FALL RIVER Mayor Paul Coogan made his second State of the City address Tuesday in a joint session of the School Committee and City Council, marking the first in-person meeting for the council in 2021.
While the elected officials gathered in person for Coogan’s address, the public, like in many events in the last year, had to listen to the mayor’s speech remotely.
Here s five takeaways from the State of the City address:
City finances
Coogan acknowledged the disruption and uncertainty the city faced during the past year’s COVID-19 pandemic which shut down communities in the Commonwealth just a week before the mayor was due to give his first State of the City address last March.
State, federal, and city police executed a search warrant at 313 Sunset Hill in Fall River last Friday and seized more than three kilos of cocaine, nearly 55 grams of crack, loose fentanyl and fentanyl pills, a stun gun, and more than $9,000 in cash.
Milton Bertrand, 48, of 313 Sunset Hill, was placed under arrest as a result of the Dec. 4 search. Sunset Hill is a Fall River Housing Authority property.
Fall River Police
“This is the largest drug seizure in department history, said Police Chief Jeffrey Cardoza in a statement.
The Fall River Police Department Vice and Intelligence Unit joined the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Commonwealth Interstate Narcotic Reduction Enforcement Team (CINRET), and a US Postal Service Inspector in executing the search.