Council Recap: April 21, 2026
Trash, nepotism, and a $75k office makeover that didn’t make it out alive
Written by: Dan Shibilia
This one had some moments. A feel-good citation that didn’t quite feel good, a nepotism ordinance that got tabled before anyone could agree on what problem it was solving, and a trash funding vote that failed and with real consequences announced before the night was even over.
I think the award for best councilor tonight goes to Councilor Drew. He had the right questions at the right times. You’ll see more as this goes on.
Here’s everything, in order.
Roll Call / Agenda
All nine councilors present. Pesce moved to pull TO-26-13 (the nepotism ordinance) and place it after item 9. Valley seconded. Passes unanimously.
Pledge / Invocation / Moment of Silence
Still doing this. Still making it religious. Still wondering why.
Public Participation
Bonita LaTorre (sorry if I spelled that wrong) came to speak on the VSO vacancy. She spent 20 years in the army and asked the council to keep the values of military service in mind when filling the role.
A letter was also read into the record from a firefighter opposing the potential switch from BCBS to GIC. He raised concerns about disrupted care for employees managing ongoing health issues and pointed out that fewer than 60 municipalities in the state participate in GIC. Worth keeping in the back of your mind as that item eventually comes back off the table.
Minutes
April 6th regular meeting minutes accepted.
Proclamations / Correspondence
A citation was presented to Michele Desrochers of Creative Hair for 23 years of service providing hair and beauty services to residents of Methuen. Sponsored by DiZoglio.
A few things worth noting here. It wasn’t on the agenda as proclamations usually are which would include the sponosor. We learned tonight it was sponosored by DiZoglio. DiZoglio mentioned he only met her two weeks ago which is when he decided she was deserving. No judgment on that, but it stood out. Marsan did make the point that the recognition was about more than just the salon, which was a nice moment. That moment was quickly ruined as Soto rushed through the presentation in what felt like a hurry to get to photos, not really giving Michele much of a chance to speak beyond a quick thank you.
TO-26-13 — Ordinance Amending Section 4-1(J): Nepotism
Moved by MacLaren, seconded by Valley.
This one meandered for a while before landing exactly where you’d expect it to.
Pesce raised a legitimate concern right out of the gate: what about people who genuinely chose the same career path as a family member? Should a firefighter’s kid be blocked from becoming a firefighter in their hometown? The HR Director acknowledged some revision might be needed, particularly around separating divisions within departments, and noted that having family members supervise family would likely run up against the state ethics law regardless.
Pesce followed up with a fair question: do we even know how many family members currently work for the city? The HR Director’s answer was it’s “hard to quantify… maybe 10” which was not exactly reassuring as a baseline for writing new policy. She estimated only one instance of a family member currently supervising family that she knows of.
This is Drew’s first big win of a question tonight, “what’s actually driving this?” Soto explained it came out of a conversation with HR and the assistant solicitor, rooted in a complaint that summer jobs were being given preferentially to city employees’ families. She called the proposed ordinance the most stringent in the state as written, which seemed to be a point of pride rather than a red flag.
Drew called it “overkill” (another point for Drew in my new game of best councilor award) and said what’s already on the books seemed sufficient. Soto got a bit testy, asking whether Drew thought family members should be able to vote for each other… a framing that didn’t quite map onto the actual discussion.
DiZoglio offered the most memorable hypothetical of the night: what if two city employees’ parents married each other, making the employees step-siblings in their late 30s? Under the ordinance as written, one of them would need to leave within 90 days. Soto held the line that someone would have to go. The HR Director suggested they could simply move to a different division. DiZoglio looked visibly disturbed by this.
Marsan liked the idea of keeping family members out of supervisory roles over each other which totally missed the point of why Soto said this was coming up. Simard supported the concept but wanted to table it to avoid unintentionally shaming employees who followed a family member into public service. The Mayor noted for the record that the city has hired every kid who applied for summer jobs in recent years because the applicant pool is just that thin.
Pesce moved to table. DiZoglio seconded. Passes unanimously.
[My take]: There’s a real policy question buried in here, but the ordinance as written wasn’t ready. Pesce and Drew were right to pump the brakes. “Most stringent in the state” is not a goal. Fixing a real problem is.
