[Clerk]: Call the roll. Councilor Dello Russo. Present. Councilor Falco. Present. Councilor Knight. Present. Councilor Lungo-Koehnan. Present. Vice President Marks. Present. Councilor Scarpelli. Present. President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Present. Please rise and salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. On the motion by Councilor Knight to suspend the rules. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Councilor Knight. I'd like to take paper 17555. To the Honorable President. Do you want to do that first?
[Adam Knight]: Why don't we do one at a time?
[Richard Caraviello]: 5-5-4 first? 5-5-5 first. 5-5-5. 5-5-5. 1-7-5-5-5. To the Honorable President, members of the Medford City Council, dear Mr. President and City Councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body approve the following end of the year transfers for fiscal year 2017. Departments.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I move to waive the reading and have a brief synopsis by the Director of Financial Services, please.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Light that we waive the reading and have a synopsis by the Director. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. If you'd like to give us a synopsis of the transfers of fiscal year 2017, it would be appreciated. Name and address of the record, please.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Aleesha Nunley, Finance Director, City of Medford.
[Adam Knight]: Miss Dunlap, if you could take a moment to just go through the end of year transfers and explain the document that you passed out. I know the document that we have here this evening is a little different than what we received in our packet. It's much more detailed and I think it answers a lot of the questions that may have come up. So if you'd be kind enough to go through a brief presentation, I'd appreciate it.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Through the chair, absolutely. Councilor Knight, what I'm doing is I'm actually moving funds between to the assessing personnel in the amount of $3,624 to cover the assessor's salary and stipends through the fiscal year. I'm moving $8,108 into human diversity to cover Diane McLeod Diversity Director's retirement. I'm moving $16,000 into cemetery to cover overtime that was more than estimated. I'm moving $5,000 into data processing ordinary to cover IT's purchase of Office 365. I am moving $448 to energy and environment to cover her small part-time deficit. I am moving $2,794 into legal to cover legal settlements account which is in deficit. I'm moving $962 to legislative. I'm moving $3,300 to community development board to cover stipends. I'm moving $1,300 to licensing to cover licensing stipends. I'm moving 14,000 to 32 insurance, uh, to cover the insurance liability, which was more than estimated. And I'm moving 4,000 312 to a senior work off FICA to cover the city's portion of the tax liability for the senior work off program. I'm also moving eight 86 414 to snow and ice for the deficit.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Uh, through the chairs who, Councilor Lungo-Koehn, that was $886,414 to snow and ice.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And through the chair, if I may. Councilor Lungo-Koehn. That $886,414, that's the total amount from last year's budget that's being moved into snow and ice for the current year?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: That's the total amount. This is the total amount of leftover funds in this current year budget that I'm moving to cover the snow and ice deficit this fiscal year. Thank you. Is there any other questions for me?
[Richard Caraviello]: Any other questions for... No further questions?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Thank you, councillors. Councilor Dyke.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, it's been my experience that at the end of the year we see a number of end-of-year transfers. We have some accounts that run in a deficit, some accounts that run in a surplus, and really all this is is housekeeping to balance the books. I know that there looks like there's a good amount of surplus here that's going towards the snow and ice deficit, which is something that we need to take care of at some point in time as well, Mr. President. I wanted to thank Ms. Nunley for her presentation. I think she did a lot of work putting this document together, and I appreciate it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Dello Russo. President, this is an ordinary process we go through each year. I'm glad that we're chipping away at the snow and the ice. And, uh, I, uh, uh, am grateful for the transparent nature in which, uh, these, uh, items are being trans, uh, presented to us.
[Richard Caraviello]: Move approval on the motion. Uh, council vice president marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And, um, I have, uh, a number of questions regarding these transfers, um, from accounts, uh, that we've heard from, Department heads, we've heard from personnel in these particular accounts regarding needs that were addressed in the budget or what we thought was addressed in the budget. Now we're seeing transfers from these particular accounts to other accounts. And the first one I have a question with, Mr. President, is the Chevalier Auditorium. And we all have at one point spoken about how Chevalier is the economic engine in this community, and that we need to put some money into Chevalier in order to bring the top-notch performances and activities that we'd all like to see help revitalize our square. And I'm concerned, Mr. President, that we're transferring $7,000 in ordinary expense, and we've heard from members of the Board of Commission that there's a hot water tank that's needed at Chevalier. And in my opinion, the $7,000 could have went towards replacing the hot water tank. Also, the HVA systems in there, the motor needs to be replaced in the HVAC system. There are a number of broken windows throughout the building. And as it rains right now out there, torrential rains, I'm concerned that many of these broken windows will be accepting water from outside into the building. We're also receiving a $5,000 transfer out of personnel. So those are only a few things that as a member of the Friends, which I sat on the past year, that helped support Chevalier know firsthand that the commission, Chevalier Auditory Commission, is looking for these improvements. And I can't fathom why, Mr. President, at this point, we'd be taking money from an entity we all feel needs additional money, and putting it into an account, which is great snow and ice. You know, when it's winter time, we all want to make sure that account has plenty. But to take from this account, Mr. President, to put into that account, I have a major concern with this. The second piece, Mr. President, is the fire department. We're taking $179,000 in ordinary expense from the fire department and $40,000 from personnel. Now the 79,000 from ordinary expense, as we all heard in engine three and engine four and many of the other engines in this city, the windows don't work in the building. 79,000 would replace a lot of windows in our fire station that our brave men and women call home for long periods of time, Mr. President. But yet, that's being shipped out of the fire department. We talked about the restrooms at the headquarters. And some of us took tours, Mr. President, and the deplorable condition of the shower stalls and toilets at the headquarters. Deplorable conditions. Again, I would submit to you, Mr. President, $79,000 would go a long way in fixing these very crucial needs that we hear from the fire department. And last but not least, an issue that's been near and dear to me is the turnout gear. We finally got the washes for the turnout gear, but we still don't have the dryers that can dry the equipment. And again, $79,000 would pay for, I believe they were asking for two dryers at the time. would well pay for two dryers, Mr. President. So there we have a department that we know is not going to get a brand new building, the headquarters. They're not part of the police headquarters rebuilding. And they have some needs throughout the community in some of these buildings that are 80, 90, 100 years old that our brave men and women are in, Mr. President. They do an heroic job when they have to rush out to fires. Let's not let them do an heroic job when they have to come back and be in a substandard fire station. That's not what they're there for, Mr. President. The last thing, and I bring this up, Mr. President, is because recently, the police department, because of what was going on throughout not only this state, but across the country, of security concerns within local police departments, our police department asked for ballistic glass to be put in the windows, because they're located on the first floor, they're located right when you come into the building, And I'm under the impression that ballistic glass was installed. However, it makes the window so heavy, and we already know many of these windows in the front desk area were already in disrepair and were held up by Coke cans and so forth, opened by Coke cans, that they requested an AC unit in the front desk area because they can't open the windows. and it gets 80 to 90 degrees in there, from what I hear from the officers. And again, we're transferring $135,000 from ordinary expense from the police department, and another $20,000 that could go towards the police department locker room, which we all know, in addition to the fire department, is in deplorable condition. and this AC unit that this $135,000 would pay for, Mr. President. So I'm not quite as happy as some of my colleagues with the transfer to the Snow and Ice account, knowing that there are many needs out there with our public safety officials, with a building that we all brag about, Chevalier, in the squares, the economic engine, and yet we're pulling money out of it to put into, for the most part, the Snow and Ice account. So I will not support this transfer tonight, Mr. President. I believe there are too many needs right now. When we sat down and went over the budget with both chiefs, I was under the impression that some of these issues would be addressed through building maintenance. And I am very displeased to see that we are transferring money of this magnitude out of these departments and not addressing the day-to-day operations. This is not a luxury. Having air conditioning in a room that's 90 degrees, where they sit for 24 hours a day, the police department at the front desk, is not a luxury to have an AC unit in that office. To have showers, Mr. President, when you come back from a fire, or an officer that's out all day on duty, come back and to go into a restroom that's in deplorable condition, to me is not a luxury. That's a necessity. And again, for Chevalier Auditorium, to move that great auditorium forward, we need to keep up with the basics. And a hot water tank, HVAC motors that need to replace, those are necessities. Those aren't luxuries. So again, Mr. President, I would hope my colleagues would reconsider. I know this is a ritual every year. We transfer money. But in my opinion, this transfer this year, Mr. President, is unnecessary at this point. And I would like to see some of the major issues with public safety that this council has been speaking about year after year after year addressed with this money, Mr. President.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Through the chair to Councilor Marks for the Chevalier. Um, the building department does supplement and take care of the Chevrolet. This really is just leftover uncommitted funds. We weren't just taking money away arbitrarily from anything. And also any things like that are planned for. And as far as the fire and police department, both the chiefs are aware and I emailed them and asked them what is available in order to be moved. We don't just take funds.
[Michael Marks]: Well, that's exactly what you do is take funds because, uh, no chief in this city is gonna stand up and say, you're not taking funds out of my account. So, with all due respect, I've been around here a number of years, I know how it operates. When you talk to members of the commission, Chevrolet commission, saying, What do you mean that's on the agenda? What do you mean they're taking $7,000 out of ordinary expense? Oh, that's right. That's overseen by the city now, the budget. And we weren't aware of that. So you may think everyone's aware and everyone's on board, but I can tell you the brave men in the police department and the fire department are not aware of this money being reverted to other purposes based on their needs. So you may be on board with both chiefs,
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: But I can tell you the rank-and-file and the police and the fire department as well as members of Chevalier Commission are not on board Thank You president Caraviello just a question through the chair are you saying we should reduce this by 86,000 or you you're gonna not support the paper in its entirety I
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, I'll leave it up to the druthers of the council how they want to approach it. I'm only one member of the council, but I will not support the paper with the transfers that currently exist. If we want to discuss about leaving the police fire and the Chevalier Auditorium in there, that's open for discussion and I will support that. But like I said, I'm only one member of the council and I will not support the paper as it currently exists.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I just think that, um, through the chair, I think he makes good points. And especially with the Chevalier ordinary expenses and the fire departments, ordinary expenses. Um, I'm not sure how much the ballistic glass costs for the police department. I don't think it would be. Yeah. Didn't, but then didn't they need thicker? They got the second set.
[Michael Marks]: So, I mean, if we,
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, I mean, I'd be willing to approve the paper minus $86,000 plus the air conditioner. I mean, I think that would solve the problems that are discussed, but then move the rest of the paper forward. I mean, I'll move that motion forward, or you can. Mr. Vice President. You'll have my support if you do it that way, so that we can approve the majority of the transfers, and then have the $7,000 for Chevalier to go back to Chevalier for whatever their needs are. For $79,000, we all know that is less than what needs to be spent in the fire stations, considering they have beds from the 1940s, I think. So that can definitely be well spent. And if there's an air conditioner that's needed, I think that would be a good compromise so that we could get those three things done and then move approval on the rest of the transfers for snow and ice.
[Michael Marks]: So, Mr. President, if I could. And I think this is why we met in budget a week and a half ago. We met for a number of nights. We asked specific questions regarding each account. This year, we were given the ability to see last year's expenses. I'm sorry, last year's budget. this year, fiscal year to date, and what the FY18 appropriation is, the budgeted request. And we've asked many times, how are we going to end in particular accounts? And I was under the impression with a lot of these accounts that because the report, I think was a month back, we were told, because there were sizable amounts in these accounts, that due to salary and so forth, other expenses, that we were going to bottom out on a lot of these accounts. And this is a real surprise to me to see some of these dollar amounts. And today is June 27th, and you would have to have this spent by the end of the fiscal year, I believe. So it puts us in a real different position now to have this money expended within that period of time, where if we knew maybe a week, two weeks ago, three weeks, what the projection was going to be, then maybe we could have made a better decision. So, at this point, Mr. President, I would go with Councilor Lungo's amendment to minus the $7,000 out of Chevalier, out of ordinary expense, the $79,000 out of fire. Correct, Councilor Lungo? And I think the whole $135,000 out of police. And see what can be done in this timeframe to address some of the issues that were brought up for building maintenance, and other ordinary expenses.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor DelaRosa. Motion to sever. Madam Budget Director, was there any comment on that? On what to...
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_12]: I would just like to say that we have only like three days left in this year, and I do not think that it would be possible to do the procurements properly. So I think that it was, you know, your suggestion that this exercise should have been done maybe a few weeks ahead may have, you know, would give us more time. But at this point where you have two and a half days really, two full days and one half day in the fiscal year, and with our end of the year processing that our office is going through, I have serious doubt that anything will be, as far as procurement, getting contractors in here and replacing windows or HVAC, I don't see that happening.
