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City manager reports winter towing surge, nearly $10M federal grant exposure; Public Works urges wipes-labeling support and adds two roads to paving list
Summary
City Manager reported spikes in towed vehicles during winter parking bans and a federal grant exposure of just under $10 million; Public Works Committee recommended a resolution supporting federal wipes-labeling legislation and the council approved adding Sampson Road and Haven Hill Road to the FY25 paving program.
City Manager Mr. North told the Rochester City Council on Feb. 4, 2025 that recent winter storms have produced an unexpected need for towing during winter parking bans and that the city is monitoring federal grant exposure following a temporary court order that briefly froze federal financial assistance.
"For example, last Friday night into Saturday, 21 vehicles were towed, and Sunday night into Monday, 26 vehicles were towed," Mr. North said, noting the city posts winter-parking information on rochesternh.gov/parking.
Mr. North said access to federal grant and loan funds was restored after a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island was placed and that the city’s federal grants exposure is "just under $10,000,000." He provided a breakdown: roughly $7,200,000 tied to general-fund CIP projects (examples cited included Route 11 widening and Old Dover/Tibbetts Road intersection improvements), about $1,400,000 for sewer fund capital projects, $942,000 for water fund capital projects, and smaller amounts for other grants such as VOCA and HUD officer grants. He said over $1,000,000 of the exposure relates to subrecipient agreements (pass-through funds) and that school formula grants such as Title I and IDEA were confirmed not to be impacted.
At the Public Works portion of the meeting, the committee recommended adoption of a resolution urging federal labeling changes for so-called "flushable" wipes, which Public Works members said are causing sewer-system blockages and increased costs. Director Norwood (Public Works) described the problem as larger than finance alone: "I can't overstate the situation. And it's not only finances, but it's a public health and safety issue for our employees who have to go in after these ... items. And it's become a very, very big issue in the city." The council voted to send a letter of support to U.S. senators for the proposed legislation.
The council also approved the committee’s recommendation to amend the FY25 pavement program by adding Sampson Road and Haven Hill Road. Director Norwood said the two roads were chosen because they are in "very, very poor condition" and were at a point of disrepair that required work to prevent them from becoming untraversable.
Separately, the city announced that closed captioning is now available for GovTV across cable and streaming platforms, and the City Manager noted the Stratford Regional Planning Commission has begun the Forward Thinking comprehensive-plan update for that region and is collecting survey input through March 28.
The council did not take further formal action on the comprehensive-plan notification or the GovTV announcement; both were presented as information items.
The meeting proceeded to routine appointments, second-reading appropriations and a nonpublic session later sealed by the council.
