[Richard Caraviello]: Medford City Council's second regular meeting. Medford, Massachusetts. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Dello Russo. Present. Councilor Falco. Present. Councilor Knight. Present. Councilor Kern. Vice President Locke. Present. Councilor Scarpelli. Present. President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: President, please stand and salute 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. Suspend the rules. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President asked to suspend the rules this evening so that the city council can adopt the committee report from the committee of the whole relative to vehicles for hire that just took place.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Uh, those who don't know, we had a meeting this evening, uh, to adopt some new rules for the taxi rates and the council and with the chief. So, uh, on councilor Knight's motion seconded by councilor Dello Russo.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, if I may, um, the city clerk's going to provide the language changes and include that in the minutes of a next month, next week's meeting. Uh, so everybody will have a chance to take a look at them in their full text and then we can move for a vote next week.
[Richard Caraviello]: All in favor. Vice president marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to personally thank the subcommittee on licensing. Uh, as we probably all know in this community, uh, the taxi license, Ordinance hasn't been reviewed or looked at in many, many years. And they did their homework and their due diligence. And I believe they came out with an acceptable ordinance that updates taxi licenses in this community and also provides more accessibility for those that may have a handicap in this community. So I wanted to personally thank the licensing subcommittee for their due diligence, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed, none. Motion passes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: While we're on to suspension, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes, Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: While we're on to suspension, Mr. President, I respectfully request that we take item number 16-789 from the table for consideration.
[Richard Caraviello]: 16-789, transfer. Second. Second by Councilor. Transfer $900,000 from retained water earnings Mr. Manningman, madam engineer.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President, uh, in, uh, the last, uh, year at the end of the year, we had a presentation from, uh, the mayor's office through the city engineer, uh, to discuss and review, uh, matters pertaining to the, uh, Brownfield and West Medford. Yes. Uh, we had asked, uh, for some, uh, reports from the, uh, city engineer and she provided them to us in our last week's packet. and we've had them over the weekend in answer to some of the questions that the Councilors had asked in helping them consider their decision with regards to this matter of justice. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Name and address of the record, please. Yes, good evening. I'm sorry, I couldn't hear the screen. Am I done? Your mic should be on. I'm sorry, I couldn't hear the screen. Hold on. Hold on, hold on. All right, good enough.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Cassandra Cudelita, City Engineer. Aleesha Nunley, Finance Director.
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: So, Your Honorable Body, we did come before you in December, and I wanted to just add two additional comments from the last presentation. One is that we had a conference call yesterday with our EPA representative, and she's very concerned about this project getting started. We have exceeded our three-year time frame for the grant, and we received an extension, but it would be difficult to get a second extension. We have just a one-year extension right now, and anything that would go beyond that may have to go to headquarters to be approved. Anything that would be a second one-year extension would have to go to headquarters. And there is concern and review at EPA now about funds that are sitting in accounts that are not being utilized. The second piece is that we are looking at a time that is ripe for beginning work. In the spring, the high groundwater table is the time that you want to start. So if we weren't to start this spring, we're trying to catch that schedule, we would be faced with waiting perhaps another calendar year before we could look at this again. And then that would put us in a tenuous position with EPA. So I wanted to bring that to your attention.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Dello Russo. Mr. President, if I could, through the chair, ask the city engineer, are you convinced that this course of action which is being presented to us is the right course of action to take given the options that you're aware of in treating a situation such as this, a site such as this, and given the time that this has gone on, and hasn't had a lot of action except testing and monitoring. Where we have a treatment and mitigation plan, are you confident that this is the city's best option to pursue and that this is something for the sake of justice for the residents and property owners over there that we should undertake?
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: Yes, through the chair. I feel confident that we have selected an alternative that is cost effective. And we'll work in a timely manner. We have been in consultation with DEP. They have quite a bit of experience beyond us in handling these types of projects. You know, chemical oxidation is very well known, very successful, good at treating this contaminant, good at getting into tight spots, which is underneath the building.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And I notice in the packet that you provided to us that there was a This, in particular, has been tremendously helpful in urban areas, in densely populated urban areas where there's been great success. And this, if I understand correctly, again, through the chair, this is helpful for the environment as well. Not only does it mitigate and clean up this contamination, but the means by which it's done is not invasive to the environment either.
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: Right. Through the chair, we received an award from DEP, uh, and the LSP association for this being called a greener cleanup, instead of trying to excavate and haul tons of soil out and haul it, you know, uh, thousands of miles away to a hazardous waste landfill, we're able to treat it on site. You know, we might've mentioned to you in our last presentation that this is a contaminant that is migrating offsite, heading toward the street. You know, we don't want it to be, It's something that we're going to have to encounter in the future when we're doing any water utility work or sewer work with the attendant health and safety issues and dealing with the hazardous waste we have to dispose of. So it's a greener cleanup. It is effective. The chemicals have been studied. They've gone through bench tests and pilot tests. They've figured out how much they have to pump into the ground to get it to where they want it to go. Nobody can see underground. I mean, you can do the best you can with what you know, but we have a pretty robust design.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Mr. President, I move approval.
[Michael Marks]: Vice President Mox. Thank you, Mr. President. Cassandra, what plans are being made to alleviate some of the concerns for parking now that that lot will be under repair?
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: Through the chair, we're working on this one step at a time. Right now, the procurement documents are being prepared. We have talked about one potential location for temporary parking. And my next task, once we have approval, if we do get approval tonight, is to focus on what we're going to do during the time that the parking lot is inaccessible.
[Michael Marks]: So you will have an alternate parking plan?
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: My hope is that we will identify you know, sufficient alternative parking.
[Michael Marks]: Which site are you currently looking at?
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: There was discussion, and I don't have current information on it, but using the funeral home for some parking.
[Michael Marks]: And you've been in discussions with the owner?
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: I personally have not. That was the previous administration.
[Michael Marks]: I would ask Mr. President that as, as part of this approval, that, uh, the council be updated on, uh, what, uh, alternative plans are going to be out for parking, uh, whether it's maybe a loosening up some of, uh, the parking that's going on right now through park method or that an additional site be provided. And also that a periodic updates be sent to the director butters who are most impacted Mr. President on, uh, the progress of this project. as well as the city council.
[Richard Caraviello]: So I would ask that that, that to, uh, I'd like to have a meeting, um, with the, all the residents in that area, the businesses. So they know what, uh, the timing of this and the actual impact rather than just, uh, you know, given, uh, I think the businesses all should be notified, uh, and have a public meeting. So they all know, uh, what's going to be going on and in, the parking arrangements, and I would hope that we would waive the metering during that time while this project is going on also. So if you wouldn't mind adding that onto your.
