City Council Meeting

The Council opened with a mayoral appointment and license renewals, then heard public comment focused on deteriorated sidewalks on the Hatter's Point/Merrimack Street approach to the river and traffic-calming efforts in the Point/Shore/Main Street area; comments also clarified that the Planning Board is awaiting updated data before advancing the city master plan. Councilors responded with an explanation of limited near-term funding after a failed override, announced a community forum on district infrastructure, and described a citywide street and sidewalk condition assessment to guide future capital planning.

The meeting's primary work was the FY2027 budget public hearing and line-by-line Coffman-rule review. The Ad Hoc Budget Committee recommended the budget and Council debated revenue conservatism, staffing and grant-writing capacity, and the limited room for cuts. After detailed line-item consideration (including separate votes on the school and library lines, enterprise budgets, and funding sources), the Council adopted the full FY2027 operating budget (Council bill 2026-001) with a total appropriation of $93,229,971 (vote 7-1). Other actions included unanimous approval of two storage-of-flammable/combustible permit transfers at 60 Haverhill Road (2026-100) and 23 Rocky Hill Road (2026-101); referral of bills 2026-102 through 2026-110 to committee with targeted referrals of 2026-106/107 to the Planning Board and 2026-109 to the Energy Committee; and unanimous passage of a late-filed resolution recognizing June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month (2026-111). The meeting recorded robust debate about process and priorities but concluded with the budget and the listed permits and referrals approved.