City Council to discuss lifeguard shortage, homelessness and construction noise

Marco Cartolano, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Updated ·3 min read

WORCESTER — The City Council returns Tuesday with an agenda that contains several orders from councilors.

The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Due to snow, it will take place virtually. Click here for information on how to participate.

Three orders relate to last week's discussion on homelessness, the city's Quality of Life Task Force and housing. Orders also touch on the city's lifeguard shortage and construction noise.

Homelessness and the Quality of Life Task Force

Last week, the City Council unanimously voted not to accept a petition from Samantha Olney, director of the nonprofit Homeless Addicts Leadership Organization of Worcester, requesting the city allow homeless people to set up tents in city parks and public spaces.

During public comment, Olney and others criticized the way the city's Quality of Life Task Force handles people who are homeless who have set up tents. The Quality of Life Task Force does outreach at encampments to encourage homeless people to use services such as shelters.

The task force is also involved in clearing out encampments, a practice that has been criticized by city homelessness advocates.

Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen is requesting that City Manager Eric D. Batista submit a report on the cost of funding the Quality of Life Task Force and a breakdown of the task force's hours spent on tasks such as handling nuisance properties, interacting with homeless people and cleaning the city.

Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Toomey also is making two requests related to housing and homelessness, asking Batista to invite representatives from the city’s colleges and universities to discussions and meetings related to homelessness and to investigate the potential of using unbuildable, undersized parcels to construct tiny homes.

Tiny homes have been built across the country as a way to bring more housing to groups such as veterans and homeless people.

City lifeguards

District 5 City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj is requesting a report on the shortage of lifeguards in the city.

The report would include strategies the city is using to recruit and retain lifeguards.

Last year, some city swimming pools could not open at the start of the swim season as a result of lifeguard shortages.

Swimmers at Bell Pond in July on a day with no lifeguards on duty.
Swimmers at Bell Pond in July on a day with no lifeguards on duty.

City officials said the state as a whole is facing a lifeguard shortage and they have tried various strategies to incentivize lifeguard recruitment last year.

Construction noise

District 2 City Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson is requesting Batista's office review the city’s construction noise ordinance to possibly amend the allowed operating hours for construction projects in residential zoning districts.

Mero-Carlson is requesting the city manager's office review the possibility of allowing construction only between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays. The current ordinance allows construction from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

A construction project on Hemans Street has caused complaints in the Poet Hill neighborhood.
A construction project on Hemans Street has caused complaints in the Poet Hill neighborhood.

The request follows complaints from residents of the Poet Hill neighborhood about noise, traffic and the ground shaking during construction of a five-story 210-unit residential project on Hemans Street.

Mero-Carlson has worked with the builders to address the complaints.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester City Council to discuss lifeguard shortage, homelessness