[Richard Caraviello]: February 7, 2017. Mr. Clerk. Motion by Councilor Falco. Do we suspend the rule so to take paper out of order. Thank you, Mr. President. We suspend the rule to take 16-574 on record.
[John Falco]: Tonight the Committee of the Whole met regarding the University Accountability Act. We had discussed it last week on the council floor and it got moved to subcommittee and we discussed it tonight and there are a number amendments to the report. Of the amendments, we have that the administration provide assistance for code enforcement when we receive the report back from Tufts University, that Tufts looks into landlords registering with Tufts University. Notifications be sent from the building commissioner to all realtors in Medford. And the last amendment was that the zoning ordinance go out with the next tax bill so that everyone in the community is aware of the ordinance change with regard to the University Accountability Act. So at this point, I'd like to make a motion that the committee report be adopted as amended and the ordinance take its first reading.
[Richard Caraviello]: Do we have a second? Seconded by Councilor Naik. Mr. Clerk.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, just if I could. I think the last amendment that was offered was that a copy of the current city occupancy ordinance go out within the tax bill itself, not a copy of the ordinance that we're working on now. I just want the record to reflect that.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Councilor Lococourin. Thank you, President Caraviello, and I think it was also offered that Tufts University report back to us within 30 to 45 days on the request we've made from them, even if they don't have a direct response to each and every one, that we get an update.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Dello Russo.
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Falco.
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Lococourin.
[Leo Sacco]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Vice President Motts.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes While we're under suspension we will take 17 0 6 5 and the chairman of licensing is councillor Scarpelli Thank You mr. President I have a petition for common pictures licensed by Khalida Parveen
[George Scarpelli]: Are they here? Okay. 412.5 Granite Ave, Milton, Mass. This is for Zam Zam's Restaurant, 42 Riverside Ave, Medford. If you can just give us a little brief description of your restaurant so this council knows.
[SPEAKER_10]: It's going to be Indian Pakistani food at 42 Riverside Ave. And we already have one in East Boston. We're running since 80 of that one. And we're opening the new one.
[George Scarpelli]: OK, so I find everything is in order, Mr. President. So one question I did have is, hours of operations, what time are you open, what time are you closing? 11 to 10.30. OK. So you're familiar with meth or anything after 11 that you have to ask for a special permit?
[SPEAKER_10]: No, not at all.
[George Scarpelli]: OK. All right. Thank you. So, um, Mr. President, I find all the paperwork in order. So I moved to, uh, accept and place approval. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: If I could, through the chair, Mr. President, and ask the proprietor, how many varieties of naan will your restaurant offer? About four or five. Thank you very much. Second, Mr. President,
[Richard Caraviello]: Seconded by Councilor Dello Russo.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I'd like to also point out that this restaurant will be filling a vacant storefront there at 42 Riverside Avenue. Paperwork looks in order, as Councilor Scarpelli said. I go along with his recommendation, move for approval, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion of Councilor Scarpelli, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Congratulations, sir. He's gone quick. While we're under suspension, 17, 067, communications from the mayor. I'm sorry, 017-066, communications from the mayor to honorable presidents, members of city council, city hall of Medford, dear Mr. President and city councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body approve the following transfer. $50,000 to be transferred from highway materials and supplies to ordinary accounts 010-422-5530-1539, two, personal account number 010-421-5130-1104, highway overtime. This transfer is needed as the city performed catch-basin work rather than contracting it out. Finance Director Aleesha Nunley is present to answer any of the council's questions regarding this matter. Name and address for the record, please.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Yes, Aleesha Nunley, finance director, City of Medford.
[George Scarpelli]: Councilor O'Connor. Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you very much. Just a quick question. I know that we've been talking about replacing and fixing the catch bases. Do you know how many we're looking to fix on our own?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: The DPW director may be able to answer that.
[Brian Kerins]: Name and address of the record, sir. Uh, my name is Brian Cameron's, the commissioner of public works for the city of Medford. Uh, to answer the question to Councilor, the initial list that we had was 32. We've exceeded that. We're now up to 38. All right. And this particular transfer would be for, uh, you know, uh, man hours as well as material. All right. To carry us through work to the end of the fiscal year.
[George Scarpelli]: Are we hoping to, to do all 38?
[Brian Kerins]: excuse me, but are we looking to complete all 38? Okay. No, that's what we've completed. Oh, we have.
[George Scarpelli]: Yes.
[Brian Kerins]: Yeah. The initial list. Okay. That I proposed, uh, uh, initially when this program began was 32. We've now completed 38. Okay. City. All right. And of course, with the weather being how it is with the warm and cold, the thaw and everything. Okay. It's work in progress and you know, there's plenty more to do. All right.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you. Okay.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. If I may ask Mr. Cairns a quick question. So did you say the work was done in-house by city employees? Yes, it was.
[Brian Kerins]: DPW Highway Division.
[John Falco]: Great. Perfect. I like to see when we do work inside. So how much did we save, actually, by keeping it in-house and doing it with our own employees as to contracting it out?
[Brian Kerins]: I don't have that figure readily available. I can gladly supply it, Councilor, but what is the significant amount?
[John Falco]: That's what I'm thinking. I know we have some talented people here that can do a lot of work. Very talented. It would be great if we had more people, but it would be interesting to see how much of a savings this would represent by doing it in-house. So I'm glad we did it. And I'm sorry, did you say how many more we have to do?
[Brian Kerins]: Okay, it's a work in progress, Councilor, with this weather here. All right. They keep cropping up, but we're starting to get ahead of it now. Okay. Uh, you know, from the initial list.
[Richard Caraviello]: Okay, great.
[Brian Kerins]: Okay. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Knights.
[Adam Knight]: Um, Mr. President, move approval of the paper. I think that, um, the DPW director has shown that, uh, doing this work in house is going to be a cost savings for the city of Medford. Um, it also shows that, uh, his expectations were exceeded, uh, when he initially came to this council seeking funding, um, back in the spring. They were looking for some funds to fix 32 catch basins. They fixed 32 and six more, and they continue to do the work. I feel as though this is a good appropriation. Coupled with the fact that the work is being performed in-house, Mr. President, I believe that we maintain control and direction of the employees and also the ability to get them out there faster and fix any mistakes that may or may not occur. Personally, I feel as though the work that's done in-house is a far better product than what's done through subcontracted labor. And for those reasons, I support this paper wholeheartedly and move approval.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President, I want to express my gratitude to Commissioner Terrence and the members of the Department of Public Works for their good work in this matter. There have been a number that we've reported over the past several years. We're glad to see great progress. The commissioner knows how to get things done. We're grateful. Second approval, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. Vice President Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. If I could, maybe Alicia can shed some light on this. It said $50,000 was transferred from the highway materials and supplies. That account, what was the initial appropriation in this year's budget?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: I don't know the initial appropriation. I know that you guys voted on a, the President, excuse me, $100,000 in free cash to that account, and we needed to move $50,000 of that free cash you appropriated into the salary count since it's in-house and not contracted out.
[Michael Marks]: Okay. So, so the, the account that you're saying this is zero one, zero count four, four, two, four, two, two highway materials. What, what does that currently use for? What, what, what do we get with highway materials?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: I think the DPW commission means that.
[Brian Kerins]: Council that's a useful miscellaneous supplies, uh, particularly for the highway division for day to day operation. while we're on the subject here of catch basins. It could be for frames, covers, cement, barrel block, asphalt. It could be used for a whole host of reasons.
[Michael Marks]: Right. So by taking it out of that account and putting it into an overtime account, are we depleting that one count? Are we running the red in that count right now?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: No, no. What happened was when we did the original free cash appropriation We put $100,000 into this account. We should have actually split it $50,000, $50,000 between personal and ordinary. All $100,000 of the free cash appropriation is in that one ordinary account. And in order for him to pay in-house employees, it has to be put into a personal account.
[Michael Marks]: So why wasn't it put in the personal account immediately then?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: That was just overlooked. That's why we're coming back. That was what? It was overlooked. It was overlooked? Yeah. They may have thought they were going to contract and said they saw our savings and did it in-house. instead of going out. If they had contracted, it would have been fine in the account that they had it in.
[Michael Marks]: So is it fair to say there's 50,000 left in that account?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: There's 50,000 of the salaries in that account that they can't use to pay the guys.
[Michael Marks]: Right, so what's currently left after you pull the 50,000 out?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: I can get back to you on that and tell you what their balance is. I didn't bring that information with me.
[Michael Marks]: Okay, and Commissioner Kerins, Do you have an active working list of what catch basins need to be done in the community?
[Brian Kerins]: I can give you the complete list, you know, the completed list. All right. And then, you know, whatever we we've seen out there has been reported to us. I do have a list that I could provide you, but I already didn't bring it with me.
[Michael Marks]: I'm not interested in the completed list. I'd like to see a list of catch basins that you have record of that need attention. Sure.
[Brian Kerins]: Okay. No, I can gladly supply that to you, but it's, it's work, you know, again, work in progress. So whatever I may give you today or tomorrow, okay. May change two days from now, depending on what we come upon and what's reported.
[Michael Marks]: Right. Do you know roughly how many are on that list that need to be attended to?
[Brian Kerins]: Uh, I think right now I'd say at least 12. All right. That, you know, that we have out there that in our opinion have to be rebuilt.
[Michael Marks]: Totally rebuilt.
