SANITARY CODE Enforcement Inspector Matt Sheehan is on the hunt for a person or persons who are feeding the wildlife around City Hall. The well-meaning action is instead leading to an uptick in rodent activity at the august Merrimack Street building.

“It’s an ongoing issue on the property,” Sheehan told the Wednesday night meeting of the Lowell Board of Health. “My personal opinion is that it’s happening very early in the morning, when somebody is coming out to feed the wildlife, but rodents are eating it.”

He noted that the problem was big enough that the city had posted signs at several entrances to the property, “Do Not Feed Wildlife It May Attract Rodents.”

Perhaps it’s too dark to read the signs, or the culprit is simply ignoring public health guidance. Sheehan thinks the feeding frenzy is taking place as early as 5 a.m.

Chair Jo-Ann Keegan said the pest control contractor confirmed that there were bread supplies in the rat bait boxes around City Hall.

“Rats are hoarders,” she said. “And they are hoarding the bread that people are feeding the wildlife.”

The discussion was part of a larger conversation about an uptick of reports of rodents in the city, in part due to wildlife feeding, but also ill-maintained properties, unsecured trash and construction, which can displace rodents from their dens.

Keegan wished there was some kind of enforcement of not feeding the wildlife, but Sheehan said if he catches the person in the act, he’ll try counseling.

In the meantime, if you are reading this, and are the person feeding the wildlife at City Hall, please don’t.

— Melanie Gilbert

IT’S OFFICIAL.

The Lowell Center for the Arts has purchased the historic Smith Baker Center on Merrimack Street, marking a major milestone in a community effort that began in 2024 to save one of Lowell’s most significant architectural and cultural landmarks.

Once the City Council decided not to demolish the historic structure, the LCA began the work to resurrect the neglected 142-year-old building, including a robust public relations and fundraising campaign, and a full-court press on the City Council to approve the ambitious plan.

Built in 1884 for the First Congregational Church, the red-brick, Victorian-style edifice located at 412 Merrimack St. faces Lowell City Hall and the Pollard Memorial Library. The building features a two-tiered, 10,000-square-foot auditorium with 600 seats.

During the years of 1968-2003, the former sanctuary, once called “Lowell’s Cathedral” for its striking acoustics, hosted a variety of artists and cultural figures such as Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Maya Angelou, John Updike and Patti Smith.

The organization said it is ready to get started. Phase 1 construction will focus on stabilizing and preserving the building through extensive masonry restoration, replacement of the original slate roof, repair of historic windows and essential interior stabilization and preservation work.

That work may finally secure the building’s envelope enough to allow the reopening of the sidewalk and parking spaces along Cardinal O’Connell Parkway.

Three years ago, the sidewalk adjacent to the building’s northwest façade was closed to pedestrians and curbside parking and was blocked off by jersey barriers due to concerns about debris falling off the aging façade.

LCA was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Mass. Cultural Council’s Cultural Facilities Fund and the money will go directly toward critical stabilization work and preparations for full-scale construction.

“What began as a grassroots effort to save a beloved historic landmark from demolition has grown into a significant investment in the future of Lowell,” said CEO Owen Kelly. “Restoration will continue in phases over the coming years as the Lowell Center for the Arts works toward fully reopening the building as a permanent home for arts, education, history, and community engagement.”

— Melanie Gilbert

AMID THE continuously growing backlash against Flock Safety’s automatic license plate reading cameras the company has been going out of its way to defend its product and its reputation, but in Littleton late last month Flock committed what may have been the public relations equivalent of stepping on a rake.

This came in the form of the surveillance company appearing to have turned the controversial cameras back on in Littleton after the town had ordered them to be temporarily switched off, and more importantly, Flock did so without informing the town.

On its face that is not a very good look when the primary criticisms Flock has been facing from opponents of the ALPR systems have been its role in the proliferation of mass surveillance and that it has not been honest about cybersecurity or how it uses the data its cameras collect. As a result, Flock’s footprint grows smaller still with Littleton now moving toward canceling its contract with the company.

One of the more notable developments among all this was the response to the situation from the Littleton Police Department and Chief Douglas Landry. On Monday the police released a statement giving their interpretation of how the cameras came to be switched back on. The main culprit, according to the police, was a form of miscommunication, both when the cameras were turned off, and back when they were installed in the first place.