[Michael Marks]: I think that's mostly what I said, but I'd be more than happy to add that.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I think there's also the underlying issue of those who have purchased business permits that operate businesses down there and own business permits and rely on that lot. So similar to the metering and the alternative parking plan, I think this is a great idea. I think this is the direction that we need to go in. I'm certainly in favor of the paper. I feel as though this environmental issue down here needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. And the alternative parking plan, I think, is the sticking point. So this is something that I think is important, but I also think it's a great idea. and I think it's a good, happy medium so that we can move forward and get the construction work done while at the same time addressing some of the concerns in the business district. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: On Councilor Dello Russo's motion, do I have a second? Second. Second by Councilor Falco.
[Robert Penta]: Yes. Name and address of the record, please. My name, my name is Robert Penter, zero summit road method, Massachusetts, former member of this board. Um, I have no question about remediate, uh, remediating the land, but there are some issues here that haven't been resolved. And two of them in particular were brought up at the December meeting. Um, where's the law that allows for this number one and where was, and where's the public hearing on a March 14th of 2014 in a meeting that took place with the Medford office of environmental affairs. There were a host of folks that were there, including myself. And in there, there was an EPA rules and regulation that basically states the following. EPA regulation states that there will be a public meeting that will be advertised through the standard public meeting notification channels. And that was in reference to the fact that just what you asked about, Mr. President, and for the public, there is yet to be a public hearing meeting regarding this amount of money of $900,000 for this particular transfer. It was stated and quoted at the last meeting, there would be anywheres from between 75 to 100 injection points that would be placed into the ground. Brown and Caldwell, who we spent well over $100,000, indicated that that would take two drilling rigs in no more than 10 to 15 days. You were told this past December it would take approximately a month of disruption. That goes to your point, Councilman Longs. Also, the soil depth of 20 to 25 feet, which is found on the GZA report, indicates that their cost, their estimation, and they were the people that reviewed the Brown and Caulfield, their cost was between $2.4 to $2.9 million. Brown and Caulfield said it would cost the city approximately $1.8 million. And you're looking at $900,000 that's now being presented before you. So these are issues that I think that still needs to be addressed. And also, The city of Medford had a projected analysis that took place in August, July of 2015, for which I have here. It talks about the cost. It talks about the remediation. Now, I spoke to the Bureau of Accounts at the Department of Revenue, and they have a rule and regulation that is very specific as it relates to what you can and cannot do as it relates to this particular thing. It's guideline 08-101. And it says, for what services can a community adopt an enterprise fund? It goes into all the issues. Yes, no, we're different. But then it says the community may not, may not establish enterprise funds for normal government operations or services, such as public safety, inspectional services, or cemeteries. We're talking about something here that's remediation of land, dirty soil, before you even get down to 20 to 25 feet of wherever that water might be. You cannot. and I defy anyone here to show me a case or an authorization where enterprise funds money, water and sewer enterprise funds money were used to remediate dirty soil that's there. You were there right from the beginning, Councilor Caraviello. You heard the commentary. You saw the businesses that have been affected. If you go forward with this vote tonight without having a legal determination that it can be done, and also without contacting the Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services, and explain to them this is the reason why you want to spend your $900,000 out of an enterprise fund for which they can give you an opinion whether you can or cannot do it. And we had this conversation in December. I'm a little bit shocked that both of these young ladies that work for the mayor haven't brought any of that information forward that would justify. So all that seems to take place that took place in December and now, nothing has changed. It's just sat on the table, and whatever packet of information you got, over the weekend, so be it. But you have a legal quandary here. And you're talking about the taxpayers' money. You're talking about approximately $8 million that's in free cash that could be used for this. And as the law so states, unless there's something on the boards, on the boards within 90 days for water and sewer street reconstruction, that money has to go back to the ratepayers because it's a surplus. That's a surplus that the ratepayers have been overcharged with. The intent of the project sounds good. cleaning up the property and moving forward. But there's a process that needs to take place. And I would strongly suggest to you, since you don't have any legal determination, nothing from the Department of Revenue, a Bureau of Accounts standard that's operational each and every day for all cities and towns as it relates to enterprise funds, I would suggest that you, instead of take the money out of the enterprise fund, you take it out of your free cash. Or before you even go one step further, so be it. To say that, you know, it's, it's three years overdue and now we're going to get an extension. Whose fault is it for three years overdue? I think the council has been asking. I know when I was on here, I went to all those meetings and there was supposed to be updated meetings. You haven't had the public hearing. That's an EPA regulation and rule requirement for the community as a whole, for the businesses, so they can understand what's going on and to get some input. Where's the input from the community? Where's the public hearing? And why, at this point in time, would you even want to take a chance in having the State Department of Revenue question you when it comes to do your annual assessment on money and budget projections coming back to the city of Medford? I say this with all due respect to the board. Sounds good that people are going to say, well, all of a sudden we're going to get the land, we're going to get the West Medford parking lot, and the brownfields remediated for $900,000. You have two figures from two outside concerns, $1.9 million on one, anywhere from 2.2 to 2.5, 2.6 on another. So I think somebody needs to explain to you the difference. I've got everything right here. I'd be more than happy to spend hours with you to explain and tell you what the differences are. But I think that's your job right now. And your job is to make sure that you make an intelligent decision, not a decision that's been hanging around since December. And you still, you still don't have the appropriate information to make this vote this evening. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Madam budget director, would you like to speak on that?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Thank you, honorable chair and Councilors. I did provide a memo and I did contact DOR legal that it is legal for us to use retained earnings as I, as I provided you in the memo.
[Clerk]: Thank you.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Thank you.