Mayor’s Report
Before the Mayor could start, Soto made an extended statement about how the council should not be viewed through the lens of favorable versus unfavorable votes. She talked about checks and balances, said votes aren’t personal, and expressed concern about the body being ridiculed. As chair, she said she wants to protect the integrity of the council and move forward with mutual respect without creating division.
The Mayor thanked her and said he hoped “those sentiments are echoed back my way by members of the council.” Make of that what you will…
On to actual news:
MEVA recently launched Route 25, a new cross-town bus connecting the Loop and Haverhill Street Plaza.
Leaf and yard waste pickup started April 6th and runs through November, collected on your regular recycling day.
Autism Awareness flag was raised at City Hall on April 6th.
Acting VSO Tim Sheehy was acknowledged for keeping operations running. The permanent search is posted, and Simard will lead the search committee.
Grant writing services are on the agenda tonight, with a target of $3–4 million in new grants.
2026 paving season: bids are in for full reclamation work, ready for DPW on May 4th. Milling is still out to bid and the stagger is intentional.
FY2027 budget: the Mayor acknowledged the “crunch” being felt across the commonwealth, said the city is looking for new revenue, and said the quiet part out loud … an override would likely not pass in Methuen.
CAFO Report
Pesce had requested projections on the cost of the Mayor’s paid parental leave executive order. The CAFO sent the data right before the meeting, so everyone was seeing it fresh.
The headline number was $2.5 million represents what it would cost if EVERY EMPLOYEE took all four weeks. That scenario would never happen so presenting it is a bit silly. CAFO went on to explain that based on 2023 data, 13 employees used leave, and if all of them had taken the full four weeks, the actual cash value would have been around $65,000.
Pesce said she supports the benefit but raised a process concern: this should have gone through collective bargaining, where it could serve as a real tool at the table. Worth watching how this develops with the unions.
Requests of Councilors
Echo Lane Sewer Connection (Valley): Nothing new as the mayor is bogged down with budget prep.
Police/Fire/DPW Building Replacement (Santos): A vendor contract is expected at the next meeting.
Oakland Avenue Bridge (Santos): The Mayor wasn’t aware of a specific state report, but the bridge is on the state replacement list. No timetable exists. Looking at roughly $60k for near-term repairs. Representatives Payano and Reyes are working to help secure funding.
New Trash Barrel Distribution (Drew): New orders are being fulfilled without issue. Fee collection runs through spring, then Harvey takes over management. Drew asked why a new position was created if it’s being handed off and the Mayor clarified the new hire will manage the vendor and enforce sanitation issues out in the field.
Lowell and East Capitol Street Construction (Marsan): Work has started. Six weeks expected.
Youth Baseball Field Restrooms (Soto): Ties back to concerns in March about freezing temperatures and pipe damage. Soto acknowledged they can push it down the road as its on the agenda tonight.
Holy Family Hospital Maternity Services (Valley): The Mayor spoke with the CEO of Merrimack Health. The facility is restructuring into med-surg, with maternity focused in Lawrence going forward. The Mayor acknowledged the city’s ability to intervene is basically nonexistent. Valley said she’s received calls indicating about 85 jobs are affected, with some belonging to Methuen residents.
Parks Audit RFP (Drew): Mayor acknowledged the timeline was ambitious. It’s top of mind.
Buildings Audit RFP (Drew): A recent meeting with Trane out of Wilmington about an energy audit went well. Could provide a state-compliant path for facility upgrades.
Permanent VSO Posting (Drew and Simard): Simard read a letter from former VSO Paul Jensen expressing frustration over the ongoing vacancy. Appreciated that the posting is up as of today. Simard also made clear the Chair does not speak for him in her statement made at the beginning of the Mayor’s report and the Mayor can keep posting on Facebook the same way the Chair does.
Pesce flagged the pickleball situation as an issue for the next meeting which stems a complaint from a year ago has resurfaced and now involves police. More to come.
There was supposed to be a discussion over removing the 2-hour downtown parking limit with Chief McNamara but that never happened.
