executive session under Exemption 7, M.G.L. c. 30A, § 21(a)(7), to discuss and vote on the acceptance/disclosure of executive session meeting minutes from a stack of old dates: July 13, 2020; June 10, 2021; June 23, 2021; September 8, 2022 (listed twice); October 17, 2022; and December 19, 2022.

Why it matters: By the sounds of it, the last executive session didn’t go so well. These are old meeting minutes that should be released if the need for secrey is gone. If there is still a need, the council should say what that need is… otherwise, this looks like more historical Methuen style politics.

That’s all she wrote. See you after the meeting with a recap.

Watch live:

• methuen.gov/livestream

• Channel 8 (Comcast) or Channel 32 (Verizon)

• YouTube: youtube.com/@MethuenMeetings

I may need to update this if anything changes between now and Monday — this is a preview based on the agenda as posted.

Monday, August 3rd, 7:00 p.m. That's when the Methuen City Council was scheduled to gavel in at the Great Hall, per the calendar the Council itself published at the start of the year.

This is a screenshot from the city website just moments ago (Wednesday night at 8:15). No asterisk, no "TBD," no fine print. Just a date, a time, and an address. Same as always.

August 3rd came. August 3rd went. As far as I can find, there was no meeting, and just as importantly, no notice telling residents why.

It's worth being precise about what that does and doesn't mean legally...

Massachusetts' Open Meeting Law, General Laws Chapter 30A, Sections 18 through 25, requires a public body to post notice, including date, time, place, and anticipated topics, at least 48 hours before a meeting (Massachusetts Attorney General's Office; Digital Media Law Project). That notice requirement attaches once a specific meeting is actually being noticed. The Council's published annual calendar is a courtesy to residents, not itself a legal notice under the statute. So if no agenda was ever filed with the Clerk for August 3rd, there was, strictly speaking, no legally noticed meeting to cancel, and no cancellation paperwork the Council was obligated to file.

That's a real distinction, and it's fair to the Council to draw it. But it doesn't fully answer the question residents are left with.

The Council told the public, in a document it produced itself, that it would meet on August 3rd. Then nothing happened, no agenda, no meeting, no word to residents who might have planned around it or had something to bring before the body. Whether or not that clears the bar of a statutory violation, it's a gap between what the Council said it would do and what it did, with silence in between.

Keeping that gap from opening, whether by holding the meeting, formally standing it down, or just telling residents what changed, sits with the person who runs the body: Council Chair Neily Soto. A published schedule that residents can't actually rely on isn't much of a schedule.

If there's an explanation I've missed, an agenda filed somewhere I haven't checked, or a decision made earlier in the summer to skip this date, I'd like to know, and I'll update this post. But as it stands, August 3rd looks like a date the Council promised residents and then quietly let pass.

And, here we sit wondering when the next meeting will take place.

Sources:

Massachusetts Attorney General, Open Meeting Law Guide and FAQ, mass.gov

Digital Media Law Project, "Open Meetings Laws in Massachusetts," dmlp.org

City of Methuen, 2026 City Council Meeting Schedule

The Methuen Youth & Community Center has a busy stretch ahead, with two free events that put local young people front and center.

First up is National Night Out on Tuesday, August 4, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the center, 10 Ditson Place.

Billed as a night built for teens, the event mixes a little bit of everything under the banner "Play. Create. Eat. Connect." Attendees can compete in a pickleball tournament or a knockout basketball tournament, get creative at a painting station, and refuel with free pizza, snacks, and drinks. In keeping with the National Night Out tradition, teens will also have the chance to meet local police officers and firefighters in a relaxed, community setting. Organizers encourage teens to bring their friends and best of all admission is free.

Looking ahead to the fall, the center will mark a major milestone with its Official Ribbon Cutting on Saturday, September 26, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, also at 10 Ditson Place.

Under the theme "A New Chapter Begins," the morning will feature the ribbon cutting itself, youth-led tours of the facility, special guests, and light refreshments. The center describes itself as a space where young people can connect, create, learn, and lead — and this event invites the whole community to celebrate that mission.

RSVPs for the ribbon cutting can be made by scanning the QR code on the event flyer. For more information, contact Executive Director Kelly Ford at kellyf@methuenyouthcc.org, or visit methuenyouthcc.org.

Starting in August, most Massachusetts households on National Grid's standard electricity plan will see the supply portion of their bill climb again. Methuen residents enrolled in the city's Community Choice Power Supply Program won't… their rate is locked, and has been for a while.

Mayor Beauregard's office put out the reminder this week, and the headline number is real: participants are paying about 25 percent less for the supply part of their electricity than neighbors on National Grid's new rate. But 25 percent of what, exactly, is the part worth slowing down on — because it's smaller than it sounds, and there's a catch worth understanding before you decide it's a win.

Here's the plain-English version.

What actually changed

Your electric bill has two big pieces: supply (the cost of the electricity itself) and delivery (the cost of moving it to your house over the wires). They're listed separately on your bill.

The city has no control over delivery. It can shop around for supply on behalf of residents, which is what the Community Choice program does. Right now:

National Grid's Basic Service supply rate rises from 15.568¢ per kilowatt-hour to 17.185¢ in August.

Methuen's Community Choice rate stays put at 12.83¢ per kilowatt-hour — locked through December 2027 under a three-year deal the city signed.

So the gap between the two is about 4.4¢ per kilowatt-hour. That's the "25 percent less" figure — and it's accurate, as far as the supply line goes.

What it means for your wallet — the honest math

A typical Massachusetts home uses somewhere around 600 kilowatt-hours a month. At that usage, here's the difference the locked rate makes versus National Grid's new rate:

About $26 a month, or roughly $310 a year, in supply savings.

Of that, about $10 a month is brand new — that's the piece created purely by August's increase. The rest is savings the program was already delivering.

That's genuine money, and over a full year it adds up. But notice what it isn't: it's not 25 percent off your whole bill. Because delivery charges (which nobody's cutting) often run as large as supply, a $26 supply savings on a $160–$180 monthly bill works out to more like 14 to 17 percent off the total — real, but not the number that grabs the eye.

Bigger homes, electric heat, or heavy summer AC push the savings higher. A small apartment pushes it lower.

Municipal aggregation — the formal name — lets a city bundle all its residents together and negotiate one electricity supply rate, the way a big employer negotiates group health insurance. More buying power, better price. Roughly 200 Massachusetts communities now do it.

A few things people get wrong about it:

It's not a different power company. National Grid still owns the wires, still reads your meter, still sends the bill, and still handles outages. Only the supply line changes.

You can leave anytime, with no penalty, and you can join anytime if you're currently on Basic Service or a third-party supplier.

It's opt-out, not opt-in for eligible households — which is why about 2,800 residents recently got a mailer reminding them the program exists and how to enroll if they'd landed on Basic Service or a private supplier instead.

The catch worth knowing

A locked rate is a bet, and it's fair to say so. Right now the bet is paying off handsomely, because National Grid's rate jumped well above Methuen's 12.83¢. But Basic Service resets every six months and moves with the market. If it ever drops below 12.83¢ in some future stretch — which has happened in past low-price periods — aggregation customers would briefly be paying more than Basic Service customers during that window.

That's the trade-off with any fixed rate: you give up the low lows to avoid the high highs. Given how volatile Massachusetts energy prices have been, locking in below 13¢ through the end of 2027 looks like a smart hedge. It's just not a guarantee of being the cheapest option every single month.

The bigger picture

The mayor's office points to a recent Boston Globe analysis finding aggregation programs save Massachusetts consumers around 10 percent on supply statewide, on average. Methuen's current rate beats that — more than double it against National Grid's August rate. The city says the program returned nearly $1.9 million in supply savings to participating households last year.

"Government should look for every opportunity to lower the cost of living," Beauregard said, while being candid that the city can't fix affordability by itself: "The reality is that electric bills are still too high." That's a fair way to frame it. This doesn't rescue anyone from a painful bill. It shaves a few hundred dollars a year off the one line the city can actually touch.

What to do

Pull out your most recent electric bill and find the "Supply" section. It tells you who's actually supplying your electricity:

• If it says Colonial Power Group / Community Choice, you're already in — the locked rate is yours, and you don't need to do anything.

• If it says National Grid Basic Service, you'll get the August increase unless you enroll. You may be able to do better by joining.

• If it lists a third-party supplier, compare their rate to 12.83¢. Some private supplier deals start cheap and then balloon after an introductory period, so check the actual per-kWh number

To check eligibility or enroll, visit www.colonialpowergroup.com/methuen or call Colonial Power Group at (866) 485-5858, ext. 1.

Five minutes with your bill is the only way to know which side of this you're on — and for a lot of Methuen households, it's the difference between paying the August increase and skipping it entirely.

