[Richard Caraviello]: to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Motion by Councilor Knight to suspend the rules. All in favor? Opposed? Motion passes. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I ask to suspend the rules to allow one of our prestigious Medford public school teachers to come up and address the council relative to a fundraising drive that he is participating in in the memory of one of our deceased Medford public school students. I'd like to call Anthony Petrellis to the podium, Mr. President.
[Anthony Petrelis]: Thank you. Name and address of the record, please. I'm Anthony Petralas. I'm a fifth grade teacher at the McGlynn Elementary School. I don't live in Mefford, but I'm a teacher here, so. So I am here for the One Mission Buzz Off, which is taking place June 4th at Gillette Stadium. I want to thank Council and Knight for putting us on the agenda tonight. We were able to come here last year, and after being here, we had a lot of community reach out to us about being involved and getting involved in donations and everything else. So, you guys are a pretty popular show, I guess. So, that's a great thing. But again, thank you guys for taking the time to have us. As I said, this takes place June 4th at Gillette Stadium. It's the One Mission Buzz-Off. And we buzz in honor of Hemal Duferrage, who was a student who passed away in third grade at the McGlynn Elementary School of Spinal Cancer. A few years after that, we hosted a basketball game in our school in his honor. fifth grade versus teacher's game. And since then, we have now kind of moved and shifted to participating in the One Mission Buzz Off. Last year, we were able to raise over $15,000. The year before, it was over $10,000. So the past few years, we've raised over $25,000 in his honor. So what One Mission does, which is so great, is it's one of those charities that gives to the families in need as the children and the family are going through the cancer. So they donate a lot to the hospitals, they bring Christmas to the hospitals, they bring birthdays to the hospitals, they help parents with costs, parking garage if you're, you know, with the Mass General or the Children's Hospital, and it can get very pricey. So the money is given to the families who are directly affected, which is kind of, you know, very rare of a lot of charities and something that just really stood out to us as a great mission statement for them. In the past we've had teachers buzz. This year we are fortunate enough to have the word spread. We have currently five teachers. We have a police officer, the athletic director, the hockey coach, the baseball coach, several baseball players, and this year even some students. One of our team members has been doing it since he's been in kindergarten. He's now in second grade and he looks forward to it. He starts growing his hair in October and his mom takes pictures every month to see how much his hair has grown. It's amazing to get the kids really involved in the city. Our goal next year is to actually host our own Buzz Off here in Medford. You know, this year the word has gotten out a lot and we've gotten contacted by so many different people to see how they could be a part of it. And you don't have to shave your head to be a part of the team and be a part of the cause and help out. This year we're having our first annual fundraiser for the One Mission Buzz Off and we are having a John Brewers April 13th on a Thursday. It is Holy Thursday, I believe, is the day. And we're going to have over 25 different raffles there. We're going to have a DJ there. You know, price of the door, we ask is $15 for donation at the door. And we're really excited about this. We have over about 125 people that have already committed to coming and a lot of people from the community just reaching out on Facebook and email, asking to donate raffles and baskets and so on. So, we couldn't be happier that the community is so behind us. This year, too, we also try to get the schools really involved in it. We had the Method Votek actually create our t-shirt design. So we put it out to them a couple weeks ago, and over 15 students submitted t-shirt designs to us. And we, you know, picked through the team. This is Jackson. This is our second grade I was just talking about here. That's quite a nice set of hair he's got there. And we had over 15 different t-shirt designs. And we ended up picking a senior at the Medford Vogue, Liam Spellman, who came up with our t-shirt design. This is our t-shirt from last year. This year we're doing more of the Medford blue and white colors. And we're very thankful that, you know, Ms. Riccio at the Vogue was able to help us out. We also have the video production students creating a big video that's going to be put on the city Facebook page very soon. We actually have a meeting with the mayor tomorrow to kind of get a couple words from her to be putting on the video. And we're hoping to have it wrapped up in the next couple of weeks that it will be put on every social media page, I'm sure, out there so people can, you know, really see and learn about the cause and what we're doing. As I said, the baseball team is participating this year. I reached out to Coach Nestor very early in January. He was very receptive towards it and is very excited. And we're also going to be hanging a banner in front of City Hall fairly soon once it comes in for people to drive by and see what this event is and what we're doing. And that's kind of all I have here. But I just wanted to spread the awareness. And I want to thank everybody. There's several council people here that have donated to us already and really helped us spread the word. And we were very thankful last year. And we thought it'd be great to come back and A, say thank you, and B, spread the word even more of how much we've grown over the course of the year. Thank you. Yes, it's April 13th. It starts at 7 o'clock.
[Michael Marks]: John Brewers?
[Anthony Petrelis]: Yes.
[Adam Knight]: Did I hear you correctly when you said the athletic director was going to be participating in this event?
[Anthony Petrelis]: Yes, off-site. Him and the hockey coach are going to be buzzing off-site.
[Adam Knight]: Yeah, I can't wait to see that. Anthony, thank you very much for what you do in the community. Also you have here with you is Chris Murphy, one of the members of the park commission here in the city of Medford, who's been a long time activist in the community and someone that's given so much back to the city of Medford. I really want to thank you guys for coming down here this evening and thank you for the work that you do. I am interested to hear from a friend here about what he thinks about the Buzz Off and how much fun he's had in participating.
[McKillop]: Jackson, that's your buddy.
[Anthony Petrelis]: Thank you. So how much money have you got?
[Richard Caraviello]: What is your name, young man?
[Anthony Petrelis]: Jackson.
[Adam Knight]: Thanks for coming down tonight, Jackson. You've got a pretty good head of hair.
[Unidentified]: Thank you. My mom did it.
[Adam Knight]: Jackson, can I come down so you can shave my head?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: When did you start growing your hair?
[Anthony Petrelis]: What?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: When did you start growing your hair?
[Anthony Petrelis]: Like a couple months ago. October.
[Adam Knight]: Yeah, October. Isn't that when you started? October of 69. Mr. President, thank you very much for indulging me and allowing me the opportunity to suspend the rules. Again, Anthony, Chris, and Jackson, thank you very much for coming down here tonight. And to all the rest of the members of Team HEMO, thank you very much for what you do to keep the memory and spirit of a good boy who was taken from us too soon, Mr. President. So I motion to receive and place no file.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Layton, Councilor Falcons, Councilor Scarpelli, get the rest of the hair cut off. Chris, thank you very much for coming down. Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: See you guys in two weeks.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. No, George and I were going to just say a few words, but I just want to thank everything that the fifth grade teacher Anthony does for the students and this great fundraiser.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Chris Murphy and Jackson as well. So good luck. And hopefully, I was going to ask them how we could let the public know where to donate. But I'm sure there'll be Facebook links and a number of different ways you can reach out. I know he sent a mass email around. So hopefully, you can get out and donate to a great cause.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Counsel. Counsel Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Vice President Mox. I appreciate an opportunity for Mr. just, I know Mr. Petrell has left. You know, it's amazing to me when you have Milk and Teacher of the Year award recipients like Mr. Petrelis, who were named a few years ago, named the Teacher of the Year. And he's done so many great, great, put so many great initiatives in place. What's amazing is when we lost Hemo at the McGlynn, that class still today celebrates his birthday. Every year they have a birthday cake. It's something that's so special that they took something as horrible as death and they learned how to celebrate it. And Anthony carries that, his memory, HEMO's memory, alive with the buzz off. And I think this is the only time, this is what I really want here, so I can be involved. But I appreciate everything he's done, and I think the city should rally around it, it's a great cause. Thank you. Thank you, Council.