[Michael Marks]: Just so I understand, The procurement is $10,000 and over, correct?
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_12]: Procurement can be anything. I mean, if it's a window replacement, it can be less than $10,000. Procurement can be anything.
[Michael Marks]: So there's not a set dollar amount that you have to... you reach in order to do procurement?
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_12]: Well, over 10,000, we have to get three quotes and over 50,000, we have to do a formal RFP. So it depends on what you're... So what about under 10,000? Under 10,000, you can reach out to anyone and get somebody to come and replace.
[Michael Marks]: So you can reach out. So many of these items could be addressed. that are under $10,000.
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_12]: If they are under $10,000, yes. Right. And if the contractors are available to come in and give, you know, do the replacements, like if it's a window replacement or an HVAC, you know.
[Michael Marks]: Right. So if they were able to get a purchase order by the 30th of this month, with the funding that's available, the work could be done any time, right, after that. It doesn't necessarily have to be done within.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: No, it has to be done by June 30th. General fund has to be done by June 30th.
[Michael Marks]: The work?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: The work has to be done and procured and incurred by June 30th.
[Michael Marks]: I've never heard that before.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: I've never heard that before.
[Michael Marks]: So if we do any type of work now in the building, if we had an emergency work done, you're saying that we couldn't do it because we couldn't.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Emergency work you could do. We have to do emergency.
[Michael Marks]: Oh, there you go. This is all emergency work. This is all emergency, right?
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_12]: Emergency is anything that jeopardizes public safety. It's their very strict... Right, or public safety officials. Yes, for any citizens of the city.
[Michael Marks]: Right. So, Mr. President, I don't want to step on Councilor Longo's toes if that's what she wanted to offer. If not, I'll offer the same thing, that that money be taken from this paper.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Mr. President I just want to remind the Councilors to that for snow and ice Deficit if it's not covered via transfers that is means that I do have to raise it on the tax recap Councilman go current Yep, but I think that's probably the way to go the only other option is to withdraw it from the transfer and make it a condition of the paper that the those Those get that those projects get done Because if it's not transferred, then it wouldn't have to be on a time crunch. Just be a condition of the paper. You remove them from the transfer, they're going to be unspent. It's going to go to free cash, and then we make it a condition of the paper.
[Richard Caraviello]: Well, do you want to make that a separate paper?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: You can make that as an amendment. I think at least the 7,000 and the 79,000 in an air conditioner, if that's the problem, you know. Police are getting a new station, but we have to still... $86,000 is the number you're looking at? $86,000 plus the air conditioner, so... $76,000.
[Richard Caraviello]: $86,000 is the number? $90,000. Where'd the other four come from?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Air conditioning unit in the police station, I hear.
[Michael Marks]: I don't know what it's going to cost, so I can only put the number on. I'd rather put the total dollar amount that's being traced.
[Richard Caraviello]: So, at the moment, you've got the two, you've got the two departments totaling $86,000, correct? The two, and then he wants the third. Well, where's the other $4,000 coming from?
[Michael Marks]: I didn't say $4,000.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I said, I was recommending four from the police ordinary account. $86,000 is the number?
[Richard Caraviello]: The seven? Yes. How's the line of green? Is that the number you're looking for?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: All three, that's fine, 135, Plus seven, plus 79. Let me get my calculator.
[Richard Caraviello]: So 135, 79, and what else? Seven. Seven, so that's six, one, two, $221,000? Correct. You want to sever $221,000 from this transfer? No. And the clerk has advised me that those have to come on each line. You have to separate with the lines that you want. We can't. We mentioned already. We'll spell out the amendments. You'll have to spell out the amendments.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, Ms. Nunley mentioned something. She said that if we reduce the funds in this paper, then it's going to have to be made up for the snow and ice control through the tax recap. And I was wondering if she could get up and explain to us a little bit about what impact that will have on the community and on the tax rate going forward.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Through the chair, to Councilor Knight, yes, if I can't get this covered, I have to bring it up and raise it on the tax recap, which then goes in towards our levy limit. Right now, by taking this out and moving the funds, we would actually be under the levy limit.
[Adam Knight]: So you'd add this surplus deficit, this deficit for snow and ice to the 2.5% maximum tax?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Yeah, because we're allowed to raise that, yes.
[Adam Knight]: So it would be snow and ice plus the property tax would generate a tax levy? Yes. Thank you very much.
[Richard Caraviello]: All right, so. Is there an amendment, Mr. President? Council Member O'Keefe, do you want to make an amendment on which lines you want to take out so we know, so the clerk can have it?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Auditorium. Ordinary expenses.
[Richard Caraviello]: So $7,000 for fire ordinary expenses. Fire ordinary expenses, $79,000. $79,000 from fire ordinary expenses.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Police ordinary, $135,000. And police ordinary, $135,000. Conditioned on doing, yeah, doing an air conditioner.
[Richard Caraviello]: Which comes to a total of $221,000, correct? Correct.
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_09]: Name and address of the record, sir. Dave Jampie, 35 Greenhall Street, Medford, Mass. With the chair, Ms. Nunley. How come we, you wrote up the budget last year? Say that again? Did you make up the- I did not make up the budget.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: This is the mayor's budget.
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_09]: The mayor's budget?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Yes. Are you talking about the transfers? Are you talking about the- I'm just, well one,
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_09]: What's personal mean?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Personal is salaries.
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_09]: What's personnel?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: It's personal for UMass. According to the Uniform Massachusetts Accounting System, it is called personal for salaries and ordinaries.
[Adam Knight]: We want to direct the questions for the chair, and then she can have an opportunity to address them afterwards. Thank you.
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_09]: All right, I know for a fact.
[Richard Caraviello]: To the chair, sir.
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_09]: $135,000 out of the police account. Yet, they don't have cruisers to respond to calls. This is a common practice by the city's administration, and before that, this city's administration was also the habit of the former administration. Every year we come back and forth. There's a lot of money here that hasn't been spent. As a person that's been victimized by the city not spending money, I mean, we have money, say $135,000 for ordinary. Public safety, use it. We have a Riverside Ave, we have our public schools down there. No traffic light. When we built those schools, that was one of my pet peeves was to get a traffic light there. Because not only do we have kids going back and forth during school, we have kids going back and forth to everything else. This city refuses to do anything for the citizens, public safety-wise. Energy and environment, 448, wow. Electrical, how come we have a personnel charge over $35,000? We've been looking for personnel for these departments for a while now, and nothing's been forthcoming. Building inspector, personnel, first $57,000. What have we been looking for for years? Code enforcement, maybe another building inspector or a half. I know that the people getting taken on this, they're in. Good luck.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion that we sever, motion by Councilor Dello Russo, seconded by Councilor Knight, and Councilor Lungo-Koehn's paper will be a separate vote to sever $221,000 from the budget. Is that correct, Mr. Clerk? From the transfers? I mean, excuse me, from the transfers. Is that the correct position? Okay.
[Robert Penta]: Name and address to the record please. My name is Robert Pentez here of Summit Road, Medford, Mass. I'm a member of the circus party. There's a couple of things here that would disturb me. The first one goes on to personnel under the office of community development. You know, this city is in desperate need of having good qualified people for the purposes of bringing development here into this community. Unfortunately, the city does not have a professional grant writer. It does not have any extra people in that particular office upstairs. This is what we heard two years ago when this administration was running. We were going to boast that particular office with personnel that could bring us to some type of competition. Our sister city of Somerville, I believe, has either 13 or 14 people in their OCD. Malden, a smaller city, equal size, has more people than we do. But it's a telling story that if you can have two departments that have $100,000 as this particular department has, and then you can go to the building department who has a $57,000 personnel line item in there. That really tells the story to me that there is absolutely something wrong, and nothing has taken place here over the last two years to bring in good, qualified people if, in fact, the money is there. Now, $100,000 just doesn't get there at the end of the year, and neither does $50,000 just get there during the year. And if I remember correctly, I believe this council, some six months ago, asked for an interim report as it related to department personnel and expenses, which is obviously you never got. Contrary to the issue on fire and ice, where the comment was made that you have to raise it on the tax recap, I believe with our approximately $9 million in free cash, Years in the past, we have paid deficits off with our free cash. So I believe you do have an option there, without getting into your recap, and at the same time. I would seriously question another portion of this transfer of why are you transferring $100,000 from the Office of Community Development, which is supposed to be the brainchild of bringing new business into this community, development into this community, meeting with business owners in this community, and being the partner in the arm with the Chamber of Commerce for which it doesn't seem to seem the light of day. So, Mr. President, I would suggest and I would hope that some member of the City Council would reflect upon that matter. Thank you. Thank you.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Name and address of the record, please. Andrew Castagnetti, Cushing Street, Medford, Massachusetts. The previous speaker brought up a good point on the OCD. I believe it's Office of Community Development. It's very important that we hire the best of the best, in my opinion. Medford, in general, is at a crossroads for development. And if we need more help or the cream of the cream, a Boston or a Somerville type of individual that knows, because Route 93 goes right through us since 1960. A lot of development's been going on, especially on the east side. And it's time we come up with a better plan. And if we're gonna develop, especially any housing that's gonna generate real estate tax, as long as they're not tax exempt, like Tufts University or a non-profit, 501c3, I don't mind if you're going to jam us in an East Ford on the east side of the square. However, also that new growth real estate tax should be deducted from any ideas of 2.49% increase. Because if not, that new growth real estate tax does not help us who's been supporting the city for decades. As a matter of fact, it hurts us real big time. We need more teachers, more fire, more police, buildings, infrastructure, and not to mention it's becoming overly congested. That is simply my opinion. Thank you for listening.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you very much. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. Alicia, just a quick question. So if those funds are not transferred, do the funds then go into free cash?
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Through the chair. Yes, they close into undesignated fund balance which does become free cash.
[John Falco]: Yes Okay, it could you and I couldn't hear you before you were talking about it console night asked you about it that you had mentioned something about the tax recap and I missed that so if you could please repeat that again just so through the chair all of us and everyone at home watch absolutely to Councilor Falco the deficit has to be covered if it's not covered through a transfer Then I have to raise it on the tax recap as part of the tax rate.
[Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin]: Okay Thank you
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Dello Russo, we have to speak on the motion by Councilor Lungo-Koehn to sever from Chevalier Auditorium $7,000, from the police, excuse me, from the fire, ordinary account, $79,000, and from the police, ordinary account, $135,000 totaling $221,000. On Councilor Lungo-Koehn's motion, do we have a second? Seconded by Councilor Marks. All those in favor? Roll call has been requested. Roll call is required. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: This is for the $221,000 that Councilor Lungo-Koehn, for the amendments.
[Richard Caraviello]: It excludes from them. Yes.
[Clerk]: Transfer. No. No. No.
[Richard Caraviello]: Five in the affirmative.
[Clerk]: I'm going to say two in the affirmative, five in the negative motion fails. On the motion to buy,
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo, for the year-end transfers for 2017. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Dello Russo? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Kern? Yes. Vice President Martins? No. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Caraviello?