Original press release:

https://www.cityofmethuen.net/m/newsflash/home/detail/295

At the end of its July 6 meeting, the Methuen City Council excused those of us in the Media Center for the meeting and slipped into executive session for one specific job: to go back through a pile of its own old sealed minutes and vote on whether any of them can finally be made public. The dates on the list are not from this year. They run from February 2017 through September 2019. Some of these records have been locked away for the better part of a decade.

That raises a simple question worth asking out loud. Why?

To get there, it helps to understand how this actually works.

The basics: open is the rule

Massachusetts runs on a law called the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, Sections 18 through 25. The idea baked into it is that the public gets to watch its government make decisions. The state’s highest court said as much a long time ago, explaining that the law was written to strip away the secrecy around the decisions that shape public policy. That fun little idea was brought to us be the case of Ghiglione v. School Committee of Southbridge, 376 Mass. 70 (1978). The exception to the rule or the closed door meetings, called executive sessions, are the narrow exception, and courts read those exceptions strictly. McCrea v. Flaherty, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 637 (2008).

A council can only go into executive session for one of ten specific reasons spelled out in the law. These are the ten purposes in Massachusetts law (G.L. c. 30A, § 21(a)) that let a public body meet in executive session. A body has to pick one of these every time and state it out loud before closing the doors.

1. To discuss the reputation, character, health, or discipline, dismissal, or complaints against a specific person (a named officer, employee, or individual). That person has the right to be notified and to ask that the discussion happen in open session instead.

2. To conduct strategy sessions or contract talks with nonunion personnel.

3. To discuss strategy for collective bargaining or litigation, but only if the chair declares that talking about it in public would hurt the body’s bargaining or legal position.

4. To discuss the deployment of security personnel or devices, or strategy around them.

5. To investigate charges of criminal misconduct or to consider filing criminal complaints.

6. To discuss buying, selling, leasing, or valuing real estate, but only if the chair declares that an open discussion would weaken the body’s negotiating position.

7. To comply with, or act under the authority of, another general or special law or a federal grant requirement. (This is the one the Methuen council used on July 6 to review its old minutes, since the Open Meeting Law itself requires that review.)

8. To interview applicants for a job or appointment through a preliminary screening committee, if the chair declares that meeting in the open would make it harder to attract qualified candidates.

9. To meet with a mediator about litigation or a decision involving another party.

10. To discuss trade secrets or confidential, competitively sensitive proprietary information tied to a body operating as a municipal utility or energy supplier.

On July 6 the council cited Purpose 7, which covers acting under the authority of another law. Here, that other law is the Open Meeting Law itself, which requires the council to review its old executive session minutes. So this part was routine. The council was doing a thing the law tells it to do.

The part people miss: secret does not mean forever

Here is the piece that matters for this story. When a public body meets behind closed doors, it still has to keep minutes. Those minutes can be withheld from the public, but only, in the words of the statute, “as long as publication may defeat the lawful purposes of the executive session.” G.L. c. 30A, Section 22(f). The very next words in the law are “but no longer.”

Read that again… out loud for those sitting near you to hear too.

The secrecy is supposed to have a shelf life. Once the reason for keeping something quiet is gone, the minutes are supposed to become public. If a 2018 session was about, say, a lawsuit or a land deal, those minutes stay sealed until the lawsuit or the deal is finished, and then they are supposed to open up.

To make sure that actually happens, the law hands the council a chore. It has to go back and review its sealed minutes “at reasonable intervals” to check whether the reason for secrecy still holds. Whatever it decides then has to be announced at its next meeting and written into the minutes. G.L. c. 30A, Section 22(g). In plain terms, the public is entitled to learn what the council did with those records.

So here is the accountability question

The minutes the council took up on July 6 are from 2017, 2018, and 2019. The law asks for review “at reasonable intervals.” Six to nine years is a long interval by any plain reading of those words.

That opens up a handful of fair questions for the chair, the mayor, and the city solicitor, and Inside Methuen intends to ask them.

Were these minutes reviewed at any point before July 6, or had they simply been sitting sealed since the day they were written?

If they were held this long, what was the justification, and does that reason still exist in 2026?

And most concretely: on July 6, what justification is the council using to keep the items secret, and why?

That last one is not optional information. Under the law, the council’s decision on these minutes has to be announced at its next public meeting and recorded in the minutes. So a straight answer should be available to anyone who asks.

And what if a councilor just tells us what happened?

Here is a question that comes up any time a body meets in private. What actually stops a councilor from walking out and telling a reporter, or a neighbor, exactly what was said and how everyone voted? The answer is not what most people expect.

The Open Meeting Law itself does almost nothing to a member who talks. That law was built to pry government open, not to punish people for revealing what happened inside. Its penalties are pointed at a body that wrongly shuts the public out, not at an official who lets the public in. So a leak, oddly enough, falls outside the law entirely, and the state office that enforces the Open Meeting Law has no authority over it.

So, why even do it if the body won’t respect its own rules?

The real exposure, if there is any, comes from a separate law, the state conflict of interest law, G.L. c. 268A. It bars a public official from improperly disclosing confidential material picked up through the job. An elected councilor counts, and sealed executive session material can fall under that umbrella, so a leak could draw a complaint to the State Ethics Commission. Two things soften it, though… the penalty is a civil fine, not jail, and the disclosure has to be “improper,” which the Commission weighs case by case rather than treating every slip as a violation.

In the real world, the consequences are almost always political rather than legal. Unfortunately, Methuen politics is about popularity and nothing else so this is not a deterent here. A council can censure one of its own, pull their committee assignments, and quietly stop trusting them with anything sensitive. What it cannot do is throw an elected colleague out of office over a leak. That call belongs to the voters.

What you can do

If you want to follow this yourself, a few doors are open…

Start with the council’s next set of minutes. Whatever it decided about those old sessions on July 6 has to be announced at the next public meeting and written into the record, so that is the first place a straight answer should surface.

You can also go to the source.

Anyone can file a public records request with the city clerk, asking for the executive session minutes the council voted to release along with the record of the July 6 decision. The city generally has ten business days to respond, and it cannot bill you just for the time it spends reviewing those minutes.

If the city stalls, or keeps records sealed without pointing to a clear legal reason, you can file an Open Meeting Law complaint.

It goes first to the council itself, then, after a 30 day window, to the Attorney General’s Division of Open Government. The form is free and lives on the state website at mass.gov. Three or more registered voters can also take the matter straight to Superior Court.

None of this means anyone did anything wrong. Reviewing old minutes is exactly what the council is supposed to do, and better late than never. But records that sat untouched since 2017 are worth a few questions, and the people of Methuen are entitled to the answers. We will be asking, and we will let you know what we hear.

Hopefully we see the School Committee do the same soon with the stockpile of old executive session minutes.

Sources:

Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, Sections 18 through 25, with the minutes review requirements at Section 22(f) and (g);

Office of the Attorney General, Division of Open Government, guidance on reviewing executive session minutes under Purpose 7, G.L. c. 30A, Section 21(a)(7);

Ghiglione v. School Committee of Southbridge, 376 Mass. 70 (1978);

McCrea v. Flaherty, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 637 (2008); Methuen City Council agenda, July 6, 2026.

Word came out of City Hall yesterday that Captain Jamie Moore will take over as Methuen’s Acting Police Chief once Chief Scott McNamara retires on August 24. Mayor Beauregard made it official Thursday afternoon.

Moore’s been around a while and done it all which makes him a great choice to help steady the department in this time of transition. He signed on back in 1993, started out working dispatch, and eventually made the jump to patrol. Thirty-plus years later he’s one of the more familiar names in the building. He currently runs the Special Services and Professional Standards Bureau… the accreditation, training, and policy side of things that most folks never see but that keeps the whole operation on the rails. He earned his Captain’s stripes just last year, and topped the state Civil Service list on the way to the promotion.

The Mayor didn’t hold back on the praise, calling Moore a leader who’s earned respect both inside the department and out in the community, and someone he trusts to keep things steady through the changeover. He also took a minute to thank McNamara, who announced his retirement earlier this year, for a long run of service to the city.

One thing worth flagging: Moore is the acting chief, not the permanent one. The city says it’ll run a full search for McNamara’s replacement, open to candidates from inside and outside the department, with more details expected in the coming weeks. So this definitely won’t be the last word on who’s leading MPD.

Original Press Release: Here

This was a long one. The displaced council took up residence in the Media Center last night for their first summer session meeting. The regular meeting gaveled in at 6 on a and it did not let up until well past 10. Despite several members at the table being well aware that the School, due to contractual obligations with the Janitorial Union, closes at 10 PM, that time came and went before the meeting even went into executive session. But, on a positive note, it started the way the good nights do … with the room there for its own.