[Richard Caraviello]: Council President. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I want to echo my other councilors. Congratulations for Chris. He's been a good kid. And last year we all helped raise a lot of money for him in his endeavor. And I hope he does equally as well this year. Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Motion to receive and place on file. Second by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. All in favor? Opposed? Ayes have it. Motion to revert back to regular audit business by Council Member Knight. All in favor? Opposed? Ayes have it. Motions, audits, and resolutions. 17, I'm sorry, 17-317, offered by President Caraviello. Be resolved that the rules of the Medford City Council be amended to allow video recording of the Medford City Council meetings in accordance with Massachusetts general law and that it be sent to the Rules Committee for adoption. Council President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Last week we had some people filming here and walking around that I got some calls from people that they weren't comfortable with. In accordance with the Mass General Laws, open meeting laws, which actually we don't even need to put them in our rules. I want to make sure that they will be enforced in the future. We've designated some areas where people can stand now and film. And like I said, all I'm saying is Going forward, we're going to ask everyone to comply with the open meeting law when they want to film here, and we will announce that the meeting is being filmed other than by our TV cameras. And anyone who wants to buy a copy can buy a copy of the tape for $5. So again, like I said, some people here that weren't comfortable with where the filming was happening, and I wanted to just make sure that we adhere to the open meeting laws.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much, and thank you, Councilor Caraviello, for bringing this issue forward. If we take a look at the Attorney General's Guide to the Open Meeting Law, published in March of 2017, there's a section entitled Public Participation. And in this section, it reads, any member of the public has the right to make an audio or video recording of an open session of a public meeting. A member of the public who wishes to record a meeting must first notify the chair, and comply with reasonable requirements regarding audio or video equipment established by the chair as not to interfere with the meeting. I commend Councilor Caraviello for bringing this resolution forward. I too got a number of calls relative to the recording of the meeting last week and some people feeling uncomfortable that certain individuals putting a camera in their face and following them around. So I think that this is a good proactive measure to ensure that we have full participation and that individuals that want to come down to the Medford City Council meetings are not feeling intimidated or frightened to do so. So thank you, Councilor Caraviello. I appreciate your leadership on this issue and I look forward to the final product that the chair puts out as the presiding officer underneath the open meeting law.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too want to congratulate the president on this measure. I hope that in our meetings and committee that we can also address the issue of taping in committee meetings. Uh, it is in the context of those meetings that I've received a comment from people who have, uh, uh, felt as they've told me, creeped out by the manner, uh, in which some people have exercised, uh, uh, their rights in that forum, uh, with regards to taping. And, um, uh, so I think that that needs to be a matter for discussion and policy. as well. So, we'll talk that out in committee. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Counsel. Counsel Wongo Kern. Thank you, Vice President Marks. I actually had a question about exactly what the Mass General Law stated, but I think Councilor Knight answered that. So, going forward, until this rule committee gets set up, as long as they ask you, President Caraviello, and then where would the designated areas be that they can videotape?
[Richard Caraviello]: The designated areas that we've selected will be where the chair is, which is going to be in the middle of both windows and around the outside corridor.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Around the corridor.
[Richard Caraviello]: The outside of the wall there. And not in the middle where people will be waiting to stand and speak. And we prefer that it would be a fixed camera, not someone just walking around with a phone, just taking pictures of people's faces. Again, we will look and get it done in a professional manner. And the same thing when we go into the committee of the halls and subcommittee meetings, Uh, those are open meetings and same rules will apply in there as they do in this room.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Okay. Thank you. I agree that it should go to, to committee just for vetting purposes. Make sure we let the public know the rules that we're going to implement or that we are implementing.
[Richard Caraviello]: The rules are already in place by the mass general law on the open meeting law. So all we're doing is just sort of bringing them into our rules just to have them in place, but their rules supersede our rules anyway. So.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor, report of information. Based on the reading of it, the Medford City Council is already governed and subject to the open meeting laws. And I think that this is something that can be done absent a change to our rules or even meeting in subcommittee. It's the sole discretion of the chair to establish the criteria for which the reasonable use of recording equipment can be done. And I think that this could certainly be taken care of sooner rather than later, just by way of a policy that's been implemented and submitted to this council for review. Personally, I think that we should have maybe four designated areas that individuals can record from. I think that it's also important that the cameras be stationary. There are certain aspects of this, if we're going to implement the policy, that I think are important. But I think that they can be done absent the adoption of the Medford City Council rules, number one. And number two, based upon my reading of the language in the Open Meeting Law Guide, I feel as though it's at the sole discretion of the presiding officer, not that of the body.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. And also, Vice President Marks, I think it's important with regards to the subcommittee meetings that they do get recorded. And it's something this council has asked for. I know Councilor Falco brought it up. I believe we're hopefully in the works of getting a meeting together to figure out how much cameras will cost in room 207. And I think any subcommittee meeting that takes place or committee, the whole meeting that takes place in the chambers here should be recorded and should be put on display, because I did get a couple responses from last week, subcommittee meeting being, Committee of the Whole meeting being taped, and people were happy they were able to view it online. So I understand where it can be intrusive, but at the same time, people should be able to view every public meeting that goes on in City Hall, and I think getting cameras in some of the essential rooms, especially room 207, and where the Zoning Board of Appeals meets, we need to be able to do, look into doing that further. I think it's very important for transparency and open government. So I would hope that we can implement some sort of resolution for Room 207 and create guidelines that are going to kind of be best for everybody in Room 207 if somebody does want to come in and film and post it on, whether that be Facebook or YouTube, because people are interested in a number of meetings in this community and they're important to, to go public. It's important for them to go public. So I understand both sides. I just want to make sure we vet it well and do the right thing.
