Council Recap: May 4, 2026

Senior Citizens lead the attack on the Council over accountiability. Trash passes and the Nepo Resolution stays on the table after a real awkward moment. Not a bad night overall.

Written by: Dan Shibilia

---

Full agenda with attachments: Here
Recording of Meeting on Youtube: Here

---

The Council met Monday night for its regular May meeting. All members were present and accounted for which made the crowd composed of largely senior citizens happy. The agenda was amended early by request of Councilor Simard who motioned to move the tipping fee transfer up to immediately follow the Mayor’s Report, as he knew that is why everyone was there. This was seconded by Valley, and that passed unanimously. A moment of silence was observed for a member of the community connected to the Pesce family and Councilor Santos offered words of wisdom. There was no mention of God, for those keeping track.

Public Participation

The themes were consistent: trash, accountability, and the expectation that elected officials show up and do the job.

Cornelius Smith identified himself as a business owner and equipment operator. He wants city equipment liquidated rather than left sitting in the DPW yard where it will, in his words, turn to junk and get stripped.

Linda Borngruino took a quick shot at absent councilors from the last meeting and called for them to respect the Mayor’s time, do their jobs, or resign. She called them a disgrace.

Barbara Ell echoed the same sentiment: step down if you won’t show up.

Dottie Pepe kept it personal. “I’m disappointed.” She acknowledged that everyone is busy, but pointed out that public housing residents are dealing with trash problems severe enough to attract rats, and invited councilors to come see the mess for themselves. “You wanted this job to make a difference. Be here.”

Debra Ward asked the Council to consider residents who can’t manage their own trash without support.

Steven Tarpino addressed the ongoing pickleball court situation, citing noise impacts on the surrounding neighborhood. He referenced other communities wrestling with the same issue and suggested this could end up in court.

Linda Soucy asked everyone — including on social media — to take a step back. Stop assigning blame. Focus on getting things done. She called for a social media pause to reset the tone. A reasonable ask.

Kathy Woekel came with receipts — literally. She read from SeeClickFix messages documenting a guardrail issue and made clear she is not impressed with that platform’s interface. To put it mildly.

Lisa Gomez has done considerable trash cleanup work on her own. She’s fed up with Harvey and the ongoing failure to pick up large, illegally dumped items behind her home.

Jack Burke addressed the nepotism ordinance. His critique was substantive: the ordinance is flawed. It lacks consequences, has no complaint procedure, no investigation authority, and doesn’t apply to school department hiring. He also didn’t acknowledge that the stated goal of the ordinance was to address the summer jobs issue specifically. Still, the structural critique stands.

Dan Thibault said he’s embarrassed by the trash situation and doesn’t want to keep cleaning up after the trash company, but he’s worried about what happens if it doesn’t get resolved.

Organizational Business

Councilor Soto made a statement about meeting access and then suggested the Mayor, not the Council, called the meeting that 3 members missed.

This was vaguely stated at best and intentionally misleading at worst. The Chair runs the Council’s meeting schedule, not the Mayor. The Mayor may request a meeting but the Chair approves and schedules. It’s in the council rules and procedures. The Mayor can’t force the council to meet.

Minutes

Valley objected to the approval of the minutes and moved to include a statement made by the Chair to the Mayor in the minutes from the April 21 meeting. Seconded by Santos. Passed unanimously.

A note on the minutes in general: they are not statutorily required to be verbatim and rarely add meaningful value to the public record.

Appointments

Kevin Barry — Promoted to Deputy Fire Chief

Moved by Pesce, seconded by DiZoglio. The Fire Chief recommended Barry. The position is budgeted. Councilor Drew confirmed the promotion structure is set by the union contract as it requires how many of each position need to be on each shift. Soto asked about the chain of command; the Chief explained the lieutenant-to-deputy pathway, with the lieutenant's appointment coming to the Council at a future meeting. Passed unanimously.

Mayor’s Report

The Mayor covered a lot of ground:

PACE Massachusetts: on the agenda later tonight (and covered below).

Special Education / Out-of-District Spending: The Mayor announced an RFP for a targeted review of out-of-district special ed spending systems. He was clear: this is not a discontinuation of services. It’s a review. The out-of-district cost is $18 million in FY26. One school placement alone runs $3.5 million for 13 students. The Constellation program, which would bring some of those services in-house, carries a $2.7 million startup cost with no guaranteed savings. There is also an option on the table to explore becoming a school choice district.

DiZoglio asked whether Branch Street could be used to pursue grants for in-house special ed. The Mayor confirmed it’s being explored through the Constellation program.