The media center was packed with firefighters, on hand to watch a couple of their own get called up: a new Deputy Chief and a new Lieutenant. These guys always show up for brothers and sisters. It’s kinda nice.

Before the meeting, there were two public sessions, linked above. They were 15 minutes each with little to no fanfare.

Now, let’s get into it…

Roll Call

All members were present. Councilor Pesce joined remotely by Zoom with her camera on… for a bit. Note for later: Councilor Pesce dropped off the Zoom partway through the meeting, which is why several later votes show one member absent. I’m not exactly sure what time she decided she was all done with this meeting since nobody announced her depature like they did when Councilor Simard left for work shortly after 10.

Acceptance of the Agenda

As is the going trend now, Councilor Santos asked to move the appointments up so they would be heard right after public participation. Councilor DiZoglio seconded. Councilor Drew asked for the reason and since none of them used their microphones last night, the response could not be heard clearly from the audience. The motion to reorder passed, with Councilor Drew voting no. The agenda as amended then passed unanimously.

The argument could very easily have been made that the move was to free of the collection of FD personnel in the room. …But it was never made.

Pledge of Allegiance, Invocation, and Moment of Silence

There was no invocation. The Council held a moment of silence for Jim Dawe, a longtime member of Methuen Community Studios who for years produced the recordings of council meetings at City Hall and had a strong history of community involvement, and who recently passed away.

Public Participation

This is the part of the meeting where any resident can step to the microphone and speak. Three people did:

Joseph MacDonald … on the MeVa bus strike

Mr. MacDonald spoke about the strike affecting MeVa, the regional bus service, and the toll it takes on people who rely on the bus to get to work, school, the grocery store, and other services. He urged that it be resolved soon.

Tim Vermett … on the Rail Trail depot

Mr. Vermett said he is leading an effort to repair the depot along the Rail Trail and wants to bring the Union, the City, and the VFW together to figure out how to fix it. He explained that the rail trail committee has fundraising and other efforts underway to address the structure.

Alejandro Baez … on the solar panel contracts

Mr. Baez made a point of noting he was speaking for himself and not on behalf of his position on the School Committee - good on him. He spoke in favor of the solar contracts, pointing to cost savings and a long term vision. He also praised the citation for Victor Rivera Jr. that appeared later on the agenda, noting that the scholarship Mr. Rivera received goes to only one student from each state and reflects the kind of civic participation the community hopes to see.

Consideration of Appointments

Lieutenant Michael Ferris … Deputy Chief

Moved by Councilor Simard, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. Fire Chief Toto spoke to the quality of the two men up for promotion and confirmed, in anticipation of Councilor Drew’s two standard questions, that the positions tonight are both budgeted and contractually required. He read the supporting materials into the record. Councilor Simard asked the Chief to clarify what “non-discretional” means and to explain the duties, especially given that the city is carrying out furloughs (temporary unpaid time off for some employees). The Chief laid out the details. Passed unanimously.

Firefighter Eric Moreau … Lieutenant

Moved by Councilor Drew, seconded by Councilor Santos. Chief Toto again provided the key information and read the backup into the record. With no questions, Councilor Soto commented on how effectively Firefighter Moreau has advocated for his union and his department and built relationships with past and present administrations. Passed unanimously.

Jordan Normandia … Veterans Service Officer

Moved by Councilor Marsan, seconded by Councilor Simard. The Veterans Service Officer, or VSO, is the city staff member who helps local veterans access benefits and services. The hiring committee, which was comprised of Councilor Simard, State VSO Fransisco Urena, and one other person, selected former Mayor’s Office Constitutent Services Director Jordan Normandia. The Mayor spoke briefly about Mr. Normandia, noting he is a member of the veterans community (a Marine), and said the appointment was not taken lightly voicing his connection to the armed services through family and close friends. Councilor Simard described the process the subcommittee followed and noted that eight people applied. The state VSO, Urena, was invited to speak and praised the transparency of the process and the work of the city’s HR department. Mr. Normandia thanked the Council, noting his veteran status and lifelong residency in Methuen, and described his time in the Marines working in Administrative Services helping Marines transition to retirement and civilian life.

Councilor DiZoglio raised questions about Mr. Normandia’s handling of the city’s trash barrels during his time in the Mayor’s office. The Mayor responded that trash services and veterans services are completely separate, and later said the barrel program should never have been run out of the Mayor’s office, adding that he, as Mayor, should be held responsible rather than Mr. Normandia. He closed with his full support for the appointment. Councilor Drew spoke about his own family’s military connections and shared a story about his father’s experience with a VSO, expressing hope that Mr. Normandia would serve in a similar spirit. Councilor Simard noted that Councilors Drew and DiZoglio sat on the subcommittee with him but did not take part in the interviews. Councilor Soto said there were mixed opinions and some concern about optics, and noted she was concerned about Mr. Normandia’s shyness. The roll call was unanimous.

The Council then recessed briefly for photographs before returning to session.

Organizational Business

Reading and Acceptance of Minutes from Previous Meetings

The Council took up the minutes from the Special Meeting of May 26, 2026 (the second read of the FY2027 municipal budget) and the Regular Meeting of Monday, June 8, 2026. (“FY2027” refers to fiscal year 2027, the city’s budget year.) Although missed in order, they were eventually approved.

Proclamations and Correspondence

The Council was to recognize Victor Rivera Jr., the scholarship recipient mentioned earlier during public participation, but he was unable to attended.

Presentation: Trash Coordinator Update

This was an update on the new Trash Coordinator position and the progress made toward fixing the city’s solid waste and “tipping fee” shortfall. (A tipping fee is what the city pays to dispose of trash at a facility.)

The Mayor introduced Carina Pappalardo, a longtime Department of Public Works employee who is the new Trash Coordinator, tasked with straightening out the program. DPW Director Pat Bower credited her strong performance and attitude, and said he hopes to return to the Council to discuss updating the transfer station where she previously worked as they have suggestions. Harvey, the city’s trash vendor, was in the room and has, by both Bower’s and Pappalardo’s account, been cooperative and great to work with.

Mr. Bower reported that currently we ahve 250 trash barrels and 25 recycling carts in stock and 305 warnings or rejections issued in the 60 days since Ms. Pappalardo started. He explained that a warning leads to a conversation, while a rejection means the barrel is left at the curb, which then triggers a call to Ms. Pappalardo and has taken up much of her time. On the carts themselves: every household received one trash and one recycling cart for free, and additional trash carts cost $100. Because both Harvey and the city were delivering carts, Mr. Bower acknowledged, in his words, that “it could have been handled better,” and said Harvey will now track the number of carts at each address. He said the annual cart fee is going up to $250 a year (this will need council votes), that new software is coming to manage fines, and that additional outreach and education will go out by mailer. It was even noted that some residents were mistakenly delivered multiple carts. No fines have been issued to date.

Ms. Pappalardo then took the microphone and showed examples of trash conditions she has seen on the streets. She said she has ridden along with Harvey to learn the routes and process, and that Harvey photographs each property along the way. She noted that crews have gone back for residents who forgot to put their trash out even when not required to, and that Harvey will provide an extra trash truck to improve speed. She also described her frequent illegal dumping pickups, explaining that her city assigned SUV often ends up holding trash bags containing old food scraps and other material she has picked up off the side of the road, that she cannot fit larger items, and that she lacks the right tools for the job. The trash smells in the car. While discussing the fines, she said “its almost unethical to ticket without education,” which I think was the smartest thing said last night.

Councilor DiZoglio, who has appointed himself the savior of the trash program and tipping fees, wanted Pappalardo to start tracking the barrel serial numbers at each home… hopefully with the help of Harvey. The rep from Harvery explained that requiring Ms. Pappalardo to collect identification numbers from carts is not workable given the scale and, in his experience, that tracking serial numbers is difficult and suggested simply counting the carts instead. Councilor DiZoglio confirmed Harvey can support that approach, which would let the city hold everyone accountable, and noted that 41% of barrel fees have been collected. He held firmly to the notion that the rest of the extra barrel holders are purposely going against the rules by not paying their fees.

Councilor Drew said he requested the presentation because of disorganization in the See Click Fix system (the app residents use to report issues) and truck breakdowns. He asked about a resident app that had been expected on July 1st per the contract we have with Harvey. The representative said it is coming soon and “needs tweaks,” without a firm date. He also asked why recycling bins are being denied; Ms. Pappalardo explained the 25 recycling carts in stock are reserved for new construction and that she has asked for more to be ordered. She explained she hadn’t denied any in her tenure but they were placed on hold pending a new order of carts. Councilor Drew raised a broader point that the city has historically struggled to manage contracts and asked the Mayor to create a checklist to ensure the trash vendor is meeting the terms of the contract.