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Six in the affirmative, one in the negative. Motion passes. 17. 17. That's, are we going to go on to the budget or to the Chamber of Commerce? 554. Dear Mr. President and City Councilors, I respectfully request to recommend that your Honorable Watery approve the appropriation of certified free cash in the amount of $250,000 for the following purposes. $50,000 for the Medford square beautification. Do you want me to read each one individually? Uh, if you want, uh, $50,000 or Medford square beautification was, would be for a public facade program, public art benches and public shelter and the city hall lot decorative lighting, beautification of flowers and trees, other signage for Chevalier historical assets and parking lot locations. $50,000 for Haines square beautification, uh, the, Building facade program, benches, public art, decorative lighting, beautification of flower trees, barrels, softened plaza in front of Dempsey's. $50,000 for West Medford Square beautification, public art, building facade program, decorative lighting, benches, beautification of flowers, other West Medford train station and banners. $50,000 for South Medford beautification, building facade program, public art, flower pots, decorative lighting, bike racks, other trees, and bike racks. $50,000 to the hillside, Boston Avenue beautification, public art, benches and a bus shelter, bike racks, decorative lighting, building facade program, and other hillside branding and trees. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I move to postpone the hearing of this matter until after a committee of the whole can be held for an explanation from the administration as to where this expense is going to go. I know there's been a number of concerns from the business community about that, and I think that it might make sense that we all sit down in the same room, Mr. President, and kind of figure out what's going on with these appropriations before we move forward in spending the money.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. On to the motion by Council A. Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I, too, have received a number of phone calls with regards to business owners who have a lot of Obviously, a lot of people want to see these things happen, but there's a lot of safety concerns within our squares. Some of our squares are bigger than the others. There's a lot of questions out there, and I think they need to be resolved. We need to make sure everybody has a seat at the table. We look at the surveys. We talk to the business owners, and we sit down as a group and discuss exactly how to use this, if it is going to come from free cash or, I believe, that's another issue. I thought it was supposed to come from the budget. based on the parking enforcement contract, but that's a separate issue. I just think we need, one way or another, money needs to be spent in the squares and we need to do it the right way and we need to make sure everybody's at the table before we do so. So I second the motion.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Langlois-Kern. Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President, I'm quite pleased to endorse this and would like to see it acted on tonight. I was part of a committee that conducted extensive surveys on location in each one of the aforementioned squares. Furthermore, Mr. President, we've had major follow-up meetings regarding Medford Square, and it's been preceded by meetings for over a decade. May I also point out that we've been handed survey results from the mayor's office, I believe, which I might add are hard to decipher. But however, based on input I've received from people over quite some time, I'm quite satisfied that there is a grasp on things.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Dello Russo.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. I received a number of calls as well from residents and from members of the business community. And I think the important thing is if we're going to do it, let's do it right. And I think that I would agree that it should go to committee, the whole, we should talk about it. We should make sure that we're seeking a wide audience. Let's really get the input. Make sure everyone has an opportunity to weigh in. Make sure we're doing the right thing. But bottom line is, if we're going to do it, let's make sure we do it right. So I would support the resolution as well, that it goes to committee of the whole. Thank you. Thank you. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And Councilor De La Ruz was exactly right. The mayor put together a business transition committee when she first became mayor. And that committee did exhaustive work in reaching out to the business districts, having countless meetings, public forums, gathering input from the business community, from residents, and nothing was used, Mr. President. regarding this $250,000 beautification of our business districts. The mayor came out with her own survey and I'm quite surprised to see that in hearing concerns from business owners and residents in this community about a number of issues that public art in our business districts is at the top of the list. or the one and two at the top of the list, Mr. President. And on the questions that were asked in the survey, I don't see any questions regarding public safety. You know, this money originally was intended because of the kiosks that were put in place that had a terrible, devastating impact on the businesses in our business district. And as a way to try to assist them The Mayor McGlynn at the time came up with an idea of allocating $250,000, $50,000 for each of the five business districts, that they can use this money towards public safety, public art, towards flower pots, decorative light, whatever they see fit, Mr. President. But from what I'm gathering from this survey, it's really limited. And I don't think that was the original intent. The second point, Mr. President, We should not be looking at 250,000. This is year two of this whole project of giving back to the business districts. The amount of money should be 500,000. This is year two. It should be $100,000 for each business district. Now I know Mayor McGlynn had year one and Mayor Burke has year two, but this is still one city. And we owe that, when we have this committee meeting, committee of the whole, whatever, subcommittee meeting, that that issue be addressed, Mr. President. Because I didn't forget about year one, the commitment Mayor McGlynn gave. And at the time, Mayor McGlynn said he was going to pay through the revenues generated from the ticketing in the city. through Park Method. And then Mayor Burke came up with her revenue source using free cash. But this, so far, is a two-year program. And I'm very concerned, Mr. President, that this particular survey that was done doesn't represent the needs that we have in the business district. And I can tell you firsthand that the Salem Street parking lot located across the street here on Salem Street. It's a business parking lot. At night, if you go there 7.30, 8 o'clock at night, it's pitch dark in that lot. You can't see your hand in front of your face. And that's no exaggeration. It's pitch dark, and it's a business lot. And I guess there was an estimated cost to put lighting in there at $30,000 by some organization. But I think it could be done cheaper, Mr. President. But there are a number of public safety issues, I think, that need to be addressed. And I would ask that. And one other point, Mr. President, if I could. The survey that went out said business district beautification project. And then it went on to give a narrative about 250,000, and then at the bottom it said, once the information is gathered, and I assume that's through this survey, projects specific to each business district will be identified. Now does anyone see projects through this survey for each business district that identified? And the allocation of projects will be reviewed by the city council. What are we reviewing here? We're reviewing this, this chart here? What are we reviewing? Why is the mayor asking us for 250,000 now? We haven't been given any, according to the mayor's own distribution, any specific projects for any of the different businesses. So I'm not quite sure, Mr. President, why this was presented to us in this fashion after two years This is not two weeks, two months, two years of working on this, that we get a half-hearted survey that doesn't represent the businesses or the community, and no particular projects. Something Councilor Dello Russo worked on diligently, and had all those meetings, and now one of their recommendations is in this report. You wasted your time, Councilor Dello Russo. All that time spent, you wasted it. There's a survey done.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I wish to point out that I do not feel my time has been wasted and I would also take this opportunity to point out and thank what would seem to the untrained ear the accolades I've received from Councilor Marks. Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: I don't know where the information came in that point, but that's, that's quite all right. So, so Mr. President, and I appreciate Councilor Knight bringing this up, but based on that, Mr. President, based on the fact that this was hastily given to us with no clear direction, Mr. President, no specific projects, and falls short of the mark of funding, which should be $500,000 for two years, not $250,000 for one year. You know, the mayors want to be close-knit, the mayors, when the transition happens and so forth, Honour what Mayor McGlynn put forward to the businesses. Honour the $250,000 Mayor McGlynn put forward. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I just want to be clear that the motion is understood. The motion is to lay the paper on the table until such time as the Committee of the Whole can be held.
[George Scarpelli]: Uh, council Scarpelli. Thank you, Mr. President. And I, I too received a number of phone calls from concerned, uh, business owners and citizens. And, uh, I think that, uh, when, uh, council council nights recommendation and going to a subcommittee or committee of the whole, whichever we decide, I think this council has gone, uh, in, in subcommittee for a number of, very big issues, and we've worked together with all the stakeholders to make sure we find a plan that works for everybody affected. And so I understand all of our concerns, and I think this administration has presented something to us that we can now bring to a consensus with different stakeholders, and then try to find what is best for our community as a whole. We concur with our Councilor Knight's recommendation to move this forward to subcommittee or committee of the whole. Thank you. Thank you.
[Robert Penta]: Name and address of the record, please. Robert Pentez, Zero Summit Road, Medford Mass, former member of this ward. I'm glad to see this on the agenda this week because apparently last week when I introduced this before the council as to where this money went, apparently the mayor's office felt necessary to respond to it. Let's go back with a little bit of history here. On October 7th, 2014, when the mayor had the press release indicating that the contract had been signed. And as a result of what took place on September 20th of 2014, with a meeting with the business community and of their concerns at that particular point in time, the mayor made an addendum. He made an addendum to the contract that was signed. And he stated, after deliberating and discussing concerns raised by the business community, the mayor is recommending the following changes to the signed contract. In one of the signed contracts, it was point number three. It says, I recommend $250,000 on the revenue generated on a yearly basis to be dedicated to the business district improvements. That was his first comment as it relates to that. Then on December 23, 2014, then budget director Burke, speaking on behalf of the mayor, issued a press release indicating press highlights of the contract that was signed. And once again, she states in her press highlights that $250,000 annually will be subject to appropriations to the district improvements. We know that there are five districts, Mr. President, as you know. Then we continue on to December 18th of 2015. You went from December of 2014, and now you're going to December of 2015, for which the mayor, on his comment to the Medford City Council on December 18th, stated that I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body appropriate the sum of $250,000 for the purposes of The five districts regarding to the Park Medford. This memorandum is a result of what took place during the past year. So you have one full year, which is 2015, as Councilmember Mox has alluded to, if we go on an annual basis. Then we go to January 28th of 2016. Now, then Budget Director Burke is the mayor, and this is her comment as it relates to us being the mayor. She states the following. After signing a 10-year contract for the program, McGlynn said $250,000 of the city's annual revenue would be used for improvements in the business district. The prior man made a commitment to that, Burke said. When we initially rolled it out, my interpretation was that that would be above and beyond the fixed amount that we collected. I certainly think that the district needs enhancements, Burke continued. So we'll be working for them to determine what type of monies they need going forward. You have commitments from the prior Mayor McGlynn to the present Mayor Burke. Now, if you want to take on fiscal years 15 and go from January to December, you're into two years. If you want to go into fiscal years June to July, I mean June to July, yeah, June to July, you're into two fiscal years. So no matter how you cut it, it's $100,000 that should be going back to the districts, not $250,000 or $50,000 each. I think that is a real big concern because with $100,000 and you're going into the third year right now, you're going to be looking at either next June or next December as being into the third year. So to make a discussion on what the needs might be is one thing, but the real cash that should be going back to these departments, strike that, to these districts within the city, that's where it should be at. This isn't me making it up. This is all part of the official documents that make up this, plus another packet of internal documents that basically reflect upon the same. And if you doubt what I'm saying, go back and check your own records and check the meetings that took place between the Medford City Council and the business districts that came down there who were upset because they were not involved in the beginning. That's why Mayor McGlynn at the time changed it in September of 2014 when he signed the contract in October of 2014 to include that on an annual basis. Thank you. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight as seconded by Councilor Lungo-Koehn to move this to a committee of the whole meeting. All those in favor? Table the motion. All those in favor?
[Adam Knight]: Aye.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion passes.
[Adam Knight]: Table the paper until after the Committee of the Whole. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: It's been tabled. We will let you know when the Committee of the Whole meeting will be. after the Committee of Homeland. We will get a date in the next week or so. We will get a date and give it to you. Okay, I will let you know when the date is. We'll get together everybody and see if we can get a date that's comfortable for everybody. Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, if anybody wants to be notified, if they can leave their email address with the city messenger, maybe we can send out a notice to those people that are here today that wanted to I'll learn more about the topic and we can inform them when the meeting is via email if they leave a message.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[George Scarpelli]: If I can, Mr. President, I know there's some still perplexed faces. So I think that when we table When this body tables or sends something to the subcommittee, we act on this relatively quickly. So this isn't something that's going to wait a month or two months. This is something we'll get dates together that we can work together with all the stakeholders and move this forward relatively quickly. At least that's my hope, and I believe that's the rest of the council's hope. So hopefully we can sit together tonight and have something out by tomorrow with the council.
[Richard Caraviello]: The summer holiday is coming up. People are going to be away. We're going to try to reach an agreement with, uh, when everyone's sooner, the better, sooner than later. We will, we will notify you of the date.
[Adam Knight]: I'd recommend having a committee of the whole before, um, the July meeting on July 18th. If, uh, that makes everybody schedule for July 18th, uh, this committee of the whole provided that, um, representatives from the administration can be there. Um, we can go off that night before our council meeting.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yeah, that would be the objective, do it before the council meeting, the next council meeting. All right, so we will let you know. Thank you. Dear Mr. President, Councilors, I submit herewith
[Adam Knight]: For your approval, the fiscal 18... Oh, we have to take off the table, Councilor.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion to take this paper off the table. All in favor? Motion passes. Motion by Councilor Knight to have a brief synopsis Thank you.
[zSHhVpiqwJA_SPEAKER_12]: President Rick Caraviello, honorable members of city council, and the citizens of Medford, I will now submit Mayor Burke's budget for FY 2018 for a total amount of $167,117,437, which represents a roughly $5 million increase over last year's budget. which is a 3% increase. 1% of this increase can be attributed to increase in fixed costs, such as health insurance, pension, debt, trash and waste disposal, and water and sewer assessments by the MWRA. If these fixed costs were excluded, the increase would only be a little over 2%. The question now is how does this 2% increase translate into additional services for the citizens of Medford? I will now briefly go into the additional services which will be part of this budget. Mayor Burke's administration has created a new full-time year-round recreation department that will provide an assortment of recreation services and events for the families of Medford. The library has received additional funding for a media librarian and an increase in the part-time budget so there is sufficient staff available at all times. Engineering department within our DPW has received funding for a new traffic engineer. Police Department has received additional funding for the conversion of its 9-11 center to civilian staffing, therefore leaving 10 officers who will be available for police services. Police Department has also received funding for two new positions, one crime scene analyst and one information technology specialist. The Health Department has received funding for a full-time recovery coach to address the opioid epidemic. The 2018 budget is supported by the following revenue sources. Property taxes, 108 million. Local receipts, 16 million, which includes hotel, meals tax, cable fee, parking revenue, et cetera. Local state aid, 24.8 million. Sewer and water enterprise fund, 24.5 million, which brings us a total revenue of 167,117,437. Finally, I just want to say that creating a budget is a complex exercise, which requires a lot of coordination with many individuals. This was definitely a team effort. I would like to thank Mayor Burke, her staff, department heads, and their business managers, our finance director, Aleesha Nunley, and our treasurer, Anne Marie Irwin, our school superintendent, Roy Belson, and her finance director, Christine Patterson, for all their hard work and support. I would also like to thank the city council for their support and time over the last two weeks during the budget hearings and getting this budget to this point. Thank you again.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Nice. Maybe Mr. Belson can give an overview of the school department's budget as well, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Mr. Belson, would you like to give an overview of the school budget?
