South Opportunity & Achievement Program

Help Shape the Future of Food in Our Region - Survey Closing Soon! The City of Brockton has partnered with Old Colony Planning Council, Plymouth County, Marion Institite, and others across our region to develop a Food System Action Plan for Plymouth County—and we need your input. Residents, farmers, food-related businesses, and community organizations are invited to take a short 5–10 minute survey to help identify priorities and guide practical actions for the next 5 to 10 years. The project will help communities like Brockton better understand local food needs and identify ways to support local food production, strengthen food-related businesses, improve access to food, and prepare for supply disruptions and extreme weather. The survey is anonymous, and you may skip any questions you prefer not to answer. Please take a few minutes to share your perspective and help build a stronger, more connected local food system for our region. Take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ourlocalfood The survey is open through March 22. Every response helps shape the plan.

MONTELLO BUSINESS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES FOR March 4, 2026 IN ATTENDANCE:Scott Dwyer President now 70 years young, Greg Belcher Treasurer, Lisa Waitt Belcher Secretary, Gale Lutz-Henrickson and Lee, Richard Gowell, David Lynch, Brendan Weeks BFD, Derek Salamone BPD, Jack Lally Ward 6, Dan Trout, Al Davis, Vincent Colarusso, Bill Forte, Jesse Ford of DQ, Bill Hogan city history, RFCU Francia Monteiro, Shirley Asack Ward 7, Mayor Moises Rodrigues and his contingency of assistants, Phil Nessralla, Councilor at Large Jeff Charnel, Djidji Monteiro, Adelino and Procopio Pires. Scott opened with Old Business. Greg announced Treasurer report. Bill Forte hiring 2 code enforcers out of 5 applicants. Jim Doucette health enforcer noted. Quadrants will be divided in city and we should see significant difference in the next 3 months. DPW and Refuse departments brought up issues with snow clearance. Shirley Asack…announced traffic division meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday March 5th at Arnone School regarding Angelo and Raymond Schools. Cleaned up North Main St. to free extra lanes. Refuse barrels still out in street beyond snowbanks and not picked up. Shirley and Mayor Moises will address. Jack said the equipment is having maintenance done. Dave Lynch said you can’t suck a mattress into equipment and expect it to work. State level needs to be lobbied about the contracts that the municipalities have to offer to get more contractors to sign on. Mayor spoke that residents need to respect the travel ban and cooperate. A city can impose a travel ban and enforce it with a $500 fine. Future reference! The state did send extra help because Mayor screamed at Boston (good!) And lots of contractors cannot sign on because of the CITY requirement of Brockton, New Bedford and Fall River that require too much liability insurance for the contractors. State is being requested to continue on all numbered routes to plow fully, not stop and turn around. Public Safety new building not done yet although it has been dedicated already. Piping infrastructure example to update and new 2-way traffic should be introduced. School and state funding confusion and Mayor trying to navigate the responsibility and negotiations. Speak up about real issues that can be corrected within reason. Nonprofits have been put on notice to be a part of solving the homeless issue, not just the same old situation. City Hall to be open to 7 p.m. on Wednesday nights all departments. Cemetery department will add one more person and Mayor agrees that it will take time to get practical about the operation. Also there are sadly some people on injury for an unreasonable time span, one for close to 40 years in the warm sunny state of Florida. Bill Forte said Inspectional Services will deal with any private property issues and DPW deals with public property issues (dumping, refuse, etc.) George DePina, Jim Doucette and 2 new hires coming soon. He announced housekeeping internal and function issues and revamping with an open door policy. Restrictive zoning and development changes will be made to improve investment in Brockton. He is hoping to make a noticeable and positive impact. Phil commended Bill’s momentum thus far and noted that commerce and business will hopefully be interested in coming to Brockton. All positions are now full-time. Online permitting will be implemented will aid in efficiency all-around. Greg said online payments for city hall should be implemented. Mayor said Health and Human Services concept is that more than one person should be able to access and process needs so important functions are not delayed. Councilor at Large Jeff Charnel thanked all and used a train concept for us to move forward together or get off! Use jcharnel@cobma.us and speak up. Dave said Lynch’s Towing did their best to follow the city directive to tow whomever city hall said. Bill Hogan said he knows Brockton history and is using Lowell as an example of involving history in tribute with modern life. He is well-versed in maps both current and historical. Bill is designing a parkway trail plan from Howard St. bridge to Plain St. bridge and gave a trove of information regarding the sewer city taking of 1892 with D.W. Field. The ‘Fighting Flynns” family of Augustine St. had 7 sons serving in WW2 and one in Korea, one died in WW2. Bill asked about some kind of plaque or monument in the North Side. Greg suggested maybe 7 banners in Montello along North Main St. for the brothers. Mayor said perhaps Station 1 could be a future museum and convert the land use on Pearl St. current fire museum to be an active fire station. Bill said some of the space at the main Brockton Public Library could be repurposed on the upper floors. Mayor said the facility is underutilized. Greg brought up the possibility of a historical commission to be appointed by the Mayor. Meeting adjourned at 7:14 p.m.

Date: March 4, 2026 meeting 6P.M. at Tinrays.  Montello Business Association congratulates the New Mayor of Brockton Moises Rodriques . His promises on crime, clean streets, and promoting businesses has set him apart from the other candidates. We are looking forward to his leadership to bring Brockton Back to a city that is proud and worthy to shop, walk and feel safe.

All are welcome. ....