Councilor Santos asked about communication with the Hispanic community in the central district. Ms. Pappalardo, noting “I’m from Lawrence” and speaking a few words in Spanish to show she communicate the needs of her new job, said she wants to use every available tool, from Methuen TV to classroom visits to social media, but is limited by time, resources, and money. Councilor Soto suggested using AI to help with translation. Councilor Simard urged the Council to give Ms. Pappalardo and the DPW the resources they need, warning that otherwise they “all fail.”

Councilor Soto asked which properties the city picks up from, such as the housing authority, and requested any written agreements (called MOUs, or memoranda of understanding) showing who else the city collects for. Councilor Santos asked why the DPW is paying to pick up bulk items; the Mayor explained this is a historical practice the city is moving away from and shifting to Harvey. Councilor Drew asked what resources Harvey is providing, and Ms. Pappalardo said she generally receives what she asks for.

Mayor’s Report

The Mayor covered a wide range of updates:

He shared his condolences for Jim Dawe and some kind words.

He revisited the agreement by the Public Employees Committee (PEC), the body that negotiates health insurance for city employees and retirees, to move to the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC). He said the move is expected to save the city about $11.2 million between now and FY2030, while providing high quality health plans and even reduced deductibles. He added that reduced stop loss costs and administrative fees already account for $1.9 million in savings for January through June 2027. (Where is that money going?)

He highlighted a projected $3.9 million net in energy savings over 20 years from the solar contracts, and pointed to efforts to use surplus city property to help seniors, veterans, and working families.

Mike Sarno and Mass Cabinets received tax credits to expand in the city, investing more than $8.5 million in their Cross Street facility and adding 25 new jobs.

The Mayor said he is in communication with MeVa and trying to help given the impact of the strike on residents.

He reminded residents that on Friday, July 10, City Hall begins a closure program as part of the city’s budget reductions. It does not affect Fire, Police, DPW, or the Library, so the impact is limited to City Hall. Impact bargaining with the unions is ongoing.

The summer meal program for youth 18 and under is back, with four sites: Gill Ave Park, the library, Tenney Street Park, and the Haverhill Street Y.

He congratulated Chief McNamara and the Methuen Police Department on earning state reaccreditation, and said the city is beginning the process of selecting its next chief using a professional search firm and a committee. The city’s new grant writer starts the following day, and a kickoff meeting with Weston and Sampson to plan the Police, Fire, and DPW facilities is set for Wednesday.

On the community calendar: Saturday brings the July 4th quintessential celebration at the Loop; next Thursday at 11 a.m. is the grand opening of Namaste Bazaar, an authentic Indian grocer and prepared food shop in the former Joann’s on Broadway; and an upcoming Disability Pride Fair will feature vendors, games, music, and more.

CAFO Report

The CAFO is the Chief Administrative and Financial Officer, essentially the city’s top finance official.

Request for Update on Searles Estate Expenses and Revenues (Req. of Clr. Soto)

The CAFO said an update on the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), the city’s multi year plan for major projects, was shared by email. An accounts payable posting has been issued, and a revenue stream is expected in the future. Significant work has gone into payroll, with a go live date of January 1, 2027, chosen because it makes year end W2 tax forms cleaner. Councilor Drew asked about the cost of delaying from October to January and whether an October date would save money. The CAFO said the change is already budgeted and advised against the earlier date; she noted the relevant budget is roughly $60,000 for the year, so it is not a meaningful savings opportunity.

Requests of Councilors

Several councilor requests were noted as already answered in the Mayor’s Report:

Whether the Methuen Housing Authority receives trash collection through the city’s contract (Chair Soto); an update on the city’s adoption of M.G.L. Chapter 200A, Section 9A on abandoned and unclaimed property, known as “tailings” (Clr. Valley); an update on the Rail Trail depot overhangs, including possible acquisition and grant options (Clr. Valley); the feasibility study for the public safety buildings and DPW (Clr. Santos); and the first report from the Sanitation and Zero Waste Coordinator on fines and tonnage (Clr. DiZoglio and Clr. Drew).

Other requests and their status:

Buildings Audit RFP status (Clr. Drew): Councilor Drew is working with Steve Angelo to complete it, and the Mayor said it can now be a priority.

City employee email signature standardization (Clr. Drew): not discussed, no changes.

Fire Department fees update, covering lift fees and ambulance rate adjustments (Clr. Drew): up for a vote tonight. The Mayor stressed this does not affect residents; it applies to fees charged to facilities.

Update on Tyler Financial’s MUNIS implementation date, the city’s financial software system (Clr. Drew): covered by the CAFO.

HHSI permit fees review: ongoing.

Formal presentation on the Trash Coordinator position and progress since the Council approved the $850,000 free cash request for the solid waste and tipping fee shortfall (Clr. Drew): done, as covered in the presentation above.

See Click Fix cleanup and follow up (Clr. Drew): the Mayor said he will talk with Director Bower about better record keeping in the tool.

Boards and commissions appointment and reappointment status, including vacancies and expired terms (Clr. Drew): a lot has moved, some updates remain, and it is scheduled to be addressed in the coming weeks.

Update on ownership of the Depot Overhang tied to the Laborers Union building (Clr. Valley and Clr. Drew): discussions are ongoing. The Mayor deferred to the City Solicitor, who noted previous legal opinions exist and will be shared.

The Mayor also mentioned that the Marsh Grammar School received its new boiler that day, that the Human Trafficking task force is back up given an uptick in local incidents, with the state being looped in, and that new carpeting at the Marsh, on the agenda tonight, is long overdue and matches the work done at the Timony.

Councilor Valley asked the Solicitor about the depot overhang. He explained that outside counsel did an analysis in 2019 and that he will share it. Nothing has changed. Councilor Drew raised concern that staff at nursing homes will avoid calling for lift assistance because of the new fee and asked that it be explained clearly, and pressed for a firm date on the permit fees; the Mayor shared a quick real time update from his phone. Councilor Drew returned to See Click Fix, arguing the records are not being managed and asking how the tool helps if it is not maintained; the Mayor said he will begin bringing See Click Fix data to his meeting. Councilor Drew also noted that 43 members on the boards and commissions have expired terms, 29 have no term listed, and some seats are vacant, and asked whether the underlying data is simply inaccurate.

Public Service

Grants

Public Service Grant 301043582 … Temple Drive, Westgate Circle, and Jewel Circle

National Grid would replace existing direct buried cable with a conduit system. Moved by Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor MacLaren. The Solicitor advised the Council to check whether any residents wished to participate, noting the mailed notices had been confusing; no one came forward. Councilor Drew asked whether this was a multiple read item and raised questions about curb to curb road repair. After discussion, Councilor Drew moved to table the item to ensure curb to curb repair, seconded by Councilor Valley. (By this point Councilor Pesce was no longer on Zoom.) Councilors Simard and Marsan voted no. The motion to table passed 6 to 2, with one member absent. (Sometime before this is when Pesce left.)

Licenses

Solar Project License Agreement … Tenney Grammar School, 75 Pleasant Street

An agreement with Solect Energy Development LLC. Moved by Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Santos. Councilor Marsan asked about warranties on the school’s roof, which NOBODY at the table seems to have the ages on. After an awkward moment of silence, the Mayor joked that he would defer to legal, and the Solicitor said, “I have no idea,” adding that the agreement guarantees the installation will not void the warranty that exists… if it exists. There was extended discussion about the roof warranty. Councilor DiZoglio, a former School Committee member, said he did not recall any such discussion and recommended reaching out to the school. Councilor Marsan asked about load calculations, and the Mayor brought a company representative to the podium, who explained that they work with the warranty company to confirm any existing warranty is maintained and that an independent engineer performs load calculations so the building permit can be pulled properly. He described the deal as a fixed rate contract at $0.03 per kilowatt hour. Councilor Drew asked who would pay if the panels ever needed to be removed, and the representative said that cost would fall on the city. The roll call showed Councilors Santos and Drew voting no. Passed 6 to 2, with one member absent.

There was a lot of talk about the ages of the roofs for the CGS and Tenney. Unfortunately, nobody knew how old they were or that nobody thought to ask the current School Committee member who did know and was sitting in the room. It just showed a lack of preparedness.

Solar Project License Agreement … Comprehensive Grammar School, 100 Howe Street

Also with Solect Energy Development LLC. Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. No additional discussion. Councilors Santos and Drew voted no. Passed 6 to 2, with one member absent.

Contracts

C-27-1 … Brox Industries, Inc. … $111,425.00

For bituminous concrete (asphalt) and cold patch, delivered for the city’s FY2026 paving season, through the DPW, with a winter rate of $55.00 for December 1 through March 31. Moved by Councilor Simard, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. No discussion. Passed unanimously.