[Clerk]: Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Councilor Dello Russo. Yes. Councilor Falco. Yes. Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Kern. Yes. Vice President Mox. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. A vote of six in the affirmative, one absent. Motion passes. Motion by Councilor Scarpelli to revert back to regular business. 17-017 offered by Councilor Falco. Whereas each neighborhood throughout the city is the experience experiencing increased traffic. Whereas the traffic issues in the city of Medford have had a negative impact on the quality of life of our residents. Whereas traffic and traffic related issues are continuing to grow due to development throughout the city of Medford. Be it resolved that Mayor Burke appropriate the funding for a traffic engineer or have a traffic engineer on retainer included in the fiscal 2018 budget.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, but a year ago I offered a similar, similar resolution. Um, because I believe that the traffic in our community is really having a negative impact on all neighborhoods throughout our community. The traffic engineer, in my opinion, is needed now more than ever. Uh, the past year I've received like many of my colleagues, uh, many emails, phone calls, just conversations on the street about traffic. traffic patterns, car crashes, pedestrians being hit by cars, and just pedestrian issues in general. These issues could have been addressed by a traffic engineer. For the past six months, I've worked with the Medford Police Department and Chief Sago on bringing the monthly neighborhood meetings to different sections of the community. We've had meetings in West Medford at the Brooks School, North Medford at St. Francis, down in Wellington at the Andrews Middle School, and most recently here in South Medford at the South Medford Fire Station. And a common theme has emerged in each of these meetings. It is basically traffic, traffic congestion, and traffic-related issues, and in general, public safety with regards to traffic. We have over 57,000 residents, 57 miles of road, 50 miles of sidewalks. We have five state roads that cut through our city. Route 16, 28, 38, 16, Route 93, And on top of that, Route 93 has four off ramps that continuously unload traffic onto our local streets. In my discussions with Chief Sacco, he agrees that we need to hire a traffic engineer. This should be a priority in the next budget, without a doubt. I give all the credit in the world to Chief Sacco, Sergeant Hartnett, Officer Brooks, for what they've been doing so far to help resolve some of the traffic issues. But we don't have anyone in this city that basically has the educational background or that has studied traffic or that is a technically a traffic engineer. And that is what we really need. And, uh, you know, this traffic is a major problem that's been plaguing our community in the worst is yet to come. Uh, you know, methods only seven miles from Boston. It's a major cut fruit for all surrounding cities and towns. It's run a city. There are major plans for development. You know, if you take, for hundreds of units, if you take a look at Rivers Edge, 350 units, Middlesex Ave, 200 units, possibly 500 units on Locust Street, more development on Salem Street and in West Medford. I mean, as these developers look to add housing to our neighborhoods, you know, there's no one representing our city with regard to traffic. The developers come in, and they want to do whatever they want, but we have no one in this city that is qualified to look at traffic and traffic patterns. We need someone to represent us. In my opinion, a traffic engineer needs to be added in the upcoming budget. Funds need to be appropriated by the mayor, and we must act now. We can only take a look at what's happening in our city. We cannot only take a look at what's happening in our city, but we have to take a look at the surrounding cities as well. You have possible development at the New England Memorial Hospital in Stoneham. You have a development in Malden Center. You have the casino coming in in Everett. You have Assembly Row in Somerville that creates traffic. You have possible development at the Malden Hospital, the old Malden Hospital site up in Malden and North Medford. And that's going to create possibly 400 to 500 car trips a day. I was so concerned about the Malvern hospital issue that, you know, I asked, uh, then, uh, president Dello Russo, if we could set up a, uh, a committee, an ad hoc committee to look at that issue. And myself, Councilor Scarpelli and Councilor, uh, uh, Mungo Kern have, uh, have looked at this issue. And, uh, during our last meeting, we actually, uh, you know, asked that the method police department conduct a study, a traffic study in that area to look at traffic. They put in a traffic counter for 12 days. 12 days on Murray Hill Road, 33,500 cars in 12 days on Murray Hill Road. That tells a story right there. This needs to be looked at. Every single neighborhood is experiencing traffic-related issues. And if you take a look at what's happening up in that section, it's just a microcosm of what's happening all over the city. Traffic is unreal, and it needs to be dealt with, and we need to have someone that has the educational background, that went to school, studied traffic, and knows how to deal with these types of issues. We must act now, our residents deserve better. This is a public safety issue, it's a quality of life issue, and we need proactive leadership, and that is why I offer this resolution tonight. I ask Mayor Burke to appropriate the funding for traffic engineer, or have a traffic engineer on retainer included in the fiscal year 2018 budget. In addition, I ask my colleagues tonight for the support of this resolution. And, uh, I move approval. Uh, in addition, I do know that there are some residents that would like to speak on this issue.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[John Falco]: Thank you very much, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Dello Russo. Mr. President, uh, thank you. And through you to a council Falco, thank you, uh, for offering this, uh, resolution again. Uh, we can also be thankful for Councilor Knight who, uh, has offered similar measures in the past years. Um, this is a subject that's been discussed by this body over the years. I know it's been discussed in the administration over the years in that one of the issues that has been weighed back and forth in discussions that I've been a part of was assessing our ability to pay and hire a person at a salary level, or would we be able to get the same type of service from an individual from having a company on retainer. And that's one of the things I would imagine that has to be weighed by the administration and our able people. who work in the offices of budget and finance and our comptroller's office. I don't know what the answer is. One could be good as another. And when we look at communities nearby who have full-time traffic engineers working for them, one of the qualities that I've noticed undeniably within those communities that have a full-time traffic engineer, that they too, in their proximity to Medford and Boston, share many of the same traffic problems and volume issues that we do now without a traffic engineer. That's not a reason for us not to have one. I think this person can help coordinate as we move forward in the implementation of the Smart Streets programs in this city that we're a proud grantee of, that having a person either working with the engineer's office, either on a full-time basis or as a consultancy firm that has us as one of its accounts and who's invested in Medford's well-being, we'd all benefit. And so I'm grateful and supportive of this measure, and I'd like to second approval, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Dello Russo. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. And thank you to Councilor Falco for bringing this measure forward and Councilor Dello Russo for his rather accurate historic breakdown of the situation, Mr. President. I recall this matter coming up at the FY17 budget debates, followed by some community involvement, some community questions as to whether or not this is an expenditure that's worthwhile, and quite a bit of support coming out saying that it was. I, for one, personally feel as though we've gone the way of the consultant too long. I think that we need an in-house person that's going to be able to meet our day-to-day demands and our day-to-day needs and someone that will be under our control and direction. And I think that's very important, Mr. President. However, I think that Councilor Falco and Councilor De La Russa have hit the nail on the head. We're seeing a tremendous amount of congestion. We're seeing a tremendous amount of growth. One of the things that I've had a problem with for a long time is the timing of our lights. Because we have five-state roads that cut through a terminate here in the city of Medford, we have limited control over our ability to change the signaling and the signage and so on and so forth. And it really seems as though we have two separate entities that are working in opposite directions the state in the city doing different things And I think that we need to communicate a little bit better So that we can work on the timing of our lights for example the detour at the Karatek bridge brings three or four thousand car trips an hour up Winthrop Street Rotary And I think this detour was put into place three weeks after the road was closed up after a year and a half for construction with a brand new road put on it Now, if you look at Winthrop Street in front of Memorial Park, Mr. President, you'll see that the street's coming apart. It's falling apart. It needs to be resurfaced. I can claim that that is probably due to the increased volume of traffic that's been detoured and directed down to the city roads. So having these five-state roadways cut through our community and terminating our community is creating an increased burden, Mr. President. And I think that we might have also an opportunity to reach out to the individuals at the state level. and ask them for some mitigation and some help in addressing these issues because of the fact that we're closely approximated to the capital city and that we have so many state roadways and state controlled streets in our community. We might be able to leverage that for some additional funding, maybe a traffic study to check the signage, to check out lights and the timing thereof to ensure the traffic patents move more smooth, or maybe it's a one-time payment for us to purchase a, one-time payment for us to hire a traffic engineer and then it falls on us to continue the payment thereof. But this is a measure that I wholeheartedly support. I thank my council colleagues for supporting this measure as well. This is what we call, I think, a no-brainer. This is something we need in the community, and we all know it. Thank you, Councilor Knight.