[John Falco]: Thank you. Councilor. Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, and I also want to thank, uh, councilor Caraviello for bringing this forward. Uh, with regard to, uh, um, the meetings that are held in room two Oh seven, I'm in a full agreement that those meetings should be on tape. Um, or actually they should be filmed in some capacity. Uh, Those meetings are open to the public, but there are many meetings that happen in that conference room that the public doesn't necessarily know about. And what we should be doing is we should be making sure that we're transparent. We're making sure that government is easily accessible to everyone in this community. So I think it's important that we do have a camera in that room, and that it's easy to operate, and that all the meetings can be filmed and people can participate. I have been in contact with the vendor. The vendor was supposed to come in in February, but they had to cancel. So I'm working on getting them to hopefully come in soon to give us a price on that and to just let us know how it would work. But I'm in full agreement that rooms in room 207 should be filmed. Meetings should be filmed in there. There are many boards and commissions that meet on a monthly basis, and those those meetings should be filmed, that people should be able to see those. So I thank Councilor Caraviello for bringing this forward, and in full support. Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Council. On the motion by Council President Caraviello, amended by Councilor Lungo and Councilor Falco.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. So the motion would be to send the paper to the Rules Committee, as opposed to the president exercising his discretion under the law and putting something together for us to review? Be up to the committee. In my opinion, I think it should. Because I think the act would indicate. Right. But the open meeting law would say that it's the sole discretion of the chair to establish the acceptable areas. Yes. So the committee creating the acceptable areas is really in contradiction to what the access, um, in my opinion, um, however, I'll proceed. However, the body feels fit. I just think that this is something that the president could propose. And then we could either adopt it as something we want to encompass into our rules right away or make amendments to it. If you want to, if you want to propose it tonight and then go into subcommittee process, I think you could probably adopt an interim policy or something like that. In the meantime, to govern the meetings, cause it's going to have to go through the legislative process.
[Richard Caraviello]: If you want, I'm proposing that, uh, as, as the room is marked now with where the middle of the second window on both sides and around the outer perimeter of the back of the back wall. and no filming be allowed in the middle corridor where people stand to come up to speak at the podium. And we prefer if it would be a fixed location versus standing around, walking around and filming people.
[Adam Knight]: Yeah, as long as we have an understanding going forward that there are some restrictions in place right now.
[Richard Caraviello]: And before the meeting, as long as I'm notified, I can let the people in the room know that someone other than TV3 will be filming the meeting. which is what the law says.
[Adam Knight]: Ultimately, Mr. President, my concern would be that, number one, we have an obligation to comply with the open meeting law, and the open meeting law requires the chairman to notify other members in the facility, or in the locale, that they are being recorded. And I think it's very important that, as we move forward and have our meetings, that we are in compliance with the open meeting law. And by designating certain areas, it'll make us a little bit easier for the president to identify, number one, and number two, The City Messenger at the meeting has already started to identify individuals.
[Michael Marks]: And as you stated at the beginning, that's up to the discretion of the chair. Exactly. So it's an unwritten rule by the discretion of the chair. Exactly. And I think it would be important that we do add it to our rules to further clarify.
[Adam Knight]: Right. My concern was just between then and now, what's going to happen. Yeah.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Councilor Wango-Kern. Thank you, Vice President Marks. I'm fine with all that. I just think having something stationary is something that a lot of people can't afford, having a tripod. I mean, a lot of people want to film with their phones or a camera or a video recorder. They don't have a tripod, something stationary. So I disagree with that portion of how we're going to move forward. I just think it's unrealistic. And I believe that the one person that's tried to film is doing it from a cell phone. So I understand maybe designating areas, but to not allow somebody to film us with a cell phone. I mean, we're elected to do the people's business, and if somebody wants to live stream it on Facebook, I don't see a problem with allowing them to do so. And we have no cameras in room 207, so if they want to do it with a cell phone, as long as they're stationary, not in the way, they're not impeding somebody's safety with regards to moving around, I don't see the problem. I just have to voice my concern there, because I know people are happy with Having the meetings live streamed and I agree with council Falco. We need video cameras in room 207, which That's the only way we got something videoed in the last couple weeks Even people aren't happy with who who videoed it. It's it is what it is Thank You console console
[Adam Knight]: Let me clarify when I said the word stationary, I don't mean that someone needs to buy a tripod or someone needs to, you know what I mean, buy this elaborate TV3 or, you know, channel 56 WLVI, Saturday Night Live, David Letterman, it's on the shoulder, it's on a tripod. I just mean that the individual that's recording shouldn't be walking around putting the camera, recording here, recording here, recording here, over here, over there, over there, over here, over here, walking all around the place because the intent is that the meeting does not get disrupted. We allow audio and video recording. But the meeting is not interfered with or disrupted. And that can be a disruption when someone's walking around with a camera and pointing at people's faces.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So maybe we should add to this, like when one of us is talking, maybe the other councillors can't be like hysterically laughing. I mean, because that's disruptive. And I have a councillor or two. Point of information, Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight, point of information. The open meeting law in this section of the open meeting law speaks to public participation. It doesn't speak to the conduct of councillors. The conduct of councillors is governed under a different chapter of the general law. I believe it's chapter 43.
[Michael Marks]: I would ask, and I think that's why I think we do need to have a committee on the rules so we can get together. And there's also a sign at the entrance to the Alderman Chambers that says no cell phone usage or electronic devices, I believe it mentions. And that is also something that I think we need to look in as a council. So on the motion by Council President Caraviello that this be sent to committee on rules and further amended by Councilor Falco and Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion is adopted.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. 17318, offered by Vice President Mox, be it resolved that the Medford Housing Authority be discussed. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Just a few days ago, I received a call from a resident that resides in one of our housing developments. And the resident brought up a very valid concern, stating that during the snowstorm we had two weeks back, a little over two weeks back, that she is a handicapped resident of this particular development. She resides on, I believe, the fourth floor. And during this latest snowstorm, the power went out at the building for several hours. And she happens to have a lifeline that she uses, a medical alert. When the power went out, her lifeline no longer worked. And the elevators in the building don't have a backup generator. And her phone, based on the type of phone you have, her particular phone wasn't working either. So she was confined to her floor of the building for a three or four hour span with no communication. And she was very concerned that First of all, her building did not have a backup generator for the elevator. There is a small generator that has the capacity to handle small lights at the entrance to each doorway inside the building. But other than that, there is no backup generator to handle the elevator capacity. So I made a call to Medford Housing yesterday. I talked to Joseph McRitchie, who is the interim director, executive director. For those who are not aware, Mr. John Coddington, the executive director, decided not to seek reappointment to the position, and right now the housing board is currently looking at three different candidates for the executive director position. Mr. McRitchie is here in the interim for about a month from what he told me. I asked him, Mr. President, what is the, first of all, which of our eight developments in the city have backup generators for the elevators? And he mentioned that the only building is the main high rise in the square. The Salt and Stall does have a backup generator. It's an 11 story elevator with 200 