Lowell City Council met for just over an hour on Monday night in a session that was dominated by discussion about how to handle traffic concerns. During comments at the end of the meeting, Councilmember Leah Groves announced her intention to resign from the council within 30 days to pursue other endeavors.
All councilmembers were present for Monday’s meeting.
Fire Department Presentation
There were no public comments for items not on the agenda, but Fire Chief Cory Velzen was present to provide an update from the Lowell Area Fire Department.
He shared that for the first quarter of the current fiscal year – July to September – the department had responded to 113 calls in the city. That was slightly above average, and Velzen thought the department was on pace to have 1,200 calls in total for the year across all three jurisdictions that it serves.
While the department had a $20,000 surplus at the end of the year, Velzen said staff was currently in the process of creating a five-year strategic plan and a 20-year long-term plan that will outline the increased staffing and other needs of the department.
“We are at an inflection point for the department,” according to Velzen.
Letters Going Out About Lead Lines
Some Lowell homeowners will be getting letters from the city informing them of the possibility that their home has or had lead water service lines.
According to Assistant City Manager Rich LaBombard, an inventory of the approximately 1,400 water lines servicing Lowell properties shows the following:
- 9 lead service lines
- 69 galvanized service lines
- 549 service lines of unknown material
- 749 non-lead service lines
Typically, service lines are the responsibility of a property owner to maintain or replace. However, a state law passed in the aftermath of the Flint water crisis requires municipalities to replace service lines with lead and galvanized pipes within 20 years. A more recent federal regulation has bumped that timeframe up to 10 years.
“We’re responsible for all of it,” City Manager Mike Burns said.
The homes most likely to have lead or galvanized pipes are those in the historic, downtown neighborhood, LaBombard said.
Barrier, Stop Signs Hoped to Slow Speeding Traffic
Three of the four business items for Monday’s meeting had to do with traffic control on three city streets: Riverside Drive, Monroe Street and Foreman Street.
Riverside Drive
Earlier this year, Lowell City Council approved placing a temporary barrier at Riverside and Elm to prevent vehicles from driving north on Riverside from Main Street. Residents on the street had stated concerns about the volume and speed of traffic on their road.
The barrier was slated to come down in October after a three-month trial run, and Burns said that within 24 hours of its removal, four residents called city hall to ask why it had been taken down. Five Riverside residents also spoke during Monday’s meeting to share their support for the barrier, noting that it made their road more peaceful. They also felt that it increased safety.
Resident Annette Ritzema polled all 24 neighbors living on the stretch of road and found 21 were in favor of restricting traffic from Main Street, one was opposed and two were not home.
Peggy Covert, who lives on N. Washington, spoke in opposition to the barrier, noting that people have long driven down Riverside to enjoy its scenic views. “To me, it’s the most scenic little stretch of town,” she said. Covert thought it was disappointing to block access to it, although a resident later noted that people could turn down Spring off Hudson if they wanted to access the street.
“I don’t think anyone doesn’t want you going down the road,” said Riverside resident Kimball Dlouhy. “We just don’t want you going 80.”
Burns said Riverside is scheduled to be repaved in 2026 and at that time, city councilmembers could permanently block the road using a berm or similar landscaping. However, that might pose a challenge for parade line-ups which now take place on Riverside Drive since access to S. Broadway was blocked off several years ago. A gate or speed tables – which are similar to speed bumps – were other options.
Councilmembers seemed most agreeable to the idea of a gate, although Councilmember Jim Salzwedel noted that the council was setting a precedent in allowing residents to dictate the restriction of traffic to their road.
“Whatever we do here, we’re going to have to do on four or five other streets in town,” Salzwedel said. He noted that traffic and speed is an issue on multiple streets in Lowell.
Councilmember Eric Bartkus said he had heard from some residents on other side streets that their traffic had increased since access to Riverside was restricted. He felt pedestrian safety was paramount and thought speed tables might make sense, particularly in the area near the parking lot near Main Street.
Mayor Mike DeVore said it was rare for councilmembers to be thanked for the work they do and that this was a situation in which residents were almost unanimous in their approval of the council’s action. He said the council could determine a permanent solution prior to the 2026 roadwork but added: “I think that at a minimum, we need to put those barriers back up tomorrow.”
And that’s just what councilmembers agreed to do, voting unanimously to erect the barrier at Elm Street indefinitely.
Monroe Street
In another agenda item, councilmembers approved placing stop signs on Monroe Street at the intersections of Marsac and Avery.
The goal is to reduce speeds on Monroe, but Salzwedel said that would likely push traffic to Jefferson and Washington (once repaved).
“I’m kinda with Jim (Salzwedel) because eventually we have to look at Washington,” Councilmember Marty Chambers said.
DeVore asked why a sign was going in at Avery. He thought traffic would already be slowing down as they approached the stop sign at Main Street. Burns said local businesses were adamant about having a stop sign at Avery, apparently to better allow traffic to enter and exit the parking lot there.
Later in the meeting, Burns noted that plans are underway to add an island on Monroe Street to replace the center turn lane. He said he hadn’t heard any opposition from business owners.
Councilmembers voted 4-1 to approve the placement of stop signs on Monroe with DeVore being the lone no vote. Burns said he would return to the council with a proposal to add staggered stop signs on Jefferson and Washington as well.
Foreman Street
Councilmembers unanimously approved an ordinance requiring vehicles to yield to pedestrians crossing at a mid-block crosswalk.
The Lowell Police Department had previously placed signs in the crosswalks on Foreman Street directing traffic to stop for those crossing. However, the signs referenced a state law which apparently doesn’t exist. Now that the city has a passed an ordinance, the signs can be placed on the road again but with language that references the local ordinance.
City Manager’s Report
During his report, Burns said that he had narrowed the Police Chief candidates down to four people. “We have some very, very good candidates,” he said. There will be a future meet-and-greet on the Showboat for the public to meet the finalists.
Early voting in the City of Lowell seemed to be popular with Burns sharing that 800 people took advantage of the opportunity to vote before election day. Another 900 or so had returned absentee ballots by Monday.
Burns said that he had the authority to remove trees, and he would be having the trees in front of the entrance of City Hall removed. He said DPW staff spent “hours and hours” taking care of the trees and cleaning up the fruit they drop. Chambers noted that the trees in the 200 block of W. Main Street also dropped fruit and were lifting pavers. He thought those probably needed to be removed as well.
Lowell City Council went into closed session at 8:06pm “to consider material exempt from discussion of disclosure by state of federal statute.”
The next regular meeting of Lowell City Council will take place on Monday, Nov. 18, at 7pm at Lowell City Hall.
You bought the house on Riverside Drive, so now you want to make it private so the entire town has to drive around. Makes no sense.
City Manager Burns…your in the tree removal business but not the river cleanup business? But the City of Lowell website proudly displays the Flat River on the website. That makes sense to who?