[Richard Caraviello]: Vice President Max.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I want to thank Councilor Felkel for his persistency on this measure. He's brought this up several times within the past year. And I, as one member of the council, am tired of hearing that Well, the administration is reviewing this. Or the administration is having a problem whether or not to hire a full-time person or a consultant. Well, the administration is good at doing $100,000 studies, so I'm surprised they haven't warranted a $100,000 study to figure out if they need a consultant or a full-time employee, Mr. President. All we need to do, Mr. President, it's a very simple request. The chief of police and FY 16 budget requested several positions, one of which was a traffic engineer. And we heard the other night from the chief of police at the community neighborhood meeting. at the Salt Method Fire Station, that that was his request for the FY16 budget. And he said, I am the chair of the traffic commission. I sit with other department heads as well as members of the community on this particular traffic commission, and none of us have the experience, knowledge, or expertise as a traffic engineer. And he said that would be worth its weight in gold to have someone that could be in the community and look at each individual section of the community and come out with recommendations. But for years, Mr. President, the administration, past and present, have been dragging their feet, Mr. President. And I'm tired of hearing the same excuses over and over again. You know, regarding traffic calming initiatives, three years ago, Mayor McGlynn promised us a pilot program for raised crosswalks. He said there would be three in the community. Three years later, they implemented one. So we have two, one on Harvard Street and one on Central Ave, Mr. President. that still have not come to fruition, and that was a promise we received, Mr. President. We also were promised, and I know Walk Method fought hard for this, they asked for pedestrian crossing signs at each intersection, Mr. President. At each crosswalk, they asked for pedestrian neon signs. And that was supposedly approved several years ago, and to date, we have still not received pedestrian crossing signs in this community. So, you know, I think what we need to do, Mr. President, rather than just keep on giving lip service, because we're all in favor of this. I don't know one member of the council that's not in favor of this or hasn't spoken in favor of this, Mr. President. But when the time comes and the chief puts it in his budget, that's the time to stand up and say, sorry, Madam Mayor, we're not going to support your budget unless we see a traffic engineer. The chief was asking for a crime data analyst in his recommendations. And the reason why, Mr. President, is many residents are concerned on what's going on in this community, and there's very little reporting from the police department regarding crime statistics. So the chief said, you know what, it'd be a great idea to have a civilian come in and be able to log this information, put it on our website, put it on the city website, and be able to disseminate this information throughout the community. And that was, again, something that the mayor took out of the budget. The mayor took police cars out of the budget. The police department, pretty soon, Mr. President, will be like Fred Flintstone. They'll be using their feet in the cars, moving the cars around, because the cars are falling apart. They have 150,000, 200,000 miles on them. They're up and ready to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Mr. President. So these are the things that really, I think this council, we all support these initiatives. But when it comes time to stand tall, I think we have to stand tall. And, you know, I appreciate Councilor Falco wanting to put into this in the FY18 budget. That's five months from now. I'd rather see it come out now. I don't think we can wait any longer. We're behind the eight ball in this community on every issue. And public safety is the top. You know, at the Salt Bedford Fire Station, the meeting they had the other night on public safety, residents wanted to know why we're not moving forward on simple initiatives. Why isn't anything happening? And it's tough when you can't give someone an answer. Or you say, well, the administration's taking it under advisement. How many times can you tell someone that same answer? We're taking it under advisement. I mean, it just doesn't cut the mustard anymore. And I appreciate this effort. I will support this effort. I'd like to see a vote on it to happen immediately. But if the council sees fit to try to get it in the FY18 budget, then so be it. But when the chief of police who sat on the traffic commission for the past 20 years as the chair tells you he needs help, comes out and says he needs help, the man needs help. He's running a department with over 100 police men and women trying to keep this community safe. He's also the chair of the traffic commission. Tonight, we gave him an additional responsibility to hand out licenses for taxis. So that man is overworked right now, and he's understaffed in his office. And I know one of the other offerings was to — I think it was Counsel Lungo-Koehn offered last week to add to the traffic division in the department, the police department, which is sorely lacking personnel. But, Mr. President, we have to stand up at some point as a council. Enough, enough lip service, enough lip service. Let's do something. Let's do something. Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you. Council marks. Uh, for those you don't know, I attended the traffic commission hearing meeting today and the motion that we passed last week about reducing the speed to 25 miles per hour was passed by the commission today. So, uh, hopefully, uh, that will, uh, do something. But, uh, to counsel marks as we, uh, Max remarks, The chief again reiterated today that he is not a traffic engineer. And because I said that was brought up multiple times and one is needed. Name and address with the record.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Gene Martington coming straight. First, I want to thank Mr. Falco and I want to thank especially the police meetings that we've been held holding. I think it's wonderful. I think it's great that the police take it on the road because from what I hear from the police chief, it's gotten a much better, um, turnout by going to the different neighborhoods. So I think that's great. And I want to thank, uh, representative Barbara was there and, um, Mr. Knight was there, Mr. Marks was there, Mr. Falco and Mr. Caraviello were there, and you were at the last one there, Mr. Scarpelli. So thank you very much for being there, because it's important for the citizens and the police and, you know, the elected officials. I like politicians, but elected officials, be nice tonight. So this issue is, of course, the mayor knows that this is a big issue. That's not news. And this is a huge tool for the police department to use. It's so big that I'm going to say that it's worth hiring, instead of hiring a police officer or two police officers, if you do it right, it's worth one or two police officers. And I know the police aren't going to like that, but it is that big of a tool for the city to have organized traffic flow because it's such a huge issue. But this isn't just a financial issue. Okay. This is a cultural issue. And that's the one part of it that, that people, that it's going to cause an undercurrent. Because if you change the current patterns, like when they had that big snowstorm winter and they changed all those patterns to one-way streets in South Boston, the year that everybody learned how to snowdive in their yards, they realized that the patterns that they used for those emergencies turned out to be what they actually used going forward, because it created an ease in the flow of traffic. So if we create an ease in the flow