Holyoke Ordinance Committee unanimously backs school bus safety camera law

HOLYOKE -- April 28, 2026, Holyoke Ordinance Committee advances school bus safety camera law and tables shopping cart ordinance. The five-member committee voted unanimously April 28 to recommend adoption of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40, Section 71, which authorizes automated school bus stop-arm violation detection systems, sending the measure to the full City Council with a recommendation for passage. Michael Gorman of Bus Patrol described a system using cameras mounted on all sides of school buses that triggers when a stop arm extends, with a 30-day warning-letter period before $250 citations begin; under the state law, the full fine stays in Holyoke rather than the 50 percent that goes to the state under a standard police stop, with Bus Patrol compensated at $250 per bus per month from the citation fund and remaining revenue deposited in the general fund. School Committee Member Patty Norris-Lubold, who filed the original order, said the law "gives us an opportunity to bring this new technology to our community to protect students." A public hearing on a special permit for Damaris Aponte's Riverside Cannabis cultivation facility at 1 Cabot Street was continued to May 26 after Aponte learned at the meeting that a Planning Board letter dated March 20 identified outstanding application materials she had not received, prompting a sharp exchange about process failures. The committee also tabled a draft shopping cart containment ordinance that would have fined businesses up to $75 per unretrieved cart, with members flagging concerns about enforcement equity and economic impact on smaller grocery stores.