[Roy Belson]: Mr. President, members of the council, the Medford School Committee approved an appropriated budget of $56,431,000. buttressed by revenue of $2,071,107 of generated revenue, grants and other sources of revenue as well. It's a 3.65 increase over last year. Overall, the budget increases a number of activities which are positive for the schools. We're going to increase our vocational program. We're bringing in revenue from the outside. We're now up to 20 programs as opposed to 11 a few years ago. The vocational school is really moving. There are a number of ADA improvements that will meet all compliance requirements. A grant from the Commonwealth, there was a half a million dollar grant from the Commonwealth as well. Technology has been increased. We've assigned probably 50 to 60 Chromebooks to each new school, each school rather, to increase their technology capability. We've increased our E-rate funding to support infrastructure improvements. We're increasing our nursing staff to improve health services as well. We have a grant from the Commonwealth on opiate education through our Michigan model. We're adding two additional ELL students, ELL teachers rather, that will help to meet the needs of youngsters who do not speak English as a first language. We're adding, our class size is really very good. There's no class in the elementary schools above 22. And in fact, they're all below 22. For those who are interested, we added a fifth, fourth grade at the Roberts through interest that people had. are adding additional money into the maintenance account so that every school will have additional dollars for that. There's $200,000 of additional maintenance money with each school getting a direct grant of $20,000 in addition to general maintenance costs that we will carry through the central office that will allow them to attack certain issues that they feel are important to them. The middle schools and the high school will get additional dollars for student activity stipends. The special education program will need some additional money of tuition and transportation, but that's covered. And we think that we were able to reduce enrollment at Minuteman, which saves hundreds of thousands of dollars and increase our additional revenue from that area. The social studies program will continue to textbook replacement in US history. The math department has completed its purchase of the Envision program at the elementary level, and they will add additional textbooks to the high school math program. The science department is going to receive $30,000 additional for science materials for the elementary school program while they pilot additional textbooks at that level. The foreign language department will acquire a new teacher from middle school to ensure that all students can take Spanish and Italian if they want. The fine arts program has a new director in Tony Sickney. As he assumes his role, we'll add 1.2 teachers to that program. The PE and health department will receive a new teacher. which will be transferred over from one of the programs to help with the Michigan model. The library media program continues to add programs and services. Every library in the schools will now be covered, either by paraprofessionals or professional libraries. We have a new director of technology, Molly Layden. And we will be adding additional dollars to our online learning programs that we have now added a program called Edumentum this year. which helps with credit recovery, helps junctures take additional courses, which they couldn't possibly take in this schedule. So I think it's been a very good budget. I have to thank my staff, all the people that are working with us, for the work that they do. I believe we are in good shape, and we will finish this year in the black strongly. And we will also go into next year with a solid budget.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Belson. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. Belson, do you feel as though, based upon the budget that's been approved and appropriated by the school committee, for a request for appropriation from the city council that you can meet all of the state and federal mandates and requirements that have been set forth? Yes. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Any further questions for the superintendent? Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: And can you tell me, the vote looks like it took place on June 19th. I'm sorry? The budget vote for the school committee looked like it took place on June 19th? 21st. 21st.
[Roy Belson]: And can you tell me what that vote was? 7-0.
[Adam Knight]: 7-0, unanimous. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Dello Russo. Move approval on the budget, Mr. President. On the motion by Councilor Dello Russo. Vice President Box.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I have a question for the superintendent, and I think he probably knows what I'm going to ask, but I'm going to ask it anyways, Mr. Superintendent. Okay. The issue is not new. It's something that I've brought up the past three years during budget deliberation. Um, and it's regarding security at the high school. Um, we've had some discussion at some points it's been heated discussion, but, uh, nonetheless, I think it's discussion that needs to be had. And I think you can agree that, um, it's an issue that needs to be reviewed because you've told me that each of the last three years that this is an issue that definitely needs to be reviewed. So, according to the budget, Mr. Superintendent, it states that I guess there's nine security offices school-wide. Is that correct? I believe that's correct. I didn't look at the number. Okay, nine. And for the most part, they're working six and a half to seven hours? Yes. On a daily basis. And the issue I brought up was regarding, in particular, the high schools. And it seems to me that all security that we have are on between the hours of, let's say, 8 and 3, give or take, right around that time. And as you know, there are many after-school programs, many functions, both athletic and academic, being held at the high school after 3 p.m. And there is not one security officer that's left within the building. And I asked if we could actually take maybe one of the security guards that are on the shift, the eight to three shift, that seems to be all the security guards on that particular shift, and maybe stagger them so we can have security there when our students, when our employees, when our faculty are there on hours that maybe school code is not in session formally. And I think it's a legitimate request in this day and age, and a building of that size is the largest city-owned building in the community with many, many different entrances. I don't have to tell you, Mr. Superintendent, and many different organizations using that particular building. I would respectfully ask that you and the school committee, because I know decisions are made through you and the school committee, reconsider the staggering of security officers so that we have security personnel, and I know in the past you've mentioned that we have faculty that may be in the building after three, and they're a set of eyes and ears, and I can appreciate that. You said we have maybe custodians there, and they're a set of eyes and ears. However, they are not trained security, and that is not their role, their function, or their purpose. So I would respectfully ask, Mr. Superintendent, that in such a giant budget, and one that I can quite emphatically state has a lot of good things in it this year. Really, I can't find any particular fault with the budget. Class size seems to be working throughout the city. It seems to be a fair allocation between the arts and music, and so I have no problem with the school budget. The one problem I do have, and I've been consistent with this, is security, and I was just wondering Maybe if you can address that issue, Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: I appreciate what you're saying, you know, and we have talked about this. We continuously review security issues. We do have security during the day and we think that we've enhanced that quite a bit. We added a Raptor system, as you know, to have a professional ID system of anyone entering the buildings during the school day. We do have a resource officer assigned to us at the high school. We have resource officers assigned to us throughout the city through the police department. which helps with that as well. The building is 550,000 square feet. And a single individual moving around, I don't believe, is a particularly effective tool. We have a lot of adult personnel there, custodians, cleaning crew, coaches, advisors, teachers, and others, all of whom have been equipped with communication devices from time to time. They can call 911 very quickly. However, I understand what you're asking. And in the spirit of trying to come to some sort of agreement, let me bring it to the attention of the school committee. And if the school committee believes that we should add a person who is in that particular assignment, then we'll bring that up. But I will actively bring it to their attention, and we'll talk about that and give you a report. I think that's a reasonable compromise given the fact that we've gone back and forth on this for a few years.
[Michael Marks]: It definitely is a reasonable compromise, and I look forward to your report on that, Mr. Superintendent. I will do that. So I appreciate that. Mr. President, I do have a few questions on the budget itself. To Mr. Nelson or to the- No, no, in general, the budget itself. So, Mr. President, we spent countless hours, and there was, in my opinion, a number of good proposals put in this budget from the new traffic engineer, which I know Councilor Falco has been talking about since he's been on the council and members of this council have been discussing for a long period of time. There are a number of things regarding the police department Crime analysis analyst that's going to be added, which we were looking for last year but got added this year. Information technology, which if you attended any of the public safety meetings throughout the community, you'll know that residents are looking for information firsthand and being able to access this information pretty quickly on crime statistics and what's actually happening in their community or in their neighborhood. And I think we can accomplish that through this crime analyst and the information technology position that's going to happen. So I'm very pleased with that, Mr. President. A few things that I am displeased about is I offered a resolution, I believe it was about three or four weeks back, and it was regarding the condition of our roads in the community. And I can unequivocally state that it's probably The number one and number two concern that I receive from residents in this community is the poor condition of our streets. So I did some research and homework. I went up to the engineering department and talked to staff up there and did a little research. And I did find out, Mr. President, that we put in roughly about $940,000 towards repaving of streets in our community. We get back 100% of that through Chapter 90 money. And we also get an allocation from the Office of Community Development, roughly 150, 200,000 a year for repaving of roads. So as I mentioned a few weeks back, at the current rate we're going, based on what we're putting into repaving our streets, that we have 91 miles of road in this community, and we're roughly repaving not entire streets, but partial streets or full streets, roughly five to six a year. And we have a total of 730 streets in this community. And based on the fact that these streets are only lasting now maybe 15 to 20 years, if you're lucky, you can see how we're never going to get ahead of the game in the allocation that we're using right now to repave our roads. And at the time it was supported by this council and recommended that the mayor put a budget line item, which there is currently no budget line item to repave roads in our streets and our community. And I was hoping that I requested a million dollars and I was hoping that at least the mayor in good faith would recognize the need in this community and would put something towards a line item. But needless to say, Mr. President, that never amounted in the budget and never came to fruition. And it is one of the major concerns I have as a member of the council. um, the condition of our roads. So, uh, that is one issue, Mr. President, that I'm hoping, uh, that the mayor will, uh, uh, hear this loud and clear that, um, you know, when you have 950,000 or 980,000, the city puts forward. and then gets 100% of that back, so we get reimbursed 100%, then we have the $980,000 back, we should be reinvesting that $980,000 into roads. To me, that's a no-brainer. That should be a reinvestment right back into our roads. Instead, we're not using it for that purpose, Mr. President. And I would hope the mayor hears this loud and clear based on the information that I brought forward And the fact that our current way of doing business in the community is we're always going to be chasing our tail. We're never going to get ahead on our streets. We're always, every year, going to be facing, you know what? Look at all these potholes. Look at the curbs. They don't match the street. The curbs are the same level as the street. Look at the manhole covers, they're sinking. Look at the catch basins, they're all sinking in the community. This money, Mr. President, can be used, chapter 90 money, can be used for, according to our city engineer.
[Richard Caraviello]: In the back, can we cut the talking down to someone who's speaking?
[Michael Marks]: I apologize, Councilman. That's all right. This money could be used, Mr. President, not only for repaving a street, it's also used for sidewalks, handicap accessibility, maintenance on the water and sewer, so if it's a manhole cover or a catch basin, that Chapter 90 money can be used for that. And I think we're falling short of the mark in a city this size, six, seven square miles with 91 miles of road and fixing our roads. And it may seem like a minor thing, but it's a major thing for traffic in this community, for pedestrian safety, and for our residents. that have to traverse these streets that are littered and lined with potholes. We know we have streets in the community that we've discussed six decades. Six decades never repaved. What do you think a street looks like after six decades of a New England weather? New England snow, plowing, salt, everything else. What do you think the street looks like? And we all know what it looks like because we all went down to some of these streets. So Mr. President, you know what, I will support the budget this year. Last year, I voted against the budget for a number of reasons that I was unhappy with, of which some of those reasons found their way in the budget this year. And there is one other issue that I would like to mention. It was this council back, I believe it was two or three years ago, that offered a resolution, it was actually my resolution, requesting that a line item be placed in the budget for arts in the community. It was the first time, it was supported unanimously by this council, it was the first time ever we had a line item for arts in the community. And I'm very proud of that, and at the time Mayor McGlynn, I think, funded it. maybe 15,000, and we made a promise to the art community at the time, because the state, you know, when they start making their cuts, which they're doing now, the arts is the first to get cut. And I've always stated, that's our biggest bang for our buck. When you see 15 to $30,000, it goes to thousands of children and programs within this community that keep this city functioning. And the following year, I think it was Mayor McGlynn or Mayor Burke, it might have been Mayor McGlynn, we requested as the council that we double it to $30,000. And not just giving money away, the Arts Council came to us and said, this is what the programming went for, this is how the outreach went, this is how many people we touched in the community, these are the projects, and I thought it was a home run, Mr. President. This year I asked her the budget deliberation, if we can look at adding to the $30,000, and I didn't get any support from the administration again. However, as far as I know, the arts funding, and I stand to be corrected on this, has been slashed by at least 45% their budget, Mr. President, from state and federal funding. It has been slashed by at least 45%. So they count on our measly $15,000 or $30,000 to run all these different events. Everyone likes to go out to circle the square and the river at the Hatch Shell and all these other events they run, and funding has to come somewhere. And I was happy we stepped up to the plate But I am disappointed this year, Mr. President, that we couldn't find additional money to support the arts movement in our community. So based on those few things, Mr. President, I'm hoping next year will be a different case from the streets and from the arts. And I will move approval on this budget, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by Councilor Dello Russo. Second.
