[Fred Dello Russo]: The 34th regular meeting of the Medford City Council will come to order. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello? Councilor Falco? Present. Councilor Knight? Present. Vice-President Leonard Kern? Present. Councilor Marks? Present. Councilor Scott Beally? Present. President Dello Russo?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Present. Six members present, one absent. Please join us to rise in saluting the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 16-740 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council send condolences to the family of Leona Greenwood. Leona was a Medford traffic supervisor for 34 years. Her presence and service to our community will be missed. In the absence of Councilor Caraviello, Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Mr. President, the Greenwood family have been part of the Memphic community for as long as I can remember. You can see Mrs. Greenwood, she battled through a very difficult disease and she'd still be out there in the street. making sure our kids are safe. And Bob worked very hard with our youth soccer organization, and I'm sure that his missus was right beside him. So she'll be greatly missed and send our condolences.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Please join us in a moment of silence. Please rise. I was informed by officials in the city clerk's office that 16-741 was withdrawn by the petitioner, so it is withdrawn with all prejudice on that motion or on the motion of Councilor Knight. All those in favor? All those? Motion by Councilor, Vice President Langlois-Kern for suspension of the rules. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion granted. 16-743 offered by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. Be it resolved that the administration provide the city council with an update regarding the aircraft noise that is getting worse in our community. Be it further resolved that we receive an update on what has been done, how the administration is making this a priority, and what will continue to be done for the tens of thousands of residents that are negatively affected on a daily basis. Madam Vice President, if I can point out, we've been just running into some scheduling conflicts with Mr. Attorney Gliona, who's representing the city on the board at Massport. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I put this on. It's probably like my fourth or fifth resolution in the last several months with regards to the airport noise. Yes, we have asked Mr. Gliona to come to the council. I understand he must be busy, and I understand there's meetings that maybe have been postponed. I just still feel that after a few months, we should have some sort of update, either from the administration, with regards to what the administration has done, or from our representative on the Massport Commission. The problem, obviously, is one that we've been getting complaints about. It was a lot last summer, and then this summer it got worse. And then from what I understand, because we have lane 33L that was put in place, which is why we started getting the air traffic over the last couple of years. And from what I understand, Logan used runway 15 for arrivals actually this weekend. So that's a second runway. And all the planes came over Medford, mainly Medford Heights. But it's still affecting 26. Both lanes are affecting 26,000 to 30,000 residents in Medford. And it seems like Medford really doesn't have a hand at the table. We never have. And I'm really hoping that the new administration will start to get a grasp and get a seat at the table. There's a big meeting coming up on the 18th. And I did email the mayor's office to make sure a representative or two or three from Medford would be there with a handful of other communities that are facing the same problem. If we don't have a seat at that table, it's only going to get worse. The city or town of Milton is really on top of the issue. They're complaining, and Massport did relocate over the weekend lane 15, which now was coming over Medford. And if that continues on top of the 33L, we're in for nightly noise. I mean, when I hear it, it's every three minutes for hours at a time. And I'm starting to hear it every single day or night. And it's really becoming a disturbance. and I'm getting a lot of complaints about it, but we still, I don't think, have enough support. You know, the people need to understand what needs to be done, and nobody's really informing the public on what needs to be done, where we need to complain to, how we get our information, and that's something that this administration has to lead on. We've asked numerous times for updates. I really hope that the mayor and some other representative will be at that meeting on the 18th, and I believe it's in Somerville, but we really need to start taking this extremely seriously before we're the only ones that aren't complaining and we're getting traffic non-stop 24 hours a day. That's my fear. And it's already a nuisance for so many. I mean, creating headaches and anxiety and problems for a number of people that have called and complained to me. So I just really hope that we can get an update. Mr. Gliona obviously has never come to the council. I understand that there's possible meeting problems, but we should have some sort of update from at least our administration to say, this is what's going on. This is how we're involved. This is what we're doing. This is the meetings we're going to. This is how we're fighting this. This is how we're saying to Massport and the FAA, we need some relief because we really do need some relief. I don't know if there's anybody here in the audience that wants to talk about it, but it's a serious problem. It really is, especially in North Medford and the Heights. So I hope we can, get some resolution on that. Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I would also just like to state, um, I received a number of calls this weekend as well regarding the, uh, airplane noise over the Heights. It's gotten to a point where it's, it's really, it just seems like it's constant and something needs to be done, but we need to, we do need to get some sort of an update from the administration and from, uh, uh, our representative at Massport. So I definitely support this resolution. It's something that needs to be looked at. We've been waiting for a while. And if we could definitely support the resolution and it's just something that we need to look at as soon as possible. So thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor. Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi, I'm Cheryl Rodriguez. I live at 21 Park Street, which I created a Facebook tag this weekend called Logan Airport Medford. Because the planes are especially loud after the 11 p.m. hour, between 11 and about 1140, we get planes in about one to one and a half minute intervals. We also get the 6 a.m. wake-up. This is probably the sixth day in a row that we've had both those times as well as the during the day times. When I pick my daughter up at school at the Roberts, which is on Park Street as well, conversations often cease as a plane flies overhead quite low. We all look up, see the windows of the plane. Some of the kids wave. It's very low. It's very loud. It's intense. My daughter has migraines. She's going back to the doctor in two weeks. to have her medication increased that they believe was started because of the planes. I'm experiencing headaches and issues. Sleep interruption is serious, and in a prolonged amount of time, it can really lead to health issues. And we need relief. The other towns are rallying and complaining, and we really need a better format than that form online that you fill in and say what time it's loud, and they send you a letter that says, Well, there's an airport. That's not really an answer. I would love to find a way to be more vocal and involved in this problem and try to get us some relief. I know other towns have been quite successful. And what we have to do is we have to be the squeaky wheel. We have to be loud and we have to get some help. And we really have to do it before it gets worse. Because as these other communities get help, if we're not there, then they say, you know what? Medford's not here. We'll just fly those extra planes over you. And then that town can get some relief. And we're going to suffer more. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much. Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Jean Nuzzo]: I just wanted to come up in support of the request. I would say the situation is progressively getting more dire. There have been times in the past few weeks when it has been so loud, so late at night, it's disrupted sleep. It really is terrible. I know that we've always been a city that the planes have flown over. But I can remember when I was much younger, they flew much higher. And it feels like that band that they're traveling is getting tighter and tighter, and we're getting more and more of it. So I would echo the thoughts that if we do not find a way to become more vocal as a city, we're going to get the majority of the traffic. But it definitely is becoming quite difficult to get a good night's sleep in our neighborhood and in our area. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. On the motion for approval by vice president, low current is seconded by council Falco. All those in favor of roll call has been requested. Mr. Marks, Councilor.
[Michael Marks]: I want to thank a council longer current for bringing up this important issue. Uh, I know council Longo current has brought this up many times as well as many members behind this railing. And a part of my frustration, Mr. President is the fact that, uh, the mayor points, a person to sit on the advisory board for Massport. And over the years, in my research, the advisory board position, and this excludes the most recent appointment of Attorney Gliona, that appointment in the past never attended meetings at Massport. We asked the previous person that was in that role, again, to appear before the Medford City Council to give us an update. That person, for whatever reason, the appointment of the mayor, refused to come before this council to give us an update on a very important issue in this community. This council has voted 7-0 on at least three occasions. I offered three separate resolutions to ask Massport to look at the noise detectors that are located throughout the city of Medford. And to see, Mr. President, if they can strategically be relocated in areas that are experiencing this particular additional noise, as we heard the heights, Salt Method. I live in the Wellington area, and I can tell you this weekend, they were overhead every three minutes the same way, very low. So I think it's throughout the entire community. And we asked a simple request, Mr. President, and it's a shame that Massport for whatever reason, is not considering this community as part of the advisory board and really has done very little to nothing to address some of the concerns. We even asked for a representative of Massport to appear before this council to answer some of the questions we had, Mr. President. So I'm not sure what it's gonna take. I don't think this latest representative that's on the board, although he's a very capable person, He said they have yet to call for a meeting. I'm not sure what insight he can give to this council, but it's about time that the mayor of this community, Mr. President, step up on this issue. This has been an issue for years and years and years in this community. This is nothing new. And, you know, I don't know, Mr. President, maybe we need to circulate a petition. Maybe we need to have uh, you know, a walk on City Hall to try to discuss this issue. Maybe something needs to happen to move this city and getting involved. I agree with the comments made by my colleagues to get involved with the dialogue. Other communities are receiving relief in the way of new windows and homes, Mr. President. And I realize their homes in Winthrop in East Boston and directly abutting the airport. But there's other mitigating factors that could be done, Mr. President, to residents of this community that are experiencing noise. And you know, if you have a dog next door living to your back and too much, you can call the police department and they'll come out and they'll knock the door and say, please, your dog is being a disturbance. And that's against city ordinance. But you can have, you know, these planes over your head, you know, 300 feet over your head every three minutes at one, two, three in the morning. And that's not a disturbance. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Mr. President. So I, I would ask that, uh, we call for an emergency meeting, uh, with the mayor of this community, uh, sit down and discuss this issue and what our plan of attack is to address this with Massport. Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you. The motion. Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Thank you. Constable Russo. I'm Andrew Kass. I'm at a Cushman street method. Uh, I just drove in from the house. I started to watch him. You'd hope I, not redundant on some of the things I might want to say. This airport noise is becoming problematic to some degree and to other people on a high elevation. It's even worse, I'm sure. Especially, it seems to me, maybe it's my imagination, but it's pretty quiet some evenings from 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. When it's time to think about the midnight hour, they seem to kick in, which is very odd. I would think at a midnight hour, even Logan Airport being as busy as it is in the world market, maybe they don't have as many, I would think, flights at that hour. They should be able, I would think, common sense, but I am not that smart, to just fly or especially take off over the ocean, head east, and then make their turns if they have to. That would be common sense, I would think. As I reiterated in the past, it seems to me when they were proposing to build runway, I believe Brianna mentioned 33 L is that correct? Thank you. I believe that was, would be the time for us to make, uh, our comments to mass port. Although as I said in the past, unless we had the power of tip O'Neill, I don't think we're going to be able to tell mass port what to do. Um, having said all of that, Councilor March brought up something is, and that's the reason why I drove down here. I want, I believe in East Boston, they're not only given new windows to homeowners, but they're also given insulation. So I'm not sure who I so-called the eyes is and what kind of clout they have on a mass port scene. maybe at least we can get that to try to lessen the noise damage. Thank you for listening.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. On the motion for approval, uh, seconded, uh, all those, uh, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. With the request of the mayor's office to meet with the council, uh, in an emergency meeting on this subject matter as amended by councilor marks.