of traffic, it's going to cause cultural changes in where you can park and everything else. So there's going to be a cultural shift that goes along with this. This isn't just about hiring. But I do agree that Mr. Knight, that whoever we hire, this is another point, whoever we hire needs to see the long game and be responsible for whatever happens at least five years out. So even if it's a consult or whatever, consultant, Or if it's permanent, they need to be here and held accountable for whatever happens at least five years out so that we can hold them accountable to say, you did this to us. Now we have a nest and everybody's going into the same direction. The other thing is that I think this is a common ground issue as well as a cultural issue. common ground in that I think all of the arteries should be fully examined. All of what we call emergency arteries should be fully examined. And if we need to extend the sidewalks out a little bit, because the precursor to Mr. Falco is actually Mr. Marks. He's been talking about traffic calming for three or four years now. And traffic calming is a huge issue too. So if we need to widen the sidewalks, this is actually a benefit to everyone in the city, all the people that like to walk by, um, not bikes, but, uh, wheelchairs and, um, strollers and pets. If you want to walk your dog down the street, if at least if we can do all of the emergency arteries and have them and, and, and I'm going to be nice, I'm really in a good mood. And if you want to put in those little tiny trees, you know, the little ones that don't have roots to them. As long as you have, the priority needs to be walkers, wheelchairs, and strollers. And then if there's enough room, you can even put in those little tiny trees that everybody likes. Because that'll bring about, if you walk, this is the positive part of the culture. If you widen the sidewalks, you talk to the neighbors. If people are outside in their neighborhoods, walking around on the sidewalks that are nice and clear, then people will get to know each other. And that is a positive, at least on the main arteries, anything we call an emergency artery in the winter. So those are my suggestions. Thank you very much.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Ms. Martin. Name and address for the record, please.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Jean Nuzzo, 35 Parris Street. I am, as a resident, in support of having someone to review our traffic patterns. I think they're critical, especially considering the level of development that's on the table and what it looks like will be coming our way in the near future with some more large-scale developments that I'm hearing of. The one thing I'd ask you to consider when you ponder how much we have to look at right now, the type of a backlog we have, the prevalency of the areas that need to be reviewed in the city, the depth of expertise you'll need to get through them, and at some level, the benefit of autonomy. I think it may be worthwhile to, in this resolution, include, for the short term, a consultancy because they can provide expertise that an individual person might not be able to do over the long term. as well as several people to get through that first pass more quickly, that could come out of discretionary funding, and then next year you could have an individual takeover and kind of keep the ball rolling. It just seems like a daunting task for one person, and there'll be even more of the apple to bite come next year. So that was just my thought.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Name and address of the record, please.
[Joan Cyr]: Jones here, 40 Cedar Road North. First as a point of information, during that traffic study on Murray Hill Road, that was during the Thanksgiving holiday, so it would have been more if we had normal traffic during that time period. I wanted to voice my strong support for a traffic engineer in the city of Medford. I live in Fulton Heights and as many of you know, I've been working with our Malden neighbors to bring development to the Malden Hospital site that would benefit both communities. Any development and the construction for it will bring changes to our traffic in Fulton Heights. As Councilor Lungo-Koehn has stated, we need to be at the decision table with our own traffic assessment and recommendations with respect to any development. Fulton Heights has already had traffic issues, as Councilor Falco pointed out, with our northern and eastern neighbors using our neighborhood as a cutthroat to avoid Route 60 to get to Route 93. And with these traffic concerns and other concerns in Medford, I did attend one of the rotating traffic commission meetings that Councilor Falco arranged with the police chief and was optimistic that the conversations would result in some meaningful changes in our city that are long overdue for increasing safety in our neighborhoods. The chief did listen intently to the traffic issues that all citizens from around the city made, from speeding issues to congestion to parking. And the community members made suggestions for relief, from speed bumps to changing the roads to do not enter during certain time periods, or to make them residents only. While the chief appreciated the solution suggestion, he raised concerns about them, saying that a traffic engineer was needed to figure out the right long-term solution. He didn't want to just move the problem from one place to another. There was one person, it might have been Cheryl, I'm not sure, who said that there was an issue regarding a sidewalk. and that a decision had previously been made based on the recommendations of a traffic engineer, so he was reluctant to make another change. What I took away from the conversation is that the chief really feels strongly and rightfully so that we shouldn't make any major changes or implement any solutions that would just move problems from one place to another until we get a traffic engineer in Medford. Getting a traffic engineer seems to be the trigger point in beginning to solve many of these issues. And with many of the impending developments on the horizon, both in our city and our neighborhoods surrounding areas like the casino in Everett, We do need to work strategically with our neighboring communities and have our own traffic assessments and recommendations with respect to all development. I strongly support and respect respectfully request that the city council support council Falco's resolution. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Name and address of the record, please.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi, I'm Cheryl Rodriguez, 281 Park Street. I just wanted to come up with, everyone has mentioned development. Of course, I'm gonna mention development as well. But the thing is that all the new developers that come into the city commission the traffic study. For their area, all the traffic studies come out the same, nobody has cars, and there's going to be no increase in traffic. But what they don't tell us is that as a city, we are allowed to turn to that developer and ask them to pay for a traffic study, our own independent traffic study, to determine if that is actually true. And that's something that we should definitely be exercising. I believe Malden was planning to ask the Malden Hospital to pay for a traffic study for them. I know that in the meeting that you all had, the ad hoc committee meeting, you did say that that was a possibility of asking Malden Hospital to pay. for traffic study for us. And MPAC right now is doing their grant and they're suggesting changing three of the streets in the square possibly to being two-way streets. So I imagine they must have gotten a traffic study. So there's a lot of things going on that perhaps we need to get involved in because the piecemeal approach isn't working. I'd hate to see Salem Street, Riverside, Clippership all of a sudden be two-way streets. because they think that's going to be better for the square. And then it trickles out into all the other areas and makes everything else worse. So that's just the big thing is that if things are going on, we should attach ourselves to them. If there is money available from developers, maybe we should be, if we're not immediately doing that study, should be asking for it to be put into a fund for the study. That will happen at some point. So just going forward.