[Brian Kerins]: Yeah. Completely, completely rebuilt. I mean, just how far down we have to go, you know, We have to actually take off the cover and get down and inspect them, each one on a case by case basis. Some of them are total rebuilds, which means going 10 feet down, working your way up. Some could be only four for the top four feet. They all vary in condition.
[Michael Marks]: Right. Yeah. If you can provide the council with a list of currently what needs to be done, um, because, because the number sounds awfully low to me. And I realized you just said 12 need to be rebuilt, but in just going around the city, I see a lot of sunken, catch basins.
[Brian Kerins]: There are a lot of them. Yeah, there are. Like I said, it's work in progress, Councilor. Right. OK, that we're doing. But I mean, we've made excellent headway. Of course, this time of the year with the cold and everything, you know, there are some days it's a weather permitting as far as, you know, actually working on, particularly when you're dealing with asphalt and cement. But, you know, when we take advantage of a good day, you know, we go out there and, you know, the crew can rebuild an average of three a day, again, depending on their condition when they start.
[Michael Marks]: And while we're talking about catch basins, we still currently contract out for the cleaning of the catch basins, correct?
[Brian Kerins]: That's correct, sir.
[Michael Marks]: And where do we stand with that currently?
[Brian Kerins]: Right now, OK, we've obviously ceased for the winter. OK, we'll pick the program back up in April, OK, and continue on with it.
[Michael Marks]: But are we a certain percentage through our list? You said, I'm sure, when the budget comes out in July, we start working on catch basin cleaning, right? That's correct. So how far do we get into the catch basin cleaning before the winter came?
[Brian Kerins]: OK. Right now, I would have to say we're probably about 85% to 90% completed. OK. It's just now a question of finishing up before the weather turned on us.
[Michael Marks]: And it's all being done by the subcontractor? That's correct, sir. And at any given year, do they get through 100% of the catch basins? Or do we just subcontract for a certain percentage of what we have?
[Brian Kerins]: No. OK. From what I've gathered past history, They have been able to complete them, portion in the summertime, fall, and then they pick up back in the spring. But they've pretty much stayed on top of cleaning all the basins in the city.
[Michael Marks]: So every year we're getting through 100% of the catch basin cleanings?
[Brian Kerins]: Very close to it, if not 100%. Again, it's only my first year here. My target is to get 100% by June 30th.
[Michael Marks]: And is the process still that this company will mark each catch basin with a different color when they are completed?
[Brian Kerins]: Yes, it is. That's correct, Vice President.
[Michael Marks]: So they'll use some type of marking?
[Brian Kerins]: Yes. They spray paint it.
[Michael Marks]: Can you provide us with a report on the number of catch basins that have been done this fiscal year?
[Brian Kerins]: OK, I can provide you the list of streets. Okay. Each street varies as far as the number of bases on each street.
[Michael Marks]: I don't need to know the exact number, but if you could tell us how many streets altogether and how many have been completed, that'd be great to date. Certainly. Thank you. Okay.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Dello Russo. I just want to express my gratitude to Aleesha Nunley for her explanation and transparency of these accounts. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Dello Russo. On the motion by Councilor Knightth, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor?
[Unidentified]: Aye.
[Richard Caraviello]: Roll call vote is required.
[Clerk]: Councilor Dello Russo? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Locker? Yes. Vice President Marks? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Caraviello?
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, none in the negative. The money is in. We have one more. One more, 17-067. To the Honorable President, members of the Medford City Council, City Hall, Medford. Dear Mr. President and City Councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that your Honorable Body approve the appropriation of certified free cash in the amount of $1,105,000 for the following purposes. $33,000, equipment needed to support a critical response team within the Medford Police Department. Funding will support FAV, advanced webless system vests, 16 of them, and related guards for body protection. $25,000, speed monitors. $400,000, purchase of 12 police cruises, six marked, six unmarked. $40,000, forestry department for an F-250 pickup truck with a three-quarter ton with a plow package. 34,000 OCE scanner copier for the engineering departments. 100,000 for a cemetery backhoe. 28,000 for an F-150 four wheel drive truck with a 100 gallon fuel tank. 45,000 for an F-350 SRW four wheel drive truck with a body lift gate. $40,000 for a Ford Explorer for the highway commissioner. $60,000 for fire department computer system upgrade with email, with email. And $300,000 for the fire department second set of turnout gear, accelerated from the fiscal year 2018 budget. The balance in certified cash prior to this vote is $9 million, $709,329. With the exception of the police items, the remaining were presented in the draft capital budget presented in the fall. Chief of police Leo Sacco, deputy fire chief and DPW commissioner Brian Kearns will be present to answer any questions we may have. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I just have a question in general. Um, you know, of course safety and the wellbeing of personnel is always a top priority. So with regard to, um, the turndown gear, um, so if this gets approved, when can we actually see, you know, the, the turndown gear, the, the police cars, the, uh, uh, the new trucks. I mean, when, when, when will, when we, when will, when will we actually see this?
[Richard Caraviello]: Um, I would think the mayor was looking to do this, uh, as soon as possible.
[John Falco]: So if we approve this tonight, is the turn down gear gonna be, you know, I'm sorry, turn out gear, I apologize.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yeah, so as soon as possible, I'll be down.
[George Scarpelli]: Point of information, Councilor Scarpelli. Can we ask the Deputy Chief, were they already ordered? Would they know, who would know if the turn out gear, because I thought they were already ordered, because I think that took some time. Name and address of the record, please.
[Adam Knight]: Point of order, Councilor Knight. Would it make sense for, each individual that's representing a respective department to come up and do a brief presentation on the appropriation that's being requested right now.
[SPEAKER_08]: We have Chief Sacco, we have Deputy Chief here as well. What was the question, council?
[George Scarpelli]: The question of the turnout gear.
[SPEAKER_08]: Have they already been ordered? No. In fact, we just got our first couple of bids for this. So once we award it, then it would probably take about a month, probably, to have everybody fitted and then the gear to be made. So I would guess a month. Thank you. I'm sorry, Mr. Falk.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. No problem. Chief Sacco, would you like to speak?
[Leo Sacco]: Good evening. Leo Sacco, police chief here in the city of Medford. My home address is 227 Elm Street in Medford.
[Richard Caraviello]: Chief, you have the critical response equipment. Could you tell us what that is?
[Leo Sacco]: Okay, that is, I'll explain what the critical incident or critical response team was developed last spring in light of what's going on around the country. We need to train officers in our department to do a quick deployment when they're working, if there's a major incident that might happen anywhere, whether it be at a mall, shopping center, school, et cetera. God forbid it happens, but we have to be prepared and be ready to go. So we have 16 members of a team, actually I think it's down to 15 right now, that have been trained and outfitted. This is a key piece of their equipment. This is a tactical vest that we need to outfit them with. And it is a staggering figure, we can't get reimbursement from the state or the federal government for this vest, because we already issued the other vest, the regular body armor, the soft body armor, for the individual officers, and the state and the federal government will only reimburse for one set of body armor. So this is something that's needed. It's over and above. It's a tactical vest. They wear it like a jacket. It's heavy, takes a lot to hold it up, but it will withstand gunfire.
[Richard Caraviello]: And the $25,000 for speed monitors, Chief, what kind of?
[Leo Sacco]: Members of this council have been asking for this for a long time. We have one that was struck and I think it's beyond repair. We've had a couple of companies look at it. This will buy two speed monitors so that we can be more effective out in the community as far as radar and speed enforcement and actually let the community see what the speed limit actually is on the street. Sometimes if you see a 20 mile per hour or a 30 mile per hour, You think they're doing 50, and it's actually, the monitor will show what the true speed is, so we look forward to those.
[Richard Caraviello]: And I think, Chief, this is your biggest one here is 12 cruises, six marked and six unmarked.
[Leo Sacco]: We all know you need cars. This is huge. This is the first time. Long time coming. Been Chief now going on 27 years. This is the first time that I can say that we'd be able to receive 12 brand new vehicles pretty much at one time. six marked, six unmarked. I know that sometimes there's a little issue with the idea of unmarked vehicles, but some of our unmarked vehicles are close to 20 years old, very high mileage. Some of the old painted over Ford Crown Victorias, they look pretty good, but they're high mileage, they're 200,000 miles on them. So we've run out of vehicles, we're using drug forfeiture cars, which actually are pieces of junk, This is something that we really need, and I'm thankful that the mayor listened to my request and put it forward. But obviously, this council has been pushing for the marked vehicles right along and getting replacement vehicles, so six will also be a good infusion, and we'll probably be able to auction off the Crown Victorias that are really high mileage, and it really served us well, but they're at the end of their life.
[Richard Caraviello]: What type of vehicles are you planning on buying, Chief?
[Leo Sacco]: The Ford Explorer.
[Richard Caraviello]: What about for the unmarked cars?
[Leo Sacco]: The unmarked are probably going to be Ford Fusions. Thank you, Chief.
[Richard Caraviello]: I know it's something you've looked for a while, and I would hope you'll support that this evening.
[Leo Sacco]: I appreciate that. And just to answer Councilor Falco's question, I've been told by the Chief Procurement Officer that once this was approved, that they would place the order. I've checked with the company that has the state contract for the vehicles. they would have to order the vehicles. Some of the vehicles may be in stock, but they would have to order. So it would be dependent on how long it would take for a motor company to get them off the assembly line, but hopefully definitely before the beginning of the summer. Thank you, chief.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Cairns, would you like to, uh, thank you. Mr. Cairns make his presentation and we'll ask him everyone at the questions, right?