[Clerk]: Councilor Falco. Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Lungo-Koehn? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President De La Ruza?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With a vote of six in the affirmative, one absent, the motion carries. 16-742 offered by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council discuss the speeding on South Street and request that the administration install speed humps to deter the heavy speeding of cars and trucks in the interest of public safety. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. This subject, too, came up at least once in the last three months with regards to South Street. It seems like every week we have an issue on one or two streets, depending on where we get in the complaints that coming week. The speeding is an issue. South Street, I've received a number of complaints with regards to the speeding, not only of cars, but also of heavy trucking. And trucking is coming down. banging manholes, waking people up. It's a real problem, and it's something that I think we need to either get some enforcement or some speed bumps. I don't believe we can necessarily do race crosswalks on all these streets, but we need to do something to deter the traffic, the speeding. They're coming from Winthrop Street, buzzing around the corner there, and just flying. It's a straight shoot, and we're talking 40, 50 plus miles per hour, a number of cars all the time. There's so many people that cross, at least, especially Walnut and South, somebody's going to get hurt. So if we could ask that the chief of police put some enforcement in that location, and we also ask for an update from, I believe there was supposed to be a potential island put in, anything to deter the traffic. This is another location. that really need some help. And I know we're doing whatever we can in different locations in Medford. I know that Alston and High is getting some work done. This is another location that, like Highland Ave, like South Street, Main Street, one of our main drags that is creating a serious safety risk. So I really hope that we can request speed bumps on South Street as a council and deterrent, just a deterrent for the speeding.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, councilor. I know citizen is going to bring the matter before the traffic commission, uh, uh, in the near future chair recognizes councilor night.
[Adam Knight]: Um, Mr. President, thank you very much. Um, I believe that the construction project that the council was referring to was not on a traffic Island. I think that was determined that it was going to be a curb bump out, would extend the curb at Winthrop and South street, um, further into the street so that vehicles can't come down Winthrop street at a high rate of speed going towards the parkway. and continue down South Street at a high rate of speed. And I, too, would like to request, Mr. President, by way of amendment and update on that construction project, 1021, I sent an email to Deputy Director Curran for that exact same purpose, Mr. President. Also, I'd like to request that a traffic division provide directed patrols in the area during the rush hour hours, Mr. President. I think it's safe to say that a lot of this traffic is a direct result of the that's being placed on route 16, that's taking cars out of Medford Square and bringing them down the parkway, then up Winthrop Street, then back down High Street into Medford Square. Well, if you can go that way, you can also take a left onto Winthrop Street and then a left onto South Street and go down South Street and get into Medford Square that way as well, Mr. President. So we'd also like to ask if the Massachusetts Department of Transportation can provide us with some mitigation help here, Mr. President, maybe in the way of a traffic count or a traffic study or helping fund temporary speed bumps in the location. Also, Mr. President, back in April of 2014, I believe the council did support a community improvement initiative which authorized the purchase of two mobile speed bumps. One of those mobile speed bumps was placed out on central for quite a bit of time, and then it was removed. I believe that was part of the pilot program that Councilor Marks championed for raised crosswalks, Mr. President. So I'd also like to request that in the interim until a permanent solution can be made that the portable crosswalks that were, that funds are appropriate for an April of 2014, um, be installed on South street for the time being. Mr. President, with that, with the directed patrols, I think we'll have an immediate impact on the quality of life in the neighborhood.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor. Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_04]: I'm Deborah Welch. I live at one Oh two South street. And, um, I had three pages of notes here and you just went over two and a half pages of my notes. And so I appreciate that so much. I would like to share that last Tuesday, I did come to this meeting, but last Tuesday before the council meeting, I had another opportunity to speak with Officer Brooks in traffic. And it's just interesting to me how each person that I speak to in different departments within the city are already aware of the speeding issue on South Street. Officer Brooks mentioned the department has a traffic counter. And the counter, it counts the number of vehicles, the number of axles, and the time and speed of the vehicles. which is currently out on a street in Medford. After this street, it goes to Adams Street, then West Street, and then he said it would come onto South Street. And so I just wanted to update that that was the information I had. Also today, there were men on the street marking it out from National Grid, the Greater Boston and New Hampshire Solution, and they were just marking out certain areas, and they are consultants for the Mystic to Woburn Line project. for, yes, for running underground cables. And so I'm glad, so you know about that, okay. So I'm just wondering, since they have to dig up the street, South Street being one of them, to run those, then possibly the city could piggyback on that road resurfacing and put the humps in at that time, or actually even to put it into their contract. that they had to do it. So the bumps are very different from the humps that you would put in the street. The bumps are much wider. They need a drain. They're very expensive, I've been told. Okay, so you would know that. And the humps are in a series, and they're smaller. They're like the humps that are in the in front of stop in the Felsway, right, in front of stop and shop, and there are a series of them. And the reason that there's a series of them is because it maintains the slowing of the speed rather than you slow down to go over a hump and then you just speed up after you're 10 feet past it. But if you have a series of them, and with the four or five streets that you have