units in that particular building. So if power does go out, residents from any of the floors can get down to the main floor if need be in a time of concern. So I went through the list of buildings, Mr. President, and You know, this may be helpful to some of the new colleagues, because when people hear about method housing right away, they think, Oh, that's under the guise and control of the city of method. And it absolutely has. nothing to do with the city of Medford. And people are astonished when I say that, but the Housing Authority is a quasi-agency that's run by the state and federal government. And right now, out of the eight developments we have, we only have one state unit that's funded by the state, and that's Walkland Court. The other seven are federal-funded buildings. And if you would just indulge me, Mr. President, I think it's important to go through the list of housing that we have in this community, and then in order to move forward on a resolution that needs to take place, I think it's helpful. So we have the Salt and Stall building. It's an 11-story development here on Riverside Ave. It has 200 units. of elderly and disabled units, and it's federally funded. LaPreece Village is on Riverside Ave. It's a family development. It has 142 units, and it's federally funded. Fells Way West, there's the Doherty Apartments. It's a three-story elevated building, which is elderly and disabled, and it has 17 units and it's funded by the federal government. Weldon Gardens, which is on Bradley Road, five-story elevated building for elderly and disabled. It has 75 units, funded by the federal government. Tamponi Manor, Alston Street, it's a three-story elevated building, with elderly and disabled residents, and it has 100 units, and it's funded by the federal government. Canal Street, Phillips Apartments, it's a two-story building. It's elderly and disabled, and has 15 units, and funded by the federal government. And we also have Willis Ave Development, which is a family development that's on Barnard and Willis. It's 150 units, and it's funded by the federal government. And as I stated, Walkland Court, It's a two-story building, elderly and disabled, 144 units, and it's funded by the state. Combined total, we have 843 of housing units in our community, of which a lion's share are dedicated to the elderly and disabled. And the reason why I brought up this resolution is Upon inquiry to the Medford Housing, I asked what is their emergency plan in times of power outages with people that are on these elevated floors that are disabled and don't have a means to gain access to the first floor, and secondly, may have a medical condition that requires them to have electricity. And I was told that they were going to look into it. And to date, I still haven't received a response, but I'm hoping tonight through this resolution that my first motion, Mr. President, is that this council receive a response from Medford Housing Authority on the emergency plan, evacuation plan in times of power outages or other catastrophes in this community to deal with the disabled. that are living within the buildings in particular, and an emergency plan in general for everyone living in the building. And secondly, Mr. President, the fact that only one building out of one, two, three, four, five, six buildings that have, I'm sorry, one, two, three, four, five buildings, only one has an emergency backup generated for the elevator. So my second motion is, out of the five buildings that have elevators currently, why are only one building equipped with an emergency backup generator? And what are the plans to address needs of residents that are in the building that may or may not be disabled, Mr. President, in time of power outages or other safety needs? So those are my two questions, Mr. President. I know the interim director, MacRitchie, has only been around for a short period of time, and he was very prompt in getting back to me. I have to thank him. And I told him I was gonna be offering this resolution to address the needs of the 843 different units we have throughout this community, and the safety concern that potentially could exist, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Councilor Dello Russo. Thank you, Mr. President. Just by way of information, I was under the impression that after our last major power outage, the city suffered some years back, that there was indeed a emergency plan that was under the supervision of the director. I think we called them emergency management or civil defense had contingencies for these matters. But it is alarming to note that in housing that caters to largely elderly and disabled and people with critical medical conditions, especially people that need in their domicile machines that generate oxygen for their breathing, to be without the aid of those machines for even a brief period of time uh, might be life threatening and certainly injurious to their health. So, um, I, uh, uh, second approval on this, uh, motion, Mr. President. Thank you. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, I'd like to thank, uh, Councilor Marks for bringing this forward. Um, the, uh, resident, um, uh, actually gave me a call as well. And, uh, there's some, uh, really legitimate concerns here that need to be addressed. Like Councilor Mark said, there are hundreds of units here with elderly people and disabled people, and we need to make sure there's a plan in place. And I would like to see if we could amend the resolution to actually see if actually the fire department is aware of a plan, if they have a copy of the plan, if they could send it to us. If they don't, if we could have the housing authority send that emergency plan to the fire department, I would think that as first responders, uh, the fire department and the police department should have a copy of the emergency plan. So, uh, I thank the council for bringing this forward and I support it. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Councilor Falco. Councilor Nice.
[Adam Knight]: Uh, Mr. President, thank you very much. I want to commend Councilor Marks for putting this resolution forward. I think it's a great idea. Um, certainly questions that need to be answered. Um, whereas we have an interim director right now, I think it would also be important that, um, we send copies of the resolution to each member of the Medford housing authority board. And I also think it would be important that we send a copy to the Director of Civil Defense, which is coming out of the Board of Health right now. So I just ask that the paper be amended to include those individuals to receive copies of the resolution. And hopefully we can get an answer within 10 days or so, Mr. President. Move for approval.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by Councilor Knight, as amended. Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor, Vice President Marks. Just if we could, if we can also get the name of the person, if anyone behind the railing knows of the Civil Defense person. I thought the position has been vacant for several years now. So, I'd be curious if... Point of information, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Point of information, Councilor Dello Russo. The qualifications and duties of that person have been assumed into the role of the Director of Health. Thank you, Councilor Dello Russo.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Knight. Well said, Councilor Dello Russo. On the motion by Councilor Marks, as seconded by Councilor Knight, as amended. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 17.319 offered by Vice President Mox. Be it resolved that the issue of natural gas leaks in the city of Medford be discussed? Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. This is a very important subject. On March 20th of this year, National Grid came out to the McGlynn Middle School to talk to residents about their natural gas bills and concerns and any questions they may have. And at that particular meeting, Mr. President, residents raised a number of very valid questions, but one that kept on coming up over and over again was natural gas leaks within the community. And at the meeting, it was explained that natural gas leaks contain CO2 and methane, and a result of corroded pipes which we know many of the pipes that are under our roads and streets are many, many years old. And after a while, the joints become faulty and they end up fractioning. And it's typically caused by heavy trucking that may go up and down streets. It's caused by digging in particular areas. But National Grid has a report, and that's why I offer this resolution tonight. They categorize the type of leaks that are in every community, and they categorize them as grade one, which is eminent threat of explosion, grade two, threatens the health of property, and grade three, no threat to health or property. And according to National Grid, Medford currently has zero grade 1 and 2 leaks, which I guess is great news, but has over 260 plus grade 3 leaks that, according to them, are decades old. And the reason why I offer this tonight, Mr. President, is that knowing how the infrastructure works in the community, knowing how water and sewer and the pipes that are underground as they age don't get less leaky, they become more leaky. And knowing that we have over 260 leaks currently in the city, many of which may be decades old, I would venture to say that these leaks are no longer grade three leaks, but could be grade one or two leaks. And how often are we looking at these leaks? Are they re-inspected every year? I don't know. So that's my question tonight, Mr. President. If we could get a report back from National Grid on how often grade three leaks in the city of Medford are being monitored, if we can get that particular reporting on how frequent they are monitored, and also, Mr. President, I think we have to talk to our state delegation because as part of the meeting that was held, they said currently grade three leaks are not prioritized by National Grid because they don't receive any type of reimbursement on grade three leaks. Grade one and two leaks, they receive reimbursement either from the state or federal government. I'm not quite sure on that. So grade three leaks are not a priority. We happen to be inundated with grade three leaks. And knowing they're not a priority, knowing that many of these leaks have been out there for decades, I'm very concerned, Mr. President, that if National Grid is not on their game, these leaks could be turning into grade one and grade two leaks, which pose an imminent threat to health and safety and property of this community. And so that would be my motion tonight, Mr. President. reporting and potentially also if a representative from National Grid can come before this council to give us an explanation on the current condition of leaks within our community. Thank you, Vice President Mox.