[Michael Marks]: Yeah.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Cairns, why don't you, This equipment's for you, so why don't you explain so this way we'll know this far.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Council President, I'd like to just ask that we please amend the paper on the $40,000 forestry F-250 pickup truck with plow package should actually be UHF radio.
[Richard Caraviello]: I'm sorry, which one is that? The one. For the forestry?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Yes, the forestry F-250 for $40,000 should actually be UHF radio system for the DPW. Okay.
[Brian Kerins]: Okay. Mr. Gerens. Yes, Mr. President. Okay, the Department of Public Works has, you know, put in, you know, requests for, you know, the upgrade of some of the vehicles that, you know, are at the point now where they're really getting beyond repair. You know, a lot of them, again, high mileage and, you know, now are also suffering from deterioration from, you know, body rot from over the years. Some of these vehicles are on state contract. Um, so it would be just a question of a finance department issuing a purchase order. Uh, as far as the estimated time, uh, you know, we're, we're getting, you know, anywhere from, you know, one to three months, depending on, uh, you know, what the specifications call for. Uh, as far as what, uh, uh, the auditor was explaining, as far as the radio communication system, the existing two way radio communication system was, uh, from what I gather the history of it. is the original two-way radio system that the Medford Police Department got back many, many, many, many years ago. It's beyond repair. Parts are no longer available. It's an old low-band system. And what's happening now is a lot of guys have been using their cell phones because the radios in the trucks no longer work. The range on them is very, very limited. Um, and, uh, you know, it just needs a systems upgrade, uh, you know, for, uh, not only for, uh, getting the work done on a day to day basis and to, uh, you know, keep, uh, you know, stretch out the man hours rather than, uh, you know, go back to the yard and get further instructions, but it's also for the safety of the personnel. I mean, driving, you know, driving all this, the equipment that's out there. Okay. Thank you. Yep.
[Richard Caraviello]: All right.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. I just had a question for Chief Sacco.
[Leo Sacco]: Yes.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Chief. Um, so with regard to the, uh, new, uh, the new cruisers, the marked and unmarked, so we're buying new cruisers, which is great. We need them. But as far as the, what should be our strategy for purchasing going forward? Should we be replacing cruisers? I mean, in your opinion, you've been doing this for a while. What should the city be doing moving forward? Should we be buying them every year, every few years? What's the best approach?
[Leo Sacco]: The best approach is buying vehicles every year, five to six vehicles every year that would replace your frontline fleet, and then you could have a supervisor's vehicle or a canine vehicle or an unmarked vehicle. With this happening right now, six and six, this gives us a great foundation, but we can't let a year slide by. Exactly. You have to stay on top of it. You won't need 12 every year. But if you could replace, you know, five, four might not be just enough. Five would be good. Six would be better. It would be the best. Every year, there should be every year or no more than 18 months. OK, perfect.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you. Vice President Max. Thank you, Mr. President. Regarding the speed monitors for twenty five thousand, are we getting one or two chief? How many speed?
[Leo Sacco]: The goal is two. I believe we can purchase 12,500 for each.
[Michael Marks]: And currently, how many speed monitors do we have within the department?
[Leo Sacco]: We have one that's inoperable. Right now, it was struck when it was on the road. So we just have one? We really don't even have that one now. We need these two.
[Michael Marks]: OK. And the police cruisers and the EMAC vehicles, are they going to be fully equipped with the latest computers?
[Leo Sacco]: The marked vehicles will be fully equipped with all the computers, radios, lighting. The unmarked vehicles won't have computers. Every detective has a laptop or a tablet so that they can use. They don't need them in the vehicle itself. They will have radios in the vehicle and they'll have emergency lighting and a siren.
[Michael Marks]: Okay. And I know within the budget, Chief, you put in for some additional civilian personnel. to do some computer work and also some crime statistics. Is that still something that you could use in the police department?
[Leo Sacco]: Yes.
[Michael Marks]: Are you going to be making a recommendation for that manpower again or?
[Leo Sacco]: Yes, I will.
[Michael Marks]: Okay. Do we expect to see it during the budget time or before budget?
[Leo Sacco]: It'll probably be a budget time. Budget time? Well into the cycle right now. Okay. So it will be in, I will be submitting it in my next budget request.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Thank you, President Caraviello. Chief, along the same lines, great to see two monitors. I think it's going to — one of the main complaints we get is speeding, and I think it's going to help curb the speeding issues we have. With regards to that, I know we had spoke, and you were before us maybe a few months ago, with regards to — and we were asking questions with regards to the radar guns. Was that also on your wish list, and it just didn't make the cut tonight, or —
[Leo Sacco]: No, we're actually purchasing some new radar equipment out of our existing budget, out of the public safety account in our budget.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And how many, um, what are you purchasing?
[Leo Sacco]: I believe it'll be for handheld radar units.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Oh, great. What account will that be coming out of?
[Leo Sacco]: I believe it's public safety.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: But it will be coming out of the budget that we set in June. The existing budget that we're operating with. Great. And it's good just to see new cruisers and invest along with the other. I know there's, I guess probably another time we can talk about the items that didn't make this list today, because I know each department is in need of, whether it be vehicles in the DPW or radar guns, different things. We're always hearing about the needs of these three departments, so it's nice to see the list here tonight and nice to move forward on things we've been requesting for quite some time. Thank you for being here.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President, there are no surprises on this list. It's stuff we've either asked for, lobbied for, heard department heads ask for, we've suggested, we've begged for, we've demanded. Move approval.
[Richard Caraviello]: Second. You are 100% correct, Councilor Dello Russo. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. And I certainly echo Councilor Dello Russo's sentiments. I feel as though this is a good paper. It reflects a lot of the desires and wishes of this council. In reviewing the appropriation, we're getting equipment to keep our police officers and firefighters safe, new vehicles for our police and our DPWs so that they can have the tools to do the job, and equipment to address efficiency of the administration and government, Mr. President. So I feel as though this is a good paper. I feel as though they're worthwhile expenditures. And for that reason, I will be supporting this measure and move approval.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Thank you. I'm not sure. I didn't know if we were taking one department at a time. If I could just ask a couple of questions with regards to the fire department computer system upgrade. I don't know if that's deputy chief kind of.
[SPEAKER_08]: So, um, chief is on vacation, so I'm not intimately involved with these day to day purchases. So I, but I know he did tell me that we need it. He's wanted this for awhile. And, um, He said that this will involve more storage, better emails into department communications, and also a maintenance agreement to keep our equipment up to date. So that's basically what I know about that computer purchase.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If we could just make a B paper that we get an update with regards to all of these items and what stage we're at, maybe on a bimonthly basis, so that we know in six months the emails We'll be up and running, and the flight department will have their new computer system. And in four months, all the cruises are coming in. People from these departments do call each Councilor and ask questions. So it would be nice to have a running update with regards to when this is being done, which RFPs are going out when, and when we're going to see all these come to fruition. Thank you. Mr. McNerney.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And my question is regarding DPW. And I see that there are a lot of new pieces of equipment that we're moving forward with. And I don't think anybody behind this reel would say that there isn't a need. However, I do question, Mr. President, in the future would be helpful when we do put a request out for such a dollar amount. And by the way, just recently, the linkage committee, which you happen to sit on, Mr. President, just expended $435,000 on new equipment for DPW also in addition to what's being spent here tonight. So I think it would be helpful as one member of the council, if we're going to put on a number of items and say, well, we're going to purchase a F-250 pickup truck, I think it would be helpful to know how many we currently have. Is this replacing a pickup truck, or is this adding to the fleet of pickup trucks? That way, at least we can make an informed decision when these things do come before us, Mr. President. Because honestly, I have no idea whether we need a 10-wheel dump truck, or whether we need a 550 four-wheel drive dump truck, or a cemetery backhoe. And it would be helpful to get a little bit of narrative other than just the line item itself. But if you can maybe go through them just rather quickly, Commissioner Kerins, just to let us know the particular piece of equipment, if it's replacing a piece of equipment, or if it's just adding to the existing fleet.
[Brian Kerins]: OK. Mr. Vice President, I can put it all in a nutshell. Everything is a one for one. Now, case in point, there may be You know, a pickup truck out there today, we have all good intentions of churning in for one that's on this particular request sheet. Tomorrow, it could be another one, you know, due to a motor vehicle accident or, you know, something else. But there's no increase in the fleet as far as what I call the rolling stock. Backhoe for backhoe, pickup for pickup. It's when you might get into the specialized equipment. all right, that, you know, we may not, you know, have that particular kind of equipment, but everything that you have listed, you know, for my request is a one for one.
[Michael Marks]: Okay. That's very helpful. And maybe a narrative like that in the future would be very helpful for certainly at least myself. Um, and just the last point I have, Mr. President, uh, there was a narrative at the end that said, with exception of the police items, the remaining presented in the, uh, the remaining were presented in the draft capital budget presented in the fall. I assume the mayor is letting us know that this was part of the draft plan that was presented, the capital plan. And I would only ask, when are we going to get the full plan? I don't think we should be working on a draft plan still this far into the fiscal year. And if there are any plans for a full capital plan out there, Mr. President, I think it's important that we find that out now, rather than working on a draft plan. So I would ask that that be part of the committee.
[Richard Caraviello]: I will bring that to the mayor's attention.