off of South Street, if you put them either before or after the streets, then that would prevent the trucks, the cars from hitting you know, any pockets in the street that make the loud noises and the trucks from speeding down the entire street. So it's not really about catching them, you know, during a certain time of the day, because it happens all hours of the night, all hours. I mean, in the summertime, it wakes you up. There's just no relief from that in the summertime. And the size of the trucks, that's another issue. What are the size of the trucks that are allowed on Winthrop Street? And because Winthrop is the only feed into South Street. So what are the size of the trucks that are allowed? Because if you saw the size of trucks that are coming down the street, I don't think that would be allowed. So that is, I appreciate that. And the only other thing I have to say is about, as far as the street humps go, there are only three materials that are used for that. And the city already has it. It's asphalt, signage, just alerting them to bumps or, you know, having one of those sticks up there like you do on a fire hydrant, and bright yellow spray paint. It's just three materials. Okay, thank you for your time.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, Ms. Welch mentioned something that made me think. As we look at South Street and its location, and then we look at right across the river, we have the Felsway, and the Felsway is part of our parkway system, and no trucking is allowed on on the Felsway, on Route 16. And I see no difference between Route 16 and the same exact street, South Street, directly across the street, Mr. President. So I'd like to amend the paper and request that the Traffic Commission take a look at the feasibility of making that a no-truck route. No heavy trucking.
[Fred Dello Russo]: No heavy trucking on South Street. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I just want to second that, President Dello Russo. I believe I've been getting the trucking complaints on South Street for the last couple of years since we did no heavy trucking on Harvard. So I think you're getting the trucks that can't go on Harvard or don't think they can go on Harvard coming down South now. And I think maybe that's where the overflow is coming from. So I think making South Street no heavy trucking is a good idea and something that almost the residents need as, as part of their relief.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the motion of vice-president Lungo-Koehn as seconded and amended by councilor Knight, councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I think it was council Lungo-Koehn that asked during the budget time that the city purchase more of the electronic speed signs because one of them was not properly working. And now I'm hearing that, We have one counter for the entire city. We have hundreds and hundreds of roads and we have one counter and there's a list of streets and your street may get put on the list at some point to have the traffic. It seems to me an invaluable resource to have this particular device count the traffic. It also gives a pretty accurate estimate of the speed cars are going so you can get a great picture of what's happening on a road. So I would ask, as part of this report, that the administration look into purchasing another counter or possibly two counters for the use of our traffic division. The second point, Mr. President, and as Councilor Knight mentioned, there's a major difference. And I realize what you're trying to do with traffic calming. You're trying to slow down cars on South Street. I am adamantly opposed to any type of speed bump. And there's a reason, not because I don't like speed bumps. They may work in the parking lot. I live across from the stop and shop, and they're effective in that parking lot. On streets, let me tell you, if you were to put several speed bumps on South Street, you'd be woken up all times of the night. with cars going over that, because just like you're stating with a raised crosswalk, they tend not to slow down. A speed bump is the same thing, and they're going to fly over the speed bump, and you're going to have trucks that are just going to be bouncing off those speed bumps. To me, strategically located raised crosswalks, they're more expensive, but that's what's done in Cambridge, Somerville, Boston, and they're very effective in slowing down traffic, especially if they're properly marked, The one on Winthrop Street, we've had a fight to get marked and so forth, the paint on and so forth. But there are a lot of other traffic calming approaches of widening sidewalks, of putting 3D markers painted on the street that look like there's an interruption in the street and cars will slow down. There's a number of approaches that can be done that I think speed bumps, I think if you did install them, you'll be asking us to remove them immediately. They're just not effective on main roads. They just don't work. And that's why you don't see them. Go to any other community. Malden ripped up the few that they had because there were a number of accidents caused by the speed bumps and cars trying to stop and going over too fast. it was my hope with the pilot program, with the raised crosswalks, which now is on year three or four, we were promised three. We only got one. Uh, so it was my hope that eventually after, uh, reviewing these raised crosswalks that would start putting throughout the community in areas that we know we need and South street would be one. And I agree. South street's a long street, cars pick up a speed. But if we had a traffic engineer like Councilor Falco has been asking for here at City Hall, we'd be able to strategically locate these raised crosswalks in an area that would, in effect, probably slow down traffic throughout the entire South Street area. And that was my hope. But in my opinion, this city does very little when it comes to pedestrian safety, when it comes to enforcement in the community, and I'm hoping that with this new administration that the mayor maintained some of the commitments that the past mayor had, one being the crosswalks, the raised crosswalks. That was a commitment from Mayor McGlynn. Mayor McGlynn also promised that crosswalks throughout the city would also get neon pedestrian crossing signs on each side of the street. And when McGlynn left office, the new administration offered a resolution, I think it was last week, did not pick up on that. So I'm hoping that becomes part of the overall process of moving this city forward. But I can appreciate South Street. We've talked about Brianna knows that her parents live on South Street. We've been talking about South Street since I've been on the council. And I don't know why we as a community can't offer some of these traffic calming approaches, sensible ones. It just doesn't make sense to me. Your mic's not on. Good evening.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Welcome.
