City Council Preview: November 2, 2026

Trash contracts, trust fund awards, and a long list of questions for the CAFO

Written by: Dan Shibilia

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Monday night is a full one. The Council meets at 7:00 P.M. in the Great Hall at the Searles Building, and the agenda is packed with a five year, nearly $15 million trash contract, a gift from Planet Fitness, a Home Rule Petition on unaccepted ways, and a rewrite of the industrial zoning ordinance.

Councilors are also arriving with a stack of homework for city departments, from credit card limits to the status of The Loop. If you like your civic life with a side of follow up questions, this is your meeting.

Here is the whole thing, in the order the agenda lays it out. No reshuffling, no cherry picking.

Links to original agendas

City Council Regular Meeting Agenda, Monday, November 2, 2026, 7:00 P.M.

The Opening Items

The meeting starts the usual way:

1. Roll call,

2. Acceptance of the agenda,

3. The Pledge of Allegiance,

4. Invocation and a moment of silence,

5. Public Participation, and

6. Organizational Business.

   1. Acceptance of the Minutes of the October 19th, 2026 Regular Meeting.

   2. Proclamations and Correspondence

We are expecting a full Council Monday night.

Consideration of Appointments

• Jeffrey Farelli: Superintendent of Building Maintenance. Backup is linked.

  This appointment is will sail through. Looking at the back up, the references read like a campaign finance report for almost every elected official with big important Methuen names like Tulley, Difiore, and Sheehan. I don’t know Jeff but if it wasn’t a done deal, that line up would have pushed him over the finish line.

• Michael Welch: Conservation Commission. Backup is linked.

  You may remember Mike Welch from the Unaccepted Ways Committee. He is the resident consultant hired by the City/City Council and somehow his street made its way to the top of the list for unaccepted ways to be paved. He knows his stuff when it comes to roads and clearly has the enginnering background. This will be interesting… if there is any discussion at all.

Presentations, Projects, and Department Updates

The one presentation of the night is Punch 4 Parkinson's, presented by Seán P. McCormack, BSN, RN.

Punch 4 Parkinson’s, a Boston-area nonprofit that pays for non-contact boxing training for people with Parkinson’s disease.

Founder Ryan Roach, a Boston Fire Department lieutenant and professional boxing manager, started the group after seeing how boxing helped his uncle, trainer Freddie Roach, and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson manage their Parkinson’s symptoms. The group connects patients with certified boxing facilities and covers the cost, which insurance doesn’t cover.

Since 2015, the organization says it has raised more than $1 million and supported over 400 people, whom it calls “Warriors.” It puts the annual cost of boxing support at close to $5,000 per person. The group has since expanded to people with multiple sclerosis.

Not sure what the purposes of this presentation is though. Are they asking the City for something? Setting up shop here? We shall see.

Mayor's Report

As usually, the mayor will cover the councilors requests plus other fun things he has to share.

CAFO Report

All four items come from Councilor Soto, and all four are the kind of questions that make a budget nerd sit up straight.

• Searles Estate expenses and revenues (Clr. Soto): A request for an update on what the Searles Estate is costing and what it is bringing in.

  The question that should be asked is what is the plan? How are we going to start turning this location into a revenue center for the City. Or, if nothing else, a self sustaining entity.

• City credit card use and limits (Clr. Soto): A request for clarification on how the city uses credit cards and what the limits are.

• Finance Department organizational chart (Clr. Soto): Who sits where in Finance.

• School Department contract payments (Chair Soto): Clarification of payment procedures for School Department contracts and renewals.

Requests of Councilors

Trash is the star of this section, and not for the first time.

• Housing Authority trash costs (Chair Soto): A cost breakdown and the tonnage fees for Methuen Housing Authority trash collection under the city's municipal trash contract.

• Unaccepted ways roadmap (Clr. Valley): A request that the City Solicitor and DPW build a dedicated section on the city website with a start to finish roadmap for accepting unaccepted ways. That means an overview, an online application or petition form, eligibility rules and documentation, fees, betterments and other costs, estimated timelines, and contact information.

• Echo Lane sewer connection (Clr. Valley): Clarification on the betterment fees and upfront costs the Mayor mentioned for the project.

• Buildings Audit RFP (Clr. Drew): A status update.

• HHSI permit fees review (Clr. Drew): A status update on an issue raised during the FY'2027 Budget Workshop.

• Solid waste (Clr. Drew): The tonnage and tipping fee report, current collection performance, and an update on the FY'2028 contractor transition.

• GIC transition (Clr. Drew): Enrollment status, employee and retiree outreach, and help for unenrolled or ineligible members.

• The Loop (Clr. Drew): An update on the bankruptcy and sale proceedings, city engagement, and the economic development strategy.

• Barrel fees (Clr. DiZoglio): Is anyone sending emails, and if there is no response, are we following up with a phone call?

Public Service

A. Grants

Public Service Grant #31358901, Taft Avenue: National Grid wants to install one JO pole on Taft Avenue, starting about 0 feet northwest of the centerline of the Goodrich Avenue intersection and continuing about 40 feet northwest. The new pole is P4443. Backup is linked in the list near the top.

B. Licenses

None.

C. Contracts

C-27-40 United Compressor & Pump Services, Inc. of Plaistow, NH, to replace one sewer pump at Bridle Path Lane. It covers removal and disposal of the old pump, plus all labor, materials, and equipment, for $32,891.63.

C-27-41 SHI International Corp. of Somerset, NJ, for the CityWorks asset management system software, authorized users, and a one year subscription, for $38,684.21.

C-27-42 Jessica Powers of Salem, MA, for a full time, one year grant position as Data Cataloger for the Historical Commission, helping organize the digital local history collection, for $72,800.00.