[Michael Marks]: But I would also ask that it be part of the committee paper, Mr. President, that we get a response back from the administration regarding when a full capital budget plan will come out and why are we still working off a draft budget plan? Thank you. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I actually have one more question for Commissioner Kearns. Thank you. Yes, Councilor. So last year, I had a resolution to buy a sidewalk plow, to look into buying a sidewalk plow, because we're trying to push a lot of pedestrian initiatives. We have Walk Medford. We have a Complete Streets program now. So we're really trying to encourage people to get out, walk, be pedestrians, and use public transportation and whatnot. So I don't see anything here for a sidewalk plow. It didn't make the cut, and I understand that. Do we have any type of machinery right now that we could use to plow sidewalks in our community, especially city-owned sidewalks?
[Brian Kerins]: It really would depend on the location and the width of the sidewalk. There are some sidewalks we can get one of our pickup trucks down and plow. Other sidewalks, we'd have to use bobcats or snowblowers or a combination of both.
[John Falco]: I mean, I'm thinking like if I think of a bombardier or something like that, a trackless plow. Those type of plows, when I looked into it, I mean, it could zip right down a sidewalk, especially in your business communities. With regard to schools, I remember when I was on the school committee, we'd get calls all the time where kids walking to school would be forced out onto the street, like if you walked by Gillis Park down Fulton Street, you're walking to the Roberts. You're forced out onto the street because it's a city-owned sidewalk, but there's no machinery that we really have to plow something like that. I think it's something that should be considered. I wish I was on here tonight. I'm happy with what's here, believe me, and I will vote for this. I'm 100% in favor of it, but I think it's something that we need to consider in the future.
[Brian Kerins]: in, in, you know, when we have, uh, you know, Councilor, uh, between, uh, you know, uh, the administrative office of public works and, uh, the, you know, the park foreman, Mr. Nesta, we've done extensive research as far as, uh, what types of equipment are out there, uh, that would be suitable for our sidewalks. Again, you know, we have to keep in consideration, you know, we have hydrants and poles and everything else. So you get something too big, but at the same time something too small. But it's really a case of trying to get something that would have the potential of being multi-seasonal to get, we'll say, like a bombardier. They're built for one purpose and one purpose only, to plow snow. They're extremely expensive. You're talking in and around $90,000, okay, for something that, yes, okay, you definitely would need if the snow was flying. But, you know, so we've been looking at the various options that are out there. So even if it's a question, okay, of getting, you know, like a trackless vehicle to plow the snow, but in the summertime, okay, could be utilized for the maintenance and the upkeep of the baseball fields or football fields. So, you know, we've been exploring, okay, what would be the biggest bang for the buck. And then we will approach the mayor, you know, with the formal request and the reasons why we would need it. But something that, you know, 12 months of the year availability.
[John Falco]: No, I agree with you 100%. I mean, I know when I researched the trackless plow and it could be used to, I think it was one that could be used to grind stumps. It could be used, so there was, there were uses for, you know, summer you could use it for hauling debris and whatnot. So, um, but I'm hoping in the future that we'll see something like that.
[Richard Caraviello]: Absolutely.
[John Falco]: Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Councilor Falco. And the only thing we didn't talk about was the, um, the scanner copier that Cassandra has been asking for for many years. And, uh, she's not here to, um, defend that. But again, uh, at the last two budget seasons, that is something that she's looked for and that will be in there also. Councilor Dello Russo. Move for question. On the motion by Councilor Dello Russo, seconded by Councilor Knight. Name and address for the record, please.
[Robert Penta]: My name is Robert Penta, Zero Summit Road, Medford, Mass., former member of the Saugus party. I don't have any problems with the requests that are being made, but my problem is in the process that's being presented here to you this evening. Um, what seems to be unfamiliar is the fact that this president administration talked about this issue of inclusion and being a part of what's taking place. You have the police, the forestry, the engineering department, the cemetery, the highway, and the fire department. Six departments that you folks during budgetary time have heard all of these concerns that are being presented here tonight. And as a matter of fact, it goes back to the times when I served in this body where some of these issues were there. This money is coming out of free cash. And because it's coming out of free cash, which was asked for before, You folks were told, or we were told, as well as you folks were told, at some point in time, we can't use it because it might have an effect upon the bond rating here in the city of Medford. Now, all of a sudden, it's coming out as a $1,100,000 transfer of money. And tomorrow night, Madam Mayor is going to be making her presentation for the State of the City's address. My concern would be, if there are more things that are going to be coming that's going to have a cost impact upon not only free cash or maybe even bonding, I think before this vote takes place, I think it probably should be laid on the table for one week, as Councilor Lungo-Koehn rightly did some weeks ago on the request of the $900,000 to have some transfer of money from the Water and Sewer account to pay for the remediation of the West Method parking lot. Now, you folks have your own rules, and it's rule number 20, section number 4, which states that any finance paper appearing on the council agenda for the first time shall be automatically laid on the table for one week when such action is requested by any Councilor. I would think it would be wise by this city council. I'm not saying for you to not vote for it or vote for it. I think it would be wise to lay it on the table for a week and just see what's going to be presented tomorrow night in the state of the city's address. You folks unfortunately have been kept in the loop, not in the loop. Everything that's being presented here has nothing to do with you folks. You folks have never met with all the department heads to go through their wishlist. That was something that was discussed during this past election, and it still hasn't taken place. A magnificence of $1 million here tonight, and the mayor's representative is not here. That doesn't speak well. One information, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: I believe the mayor has four representatives here this evening.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Knight.
[Robert Penta]: The mayor's liaison to the city council is not here tonight. Department heads might be here, but they're not the ones that bring the message back. You know, when you go back and you look at some of these things, and you say to yourself, the chief of police just thought through saying, Six cruises, six regular cars and six cars that are going to be unmarked. I think this council in the past has asked for each and every year, chief, you can correct me, for a minimum of two new cars. each and every year in the budget. This should have been, you folks should have been dealing with this within the past year, if not more, and you're not. Why? My opinion, and it's election year, and you're getting all this confronted in front of you. You're gonna be getting sidewalks, you're gonna be getting streets, all done. But where was this money not being used during this past year? during a year which people had to suffer to go through this. Why should the fire department have to wait on their turnaround year that they were promised not only last year but the year before? And now all of a sudden it's found in a free cash supplement when it could have been at the same time taken out of free cash. It could have been taken out as of January 1st with the new administration. The politics behind this is quite obvious. But even more to the politics of it is tomorrow night. My suggestion would be to wait till tomorrow night, see what this address is all about. And if the address has inclusions of other transfers of money or monies that have to go out for the purposes of being bonded, I think you really need to have a discussion. And you, Mr. President, you know, amongst this council, there's $210,000 a year paid in salaries. The executive office, the mayor only gets paid $140,000 a year. So there's more power strength here by what you are getting paid than what that corner office is getting. And you should put that to use. And if four of you get together and saying, hey, before we start expending these monies, just right off the hat, Councilman Marks, you've asked for two years in a row for a truck division within the police department. Nowhere is that found here, and nowhere is it found in the capital improvement plan. Think about it, in today's day and age, you're talking about email now being in the fire department. I don't even know if they have email in the police department, but if the fire department is now getting email, and they're supposed to be technologically up to snuff here, we should have the gentleman who runs your computer system down here, and he should be questioned as to what are the problems, and what is the technology needed within this city of Medford, whether it be the fire department, school department, or the city. You haven't had that conversation. There's a wishlist that goes out every single year. The wishlist is never even addressed. You just got through, Mr. President, talking about the scanners or the OCD, I mean, excuse me, the engineering office asked for. It's a simple little request that could have come right out of free cash last year, two years ago. As a matter of fact, when the lady was there and she made her presentation before the council, she showed you emails that were sent, emails that were sent. that the administration wouldn't do it. So what's being obvious is the fact that you're being asked to do something tonight. To me, it looks like you're being squirreled into a corner that if you don't vote for it, you're bad and you're not doing what you've all been asking for. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is you have one more night to wait and see. I don't see this as being such an emergency that it needs to be voted on tonight. Your own council rule says the same thing. Lay it on the table for one week, and if it comes out to be the same when you want to vote for it, go right ahead. But tomorrow night, if the State of the Union address is going to have something that has another financial impact within this community, whether it's coming off of your free cash or a bond or whatever it might be, don't you think you owe it to yourselves as legislative representatives and to the people of this community to wait and see? You've waited all this time Pieces have been taken out of a capital improvement program. All of a sudden, things that you've been asking for just coincidentally happens to be in your agenda tonight. Well, I don't think that's right. And I think all seven of you should have been brought in to fold, whether you agree with the mayor or you don't agree with the mayor, whether she agrees with you or not. This is an important issue, many important issues here. This isn't $10,000 or $15,000. This is a million dollars. And the remaining balance of $8,600,000 is still there to be played with. And you have no idea what she's going to do with that. That's up to you folks. And if you folks can't put the mayor together and force that lady to sit down and talk with you, to turn around and say, hey, you may be picking out things that you need, but that's not what this council sees and hears from Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer in the city of Medford. I just respectfully state to you, follow your own council rules. Hopefully one of you will lay it on the table for one week, see what comes out tomorrow night, and recognize the fact that whatever your issues might be, they're addressed before this. You know, you have a capital improvement program here. There's a lot of things in this capital improvement program that also relates back to the fire department, the police department, some of them are in the school department, and what have you. It would be nice to know. Whether a new police department is going to end the offering for tomorrow night, there's $2 million in there to figure out where they're going to put it, draw it, and all of that. If you have sat down and talked with her or her people, no. And I think you should. It's the most pressing issue, the biggest, most pressing issue here financially for the city of Medford, and no discussion on it. But you're getting over $1 million worth of transfers being asked for tonight. Again, I repeat, I am not against any of these transfers. What I'm against is the process, how it's being presented, and the opportunity you have to make sure that before you vote for this, you see the complete and total picture, which I believe will be presented tomorrow evening. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. During budget time, everyone did ask every department for their wish list.