Health Insurance: The city is running at a 110% loss ratio. For every dollar collected, $1.10 goes out in claims, he explained. The Mayor is advocating for a resolution that would allow the administration to explore other options stating “the status quo isn’t working. Councilor Drew asked why GIC is being pushed when employees are clearly pushing back. The Mayor acknowledged a 2019 analysis projected $3 million in savings under GIC and said an updated analysis is needed. Drew also asked about the historical health insurance trust fund funding patterns. The Mayor acknowledged the city has consistently run over budget on health costs and that planning a budget overrun into the budget itself creates its own problems as it’s uncapped, uncontrollable, and unpredictable with any accuracy.

Economic Development / Zoning: The Mayor announced work with a team to revisit and revise the city’s zoning ordinance, noting Methuen has one of the lowest commercial tax rates in the region. Councilor Marsan asked to be included on the team. Done.

Other announcements: School Committee member Baez was recognized for organizing a job fair. Congresswoman Trahan will visit the Arlington neighborhood on Wednesday and an arts and music festival is scheduled for May 14th at the Senior Center.

Tipping Fees: TR-26-45 (As Amended)

A Resolution Authorizing a Transfer of $850,000 from Free Cash to DPW Solid Waste Disposal Expenses

If you’ve been following the trash saga, you know the backstory. This transfer was needed to cover tipping fees for the remainder of FY26 after the line item was underfunded in the budget. It failed on April 21. It came back tonight and the crowd came for it.

On reconsideration: Moved by Drew, seconded by Simard. The City Solicitor initially characterized this as a second read upon reconsideration. The Mayor disagreed agruing a failed vote doesn’t count as a first read, so this required an Emergency Preamble Authorization (EPA). The Solicitor ultimately agreed the Mayor was right.

DiZoglio invited a Harvey representative to the podium. The rep clarified that Harvey never said they would stop trash pickup and that they found out about that claim on social media. DiZoglio asked about the extra barrels situation and the inconsistency in fee payments. The Harvey rep estimated approximately 4,500 extra barrels are out in the city.

The Mayor pushed back on that number: those 4,500 barrels cover both trash and recycling, and the city doesn’t charge for recycling. The trash ordinance also has no language about cart renewal, which he said needs to be corrected. He also confirmed the city is not past due on invoices, a fact Valley confirmed with Harvey directly.

Councilor Drew, clearly frustrated, cut through the back-and-forth: the issue tonight is moving $850,000 into the account to pay the bill. Whatever isn’t spent comes back to free cash. Just vote. Spoiler aler… They didn’t. The conversation continued to sway in and out of relevance to the point of the resolution at hand for a while longer.

Councilor Marsan didn’t want to take the full amount from free cash but couldn’t identify an alternative and talked in circles without making an amendment while stating he would like an amendment. It was interesting.

Councilor Pesce then became a dancer partner for Councilor Marsan’s circle dance but eventually moved to amend the resolution to add language mirroring TR-26-48 which sets up a requirement for a monthly report to the Council on actions taken and invoices paid. Seconded by Drew. CAFO confirmed she can work with that. Amendment passed unanimously. It took her a bit to get there but ultimately this was a good play.

Main motion as amended — EPA required. Pesce asked what the risk was if the EPA failed. The Mayor asked the Council to just do it. Both the EPA and the amended resolution passed unanimously.

Worth noting: Santos voted no on reconsideration but yes on the final vote. Make of that what you will.

CAFO Report

The CAFO walked through how tonnage and trash billing projections work at the request of Chair Soto. This has been discussed now at 2 past meetings but she was only present for one of them. Councilor Valley asked about a grant-funded position. No major developments and nothing really noteworthy.

Requests of Councilors

Quick status updates on outstanding items:

• Echo Lane Sewer Connection: Proposal requested. Mayor has a timeline in an email and will share it.

• Oakland Avenue Bridge: Inspection report received; repairs to come from CIP. No change from last meeting.

• Public Safety Buildings / DPW Feasibility Study: No update.

• New Trash Barrel Order: Arrived. Distribution is ongoing.

• Barrel Fee Collection (Years 2, 3, 4): No update provided.

• Lowell and East Capitol Street Construction: Paving expected by end of May; final paving scheduled for August.

• Parks and Buildings Audit RFPs: Parked until after the budget season.

• Pickleball Court Concerns: Still in subcommittee. Mayor said he’s all ears.