C-27-2 … Kitchen and Floor Décor, Inc. … $83,375

For removal of carpets and cove base and installation of VCT tile and cove base at the Marsh Grammar School (amount provided at the table). Moved by Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Santos. Councilor Marsan asked about asbestos testing, and the Mayor explained the timing of the asbestos work. Councilor Drew said he spoke with Ian at the schools and that this matches the work done at the Timony, with no issues projected. Again, with the Mayor as School Committee chair, a former school committee member in DiZoglio who dealt extensively with this in his last two years (I know he did as I was with him doing it) and a Current School Committe member in the room, all the talk about asbetos was unnecesary as it was already tested and that could have been made clear had the communication and prep been better. This passed unanimously.

C-27-3 … Valerio, Dominello & Hillman, LLC … Legal Services for Fiscal Year 2027

Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. Councilor Drew asked what the firm does; the Solicitor explained the firm assisted with the GIC health insurance move and so many other things over the years (including the Gallant case) , that it is John Foskett’s firm, and that he may return to the Council if new issues arise. Councilor Soto asked whether councilors could contact Mr. Foskett directly; the Solicitor advised requests should go through his office. Passed unanimously.

C-27-4 … Power Purchase Agreement … Tenney Grammar School, 75 Pleasant Street

With Solect Energy Development LLC. Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor Marsan. No discussion. Councilor Drew opposed. Passed 7 to 1, with one member absent.

C-27-5 … Power Purchase Agreement … Comprehensive Grammar School, 100 Howe Street

With Solect Energy Development LLC. Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. No discussion. Councilor Drew opposed. Passed 7 to 1, with one member absent.

Other Officers and Committee Reports

None at this time.

Unfinished Business

Resolutions

TR-25-75 … Lay Out and Accept Cooper Lane as a Public Way

The item was removed from the table (moved by Councilor Marsan, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio, passed unanimously). On the main motion, moved by Councilor Marsan and seconded by Councilor MacLaren, Councilor Marsan said he verified the required check was received and everything is in order. Councilor DiZoglio raised trash pickup. Councilor Soto, with such confidence, explains to DiZoglio that trash will now be picked up. A conversation ensued until the Solicitor explained that accepting a street has nothing to do with trash and recycling collection, and that this street’s trash pickup is funded by the condo association, as with any condo complex. The measure passed unanimously.

TR-26-53 … Insurance Review and Competitive Quotes (Sponsored by Councilor Yanilda Santos)

This resolution asks the Mayor and CAFO to review city insurance coverage and obtain competitive quotes. Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. The Mayor said the RFP will be online no later than the next meeting date and noted the city has been with the same company, Borislow Insurance, since 2005, calling the review long overdue. Passed unanimously.

Ordinances

TO-26-12 … Rezone Land Fronting on Arcadia Street for Commercial Improvement

Removed from the table (moved by Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Santos, passed unanimously). On the main motion, moved by Councilor Santos and seconded by Councilor Simard, Councilor Marsan said, “this is a sad piece of property,” and welcomed the redevelopment. A developer representative showed a board of future plans for 298 Merrimack Street and said the plan is to return to the Zoning Board to propose changes. Councilor Drew asked whether the developer had spoken with neighbors about concerns; the representative said all legal notices went out. Passed unanimously.

TO-26-16 … Amend “Section 9-52. Trash and Recyclables Collection” (Sponsored by Councilor Ryan DiZoglio, as amended)

Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor Valley. The ordinance sets a fee schedule and a proration plan based on when a resident receives a barrel, and adds late fees for unpaid barrel fees of $100 a month. After several months, unpaid amounts would be added to the property tax bill. It also lays out an annual renewal process, with no mid year cancellation or refunds. The Solicitor said the Mayor had not yet reviewed it and that some of it, “this is unconstitutional,” pointing specifically to the $100 a month late fee, and noted other language changes the Council should review. The Mayor said he had been concerned about the lack of a warning step, which has since been added back, and suggested bringing the new sanitation coordinator, Ms. Pappalardo, into the discussion.

Councilor DiZoglio said that, “being really honest,” he is going “after the people who don’t pay their fee” and added, “Fine, I’ll be the bad guy.” Councilor MacLaren pushed for an “obvious middleground,” saying she does not believe 60% of residents are intentionally abusing the system and wants to focus on education. Councilor Santos said she supports the ordinance “100%” after education but wants to reduce the late fee. Councilor Drew asked about amending the late fees, and the Solicitor offered to review the language on the floor. The item was tabled on a motion by Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Santos, so the Mayor and lega can review it and bring back changes. Passed unanimously.

TO-26-17 … Amend “Section 8-7. Municipal Charges Lien” (Sponsored by Councilor Ryan DiZoglio)

This companion measure allows certain unpaid city fees to be placed on a property tax bill. Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. Councilor Drew asked whether it is legal; the Solicitor said yes. He also asked about a right to appeal before a charge hits the tax bill; the Solicitor said there is no right to appeal because it is a fee, not a tax. Passed unanimously.

New Business

Resolutions

TR-26-67 … Declare the Pleasant Valley School Property Surplus for Sale and Redevelopment

The property is at 180 Pleasant Valley Street. Declaring it “surplus” means the city no longer needs it and can sell it. Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor Valley. The Mayor said the city is casting a wide net through an RFP to develop new “affordable housing” for seniors and veterans, and intends to use the proceeds from the school properties to fund capital projects for the schools. Councilor Drew said he does not want a “joke of an offer” on the RFP but nobody acknowledged the city cannot control what bidders offer. Councilor DiZoglio, recalling his School Committee years, said he had hoped the building could become a fire department or something else to avoid traffic, and said he would not vote yes until he sees a traffic study. The Solicitor explained both properties sit in a conservancy district that does not currently allow residential use, so a zoning change would be required, and reminded the Council the sites will need major capital investment. PV is a complete tear down. Councilor Soto asked Councilor Marsan what the market might bear; he estimated about $1 million which carries no weight as he isn’t a professional in this field. The Mayor noted the lot is much larger than it looks from the street.

Councilor Drew proposed an amendment setting a minimum bid of $125,000, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. On the roll call, Councilors Santos, Simard, Valley, MacLaren, Marsan, and Soto voted no, and the amendment failed. Councilor Santos then asked for an appraisal; the Mayor explained this differs from a residential sale, that there are no obligations after the RFP, and that the process amounts to a market appraisal in real time, adding that the city also has the assessed value used for taxes. Councilor Soto moved to require the Mayor to clearly state the assessed value in the RFP; that amendment passed unanimously. The main motion, as amended, passed unanimously.

It was about the middle of the last agenda item that the clock ticked past 10 PM. The build was officially closed and the staff on duty were supposed to be going home. They are now being paid overtime and could possibly bring a labor grievance. I’d like to know who pays for this?

Several of the Councilors and the Mayor were very much aware and nobody even bothered to say it out loud. … Just so disappointing.

The other concern is the children running the cameras. How old are they, did the council violate child labor laws too?

TR-26-68 … Declare the Currier School Property Surplus for Sale and Redevelopment

The property is at 36 Boylston Street. Moved by Councilor Marsan, seconded by Councilor Santos. (For the record, Councilor Soto noted that Councilor Simard had to leave at 10:08 p.m.) The Solicitor pointed out this resolution does include a minimum bid. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-69 … Accept $15,795.31 State 911 Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Grant

For Fiscal Year 2027. Moved by Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Drew. No discussion. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-70 … Accept $168,186.09 State 911 Department Training Grant

For Fiscal Year 2027. Moved by Councilor Drew, seconded by Councilor Santos. No discussion. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-71 … Transfer Between Various FY26 General Fund Budgets (EPA Requested)

Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor MacLaren. No discussion. Passed unanimously. The EPA (an emergency preamble, a step that lets the measure take effect immediately rather than after the usual waiting period) also passed unanimously.

TR-26-73 … Declare 30 Railroad Street Surplus for Sale and Redevelopment

Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. The Mayor said this is a vacant lot the city wants to put out to RFP, with the assessor’s information included as with the other properties. Councilor DiZoglio asked about zoning; the Solicitor confirmed it is zoned for multi family use but is small, so it will need zoning approvals. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-74 … Transfer Funds from the Edwin J. Castle Fund

To the Methuen Literacy Project at Nevins Library and to Methuen Public Schools for CTE Early Childhood Care (CTE stands for Career and Technical Education). Moved by Councilor Drew, seconded by Councilor Santos. No discussion. Passed unanimously.

Ordinances

TO-26-18 … Increase Ambulance Rates and Establish a New Lift Assist Fee

This amends Section 8-5A of the Municipal Code. Moved by Councilor Santos, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio. The Mayor explained it is a revenue assumption for the year. Councilor DiZoglio asked the Chief whether these charges were always allowed; the Chief said yes, and that they have become more common. The Mayor stressed, “THIS IS NOT A FEE FOR RESIDENTS,” and that it is “SPECIFICALLY GEARED TOWARDS BUSINESS ENTITIES LIKE NURSING HOMES AND ASSISTED LIVINGS” that often cannot lift a resident who has fallen and rely on the city instead. The Solicitor confirmed it must be structured as a fee, not a fine. Councilor Santos asked how the amount was set; it was based on other communities’ actual costs to make the runs. Passed unanimously.

