Reconvening the suspended June 2 meeting on June 9, the Worcester City Council postponed its vote on the city’s budget until June 16, resulting in a relatively short session after last week’s 5½-hour marathon.
Among several transportation- and public safety-related items, councilors discussed the possibility of expanding the Worcester Police Department’s ability to patrol Lake Quinsigamond, particularly the Flint Pond section at the lake’s southern end.
Council Vice Chair Khrystian King reminded councilors that while the city owns boats, it does not currently have trained personnel dedicated to patrolling the lake and lacks a plan for addressing jurisdictional issues involving Shrewsbury and state agencies.
“When we got to the point where there was a potentiality of presence on our water bodies,” King said, “we were informed by the chief that we did not have the capacity to patrol these blue spaces.”
City Manager Eric Batista clarified that the Worcester Police Department currently has one operational boat and a second that is damaged beyond repair and likely to be disposed of. The Worcester Fire Department also has a boat that was donated through the state Department of Conservation and Recreation several years ago.
Batista said the police boat cannot patrol the Flint Pond area because its canopy is too tall to pass beneath a bridge providing access to that section of the lake. He confirmed that residents have raised concerns about excessive watercraft speeds and other activity there.
King asked whether the city patrols any of its other bodies of water, including Indian Lake. Batista said Worcester currently lacks the capacity to do so. King successfully amended the item to request an update on any planning related to future lake patrols and to explore what assistance DCR may be able to provide during peak usage periods.
Councilor Kate Toomey, who lives near Flint Pond, said she and former Councilor George Russell attended multiple community meetings where residents raised concerns about noise, speeding watercraft and drug activity.
“This is a massive issue, and it’s a very small body of water that is impacting an awful lot of people,” she said. “The things that are happening there are terrible.”
Toomey added that she has worked with environmental police and the Shrewsbury Police Department regarding boaters using the nearby launch ramp to access the lake.
Councilor Morris Bergman said he would like additional input from property owners with riparian rights and other nearby residents. He added that he has also heard positive feedback from residents near Indian Lake.
King noted that some residents there are “appreciative of having eliminated some of the problems over there.”
Sidewalk headaches
Councilor Tony Economou pushed for changes to how the city manages sidewalk replacement projects, focusing on the length of time some projects remain unfinished.
“I find it unacceptable,” he said. “They’re not getting done. They’re not getting done in a timely fashion.”
Economou pointed to several projects, including portions of Burncoat Street, Park Avenue and Cheyenne Road, where sidewalks were removed in 2025 but have yet to be reconstructed.
“Park Avenue, right now, on the corners, the wheelchair ramps are non-existent,” he said. “It’s dirt. It’s been like that for months. People are walking in these areas. They’re walking to WPI, they’re trying to get to the park or the grocery store.”
Economou urged the city to strengthen contract requirements and limit projects to those that can reasonably be completed within a single construction season.
“We need to work in a more consistent manner, where the job is getting done in a timely fashion, so pedestrians or motorists can use the roadways,” he said. “It’s wrong. We need to protect ourselves, not contractors.”
The matter was referred to the city manager for review.
Limits on e-bikes and scooters
Toomey also requested a report outlining possible ordinances regulating electric bicycles, scooters and other small personal vehicles.
She noted that Boston follows state law while also regulating where e-bikes can operate. Cambridge, Newton, Wellesley, Longmeadow and Lexington have adopted similar local rules, while state lawmakers continue to explore broader legislation.
“The trend across communities generally includes bans on sidewalk riding, speed limits on shared use paths, helmet requirements, age restrictions, restrictions on high-powered electric dirt bikes, trail-specific rules and enforcement against reckless riding,” Toomey said. “I think these are all reasonable requests.”
Too many speed humps?
Economou also asked the administration to review the city’s process for installing speed humps.
Batista said concerns about the growing number of speed humps have been raised before and that a draft policy is currently awaiting review.
“We hope that we can bring something to the council very shortly that provides some parameters and some guidance about what we need to do around the speed humps, because there are a lot of them,” Batista said. “We need to provide a better process, approvals, recommendations, where, how, how many, etc. I think that would be extremely helpful, not only for all of us as a city, but also for residents as they are submitting petitions as well.”
Steve Smith can be reached at steve@stevephotographysmith.com
