First thing - quick update on the last City Council meeting - happy to report it was very well attended by folks in opposition of Baystate's proposal for the Fairgrounds.  I believe we had 15+ well informed speakers get up and address the City Council.  My apologies for not having the exact # but I did not count them.

Here is the latest update from the No Horse Racing in Leominster FaceBook group...

UPDATE RE: 4/28 CITY COUNCIL MEETING AND ZONING OVERLAY PETITION INFO:
 
They have finally submitted their petition, Petition 47-25, which requests a zoning overlay for The Fairgrounds proposal. There's LOTS to unpack here (docs attached).
 
Here are a few very important things about the overlay petition info…
 
1. Do not panic. There’s no reason to. Things like the meeting this Monday tend to create a false sense of urgency. The 4/28 meeting is just the initial reading. Their petition will be on the agenda multiple times until the final public hearing and vote (date TBD). All of which gives us ample time to speak to the City Council and Planning Board AFTER researching and getting our proverbial ducks in a row. There’s a plan for 4/28 that requires lots of us to be there. More on that in a minute.
 
2. Yes, there’s a great deal of details in their zoning overlay request but let’s take our time to research it all fully before having a knee-jerk reaction to any of it. Spontaneously reacting and over-reacting, without full understanding, will actually provide them stuff to work with.
 
3. Our existing task force will be taking a deeper dive into all of this . If you are interested in being part of the task force, please DM me Lisa Nugent (Robin D I’ll be reaching out to you).
 
4. When you are reviewing the attached, if you have a specific question(s), or item(s) that you feel needs addressing please DM them to Caitlin St. Clair and she’ll get them over to the folks on the task force working on that aspect of the proposal/petition.
 
5. We will schedule a meeting prior to the public hearing for the zoning overlay, so all the facts uncovered can be disclosed and folks can ask any further questions. We will also have a sheet with all the questions and concerns received and the answers to them listed. If the meeting is in person we will try to live stream it, so people can attend/participate remotely. This way when folks speak at the public hearing (and hopefully that will be a good many of us) we will all be doing so from a well-informed position, guided byh facts.
 
 
PLAN FOR MONDAY NIGHT 4/28 CITY COUNCIL MEETING:
 
We are asking for AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO ATTEND but to refrain from speaking. Here are the reasons why…
 
1. As most of you are aware, we have addressed the City Council multiple times now. They have heard from us on all aspects of the proposal. When some is telling you the same thing(s) over and over, you start to think “Ok, ok, I got it already”. While they are obligated to listen to us, such redundancy can start to feel a bit disrespectful.
 
2. Also, this will be the first time the pro Fairgrounds people will be there. And they are doing their best to get their troops rallied! There’s no doubt that some of their claims will be instantly inflammatory to those who know the facts, so this is another great reason for us NOT to get up one after the other this coming Monday. Refraining from speaking avoids anyone getting triggered and accidentally heading down a heated path that the City Council has praised us for avoiding so far.
 
3. The old adage comes to mind here – if you give someone enough rope, they’ll hang themselves. Let’s give them the floor that night. What they say could be very useful to our objectives, so please take notes and listen. If you have any questions, or find discrepancies from some of their other messaging, please send that over via DM as well. We need to all keep in mind that this is a public group and that there are folks here simply to take note on what we are doing, or discussing, so not all things should be shared here, hence the request to send via DM.
 
While we might not be stepping up to speak that night, we can provide a unified visual impression to the City Council. That visual will be much more powerful if there are MANY of us there. We keep asserting that the majority of Leominster is not for this, so at each event numbers are a key element. One of us (not sure who yet) will read a blanket statement regarding our opposition and ask all who are opposed to stand and those already standing to step forward. Please be ready to do so.
 
For those showing up for the pre-meeting rally at 5:30, if you have a lawn sign please bring it to hold. We will have 10 or so on hand for those that don’t. Please wear a red shirt, or if you have one, one of the no horse racing shirts. Bringing signs into the meeting is disrespectful, so please do not do that but wearing the same color, or shirt, is a simple unifier.
 
Sincere thanks for getting through all of this post! Hope to see many of you Monday night!!!