[Paul Camuso]: Name and address of the record, please. Good evening, Mr. President. My name is Paul Camuso of 114 Lincoln Road in Medford. And it sort of seems like deja vu. Yes, it does. But, Mr. President, I just wanted to come down this evening. You know, the men and women of the police department, the fire department, This is public safety equipment that's before this honorable body this evening. You know, the Boston Marathon bombing, we didn't know it was going to happen that beautiful day in April. The fire where there was about five people that passed away down in South Medford, 25 yards from the firehouse, we didn't know that was going to happen that day. By laying this on the table one more week or two more weeks, I really believe it's an injustice to the men and women that protect our community. You know, week after week we're talking about things down here that are needed in this community to better the quality of life. And this is a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned, Mr. President. You know, the former councillor just referred to the salaries that city councillors are paid. You guys do a tremendous job for the money that you make. The collections this year. I know you guys are working hard with collections to bring in money. There's a lot of money out there. There's over $9 million in certified free cash. This community is stable. This community is thriving, Mr. President. And I think it's about time that you take a hard vote. You spend the money to buy those 12 new cruisers. You spend the money. Give the fire department the gear that they need to protect themselves, property, and community standards. The NFPA, the NFPA says you need a second set of turnout gear. We only have about three or four people in the department right now that may have second and third turnout gear. And some of those are outdated, correct, Chief? That's correct. So to wait any longer, to wait any longer, to let anybody get in the way of taking the vote for the men and women of the Medford Police Department, the Medford Fire Department, and the DPW. And I sort of single out the Medford Police and Fire Department this evening a little bit more than the other departments, because it is life or death when it comes to them, you know? And I often, I remember when I was sitting here as an honorable member of this council, and somebody questioned Medford's use of money to get the proper equipment for the police department. And it was shortly thereafter that down in Watertown, in Watertown on that cold April night when they had shootouts and the bombings that were getting thrown at police officers, and very easily that could have came north on Route 93. And Chief Gilbert, he could have got the phone call at his house at 1.30 in the morning, and we could have had it going on here. You know, to wait is an injustice to the men and women, and also to the taxpayers. And on top of that, the DPW does need the equipment. Go up the cemetery. We have a thriving cemetery. They're actually doing well up there because people want to stay in our cemetery, in our community, Mr. President. I know Councilor Marks has been fought for quite some time now for a mausoleum. I know that that's been on the plate up there, Councilor. So there's just a lot of good stuff going on in this community, Mr. President. And I think if you wait one week, I think it's It's definitely not in the best interests of the men and women. And here's the other thing, too. We heard the young lady over here and the commissioner talking about, this isn't a fly-by-night thing like some people would want you to think. There has been price quotations that have been sent out. They're coming now with a responsible package with the dollar amount that's going to be needed for this. And furthermore, I find it kind of ironic because this city council as a whole, including myself over the years, have always said, Let's do it with certified free cash and not bonding. Because the former mayor was a big fan of bonding and, and, and, um, and financing equipment. And he was very, very good at his job, uh, doing that. But, uh, here we are this evening and, uh, we're looking at spending certified free cash, which I can go back and watch millions of council tapes over the past 30 plus years that the council always preferred, the preferred method. as far as the council was doing that. So, uh, I just want to say, uh, I respectfully ask all of the members of the council to support this unanimously and get behind the men and women of the police department and the fire department. You know, uh, these are the simple things that they need to do their jobs. And, uh, it's great being down here this evening and thank you for giving me the opportunity to address this body.
[Richard Caraviello]: And there's nothing on this list that's not deserved or needed by the department. Councilor Knight. So the main question that we put Mr. President on the motion by Councilor Knight, Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: President, I made the motion for approval. I stand by my motion. I won't be manipulated by political agendas.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Vice President Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to correct the record for a minute here, Mr. President. It was in June of 2016, we as a council started meeting with department heads prior to the budget. And we sat down and department heads came before us. with wish list what they wanted to see in the budget. And if I'm not mistaken, every council behind this reeling brought up these same exact concerns that we're seeing here tonight eight months ago. But now we're hearing tonight it would be an injustice if we waited another week to move this forward. But these issues were brought forward eight months ago. So was that an injustice for the past eight months? Why these issues weren't moved forward? I don't know, Mr. President. But this body, Mr. President, has stated time and time again, and I have stated time and time again, I refuse to do business piecemeal. And we've been saying that year after year after year. It doesn't make sense from a financial standpoint, or a managerial standpoint to do business piecemeal, Mr. President. I will support these items here tonight, only for the fact, Mr. President, is that these issues have been on our agenda and on our plate, turnout gear for almost two years now. So these aren't new items. And I appreciate Councilor Penta coming up and Councilor Camuso. Um, it's great. We have, uh, how many councils do we have? Nine Councilors in the room tonight. That's great. Uh, Mr. President, we should get all the other past ones to come down also. But I would state, Mr. President, that, um, moving forward and to me, it doesn't matter the state of the city speech tomorrow. That's great. And I hope it works out for the mayor. But I'm not hinging my vote on the mayor's speech tomorrow night, because these are items I believe we have to move forward. But after this, Mr. President, I do believe, as was mentioned by Councilor Penta, we have to have not just a draft capital plan, but a plan on the direction we want to go in. because at some point we're going to be pitted. Hey, you want to spend for this or are you going to spend for that? And I think we should have a vision as a council. We may not share the same vision with the mayor, but as a council, we should have a vision and the direction we want to see this city move. And you know, Like I said, I'm prepared to vote on this tonight. These things are well warranted. We know the DPW, you see their trucks driving around. Their blades are all chewed up, Mr. President. Their equipment is old and outdated. And this is a way to replenish it. I've talked to the men and women in the police department that are driving around in cruisers, as I referred to a couple of weeks ago, Fred Flintstone vehicles, where you could put your feet through the floorboards. That's how bad some of these vehicles are getting, Mr. President, and that's not a joke. So we do need relief in this way. I think this will go a long way. The turnout gear, we heard from the chief of the fire department stating a few weeks back that when these firefighters are in a fire, they come back with the same gear. They have to wait for one washing machine that is specially used to wash this equipment. So they have to wait in line to use the equipment, and they don't have a second gear, God forbid, there's a second fire. And we all know the carcinogens and so forth that, from a fire that can, the soot and everything else that goes on the uniform, it's very dangerous for the brave men and women of the fire department. You know, I don't want anyone to believe that if this council did sit on this for a week, that we're sitting on public safety. Because these issues have been out here for months, and if not years. And it's not this council that's been sitting on anything. This council has been the advocate on behalf of the police, DPW, and fire department in this community, Mr. President. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Vice President Max. On the motion by Councilor Dello Russo, seconded by Councilor Knight. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Dello Russo? Yes. Councilor Falco?
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Knight?
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Long and Kern?
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Vice President Marks? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Caraviello?
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Motion of seven in the affirmative. Motion passes. And I think this was a well-deserved thing. These men in these departments. need this, and if I may yield the chair to Vice President Marx.
[Michael Marks]: Chief Sack?
[Leo Sacco]: Mr. President, I just wanted to say thank you very much for your vote here tonight. It means a lot to the men and women of the police department. Thank you. Thank you, Chief.
[Michael Marks]: Motions, orders, and resolutions. Paper 17-061, offered by President Caraviello. being resolved that the Medford City Council request that the mayor allocate funds so that we are able to put names of the seven Medford veterans on the plaques at Honor Roll Park. We would like to attempt to have this done by Memorial Day in May so that a ceremony could be held the day or by the Veterans Day in November. Council President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Mr. Vice President, this is something, there's some World War II veterans that are on the list there, that have been there for a little bit. I think there's only like seven or eight names on there. And these World War II veterans are getting old, and I think they'd like to see their name on the wall before they pass away. So if we could ask the mayor to find some funding and some budget or somewhere to get those seven or eight names on there. And if we could also maybe put an ad in the paper for any other veterans that maybe have missed out. So if we could do that, it'd be very helpful, especially to the World War II veterans who are passing at 1,000 a day. So I ask that to the mayor.
