WORCESTER – The Worcester City Council meets tonight, Tuesday, April 30.
Each week, ThisWeekinWorcester.com [TWIW] will provide a preview of the upcoming meeting to help keep readers informed of the on-goings of the city’s governing body.
Each preview will highlight five items from the City Council agenda for that week that haven’t already been covered by TWIW.
This week’s preview consists of a pilot program to install 3-D crosswalks, restoring ghost signs on the city’s old buildings, turning a baseball field back around, adding more WPD foot patrols in Main South and allocating money to preserve the city’s structures.
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- Watch your step! And watch where you’re going!
City Councilor At-Large Konnie Lukes has filed an order to request City Manager Edward Augustus, Jr. to consider adopting a pilot program involving 3-D crosswalks and putting it in place “at three busy intersections.”
Councilor Lukes is allowing a 30-day window for the City Manager to figure out how much these crosswalks will cost in time for the budget sessions.
To see how/what a 3D crosswalk is, check out this short video…from Iceland:
2. Boo! That Sign Just Scared You.
City Councilor At-Large Moe Bergman is asking the City to provide funding to restore “ghost signs” throughout the city to help “preserve and promote” the City’s history.
Ghost signs are the faded, painted advertisements on brick buildings [see photo below]. Preservation Worcester and Discover Central Mass. give ghost sign tours — and actually have one tonight at 5 PM.
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3. Ok, We Screwed Up. Let’s Put the Baseball Field Back Where it Was
The Committee on Youth, Parks and Recreation have two similar orders regarding the baseball field at Vernon Hill park — 1. The Committee wants to get its hands on the report from the consultants that made design recommendations that would prevent baseballs from causing property damage to adjacent neighbors of the field and how much those recommendations would cost.
And — 2. Find out how much it would cost to revert the baseball field at Vernon Hill Park back to its original design.
As ThisWeekinWorcester.com reported last May, in 2010 the City reconstructed and made improvements to the field. The backstop behind home plate was moved towards Ames St. The original backstop was located in what is now left field.
Since then, the good people of Ames St. have had to live under the constant stress of dodging foul balls and making insurance claims for their vehicles.
It’s time to get back to the good old days of hitting home runs into traffic on Providence St.
4. No Brainer: More Foot Patrols in Main South
District 4 City Council Sarai Rivera is requesting Worcester Police Chief Steve Sargent to provide foot patrol for parts of Main St. — from Chandler St. to King St., Hammond St. to Freeland St.., and Pleasant St. to west of Townsend St.
5. There’s No Such Thing as Too Much Preservation
On behalf of Yes for a Better Worcester Coalition, Preservation Worcester’s Deb Packard is asking the City to allocate $250k of tax levy funds to create a Preservation Fund that would be used to award small grants to small businesses, homeowners and non profits for the up-keep and repair of historic structures.
From the request: “Worcester is blessed with landmark buildings that tell us who we are, provide our city with its unique character, promote a sense of community pride, and generate economic development. Upkeep of these important structures is often costly, deferred maintenance can eventually be a trigger for demolition, and inappropriate alteration can compromise their significance. Further, we request the City annually apply for $50,000 in funds from the Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey and Planning Grant Program and annually allocate the $50,000 required match for those funds. The funds generated would be used to hire an architectural historian who would conduct required research on historic properties for placement on the MACRIS (Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System) List and/or the National Register of Historic Places, and to be used to establish Local Historic Districts.”
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