Executive Session

The Council voted to enter executive session (a closed door portion of the meeting allowed by law) under Exemption 7 of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30A, Section 21(a)(7), to discuss past executive session minutes. If it entered session, the Council would discuss and vote on releasing executive session minutes for the following dates: February 21, 2017; June 11, 2018; September 24, 2018; October 29, 2018; July 26, 2019; August 14, 2019; September 25, 2019. Following the executive session, the Council would adjourn and not reconvene in open session.

What Happens Next

A few items are set to return in the coming weeks: the trash and recyclables ordinance (TO-26-16) comes back after the Mayor and the new sanitation coordinator review it, the National Grid conduit grant (301043582) remains tabled pending questions about curb to curb repair, and the boards and commissions status is scheduled to be addressed soon. City Hall’s closure program begins Friday, July 10, and the summer meal program for youth 18 and under is running at four sites.

And that’s all she wrote.

We interrupt “Hot Girl Summer" to bring you some serious City business. Monday is a busy night for the council and it is not happening at the usual spot. This meeting is at the Methuen High School Media Center, not the Great Hall in the Searles Building where the Council normally meets, due to a broken elevator.

There are two public hearings scheduled before the regular meeting even begins, so the night starts earlier than usual. The first hearing is set for 5:30 p.m., the second for 5:45 p.m. The regular meeting agenda itself lists a 6:00 p.m. start in the body of the document, though someone didn't update the entire document before posting so there is a discrepancy in the text.

Public Hearing One, 5:30 P.M.

This public hearing is your chance to give your opinion on the acceptance of Cooper Lane as a public way.

TR-25-75. A Resolution Ordering the Methuen City Council's Intent to Lay Out Cooper Lane as a Public Way. The layout plan is on file in the City Clerk's office. View the resolution

Why it matters: When a road gets laid out and accepted as a public way, the city takes over responsibility for maintaining it, including plowing, repairs, and eventual repaving. Cooper Lane is currently a private way, which usually means the people living on it are responsible for its upkeep. Anyone who lives on or near Cooper Lane, or anyone interested in how private roads become public ones, has a reason to attend this hearing. The same item returns later in the meeting, under Unfinished Business, for a Council vote.

Public Hearing Two, 5:45 P.M.

Public Service Grant #31043582, Temple Drive, Westgate Circle, Jewel Circle. National Grid is requesting permission to replace existing direct buried cable with a conduit system. The project involves a directional drill installing 1,073 feet of 2 inch by 2 inch conduit and 1,716 feet of 1 inch by 2 inch conduit, along with 6 pull boxes and 3 handholes across Temple Drive, Westgate Circle, and Jewel Circle.

Why it matters: Utility companies need the City Council's approval, called a grant of location, before digging in or working within a public street. If this is approved, residents on these three streets should expect construction crews and some disruption in the coming months. This is routine but necessary work to upgrade underground electric infrastructure in that neighborhood.

Regular City Council Meeting

Now, we get into the main event.

It starts as they all do… roll call and Acceptance of the Agenda. Typically, this would be irrelevant and mundane, but lately this has proven more controversial as Councilor Santos has used it to help friends “jump the line” to avoid waiting for their item to come up on the agenda.

Next, we have the Pledge of Allegiance, Invocation, and Moment of Silence, followed by Public Participation. This is your chance to speak on anything, whether it is on the agenda or not. If any item in this preview concerns you, this is the moment to say so in person or by signing up in advance through the city’s usual public comment process.

With no Organizational Business, they will head straight into Reading and Acceptance of Minutes from Previous Meetings. The Council will accept minutes from the May 26, 2026 special meeting on the FY27 municipal budget, second read, and from the June 8, 2026 regular meeting. This is a formality that makes those meetings part of the official record.

Now, into the real stuff…

7. Proclamations and Correspondence

A citation for Victor Rivera, Jr. It doesn't say who the councilor is nominating him as it has in the past. It doesn't say why he is deserving, whether he is a City Employee or a local business owner. There is no further detail listed on the agenda which is kind of disappointing when it comes to transparency.

8. Consideration of Appointments

Lieutenant Michael Ferris, nominated for Deputy Chief.

Firefighter Eric Moreau, nominated for Lieutenant.

These two are procedural. They are going to be contractually required and a continuation of the shift of titles left by the passing of Jimmy Mac. I expect these to go without much push back at all.

Jordan Normandia, nominated for Veterans Service Officer.

Until close of business Tuesday, Jordan was the Mayor’s Constitutive Services Director (although the title was/is a point of contention for the council). I was alerted shortly after the posting of this agenda by an anonymous source that there is a FIOA delayed for the internet history of Jordan’s computer. It may be nothing. It may be the City protecting it’s friends. This one will be interesting to watch.

9. Presentations, Projects, Department Updates

By request from the last meeting. we will get an update and presentation on the Trash Coordinator position and the progress made to address the solid waste and tipping fee shortfall.

Why it matter…

The city has been working through a budget gap tied to trash collection and tipping fees, the cost of disposing of waste at the landfill or transfer station. The Council previously approved $850,000 in free cash to help close that gap. This presentation should show what that money and that position have accomplished so far.

10. Mayor's Report

The Mayor typically uses this time for updates, announcements, and upcoming events. No specific topics are listed on the agenda in advance.

11. CAFO Report

Request for an update on Searles Estate expenses and revenues (requested by Chair Soto).

12. Requests of Councilors

This section is a running list of information requests from individual councilors to city staff. None of these are votes. They are questions, but they often preview what may come back as formal Council action later.

• Does the Methuen Housing Authority currently receive trash collection services through the city's municipal trash contract? (Req. of Chair Soto)

This was addressed at the last meeting. Not sure why it’s back.

• Update from the CAFO and City Solicitor regarding the implementation and status of the city's adoption of M.G.L. Chapter 200A, Section 9A, relating to the disposition and recovery of abandoned and unclaimed property, known as tailings. (Req. of Clr. Valley)

Why it matters: Tailings are unclaimed funds, such as uncashed checks, held by the city. This law allows the city to recover and use money that would otherwise sit unclaimed indefinitely.

• Request that the Mayor and City Solicitor provide an update regarding the Rail Trail depot overhangs, including the status of potential acquisition or transfer of ownership to the city, available legal options, and whether grant opportunities may be pursued to preserve and repair these historic structures. (Req. of Clr. Valley)

Things to remember here. The Laborors Union puts money into elections. They want their building fixed but they don’t want to do it. These overhangs were to be destroyed decades ago. Since nobody wants to do the research… we did. You can read about it AND see the supporting doc here… Depot Article. This is a waste of time and the City should be embarrassed it’s even come this far.

• Update on the feasibility study for the public safety buildings and DPW. (Req. of Clr. Santos)

• Request for the first report from the Sanitation and Zero Waste Coordinator, including trash related fines and tonnage. (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio and Clr. Drew)

This is connected directly to the Trash Coordinator update earlier in the meeting, asking for actual numbers on enforcement and how much trash the city collects. Liekly to be duplicative.

• Request for information regarding a non residential use operating at 4 Alderbrook Lane. (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio and Chair Soto)

This suggests a possible zoning or land use concern at that address but I think what the Council is going to find is that this is a residence for clergy and nothing more.

• Buildings Audit RFP status update. (Req. of Clr. Drew)

• City employee email signature standardization. (Req. of Clr. Drew)

• Fire Department fees update, covering lift fees and ambulance rate adjustments. (Req. of Clr. Drew)

Connects directly to TO-26-18 later in the meeting, which would formally raise these fees.

• Update on Tyler Financial and the MUNIS implementation plan date. (Req. of Clr. Drew)

MUNIS is the city's financial and accounting software system. This tracks progress toward getting it fully operational. It’s a massive project and these never go on schedule. Esepcially when you understaff.

• HHSI permit fees review and update status. (Req. of Clr. Drew)

• Request for a formal presentation and discussion on the Trash Coordinator position and progress made since the Council approved the $850,000 free cash request for the solid waste and tipping fee shortfall. (Req. of Clr. Drew)

This covers the same subject as item 9's presentation, requested here as a follow up discussion item.

• SeeClickFix clean up and follow up. (Clr. Drew)

SeeClickFix is the app residents use to report potholes, illegal dumping, and similar issues. This asks the city to review how those reports are being closed out. Personally, this app has proved useless. Items go in and die there or are closed without action. Someone should ask what we are paying for this.