[SPEAKER_04]: Hi. It was also mentioned earlier that there might be an island. I had spoken with, at DPW, Mr. Teneglia, who had told me that he had seen plans for an island. He doesn't know where they are right now, but he said he has seen plans for an island. And then it was also mentioned about the extended sidewalk, so the sidewalks would come out. So I think anything in the beginning, because if you're taking a right-hand turn onto South Street, it says blind driveway. There's a sign that says blind driveway, which means It's like, as it was last week, there was another place in Medford that there was a fence up that it's blind, that you can't get by it. This is a blind turn onto South Street. And literally, I mean, they just fly by. So you don't know when they're coming. I mean, trying to cross the street, whatever. You have people playing softball. You have the little kids coming. You know, the parents are parking there so they can go over to the park. I mean, it's dangerous. It's seriously a danger zone. So, I would ask that the beginning of the street really be looked at. How to slow down that traffic coming around the corners and then continuing down the street. I appreciate that. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you.
[John Falco]: Chair recognizes Councilor Falco. Mr. President, I just want to thank Councilor Longo-Curran for bringing this forward. I mean, it's a very important resolution. I can identify 100% with going to take my kids to Little League at the park. It's a dangerous area. It's a dangerous intersection. And I support the resolution, especially the update on what was supposed to happen with the island or making the sidewalks wider in that area to help narrow the streets. I mean, if you walk down South Street, I think especially on the side towards the river, there isn't even a sidewalk there. It's just grass. So I mean, it'd be nice to actually, maybe we could have a sidewalk created to actually help narrow that road. But I really think you hear something like this here, and more and more, and I think all councilors have received these phone calls and emails, traffic, speeding. You talk about heavy trucking and how you eliminate it from one street, but it creates problems on another street. And issues like this here scream for a traffic engineer and hiring a traffic engineer. We do not have one on staff in the city. We have no one qualified to study traffic in this city. There is no one qualified at all to study traffic. And we need someone, we need someone desperately, like Council Box mentioned earlier, I had offered a resolution back in the spring. It was not included in the budget. I hope it's included in next year's budget. I'll bring it up again. But we desperately need a traffic engineer to look at issues like this, because these issues are just, with more and more development coming into our city, these issues are just becoming, they are popping up all over our neighborhoods, throughout our city, they need to be addressed, and I feel like in many ways they're not being addressed because we don't have a traffic engineer. So I support the resolution and move approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Vice President Lungo-Koehn, seconded by Councilor Knight, as amended by Councilors Knight, Falco, and Marx. Chair recognizes Vice President Margaret Curran.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Just briefly, if we could also just further amend it. I think with the amount of speeding complaints we're getting and the questions we have for the chief of police, if we could set up a committee of the whole meeting to just discuss with the mayor and the chief of police what else we can do. I think it's great that we have the complete streets grant that's coming and we're going to improve a number of different locations in the city. that's only going to do so much for a small amount of streets. We need to create a better plan on how we can enforce our streets with regards to the speeding in a better manner. I don't think we're doing a good enough job. And I think something needs to be done, whether we need to put more police officers on, get more speed monitors, figure out how many are trained to enforce speeding. I know traffic counters are involved. And people are now starting to not only complain about the speeding, but to ask us these questions. And we don't know the answers. I didn't know we only had one traffic counter. We learned in budget time that we only had one speed monitor sign that's broken. We've asked for a second one. I believe they're being purchased. But we don't know the facts and figures. And we don't know the constraints of our police department and what we need to do to make sure we boost levels in the enforcement of traffic. because people are getting hit, people are getting hurt, and we need to do something in this community. We need to step up to the plate, all get to the table, and decide how we can proceed in a way that's going to make our streets safer for the children, for the elderly, for anybody who's crossing the street at any given moment. We need to make sure we're doing a better job.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Madam Vice President. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. You know, it was — the recommendation was made some four or five years ago that we merged the off-street parking commission with the traffic commission. And that was done recently, as of, I think, about a year and a half ago. Both commissions were merged. I think it's probably about time, as we know, this city is growing. uh, not in land wise, but, uh, population wise and housing wise. And, uh, the need for increased public safety is evident now more than ever. And I think, you know, and this is no slight on anyone. So if anyone takes it that way, I'm sorry, but the traffic commission right now consists of the chief of police. I mean, he's running a very busy department. So he sits on the traffic commission. You have the director of office community development. She sits on the traffic commission. She's running a very busy community development office, uh, trying to bring in new business throughout this community. You have the head of the DPW, the DPW commissioner, sits on the traffic commission, very busy running the DPW department. And now we're saying, well, now you'll sit on this committee and maybe years in the past, you get together for an hour or two