TO:                  Mayor William F. Martin, Jr.

                                    And

                        Members of the Lowell City Council

FROM:             Bernard F. Lynch, City Manager

DATE:             May 3, 2007

SUBJECT:        COUNCIL MOTION OF 4/24/07 BY COUNCILOR JAMES MILINAZZO

                        REQUEST THE CITY MANAGER TO REPORT ON THE

                        IMPROVEMENTS TO THE STREETS AND THE SIDEWALKS

                        IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA

______________________________________________________________________________

Regarding the above mentioned motion, I have been in contact with Matt Coggins, DPD Director.  Matt stated that following the Designer Selection process, the firm of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB) was hired to develop the necessary documents to move forward with infrastructure improvements.  The scope of work is multifaceted.  It will include an analysis of the vaults which are located under many sidewalks Downtown.  Vaults have been an obstacle in the past in that the ownership and responsibility of care and maintenance is held both by private building owners and the City.  It is imperative to resolve this issue once and for all so that a clear focus and work plan can be developed to address the overall infrastructure needs.  The scope also includes identifying pedestrian paths, tree and bench locations, developing ADA compliant ramps and crossings and cobblestone repair and maintenance. 

As a result of the series of Downtown Summit meetings, the DPD has an opportunity to incorporate the input and issues brought forward by participants.  The Summit covered not only infrastructure issues but also the marketing, recruitment and retention needs of the downtown merchants.  The Summit Workshops were well attended and received good reviews from those who participated.

The goal at this time is to unveil a plan for Downtown improvements at a final Summit in early summer (June).  The plan will address immediate measures to be undertaken this year and will also lay the framework and scheduling for more major portions of work to include cobbles, paving, HP ramps and utilities.  Marketing, recruitment and retention policies will be part of this plan as well.

I hope this information is helpful and we will keep you updated as this process continues.

If you have any questions regarding this, please let me know.   Thank you.