• Boards and Commissions appointment and reappointment status update, including current vacancies, expired terms, members serving beyond their allowed term or maximum service time, and the administration's timeline for filling or replacing those positions. (Req. of Clr. Drew)

• Request that the City Solicitor provide an update on the ownership of the Depot Overhang associated with the Laborers Union building, including current ownership status and whether any title or deed information has been identified. (Req. of Clr. Valley and Clr. Drew)

A second, more specific overhang ownership question tied to the Rail Trail item above. Why… just ask the questions once. This seems like a pressure push fromt he Laborers Union.

13. Public Service

Grants

Public Service Grant, Temple Drive, Westgate Circle, Jewel Circle. Same National Grid project covered in Public Hearing Two above. This is where the Council discusses the projects, hopefully, before voting.

Licenses

• Solar Project License Agreement, Tenney Grammar School, 75 Pleasant Street, between the City of Methuen and Solect Energy Development LLC.

• Solar Project License Agreement, Comprehensive Grammar School, 100 Howe Street, between the City of Methuen and Solect Energy Development LLC.

Why it matters: These license agreements allow a solar company to install and operate solar panels at two Methuen schools. Paired with the Power Purchase Agreements listed under Contracts below, this is a common way for a city to get solar power without paying upfront construction costs, agreeing instead to buy the electricity the panels produce over time.

Contracts

C-27-1 Brox Industries, Inc. Bituminous concrete for the city's FY26 paving season, $111,425.00, with a winter months rate of $55.00 for December 1 through March 31.

C-27-2 Kitchen and Floor Décor, Inc. Removal of carpets and cove base and installation of VCT tile and cove base at Marsh Grammar School.

So long overdue.

C-27-3 Valerio, Dominello & Hillman, LLC. Legal services contract for fiscal year 2027.

Simple renewal for overflow work.

C-27-4 Power Purchase Agreement between the City of Methuen and Solect Energy Development LLC for Tenney Grammar School.

C-27-5 Power Purchase Agreement between the City of Methuen and Solect Energy Development LLC for Comprehensive Grammar School.

Why it matters: This was a project that start back when I was on School Committee. The goal is to reduce the electricity bill. By all projections this should be a big win over the next 20 years for the schools so long as the City Solicitor covered our bases.

14. Other Officers and Committee Reports

No specific items are listed under this heading on the agenda but I am sure someone will chime in.

15. Unfinished Business

Resolutions

TR-25-75. Resolution for the City Council to lay out and accept Cooper Lane as a public way. Removed from the table.

Why it matters: This is the vote that follows Public Hearing One. If the Council votes yes, Cooper Lane officially becomes a city maintained public way.

TR-26-53. A Resolution Requesting that the Mayor and Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Conduct an Insurance Review and Obtain Competitive Quotes and Options for City Insurance Coverage to Promote Transparency, Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability. Sponsored by Councilor Yanilda Santos.

Why it matters: This asks the city to shop around for insurance coverage rather than automatically renewing with its current provider. Competitive quotes can reveal whether the city is paying more than it needs to for coverage, which affects the budget that taxpayers ultimately fund.

This is a check the box exercise. The Mayor and PEC already announced they plan to move to GIC. This is just the council approving those efforts. Now that the PEC, which means the the unions, are on board.. everyone should be a yes.

Ordinances

TO-26-12. Ordinance to amend the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance to rezone a parcel of land fronting on Arcadia Street for commercial improvement. Removed from the table.

A few things merit a raised eyebrow. The petition dresses up what is essentially a private benefit, expanding a liquor store from roughly 2,000 to 4,200 square feet, as a "valid public purpose," and its spot-zoning defense leans heavily on the parcel being tiny and at a district border, which is exactly the kind of framing applicants use when the public rationale is thin. Notably, the applicant concedes the rezoning won't actually cure the setback non-conformities and will still require further ZBA relief for a larger building sited close to residential abutters, so this reads less like fixing an odd lot and more like assembling entitlements step by step. It's also worth flagging that K&K/Patel owns both the Merrimack and Arcadia parcels, which conveniently lets them characterize impacts on residential abutters as minimal while shuffling their own lot lines, and the attached exhibits (survey fragment, murky renderings) don't really let a reviewer verify the shape, scale, or buffer claims independently.

TO-26-16. An Ordinance Amending Section 9-52, Trash and Recyclables Collection, of the Methuen Municipal Code. Sponsored by Councilor Ryan DiZoglio, as amended.

Why it matters: This is the ordinance that sets the actual rules for how trash and recycling collection works in Methuen. Given the tipping fee shortfall discussed earlier in the meeting and over the last few months, changes here could affect collection rules, bin limits, or enforcement for every household in the city.

TO-26-17. An Ordinance Amending Section 8-7, Municipal Charges Lien, of the Methuen Municipal Code. Sponsored by Councilor Ryan DiZoglio.

Why it matters: A municipal lien is a legal claim the city can place on a property when a bill, such as trash fees or a code violation, goes unpaid. This changes how and when the city can collect unpaid charges by placing a lien on a property. This is to ensure we collect for trash bins, plain and simple.

New Business

Resolutions

TR-26-67. Resolution Declaring the Pleasant Valley School Property, 180 Pleasant Valley Street, Parcel ID #1109-78E-45, as Surplus Property and Authorizing the Same for Sale and Redevelopment.

TR-26-68. Resolution Declaring the Currier School Property, 36 Boylston Street, Parcel ID #914-105-63, as Surplus Property and Authorizing the Same for Sale and Redevelopment.

Why it matters: Declaring a former school building surplus is the first legal step toward selling it or opening it up for redevelopment. These are two more former school properties heading toward a new use, and residents near either site will want to follow the process as it continues. Both properties are in great disrepair and need to be gutted if not demolished. This is a great decision. I just hope Councilor DiZoglio doesn’t say anything illegal when discussion things again.

TR-26-69. Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of $15,795.31 for Fiscal Year 2027 Commonwealth of Massachusetts State 911 Emergency Medical Dispatch Grant.

TR-26-70. Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of $168,186.09 for Fiscal Year 2027 Commonwealth of Massachusetts State 911 Department Training Grant.

Why it matters: Both are state grants funding training and equipment for the people who answer 911 calls in Methuen. Accepting them brings outside money into the city instead of relying on local tax dollars.

TR-26-71. Resolution Authorizing Transfer Between Various FY26 General Fund Personal Services and Other Expenses Budgets. EPA Requested.

Why it matters: Budget transfers move already approved money from one line item to another to cover shortfalls or unexpected costs before the fiscal year closes. This is the risk we run by level funding electric and fuel. This was just poor budgeting the first go around. Although, systematic to avoid layoffs, we are no stuck covering it. It’s a hopeful game we play annually.

TR-26-73. A Resolution Declaring the Property at 30 Railroad Street, Parcel ID #716-14-16, as Surplus Property and Authorizing the Same for Sale and Redevelopment.

Why it matters: A third surplus property declaration on this agenda, this one for a non school parcel. Same effect: it clears the way for the city to sell or redevelop the site.

TR-26-74. Resolution Transferring Funds from the Edwin J. Castle Fund to the Methuen Literacy Project at Nevins Library and to Methuen Public Schools' CTE Early Childhood Care program.

Why it matters: The Edwin J. Castle Fund is a city held trust fund. This resolution directs some of that money toward literacy programming at the library and an early childhood care program in the schools' career and technical education track.

Ordinances

TO-26-18. Ordinance to Amend Section 8-5A of the Municipal Code of the City of Methuen to increase ambulance rates and charges and establish a new lift assist fee.

Why it matters: This ordinance does two things to the Methuen Fire Department’s ambulance fee schedule under Section 8-5A of the municipal code.

First, it raises the base ambulance transport rates across all three service tiers while leaving the mileage charge unchanged at $50. Basic Life Support Emergency goes from $1,489.24 to $1,750.00 (about a 17.5% increase), Advanced Life Support Emergency goes from $1,768.48 to $2,125.00 (about 20%), and the higher ALS tier (”Emergency 2”) goes from $2,559.64 to $2,975.00 (about 16%). The stated rationale is simply that the cost of running the EMS program has risen and the city wants the fee structure to offset those costs.

Second, it creates a brand-new $500-per-incident “lift assist” fee. This targets a specific situation: when the Fire Department is called to help lift someone who has fallen but doesn’t need to be transported to a hospital. Importantly, the fee is narrowly scoped to assisted living and nursing home facilities and explicitly excludes private residential requests, so a resident who calls because a family member fell at home would not be billed, but a nursing home that repeatedly calls for lifting help would be.

