2026-10-07 - Lake Quinsigamond Commission

00:00Uh, this is Wednesday, October 7th,

00:032026, 6:00 p.m. for an online meeting.

00:09Uh,

00:10we have one thing to discuss,

00:14uh, which is reviewing possibly take

00:16action on scheduling a public hearing to

00:18take place at the October 28th, 2026

00:22Lake Quinsigamond Commission meeting

00:24regarding houseboats

00:26and vessels with similar impacts to Lake

00:29Quinsigamond in all its waters. But, I

00:32was told we had one person who asked to

00:36speak at this meeting,

00:38uh, earlier today. And, uh,

00:41so I decided that he wanted to say

00:43something, we would follow the 3-minute

00:46rule and let him speak first, and then

00:49we'll go to that motion.

00:52Is Mr. Sullivan on?

00:55>> Uh, that's me, Sully Roberts. Thank you.

00:57>> Okay, Sully Roberts, Mr. Roberts.

00:59>> Appreciate it.

01:00>> Okay.

01:02Proceed.

01:02>> Yeah.

01:03Thank you. Um, so just wanted to speak

01:05to I I don't want to touch on kind of

01:07the issue that the overarching, uh, or

01:10the singular issue that was touched on

01:11last meeting. Um, I think that that

01:14seems to be a a more separate thing.

01:16What I'm talking about is solely around

01:18the issue of houseboats.

01:20Um, to give you guys some of my

01:21background, um, previous to staying at

01:24home with my daughter now, um, I was the

01:27outreach manager for Veterans Inc. Uh,

01:30including running the Veterans Inc. uh,

01:32food pantry in Worcester.

01:34Um,

01:35I just long story short, I've done a lot

01:37of work in homeless services,

01:39homelessness prevention, um, and also,

01:41you know, kind of extracting people from

01:43homelessness. And, I think, you know,

01:46I'll I'll expound on this more, um, at

01:48the October 28th meeting, um, or or I

01:50should say whenever it um, the next

01:52meeting is scheduled. Um, I just want

01:55the Lake Quinsigamond Commission to be

01:57aware of the potential impacts that you

01:59may have on people's housing and also to

02:03just keep in mind that any

02:07what I would hesitate to call eviction

02:09because it's not quite eviction but it

02:11moving anyone in a houseboat off of the

02:14lake I would just really strongly

02:16encourage you folks to do it in a harm

02:19reduction informed manner that tries to

02:22at all times maintain the dignity and

02:25the humanity of the people who are

02:26living in those houseboats.

02:28So again, I'll I'll expand on that more

02:30when we get to the meeting.

02:32Um

02:33I have a thoughts on a completely

02:35separate track

02:36related to the individual

02:39but I'll I'll submit that separately. So

02:41just wanted to get that out. Thank you

02:43so much for the time and thank you for

02:44allowing me to speak. I really

02:45appreciate you folks.

02:47>> Okay, thank you very much.

02:50So this definitely illustrates that we

02:52had advertised the meeting and we

02:54accepted anybody who wanted to come and

02:56speak. Now let's move on to the motion.

02:59Does any commissioner want to make I

03:03discuss first of all.

03:05>> Bill, you may have to take a roll call

03:07since we're on a video to make sure

03:09who's here and we have a quorum before

03:12we start.

03:12>> Yes.

03:13I was I was going to make sure that we

03:16do a roll call vote.

03:19>> I I think prior to you need to set

03:23who's here in attendance from the

03:25commission

03:26and you need to

03:27do a poll

03:28to make sure we have

03:30who we need before we vote.

03:32>> Okay.

03:36We'll take attendance then. Emma, are

03:38you present?

03:39>> I'm here.

03:41>> Kathy?

03:44Is okay.

03:46Playing.

03:47Matt?

03:53Matt, you're you're still phone is not

03:55on.

04:04>> So, are you saying Maddie? Um I am here.

04:07>> Okay. No, I was actually saying Matt.

04:09I'll get back back to him. [laughter]

04:11He's having a problem getting his

04:13speaker on.

04:14Ryan?

04:17>> Ryan Brothers here.

04:19>> Okay. Uh Lieutenant Gerard?

04:22>> I'm here.

04:23>> Ken?