and discuss some issues, vote on some issues and then go home. But guess what? In this day and age, I think that job involves much more, Mr. President, much more time and effort. And maybe it's about time we as a community review the Traffic Commission and bring it up to the 21st century, Mr. President. And, you know, we're talking about a traffic engineer. Now, the Traffic Commission doesn't have any engineer they can go to either. So when someone presents an issue to them, they don't have the knowledge and whereabouts to go to a traffic engineer and say, How would this work there? Is this suitable? And so forth. So I think at some point, maybe when we do meet, I know Councilor Longo asked, and I think it was Councilor Knight, that we meet with the administration and so forth. Maybe we have to have that discussion, Mr. President, regarding the Traffic Commission and how we can improve the Traffic Commission. Last week we found out that the mayor appointed the Complete Streets Committee to also be part of, which is separate from the Traffic Commission, be part of pedestrian safety initiatives in this community. And maybe, as I recommended, I think it was last week or the week before, that we come up with truly a citizen advisory board, Mr. President, that sits down and not only makes recommendations, but has teeth to do enforcement when it comes to making sure that things happen. Because right now, the Traffic Commission can approve it, but they can only approve it until the DPW goes out and hangs the signs, or paints the crosswalks, or do their job. And maybe we need one body that has both the legislative ability and the enforcement ability to get things done. And this is an important issue. And really, Mr. President, we're creating bike lanes in this community. And there's a lot happening. We're a major cut through into the city of Boston And we're just not doing enough to make sure our streets are safe and pedestrians feel safe to walk around our city, Mr. President. So I would ask, was that offered in the form of a motion that we meet with the traffic? I don't want to steal someone's thunder if someone offered it. It was an amendment to the main motion. Was that an amendment? OK. So if that's an amendment made already, then I support that whole item, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. Chair recognizes the citizen at the podium. Please state your name and address for the record. Welcome sir.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Thank you. Andrew Cushman street. Oh two one five five on the subject of safety and sell street. I'd be remiss not to repeat myself at the last police crime watch meeting that transpired in West method last month. So chief Sacco and the offices and the people that were attended, It seems to me the most dangerous intersection in the whole city is at South Street. But I'm not sure where you're speaking of, but if you continue down South Street, heading east, and you come to the end, as you're approaching the police academy and the police station in front of you, and you're entering onto Main Street, in my opinion, it's the most accident prone, I'm sure it's even documented intersection in the entire city, even beats Wellington, Winthrop circle. I've been dealing with sub method for over 40 something years. So by recommendation, not being in a safety professional would be as you enter main street, it's right turn only council max.
[Michael Marks]: I appreciate Mr. Castagnetti bringing that up because this council has offered a number of initiatives regarding lights, blinking lights. And we were always told that because that's an entrance to a state highway, that that is state property at the end. And, uh, I believe it was about a year and a half ago, two years ago when the department of transportation came before this council to answer some questions on the rehabbing of the Craddock Bridge. We said, you know what? You're going to be right in the area. You're doing over the Craddock Bridge. Why not another 25 yards up the street? We know we have a major concern with Salton Main. And at the time, I'll never forget it, the person at the podium said, that's not part of the scope of the project. And it would have been a great time, in my opinion, to address the needs. I mean, they're literally, it's like, you know, putting a roof on your house and then, you know, not leaving the windows open. It just doesn't make any sense. But again, we can ask that through our state delegation, State Rep Donato and Senator Jayler and Representative Barber to help us get involved in improving of that particular intersection. It's right across from the police station. I mean, you know.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Please, and then, Councilor Marks brought up a point that I recollect exactly that session and the answer, you seem 100% accurate to my recollection. Thank you. And thank you for jumping on this because it's It's more than an incredibly dangerous intersection. It's got to be the worst in Andrew's book, period, in the whole city. So Route 38, which is Mystic Ave, no, it's Mystic Ave, I believe, and Main Street has no number. So I don't think that's a state road. Mystic Ave is not there. It doesn't start until after the fire station, I believe. So I believe South Street also is a city road, even though it's sort of like an exit off route 16. So maybe we don't have to deal with no state to put up a rights, right turn only coming off, coming off south onto main. There's so many access. I can attest from my own blood having situations there. If it's a right turn only, that means they cannot take a left into Medford square where a lot of accidents happened. because they don't stop at the stop sign properly, or they do, and it's just called accidents. Right, and you cannot go straight, the way I'm speaking, because if you wanted to go straight, well, you could have stayed on 16. No, it's coming off 16, right? You take the right turn only, yeah, okay, now you end up at the fork of Mystic Ave and Main Street. When you make your U-turn around Mystic Ave, Fire stations, parking lot, because it's a law. You can't go in there and turn. But when there's a will, there's a way. We can eliminate lots of misery, hardship, hopefully a lot of people end up in wheelchairs, and more people going to the funeral homes. Thank you for listening.