C-27-43 Andrew Brockway & Associates of Acton, MA, for engineering services on the architectural needs of certain parts of the Timony Grammar roof, for $29,000.00.

C-27-44 Northeast Behavioral Health Corporation of Danvers, MA, for the Mental Health Care and Jail Diversion Program, for $138,129.00.

C-27-45 is the big one. Waste Management of Londonderry, Inc. would handle curbside trash and recycling, plus dumpster pickup at certain locations, on this schedule:

• Year 1: annual rate $2,689,790, monthly rate $224,150.

• Year 2: annual rate $2,824,284, monthly rate $235,357.

• Year 3: annual rate $2,965,498, monthly rate $247,125.

• Year 4: annual rate $3,113,773, monthly rate $259,481.

• Year 5: annual rate $3,169,451, monthly rate $272,455.

Add it up and the five annual rates come to $14,762,796. One thing worth a second look: the Year 5 monthly figure of $272,455 does not match the Year 5 annual figure of $3,169,451 as listed, so expect someone to ask about that - probably Drew (calling it now). It pairs neatly with the councilor requests above on tonnage, tipping fees, and the FY'2028 contractor transition.

Everything else in this section will pass with little to no issue.

Other Officers and Committee Reports

None are listed on the agenda.

Unfinished Business

Resolutions

TR-26-90 A Joint Resolution of the Mayor and City Council calling for the reopening of the federal investigation into corruption involving the former leadership of the Methuen Police Department. Requested by Mayor Beauregard and Councilor Simard. Charter Objected on October 19th, 2026, so it returns this week.

Back by Charter Objection from the last meeting, tonight we get a full vote on this agenda item. It will be interesting to see how people vote and what nonsense they use to try and justify it.

TR-26-93 Authorizes acceptance of a Fiscal Year 2025 Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program award of $27,999.02. Requested by Mayor Beauregard. Backup is linked in the list near the top.

TR-26-94 Authorizes acceptance of a $48,759.90 Commonwealth of Massachusetts Fiscal Year 2027 Federal Municipal Road Safety Grant. Requested by Mayor Beauregard. Backup is linked in the list near the top.

TR-26-95 Accepts a gift of equipment from Planet Fitness to the Fire Department.

Ordinance

TO-26-20 Amended An Ordinance Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on Data Centers in the City of Methuen. The agenda notes a motion to remove it from the table. 

This is a 1-year hold on Data Centers. Hopefully, someone can “friendly amend” this to extend the timeline a bit longer. One year in City Government time is the equivalent of a few days. This needs to be a 3 to 5 year hold otherwise its just for show.

New Business

Resolutions

TR-26-96 A Joint Resolution of the Mayor and City Council calling for state and federal funding for the Arlington Neighborhood Infrastructure Project (EPA requested). Requested by Mayor Beauregard and Councilor MacLaren.

This is absolutely a worthy cause … safe and clean drinking water shouldn’t be a privelege. If this issue was discovered in the Arrowwood neighborhood, it would have been fixed by now.

That being said, “it’s just a piece of paper that does nothing” so it will be interesting to see who signs on especially after the hardline stance they took and will likely continue to take on the Solomon letter.

TR-26-97 Authorizes acceptance of a 2026 Sustainable Materials Recovery Program and Recycling Dividends Program municipal grant of $36,000. Requested by Mayor Beauregard.

TR-26-98 Transfers $33,000 from the Edwin J. Castle Fund to fund various awards. Requested by the Commission on Trust Funds..

$33,000 from the Castle Fund: $14,800 for a Nevins Library nonprofit training program and $18,200 for musical performers at the 2026 Methuen Santa Parade.

TR-26-99 A Resolution regarding Group Insurance Commission eligibility (EPA requested). Requested by Mayor Beauregard. It lands in the same meeting as Councilor Drew's GIC transition update.

This is sneaky… In December, Mayor Beauregard vetoed a council resolution that would have given elected officials city health insurance, saying it had been approved without a thorough analysis of the cost. Residents packed the Great Hall to oppose it, and the council fell one vote short of overriding him. Ten months later, the mayor is asking the council to do essentially the same thing. TR-26-99 would make every popularly elected official eligible for state GIC coverage for their entire term. The only change is the plan they would join. The resolution leans on $11.2 million in projected savings from moving to the GIC, but that figure says nothing about what it costs to insure part-time councilors and School Committee members.

Yes, the cost has changed dramatically under the GIC. Residents were told in December that this benefit needed a full financial analysis, so they are entitled to see one now. They are also entitled to an explanation of why the answer changed, and to know whether the people voting on this resolution will be the ones who benefit from it.

TR-26-100 Authorizes a Home Rule Petition relative to unaccepted ways maintenance in the City of Methuen. Requested by Mayor Beauregard and the Unaccepted Ways Committee.

Keep Councilor Valley's roadmap request in mind. This will allow all those unaccepted ways to be paved on the City dime.

Ordinance

TO-26-22 An Ordinance to modernize the Industrial Zoning Ordinance of the City of Methuen and promote economic competitiveness. Requested by Mayor Beauregard and the Industrial Zoning Working Group.

This is long overdue. We need an overhaul in our zoning to get Methuen out of the industrial revolution age of doing business.

Any Other Business for the Good and Welfare of the Community

This is the open floor at the end of the night, followed by adjournment.

Signing Off

The Council meets Monday, November 2, 2026, at 7:00 P.M. in the Great Hall, Searles Building, 41 Pleasant Street, third floor. You can also watch on Channel 8 (Comcast), Channel 32 (Verizon), or at Methuen.gov/livestream, and the full agenda and backup are linked above.