Sewer, Property Tax Rates on Monday’s City Council Agenda

The Finance Committee had one item on its agenda this week. The committee, chaired by Councilor Patti Devine, discussed how to pay for a $927,788 shortfall in the sewer budget.

Members of the Board of Public Works, chaired by Mary Monahan, and the Department of Public Works, directed by Carl Rossi, offered three ways for the budget gap to be resolved but none passed muster with a majority committee members.

This coming Monday at 7 p.m., the City Council will set the property tax rate for residences and businesses. But before that vote is taken, the council will have to decide if the budget gap for sewer services will be closed by raising property taxes to cover it, or to move money from the city’s Stabilization Fund to cover the expenses.

The two items are on the agenda.

The entirety of the meeting was dedicated to the sewer budget gap.

Also meeting this week, was the Development and Government Relations Committee. Members discussed surplus properties the city may sell and asked for a future meeting with the Office of Planning and Economic Development to get update on the Kmart plaza. The strip mall that had been anchored by Kmart, is owned by T.F. Holyoke Mass. dba (Doing Business As) Transform Co-investment of Illinois.

Documents councilors reviewed are here.

Video of entire meeting here.

The Ordinance Committee held an in-depth discussion with Assistance City Solicitor Michael Bissonnette regarding what is considered a group home vs. rooming house.

City Councilor Howard Greaney Jr. brought up an item to limit group homes in the city.

Three years ago the establishment of a 16-bedroom drug treatment group home took some neighbors and other residents by surprise who did not want a group home.

From the Holyoke Public Schools, this announcement:

Peck Middle School

“Holyoke’s new middle school will launch a new chapter for about 550 students in grades 6-8 when it opens next fall—but with a name and mascot that are already quite familiar to residents of the city: William R. Peck School.

After months of public engagement and several community surveys to choose an identity for the new school, on Monday, December 9, the School Committee and district leadership made the final determinations:

• The new school will retain the name William R. Peck School, the same name as the school that stood at the site of the new middle school for 50 years—from 1973-2023—before it was demolished almost a year ago to make way for the new one.
• The school’s mascot will continue to be a phoenix—a mythical bird that symbolizes renewal, hope, and transformation—as it was for the original Peck School from 2016 until it closed in 2023.
• The school’s colors will be red and black—the same color scheme used by Holyoke STEM Academy’s STEM Beats music group, which will be moving to the new school when it opens in fall 2025.”