[Sorrell]: Name and address of the record, please. Mr. President, if other Councilors want to speak on the budget, by the way, Councilor Dello Russo's motion was on the school budget, not on the city budget. So that motion does not affect what's on the floor right now. But what I did want to say is that following the protocol, if there are other Councilors who want to speak on the budget, total city budget before I do. There are Councilors do want to speak before you do, but they're giving me the floor now. I appreciate that. Well, I want to thank you, uh, Mr. President. And also I want to thank the whole city council whom I consider my friends and neighbors. I want my relationship to the council to be the same as the council's relationship to the people. and that is one of support and service. First, I want to express my appreciation to the city council for its many days of attendance at the review of the 2018 budget as presented by our mayor. The council listened to all the department heads and asked questions about details in the budget, and you are well informed. The council takes an oath to support and defend the Massachusetts constitution. And our constitution is there to serve the people and the city, which I know our Councilors love. The city council is not elected to serve the mayor. There are about 37 items in the budget whose costs can be reduced by a simple majority vote of the council. However, the council is not allowed to increase the budget That is how we get checks and balances. The council is empowered to check the mayor if it thinks there are excesses in a budget. I know the council is aware of all this, but I say it in order to inform the television audience. The 2018 budget amounts to $167 million. That is $5 million more than last year's budget of $162 million. If the city council passes this budget, it is voting today right now to raise taxes on all the people of Medford, including senior citizens, fixed income residents, and minimum wage earners. I don't think the council wants to do that, but that is what will happen if this budget is passed. That tax increase amounts to four to $500 more for each taxpayer. $400 is very painful to our vulnerable people. The budget spending is $167 million and more than 80% of that goes to compensation for city of Medford employees And those loyal employees will continue to be rewarded, but we will not tolerate waste by others. Let me repeat that. Our loyal employees will continue to be rewarded, but we will not tolerate waste by others. That leaves less than 20% for materiel and supplies. And that explains why Medford cannot carry out proper and timely maintenance, as Councilor Marks said, of buildings, infrastructure, and natural resources. Heads of departments, out of respect for the executive, do not insist on proper allocation of funds for their departments. But department heads need and want proper allocation. As a result, potholes are not filled. Sidewalks are not repaired. Street bumps are not maintained. Speed bumps, rather, sorry. Speed bumps are not maintained. Crosswalks are not painted. And that was promised in a campaign. Street cleaning is sparse. Trees are not trimmed. Tree stumps are not removed for many months. Underground water leaks are not repaired. Roof leaks are not repaired. Public toilets are not sanitary. Medford Square is not made to work. Traffic lights at dangerous intersections have not been synchronized. No foot patrol police officers, as promised in the campaign. No end of unpopular kiosk parking program. No charter review. No improvement in public school abysmal MCAS ranking. and $25 for a permit to park in front of your own house. Is this what we are paying high taxes for? Let's face it. Our Medford is not a vital city. The city's finances are unstable. Its head is bumping the ceiling when 80% of the budget is spent on the bureaucracy. Soon, For all practical purposes, the city will become a welfare department. If the council passes this budget, it becomes responsible for raising taxes and it must be held responsible by the voters for separating the people from their money without an improvement in services and then redistributing that money to prosperous people. Many of them, not even residents of Medford. To quote Oscar Wilde, our mayor knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. To vote for this budget is to follow the mayor down that path of depression, and worse, to injure our very own children who will inherit a sad, poorly educated city. One last quotation. This is from Marcus Aurelius, who said, In a sense, people are our proper occupation. Our job is to do them good. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. I will yield to the resident.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you. Name and address for the record, please. Thank you, Mr. President. Rob Capucci, 71 Evans Street. Through the chair, thank you, Councilor Falco, for yielding. some time to me. Um, I just want to talk about a few things. Uh, I, I definitely echo everything Mr. Starella just said, uh, in, in spades. I just want to echo a few things from what, uh, Councilor Marks was, was talking about. Uh, he's mentioned one street that hasn't been done in six decades. That's, that's my street. Evan street. I've been before the city council before, uh, And it's a very sad commentary on the city of Medford. to see a budget of $167 million when residents on my street, Mr. President, were told by at least two Councilors that the repairs that were in dire need, critical condition, were going to be done this May. I came to the city hall and I spoke to the engineer who told me all the red tape it has to go through. about a contract. A neighbor of mine told me yesterday that upon speaking to somebody in City Hall, I won't mention any names, said that contract is now having problems, so it doesn't look like our street's gonna be done this year. After being told by several people that it was gonna be done, the residents of Evans Street are outraged. Mr. President, when we're paying two income taxes, excise taxes, property taxes that go up every year, a new connectivity fee coming at us in the water tax account that has a surplus in it, to see a $167 million budget that's about to be approved, as Mr. Starewa said, that 80% of it is going towards salaries and the infrastructure repairs not being done, It will be reflected on this body. It's a primary reason why I am running for city council this year. This is not a campaign speech. I know, but I can announce that I'm a candidate, Mr. President. I can. If that threatens you, good. Good. Because we need new voices on the city council, Mr. President. We need new people that are going to come in here and have the political will to finally stand up and say no.
[Clerk]: This is not a political step.
[Robert Cappucci]: I know that, Mr. President. Thank you for reminding me that. Thank you. The reinvestment in the arts that Councilor Marks spoke to is a stabilizing tax base, especially with that Chevalier Theatre. That's only going to get $97,000 this year under this budget. It's outrageous. It's outrageous, especially when this downtown business district is suffering so much for the extended repair of the Craddock Bridge that's now added another year, another $10 million to it. Far too many residents of this community are at their wits end with vital repairs that are not being done and seeing a budget increase to $167 million. I respectfully ask you to vote no on this budget until such a time that it reflects adequate responsibility for all the millions of millions of tax dollars that these residents are paying. Thank you, Mr. President.
[John Falco]: I can wait if you prefer. Absolutely. Please.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: I'll make it very brief as usual. Take your time. Castagnetti, Cushing street. Oh, two one five five. To hear Mr. Sorella speak. It gives me hope for mankind. He reminds me of my father. He uses a lot of common sense, but I'm sure he has more than a sixth grade education. Basically, I think the translation would be, let's cut the waste. and take care of what we have and maintain what we have. I have a gut feeling that the old high school in 1970 that was closed on Forest Street will still be standing when all these so-called new schools will become rubble and have to be rebuilt at our children.
[Richard Caraviello]: Again, if you wanna talk, please go out in the hallway so other people can hear what's happening. It's very hard to hear in this room.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: I thought you were telling me not to campaign. I'm not running at this juncture.
[Richard Caraviello]: So, excuse me, again, people can't hear in this room. If you need to talk, please go out into the hallway. Thank you. I apologize, Mr. Castagnetti. Again, thank you very much. I apologize again, Mr. Castagnetti.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: It's okay. I believe I remember the key point. Mr. Starella brought up it'll probably be a $400, $500 increase in that real estate tax, I presume he meant. And he's probably right on from the last couple of years standing in a row. It seems like my real estate tax has gone up $400 annually. So I would like to say, as you people spent lots of time, and if I may commend you, an effort on this budget process. Hopefully, you've taken into consideration, God willing, I'll be back in December, about the owner-occupied real estate tax exemption, because we're talking about money now, budget. Instead of that $400 increase that Mr. Sorella presumed it's gonna be, would a 35% owner-occupied real estate tax exemption which has never been adopted in this city, but has been in Everest, Somerville, and Malden, and Nantucket, and Brookline, and in Boston, mind you. Instead of a $400 increase, we would see a $700 decrease in my estimation with my simple mathematics. That's $1,000 swing. So if you really want to jack up the budget 3%, 4%, 5%, at least give us what the Commonwealth of Massachusetts gave to We the People, the owner-occupied real estate tax exemption, so we could have a $1,000 swing of a savings instead of, at this rate, our tax rate will be $10,000 a year on a house instead of $6,000 in the next five years. Especially for the seniors, it's not easy for a lot of people. I hope you're listening, hope to see you in December.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Councilor Falco. Councilor Falco, you have the floor.
[Robert Penta]: Robert Penta, Zero Summit Road, Medford Mass. The interesting part about this budget goes back to October or November of last year in January of this past year regarding the mayor's original state of the city address, where she talked about she had incorporated a liaison officer between her office in this council. And the interesting part about this whole thing, you know, Mr. President, um, I don't know if I should say this, but I am, you know, because I'm at the podium, Councilor Knight and Councilor Dello Russo like to take this opportunity from walking away and shirking their responsibility to listen to whoever the person is at this podium. That's a complete disrespect to this councilor and to the taxpayers of this community, for which they're getting paid $30,000 each, which is $60,000. And if anybody is watching, I would hope that they do not vote for Mr. Knight or Mr. Dello Russo, because they show complete disrespect to people at this podium, including a former member of this body. Therefore, as I said before and I will repeat it, this council has never had the opportunity to sit down with this mayor to go to every single one of you, seven of you, one at a time, to find out what you would like to see in this budget as your particular project, over and beyond her particular projects. It doesn't exist. It doesn't happen. This is not a transparent administration. It's a fake administration of telling things that happen that don't happen. It's as fake as a nine dollar bill. And the unfortunate part is that you seven members, all of you, especially the one that support her, she's making complete fools out of you. You're making yourself look like a bunch of clowns because you've never held her feet to the fire once. And this is the year that it should have been done. Dr. Stirella is absolutely right. As an elderly taxpayer in this community, he has taken the time to understand and at least manage, through this particular budget, the needs of this community. And if you have more building permits going out, if you have more construction coming in, and you have more money coming in, and you continuously keep taxing, the Medford taxpayers over and beyond, then they have the connectivity tax, surpluses in the water and sewer account for which you have no major projects going on, $9 million in thereabouts of the free cash account. Where are the preferences taking place? Councilman Marks, you alluded to the fact of the gear, the washing machine gear, which goes back to February of this past year. $100,000 in the Office of Community Development. You've been begging for more people in that office to help you out here in this community. We could go through it. I'm not going to go through it. Sitting behind me over here are four ladies that work in the mayor's office that make in excess of $400,000 a year that Medford taxpayers are paying for. And none of you will have the opportunity to sit down and to get your particular issue in this particular budget to show an act of conciliation, an act of remediation, and more importantly, an act of incorporation. It doesn't exist. That's why there are so many people running for city council, and that's why there are so many people running for mayor, because the people in this community are dissatisfied as to what's going on in this particular building. They're running it as a closed shop. And every single one of you should be ashamed of yourself if you'll allow this to continue. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I'd like to thank all the residents for coming up here tonight. But as we all know, the budget process is a long process. It's one of our most important responsibilities that we have. And I'd like to thank And I'd like to begin, this is actually my, I guess, probably closing speech in the budget. But I'd like to begin by thanking the mayor and the department heads for all their hard work. I know this is not easy as far as going through the budget process. It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of energy, a lot of collaboration. And I really appreciate that during our budget hearings, and they've been going on for a number of weeks, the quick turnaround, which helps us try to analyze the data and helps us try to make a decision in a timely fashion. to all of you. I'd like to thank the superintendent of schools and the school committee and all the department heads in the school department for all of their hard work. Whenever we had questions, those questions were answered the same way in a timely fashion, and I appreciate that as well. Like I said, it's not easy crafting a budget and presenting this budget, but there are also a lot of people to thank. My fellow council members here tonight, Asked great questions. The deliberation process, I thought, was pretty smooth and, for the most part, professional. And I'd like to thank them for their hard work and dedication. And most of all, the residents. The residents that came to the budget meetings. They asked good questions, made points, and their input was very beneficial. But although no budget is perfect, I believe that this is a good budget. I believe this is a good, solid budget that protects core services, it provides educational and recreation opportunities to our youngest residents. A recreation department, which I believe this city has been asking for for years, and it was supported by us on the council, I am very excited to see that in the budget, and that's going to happen, and I can't wait to see the opportunities that that will present to our residents. I take a look at things that, personally, that I have lobbied for, over the past two years, a traffic engineer, something that I have advocated for continuously. And thank you to my colleagues. You've supported that as well. And that's something that is in the budget. Take a look at legislative software, something that I've advocated as well over the past year, and something that I believe will increase the transparency that we have here at City Hall with us and the council, with boards and commissions, hopefully. This is something that I think improves government. It makes it more transparent. Everyone becomes part of the process and happy to say that that's part of the budget. So these are things that I've been advocating for, but you have been supporting as well. And those are part of this budget. So I think that's something that is good. I take a look at other parts of the budget. I see library funding increased, another plus. I take a look at the additional positions in the Medford Police Department with the crime scene analyst. That's another great addition. I take a look at the school system. I mean, as a former member of the school committee and a parent that has kids in the Medford Public Schools, I take a look at this budget and I think this is great. I mean, when I was on the school committee and I came on during the recession, I saw things cut because we couldn't afford those things. Those things are all coming back now. I take a look at You know, paraprofessionals or librarians coming back into the system. That's good. And these are good things that are being added back in. I take a look at the increase in maintenance and repair by $200,000, $20,000 for each school. Another great addition. Low class size. I can't say enough about this. As a former member of the school committee, low class size. I take a look at this list. And some of our schools, 19, 18, 15, 17. You can't get lower than that. If you go across the state, you'd be hard-pressed to find... Please, there's someone speaking.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. I apologize.
