Fall River council committee takes up the Pearl Street and Third Street garages on Nov. 17

FALL RIVER Fall River's two downtown parking garages go before a City Council committee Tuesday, Nov. 17, a week after the full council sent that committee the mayor's order to sell the Pearl Street garage.

The Committee on Real Estate, Facilities and Housing meets at 5 p.m. in the Council Chamber at One Government Center. Its agenda, stamped by the city clerk Nov. 5, lists a resolution asking the administration and the director of city operations "to present a definitive action plan for the repair of the Pearl Street and Third Street parking garages," tabled since Oct. 13, and a second resolution to discuss all city-owned real estate, with citizen input as the first item.

The full council sent the Pearl Street surplus order to the committee on Nov. 10. The committee's agenda was posted before that vote and does not list the order itself, and Council Vice President Michelle M. Dionne told councilors that night that "both Pearl Street and Third Street are on that agenda," according to the Fall River Government Television recording. Construction at the Third Street garage began in July, the engineers' slides in the council packet show, and the garage is not expected to reopen until mid-December, the Fall River Reporter reported. At Pearl Street, one company controls the spaces under a lease that runs to 2043, city minutes say.

The Pearl Street sale

Mayor Paul E. Coogan asked the council to let the city surplus the garage at 1 Pearl St., and his order would authorize the purchasing agent to "conduct a public surplus auction/bid to aid in the sale" of it, according to the Nov. 10 council packet. In a Nov. 5 letter, Purchasing Agent Trevor Coelho cited the city ordinance on surplus property and said he would run the sale with Al Oliveira, the director of city operations.

At an Oct. 27 Committee on Finance meeting, which SC360 reported on, attorney Matthew J. Thomas told councilors a request for proposals drew one bid, $1,050,000, for a garage assessed at $1,410,800 in fiscal 2026, according to the minutes in the packet.

Thomas said a 2013 lease gives one company the garage's parking until 2043, that the city has no legal way to end or change it before then, and that if the garage closed the city would have to give the company 400 spaces elsewhere in Fall River, the minutes say. A new owner could end or amend the lease, he said. He put yearly revenue for a renovated garage at about $633,573 against $398,355 in debt service, and said a private owner who renovated it could bring the city about $120,000 in tax revenue in the first year.

Councilors asked for more before any vote, the minutes show: Councilor Michael Canuel said the garage should stay under city ownership, Councilor Shawn Cadime asked for a downtown parking study before a sale, Dionne said selling it may reduce revenue for the city, and Council President Cliff Ponte said councilors should get more details first. Asked about the request for proposals process, Coelho listed its steps, including the bid opening, the award letter and a related bond order going to the council, and estimated it would be done by spring 2027. City Administrator Ann O'Neil-Souza said the city was looking at other public parking sites, including the former police station site on Bedford Street and an empty lot at Rodman and South Main streets. The Finance Committee then voted unanimously to recommend sending the matter to the Committee on Real Estate, Facilities and Housing, the minutes say.

Third Street repairs

Engineers from Tighe and Bond, in slides Oliveira sent the mayor for the council, propose a second phase of Third Street garage repairs with a project total of $2,520,700, according to their opinion of probable cost in the Nov. 10 packet. That includes $907,500 for double tee flange repairs, $600,000 for an extra heavy duty traffic coating, a 15% contingency and 10% for engineering during construction. The slides set January 2027 for finishing the design and bidding that phase, a construction award in March 2027 and active work from April to July 2027.

The current repair work is about three months behind, the Fall River Reporter reported Nov. 6. The roughly $6.5 million project is now expected to reopen the garage in mid-December, and the delay keeps its 206 monthly parking customers elsewhere and costs the city parking revenue, the outlet reported. On Nov. 10 the council sent the Third Street update and the first quarter budget report to its Committee on Finance.

What happens next

Council President Cliff Ponte told councilors Nov. 10 that the committee would do its work on the sale order and could then send it back to the full council, according to the recording. Under the city ordinance Coelho cited, surplus property is sold "under such terms and conditions as the City Council shall by order determine."

How to weigh in

Residents can speak during citizen input at the start of the 5 p.m. meeting in the Council Chamber at One Government Center. The City Council office is at 508-324-2233 and city_council@fallriverma.gov. Fall River Government Television posts council meetings on its YouTube channel.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.