Written by: Dan Shibilia
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.
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