A couple of things worth noting for the review. The ambulance rate hikes are largely academic to residents with insurance, since Medicare, MassHealth, and private insurers pay a negotiated or federally set allowed amount regardless of what the city “charges,” so raising the sticker rate mostly affects the ceiling for reimbursement rather than what a typical patient pays out of pocket. The lift assist fee is the more substantive policy change and the one that deserves discussion: it is essentially a decision to bill commercial elder-care facilities for a service the department currently absorbs, which is defensible as cost recovery, but $500 flat with no tiering and the “not to include private residential requests” carve-out invites questions about how staff will consistently distinguish a billable lift assist from an emergency call, and whether facilities might hesitate to call for help to avoid the charge. One drafting note also stands out: the ordinance text labels the new fee “List Assistance” in the operative clause even though the table and title call it “Lift Assist,” which is the kind of typo worth fixing before adoption since it’s the actual code language.

That’s all she wrote… well except for the Execution session to approve old minutes and release them.

Executive Session

The Council will vote on whether to enter executive session under Exemption 7 of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, M.G.L. Chapter 30A, Section 21(a)(7). If it does, the Council will discuss and vote on the acceptance or disclosure of past executive session minutes from the following dates: February 21, 2017; June 11, 2018; September 24, 2018; October 29, 2018; July 26, 2019; August 14, 2019 (listed twice on the agenda); and September 25, 2019.

Why it matters: Executive session minutes are kept confidential when they are created, usually because they cover legal, personnel, or negotiation matters. Councils periodically review old executive session minutes to decide whether they can now be released publicly. The agenda notes that if the Council enters executive session, it will not reconvene in open session afterward, meaning the meeting ends there.

And that is really it now. See you after the meeting!

Watch live at methuen.gov/livestream

Channel 8 (Comcast) or Channel 32 (Verizon)

YouTube: youtube.com/@MethuenMeetings

*I may need to update this if it changes due to the location change.

The Methuen Police Department just released its 2026 through 2030 Strategic Plan, a document that lays out where the department wants to be by the end of the decade. Chief Scott McNamara and Director of Strategic Planning and Crime Analysis Dawn Reeby put the plan together after months of surveys, focus groups, and public meetings with residents, officers, and community groups (Strategic Plan, p. 7 to 8).

Here is what it actually says, broken down in plain terms, including the parts worth applauding and the parts worth watching closely.

How the Plan Came Together

The department did not write this alone. Between February and April of 2026, it ran an internal command staff focus group, a department wide staff survey, a focus group with residents of the Emerald Pines Over 55 Community, a session with union representatives and professional staff, a stakeholder meeting with MAN Inc. and Coolidge Street groups, and a live public Q and A hosted by Methuen Community Studios (Strategic Plan, p. 8). That is a real attempt at public input, and the department says it shared survey results and common themes back with staff to keep the process transparent (Strategic Plan, p. 8).

The plan is organized around nine goal areas: community engagement, staffing, people and culture, infrastructure, technology, specialized roles and domestic violence, leadership development, the mental health clinician program, and accreditation (Strategic Plan, p. 9).

That process is worth scrutinizing on its own terms. Every engagement session named in the plan happened in a tight three month window, February through April 2026, to shape a document meant to guide the department for five years.

The named participants are also a fairly narrow slice of the community: internal staff, one senior community, union and professional staff, two named stakeholder groups, and a single public Q and A session. The plan states results were shared back with staff, but it does not describe any public comment period or draft review by residents before the plan was finalized and released. It is also worth noting that the plan’s two principal authors have limited stake in carrying it out: Chief McNamara is retiring within weeks, and Director Reeby’s position was cut from the 2027 budget, leaving an open question about who owns accountability for the plan’s nine goal areas over the next five years.

The Good

Community engagement gets real attention. The department wants more officers out talking to neighborhood groups, senior centers, and nonprofits, and it wants to build a public data portal so residents can see crime trends and prevention tips for themselves (Strategic Plan, p. 10). That kind of transparency is a genuine improvement if it happens.

Wellness is finally a formal priority, not an afterthought. The plan calls for peer support programs, critical incident debriefing, cardiovascular and metabolic health screenings for all personnel on a rolling three year basis, and a formal policy letting officers and dispatchers attend therapy (Strategic Plan, p. 13). Officer burnout and stress are real problems in policing nationally, so building this into the department’s structure is a meaningful step.

The mental health clinician program is being protected. Methuen currently pairs officers with mental health clinicians to respond to crisis calls, but that program runs on grant money that will eventually run out. The plan commits to building a sustainability strategy so the program does not disappear once the grant ends, including a HIPAA compliant data plan and a real staffing structure (Strategic Plan, p. 18).

A civilian Domestic Violence Victim Advocate is coming. This is a dedicated, trained civilian whose job is supporting DV victims rather than a sworn officer juggling it alongside patrol duties. The plan also wants a sworn DV officer role down the line (Strategic Plan, p. 11, p. 16).

Staffing is set to grow, at least on paper. Budgeted positions would rise from 102 to 107, and the department plans to keep developing its cadet pipeline program to build a homegrown pathway into the force (Strategic Plan, p. 11).

The Bad

A lot of this plan is written in soft, non binding language. Words like “explore,” “evaluate,” and “pursue” appear constantly, for things like a drone program, a regional training hub, a fraud specialist role, and even the shift schedule change officers have been asking about for years (Strategic Plan, p. 15 to 17). None of that is a guarantee. It is a wish list with no attached deadline or dollar figure in most cases.

The drone program is not actually happening yet. The plan says the department wants a drone as first responder program, but only “pending availability of compliant, American made technology,” and it still needs to test how drones perform in cold weather (Strategic Plan, p. 15). That is a program that exists only in concept right now.

Some numbers are eye opening without much context. Carpet replacement at headquarters is estimated at $150,000 (Strategic Plan, p. 14), and that is just one line item among a long list of facility upgrades that includes HVAC work, an evidence room overhaul, and new bathrooms. The plan does not lay out a total price tag for all of this or where the money is coming from.

Cost is the biggest blind spot in the plan, and in this breakdown so far. Dollar figures show up piecemeal: $150,000 for carpet alone, a staffing increase from 102 to 107 budgeted positions, and a potential new headquarters building tied to national accreditation. None of it is added up into a total price tag, and the plan does not say how much would come from the existing budget versus new borrowing, grants, or a tax impact. Residents asked to weigh in on the plan’s priorities are effectively doing so without knowing what any of it costs them.

The Ugly

The organizational chart shows real staffing gaps right now. Each of the department’s three patrol platoons is budgeted for 15 officers but currently has only 12 filled, meaning 9 open patrol positions across the department today. The narcotics unit has 2 of 4 positions filled, and the gang unit shows 2 openings with no one currently assigned (Strategic Plan, p. 12). Growing the department from 102 to 107 positions does not mean much if existing budgeted slots are not being filled first.

National accreditation could mean a brand new building. The department is already accredited at the state level and wants to pursue CALEA, the national accreditation standard. But the plan includes a blunt footnote: meeting national infrastructure requirements “may necessitate either the construction of a new facility or significant upgrades to the existing building” (Strategic Plan, p. 19). That is a massive, unbudgeted capital project hiding inside a bullet point, and residents deserve to know what that could cost before it becomes a done deal.

The current headquarters sounds like it needs serious work. Between the evidence room upgrade, new unisex bathrooms with showers, HVAC problems significant enough to need “ongoing evaluation,” and a request for a project manager just to keep contractors organized, the plan paints a picture of a building that has been neglected for a while (Strategic Plan, p. 14). Officer wellness initiatives will only go so far if the building itself is part of the problem.

The Bottom Line

This plan reflects real community input and sets priorities that most residents would probably support: more engagement, better officer wellness, a protected mental health response program, and a path toward national accreditation. The honest gaps are in the details.

Big items like the drone program, the regional training hub, and the potential new headquarters building are still just ideas without funding plans attached. Whether this becomes a real transformation or a document that mostly sits on a shelf will depend on what gets funded, and when.

None of that changes the underlying math for Methuen. This plan is landing on top of a city with a track record of deferring major investment, and the bills are stacking up elsewhere too: aging school buildings, overdue DPW infrastructure work, and the ongoing liability of the Searles Estate are all likely to get expensive over the next several years, on top of whatever this plan ends up costing. A recent change to the city’s insurance arrangement has not altered that picture by much. Methuen’s budget still runs largely on residential property taxpayers, and nothing here suggests that structure is about to change. Whatever this plan costs will be competing for room with everything else the city has already put off.

The full plan is available through the Methuen Police Department at 90 Hampshire Street, Quinn Public Safety Building, Methuen, MA 01844, or by calling 978 983 8801 (Strategic Plan, p. 21).

Source

Full Report: MPD 2026 - 2030 Strategic Plan

Methuen Police Department, 2026 to 2030 Strategic Plan, created by Chief Scott McNamara and Director of Strategic Planning and Crime Analysis Dawn Reeby.