The cameras were turned off after a Select Board meeting in May after which police said “LPD administration did have a conversation with our Flock Safety representative at the time, in which we communicated that the program had been defunded at Town Meeting, that the Board had voted to de-energize the cameras, and we were holding off on using the system.”

That would almost seem like the opposite of miscommunication if the Littleton Police explicitly told the Flock representative about the town’s decision. It seems the problem was not whether the police told someone from Flock about the town’s decision, but that it was not done through Flock’s formal channels for this kind of thing.

“We did not explicitly inform Flock that we were turning cameras off at the town-level, which we have since learned is not the typical process for Flock to turn off cameras. We did not follow up to independently verify that the cameras remained off,” said the police. “Power was restored to the cameras based on Flock’s standard operating procedure, since they were unaware we did not intend to turn the cameras back on.”

At the same time, the police took the blame for not properly communicating with residents before the cameras were installed in the first place. This deserves a level of recognition. Police as a whole receive a lot of criticism that stems from a perceived culture of always backing up fellow officers no matter what.

This is a less serious situation than the typical instances where said criticisms are most often raised, like a controversial police shooting, but the police going on the record to say, “hey, we screwed up a little here,” is commendable in this day and age, especially when so many departments are jumping to the defense of their respective Flock systems.

The Littleton Police Department might rather still have the Flock system than not have it, but at least they are listening to the residents.

What is still puzzling is how the LPD’s conversation with their Flock representative was insufficient notice that the town was shutting the system down. The police can definitely be forgiven for thinking that was enough if their version of events is true. How does something like that not make its way up Flock’s chain of command, especially when the town announced its intention publicly in May?

More puzzling is what the police statement cited as Flock’s reasoning for turning the cameras back on without telling the town.

“Chief Landry asked directly whether this situation, a town’s cameras having to be unexpectedly repowered, would raise a flag internally at Flock Safety,” said the statement. “He was told that, given the volume of vandalism and tampering incidents the company has dealt with nationally, it would not necessarily be treated as unusual on their end.”

Would the opposite not be true? If I was a company contracting with police departments to have them use my product, and the internet became flooded with memes about destroying those police tools, I would think to tell the police department if I thought something happened to those cameras. This is especially so when people start to actually buy into those memes and start bringing down cameras, like what happened in Winona, Minnesota, this week where all eight of the town’s cameras were stolen overnight.

In Littleton’s case six were powered down, which should logically be the result of: a cyberattack which Flock should have asked the police about, vandalism which Flock should have asked the police about, a glitch Flock should have asked the police about, or the town turning them off intentionally, which Flock should have asked the police about.

Whatever happens now, the political will in Littleton seems to be moving in such a way that the cameras will be taken down. On the Littleton Select Board agenda Monday there is an item about the Flock camera issue during the public input/members’ updates section, so stay tuned.

— Peter Currier

DURING A candidate forum in Lynn Thursday, the six candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District seat gave their thoughts on a number of specific policy issues like housing and healthcare. One of the first things they were asked, though, was more broad: How would each of them define a successful time in Congress if they were to win the seat in November?

Beth Andres-Beck, who uses they/them pronouns, said they look at the country right now and see one “that has given up on the future,” and gave multiple issues they would like to see movement on to consider their term a success.

“I will consider my time in Congress a success if, at the end of it Congress is well-informed about AI and we have navigated the transformation disruption of these new technologies, such that they work for all of us and not just a couple billionaires who have gotten super rich taking everything any of us have ever written and trying to sell it back to us,” said Andres-Beck, noting that they would be disappointed if they stopped there. “I also want to leave Congress with more imagination, more creativity and a willingness to try new things, to try real solutions even if we call them socialism, to improve our lives, to believe that America can build things again and that together we can make this country great going forward.”

John Beccia pointed to the trend of young people leaving Massachusetts due to the rising cost of living, and said Trump’s tariff policies have been contributing to general economic struggles.

“All these costs are hurting working families. We need to reform our tax code to make sure the rich and the corporations are paying a fair share and then to provide tax benefits and tax incentives for people for people, home buyers and childcare,” said Beccia. “The second thing we need to do is to reform our education systems, and what is going on in the Department of Education is appalling, it is being gutted special education costs are killing our schools, we need federal grants for those.”

Beccia said early childcare should be subsidized, Medicare for all should be implemented, the “damage done by the Big Beautiful Bill” should be scaled back, and stock trading by members of Congress should be banned.