Rockland Federal Credit Union has joined MBA Please Support

MONTELLO BUSINESS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES FOR Feb. 4, 2026 IN ATTENDANCE:Scott Dwyer President, Greg Belcher Treasurer, Lisa Waitt Belcher Secretary, Fran Fistori, Gale Lutz-Henrickson and Lee, George DePina, Eric Akesson, RFCU Francia Monteiro, David Lynch, Richard Gowell, Brendan Weeks BFD, Derek Salamone BPD, Win Farwell, Phil Nessralla, Jack Lally Ward 6, Shirley Asack Ward 7, Al Davis, Mayor Moises Rodrigues, Jay McLaughlin, Vincent Colarusso. Scott opened with Old Business. Greg announced Treasurer report. Angelo School buses still parking on the street for dropoff/pickup holding up traffic at least 18 minutes. Safety issue. Lt . Bonanca aware: sent Sgt. but still going on. Win suggested Superintendent of Schools and DPW be invited/contacted. Snow not cleared from streets and sidewalks, cars not cleared from streets. Eric Akesson spoke as Parking Authority, expand scope of authority to cover entire city, Mayor discussed. 508-580-7840 call to ticket if able. Greg asking about getting extra officers and see the enforcement and be financially covered by the fines. Dave asked about Brockton doing own excise enforcement in lieu of paying outside vendors. Francia promoted Rockland Federal Credit Union for business banking, checking, loans, CDs. George DePina 508-580-7150 said report nuisances, trash, private property problem issues. Tim Doucette doing a great job he said. Snow removal addressed by George with regards to Fire District 1 ALL property sidewalks must be cleaned. Greg showed the ordinance and the letter to businesses reprimanding them and threatening fines. Hydrants need to have full access for public safety. Weeks spoke about disabled hydrants making firefighting much more difficult. Scott spoke about snow blocking hydrants from poor plowing. Cars impeding plow efforts now buried in snow banks. Win said the city is 30 plow operators short of what we need. Mayor said 12 sidewalk plows will be out at night to continue cleanup for safety. Sidewalk and school bus and parking safety will be addressed per Mayor tomorrow. $1.2 million rubbish deficit needs attention and the bill needs to be covered but larger barrels will be proposed. Greg proposed snow fee on bills but Moises and Win said not feasible. The residents need to be publicly informed of the ORDINANCE of cleaning your own sidewalks in front of properties. Call Captain Porcaro at the police to report issues. Robocall new 3-year contract about all issues can add info to snowstorms warnings and residents can be informed about cleaning. Not all numbered routes are covered by the state fyi. Mayor trying to get state to help more. Scott mentioned check fraud via check “washing” happened twice to him so be on the lookout. Shirley said there are ordinances to remove campers but any propane tanks will be a safety issue. She said to contact Tim Sullivan on the school committee to address the Ward 7 Angelo School bus problems. Westgate Mall having a reopening of the Toy Box ribbon cutting February 16th. Hilton new hotel ribbon-cutting opening February 12th at the mall as well. Ordinance changes will be brought up at Council meetings. Jack agrees with promoting new businesses and city officials being present to encourage success. One police recruit in attendance. More experience will be given prior to doing details alone. Academy registrations 6 to 7 Brockton people coming up; 8 or so from out of town. Dropping residency requirement might help. …meeting adjourned at 7:13 p.m.

Date: Feb. 4, 2026 meeting at Tinray's 6 PM Guest Speakers : Eric Akesson - Parking Authority Director & Councilor Ward 2 Maria Tavares

MONTELLO BUSINESS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES FOR Jan. 7, 2026 IN ATTENDANCE: Scott Dwyer President, Greg Belcher Treasurer, Lisa Waitt Belcher Secretary, Mike Dadak, Bill Forte, Al Davis, Brendan Weeks, Derek Salamone BPD, Win Farwell, Bill Hallissey BPD, Sam Bassam, Jeff Smith, Jay McLaughlin, Vincent Colarusso, Amanda Gomez. Moment of silence for Uxbridge police officer killed today. Scott opened with Old Business. Greg announced Treasurer report. Bill Forte spoke about his new position as Commissioner of Inspectional Services announced internal housekeeping, regime shift, and change in complaint process followed by greater accountability to the public. Private sector mentality needed to run city departments better. Some names mentioned who deserve new positions/promotions. Congrats to new/re-elected officials. Some parking complaints with vehicles blocking firetruck access and lots of illegal parking and no one to replace signs knocked down. Very difficult to exit streets with cars parked very close to corners, poor visibility. State police presence and some traffic enforcement around lately. Jeff Smith Community Court at library attempting to help people. January 23 rd 12:30-2:30 p.m. next monthly meeting. Offers help to people who are willing to try detox programs. New safety building has updated features hopefully will help morale. North Main St. 117-119 will become housing units. Tax rate v. assessments goes the way of the system per the law. Automate more payments for the city bills like permits; Citizen Serve should be able to aid more departments. Win said consider Parking Authority and Traffic Commission more coordination of services/regulatory body; maybe unite. Brockton should be proactive not reactive. More language barrier breakdown by hiring bilingual clerks where effective. Win will be Chair of Accounts into this year; was on transition team and brought up conversation with Chief Perez that uniform patrol division should be citing dangerous drivers and not looking away; Mayor will be calling for a higher standard of behavior for all departments and citizens as well. Public service emphasized. 7 new police recruits maybe next week. Sadly many will be retiring and may not be replaced; residency requirement elimination maybe should be done by ordinance and with union approval. Win on board to eliminate residency requirement; patrolmen have no contract currently, expired in July. Business associations should get together and put in writing to the mayor that we want the residency requirement appealed. Protocol minimum shifts 8, currently 10 on the road, optimum 15-16 per shift. New administration…we shall see…meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.

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