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Name and address of the record.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Uh, Andrew cast and Eddie Cushion street method. Mass. Um, first of all, congratulations belatedly to council president. Mr. Caraviello. Thank you. And vice president Councilor Marks. Congratulations on this subject of our traffic and parking in the name of public safety. Bear with me. A few things came to my head and didn't have a chance to write them down. But I believe Karen DiLorenzo Pop, the community developer, I believe, for the city, I questioned her about Route 16 and 93 way back, and she said, what's the point of time? There was funds for that, but for whatever reason, it's not done. Meaning, coming down 93 South, heading into Method Square's exit 32, which is like 32 ounces at a quart, that's why I remember it. So when you get that at exit, it says, I presume rule 16 cause I don't pay attention cause I know the neighborhoods, but I believe it's probably rule 16 exit west to go to the dentist office in Arlington or wherever, but they have to go through method square and they're not buying a cup of coffee. So there's a lot of congestion for that reason. So if indeed the state had earmarked that money's to have when they built with 93 1960, they should have came behind you city hall after the method square exit and then go around the senior citizen and go to 16 West directly. That's only my opinion. Uh, also I was at the sub method police meeting. Thank you. Councilor Falco for bringing the show on the road. The fourth thought of four on the compass rose and I kind of laid into Chief Sacco a little bit about what I call, for lack of better words, a goat's F of a situation on Mystic Avenue. There's three cars parked right after Atlas as you're coming in towards the square, and it never should have been parked there ever, in my opinion, because five lanes becomes only one lane going south after you pass Atlas. And all of a sudden, from zero cars parked on both sides, I presume it's a state road, There's three cars parked across from 141 Mystic Ave, which is David's Auto Repair and Ravello's Tin Knockin', whatever it was. And if I wanted to presume when you gave them the license, whenever that was, either one of those, I'm sure you Councilors questioned them about parking vehicles on the street, et cetera. I would think common sense, but I don't recollect for sure. So anyways, that's a real GOAT situation. And I noticed, I didn't go out Thursday after the Wednesday meeting, but I went out Friday and I noticed those three vehicles were not there. And I have an index card, I've been listing them for over a month, and two of the vehicles have been there over five times on different days. And it's just during business hours. Anyways, I'm tired of seeing a lot of accidents there. I'm tired of seeing cars being rolled over in accidents. Tired of seeing injuries at that point. and hopefully there'll be less accidents for sure. So if I may, I want to come in chief circle and his offices again, Councilor Falco. Thank you. But I'm here to speak about one thing originally and that is we're talking about traffic safety. Method Square is not really a square. We get a lot of situations. As Councilor Knight, I believe, mentioned, we have three, four, five state roads. However, when developers come into this city, I'm worried about parking because if there's parking, then there's less of a road to drive upon also. But I don't understand, for example, at the end of this month, according to the legal notices and the method transcript, on January 31st, I believe, Board of Appeals is having two businesses or two landowners, I should say, LLCs, whatever they are, that are adjoining each other. And they want to build condominiums or apartments, I believe, or condominiums. And I'm not against development, especially smart development, even though it doesn't help the real estate taxpayers because you don't deduct that first from prop two and a half increases and it works against us. It's a, it's called the, uh, the annuity that keeps on giving as a Russian lady used to say, but I won't get into that right now. However, according to this various requests amongst height restrictions and this and that, I highlighted off street park. And so that implies to me that this developer or development is looking to circumvent the 2.1 parking spaces per apartment or per condominium. I believe that's the requirement, ordinance, whatever you want to call it. That should not ever be negotiable in my opinion, unless it was, I shouldn't say never, never, Mr. Bond, but If anything, you should increase Mr. Knight, the 2.1 spots to 3.1 but never half it to one and a quarter spots. I'm just thinking out loud, not out of the box. I'm trying to be right focused in the box. A word to the wise for the board of appeals. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: You should attend that meeting and make your opinion known. Thank you. On the motion by Councilor Falco, Second by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? All opposed? Motion passes. 17-018, offered by Councilor Knight. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council congratulate the following individuals on their recent appointment as to the position of firefighter in the City of Medford Fire Department. Charles Christopoulos. Daniel Craven. Ryan McEvoy, Robert Noyes, Rogan O'Hara, Michael Richard, Kevin Shea, and Sean Spencer, and Christopher Wells. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. These individuals just recently were sworn in as firefighters, completed their requirements at the academy, and are now undergoing field training. The majority of these individuals started work the week of Christmas, and we have some new firefighters in our ranks, Mr. President. So I'd like to welcome them aboard, thank them for their service, and wish them a healthy, safe, and happy career.
[Richard Caraviello]: And well needed. Thank you, Councilor Knight. On a motion by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 1-7-0-2-0, offered by Councilor Knight. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council recognize Brittany Lanzilli on her recent accomplishment of being selected to the 2017 USA collegiate hockey team and be it further resolved that the Medford city council wish Brianna, excuse me, Brittany and her teammates best of luck as they compete in the 2017 winter world university games in elementary Cassatt, Cassandra's in between January 28th and February 8th. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I'll help you with that. Almaty, Kazakhstan is where they'll be playing, Mr. President. Brittany played for the Medford Mustangs hockey team, the girls' hockey team, and she had a very successful career. She is now a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she is continuing her studies, and her hockey playing. And recently, she was selected to participate in the 2017 USA Collegiate Hockey Team and their World Championships, Mr. President. So many of us know Brittany's father, Kenny. Kenny Lanzilli is one of our building inspectors down in the building department. And Brittany's been before this council a couple of other occasions when she received back-to-back, all scholastic Boston Globe, Boston Herald Awards for her play on the ice, Mr. President. With that being said, it's great to see Brittany represent Medford in the United States of America in the former Soviet Union, and we wish her the best of luck and her teammates, and hopefully they bring home the gold for the U.S. of A. Thank you, Councilor Knight.