[Adam Knight]: Thank you, Mr. President. Councilor Knight. Councilor Caraviello, thank you very much for bringing this resolution forward. And I really think this is an important issue, Mr. President. I have brought a resolution of similar nature up in the past. And ultimately, these men and women didn't wait, didn't tell us to wait. when we needed them. They enlisted in the armed services, and they went overseas, and they fought for their country. And I really think that this should be done annually, Mr. President, on Memorial Day. I think every Memorial Day, they should be adding names to the list. If there's one eligible applicant whose name is eligible to be on that list, then every Memorial Day, we should be doing it. These individuals didn't tell us to wait. We shouldn't be telling them to wait, Mr. President. I support Councilor Caraviello's resolution wholeheartedly. I ask that it be amended and ask the mayor to implement an annual celebration on Memorial Day. where any eligible individuals can be added to the plaque, regardless of the number of individuals that are awaiting placement on a roll pack, Mr. President.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you, Mr. President. I, too, echo my colleague's remarks. I think that we all have someone that has talked to us in the past year with myself and the men and women that fought for our country. For some families that have really pushed this, it's been frightening for the fact that they're seeing their loved ones who fought for our country enter their final stages of their lives. One thing they wanna see is the honor of having their names put on that wall. So if there's anything that, if we can really push this through and make sure that we can make this happen for our men and women, and I echo Councilor Knight's remarks that this is something we should do every year because you never know what tomorrow brings. So I really appreciate Councilor Caraviello for bringing this up, and thank you very much.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli. Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. I also want to say that I agree with my fellow colleagues and President Caraviello. I think this is a great resolution. There's so many men and women in our community that have made sacrifice. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice. And we should be making an effort to do this every year. I agree. We have a ceremony every year at Oak Grove Cemetery. And this year, actually, we had a procession from Oak Grove down to the World War II Monument. We're actually at Veterans Memorial right near the high school. And I think to include this as part of that celebration every year, recognizing our veterans, we should make this part of the yearly Memorial Day exercises, unveiling the new names every year. So if we could amend the resolution to actually make this part of this year's Memorial Day exercises, to have an unveiling of the new names, that'd be great. Thank you, Councilor.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you. Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank Councilor Caraviello for his tireless efforts on behalf of the veterans of our community. He's shown true leadership in this part of our civic life. So I say thank you to you, Mr. President. Thank you. With regards to this motion, I support it. I'm under the impression that every year we allocate funds in the approval of our budget for celebrations, ribbons, festoons, and streamers, or whatever it's called, that line item. So do we know if there's money in there? I do not know, Mr. President. I'm sure there's usually a surplus so that the money, which we've already allocated for this very purpose, be used.
[Michael Marks]: On the motion of, uh, Councilor President Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Lungo-Koehn, further amended by Councilor Knight, Falco, and Dello Russo. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. The motion is adopted.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: 17-062 offered by Councilor Falco. Be it resolved that Mayor Berk and Chief Sacco contact the United States Postal Service, Method Square location regarding the Postal Service trucks parking on Forest Street in the interest of public safety. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. First of all, I'd like to thank, sincere thanks to Chief Sacco and the command staff and the men and women that work in the Medford Police Department. We had a most recent community meeting this past Wednesday at Breed Hall, the old Sacred Heart Church up on the hillside. And this was an issue that came up during that meeting. The postal trucks that park outside of the Medford Postal Office Basically, every night they line up on.
[Richard Caraviello]: Excuse me. Excuse me. Mr. Cassidy, if you could please. Thank you, sir. I'm sorry, Mr. Councilor Falco. Thank you.
[John Falco]: Basically, every night they line up. They park on Forest Street. They're big, bulky trucks. So for anyone that lives in the old Bedford High School condominiums, it's really hard. to navigate that area and to get out of the parking lot in the morning and at night, so it's become a bit of a safety hazard. So if we could just, if the chief and the mayor reach out to the U.S. Postal Service, the Medford branch, and just find out, I guess, what the strategy is with regard to those trucks, because it seems like over the years, from what I'm hearing, there's more and more trucks all the time. It used to be just a few, now there's a bunch. I went down Forest Street on Sunday morning, they were all lined up. They took all the parking spaces in front of the old Medford High School. So if we can find out if they have plans to actually find additional parking somewhere in the city for these vehicles, because it's becoming a safety hazard and something needs to be done about it.
[Richard Caraviello]: I can report that I did go down to the post office to meet with the postal manager and the new manager was out sick for the last two days. And hopefully when I go back tomorrow, because I go there every day, She will be in, and I've asked that maybe we could have a meeting to try to find some resolution on where to park the trucks.
[John Falco]: Thank you. And if I may, Mr. President, I believe there is a member of the community that would like to speak on this issue. Or maybe a few.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Name and address of the record, please.
[Sharon Deyeso]: Good evening, President. Sharon Diesso, 130 Circuit Road in Mass Ave. in Medford. I want to wish you a belated healthy new year and thank you for your time for 2017. I just had a couple of small matters that I wanted to bring up. verse me on because I'm not sure how the system works and learning things from different meetings and hearing councilor Pinter in Camuso, et cetera. Um, first of all, for a community that's well known on the map, um, my neighbors and I had to wait seven years for a strategic stop sign down by Ashcroft road.
[Richard Caraviello]: Could I interrupt you? We're talking about the post office right at the moment.
[Sharon Deyeso]: Oh, I thought you were finished.
[Richard Caraviello]: We're talking about the post office. If you'd like to come back later and speak.
[Sharon Deyeso]: Oh, sure.
[Richard Caraviello]: Uh, uh, uh, later, later. Yeah. So, okay.
[John Costas]: Name and address of the record, please. Good evening, John Costas, uh, 25 Salem Street, Medford. And, uh, that's a, a sore subject with me. I mean, you just brought it up now, but I've been dealing with that for over three years. It started out as one truck that used to park in the theater parking lot, and then they were gracious enough to park it in front of their own post office. As time goes on, as of November, there were 16 post office trucks parked from one end of Forest Street to the other. And it's not like they're only there at night. Some of these trucks are there for three, four days, and they never move. Case in point, Mayor Burke's been trying to help us on it, because we've been getting a lot of complaints from the renters, because you can't see the theater when there's five trucks parked in front of the theater. And we try to tell the post office, and they yes me to death. Sometimes they move, and sometimes they don't. Well, this year, Mayor Burke had spoken with the manager and gave them a solution. Because every time I talked to the post office manager, their complaint was, well, what do you want us to do? They don't belong there. However. Nice people here in Medford. We're going to give you public property. All you have to do is park your trucks there. And one time when we had some big events at the theater, all the trucks were parked behind here. It was wonderful. If you ever noticed that a couple of weekends, there were no US Postal trucks overnight on Forest Street, because they were here. But after about two days, they're back on Forest Street. And unless you ask them to move it, They may or may not get the word to the driver's case in point on the KPM Big Bend. They agreed to park them here. Well, there were three that was parking in front of the theater that night. And I stopped them. I said, you can't park here. We got the OK. You need to park over there. And they said, well, no one told us. I said, well, why don't you call your manager? Because you're not supposed to park here. And they had to call the manager. And the manager forgot to tell them, don't park on Forest Street on that Saturday night. Uh, so they moved, they were nice and they moved and everything. So whatever you can do, I know the mayor is trying, but it's a post office and you, I think you have to use a little more. I think it's going to be more than just have another meeting. We've had meetings and it works for a little pile and then they just go back to their, their old ways. So thank you. Thank you. Councilor Falco. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I was just going to second the resolution. I've received a number of complaints, too. And I was also going to ask if it's something that's been happening lately, because I've noticed it a lot on Forest Street. But I think Mr. Costa just confirmed November. It's gotten worse. It's gotten a lot worse. And yeah, it's terrible to be blocking the Chevalier. And I did get complaints from people that live in the old high school that are having trouble. So I just wanted to back you up on that. I think the mayor needs to figure something out. with regards to asking the post office to create their own plan, whether, if they're going to have trucks that are out of service for months at a time, then they do need to take them across the city, it's only about five minutes, seven minutes, to West Medford and park it where there is a lot, or figure out how to use the city hall parking lot that the mayor is graciously offering. But they do need to come up with a plan for public safety purposes.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilwoman Oprah.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I move to amend the paper to request that the Traffic Commission examine the feasibility of implementing a commercial vehicle parking ban along Forest Street.
[SPEAKER_11]: That the Traffic Commission study that.
[Adam Knight]: Examine the feasibility, not implement, just examine it. Look, if that's something that's possible that they can do, can they put a commercial parking ban in place there in front of the Chevalier Auditorium, maybe a little bit further out in front of the old high school to alleviate some of the public safety concerns, whether it's certain spaces that are at the end of a driveway or certain spaces that are in front of the theater, Mr. President, to keep those areas open.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Vice President Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. And just to touch upon what Councilor Knight just mentioned, there is a parking ban for commercial vehicles after midnight. Yes, there is. So I'm not sure I would consider these postal trucks commercial vehicles. They may not have a commercial plate, but they are indeed commercial vehicles. And maybe that may be our plan of attack, Mr. President, is to, you know, start tagging these vehicles like we tag any other commercial vehicle that's overnight and see what the response is from the Postal Department. As was mentioned by Mr. Costas, this has been an issue for a lot, a lot of months, many, many months. And I thought it was resolved some months back when the mayor intervened. and offer the parking out here behind City Hall. I'm not sure how postal workers that walk for a living can say they don't want to walk behind City Hall from Forest Street. But, you know, maybe if that's too far, maybe we can look at the public lot right on Salem Street, Mr. President, where many of the postal workers park during the day with the business permit parking. So that may be an alternative to park the trucks in there overnight. which is a little closer than behind City Hall. So maybe we can offer that also, Mr. President, as a... Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Falco, seconded by Councilor Lungo-Koehn, roll call vote has been requested, Mr. Clerk. As amended, Mr. President. As amended by Councilor Knight.
[Clerk]: Councilor De La Rucia.
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Falco.
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Long and Kern.
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Vice President Marks. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative. None in the negative. Motion passes. Motion by Councilor Long and Kern due for suspension so that the citizen may speak. Name and address for the record, please.
