A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Wednesday, February 10, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. in the
Aldermanic Chamber.
President Brian S. McCarthy presided; City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch recorded.
Prayer was offered by City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch; Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane led in the Pledge
to the Flag.
The roll call was taken with 14 members of the Board of Aldermen present
Mayor James W. Donchess and Corporation Counsel Stephen M. Bennett were also present.
REMARKS BY THE MAYOR
Mayor Donchess
First, City Clerk Patricia Piecuch did a really good job in managing the election along with all of the poll
workers. We had many voters at all of the polls yesterday and the election went smoothly and the City
Clerk’s office did a really good job, not only the City Clerk but everyone that works for her.
Also, we had a snowstorm the day before the election and | thought the DPW did a pretty good job of
cleaning all of that up.
On the Burke Street project, the garage that we have purchased and now will be upgrading; the committee
that is supervising the project will be meeting with architects soon. | talked with Alderman McCarthy about
scheduling a meeting of the Board of Aldermen on a Saturday morning which will probably occur in March
so that everybody who has not seen the building can go through it. That will be a public meeting so | expect
there will be some members of the public that will attend and go through the building as well and |
encourage everyone to do that because it is a very interesting building and an interesting project and it will
be worthwhile to have seen it as we go forward.
Next we have Lydia Foley who is up for the BIDA tonight. She was recommended of course by the
committee and | think she’s a great appointment. She is a young person in our community who has started
her own business downtown, Purple Finch Realty. | think she will provide a perspective to the BIDA that
they do not currently have and also | think she will learn from the more senior members of the BIDA about
many business and development issues that we have in the city.
The Art’s Commission is helping to supervise the consultant web in the study regarding the feasibility of a
Performing Arts Center. They have concluded their first interviews and | think they are asking to come back
to talk with a few more people regarding location and some other things but that seems to be going very
well. | finished, along with a number of the Aldermen who attended, the Ward meetings that we held in
each of the nine Wards. | thought the input was very positive and constructive. | learned a lot and | believe
the other members of the Board who were able to attend also learned a lot.
Finally, we met with State DOT earlier this week regarding the disagreement concerning the Broad Street
Parkway, specifically the issue of whether the parcels that were acquired for the route that was later
changed are eligible for federal reimbursement. This is a one of a kind issue because it is very rare
apparently that a route is approved and then an acquisition is made and then that route is changed. This
has raised some unique issues which our team is discussing with DOT and ultimately with Federal Highway
but it does raise issues regarding whether the city can get back all of the federal money that was earmarked
for the project. We feel strongly that we should and that there is sufficient reason for that to occur pursuant
to law and regulations but those discussions are on-going.
RESPONSE TO REMARKS OF THE MAYOR - None