[John Falco]: Let's be professional about it, please. Okay? I said let's be professional about it. It's distracting. So class size is some of the best in the state, and we should be proud of that. That is something that the school committee throughout the years has always focused on. They should be proud of that. Class size has come down. I mean, to have a class with 15 students, that's amazing. It's a dream to a teacher. So that is another great budget addition. Activity accounts in our schools increasing. That's fabulous. I mean, you're getting students involved in what's going on in the schools. And you take a look at our vocational school program, from 11 programs, I believe, to 20. That's fabulous. And this is all part of this budget. So this is something that I look at. I support it. I think it's a good budget. We're replacing textbooks in addition. We're adding technology with the Chromebooks throughout our school system. These are all good additions to the budget. Like I said, not all budgets are perfect. but this is something I think, I think this is a good budget and I think this is something that we can be proud of. So I'd like to second the motion.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. Um, I want to start by also thanking, um, the department heads who are at our budget, countless hours of budget meetings over the last three weeks. Um, there was at least three or four that were there constantly and definitely, even if they didn't have the answer, they got us mostly every, answer we needed. I'd second like to disclose that before the vote is taken, I do have a family member that's in the school budget, so I just want to make full disclosure on that. She is a teacher, my sister. Third, I want to talk about the positives of the budget. It was, we put a lot of hours into it, as did the administration and the school department and school committee. And there are some great additions to the budget and a lot of things that I'm happy to see. I know some of my other colleagues have gone over a number of them. I'm just going to point out what I think was important. I believe the recovery coach, he's a fine young man who's done a lot of work so far, and it's great to see a recovery coach added to the budget. And he'll be in our health department and obviously working with Penny, our coordinator, a great deal. I believe the traffic engineer that we've advocated for with the leave of Councilor Falco is going to be a great addition. The fact that we made the recommendation during the budget hearings that that traffic engineer also have a job duty of looking over street repairs by utility companies, a problem that I know a number of us have had and we've had meetings on, keeping up to date with regards to follow-up of work that's done by utilities and the fact that we'll have an engineer, a traffic engineer, looking at that as well, as well as a vote we took last week, hopefully looking over the gas leaks in the community. I think it's a great position that's going to be added. Thank Councilor Scarpelli for working on the rec department. It's a good addition to the budget, and I know there were over 1,000 families that were interested in it, so it's good to see that that was added. Finally, having a year where the library is fully funded to levels that are appropriate and then some is a positive. Class size, Councilor Falco spoke about it. I had to advocate myself for one specific grade in the city that I have a child in. But other than that, our class size is very low. And it was great last Monday to hear that no class size will go over 22. and I believe a lot, looking at the chart, there are a lot that are in the, I think we have an average of 19 or 20, which is just really a big deal to families in this city. Having class sizes low is extremely important for learning, and you can ask anybody, and that's pretty important. We've had two of the biggest complaints that I get is speeding and then the condition of our roads and sidewalks, non-removal of tree stumps. So it's been good to know that radar guns have been ordered. We've also, within this budget, the past budget, have received laser guns. We have had officers trained in them. And we're doing the job of the speeding on all of our thoroughfares and inside streets that we obviously get calls on all the time. So that is extremely important. And on a side note, it's great to have Sergeant Hartnett, who is very responsive to our questions and emails. I'm glad that the senior work program is still within the budget. It's the second year since it was removed years and years ago, and I think that's important. It does help the seniors that are paying the property taxes. It gives them $1,000 in relief, and that's great to see in there. We got a good update with regards to collecting debt and how low we've been able to get it within the city, so that's definitely a positive. And the leak detection program that is going to be implemented will hopefully save us on the MWRA side. And it's good to see that in the budget. Those are just some of the good things that I want to point out. With that being said, I do see some things that I'm concerned with. Down the road, we're going to run into an issue. I know we have 107 police officers. We have hopefully nine that are coming out once we go to civilian dispatch. But we also have seven or eight retirements that are going to come down the line this next year, and then five, six, seven more that are in 2018. So if you're still looking at the numbers, unless we hire within the next year, year and a half, and get some men and women in the academy, we're looking at lower numbers than we had this past year. If you do the calculations by what we were given, we're looking at about 104. And I just have a concern with that. We should have put, I know we have the crime analyst that was put into this budget, which is great, but I feel like we should have put a few more offices in the book for fiscal year 2018. Roads and sidewalks, I have a concern. I know there was money that actually wasn't even spent in, One of the line items, I think it was about $45,000 that wasn't spent on sidewalk and road repairs, sidewalk repairs. And that's something that you get complaints about all the time. If you go walking around the city or you have somebody that calls you and it's with regards to a sidewalk, it's because a sidewalk needs to be fixed. So the fact that we're not spending certain portions, and we talked about it within the transfers, the fact that we're not spending money on things we need to spend money on is definitely concerning. So I think we need to invest more. I recommended that we take, I think it was 50,000 extra to pay for our roads and sidewalks and find that money elsewhere. And that wasn't taken into this budget, but I think it should be. Going back to the vote we took a while ago, I still am concerned about when we're going to do the fire headquarters. That's something that I believe we should have done with the police headquarters, and I wanted to point that out. It's also been mentioned, I guess the last of my comments, it's been mentioned by a number of citizens and a Councilor or two here. We really are taxing the people to the ultimate max. The connectivity fee, I don't like it. I understand how it's going to affect the next year, and it's not necessarily concerning, but I have a really big concern with how it's going to come down 2018, 2019, and beyond. And it's just something that I wish was never voted upon. The fact that we have a water and sewer surplus in the, I believe, we got the answer, I believe it was in the $7 million, $8 million range on top of free cash. And the rate we're charging with regards to PEG access, the cable fee. I feel like there needs to be some relief if the budget wasn't so, I think the budget's really good, so if it wasn't as good like last year, last year I voted against the budget, this year I'm on the fence. I just feel like taxing to the max, the absolute dollar, the last dollar we can is something we should really strive to try to give some sort of relief to all the homeowners in this community, all the rate payers. And it's just never done. I can, I never get the votes. So that's obviously why I'm on the fence. I don't think I have the votes tonight either to give some relief to the taxpayer. But I think that's just something that needs to be taken into account. And I'll leave it at that for now.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Councilor.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I won't go through every single highlight of the budget because the superintendent's done it, members of the administration have done it, members of the council have done it. I'd like to take an opportunity to thank Ms. Nunley for her hard work. I'd like to thank Ms. Kahn for her hard work. I'd like to thank Ms. Irwin for her hard work. We sat through nearly 20 hours of budget debates in a short period of time and these three individuals were there every step of the way with us. When the budget debates were over and we asked a number of questions, we went home and they went back to the office and they got us the answers that we needed and they got us the answers in a timely fashion. So thank you very much for the hard work and effort that you put into this budget. Mr. Belson, I'd like to thank you as well. You did a great job putting your budget together. You gave a great presentation and I really appreciate the work and effort that you and the school committee put in as well. One thing that's a highlight of this budget that I haven't heard much about is the work that happened in the electrical department and the work that has been performed by Steven Rendazzo. And his electrical department budget was decreased by $300,000. And he was able to decrease his budget by $300,000 through a cost-saving measure, where the electrical department actually purchased the streetlights from National Grid. And this resulted in a $300,000 savings to our budget, which is actually the equivalent number to the monies that we appropriated for the recreation department. So I think it's very important that we recognize the work and effort of Steve Rendazzo. He's one of our newer department heads here, gone above and beyond the call of duty, and has done a great job managing that department. And he's shown us savings, and he's shown us his experience, and it's really paying off. This budget does build on the successes of the past, Mr. President, and I'm very excited to see that we're utilizing the Office of Substance Abuse Outreach and Prevention and building upon the successes of that office with a recovery coach. So it's a very important role here in the community, and I'm very thankful that we have it in the budget. I'd also like to take a quick moment to thank the school committee for the work that they've done. Last year they put forward one of the best budgets that I've seen the school committee put forward in a long time. And this year they've built upon those successes as well, Mr. President. So I'd like to thank the school committee as a body for all their work and effort in putting this document forward. So with that being said, Mr. President, I'd like to move the question. I think this is a good budget. It's something that I can wholeheartedly support this evening. And I'd ask for a roll call vote.
[George Scarpelli]: Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you, Mr. President. to follow what Councilor Knight said, and especially after John's eloquent words. I don't want to keep pounding on these points, so I'll leave it to this. One thing I realized two years ago coming on this council with seven different personalities and seven different thought processes, we all had different goals for our community. And everyone behind this reel works very hard to work together. That's one thing I realized. The perception for the community, if you don't know or if you have your perception that this group doesn't work together, we work very, very well together. And I applaud what we bring to the city and how hard we're working. The city administration, what we've done together in putting out this budget, I thank you very much because it was a lot of work and the time that we put into it. you know, could cause some problems at home because we miss a lot of very important nights for our children and our families. But that's our job. That's why we get paid all that money, that $30,000 that we keep hearing. But sure, when people come to the people's podium, this is their podium. So when they come to this podium, I give them my full attention, my full respect. And sure, we all want to do better. We want to eliminate taxes, we want to fix the roads, we want to fix our streets, there's so many concerns that we have. But as a councilor that a year ago was appointed by former President Dello Russo, and I'll speak to this point personally because I think everybody's really touched upon many different points about this budget, but as Councilor Dello Russo went to the mayor and presented my name to be the chairperson for the focus group for recreation, I will tell you, for one councilor, I worked hand-in-hand with our administration. Every week, we met. Every week, every day, I talked to whether it be Joe Russo or Allie Fisk or Janine Camuso or Jen Devewood. I've talked to, sat and met with the mayor. We provided the community with input. We had a focus group that I have to applaud and One thing that we talked about when we hit the campaign trail and how many great people we have in our community that if you work together and bring in great minds that have some goals that can work together, what you can accomplish. I started back as one of my number one priorities bringing a full-time recreation program to the city of Medford. One thing we did with this administration, this lack of communication, I didn't see. For this point, I will talk on, we worked very closely. And I personally met with this, our focus group on a weekly basis for at least 10 to 11 months. And we presented numbers after studies, after deep consideration, after homework that was done and people bringing information back and presented it back to the mayor. And she brought, she came back to us with this budget that is now implementing a full-time recreation department. That's unheard of. So we had so many, there were so many questions that boy, I would love to do a lot of the fixes that people have asked for. But for this budget, you see the great process that we've gone through, the great initiatives that have been implemented. And I'm not gonna touch upon it, because I want to, but it's beating a dead horse. So I just want to speak on the recreation again, that for what we see, and the collaboration used by every department head to make this come to fruition for our community, for our babies, for our kids, for our seniors. You know, even I know that Council Marks, it's not what he wants. And, and with, with the arts, he's been an advocate for the art community and making sure that they are funded to the max. And I applaud him. The mayor has put a line item budget into the recreation budget. that will address some of those concerns. So there's a lot that, you know, that people have when they come to that podium and have an agenda that they want to press. And I respect that. But on a personal level, two years on the city council and bringing together this very important department that our community has been crying out for for years, it's happening. This is just a small example. of what I think we are looking for for the future. The way this council works, the way the city administration has worked for this department to make this happen, I applaud it and I thank them. So I know the recreation people have talked and publicly said that George Scarpelli keeps talking about the neighboring community all the time. And I just want to clear this up to the community. I'm not talking about Somerville Recreation. I'm sitting here talking about Method Recreation, okay? And it's going to be 10 times better than any recreation department. across the Commonwealth and I can see that because we have the commitment from our community. So, I'm very excited about this budget for what is positively put into this budget. We've looked at every single avenue to get what could be put out to our community and achieve some great goals. So, I thank you. I know it was a little winded. I apologize. But for this councilor, I appreciate all the hard work our city administration has done and I move forward with this budget.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, I just wanted to, um, well, first of all, thanks Councilor Scarpelli on his leadership with the education, uh, with the, uh, recreation department. But, uh, the other thing I wanted to mention as well, just to disclose, um, my mother-in-law works at the Medford public library and I just wanted to, she's been an employee long before I was elected, but I disclosed that during the budget hearings. I just wanted to close it here, disclose it here as well. Uh, tonight. Thank you.