Jamie Belsito cited her position as the founder of the Maternal Health Alliance in Washington, D.C., and the presence of “maternity care deserts” across the U.S. and within the district caused by the closure of hospitals and maternity wards.

“My idea of success is to have a birth center at the Lynn Community Healthcare Center friends, because we can do it, and a childcare center that is free for this community. That is how we invest in our communities is by supporting families and babies,” said Belsito.

Dan Koh cited his prior experience in government, including as a Select Board member in Andover and working in the White House under former President Joe Biden, and said his goal in Congress would be “to take on and fight this president,” referring to Trump.

“Making sure people can afford to live, putting together a bold Democratic agenda of implementing $10 a day childcare, making sure we have Medicare for all, capping utility bills and rent costs. Actually making people believe Democrats can do something again,” said Koh.

Mariah Lancaster, who also uses they/them pronouns, cited their own struggles with epilepsy and their student loan debt having grown by $70,000 after a decade of repayment, and a goal of making sure people and families like them “aren’t struggling just to get by.”

“That includes being able to get the education you want no matter what kind of family you come from or your parent’s income, making sure you can get the healthcare you need no matter what kind of insurance you have … That families no longer live in fear of bankruptcy and eviction from private equity companies buying up their building,” said Lancaster. “That with climate change we are reversing the trends and we are on track to making sure we have a sustainable environment for generations to come, that we restore the truth of one person, one vote, that companies are no longer considered people under the law, and that we don’t have [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] roaming our streets, scaring our students, keeping families indoors, kidnapping our neighbors and murdering Americans in the streets.”

Tram Nguyen spoke about her arrival in the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam when she was just five, and how she has lived “the American dream,” which she said is out of reach for people today.

“So what do I consider to be a success? Making sure we are actually delivering for the American people again… That apathy comes when people cannot afford basic necessities, when they can’t put a roof over their heads, when they can’t afford food, when they can’t pay rent, when they can’t pay their utilities, when they don’t have public education or when there is no investment in climate change for us to actually save this planet for future generations,” said Nguyen.

In that sense, she said success would mean “bringing people in who are most impacted by policies to make sure they have seat at the table.”

The full candidate forum can be viewed on the Lynn Community Television YouTube page.

— Peter Currier

TYNGSBORO’S FIRE Station Building Committee hasn’t had a summer break. Members spent the season listening to the public’s opinion on what is and isn’t needed in a replacement for the nearly 70-year-old building on Kendall Road.

Town officials hoped the town would accept a $24 million plan located on the site of the Winslow School for the replacement. It did easily pass the May Town Meeting. But at the required special election that followed, it failed.

So the Select Board asked the committee to return to the drawing board and come up with recommended cuts to that plan. The report with those cuts detailed will be presented at the Aug. 10 Select Board meeting.

Speaking at the Town Meeting, opponents complained about the price tag with several speakers calling for a price range of between $17 million and $19 million.

Some residents also opposed the proposed location, 250 Middlesex Road, which was once the Winslow School. The school closed 25 years ago and has been empty ever since. The school would be demolished.

The need for a new station was not diminished by that vote. One of the many reasons for a new station includes the toxic air that firefighters inhale in their sleeping quarters, which are located opposite the bays for two fire engines and spew fumes when they are running.

Town officials wanted to achieve a new building that would last 70 years just as its predecessor has. But the reductions needed to lower the cost won’t allow that.

While the building committee kept working, a property on Potash Hill Road went up for sale. With office space of 34,000 square feet, it attracted the attention of town officials, and not just as a possible fire station. It might allow the town to realize a goal of a public safety building that would also house the Police Department. A shared space had been talked about for several years, but abandoned when it became clear the Fire Department’s need was critical.

Town Manager Colin Loiselle told The Sun, “When we were approached with the possibility of acquiring 100 Potash, we immediately toured the building. We have now toured it twice with public safety officials, our inspectional services officials — the building inspector, plumbing inspector, electrical inspector. The building appears to be in great shape.”

While the building committee is completing its work, there is now a parallel effort to evaluate whether the Potash Hill Road site is suitable for shared space. Loiselle said he anticipates hiring an architect to assess the feasibility of adapting the building and expects to have more information for the public within the next few weeks.

— Prudence Brighton