If at first you don’t succeed, put it back on the agenda.
Worcester city councilors return to City Hall Tuesday with several familiar issues awaiting them, including another round in the debate over public bathrooms, the next steps in a possible overhaul of the city’s charter and unresolved questions about why a subcontractor with a state labor-law citation is working on a housing development receiving millions of dollars in local tax relief.
The Oct. 6 agenda also brings a fresh set of questions: whether Worcester has any say over Amazon delivery drones flying into the city, whether council meetings should start an hour earlier to carve out dedicated time for public comment, and how businesses should respond when concerns involving unhoused people require outreach rather than an emergency police response.
Public bathroom proposal gets another round
The council’s long-running discussion over public bathrooms isn’t over yet.
Vice Chairman Khrystian King is asking the council to reconsider its Sept. 29 vote on his proposal to identify locations for permanent public bathrooms across Worcester, beginning in District 2, while considering porta-potties as a temporary option.
The version approved last week called for the city manager to identify locations for permanent facilities, find suitable sites for temporary toilets while they are being developed, report back on a timeline and incorporate feedback from businesses and the community.
But another version offered by Councilor Morris Bergman softened some of that language, asking the city manager to “consider a process” for identifying permanent restroom locations and temporary porta-potties.
King filed for reconsideration of the council’s vote under Rule 30, putting the issue back before councilors Tuesday.
The agenda also includes King’s request for a copy of the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District’s “Downtown Worcester Quality of Life” study, which includes an analysis of the possibility of opening a public restroom downtown.
Charter debate moves to its next phase
After weeks of discussion over whether Worcester’s form of government needs another look, a city council committee is recommending that residents pursue one of the formal avenues available to launch a broader charter review.
The Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee is recommending a resolution encouraging members of the public to collect signatures from 15% of Worcester’s registered voters to request a review or revision of the existing charter — or to adopt a new one.
The recommendation follows a Sept. 28 committee discussion stemming from an order signed by all 11 councilors asking the committee to examine the feasibility of reviewing Worcester’s modified Plan E charter, which has governed the city since 1987 and was amended in 2022.
Several related reports return to the full council Tuesday, including information from the city clerk on the different legal avenues available for changing the charter and which changes could be made without creation of a Charter Review Commission.
The committee is recommending that those informational reports, along with the original order calling for the discussion, be placed on file.
Optiline questions aren’t fading away
Questions about Optiline Enterprises and its work on a 364-unit residential development at 274 Franklin St. return for a third consecutive council meeting.
Councilor Gary Rosen has asked City Manager Eric Batista and Chief Development Officer Peter Dunn to explain why the New Hampshire-based drywall and metal-framing subcontractor is working on the project, which Rosen’s order says is receiving $11 million in local property-tax relief over 15 years.
At the center of the dispute is Worcester’s Responsible Development Ordinance, which establishes labor standards for projects receiving certain municipal tax incentives.
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office imposed a $15,000 penalty against Optiline in December 2024 for retaliating against workers who had filed a lawsuit alleging wage-and-hour violations. The Attorney General later publicly reported that a judge found the company had made threatening and intimidating statements, including statements related to workers’ immigration status, in an effort to get employees to drop the lawsuit.
The penalty was subsequently reduced to $7,500 under a January 2026 settlement, according to documents submitted to the council. Those materials state that the underlying citation remained in place, while also noting that neither the settlement nor the citation should be construed as a finding of “specific intent” for purposes of contractor-responsibility determinations.
The city had previously determined in June 2025 that Optiline’s participation on an applicable Tax Increment Financing or Tax Increment Exemption project would violate Worcester’s Responsible Development Ordinance if the company performed work within three years of the December 2024 citation, according to documents submitted with Rosen’s order.
The dispute resurfaced after Optiline returned to work at the Franklin Street project this summer.