[George Scarpelli]: Councilor Scarpelli. I apologize. I too have to disclose that my sister, is a teacher at the Roberts, and she had that position well before I became a member of this council, but I just wanted to make sure that I followed suit with my colleagues and made sure the public knows that. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, everyone, for the public disclosures. And I personally, as president, I want to thank the mayor, the staff that came every night, Superintendent Belson came, and mostly I want to thank the other six members of this council who came every night, You've heard all the questions they've asked and the answers they've gotten. I want to commend them for all the questions and the dedication they put in over these last three weeks. And like I said, this is a good group. I mean, this whole group may not agree on everything, but when it comes to time to do some work, we're able to put things aside and get things done. And I thank them for making my job as president during these budget hearings a lot easier. And I thank you. and all the departments for your dedication in this. On the motion by Councilor Dello Russo to support the 2018 City of Method budget, seconded by Councilor Falco. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Dello Russo? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Kern?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Vice President Marks. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, another negative. I thank all my colleagues and I thank everyone. Thank you for the budget. While we're under suspension. 177-553, petition for sign denial reversal by Anita Fletcher of Ultimate Tango, 5 High Street, Unit B2 and 3, Medford, Mass. OCD application 2017 exceeds allowable sign limit over public law. Councilor Marks is the chairman of the sign committee. Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: If the petitioner is here, just explain to the council what you'd like to do.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_35]: Sure. My name is Anita Flater. I'm the manager of the Ultimate Tango Dance School. We just moved here from Somerville. We're opening August 1st. We basically put the application for the sign over the sidewalk. I just want to thank you all for having me here. It's a very interesting experience to see how this works. And I understand that you guys, whatever the decision, you guys doing your job and you want the best for the Medford. From our part, basically we did our research about what will fit the historic look of Medford City. So we did our research to find the sign that matches the style of the building of 5 High Street, which has a very unique round facade. I myself study art restoration back in my country of Poland. As I mentioned in my letter, I can say that I have some experience with the historic art and restoration and preservation. So, as I mentioned in my letter, I would not propose something that is in disagreement with the historic appearance of Medford. Right now, our application was refused because of the size. The sign is perpendicular towards the building, so according to the rules, it should not exceed four square feet. Our sign, together with all the brackets that hold it, is 16 square feet. So I know it doesn't follow the rules, but I think it matches size-wise. Size-wise, it matches the appearance of the building, the small size. 2 by 2 feet is just going to look kind of funny on the building this size. So that's all I'm going to say. And thank you for your advice.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, madam. The chair recognizes Chairman Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, we currently have two requests in subcommittee right now, business and economic development and signs. One is for another sign permit at five high. uh, which is right next door to your sign and, uh, one on high street. And I would ask that this paper be referred to the subcommittee on, uh, economic development and signs, uh, for the purpose of discussion and review and then, uh, potential reporting out of the paper. Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Uh, on that motion chair recognizes councilor night.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I can certainly understand why the Chairman made this motion. In the past, we've had a number of requests for signs that have been put into subcommittee, especially at this particular location. I can understand why the Council wants to do it. It looks like this sign is going to be next to where another proposed sign has been, an application has been submitted for another proposed sign. The business owner of the building has given letters of support in the past as to what it is he'd like to see, and I think that that's something that we might require here. But in terms of the design of the sign, Mr. President, I think it's a nice design. I think it does fit in with the historical nature of the square. And provided that the building doesn't look like a NASCAR car with advertisements slapped all over it, that's something that I don't think I'll have a problem supporting. But I do think that Councilor Marks is making a proper and appropriate suggestion that it go through the subcommittee process so that we can take a look at the whole picture and the whole building at once.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I agree. It's a classy sign proposal. So on the motion of Councilor Marks that the paper be sent to subcommittee on that motion, Madam Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. President Dello Russo. Is that the only sign you have? So if you opened in August, you don't have any signage right now? No other signage at all. I just have a... I want everything to be consistent as well, but with us going into summer meetings and to have... Oh, you're opening in August? August 1st, yes. Oh, August 1st. I'm concerned with the time frame. Hopefully, we just want her to be able to get her sign as soon as possible.
[Adam Knight]: Point of information, Councilor Knight. It's being referred to subcommittee and the summer meeting schedule doesn't have any reflection on what the subcommittee meeting schedule is. The subcommittee schedule is usually taken care of by the chairman. I understand we get into vacation schedule and stuff like that, but I'm sure that based upon the leadership of Councilor Marks, this is something that could happen in short order.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President, if I could. If you would like, yes, Mr. Chairman.
[Michael Marks]: The subcommittee called for an emergency meeting back several weeks ago to address the signs that were before us. And one out of the three petitioners presented at the time. So we handled that one petitioner, and we left the other two in subcommittee. And I asked Ed Finn just recently, City Clerk Finn, to reach out to the petitioners to see if they're still interested. And we were told they are. So we will call a meeting in short order to discuss this, I can assure you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Counsel, you're satisfied?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I feel better, yeah. I mean, we have a meeting July 18. And we have a meeting in August, too.
[Fred Dello Russo]: We have the federal holiday coming up next week as well. Point of information, Councilor Knight. Move the question, Mr. President. On that, Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you. Mr. President, again, I know that that is in our subcommittee and it doesn't have to be, we don't have to wait until July 18th, correct? No. No. So I think that the whole idea is finding out when the other two petitioners can do it. And I think for at least the two of us can sit down and figure out when we can do it so we can get the move this forward. The subcommittee can make a decision and then report it out in time for July 18th. Right, for the 18th. Very good.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on that motion that the paper go to the subcommittee on, uh, science, business and economic development, all those in favor. Next item on the agenda is a return to the regular order of business on the motion of council night as such all those in favor, all those opposed. The motion carries 17-five 51 offered by vice president marks. be resolved that the Eversource Energy Project be discussed on behalf of Metro residents.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. For those that are not aware, Eversource will be doing a major project in our community. We were notified roughly a year and a half ago that this would take place sometime in the year 2017, and now the project, from my understanding, is moving forward, Mr. President. We did have a public hearing where Eversource did appear before the council at my request a while back to allow for residents to come and ask some of the concerns they may have regarding the project, and after that hearing, I didn't hear anything else. So I'm bringing up the issue tonight, Mr. President, because this project is going to have a major impact on residential homes along Winthrop Street, South Street, and the Mystic Ave area. It's going to have a major impact on traffic in the community for a period of time. This is Winthrop Street area. It has already several thousand vehicles per day, including trucks and MBTA buses that go down Winthrop Street. And this eight-mile project, which starts in Woburn, goes through Winchester. uh, and then into method from the method Winchester line down with upstreet down south main to mystic have, uh, which is roughly, I believe about 2.3 miles in our city out of the 8.1 miles. And, um, there are a number of questions that need to be answered regarding this project. Uh, as we all know, the project is to put an underground utility, uh, electrical utility, which is gonna involve the digging of manhole installations within our street, also the trenching of roughly, if you could take a conversation on the hallway, I'd appreciate it, thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Excuse me, I apologize.
[Michael Marks]: So roughly two miles of trenching and excavation, to install the pipe within the street itself. They're going to have cabling, which is going to be extensive, the pulling of cable, the length of this project. And the cable, from my understanding, is going to be inside a pipe, which is also going to be filled with fluid. And because it's an electrified um, cable, uh, this fluid protects, uh, I guess the cable itself from any type of nicks or so forth. But, uh, it's a very extensive project, Mr. President. Uh, the manhole structures, um, right now, uh, from what I read in the report, there's going to be 19 precast concrete vaults, uh, located underground. 8 feet wide by 20 feet long and 6 feet high. So you can imagine the size of the hole they're going to be digging in the street. Each manhole would take roughly 7 to 10 days to install. So 19 precast manholes are going to be the entire 8 miles of the project. I believe in this city we're at least getting 3 or 4 of those manholes and maybe even more, Mr. President. So you can imagine The manhole coupled with the trenching of a trench maybe two feet wide, three or four feet deep on the same street is going to cause a significant traffic delay and impact in the quality of life in many of our neighborhoods, Mr. President. The trenching will take place, and it'll be roughly 100 to 200 feet per day. And that's followed by roughly 10 to 18 days of construction. So meanwhile, they're going to be doing the manhole, the giant manhole concrete vaults. They're also going to be doing the trenching. And every 100 to 200 feet, they're going to have to stop and do the cable pulling, the installation of the pipes, and a lot of work involved with that, Mr. President. So tonight's resolution is the fact that this is supposed to be starting once it's approved. It says the first quarter of 2017, if I'm not mistaken, we're in June now, we've got to be in the first quarter of 2017. This project is about to start and I have seen very little, uh, communication between the city, and the neighborhood and the direct abundance on this project. So I have a number of motions, Mr. Clerk, I'll pass them along to you. Um, uh, but, um, I, I think it's only appropriate that this council and the community received the traffic impact study, which was done according to the information I read. The noise impact study of the digging and the trenching. Does the host community agreement exist between Eversource and the city of Medford to ensure that all the agreements are carried out? So I'm not sure right now if there is a host agreement between us and Eversource. That's very important. So we know that whatever's agreed upon is carried forth by Eversource. What is the construction schedule? Will there be a staging area and where will they be located? We know from the project that the big fast 14 project when they did all the 14 bridges in the heart of the square over on 93, they had several staging areas throughout the city and that always poses a concern for residents of the community that may be abutting one of these work areas. So that's very important to find that out. Resident notification and outreach methods. We were told when Eversource appeared before us that they'd have a telephone hotline and email address that was available and manned 24 hours a day during construction. I want to make sure that that is still adhered to. The report I read, Mr. President, talks about electromagnetic fields. And I guess this underground wire is going to emit electromagnetic fields. And there is a potential health risk. I didn't read the 300 pages from the study, to be quite honest with you, but I read some of it. And the health risk is, Mr. President, at spliced areas. So when they splice the wires together at certain connection zones in these vaults, It emits this electromagnetic field. And if you happen to live in close proximity and you're a newborn or a young child, they're at higher risk for exposure. So there is some concern out there. And it was addressed by Eversource, or is being addressed, I should say, by Eversource, to try to mitigate that by putting certain barriers around the splicing and so forth. But the way I understand it, not all the electromagnetic magnetic fields can be eliminated. So that is a concern, Mr. President. I would ask that we have a meeting on this with Eversource, with the city engineer, with the department of public works and with the mayor's office pretty quickly, Mr. President. Committee of the whole? Committee of the whole, because this project, when it starts, it's going to move forward quickly. And when residents can't get into their driveway because they're trenching in front of a driveway, for a period of time, it's going to be a concern. And we all know what happened with some of the blasting that's going on on Winthrop Street, that communication sometimes doesn't get out in the manner it should. And this is only a reason why we should move forward with this and put forward the public awareness, Mr. President. that every resident should be getting notified. So that, that would be by motion, Mr. President, that, uh, all these particular traffic study noise impact be submitted to the council and that a committee of the whole be set up with the administration, the traffic engineer, DPW and Eversource, uh, to discuss, uh, this, this project. Thank you, Mr. Vice president.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Knife.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Marks. Thank you for bringing this issue forward. I think that it's, uh, about time we start talking about this project. It's going to be right around the corner. I certainly think that your resolution is one that's rooted in common sense, and it's something that we certainly need to look into. The question that I have is, would a committee of the whole be beneficial, or do you think that moving forward with a community meeting might be of help? If we have a community meeting, then we can have Eversource come and give yet another presentation on the project, and then maybe have some input from the residents in the community as well. We'll have our own questions, but sometimes I feel as though when we paint something as a committee of the whole, we have a lack of interest and a lack of involvement. If we paint something as a community meeting and we ask the individuals in the community to come out and express some of their concerns, we might get a better turnout and some more constructive involvement from the personnel in the community. But it's the councilor's motion. I support it wholeheartedly the way he wants to go. It's just merely a suggestion. We can do both for that matter.