[Sharon Deyeso]: Sharon Dias of 130 Circuit Road in Mass Ave in Medford. Um, I just wanted to say, first of all, even before the sign issue, I wanted to thank, and I got a chance to do it in person, the fine fire department that we have here. There are some things I'm sort of not touchy-feely with at home, and I had a bleep going off in the house last week, and I finally tracked it down to the carbon monoxide device. So I pulled it out of the wall, and five minutes later, it started bleeping again on a chair. So I'm like, okay, this is kind of spooky, but maybe I should plug it back in. And it bleeped again. So I said, maybe, and I called the neighbor and I said, I think I'm going to have to sleep with my windows open tonight. And they said, no, don't do that. So I called the fire department, left the device on the front porch, and it started bleeping on the front porch. So up they came five minutes later. the old trusty guys with the boots and everything else. And they went right through my house, very courteously, did their job with the monitors, explained something to me about the device, and made sure I checked and see if I was okay, and then they left. So thank you again. I just happened to see him here tonight, good timing. So we have some really fine police and people who are looking for our safety. So on the line of safety, I have two notes tonight. Um, it's highly unordinary that a very busy corner that is complained about, written about, called about, written about, met about, should wait seven years for a stop sign. I think it's, I think it's unacceptable. And Ashcroft road. Ashcroft road.
[SPEAKER_11]: Yeah.
[Sharon Deyeso]: Ashcroft road. Ashcroft road. Yeah. And corner of Mass Ave. It's in now. So we kind of gave up. So about two weeks ago I was coming home and I saw the stop sign. So thank you, whoever did, in the end, after my letters, get it in. It's OK. But on the whole light of everything, that's not acceptable in any city, whether it be Kalamazoo or Medford, Massachusetts. It's a long time. We're waiting for someone, hopefully, never to get hit. My neighbor's car was totaled on that corner. We were hoping that no child or pedestrian would be involved. So thanks again for anyone who did speak. I can't say speed it up, who accomplished this. On Mystic Avenue, on the grounds of safety, coming north or going south, right by Joseph's Transportation, there is an island there that's about five inches high. And it borders, it's the meridian. If you're going north on Mystic Avenue from Somerville, you have to take a turn towards the left to kind of get by that island, you can go make a U-turn, take a left onto Harvard. You can't go straight. You can't see the island. You dearly need reflectors there, because I was waiting for this too to happen. Last week I was coming home from the college, and it might usually have fog at the end of the day. And I'm like, oh, remember the island. You have to watch for it, because it's not visible. A man coming the other way, not at a high speed, took the turn, never saw the island, landed on the island. People were yelling, and the poor guy was beside himself. Everyone stopped. He was able to back off. He looked a little dazed, and then he went around, past Dunkin' Donuts and Harrows, and then proceeded south on Mystic Avenue. Is that state or is that section of the road Medford?
[Richard Caraviello]: That is a state road. It is correct.
[Sharon Deyeso]: So what's the next route for me?
[Richard Caraviello]: We can refer that to a Councilor. I think also Barbara, I mean representative Barbara, that's her district. And I can call her tomorrow and make that request.
[Sharon Deyeso]: Especially with the snow coming, they're probably going to have to put the newer, higher reflectors. I hope you're in agreement with this. Okay. Um, also on monies, um, I was reading, um, during the year that, uh, did you get finalized that you had a commission that was paid? to look at the, um, structure that's across from the bus terminal near the old cemetery. And that's going to be pot grant money in pot $250,000. That's a quarter of a million dollars. That's 250 quarters of taxpayers, maybe thousand dollars a quarters to erect something there. where people can eat their lunch. This is winter. How many people do you really think are going to go in there and eat lunch? It is beside my friends and I how things like this get passed. How many cruises could have been bought during the years with $250,000? Just because you get a grant and somebody has an idea that that structure hasn't been used. You know, we really, we respect you so much and we need you here to hear our voices. But couldn't that money be allocated at one time? Couldn't someone come forth and say, wait a minute, we have a better place to spend $250,000. And I was here last year when the police chief was coming up practically begging for new equipment. You know, this could have been processed and these gentlemen would not have to have been here tonight. So, I don't know if that's possible, if you can rethink money during the year. I really think if you had a leak in your roof, you wouldn't go fix your shed. So, thank you for listening to me. I'm just a peon when it comes to economics.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. And I will speak to Representative Roberts tomorrow about that. Thank you. Thank you. Motion by Councilor Lococo to revert back to regular business. 16-0-6, 17-0-6-3, offered by Councilor Falco, whereas the Medford Board of Appeals meets on a monthly basis to make decisions about various projects and developments, whereas many of the meetings are conducted in room 201 in Medford City Hall, where there is a limited amount of seating. Be it resolved that moving forward that all Medford Board of Appeals meetings take place in all the chambers at City Hall to give all residents the opportunity to attend and to participate. Councilor Belko.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. Throughout the years, I've gone to many Board of Appeals meetings just to see different, just to, you know, when the different issues come up on the agenda, just go down and take a look to see what's going on in the community. And I mean, I've gotten calls from other people as well that have attended these meetings. And usually the meetings are held in room 201, for the most part, and in room 201, there's very limited seating. I think it's about maybe 20 seats, a table up in the front, and it seems like any meeting you go to, if there's a big issue, there are a number of people just standing in the hallways. They can't weigh in on any type of issue, or they have to wait in line, or they missed a presentation that maybe the developer's giving, and it just doesn't seem, in this day and age, like it's a proper place to have a meeting. There's no audio visual equipment. There's, it's just too small. I don't find it very transparent. If you have to wait in the hallway and you can't even hear what's going on in the room, it doesn't make sense. We live in a big city. We've over 55,000 close to 60,000 people live here. This community is hot for development. People want to develop and there are many development meetings and zoning board decisions that have happened in the past and that will be happening in the future. and everyone should be able to weigh in on these different issues that come before the zoning board. If I may finish. In my opinion, I believe that those meetings should be held here in chambers. I know they meet on Tuesday night usually, which is the same night as us, but what they can do is maybe they can move to Wednesday nights. They can pick a different night. Wednesday nights, I don't think this chamber is being used on a regular basis, but it needs to be looked at. We need to make this process—we need to bring the process into the 21st century where people can come, if there's a presentation, they can use the AV equipment here, but it shouldn't be in a room where you could barely fit 20 people and people feel like they're excluded. You know, government should be transparent. That's what it's all about. People should have access, and I think this would be a better venue.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. I think the question is, The meeting should be moved to Wednesday night. So because the Board of Heals does meet on a Tuesday evening, the same as we do.
[John Falco]: Absolutely. If we could amend it to actually have them move their night to Wednesday night and have it here in council chambers.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. As amended by Councilor Falco. Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I second the paper, second approval for the motion. I've received complaints myself. And as we come in on a Tuesday night, during the once a month when the Zoning Board of Appeals meets, we see a crowd outside the hallway. And I have received complaints about people that weren't able to speak, they weren't able to hear. And I think it's extremely important that anybody and everybody be able to hear any meeting that goes on at City Hall. But time after time, month after month, that is the one board that meets where the doors are overflowing. Because you have attorneys, you have residents, you have business owners. People from the city council do want to attend. We're not able to. So I agree with moving it to another night. I also agree that here would be the right place. I would ask that we amend this and request that the meetings be televised as well. I think we need to start moving more and more towards televised board and commission meetings. And that is one of the biggest and most important boards we have in the city. And it's something that I would definitely want to attend more often or at least be able to have that opportunity to watch from home. We as city councilors are being asked to get involved with certain projects and ask for help. Neighbors are asking us for help. So it's important that we have that opportunity to not only watch the meetings, attend the meetings, speak at the meetings, but everybody should be able to attend the meetings and be able to hear and speak. So I think it's a great resolve, and I think it's definitely a positive, and I move approval, or second the approval of Councilor Falco.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I too feel as though the room is too small. I really don't see any problem with having the meetings at a room that has a capacity of no less than 100 people. It doesn't necessarily have to be the Alden Chambers. We had a great presentation here by Barbara Kerr a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully if we get a library grant, we're going to have a great library community space in the library. We have the South Metro Fire Station as a community space. So there are other available locales that these meetings can be held. If they want to use the Alden Chambers, that's all well and good too, Mr. President. But I do think that the room is too small. I do think that they can take affirmative steps to address the problem right now, especially in light of the small number of contentious developments that have been before the Zoning Board of Appeals in recent months, Mr. President. So I support the resolution. However, I feel as though putting it in the Alden Chambers isn't necessarily the end-all, be-all. There are other opportunities available. And my question as to whether or not if we're going to send a message to the Zoning Board of Appeals that they need to have a meeting, and the meeting has to be accessible to people, that we're dictating where it has to be as well. I think that if we can look at the number of seats that are available in the room, I think that that might be able to be something that's helpful in controlling the situation as well, Mr. President. However, in terms of the resolution that's before the body this evening, I have no problem supporting it as authored.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Nighy.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Dello Russo. Mr. President, I agree with everything that's been presented, and I'm grateful Councilor Falco for bringing this up. While this certainly has been discussed before on some level, however, I have a problem. I won't say a problem. I have a suggestion to remedy the language and that is to add the note of suggestion because I won't support this, Councilor, Mr. President, because on the grounds that that is a semi judicial body. It is to be independent from undue political influence, and I won't be a party to that.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Dello Russo. Vice President Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President, and I want to thank Councilor Felkel for offering this tonight. You know, I think this does apply across the board. I know comments were made. It's not just the Zoning Board or Community Development Board. It's every board and commission, and I might add, including this council. There's been a number of meetings we've had in our council room in 207 where there was an overflow in the hall. And I didn't hear an out cry about the, you know, the members of the council saying, make sure everyone's in here for transparency. So I think we have to be very careful. And I've been to these community development boards and the zoning boards, and in these meetings, they look at site plan, they look at schematics, and this is a tough setup to do in that type of format. And that's why they have a lengthy table in front of them and so forth. So I think what we can do is make a recommendation as a council that with any board and commission, including this council, if there is overflow, that they move into a larger capacity area. And I think that covers everything, rather than saying you have to move here, you have to do this or do that. I think that covers everything. So if there's an overflow, Mr. President, I think common sense should prevail that you move into a room where everyone can participate, because that's what Councilor Falco is getting at. This is a participating resolution. It is open and transparent, and I agree with that. But I'm not sure we solve all that by just having people come into this chamber. because they may have meetings with just a few people, and it'd be a difficult place to sit down with a few people, because it's not set up for that. So that would be my recommendation, Mr. President. If an overflow takes place, that a suitable room be found by any board commission or Medford City Council.