Contracts
C-26-82: Marsh Boiler Replacement, $796,689
Rise Group, Cranston RI. Includes a five-year extended warranty. Valley asked who handles the disposal of the current boiler and the Mayor believes that’s on the vendor. Moved by Pesce, seconded by Santos. The Mayor confirmed this is a critical project. Passes unanimously.
C-26-83: Two Zero-Turn Mowers for DPW, $48,888.60
MB Tractor & Equipment, Plaistow NH. On state contract, funded through CIP. Santos asked about the fate of the current equipment and the CAFO explained surplus equipment comes to council once a year for auction. Moved by Valley, seconded by Santos. Passes unanimously.
C-26-84: Old Ferry Road Culvert Engineering, $144,000
Woodard and Curran, Andover MA. DiZoglio wanted to know if an engineering report already exists; the Mayor clarified this contract is what produces that report. Ties to Congresswoman Trahan funding and prior work by Perry. Some back-and-forth about whether the road is accepted by the state and ultimately the DPW director will work to resolve that with documentation. Moved by Valley, seconded by Santos. Passes unanimously.
C-26-85: Community Development Office Renovation, $73,454.63
W.B. Mason, Woburn MA. Moved by DiZoglio, seconded by Simard. This one didn’t survive. Drew had the line of the night: “not proper to spend $75k to move desks.” That was the moment I decided he gets the gold medal of the night. The CAFO noted these weren’t budgeted operating funds. There was an discussion about whether the CIP funds could be repurposed, with the solicitor acknowledging rules exist on that but not spelling them out although eventually the CAFO did. Drew clearly caught on and you can tell he had thoughts how this money could be better spent although he voted in support. Fails 5-4. DiZoglio, Pesce, Santos, Valley, and Soto voted no.
[My take]: Drew called it. Spending $73k on an office makeover while pulling from free cash to cover tipping fees is a hard sell just wish he stuck with it and voted no. Bad vote… good outcome.
C-26-86: Employment Contract, Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Donahue
Moved by Pesce, seconded by Santos. No discussion. Passes unanimously.
Committee Reports
DiZoglio reported from the Public Safety Committee: the bird sanctuary had conservation staff exploring a path; a new dirt bike ordinance is in the works; utilities and handicap parking items are queued up; and National Grid was approached about downtown lighting. More to come on all of it.
Unfinished Business / Resolutions
TR-26-32: Health Insurance Exploration (MGL Ch. 32B §§21–23)
Still tabled. A motion to remove from the table failed when no one seconded it.
TR-26-35: $1,700 from Castle Fund for American Legion Memorial Day Parade
Moved by Drew, seconded by DiZoglio. Passes unanimously.
TR-26-36: Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month Proclamation
Moved by Drew, seconded by Valley. Passes unanimously.
TR-26-37: Currier School Transfer to City Government
Moved by Drew, seconded by Santos. DiZoglio confirmed that any future disposition still comes back to the council. Valley noted about $40k annually in maintenance costs while both buildings are winterized and the Mayor confirmed that Currier is unused; Pleasant Valley holds storage and city archives. The goal is to clear Pleasant Valley and get it listed. Passes unanimously.
TR-26-38: Pleasant Valley School Transfer to City Government
Moved by Drew, seconded by Pesce. Historical materials will need to be relocated before the building can go to market. Passes unanimously.
TR-26-39: FY26 Green Communities Grant from DOER
Moved by Drew, seconded by Santos. Passes unanimously.
TR-26-40: Accepting MGL Ch. 200A §9A (Unclaimed Property)
Moved by Drew, seconded by DiZoglio. Passes unanimously.
New Business / Resolutions
TR-26-41: Naming the Burnham Road Field for Mary McDonough
Moved by Drew, seconded by DiZoglio. Pesce noted this requires a public hearing per process. Tabled for public hearing.
TR-26-42: Seasonal Restroom Policy for Athletic Fields
Moved by DiZoglio, seconded by MacLaren. Drew explained this came out of the parks subcommittee to give the parks department a clear framework particularly around frozen pipes and the cost of porta-potties. Parks Director Angelo said he’d work with the leagues on expectations going forward. Soto asked whether pushing the season start back would solve it but Angelo explained shifting the calendar disrupts everything downstream and the focus is on giving kids a great experience. Passes unanimously.