Separate from the Attorney General’s enforcement action, former Optiline worker Walter Astu filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court in 2024 on behalf of himself and similarly situated workers. The complaint alleges Optiline failed to pay workers required overtime, manipulated payroll records and failed to maintain proper wage records. Those claims remain allegations in the civil lawsuit.
Rosen’s order was held under privilege Sept. 22 and again by King Sept. 29, pushing the discussion to Tuesday’s meeting.
Other highlights on the agenda
- When to call 311—and when to call 911: King wants Worcester to develop clearer guidance for businesses dealing with situations involving unhoused people, distinguishing emergencies that warrant a 911 call from non-emergency concerns better suited for outreach workers. His proposal calls for input from businesses, service providers, city departments and people with lived experience, while tracking such measures as response times, incorrectly routed calls and connections to shelter, services or housing. A related order calls for coordinated cleanups of designated hotspots that pair sanitation work with outreach and advance notice where possible, rather than treating cleanliness and homelessness as entirely separate problems.
- Could Amazon drones be coming overhead? Rosen wants to know whether Worcester has any regulatory power to control or prevent Amazon’s package-delivery drones from flying into the city from the company’s Westborough facility. His order describes the MK30 drones as roughly 5 feet by 5 feet, capable of carrying packages under 5 pounds and reaching speeds of 75 mph. Rosen is also asking how residents would be consulted about possible environmental, privacy and safety effects before such deliveries reach Worcester neighborhoods. The order asks only for a report; no drone restrictions are before the council Tuesday.
- An earlier start for city council?: District 5 Councilor Jose Rivera wants the Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee to consider moving the start of council meetings from 6:30 to 5:30 p.m., with the first hour set aside for public participation. Worcester’s current rules limit an individual speaker to two minutes and public participation as a whole to 30 minutes. Rivera’s order would open a discussion about whether a dedicated 5:30-to-6:30 p.m. window would provide residents with greater opportunity to address councilors before the rest of the meeting begins.
- Public-comment complaint heads to council: Worcester resident David Webb has filed an Open Meeting Law complaint alleging that his remote comments during the Sept. 29 council meeting were disconnected before his allotted speaking time had expired. Webb alleges he was cut off while commenting on police staffing and traffic-safety items and contends other speakers had previously been allowed to use their full time even when their remarks strayed from agenda items. His complaint names Mayor Joseph Petty and then-acting City Clerk A.J. Pottle and asks that the chair and clerk be advised against viewpoint discrimination or prematurely disconnecting callers. The filing is a complaint containing Webb’s allegations; it is not a finding that the council violated the Open Meeting Law.
- What’s happening with Spectrum?: Councilors are poised to seek another update on Worcester’s negotiations for a new cable agreement with Spectrum, whose previous contract expired in October 2023. A Public Service and Transportation Committee report recommends adopting Rosen’s request for a status report on the negotiations. Rosen’s order cites complaints about the previous agreement, including customer service, cable reliability, alleged contract violations and failure to provide contractual senior discounts. The committee’s recommendation now returns to the full council.
- A lifeline for community television: The Public Service and Transportation Committee recommends that the city manager work with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce to explore potential principal sponsorships for WCCA TV. The request could open another avenue of financial support for Worcester’s community-access television station. At this stage, councilors are being asked to direct the administration to explore sponsorship opportunities, not approve a particular sponsor or funding package.
- What happens when Medicare plans disappear?: Mayor Joseph Petty is asking the administration to report on the effects of individual Medicare insurance plans being eliminated and what transition options are available to residents losing coverage. The order does not identify particular insurers or plans, so the scope of the potential impact isn’t yet clear from the agenda. Petty is asking the city to determine what options residents have to avoid disruptions when plans are discontinued.
Worcester City Council meets Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 6:30 p.m. in the Esther Howland Chamber at City Hall. The meeting is also livestreamed on the city’s website.
Have news, tips, or a story worth telling? Reach Editor Charlene Arsenault at carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org — because good stories (and great scoops) deserve to be shared.
