Holyoke Council Approves $61,000 in Police Grants, Stalls on Rodenticide Ban

HOLYOKE -- April 7, 2026, Holyoke City Council unanimously approved two no-match public safety grants totaling $61,049.95 but failed to pass a housing incentive deal and tabled a proposed ban on second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides at its April 7 meeting. The $47,149.95 Project Safe Neighborhood grant from the state Executive Office of Public Safety will fund 19 encrypted portable radios for the Holyoke Police Department, while a $13,900 State Police collaboration grant supports anti-gang and anti-human trafficking operations. A Housing Development Incentive Program tax increment exemption for a 12-unit, $2 million market-rate project at 103-105 Lyman Street failed 8-5, with Councilor Sullivan citing unresolved parking concerns and Councilor Israel Rivera warning of gentrification pressures in the Flats neighborhood; the item was sent back to the DGR Committee. The council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution backing Senate Bill 2721 and House Bill 4965 to restrict rodenticide use statewide, but a companion local ordinance barring SGARs on city property was tabled after debate over whether alternative pest-management contracts could be in place before the proposed July 1 effective date. The council also unanimously granted a special permit to the Holyoke Mall's Pyramid Companies to raise the roof height over roughly 50,000 square feet of the former Sears space to accommodate a Dick's House of Sport.