[Michael Marks]: I'm not opposed to a public hearing on that. The only thing is I think there are a lot of issues that we really need to sit down and iron out. Some of it is regarding the mitigation and other issues regarding the digging and so forth that may get lost. at a public hearing, but I'm not opposed to doing either or both.
[Adam Knight]: Why don't we do the committee of the whole first and move forward as Councilor Marksley will get some of those technical questions answered. And then if we see fit, we can move forward with a community meeting. I think at some point in time, we're going to have to do it regardless.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor Russo. Mr. President, thank you. I'm grateful for this presentation tonight. I will amend this paper that the director of the Board of Health be invited to attend the meeting and that she prepare herself by researching the impact of these electromagnetic fields. They can be disruptive to other equipment, power equipment, and personal health devices as well. And I think the vulnerable among us need to be protected and educated in a special way.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. If I could ask my fellow councilors, seeing that we have a couple of pending council calls to email me your vacation schedules for July, so we can get this in as soon as possible. This way we can make sure everyone is able to attend the meeting. So if the fellow councilors could do that, the next couple of days so I can schedule something that's amicable to everybody.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by? Vice, by Councilor McLaren, all those in favor? Motion passes. As amended. 17 by five, two offered by vice president marks. Be it resolved that the council resolution tracking be discussed. Vice president marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, the. Council resolution tracking is a very important system that the city clerk keeps track of all of our resolutions. He puts a resolution number, he dates it, who it's offered by, the resolution, a little blurb on what the resolution is, who it's referred to, typically they're referred to the mayor, and then the mayor refers them to department heads or delegates them to wherever they need to go, and a date they're referred, Mr. President, and a date we get a response. And I happen to go through the latest list that the city clerk provided, and I'm a little troubled to see that some of the resolutions that we're offering as a council, we have yet to receive a department response. And some of these are very important issues, Mr. President, and they date back. I know the list we got was from uh, January 3rd, 2017 to June 6th of this year. Um, and, uh, there are many resolutions back in January. Uh, for instance, we had, uh, one that, uh, council set up a community meeting for how the city should be developed. Um, and, uh, that has yet to be answered. Uh, we had one that was, uh, meeting with the developer of the Malden hospital site. Uh, that has yet to have any answer, uh, pop up community spaces. It was sent to OCD, never answered. MBTA idling buses at the corner of Winthrop and Plaisted, as far as this list shows, it was sent to the MBTA, but we have yet to get a response back on that, according to the resolution tracking. A plaque up at the high school, the William Edgley Memorial plaque, we asked the superintendent of schools, a business member that actually was here that left just a little while ago, that that plaque be refurbished, Mr. President, and replaced in an area that's prominent and not overgrown and unkept. And unfortunately, it's in an area right now that's overgrown and unkept. We also had an issue that was sent regarding discussion of the freight trains traveling through West Medford. And we have yet to get a response from that. A cost estimate on repointing wall and replace wrought iron gates in Royal Park. I have yet to see a response from that that was offered by Councilor Knight, I believe. An update on traffic improvements and pedestrian safety in Wellington Circle. Yet to get a department response on that. So there are some important issues that we have yet to receive. And I offer this paper tonight, Mr. President, circle the wagons to make sure that when our papers are sent out, that if we don't get a response, that this council is on top of it requesting a response from the administration, Mr. President. And sometimes responses, even though there's a requirement by, I believe it's a city ordinance that requires a 10 day response, Uh, the response can merely be it's being sent to, uh, the department of engineering and then, uh, the chase is on. So we have to wait for the report and that could take who knows how long. And I'm not just pointing out engineering could be, could be any department. So I think it's crucial as a council, we stay on top of these and every time we get a council resolution tracking, I think we should make part of our committee, uh, you know, report or, uh, discussions, uh, a report back. to the mayor asking where these papers stand. Because the mayor should be tracking, these are her department heads that they're being referred to, and she should be tracking where they are and what the final destination and expected date is, Mr. President. So I would ask that we follow up and ask that these papers that I brought forward tonight be reviewed again for a response from the city administration.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I wholeheartedly support the resolution and second it. I would like to ask my council colleague, Councilor Falco, through you if the tracking software is going to help in the way that our resolutions attract moving forward if he's aware.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. I'd like to thank you for the question. The nice thing is with the legislative software, you will actually follow the resolution from beginning to end. You'll see it real time. You'll see the handoffs, the dates, the times of when things were approved, what departments it was sent to, whether or not they were, you know, the questions were answered. So it's all electronic. It's all online. And the nice thing is you'll be able to, it's all real time. So if you went in, you'd say, okay, this resolution on, I don't know, fire hydrants went to the water department. You'll actually see when they got it, whether or not they responded. And I'm not sure if it follows up with like, over time. It might follow up with, like, you know, if they don't respond within 10 days, maybe it'll ping them for, you know, a request or back. But it does track it. It's nice that it's online. It holds everybody accountable. And I really think it's a good feature that adds a lot of transparency to the process. And I think it'll benefit everyone on this council. And I think it'll benefit everyone in the city. It's a very transparent product that will help all of us.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Falco. On the motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favour? Aye. Motion passes. Motion by Councilor Dello Russo, seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favour? Aye. Offered by Councilor Marks being resolved that the sidewalk in front of the fire station engine two on Harvard Avenue be replaced in the interest of public safety. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, I don't know if people at home could see this. This is the actual sidewalk in front of engine two on Harvard Ave in West Bedford. It is crumbling at the very best. And it's in deplorable condition, not only for the engines that are leaving Engine 2, but also pedestrians. This is a highly traversed area. And I would ask, Mr. President, immediately, in the interest of public safety, as we heard from Councilor Lungo tonight regarding the budget, there was money left in accounts that were earmarked just for this particular purpose. And to see sidewalks like this, the condition, is unacceptable, Mr. President. I would ask immediately that this, the length of the sidewalk in front of engine two on Harvard Ave be totally replaced in the interest of public safety.
[Adam Knight]: Thank you. Councilor Knight. Mr. President, this is an issue that we just addressed down on Riverside Avenue. About a year ago, I went down to the Riverside Avenue fire station with a mayor Burke to take a look at the same exact issue that was happening in the driveway apron at the fire station, Riverside Avenue. And after some discussion with the firefighters on duty, we've determined that it's attributable to the chains that they put on the tires of the trucks and the weight of the vehicle that comes down. So I'm hoping that as we move forward and we look at these issues in the community, we look at the type of material that we're using on these driveway aprons in front of our fire stations, because it's clear that the concrete asphalt mix that we have right now cannot withstand the test of time.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by Vice President Mark, seconded by Councilor Knight. Roll call vote has been requested, Mr. Clerk. Please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Affirmative.
[Clerk]: Councilor Falco.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Yes. Vice President Marks. Yes. Councilor Scalpelli. Yes. President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, none in the negative. Motion passes. Offered by Councilor Dello Russo. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council offers sincere condolences to the family of Rosemary Nalo, longtime secretary to the city clerk and register of voters.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Dello Russo. I know, Mr. President, that we have a number of condolences on there tonight, but Rosemary was a longtime employee here in the city of Medford, worked, I think she may have been retired before Ed came to power, but under the previous regime, she was there, a wonderful woman, a good mother, and a devoted and active person in our community.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. We have a couple of more, so if we could wait before we do this. Offered, 17556, offered by President Caraviello, be it resolved that the Medford City Council send its sincere and deepest condolences to the family of Joan Gorman. Mrs. Gorman is the mother of Medford School Community member, Erin DiBenedetto. 17559, offered by President Caraviello and Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the Medford City Council sending sincere condolences to the family of Kyle Ziggy Bush Galusi. Kyle is best remembered for his weekly TV show on Channel 3. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Galusi family. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I'd just like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest condolences to David and Matt and Suzanne and the grandkids on the loss of Kyle. Over the last couple of years, it's been very tough for the Galusi family. Matt and Dave lost their mother about a year and a half ago, and they've lost their father. just this week. So, um, I'd like the council to join me in offering our condolences. Um, Kyle was a great guy. He'd always, uh, see him up there on the corner of Winthrop street and Whitney road, uh, the corner of Blakely road and Whitney road, um, hanging around, sitting on the porch. Uh, he's always the first one to come up to you and shake your hand and tell you a funny story. And he'll be sadly missed Mr. President. So, uh, with that being said, I'd ask my council colleagues to support this resolution.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yeah. I can say, you know, uh, Kyle was a good friend of mine for many years and, um, Every year, I get the bag of tomatoes from Whitney Farm. And as they stop and I say, we were good friends over the years. A sad person to miss. 17558, offered by President Caraviello and Councilor Knight, we resolve that the Medford City Council send its deepest and sacred condolences to the family of Danny Menezes. Danny was a member of the Medford Historical Commission and owner of a Ray Auto Center. Danny is married to Mary Menezes in our Department of Public Works. His presence in our community will be missed. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I think that if we're all going to sit back and talk about some legislation that the council passed this year, one of the things that we did was a demolition delay. And I'll tell you right now, I wouldn't have supported the paper if it weren't for Danny Manese. Danny's a great guy. He was supporting historical preservation in the city of Medford before it was the cool thing to do. He was on the forefront of this issue, Mr. President, for a number of years. in the historical society and his ability to find these old photographs and old articles about the city of Medford was something that I really enjoyed and he's gonna be sadly missed. I offer my condolences to Mary as well. She's a very hard worker who's done a great job up there in the DPW office and it's reflective on her work during the budget hearings that we just had. Mr. President, she had every answer to every question. So with that being said, I ask my council colleagues to join me in extending our deep and sincere condolences to the Meneze family on the recent passing of Daniel.
[Richard Caraviello]: And I ask that tonight's meeting be held in Danny's memory. If we could all rise for a moment of silence.
[Michael Marks]: Vice President Mox. Just if I could, because I think it's only appropriate that I just found out that Kyle Galusi passed away. stunned, but he was a dear friend, Mr. President, to a lot of people. And, you know, someone that was very active in the community and during a lot of big issues in the community gave people a format when he ran a show on local cable access, whether it was the building of the new schools or the field of dreams or whatever the issue was, he was out in the forefront. And, you know, when he opened up his globe on the Sunday morning, and you watched his show, he spoke truly about what was going on in this city, and spoke from a standpoint of a resident, and not a politician, not anything else, but a resident, and what the thoughts are on behalf of this city. And I am really taken back by the loss of him, and I wish his family well.
[Richard Caraviello]: Again, good man. Let's say he'd come to my house and we'd all the time with his olive oil. And so with myself and my wife and the deck and the good man, he'll be missed there.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, if I could make a brief announcement. This morning, I believe it was, I was driving to work and I was listening to the radio and on the radio, there was an individual that came on from Andover, Massachusetts. who had just appeared before the MBTA's fiscal control board relative to the issue of these communication towers that they're putting up along the commuter rail. And based upon the tone of the article and what was reported, the tone of the radio report and what was reported, it seemed as though the fiscal control board had some serious concerns over what's going on with these towers, almost like they didn't know what was happening. So I look forward to a report back from the MBTA on that, Mr. President. But I did want to provide some updates to the council based upon what I've learned. I've placed a call over to the legislative liaison at the MBTA to see if I can find out any more information. But just heard it this morning on the way to work, just last week or two weeks ago, we talked about the ordinance. So this is something that I want to keep in the forefront. I think this is something we all want to keep in the forefront because the 73-foot tower Right behind Tyler Ravel, Chawin Road, Medford isn't something that's going to add to our quality of life and it's certainly not going to be an improvement to our community. So with that being said, Mr. President, I just wanted to make that brief announcement. There should be more information forthcoming.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Records.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: For Pastor Councilor Dello Russo. Councilor Dello Russo, how did you find the records?
[Fred Dello Russo]: I read the records of the previous week's meeting. I find them to be in order and motion their approval.
[Richard Caraviello]: I thank you. Motion by Councilor Knight to adjourn. Seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Motion passes. Meeting adjourned.
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