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Vice President Mox, seconded by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor. Would you like to speak on this matter? Name and address of the record, please.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Thank you. Andrew Castagnetti, Cushing Street Method. Thank you, Council President. Appreciate your attention. Thought I'd share some information about this gas leak situation. Approximately 15 years ago, my wife said there was a gas leak in front of the house, but I couldn't tell. She can smell a cigarette from a mile away, but I really can't. So, sure enough, a gas employee, National Grid, came in front of the house and I didn't notice my new tree on Cushion Street was dwarfed and it looked like it was dying compared to the others that were newly planted. Anyways, across the street, they had gone through multiple trees about number 26 Cushion. So the guest gentleman said to me, listen, This is, I thought he said stage one, stage two, stage three, or I said grade, you said stage, whatever it is, there's one, two, and three. I'm not sure which was the worst. I'm sure you counsel much, you know better. And your mind is refreshed. However, he said it was not so bad. Okay, so he also says to me, don't say I said it, so I'm not quoting his name, I probably have it in my notes. He said, Medford is known as the gassy city, kind of like Shark Bay. And I said, I presume it has nothing to do with Boston baked beans, mind you. So, and I've been seeing them walking around and driving around with their scanners and snifters, whatever they hang from their bumpers. And sure enough, they did come and replace the whole main for the entire street. And we've been fortunate. We have new infrastructure on that street. And they replanted new trees, because they also did the sidewalks. And our tree in the front seems a little bit more dwarfed than the other one we have on the front, which is more on the Abbott's corner. And across the street, where they already went through three trees prior to the replacement of the new line, their tree looks more dwarfed than mine. I would say it's ready to go to De La Ruza's pretty soon. So I think I covered the information I'd like to share. And just think, these pipes are probably 100 years old or more, give or take 20 years. God forbid, if we ever had to do entire re-digging the infrastructure, I don't think this country could afford such a thing and the inconvenience. So I guess we're gonna have to do a piecemeal when it becomes a stage one, as you say, Councilor Marks. But I wanna re-quote this gentleman, just don't quote me, but Medford is known as the gassy city. That's all I have to offer.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Castagnetti.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor, Vice President Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. You know, another point that I didn't bring up is the fact that, you know, The gas that's coming into the community is meted in outer parts of the city. So they have giant gas lines. They know exactly how much gas is coming into the community. Then it's broken up by the individual businesses, homes, and so forth. What is not going into your home or your business is unaccounted for gas that's leaking, these 260 plus It could be 300, 400, who knows? But that cost is not picked up by National Grid. That's picked up by the consumer. That's picked up by URI, all these different leaks, similar to the water in sewer. We have unaccounted for water in this community. And that's not water I'm using or any other rate payer. It's water that's leaking directly into the ground that we're paying for. So this is not a win-win for our community, the fact that These are low-grade leaks. It's costing us, Mr. President, to pay for the leaks, and it's also costing us, Mr. President, as we heard, within our environment, and also the potential threat from these decade-old leaks that we have in the community.
[Richard Caraviello]: So I just wanted to bring up that point. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. On the motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 17. 20, offered by Councilor Knight.
[Michael Marks]: Be it resolved that the Medford City Council adopt the following... I'm just gonna read the beginning of it.
[Richard Caraviello]: Be it resolved that the Medford City Council adopt the following ordinance regulating the use of security bars and grates in the city of Medford. In order as we get regulated the greats on commercial properties and industrial properties in the city of Medford. Motion by Councilor Scarpelli to waive the reading. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much and Councilor Caraviello, thank you for making that motion so we didn't have to read this long and voluminous piece of language here. Mr. President, ultimately, this is a draft proposal that I would expect to go through the legislative process, through the subcommittee process, the committee of the whole process, and make it back here to the council floor after deliberation. But what it is, is it is an attempt to regulate security bars and grates on commercial and industrial properties that abide in a public way. It's a beautification initiative, Mr. President. I feel as though right now, in the day and age that we're in, with the technological advances that we have, And the fact that a number of these security grates aren't being utilized in a fashion that would be neighborly. Sometimes they don't go up at all during working hours when they're graffitied. The graffiti doesn't come off, and at the end of the day, the grate comes down and the graffiti remains on. The security grate, I think that there are certain issues that we need to look at in this regard, Mr. President. So with that being said, I drafted a proposal, and it's a phase-in proposal. It calls for any existing commercial or industrially zoned property that has a security bars, grills, or grates. that were properly permitted to have a 10-year window to remove those from the community. And any location that has security grates that were not installed in compliance with the building code has five years to remove those. So existing structures that have these security bars, grills, or grates that are up would have 10 years if they were put in there in a conforming basis and five years in a non-conforming basis to take it off. There's also some restrictions in there relative to whether or not a permit's pulled and a requirement to take the security grates down. But ultimately, this is, Mr. President, an attempt to start a discussion on the issue of security grates, grills, and the like that cover windows of commercial and industrial properties that abut public ways, that provide an unsightly appearance to individuals driving into the community. If we take a look at our zoning map, we'll see that there are many commercial and industrially zoned areas that lie on the fringes and the periphery of our community, the gateways to our community. And the impression that we want to give people coming to MedFit isn't that. It's an unsafe community that requires security, greats, bars, and grills on your windows, Mr. President. So that's the intent of this proposal. I would move that the matter be sent to the subcommittee on zoning and ordinances of further improper vetting.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Councilor Knight. Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Knight, for bringing this up. I think what's great with resolutions like this and the next resolution is that you get the dialogue started. And I think I'd second the subcommittee motion to move to subcommittee because these are the discussions that that when they go into that other room, that hopefully it televised soon, that people can see the real work getting done. And understanding that, um, I got a few phone calls and some phone calls will jeopardize the security. Then we have other, I had a few phone calls saying, that's great because a lot of people that do have the greats are keeping the greats down. And that's where the graffiti artists are really tagging those areas and which that brings up another point. And I think is probably the greatest points is our ordinances focusing on, on graffiti throughout the community. So I think, um, I think this is a great start for many different issues that we can, it could morph into. So, um, I second that motion to, uh, move to subcommittee. Thank you. Councilor Scarpelli, councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I thank a console night for bringing this forward. I think this is a good resolution that will, uh, help beautify the city. And I'm in full agreement that this is something that would benefit the whole community. I look forward to this moving to the zoning and ordinance subcommittee, where we can get to work on it hopefully right away. I know there's a lot going on in that subcommittee, but I may get to work on this, and I think it will benefit everyone. So thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Falco. Mr. Castagnetti, would you like to speak? Yes. Name and address of the record, please.