Fall River council committee probes safety, funding options for Pearl and Third Street parking garages

The Fall River City Council Committee on Finance met with city operations and building officials on March 4 to review safety concerns and near-term repair plans for the Pearl Street and Third Street parking garages.

City officials said engineers’ preliminary work found no immediate structural failure, but further concrete testing and per‑beam inspections are under way and a full repair estimate will follow. The city has consolidated roughly $600,000 in available capital surpluses to begin work and paid $22,000 for an initial engineering assessment; officials said the next stage will determine how much is required to reopen upper levels and repair corroded elements.

The discussion mattered to councilors because the two downtown garages and an adjacent open lot generate roughly $25,000–$30,000 a month in revenue and are used by jurors and downtown visitors. Several councilors described recurring safety and cleanliness complaints, and said elderly residents report avoiding the garages because of safety concerns.

“It's been there just before Mr. Oliveira arrived to the city at his position,” said Glenn Hathaway, building commissioner and inspector of buildings for Fall River, describing temporary cribbing placed at Pearl Street. “I ordered them there for safety reasons. They're only there as a precaution.”

Al Oliveira, director of city operations, said the city had contracted third‑party engineers to inspect beams and perform targeted concrete testing and x‑rays; officials expect a complete report within weeks. “They did the assessment, they said that there is no real major safety with those garages right now,” Oliveira said. “Very shortly, within the next few weeks, we're gonna receive the report. From there, we'll have a way to repair those beams.”

Stephanie McArthur, director of traffic and parking, told the committee the city has increased cleaning and safety patrols and installed or upgraded lighting and cameras; she said staff now clean the garages about four times per week. “We were having conversations about, looking at the rates, probably in tandem with repairs being made,” McArthur said, adding the city has not raised rates since taking over the garages in 2019.

Officials offered a range of possible fixes and revenue ideas: repair to reopen upper decks, adding security measures such as fobs or gates, and long‑term ideas including solar panels on the garage roofs and adding a second deck on an adjacent surface lot. Oliveira told the committee the engineers’ initial cost range for repairs was “a roundabout number of about 1.2, 1.3 per building” (approximately $1.1–$1.3 million per building in the initial assessment), but said the figures are preliminary and depend on the pending testing.

Councilors pressed for clearer budget language and a capital plan entry for the garages. “Every year we wait, every year it gets worse,” Council member (title recorded as Councilor) who requested the item said. Several council members urged the administration to include accurate estimates or placeholder figures in the city's capital improvement plan so the council can prioritize funding requests.

Emily Arpke, interim director of finance, explained that parking revenues flow into the city's general fund and can be used for capital projects through the city’s normal appropriation process. “We have a lot of different fees and stuff that comes from a lot of different departments that kind of goes into general fund local receipts,” Arpke said. She added that consolidated, reliable revenue can support future capital borrowing or pay‑as‑you‑go choices.

Committee members voted to table the item and return after the engineers’ full analysis and cost estimates are in hand. City officials said the engineers’ detailed findings will be shared with the council and that the administration will present funding options once the testing is complete.

The committee also discussed non‑structural issues—cleanliness, needle disposal and lighting—saying they are stepping up cleaning frequency and safety inspections in the near term. Councilors and staff said some remedies (security staffing, gated access) could reduce misuse but acknowledged they are partial deterrents.