What's on the council's first agenda after the election: restaurant zoning, delivery apps, El Niño and a White Stadium answer

The City Council's first meeting after Election Day is Wednesday, Nov. 4, at noon in the Iannella Chamber. The agenda has 51 items. Our other stories today cover the biggest ones: the Charlestown High closure, the bomb threats hearing order, the crime lab, condo conversions, school buses, BPS contracting, parking, the budget report and the Election Day closure. Here is the rest of what matters to residents.

New hearing requests

• Restaurant zoning. On Oct. 27, Mayor Michelle Wu proposed zoning changes to make it easier to open and run a restaurant, including ending a separate zoning review for takeout (city release). The changes still need approval from the planning agency's board and review by the Zoning Commission, Boston.com reported. City Councilor Ed Flynn filed for a hearing on community engagement for the changes (docket 2099; text). His order says the announcement did not mention a timeline for community input, and asks the Office of Neighborhood Services and the Planning Department to attend. Our Oct. 28 story covers the proposal.
• Delivery apps. City Councilor Sharon Durkan wants a hearing on whether the city's delivery-provider ordinance is working (docket 2102; text). Companies such as DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub need a city permit and insurance, and must share anonymized trip data each quarter. The order says the ordinance passed on April 2, 2025, took effect Jan. 1, 2026, and that all three qualifying companies got permits. The city began enforcing permit requirements in April, WBUR reported. The order says the city will have three quarters of data by the end of 2026.
• El Niño. City Councilor Henry Santana asked for a hearing on the current El Niño and the city's preparedness (docket 2098; text). His order says this winter is expected to be warmer and wetter than last, with more rain, ice and slush. It says high tides, sea level rise and a strong El Niño could bring significant coastal flooding.

Answers from the administration

• White Stadium. The mayor answered City Councilor Julia Mejia's February request on rising White Stadium costs and their effect on other school building projects (docket 2089). That comes 250 days after the council passed it (docket 0433). The response refers the council to the recording of a March 16 hearing on stadium construction costs (meeting page; docket 0205) and attaches contract, lease and budget documents. It says BPS students will have the rebuilt facility next year.

Money items

• Custodians' contract. A $787,501 supplemental appropriation for the BPS custodians' union, about 475 workers. It is a one-year, wages-only extension: a 2% raise plus $800 added to annual salaries, both in September 2026 (docket 2081; summary).
• E-bike subsidies. $798,000 from a MassDOT microtransit and last-mile grant, through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, for e-bike subsidies administered by the Transportation Department (docket 2083).
• Job training. Federal Wagner-Peyser grants of $1,112,383 and $95,773, a $95,000 Workforce Training Fund grant through the state's MassHire Department of Career Services, and a $70,000 State Street grant through the Friends of Youth Opportunity Boston (dockets 2082, 2084, 2085 and 2086).

Flynn's other requests

Flynn filed 17F requests for the cost of building and then removing the O'Connor Way bike lane in South Boston (docket 2103), and for communications and permits on an Oct. 24 block party on O Street (docket 2104). Both follow up on hearing orders we covered in October.

How it works

Grants and appropriations from the mayor are either passed the same day or sent to a committee. Hearing orders are referred to a committee, whose chair sets the date. Resolutions can be adopted the same day under a suspension of the rules unless a councilor objects. The meeting streams at boston.gov/city-council-tv.