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Andrew, Cushing Street, Method Mass. I appreciate Councilor Knight's concern about keeping a more of a Winchester-type atmosphere versus a Chelsea-type atmosphere. It's a great thought. Glad you respect the city. It seems to me most people in the world, including in our community, are good people. However, there are some that have issues, and maybe they do bad things, and I'm not sure if we can, Someone can dictate, even through an ordinance, and you probably can, but to whether they should have grates or not, especially if they're carrying 24-karat gold bullion or jewelry. I'm not sure about ice cream parlors. However, I think in order to avoid possibly more of the secondhand shops and massage parlors, which kept Medford hopping until after eight o'clock at night, but they had to go, I guess. But they had to roll up the sidewalks at 4 p.m. at least. However, all kidding aside, I believe it's more important for the leadership in this city to make better amends to beautify our city. and at least clean up the trash. I know it's not Winchester, but I fear it might become like the communities on the East Coast as night is implying it. So behind Mystic River Bend Park, for example, that parking lot, and I've said it to many people, leaders in this community, it's insane. It's like a war zone. You have these cement things that's supposed to stop the cars from hitting the curb. Well, they've been plowed over and broken in half, and you have rebar sticking up. I'm afraid someone's gonna end up in a wheelchair. And there's a lot of debris back there, and it's just, that's only one location. I guess, what's the name? Aretha Franklin, R-E-S. Respect the city. Do something. Besides the great work you're doing, we gotta have respect. I don't mind picking up papers in the street, pieces of plywood in Medford Square, on Salem Street, Riverside Ave, but what am I gonna put in my pocket? The city could do a better job, although DPW employees have a shortage of manpower, in my estimation, and They're tired after a snowstorm, and instead of spending money for the high execs, maybe we should hire a few Indians, so to speak. Use some of that free cash to clean up the neighborhood, and maybe people will stop throwing their chewing gum wrappers on the street. Just thinking out loud, sir.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Castagnetti. On the motion by Councilor Layton, seconded by? Second. By Councilor Falco. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 17-321, offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the City of Medford adopt the following ordinances, re-regulating donation boxes in the City of Medford. Definitions. Mr. President, I'd like to ask that we waive the reading. On the motion by Councilor Falco that we waive the reading On the motion by Councilor Falco, seconded by Councilor Scarpelli.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much and Councilor Falco, thank you as well. Similar to the preceding matter that was on the agenda and that was just discussed, this is nothing more than an opportunity for us to start a discussion and it's a proposal to regulate donation drop boxes across the community. I think all of us behind this rail have been contacted by a number of individuals that are concerned about this proposal and the effect that it will have on our public schools and the fundraising drive that they have going on with Bay State Textiles. And this proposal in no way was designed to hurt that effort in any way. Since the filing of the proposal, Mr. President, I've had discussions with several of my colleagues as well as members of the general public It was my intention and my intent. Again, this is a beautification initiative. The intent of the ordinance is to put some restrictions around donation drop boxes to ensure that we have opportunities and abilities to keep areas clean and to keep neighborhood quality of life and beautification at the forefront, Mr. President. So with that being said, this is also a paper that I'd request to get sent to the subcommittee on zoning and ordinances, but ultimately what it does is it requires a permitting process for those entities that wish to utilize a donation drop box. It requires a sketch of the spot, the dimensions of the box, where it's going to be placed, and approval by the building department so that we're sure that this donation drop box, number one, is authorized by the property owner, and number two, doesn't provide a risk to public safety. But again, it's an opportunity for us to start a discussion, Mr. President. I'd ask that the matter be sent to the Subcommittee on Zoning and Ordinances. It's in no way an effort or an attempt to restrict the great work that the Medford Public Schools and Baystate Textile have done in cooperation as fundraising drives for our PTOs. It's more or less an initiative to address a matter that's been before this council at least three times this term and at least four times last term, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. I second the motion that this move to the zoning and ordinance subcommittee. This is a process. It's a proposed resolution. And I think there are many changes and adjustments that can be made to make this an effective resolution. One of the big concerns from many of the parents in the community and from the PTOs is that it will have an impact on the base day textiles. And we do not want that to have a negative impact on that program. This is a program that raises money for the various PTOs throughout the city. Myself and I know Councilor Scarpelli, when we were on this school committee, this is a program that we supported 100%. It's a program that gives back $7,000 over the past 30 months. That's pretty significant. It's a significant income for the PTOs. And we need to make sure that if we draft an ordinance, or we're going to draft an ordinance, that we make sure we do it right. and we make sure that it doesn't impact this program that's already in place. So I definitely second that this move to the Zoning and Ordinance Subcommittee and move for approval.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Falco. Councilor Lococo-Kurin.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I did receive a number of, I think, three phone calls on this and a number of emails, the same as my colleagues from Concerned Parents, members of the PTO, I believe the two creators of the Bay State textiles Dropboxes, So there are a number of things that do concern me, especially a fee. I think maybe the fee of $100 that might be required if we do create an ordinance with this language. So I think it's important that we vet this out completely, whether that be in subcommittee or in committee of the whole, because of the grave controversy. But I think that one thing that should be done before we have a committee meeting is that we research what boxes are out there, who owns them. make sure we understand the legalities and the agreements they have with whether it be the school or the city or commercial property. We understand what it is these contracts state and how we can regulate them and whether or not we should regulate them in different ways depending on where they're located because we definitely don't want the PTOs to lose money, fundraising money. I think it was over $7,000 that the PTOs have been able to obtain from Bay State Textiles, so creating this fee per box may hinder that money that goes to the PTOs, and you've got a good 10 people that are really concerned about it, so I hope that we can potentially do this together, whether that be in the Committee of the Whole or in a subcommittee, and really vet this process out.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Councilwoman O'Brien. Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you, Mr. President. At the spirit of this resolution, I believe, that I too got the phone calls and emails and being on the school committee and understanding at the time how important this initiative was for our PTOs. And I think that the focus that I was really looking at with this resolution is really getting a database in place where, as you see in different neighborhoods, I know in the Heights we have one, next to a convenience store that's overflowing onto the sidewalk. And it really poses a real eyesore. And neighbors there had concerns where it butts their driveways. And so I think that's where really having understanding who the contact person is, how we can remedy some of these solutions. I think that's probably the biggest and most aggressive campaign with this resolution. So I too support this to go to subcommittee. It needs to be vetted like President, excuse me, Councilor Lungo-Koehn has mentioned. And again, I think that to all the phone calls and emails that rest assured this committee is all in favor of making sure that it doesn't affect with partners like we have with the Bay State Textiles. So we appreciate their effort. So thank you. Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much. Yes, the textile recycling is something that's certainly on the forefront right now of everybody's mind. It's something that the Mass DEP has been very focused on promoting throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Here this evening, we have Catherine Larson as well from Baystate Textiles. Mr. President, she dropped off a nice packet of information for me, and she's agreed to become a resource of technical assistance moving forward to ensure that we craft language in an ordinance for the city that does not impact the work of It's a very simple fix, Mr. President. We just put language in there that says nothing in this article shall apply to the Medford Public Schools or the property that's under their control and direction, and then it's over. So I certainly think it's something that we can address in subcommittee. I certainly think that it's something that's an easy fix, not a hard one, Mr. President. Again, the intention legislatively was not to restrict or impede upon the fundraising abilities of our public schools, and it's certainly not to have a negative impact on Bay State Textiles and the relationship and partnership that they've been able to forge with our public schools.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Councilor Knight. Vice President Mox. Thank you, Mr. President. And I want to thank Councilor Knight for putting both these resolutions on. I would just, you know, I need to state that I think what's being offered now on our council agendas are no longer resolutions. In particular, when we receive a two-page ordinance, that's really not a resolution. I think we can get the same outcome by putting on a resolution that we need to explore drop-off boxes in the community, and then discuss it in the council, and decide if we want to send it to subcommittee. But to get a two-page ordinance, I think, honestly, it does an injustice to, first of all, our process here as a council, because this is not the process in the way things should work. An ordinance doesn't appear the first time on the council as a motion or a resolution. That happens down the line. And I think what we saw just with this, and I'm not saying anything about the council or in particular, because I've probably been at fault doing this myself, but people read our agendas and look at it and say, Oh my goodness. It says the council, uh, be resolved that the city council adopt the following ordinance. They're talking about this tonight. They may adopt this tonight. I haven't even been able to read it. I haven't been able to discuss it. And I think it's alarming people to see this type of, uh, in depth, um, ordinance creation on the council agenda. And my just humble approach would be, I would respectfully ask my colleagues that in the future we can discuss issues of ordinance change or anything we want without presenting, you know, a two or three page ordinance on the council agenda. So I would just state that I think these are worthy things that we should be looking at and discussing. I just don't want to alarm people in the community that something, because potentially, this is on the agenda tonight, potentially if you had four members of this council tonight, that's all we require, can move this to a first reading tonight. And the second reading is a newspaper and the third reading is down the line. So I think that's where some of the concern comes in. And not to say that's gonna happen because this council's been very thoughtful about sending things to subcommittee and vetting them all properly, but I would just caution my council colleagues that really the agenda is not the first place a two or three page ordinance should appear, Mr. President. That should be released from subcommittee or committee of the whole and not on the council agenda.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Vice President Mox. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, As the legislative body in the community, we need to start somewhere, and that's what this attempt at this proposal was to do, to start somewhere, to have this discussion start. If there's certain aspects of the proposal that people don't like or that are possibly ineffective or not suitable for MEDFED at this point in time, that's great. That's why we have the discussion and we go through the vetting process, Mr. President. However, it's all too often that we put items on the agenda and we say, do this, do that, do this, do that, and then nothing ever happens with them. And I figured that it might be more conducive to time and to getting things done to actually put some language on a piece of paper as a launching pad, as a starting point. And then we can go from there, Mr. President. Like I said, it's a proposal. Proposals pass, proposals fail. It's certainly something that I'm comfortable supporting with the fact that we can take it through the subcommittee process, that it's going to have to go to a committee of the whole after it goes through the subcommittee process, that it's going to have to come to this council. for a vote for a first reading, be advertised for a second reading, and then come back to the council for a third reading, Mr. President. So I can certainly understand Councilor Marks's concern, because it did prompt some, I don't want to say fear, but certainly interest in the community. However, you know, I felt as though it would be in the best interest of this body moving forward to put something with some language on a piece of paper. We've voted three or four times now to regulate donation drop boxes. Nothing's ever come of it, Mr. President. took some of the concerns that I heard over the last couple of years and I put them together and put pen to paper and made a proposal. And that's where I was coming from with this. But I can certainly understand what the councilor is referring to in terms of, um, you know, shouting fire in a crowded movie theater. Um, this isn't going to pass this evening. It was never an intention to have this matter pass this evening. My intention was to have the matter go through the legislative process. Um, just like we do with most matters that come before this council.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Councilor. Councilor Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President, I don't want to seem argumentative in any way, But I think this is a demonstration of a way that the legislative process works well. It works in other bodies this way, both on the local, state, and federal level, Mr. President. And I think in recent years, we've seen a great use and work in subcommittee. Certainly, Mr. President, in your chairmanship of several subcommittees and also under the chairmanship of Councilor Knight, Uh, and, uh, Councilor Falco and Councilor Scarpelli and Councilor Kern and Councilor Marks and the various roles and chairmanship of subcommittees. We've seen, uh, great work in the subcommittees in recent years. Uh, they've not worked this hard in my estimation, uh, in, uh, decades. So, uh, uh, I, uh, never thought that, uh, Councilor Knight would, uh, um, uh, expect any type of, uh, decision making tonight other than to send these matters to subcommittee. Um, uh, and we've, uh, certainly received, uh, proposals of ordinance, uh, whether it be, uh, through a change in pay grades, uh, loan orders and, uh, any number of proposed ordinances come from the administrative side, uh, to us in the form of an ordinance proposed ordinance that we've, uh, discussed, delayed action on, and then it was actually the good measure of Councilor Marks who called to all of our attention, and we've held to this over the past two years, that we not pass matters of ordinance in a first reading in wave three. And this body has stuck to that for two years. which I think is a very good measure and is a sound principle in legislation, Mr. President. So my remarks aren't to be disagreeable, but only to point out my opinion on the way this process is working. And I think it's working well.
[Richard Caraviello]: The President Thank you, Councilor de la Rousseau.
[McKillop]: Name and address for the record, please. Good evening, Dave McKillop, 94 Rockland Road. I was reading this ordinance and I think it is definitely well written and the points are very well taken. There is one thing that I would like to suggest to add to this is simply the drop boxes. The biggest problem with the drop boxes is the amount of product that actually goes to those boxes and the overflow. So maybe there's some way we can ask for some sort of a calendar or something of pickup when the pickups occur, how many pickups are for each individual box. That way there you have a monitoring system and you can hold people accountable for that. Because that's really the biggest issue of those boxes. Most of those boxes are pretty well kept. They're clean, they're neat, they're well painted, they're not really too disastrous. It's the amount of product that goes around those boxes. And maybe there's that one window that you have an opportunity to kind of monitor that and maybe have better control over that. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. McKillop. On the motion by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Falco, that this be sent to the subcommittee on zoning and ordinances. All those in favor? Aye. No opposed? Motion passes. Offered by Councilor Scarpelli, be it resolved that the city administration reach out to National Grid with issues dealing with power outages around the city and report back to the city council. I'm sorry, yeah. Spend the rules to take papers in the hands of the clerk. Seconded by Councilor Neill.
