LOWELL, Mass. — The Lowell City Council voted 10-0 Tuesday to confirm a tax increment financing agreement, a parking agreement and a right of first refusal with Charles Stark Draper Laboratories for a project in the city's Hamilton Canal Innovation District.

The vote had been scheduled for Nov. 3 but was pushed back after Councilor Corey Robinson objected under council rules to taking it up on Election Day, The Lowell Sun reported. Councilors said Draper and its development partners, Wexford and Shawmut, used the extra week to negotiate labor standards with the Merrimack Valley Building Trades Council, and that the agreement was reached at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, hours before the meeting.

Residents question what is enforceable

Several residents spoke against the deal as written. One speaker said the only commitment in the legal document is 100 jobs over 10 years, and that Draper's other promises are not enforceable. "We're offering Draper a $10 million tax break for creating 100 jobs," the speaker said.

Another resident said the city would forgo $10 million over 15 years under the agreement. That resident noted that Draper had outlined a community impact statement promising internships with UMass Lowell, local union employment and STEM education, but said those commitments are not guaranteed. "We should not offer a $10 million tax break for Draper without making these things legally binding," the resident said.

A third speaker asked the council to delay the vote and do more study.

Other speakers backed the project. A representative of the Merrimack Valley Building Trades Council said the group supported the project and the agreement, and a local business owner spoke in favor of the labor standards that had been agreed to.

Councilors cite labor commitments

Councilor Sean McDonough said the new labor language commits the building portion of the job to 10% local residents, 15.3% minorities and 6.9% women, and that the requirement applies to every contractor and subcontractor awarded work. The agreement was reached through the building trades, not the city, McDonough said, and Lowell residents will be prioritized in apprenticeship programs.

"I'm still not convinced that that agreement would have been arrived at um if we weren't voting on this tonight," McDonough said just before the roll call, adding that Draper and its partners "had the votes to get this through" but still went back to the negotiating table.

Robinson said the city has relied too heavily on residential property taxes and has little commercial or industrial base. "This is that opportunity," Robinson said.

Another councilor, responding to the residents' concerns, said the city has only so much power over private development. "We can enforce after the fact, but we can't impose going in," the councilor said. "They have the right to build. We're here on a TIFF."

A Draper representative told the council the organization is a nonprofit and that its revenue goes back into research and development.