04:25>> Here.

04:26>> Uh I'm also here.

04:29Uh Dean?

04:33Dean, your microphone's off.

04:35>> Okay, I'm so sorry. I just I'm just I I

04:38Thank you.

04:39>> And Matt now, I see your microphone's

04:41on.

04:42>> Yep, here.

04:43>> Okay.

04:44Uh and Maddie spoke. Did I miss anybody?

04:49>> Mike He's not here. But he's not here.

04:51>> Mike Right. I I

04:53understand he's sick. So, uh

04:561

04:592 3 4

05:035

05:046 7. We have a quorum.

05:09Thank you, Ken.

05:11Okay.

05:13Now to go on to the motion,

05:15uh does any commissioner want to speak

05:17on it?

05:23If not, does a commissioner want to make

05:25a motion that we uh

05:28uh do proceed with having this public

05:32hearing at our next regular meeting?

05:35>> I'd like to make that motion that we uh

05:37proceed with having this at the next

05:40meeting, the October meeting.

05:42>> Okay. October 28th meeting.

05:45>> Affirmative.

05:46>> Do we have a second?

05:47>> Second.

05:48>> Second.

05:49>> Second.

05:50Okay.

05:51Does Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.

05:54>> It might be good to just state what the

05:57meeting is about, even though it's

05:58listed on the agenda,

06:00in the motion.

06:01That's reference houseboats and to be

06:04held at a public hearing. That's all.

06:06>> Yes, I'm going to repeat the general

06:08motion

06:10when we actually make the motion at the

06:13October 28th meeting. There's probably

06:15some more

06:17verbage that has to be attached to it to

06:19cover all possibilities, but since this

06:22is just a vote on having the public

06:25hearing to talk about the subject, it

06:27can be a little more general. So, now

06:29we're going got a motion

06:32to have a public hearing, which will

06:35take place at the October 28th, 2026

06:39Lake Quinsigamond Commission meeting

06:41regarding houseboats and vessels with

06:43similar impacts to Lake Quinsigamond and

06:46all of its waters.

06:50All right, I'm going to

06:52now take a voice vote and I'll just go

06:55across my screen here, starting with the

06:59upper left hand corner. Emma,

07:01how do you vote?

07:03>> Yes.

07:04>> Yes.

07:06Uh

07:07Matt, how do you vote?

07:10>> Yes.

07:12>> Ryan, how do you vote?

07:14>> Yes.

07:15>> Yeah.

07:16Lieutenant Gerard, how do you vote?

07:19>> Yes.

07:19>> Ken, how do you vote?

07:21>> Yes.

07:24>> I vote positive as well.

07:27Dean, how do you vote?

07:28>> I vote yes.

07:29>> Yes. Have I missed any commissioner?

07:34>> And Maddie Bredbenner, I vote yes.

07:36>> again. Okay.

07:38You're You're You're showing up on the

07:40planning on my screen. First of all, we

07:42have eight.

07:43>> Yeah, that's fair.

07:45>> Okay, they have eight positive votes. Do

07:48we have any nay votes?

07:52There are only eight people here,

07:53obviously. Do we have any abstentions?

07:58No, of course no one said either. So, we

08:01have now completed the vote and it is

08:03passed unanimously by all those present,

08:06eight positive votes.

08:09Okay.

08:10Does anybody want to say anything or

08:13make a motion to adjourn?

08:15>> I make a motion we adjourn.

08:17>> A second.

08:19Okay.

08:20>> We'll take uh

08:21a voice vote a voice vote again. Emma?

08:24>> Yes.

08:26>> Maddie on the planning?

08:28>> Yes.

08:29>> Matt?

08:30>> Yes.

08:31>> Brian?

08:32>> Yes.

08:33>> Lieutenant Gerard?

08:35>> Yes.

08:36>> Ken?

08:37>> Yes.

08:38>> I vote yes as well. Dean?

08:41>> Yes.

08:42>> Okay, we've got eight positive votes.

08:44The meeting is adjourned. Thank you all

08:47for attending.

08:48>> Thank you.

08:48>> Thank you.

08:49>> Thank you again for allowing me to

08:50participate. Have a great night.

08:53>> Yes, glad to have you, Sully.

08:55>> Thanks, sir.