[Richard Caraviello]: Good person, good family. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Petitions, presentations, and similar matters. 1-7-0-1-9 petition by Cheryl Rodriguez, 281 Park Street, Medford, Mass., for the Zoning Board of Appeals to be read prior to the Zoning Board meeting. Name and address for the record, please.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi, Cheryl Rodriguez, 281 Park Street. I submitted this petition because I find that finding information about what's going on at the Zoning Board of Appeals prior to the meeting is Fairly difficult. I originally found out about the local street project by accident. I happened to see an email that someone had sent saying that there was a hearing amongst. It was a 490 residential unit building as well as, you know, someone trying to add onto their driveway. So it was just thrown in there. I've been back and forth through city hall and trying to find different ways to find out what the agenda, when the agenda will be posted. Is there a way I can get it emailed to me? Is, is there any way that people can really find out other than I heard it's in the paper, but that's not really working out for everyone. But so I think that the best thing to do is since the city council controls the zoning, it would be great if we do not control the zone while you control the zoning ordinances. That would be great if you could draw our attention to the ZBA hearings before they're happening, because a lot of people don't know. And we're chasing these things after they're happening. We currently have four lawsuits for one development, because we're chasing it after it happened, as opposed to having, if we had had 200 or 300 people show up at that hearing, maybe we wouldn't be doing this. I just think that if we want more people to get involved, to make it easier for them to know what's actually happening. A lot of people do watch this meeting, people, and people want to know what's happening. So I think we also need to focus on the fact that variances are supposed to be rare, and they're supposed to be good and sufficient cause, according to the Massachusetts Chapter 40, Section 10 laws. So, we really need to work on making sure that we're not victimizing the public, as it says in the law, and conflicting with our local laws and ordinances when we're granting these. So, the next meeting that's coming up is January 25th. It's at 630. It's a community development meeting. It's on the project on Salem Street at the Break Pro. They've also bought the abutters property to increase their chances of having this passed. They've also not shoveled their snow. So, they're very good neighbors. The following Tuesday will be the ZBA meeting on this project. I encourage anyone who's concerned about a project so close to the Roberts elementary school, which is, um, past capacity that this four level building could possibly eclipse their sunlight earlier than it currently is now at one o'clock. The school building obstructs the sunlight in the playground and makes it shaded and colder for the children. So, We need to try to make these people follow our zoning laws, and I hope the City Council will take the lead on keeping distances from buildings, on keeping height, because it's in the best interest of the community. We're talking about traffic studies, additional cars. We're talking about parking issues. The streets in that area are permanent only because of traffic issues, car parking that is not available. So all these things are things that we can do to help ease these transitions. uh, butters know about these things ahead of time, not just the butters, but people that live in the neighborhood that will be affected by these projects. Then we can get ahead of it. We'll get a more active community. We'll get that open, transparent government that everyone campaigned on last year and we can all try to make Medford a better place to live. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Miss Rodriguez. Motion to receive a place on file. All in favor. Thank you. Let's take hands in the, Thank you. Uh, that's when I be resolved that the department of public works report back to the city council in regards to the multiple water main breaks. Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. President. I know that, uh, today you got another call about another water main break. I think it's, uh, it's important that, uh, we, we, it seems like it's a pretty, scary trend as we move forward. I know that the infrastructure is something that we all fear what's going on and how old our pipes are. So I want to just make sure that, uh, we're prepared as it moves forward to think that this is the, just the beginning of the winter and what's yet to come. Um, making sure that we're, um, prepared moving forward. So if we can have a report from, uh, DPW, maybe the city engineer to help us out to give us some guidelines of what, what, what's been happening, give us an understanding why. So I appreciate it.
[Richard Caraviello]: And if, if, if our people have noticed what has been said, several water breaks over the last couple of weeks. Councilor Knight. Move approval. Move approval. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Motion passes. Offered by Councilor Scarpelli. Be it resolved that the Department of Transportation, the Director of Human Diversity, City Engineer, meet with the Subcommittee on Transportation to discuss the bus stop at High Street and Main Street in the interest of public safety.
[George Scarpelli]: Councilor Scarpelli. Again, Mr. President, thank you. This is something that, as the chairperson of the Transportation Subcommittee, this is very frustrating for the fact that we're reaching out and trying to do our due diligence with Department of Transportation in getting some clarifications on what we've offered a temporary closing of that stop. until the work is done on that side, um, of, of main street and high street for the fact that, um, what's happening is with the construction, the buses are now stopping in the middle of main and high street and people are walking off the curb onto the street and onto the buses. Uh, the answer that we received back that if we put a halt to that, uh, that stop for a long period of time, that we would, um, we would lose, uh, the ADA accessibility grandfather clause that was in place. So, uh, I want to make sure that we're all sitting at the table, uh, because as I talked to, um, Diane McLeod and our engineer, there's no such thing as a grandfather clause of what they've told us. We need to move forward, sit at the table. I'll ask my fellow subcommittee members that we meet possibly next Tuesday before our regular meeting and bring everybody to the table and come to a conclusion with this. And again, it's going to happen when uh, somebody gets hurt and that's what I fear the most right now. And, um, so are you, do you want to have a meeting with this group next week? I'm hoping, I'm hoping if we could just at the end of the meeting, I'll talk to the members. I know if you could, I've been doing that.
[Richard Caraviello]: I've tried. So call me. I will.
[George Scarpelli]: And I'll actually, If we can ask where it is, is at reach out to our state delegation to assist us in making sure that someone's at that meeting, because that's one of the issues we're having is getting someone on the other end of that phone and making sure, um, the person that's coming to the table is the person that's going to answer those questions, not to go back and then revert back to us. So again, thank you for your quick response. And, um, thank you. Thanks.