• 2-Hour Downtown Parking (DiZoglio): Chief MacNamara wasn’t present; tabled for now. DiZoglio noted this is about downtown employees and salon clients whose appointments run longer than two hours.

• Lowell Street Bridge: Flagged by DiZoglio for further discussion.

• Swan and Jackson Street Sign: New request tonight. Perry had a quote. Just needs a funding source.

On pickleball: what was supposed to be a brief update turned into a 20-plus minute off-agenda discussion involving the entire council, the Recreation Director, and public comment from a representative of the neighborhood residents who left disappointed. Councilor Drew shared that changes are being explored that include adjusted hours, a reservation system for all six courts, and silent paddles, all of which were apparently decided 45 minutes before the meeting at the Subcommittee meeting. A discussion around a sound study being needed before anything is finalized. The mayor wants to talk to Recreation Director Angelo before any decisions are made. Councilor Pesce asked whether alternative locations have been explored (they haven’t) and whether courts can be limited to Methuen residents (they can).

None of this was on the agenda. The Requests of Councilors section is not the place for substantive policy deliberation. This discussion, given the level of engagement it received, was almost certainly an open meeting law violation.

Other Officers and Committee Reports

• Simard on Veterans: Four applications received for the VSO position.

• Marsan Economic development: subcommittee discussed zoning, ADUs, and planning/permitting with Merrimack Valley Planning.

• Drew Parks: No further update from subcommittee.

Old Business

TR-25-75 (Cooper Lane as a Public Way): Tabled for a joint meeting.

TR-26-42: Seasonal Restroom Policy for Non-City Use of Athletic Fields. Moved by Valley, seconded by Pesce. Recreation Director Angelo was aware of the original complaint that prompted this. This was a second read do there was no real conversation. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-43: Transfer of $42,500 to Fund Grant Writing Services. Moved by Pesce, seconded by Santos. The Mayor confirmed grant writing services are fully funded in the FY27 budget and this contract will come back to the Council for approval once a vendor is selected. Valley was concerned $42,500 isn’t enough; the Mayor noted it’s consistent with what Haverhill spends (~$150K annually). This was also a second read do there was no real conversation. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-44: Transfer of $40,000 from Free Cash to Fund Payroll Processing. Moved by Valley, seconded by Santos. Another second read with no discussion. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-46: Acceptance of $75,000 Brownfields Redevelopment Fund Grant from MassDevelopment. Moved by Valley, seconded by Santos. Valley asked what happens if the property is sold and the CAFO confirmed the funds would be returned. Passed unanimously.

TR-26-47: Letter of Support for the State Auditor’s Audit of the Legislature (Question 1). Moved by Drew, seconded by Santos. No discussion. Passed unanimously.

TO-26-13 (Nepotism Ordinance Amendment): This was awkward. Everyone around the table sat with their heads down as the Chair called for her beloved nepo resolution. No one moved it off the table. It stays.

The photo below shows this from minute mark 4:12:55 of the youtube recording.

New Business

TR-26-49: PACE Massachusetts (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy)

A representative from the program explained how it works: no public funds are used; financing is attached to the property and repaid through a tax assessment the city collects and remits to PACE. Minimum project size is $250,000; there is no cap (creditworthiness is the limit). Drew confirmed no public funds are at risk and asked the CAFO if the city can administer the lien collection and she said yes. Marsan asked about marketing materials for local businesses; the Mayor confirmed they’re attached to the agenda. Passed unanimously.

TO-26-11: Pest Control Ordinance for Demolition, Site Clearing, and Commercial Waste

Moved by Drew, seconded by Santos. DiZoglio has been working on this since February with the Health Department. Health Director Caeli gave background: ongoing issues with new developments, where builders commit to pest control measures and don’t follow through. Councilor Simard asked about recourse for past violations. Passed unanimously.

The Bottom Line

Tonight’s meeting had real business… the tipping fee transfer got done, PACE passed, the pest control ordinance moved forward, and several transfers were cleaned up. The Barry promotion sailed through without drama.

What didn’t work: the pickleball discussion hijacked the Requests of Councilors section for well over 20 minutes without being on the agenda, a neighborhood gets no real answers or even clear path forward, and Councilor Soto’s procedural statement early in the meeting got the basic facts wrong about who calls a regular meeting.

The tipping fee vote, unanimous in the end, was the right outcome. Getting there took longer than it needed to. Councilor Drew had it right from the beginning: move the money, pay the bill, return whatever’s left to free cash. It really is that simple.

The live agenda with backup attachments is available at cityofmethuen.net. Inside Methuen is an independent local publication. Corrections and updates welcome.