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sorry? So on the motion, as amended, On the motion of Vice President Lungo-Koehn, seconded by Councilor Knight, and as amended by Vice President Lungo-Koehn, Councilors Knight, Marks, and Falco. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Paper in the hand of the clerk, offered by Councilor Marks. Be it resolved that the land and building located on Maple Park Avenue, known as the Hegner Center, be discussed. Councilor Marks, as I'm sure you know, uh, and are proud to announce it has been returned to the care of the city for $1.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Um, you know, back in 1991, uh, the city of Medford transferred the property located at 15 Maple Park Ave, uh, to the Heckner Center for $1. The Heckner Center, uh, is a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation, uh, which services individuals with intellectual disabilities. The deed from the city to the Heckner Center contained a provision. And the provision stated, in the event the premise shall no longer be used for non-profit educational purposes, the premise shall revert to the city of Medford. On October 31st, 2007, The Heckner Center merged with a corporation called Bridgewell. Bridgewell also provides individuals with disabilities and their families services to assist them with rehabilitative and educational treatment services. It was back in November of 2013 that Bridgewell outgrew 15 Maple Park Drive, better known as the Heckner Center, And in November of 2013, they relocated and left the building altogether. So for over two years, that building sat vacant and it was not being used for its intended purpose, which was spelled out in the deed for nonprofit educational purposes. And at that point, the city should have known that that building should have reverted back to the city. And for whatever reason, the city wasn't notified or the city wasn't doing their due diligence and the building was just left unattended. So it was sometime after, I believe it was in 2015, that Bridgewell entered and explored an option to sell the property. to Ministerio, which is, I believe, a church, which is a non-profit church. And they entered into a purchase and sale agreement to have Ministerio purchase the property at 15 Maple Park Drive for $650,000. Talk about a windfall. They got it for a dollar from the city, and they're entering into an agreement to sell it for $650,000. $50,000. Now in March, 2016, March 10th, this council received paper 16-310 from the mayor's office, Mayor Burke, and as part of the paper, the mayor asked for the council to approve some language changes to the deed itself, and I believe there were five different language changes to the deed, and also stated The purpose of this communication is to inform you that the city, Bridgewell, and Ministerio have entered into a tentative agreement under which the city will receive $125,000 from the proceeds of the sale of 15 Maple Park Ave to resolve any issues arising out of Bridgewell's non-use of the property. And I assume it's since November 2013 when they left the building. So at that time, the mayor approached the council through a paper to this council. This council in their wisdom said, wait a minute, Madam Mayor, we may agree on some things and may disagree on others, but it didn't make sense at the time for this council to vote on a building that was owned by the city, was deeded over for a particular purpose of non-profit disability and rehab usage to now allow that building to be sold. And the council stood up, seven councillors, stood up and said, you know what? And I remember Mr. Rumley was here at the time and said, we want the city to reestablish ownership based on Bridgewell's failure to provide notification of its departure from that property in 2013. So based on them leaving, based on the deed that said that it should revert back to the city, this council took the stand. And Mr. Rumley went back with that notice from this council. I'm sure he went back to the mayor. And he started to negotiate with Bridgewell. On March 22, 2016, Councilor Caraviello offered a resolution. that the property revert back to the city and that it also be used for other purposes and possibly turn the building into an art center and so forth. On September 27th, as most recent, I offered a resolution asking Mr. Rumley for an update because we haven't heard anything in months. Today we received a press release. I received one via email from the administration. And it was great. There was a picture of the mayor with, I assume, a representative from Bridgewell. And the mayor's holding a copy of the new deed and a dollar bill that's attached to the deed, showing that Bridgewell sold it back to the city. And the mayor wanted to congratulate all parties, except for the Medford City Council, who started this. But that's the mayor's prerogative. The mayor can thank whoever she wants. And in my opinion, Mr. President, if it wasn't for this council and this council standing up and saying, you know what, Madam Mayor, you may think that's the right thing, but we don't feel that's the right thing on behalf of the taxpayers of this community. And we don't feel a property assessed at over $650,000 that we receive $125,000, in my opinion, payoff, is not the right thing to do, Mr. President. And I just want to thank each and every one of my colleagues. Mr. President, thank you. Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli, Councilor Longo, Councilor Knight, Councilor Falco, and Councilor Caraviello. for the leadership, Mr. President, on this issue. And I'm proud to say that building is reverting back to the city. And I'm proud to say, Mr. President, whether we resell it or whether we use it for another purpose, like maybe an art center of the community, or maybe having Method Arts Council have a home that they don't currently have a home. Or maybe we can put a recreation department in there that Councilor Scarpelli is the chairman of and leading that effort. We have a lot of need in this community, Mr. President. And I am ecstatic that we were able to get this building back. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Mr. Rumley, because he's the one that negotiated the deal with Bridgewell. And I want to personally thank Mr. Rumley for his efforts on this. And again, thank the council for their leadership, Mr. President. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilman. Chair recognizes the citizen at the podium. Good evening.