TR-26-43: $42,500 Transfer for Grant Writing Services
Moved by Drew, seconded by DiZoglio. A transfer between budget lines to fund outsourced grant writing, with a $3–4 million fundraising goal. Drew asked why outsource versus a full-time hire and the Mayor said they budgeted, posted, and never got a qualified applicant. Passes unanimously.
TR-26-44: $40,000 from Free Cash for Payroll Processing
Moved by Drew, seconded by Valley. Needed because the Munis implementation is still incomplete … the city will be ready July 1st but the school department won’t, so the current payroll vendor has to stay on longer than planned.
Marsan asked why we’re here again and the CAFO explained the old council cut this funding and now it needs to come back. Drew called out the hypocrisy directly because this was founded until the last Council cut the funds and now we are putting it back. DiZoglio asked for a full Munis cost history; the CAFO said it runs about $200k annually and the legacy system is so manual that data has to be entered by hand just to migrate it. A Tyler Technologies rep is on-site a few days a week to help out but its costly and slow.
Soto took a jab at the CAFO, suggesting this reflected on how she’s perceived. The Mayor stepped in to defend her, noting her role goes well beyond Munis. Passes 6-3, with Drew, Marsan, and Santos voting no.
TR-26-45: $850,000 from Free Cash for Tipping Fees
Moved by Drew, seconded by Santos.
The background: tipping fees are what the city pays per ton to dispose of trash. The prior council cut this budget line last year. Costs have since risen in part because residents are putting trash in recycling bins and barrels are overflowing… plus the economy overall. The Mayor said the new sanitation coordinator will be out enforcing that.
Marsan pushed back, noting the Mayor recently touted $200k in savings. The Mayor clarified those were FY27 projected savings while this is current-year shortfall. DiZoglio expressed broader frustration that the city is constantly in reactive mode, plugging holes from prior underfunding. Drew asked for a full trash cost history and projections before the next meeting.
Soto asked what happens if the vote fails. The CAFO said the city would need to decide how to cover it and that possible answers would either be to cut something else or maybe skip some weeks of pickup. Soto asked, apparently in earnest, whether any communities do biweekly trash or if the city could “burn our trash.” The Mayor said other towns have experimented and nothing’s working; many are running out of disposal capacity entirely.
DiZoglio, Marsan, Santos, Valley, and Pesce voted no. Fails 5-4. (Needed six votes.)
[My take]: This needed six votes and didn’t get them. And before the night was over, the Mayor told the room that a disruption to trash pickup is now very likely as a direct result. Whether you agree with the no votes or not, that’s the consequence, and residents will feel it. The city’s trash situation is a slow-moving crisis, and kicking this vote doesn’t make the problem go away.
TR-26-46: Brownfields Redevelopment Fund Grant, $75,000
Moved by Valley, seconded by Santos. Passes unanimously.
TR-26-47: Letter of Support for Auditor’s Audit of the Legislature
Moved by Drew, seconded by MacLaren. Pesce brought this forward to support the Auditor in her effort to audit the legislature, as approved by voters on Question 1. Simard said he’d love to see hypocrisy voted out of office. Soto made a veiled statement about transparency that seemed to be aimed at someone in the room but it was unclear who took that shot. Passes unanimously.
New Business / Ordinances
TO-26-12: Rezoning Arcadia Street Parcel for Commercial Use
Applicant: K&K Realty Trust, represented by Johnson & Borenstein. Moved by Simard, seconded by Drew. Tabled for joint public hearing with Community Development.
Any Other Business
The Mayor closed with two significant announcements.
First: because the tipping fee transfer failed, he’ll be meeting with the DPW Director in the morning. His words: “Since we aren’t going to be paying the vendor for trash, there is very likely going to be a disruption to trash pickup service.” That’s not a hypothetical. That’s a heads-up.
Second: a meeting is scheduled for Thursday to discuss an early retirement program as part of the city’s effort to reduce costs heading into a difficult budget year.
That’s a wrap on April 21st. 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.