Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll privately briefed State Representatives this afternoon on the migrant crisis that led to Governor Maura Healey’s State of Emergency declaration and the search for emergency shelters that has the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center on the verge of being converted into one such facility.

Unfortunately for some who attended in person or virtually, the Lt. Governor didn’t offer many answers during the presentation.

One source familiar with the discussion tells InsideLowell there was a “shocking lack of information” presented on timetables and specific plans to address the issue, both here in Lowell and across the state.

A second source described the proceedings as “not very helpful” and “no specifics,” while adding that “there are a lot more families coming even after this intitial wave.”

When first declaring the emergency, Healey’s office spoke of 5,600 families in the emergency shelter system that would equate to about 20,000 individuals. Today that number was revealed to be above 6,000 families, with projections of that total being more than 7,000 in the near future.

The U.S. border crisis that led to the State of Emergency in Massachusetts has created a public outcry in the Mill City over both the lack of information, and the plans to take the city’s only Downtown Hotel and conference space out of circulation completely.

The Lowell City Council voted to send a letter to the Governor asking for information and assistance. The city’s statehouse delegation is also crafting a letter, and a group of noted Lowell residents penned and op-ed earlier this week asking the Governor to find a different solution than the Inn & Conference Center.