[Robert Penta]: Please state your name and address for the record. My name is Robert Penta, Zero Summit Road, Medford, Mass., former member of the Zagos party. I, too, would like to commend this council for doing the right thing when this issue was presented before you. And likewise, I'd like to thank Mark Rumley. He's a city solicitor. Councilor Umley, for doing the work. But the disturbing part about this whole presentation is the fact that the deed originally had its right of reverter. And the right of reverter reverts back to the community if, in fact, the building was not going to be used for the particular purpose for which it was intended, its non-profit use, and that would be helping children and adults that had serious problems. Putting that aside, the building sat there for almost two years and the city did nothing to recognize not only was the building not being used, but the fact of the matter is it wasn't being used for its intended purpose. I just find it appalling that the mayor of this community would take it upon herself and send out a press release and not even thank you, the Councilors, because if it wasn't for you, the Councilors, asking Councilor Rumley to do the research, to prove and to show that that building did belong to the city, for a future particular city use, it's just a shame. It's another example of this lack of transparency. And I don't know what it's going to take for this council to wake up and to understand. You people are just being used, you're like a ping pong ball bouncing back. Only when you need it, that's when you're called upon. And then when you finally do something, and it didn't even help any one Councilor in particular, you were doing this for the entire community, the community as a whole. And you don't even get a special thank you. You don't even get an acknowledgement. You don't even get a reference by any commentary. But the mayor sends out a press release commending herself for completing this. It's a shame. And I don't know what it's going to take for this council to realize that you do have a voice. You do are, you do, you are important. And had not this council taken that seven to nothing vote to send it to Mr. Rumbling, but rather had the seven of you decided just to vote for it on that particular night, we wouldn't be where we are today. And we'd be out of a building. We'd be out of the use of the building. and you'd look like very stupid individuals because nobody did their homework. So I thank you, I commend you, I applaud you, and I thank Mr. Rumley as well. Thank you. Thank you, citizen.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Marks that the City Council is congratulated. All those in favor? And receive accommodation. And receive accommodation. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Bid resolved. This is offered in the hand of the clerk by Councilor Knight. Be it resolved that the city administration provide an update on the status of resolution 16-404. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Resolution 16-404 was a resolution that I filed some months back requesting a list of all the roadways and sidewalks that were dug up or permitted for excavation by our public utilities, Mr. President, and the status thereof, whether or not they've been completed to the city of Medford standards or not. as well as a request for a list of properties that have received permits where the restoration work has not been completed. Also, as many of us are aware, in situations where trees wrap around power lines, the utility is responsible for pruning back the trees that are wrapped up in utility lines. And I asked for a list of locations that the utilities are responsible for in terms of trees growing into power lines, Mr. President. So it's a growing concern about the amount of construction work that's going on in our community here. that's being performed by public utilities. If you were going to drive down through the Lawrence Estates, for example, you'd see Trancroft and Crocker Road dug up for 15, 20, 30, 40 feet, Mr. President. Then we get down to the corner of Governor's Ave and Forest Street, and we see some more excavation work being done there. Then you look across the street on Ashcroft, and there's work being done there, Mr. President. There's a tremendous amount of trench work being done by our public utilities. But, quite frankly, I don't have the warm and fuzzies when it comes down to the restoration work that's being done, Mr. President. So I'm asking the engineering department to give us a list of these properties and locations, Mr. President. Once I receive the list, I'd like to take a review and then potentially create some criteria to mandate requirements in the permitting process. For example, if the utility comes in to do emergency work, that a fire detail be present. If the utility comes in to work on a roadway like Lawrence Road or like Forest Street, that they have to have a police detail present and a traffic management plan in place that's actually going to make sense and work, Mr. President. As we see our roads get dug up more and more frequently, we see detours and we see traffic getting routed through neighborhoods and through residential streets. And it's really a quality of life issue, Mr. President, between the traffic when the work is going on and then the shoddy repair work at the end of the job. I think that's something that we need to take a focus on. I'd ask for the council to support this resolution.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. The records of the meeting. Before we call for the records, Chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: If we could just ask that the crosswalk in front of the Seafood Depot in West Medford Square be painted in the interest of public safety. On that motion. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. And do we have any report of the Committee of the Whole? I know we reported something out. We have yet to receive that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Okay. Chair Agnes, Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Just a brief acknowledgement to the Chamber of Commerce. They branched off, Kelly Catalo and Janet Donnelly ran a women's networking event tonight at Salvatore's restaurant. I just want to congratulate them. They had almost 40, 50 women there networking. It was a nice event and I told them I'd give them a shout out. It went really well. Thank Denise Baker from Sal's who donated all the pizza.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yum. Yum. Thank you. Congratulations. Um, and thank you to our city clerk and the staff and the registrar of photos office. for undertaking, for the first time, such a monumentous task of having early voting for now two weeks, and with over 5,000 people voting early in the upcoming election. So, thank you, Mr. Clerk.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor. I know I had the opportunity to attend the Haines Square Fall Festival. I want to thank the organizers. They put together a great festival. at Haines Square, and also the West Medford Halloween party that they had behind the liquor spot, uh, uh, liquors, vodka spot liquors. And I want to thank the organizers of that event as well. Uh, you know, Steve Pompeo and, uh, some other members of the community were very active in putting that together.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So I want to thank the great weekend in Medford and council Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. If I may mention quickly, uh, tomorrow night, November 2nd is the next community police meeting at St. Francis Parish Center. It starts at 7 p.m. Thank you. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And the records are in the hands of Councilor Scarpelli. Did you examine them? How do you find them, sir? On the motion for approval. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion of adjournment by Vice President Mungo Kern. All those in favor? And no meeting next week on election day. Get out and vote.
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