[Richard Caraviello]: As amended by Councilor, Vice President Marks. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I thank Councilor Marks for bringing up the issue of the fact that there are many boards and commissions in this community and if we're going to be requesting a policy change, that the policy change should be across the board and should not be singling out one board or one commission. I certainly also appreciate Councilor Dello Russo's position that where we have quasi-judicial and quasi-independent boards here in the community that we do need to watch the way we speak in terms of making requests of them. And a suggestion or a request, I think, rather than a demand, would be something that would be a little bit more beneficial. So as such, I want to thank both of my colleagues on the council for sharing their insight and input, because it certainly had an effect on the way I'll be supporting this paper. Thank you. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I want to thank everyone for their amendments and their concerns and for supporting this. But I also wanted to mention as well, because we talked about other boards and commissions, and the like. And just to mention that, I'm in the process of trying, and I know I've talked to you about this, Mr. President, in the process of trying to schedule the legislative software vendor to come in and basically take a look at what we do with regard to transparency and whatnot, with regard to boards and commissions, because in addition to putting everything online, which actually helps out with transparency, they can also install cameras in the console meeting room as well, which would help out with other boards and commissions because you could film all these meetings and they could all be, you know, live and on the cable channel as well. So that there is something that I'm working on. I think you all make great points with regard to those commissions as well. And the minutes, the agendas for those other commissions would all be in line as well using the software. So I'm hoping to have a vendor come in soon. I'm working on scheduling that. That actually is from a resolution that everyone supported last year as well. So I just wanted to give you an update with that since we're on the topic. Thank you. Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Nice. I do think it's also important to point out, Mr. President, that beginning with the new administration, this council made a request that the majority of board and commission meetings be held off hours during a period of time where individuals in the community can meet to come and attend. We were in a situation where a lot of our meetings were happening 12, 1, and 2 o'clock in the afternoon during the week, where members of the general public weren't able to come. And the administration did take some affirmative steps to address some of those situations, Mr. President. So I thank them for heeding our advice in that regard. And I think that if we proceed cautiously and make the request appropriately, I feel as though the administration will be willing to listen.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Mayne. On the motion by Councilor Falco, seconded by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Name and address of the record.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: I live at 281 Park Street. I'm glad that we're finally talking about perhaps moving the Board of Appeals meeting. Because this council has such a heavy burden of maintaining our zoning ordinances, it's really important that you're able to attend these meetings at some point. So a Wednesday meeting or perhaps let the board choose a day that works for them. The next meeting that will have a large crowd will be the Salem Street development meeting that is already being held on a Wednesday on March 8th. Perhaps that would be a wonderful time to test out this room because anyone who's attended any of these ZBA meetings knows that a developer presentation runs in excess of an hour where they show you pictures of everything from shrubs to fitness equipment to present their entire project from the ground up, and that room is very small. Saying that 20 people fit in it is an exaggeration. It really doesn't fit that many people. So I'd like to see, since this is probably one of the most important boards in the city as far as shaping the city, these meetings be brought out into the public, be televised, or at least be in a room that's large enough for all of us to know, and perhaps if we can get those agendas online so that people know that these meetings are coming up. because this is very important. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Roll call vote has been requested.
[Adam Knight]: Well, Councilor Knight. I do believe on the city's website on the community calendar, you can find the agendas of some boards and commissions. Some are better than others at posting them, but that information is available on the city website underneath the community calendar link for some, but not necessarily all the boards.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Clerk, could you please read the amendments before we vote?
[Clerk]: Yes, we have one amendment that the meeting will move to Wednesday night in the Howard Alton Chambers. Meetings will also be televised as well. And if there's an overflow, that the boards of commissions take into consideration an alternative. They can find alternative places.
[Richard Caraviello]: and Councilor Dello Russo to add suggestion. On the motion by Councilor Falco, seconded by Councilor Alango-Kern, roll call vote has been requested. With potential of possibly moving to Wednesday night in this room. or looking for other venues.
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes. Yes. Suggestion. Thank you. Thank you. Roll call has been requested.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Clerk, please.
[SPEAKER_15]: So where is that going to be inserted?
[Richard Caraviello]: Accommodate the crowd. So we're going to, we're going to add the word suggestion in there. Cause Councilor Falco has only asked for the board of appeals. That's the only meeting he's requested. Right. If somebody wants to amend it for all, all boards and commissions, then you'd have to. We only have one room here, so everybody can't come in this room, so. If you want to make it for all boards and commissions. We're looking for transparency. Yeah. Why are we limited to one board? So if somebody wants to make an amendment to all boards and commissions,
[Clerk]: Does somebody want to make that amendment?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Just compromise. I just suggest that we compromise. You leave the Board of Appeals language in and then also add any and all other boards.
[Richard Caraviello]: Any other city boards and commissions. All right. You got that, Mr. Clark? Yes.
[SPEAKER_05]: as opposed to zoning, singling out the zoning.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Mr. Clerk, if you could please.
[SPEAKER_15]: Mr. Clerk, if you could call the roll, please.
[Clerk]: I'm only, uh, I'm only using the, uh, amendment to, uh, to include all city boards and commissions. including these zoning appeals. I'm not changing the language, it's just an amendment to include it. Then I think you all should get together and rewrite the whole language then.
[Michael Marks]: Because... It's just the first sentence, right? Just the first sentence.
[Clerk]: Because you already got the... Whereas the Board of Appeals is... You're amended to rewrite the language, so rewrite the whole thing.
[John Falco]: We actually need to suggest and add the amendments.
[Richard Caraviello]: All boards and commissions.
[John Falco]: All boards and commissions.
[Richard Caraviello]: All boards and commissions. You get that, Mr. Clerk?
[Michael Marks]: I guess it's the same thing. All right.
[Richard Caraviello]: You got that, Mr. Clerk? All right. Councilor Falco has requested a roll call vote. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Dello Russo? Yes. Councilor Falco?
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Knight?
[SPEAKER_15]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Long and Kern? Yes. Vice President Marks?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Scarpelli?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Clerk]: President carry on.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. As amended. Motion passes seven zero 17 zero six four offered by councilor Falco. Be it resolved that the mayor's office contact St. Clement's parish to have them contact the various groups to rent the gym, to review the parking protocol in the surrounding neighborhoods. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, this guy also came up, uh, last week during the, community police meeting, and I've received one phone call since with regard to, I guess, many of the people, many of the groups that rent the gym at St. Clement's, basically when they park, I guess they're blocking driveways and, you know, parking too close to driveways and blocking drivers and whatnot. So we could just have St. Clement's reach out to the people that rent their gymnasiums and just remind them of the parking protocol and just to be considerate to the neighbors in the neighborhood.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. All in favor. Aye. Aye. Motion passes. Hands papers in the hands of the clerk. You have something in the hands of the clerk. Uh, 17 zero six eight offered by president Caraviello. Be it resolved that the method city council commend and congratulate Richard Dick Fitzpatrick on the celebration of his 90th birthday. Mr. Fitzpatrick is a member of the greatest generation who fought World War II to make our country safe. I was able to attend Mr. Fitzpatrick's party. He ended up with a citation. Usually when you're 90, the parties aren't too big. Mr. Fitzpatrick had about 350 people at his party with the Marine color guard. So again, that in itself was a tribute to Mr. Fitzpatrick. And again, I want to congratulate him. for his service to our country. Move approval. All in favor? Aye. We have a couple of sick, we have a couple of death things. Offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that a moment of silence be held for long-time Methodist resident Joseph Panico on a recent passing. And we have another one. Offered by Councilor carry of yellow, be it resolved that the Medford city council send its condolences to the family of Dennis Hurley. Mr. Mr. Pearl, he is a world war two veteran, uh, and his presence in our community would be, will be missed. If we could, uh, Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, we lost just recently, uh, a long time method resident and anyone that knew Josephine Panico, and got to know Josephine, would know she was quite a spunky woman. And, you know, you knew where you stood with Josephine at all times. And I appreciated her for that. And, you know, as a loving grandmother, mother, wife, she is gonna be sorely missed, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. If we could stand for a moment of silence, please. Oh, I'm sorry, we have one more. You have another condolence? Yes. I already did that one. I did that one. If we could stand for a moment of silence, please. Motion by Councilor Lang to receive and place on file. And I think that is it. Thank you, Mr. President. The records. Records were passed to Vice President Mox. Mr. Vice President, how did you find those records?
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, I didn't have a chance to review the records. Can I lay them on the table for one week?
[Richard Caraviello]: We will table those till next week. I would ask everyone, if it's wet outside, to please be careful when you're leaving so no one falls down. Motion by Councilor Hay to adjourn the meeting.
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