[Robert Penta]: Name and address of the record, please. Uh, Robert Pinto, zero summit road method, mass from a member of the sport. The part that I think should be established before this board, you folks are the only ones that can actually change a bus stop for whatever it might be. For the MBTA to turn around and change the bus stop arbitrarily for whatever their reasons allegedly are, I don't think you can do it. I think one of the problems you're going to have is the fact that they're going to tell you they don't come out to nighttime meetings. They're not getting paid to do that anymore. You know, you're talking about a public safety issue, but you're also talking about an issue where you have a bridge here in Medford Square, and they're allegedly only halfway through a year and a half into the problem. For the last three weeks, they've had nobody working there. And by having nobody working there, they've completely or could have helped out a couple of the businesses on that right-hand side of the street, but instead they just left the place a total mess. So it's just a shame to think that the state can grant out these contracts to these contractors that'll probably be running two or three jobs at the same time. to the demise of the Medford taxpayer and the Medford taxpaying business person here in the city of Medford. My suggestion would be that not only you get your state delegation and your state senator, I mean, they're the ones that control the purse strings for the Department of Transportation and for the MBTA. And there is no reason for something like this to happen without you folks being notified. And by doing that, hopefully, by bringing, I would suggest that you have a meeting right here before the Medford City Council and have it discussed in the open unless anyone who has a concern about it, they should be here. And the people that really should be behind all of this is the Chamber of Commerce. It's their business that's being affected. And if their business is getting affected, it's also, the people who patronize those businesses in the area of public safety. So for the MBTA to make their decision without consulting with you, I think they have it in the opposite way. And I think, I think it's upon you. It's your responsibility. Like it was mine when I was there. You guys are vested with the fact you're right. Nothing is grandfathered in. I think you should just need to take the bull by the horns. And if in fact, if in fact they don't want to come at a nighttime meeting, I would suggest that you send a certified letter to Charlie Baker, the governor of this Commonwealth and just tell him, that you're not doing the right thing by your department heads by saying that they refuse to come to a nighttime meeting. This is not right. It's not fair. And it doesn't make sense for public safety and for the bus stop locations.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. I'm so nice. Move approval. Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, as Councilor Scarpelli mentioned, it doesn't make sense to now have a bus stop that people used to get onto the bus from the sidewalk. now have to get onto the bus from the street. So I'm not sure how that improves public safety, Mr. President. But, you know, people aren't aware, this community loses over, I think it's $3 or $4 million off our cherry sheet every year that goes back to the MBTA. And when the MBTA refuses to sit down with the board, whatever it is, the council or any other board in this city, it's a slap in the face to every taxpayer in this community, Mr. President. And we pay such a high assessment because of our public transportation and our proximity to Boston. So, as you know, it's not just Method people that are using Wellington Station, the commuter rail, all the bus lines. It's all the surrounding communities that come into our city. And we, as residents, pay a hefty, hefty assessment to the MBTA for this usage. And for them not to come to meetings, Mr. President, is an outright disgrace. And if they can't come out when the streetlights are on to attend a meeting, that's even a bigger disgrace. So I agree. I think we have to have, whether it's before this council or a subcommittee, that's fine with me, but we have to have a meeting to address this issue, Mr. President, because it's unacceptable what's going on at the corner of Main and High Street It's unacceptable that buses are stopping, blocking traffic at peak traffic times and having residents get onto a bus in the middle of the street and exiting a bus on the middle of the street. It's a very dangerous situation. The owners of those properties don't like it either. And we asked the MBTA to move the stop temporarily. until the bridge construction is done. I don't think that's quite a hardship for the MBTA, and I think it's something that we could accommodate residents that do get on that stop at a different location very close, Mr. President. So I'm not concerned about that. I'm more concerned about the lack of attention from the MBTA. So I agree with Councilor Scarpelli. The quicker we can set this meeting up, the better off.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Councilor Mark said something that really sparked my interest, and he said that we're giving back three to $4 million a year annually to the MBTA as part of our assessment. And right now, we just had an hour-long discussion about traffic in the city of Medford and a need for us to have good, reliable public transportation. And when we're sitting here battling a traffic problem, the MBTA is actually cutting service and raising fares. So I think you're absolutely right. I think that we do need to bring them to the table, and I support Councilor Scarpelli's resolution. But I just found it very interesting when you put that into perspective like that, how much money we're actually paying for our MBTA assessments and the lack of control and the lack of respect that they provide us as a city. It's something that's very concerning, Mr. President. And at the same time, they're making moves towards raising fares and cutting service. Our commuter rail service right now has been changed and we're not seeing the same levels of service that we saw before. We're looking at the 326 and the 325 bus lines. They're looking at privatizing those entirely. They were looking at privatizing those lines entirely, Mr. President. When we're in a position right now where there's a demand and a need for improved services and we're seeing a lack of service and a cutback on the amount of service that's provided to us, I think it is very concerning. And I think Councilor Marks is bringing that up because that was a very good point.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you Councilor Knight. On the motion by Councilor Scarpelli. Second? Second by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Offered by Councilor Caraviello, it will be resolved that the Medford City Council discuss today's meeting of the Traffic Commission. Today I have the opportunity to go to the traffic commission meeting, um, with the, uh, for the, with the chief and the motion that we passed last week about the 25 miles an hour has gone through and with a little bit with discussion today with a few members. Um, and one of the chief's concerns was not making any, many, uh, further changes until this, this gets done and we get recommendations from, as we talked about, some type of traffic study. So I just wanted to report that out to let everybody know, you will see some traffic slowing measures, with the exception of the state roads, which are not controlled by us. Thank you. Thank you. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Offered by Councilor Caraviello, Be it resolved that the Medford City Council send its condolences to the family of Alma Santoro, passed away after a brief illness. Her presence in our community will be sorely missed. If we could have a moment of silence for her. Offered by Councilor Knight. Where is January 6th, 2017, mark the sixth anniversary of the date of the passing of Governor's Councilor Michael J. Callahan of Medford. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council hold a moment of silence in this memorandum. And be it further resolved that January 10th, 2017, Medford City Council meeting be dedicated to the Honorable Michael J. Callahan. Councilor Nate.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Michael Callahan was a mentor to me for a number of years. He was a great individual. And anybody that came in touch with Michael left with a smile on their face and a story to tell. He was quite an interesting man. He was a Vietnam veteran. He was a public servant for 48 years. He served as our governor's Councilor for a number of years, Mr. President. And he passed away the last day of his term, six years ago. As we sit here in the community and we talk about development here in Medford, there's an urban legend here in our community that goes back a number of years. And Councilor Callaghan, if you go up to Wrights Pond, you'll see a memorial there in his honour. And the urban legend has it that developers were coming in and they were going to try to purchase the land surrounding Wrights Pond and turn that into condominium housing. And through Councilor Callaghan's efforts prior to his election as a governor's councillor, I may add, Um, they were able to beat back the development and secure the land for parkland for years to come. Mr. President. So, um, it's with great sadness tonight that I mocked the anniversary of my dear friend. Uh, however, uh, it's with great memories that I think back and, uh, recall the good times that I have with him. And I asked that my council colleagues support this resolution.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Dello Russo. I want to second this motion, Mr. President. And just remember Councilor Knight that when I was a kid, I sat on Mike Callahan's lap. He was Santa Claus. in Marilyn Perica's living room.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. If we could have a moment of silence for Michael J. Callahan please. The records of the December 20th, 2016 were passed to Councilor Dello Russo. Councilor Dello Russo, have you reviewed those records?
[Fred Dello Russo]: I've reviewed the records and to the best of my capabilities, I found them to be free of error and move their approval.
[Richard Caraviello]: You found them on it. Thank you, Councilor Dello Russo. The records of the meeting of January 3rd, 2017 were passed to Councilor Falco. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Have you reviewed those records and find them to be in order?
[John Falco]: Yes, I have reviewed the records. I find them to be in order and I move approval. Thank you very much. Thank you. Motion to adjourn by Councilor Knight.
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