[George Scarpelli]: Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you. I know that I apologize for not putting this on the agenda, but with the recent storm and the outages, mostly in North Medford and the Wellington area, I've received a few phone calls from people that live in the Felsway and the Salem Street area that they've been They've come across a few loud noise booms and then brief power outages. If we can have the city administration discuss this with the national grid and see what might be causing this so we can let our constituents know what are these issues. So it's starting to alarm a few of our senior residents that have contacted me in the last couple of weeks. And this isn't something that's been happening, I take it, just for the winter season. But this has been happening for a while now. So it's alarming that it's a long period of outages. But they're hearing booms, and then you would have a brief outage for a minute or so. And then it would kick back on. So if there's something going on here, we need to know what National Grid is doing in that area. So if we can have the city administration reach out to National Grid and give us a report on those outages, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli. Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli. And perhaps if we could amend that, that the city develop a way of communicating with the public on this. And the difficulty is your power's out and Those of us who still have flip phones don't have the opportunity to check the internet. However, in so many people's phones are now battery, if they have phones in their homes still, and not a old-fashioned landline, it's hard to communicate out of that. I will say this, in this last storm, as I put myself to sleep, I was listening to WBZ. Radio 1030, Dan Ray. And he had a representative from National Grid on. And in live time, they kept giving updates through the whole show on what was going on throughout Massachusetts. And as Towns Power was coming on, they were announcing it. So they, National Grid, to their credit, had a representative on the most listened to radio station in the region and was updating people in real time as to, I heard it, the woman was there, she said at nine o'clock, I think it was a section of Saugus was supposed to come back on. There was a woman who called who hadn't been listening. She caught it, she says, I live in Saugus, I got no power, when's it coming on? And she said, three, two, one, and boom, the lady's lights came back on. It was pretty remarkable. Thank you for this measure, because we do need clearer communication. We had a major power outage. It was still warm out, so I think it was at the end of the fall, and South Medford was down. Half the city was out, really, and it was a complete mess for people. Thank you, Councilor.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Dello Russo. On the motion by Councilor Scarpelli, as amended by Councilor Dello Russo, all those in favor? Aye. Councilor Dello Russo, I don't know if they make FM radio now. Yeah, so they may want to get a better phone. I mean, it's 2017. 17-323, offered by Vice President Marks and Councilor Knight. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council extend its deepest and sincere condolences to the family of Thomas Howell on his recent passing. Be it further resolved that the Medford City Council hold a moment of silence in his memory.
[Adam Knight]: I defer to the senior member, Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: It's senior member in length of service, not age. Mr. President, Thomas Howell was a longtime Medford resident. He was a staple in this community in the West Medford area. He worked for the Department of Revenue, don't hold that against him, for a number of years in this community, and he was married for 50 years with his lovely wife, Mary Ann, and recently passed away, and we really lost a good gentleman in this community, and he will be sorely missed as a great guy, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much, and Councilor Marks, certainly did a great job remembering Tom. My relationship with Mr. Howell was a little different. I remember Mr. Howell when he was the manager at Chisholm's Motel, and his nephew Jason and I were very close friends. And one of our first summer jobs, when we were old enough to work, was going over to Chisholm's Motel on Route 1 and flipping mattresses, which that in itself was an experience, let me tell you, Mr. President. I remember when Mr. Howell moved from Chisholm's Motel when he retired to 27 Playstead Road, and we helped him move. It's 27 Playstead Road, Mr. President, and the House of the Karate's and the Howell's was one of those homes when we were kids. We didn't have to ring the doorbell. We were walking by the house, and we needed to use the bathroom. We needed a drink of water. We banged twice. We opened the door. We walked in. We said our name, and she said, help yourself. I'll be right down, honey. Mary Ann, Joanne, Ron, and Tom were the greatest. Great neighbors, great people. And Tom's going to be sadly missed. I wish the Karate family and the Howell family all the strength that they need to get through this. And I really want to thank them for allowing me to have the opportunity to become a friend of Tom's. And he will be sadly missed, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. If we could all stand, please. 17-324 offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the Medford City Council congratulate Firefighter Anthony Meyer on his recent promotion to Lieutenant. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Firefighter Meyer has been a longtime firefighter in our community and recently he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. I'd like to thank him for his service and congratulate him on his appointment. It's obviously a testament to the hard work and dedication that he's put forward in his professional career. So I'd like to say thank you very much and congratulations to Anthony Meyer, and I'd ask that my colleagues join me in doing the same.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Knight. Seconded by Councilor Long-Wilkerin. All those in favor? 17-325, offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the Medford City Council congratulate Firefighter Stephen Bluth on his recent promotion to the position of captain. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Yes, Mr. President, similar to Firefighter Meyer, now Lieutenant Meyer. Firefighter Blute was named a captain very recently. And again, it is also a testament to his dedication and hard work and his commitment to the community of Medford. Great gentleman, long family relationship. His mother and my grandmother go back very, very long time. So it's very encouraging and pleasing to see somebody with such a relationship to the family be so successful in their professional career. So I'd like to congratulate Stephen on his promotion and thank him for his hard work, service and dedication to the community of Medford.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor? Aye. Motion by Councilor Scarpelli to revert back to regular business. Seconded by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. 17-322, offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the Method City Council extend its deep and sincere condolences to the family of Johnny Marr on his recent passing. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, again, thank you very much. Many of us in this community, especially the South Medford area, we all know John Maher, Maher Service Station, right there across from Dunkin' Donuts. And for a number of years, this was a family-owned and operated business. And John Maher was a fixture in the community. I met him a number of years ago, Mr. President, when I was involved with Pawpawanna football. And Mr. Maher was the best cheerleader that the city of Medford ever had when it came to Pawpawanna football and cheering on his kids and the members of the team. He's going to be sadly missed, Mr. President. His impact on the community is certainly going to be noticed. For the last — the better part of the last four years, he struggled significantly with cancer. And unfortunately, the disease got the better of his mind and body, but it did not get the best of his soul. He's going to be greatly remembered, Mr. President, as an individual who gave of himself. For a number of years, he was involved with the Medford Elks and the Elks organization and all the charitable work that they've done there. And he's touched countless lives, Mr. President. He's going to be sadly missed. And I just want to extend the deepest condolences to his family in this time of loss and time of need, Mr. President. I'd ask that my colleagues join me in doing the same.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Knight. Mr. Castagnetti. Thank you.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: I want to thank Councilor Knight. That's news to me. I'm very sorry to hear that John's gone. I remember when I was a teenager, we used to get our cars fixed. And if some of us didn't have enough funds, he was very nice about extending time. And I actually didn't really get to know him until I was a member of the Elks. And he was a stature of that organization. And he was a very, very good man. I'm very sorry to hear it. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor knife for bringing this forward.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. We all rise please. The records of the meeting of March 21st, 2017 have been passed to vice president mocks. Under your investigation, Mr. Councilor Marks, do you find the records in order? Mr. President, I did find an error in the records. There is an error in the records. Have you brought it to the clerk's attention? I have brought it to the clerk's attention, so I ask that they be laid on the table for one week. On the motion by Vice President Marks, that the records be laid on the table for one week. Second. Seconded by Councilor Naife. All those in favor? Aye. Motion to adjourn by Councilor Naife. Seconded by Councilor Bacow. All those in favor? DJ.
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