Development & Governmental Relations Committee Meeting January 13, 2020

City Council
Holyoke Massachusetts

Notice of Committee Meeting
There will be a regular meeting of the committee on

Development and Govt. Relations

Meeting to take place at Holyoke City Hall on Monday January 13th at 6:30PM
Per order of the Chair: David Bartley

Agenda:

Item 1: Previous Meeting Minutes

Item 2: FY 2019 Annual Plan Re-Programming of Community Development Block Grant Funds

Item 3: Bartley 12/3/19: Order: The city council encourage the Mayor and the Receiver, respectively, to post information about the 2020 Census on the City’s website & Chanel 15 and the HPS website and Chanel 12. Information should be in English and Spanish. (See the Administrative Assistant for literature.) The website and TV channels should post information about the need for Holyoke residents to participate and also the availability of jobs at over $19.00/hour. See 2020census.gov/jobs and 1-855-JOB-2020

Item 4: Order: The Holyoke City Council encourages all city department heads to provide correspondence to Spanish-speaking persons in Spanish to the extent feasible. The Holyoke City Council particularly encourages that technical letters from the Mayor’s office, School Dept., Law Dept., Building Commissioner, Planning Board, City Clerk, License Board, and City Council, by translated into Spanish, upon request.

Item 5: Bartley 11/19/19: Order: 123 Pine – license Ordered, that in accordance with Section 2-336(c) of the Holyoke Code of Ordinances, the City Council approves a License to Enter with the Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. (VOC) for 123 Pine Street and the adjacent parcel (#062​-03-001). The purpose of the License to Enter is to allow VOC property access to perform its due diligence for its planned redevelopment of the properties. The VOC entered into an Option Agreement with the Holyoke Redevelopment Authority to acquire and redevelop the properties. The License to Enter shall expire on September 30, 2020 being the same date as the Option Agreement ends. Should the Option Agreement be extended, the License to Enter shall also be extended until the date of closing of the property sale.

Item 6: Bartley 11/19/19: Order: That the Honorable City Council, in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30B and the Holyoke Procurement Ordinance, vote to accept an offer of $1.00 from Western Mass Demo Corp. to purchase and redevelop 229 Beech Street which is currently a vacant single-family house on a 6,491-square foot lot. The property is identified in the Holyoke Assessor’s Records as Map 061, Block 06, Parcel 006 zoned Multifamily Residential (RM-20) with an assessed value of $106,400.

Item 7: Bartley 11/19/19: Order: That the Honorable City Council, in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30B and the Holyoke Procurement Ordinance, vote to accept an offer of $1.00 from Western Mass Demo Corp. to purchase and redevelop 2 James Street which is currently a vacant single-family house on a 6,360-square foot lot and the adjacent James Street parcel comprised of an 8,500 square foot lot. The properties are identified in the Holyoke Assessor’s Records as Map 082, Block 00, Parcel 059 and Map 082, Block 00, Parcel 060 both zoned Downtown Residential (DR) with assessed values of $87,600 and $4,700.

Item 8: Bartley 11/19/19: Order: That the Honorable City Council, in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30B and the Holyoke Procurement Ordinance, vote to accept an offer of $1.00 from Western Mass Demo Corp. to purchase 2 Vernon Street and the adjacent parcel which are identified in the Holyoke Assessor’s Records as Map 082, Block 00, Parcel 099 and Map 082, Block 00, Parcel 100. The property is the former Springdale Turn Hall is approximately 11,300 square feet in size situated on a 24,560-square foot lot. Western Mass Demo Corp. proposes to demolish the structure and construct two houses on the properties. Both properties are zoned Downtown Residential (DR) with assessed values of $75,300 and $86,000.

Item 9: Order: The law dept. and problem property group provide it’s regular 6-month update on the city’s receivership program and any other relevant issues. Refer to DGR with copy to Law Dept. Plan to make a committee presentation in November or December.

Item 10: Scheduling of next DGR Meeting