Oct. 1 Meeting Minutes
MONTELLO BUSINESS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES FOR Oct. 1, 2025
IN ATTENDANCE: Scott Dwyer President, Greg Belcher Treasurer, Lisa Waitt Belcher Secretary, Jack Lally, Fran Fistori, Richard Gowell, David Lynch, Derek Salamone BPD, Bill Hallissey BPD, Moises Rodrigues, Brendan Weeks BFD, George Pina, Bill Forte, Win Farwell, George Montilio, Jeff Smith, Westgate Lanes, Gale Lutz-Henrickson and Lee Henrickson, Vinny Colarusso, 2 Pires brothers, Michelle DuBois, Jean-Bradley Derenoncourt, Mary LaCivita, Jed Hresko, Mike Brady, Phil Nessralla, Francine Kaiser and a few others.
Scott opened with Old Business. Greg announced Treasurer report.
Sgt. Hallissey said meetups have been a problem in the past year, recently police officer on detail hurt in lot behind Foxy Lady Friday as a result. Machete holder arrested in another incident. Zero tolerance now is being done. Trying to move homeless along. MBTA has cameras at stations. Homeless encampments behind Westgate Lanes and still dumping trash. Gas station attendants are in fear from these meetup characters. Scott said more crosswalks needed and parking signs needed.
Greg made a speech about the recent shootings. George Montilio of Montilio’s Bakery said for 2 months his employees (60 people) have been in fear because of gunfire nearby and in the MBTA lot around 4-5 a.m. Some employees are dropped off by family members and they are in fear as well. License-plate-reading cameras are starting to be used to monitor and deter bad behavior.
Win Farwell said we need to drop residency requirement for police officers here and that competency should override residency. Win said we need to have a meeting with the entities including those at state level to focus on safety and that we need accurate crime statistics to focus. Consistency in results not just one-time better incidents.
Moises spoke about safety as well: MBTA should be doing its job to make safe its properties. Let’s use state resources to add to our enforcement. Per capita considering our population ratio to police patrolling we are fairly well-behaved. The social service agencies in our community should be discharging clients back to their cities and towns, not leaving them on our streets. 60% of homeless here are NOT from here. Students are leaving Brockton to go to other school-choice communities and we are losing about $18,000 per student. Money available was overestimated as part of the budget process. Parents need to be part of the process because they unknowingly are part of the problem indulging their children with ATVs, dirt bikes, etc.
Win and Jack: The mayor, council and police union can negotiate and agree using 150E and supercede city ordinances to drop the residency requirement. Nine police candidates are in academy currently. Some drop out due to their tattoos as an example of expectations.
Michelle DuBois as state rep spoke about the state planning to have strategy to deal with the meetups as it is not just a local problem. She thinks residency requirement for police should stand.
Jean Bradley Derenoncourt mayoral candidate said families are attracted to communities with good SCHOOLS and with SAFETY. Number one problem issue he hears from Brockton residents is lack of TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT. If you visit local churches of Haitian and Cape Verdean people in this city you will be more likely to find young people not smoking or using drugs. He is for the police residency requirement and himself took the police exam scoring 91%. We need competent people in leadership positions. We need to invest in afterschool programs for our children. We need to be competitive and show advantages of keeping students here. Past water plant purchase brought up as not a good idea. Leave politics out of the effective running of the city; get rid of incompetent jobholders.
Mike Brady spoke about grant from state for law enforcement safety $700,000 and school grants as well to help the city. Says cleanup and development on Court St. will happen. Lots of money coming from the state to Brockton; the city needs to use it wisely. The new BHS principal trying to turn the tide there. Senate voted to restrict internet/phone use in schools; waiting on House and governor to agree, vote and do the same.
Bill Forte inspectional services: permit counts are down this year. Women’s Legacy soccer in the works off Howard St. Route 37 as a positive home base for other activities in this city.
Montello St. industrial property being reinvented hopefully such as laboratory buildings. He thinks downtown will improve if the areas around it develop wisely. Only one inspector so see/click/fix is lagging but hopefully will catch up when new employees are hired. ISD better to contact than see/click/fix more effective results.
New administration…we shall see…meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
