[Richard Caraviello]: and justice for all. If we could remain standing to have a moment of silence for the victims of the Las Vegas massacre. I'd like to remind everybody that October is Breast Cancer Month. If you could wear pink. At the meetings, it would be appreciated. My mother had breast cancer on three different occasions. And I think as everybody knows, it's a very serious disease and it affects many women in this country. All right. Motions, orders, and resolutions. 1766, offered by Councilor Knight. It resolved that the city engineer require the damage in front of the residence located at 31 Wildwood Road be repaired. This damage as a result of prior contractors using this public way as a staging area from Wytham Street drained this project.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much. Over the weekend I was out knocking on doors talking to some of my neighbors and one of the concerns that was raised was the fact that the roadway and the small patch of grass in front of 31 Wildwood Road has been damaged, and it's been damaged for quite some time after the Winthrop Street draining project was conducted, Mr. President. They used that location as a staging area for some of their supplies, equipment, pipes, and the like. And what's happened is the roadway has begun to sink in. The grass patch has also sunken in. So it's creating an issue where there's a lot of puddling and pooling. You can also see that there's a temporary trench that was made right there at the location, Mr. President, and that has also settled to the point where it's creating an ice hazard come the cold weather. I'm asking my council colleagues to support this resolution and request that the city engineer contact the private contractor that was hired to perform the Winthrop Street Janning project and get out there and fix this problem. As we know, we issued a special permit, and the special permit requires that all our streets be restored to pristine condition. Mr. President, that wasn't the case in this construction project, so I'm asking that this contract to be held accountable. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Seconded.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight seconded by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 17-767 offered by Councilor Knight. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council requests the Zoning Board of Appeals convene for the purpose of placing restrictions on pre-existing non-conforming use variance issued to the property located at 186 Winthrop Street. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. The property located at 186 Winthrop Street is one that's been familiar to this council in the past. I've raised issues concerning its operations. uh... ultimately this is a business that's on the corner of west street in winthrop street and what's happened is uh... they've continuously exceeded operating hours uh... in the month of may alone i've counted fifteen violations that i first personally reported uh... we're also seeing a large number of trucks using west street a residential street for trucking purposes the emphasis the emphasis purposes while uh... they cook their muffins and bagels at Stone and Skillet. They're leaving the trucks idling on West Street, bringing them around the block, loading the trucks up. And while they're loading the trucks up, they're blocking the public way. Winter Street, they're blocking the public way, West Street. The neighbors have reached a point of frustration. The property's in disrepair. It's shabbily maintained. The sidewalk's covered in grease. The back of the facility looks like an abomination, Mr. President. So I'm asking the Zoning Board of Appeals to convene for the purpose of placing restrictions on this pre-existing non-conforming use variance that was issued to the property, Mr. President. I'm asking my council colleagues to support this. The way that this would work is we'd make this recommendation and it would go to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Zoning Board of Appeals would then take the matter up on their agenda, provide notification to the abutters, in the property owner, everyone gets in the same room, they can have an opportunity to explain and express some of the concerns that they have and some of the issues that they'd have to deal with, and then the Zoning Board of Appeals can make the appropriate determination because this is something that's under their purview.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion by Councilor Knight. Councilor Dello Russo. Mr. President, I just want to comment on this matter. The council has spoken on this issue a couple times. We're aware that this was brought to the Board of Health and Inspectional Services for action. I just feel it's quite unfortunate that the business proprietor who rents that spot has obviously chosen not to be a good neighbor and isn't engaged in business practices. that are conducive to being in a neighborhood and having the pre-existing non-conforming use variances that it's had. And it's unfortunate that it's come to this. I support this motion and second approval.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor DelaRosso. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: I'd also like to point out, Mr. President, that because this establishment's a bakery wholesaler, state law governs the oversight. And our local board of health has no local control. So that's creating a significant problem in our ability to enforce what's going on down there. Also, this non-conforming use variance has been issued. It's been in place since when Marty's for Parties was there with Marty Murphy Sr. ran the business, so it's a non-conforming use variance that's been in place. I think it was even initiated before the Zoning Act, Mr. President. So with that being said, I think that the neighborhood has had enough. They need relief, and I'm asking my council colleagues to support this.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knights, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 17668, offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the Medford City Council request that the code enforcement officer investigate the operations of Jack's Gas Station on Main Street, including but not limited to the parking and storage of maintenance of vehicles under their care being performed on Palmer Street.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much. I've been contacted by a number of residents on Thomas Street concerning the operations of Jack's Gas Station. Aside from the fact that there are concerns about the hours of operation opening a little bit sooner than the city would permit and staying open a little bit later than the city would permit, there's also a lot of work that's being done on our public way. They're staging vehicles on our public way, and they're performing repair work on vehicles on our public way. So we have a small residential street. It's Thomas Street. We have a business at the top of the street that has four to five employees that are all parking their vehicles on the street, and now we're having customers that are bringing their cars into this gas station, this service station for service, and they have no place to put these cars, so they're taking those cars and also putting them on Thomas Street, taking up a number of the residential parking spots that are on the street, Mr. President. So I'm asking the code enforcement officer to go down there and investigate the situation to see if we can come up with some sort of mutual agreement and some sort of enforcement in continuity with operations down there, Mr. President. This is a residential neighborhood, The gas station has been there for a very long time and under previous ownerships it was able to operate in concert with the neighborhood in good standing and I don't see why that cannot continue provided that we can bring them together and the parties together and talk about what's going on and the impact that it's having on the quality of life of those residents.
[Richard Caraviello]: Also, if I could amend this to ask that the code enforcement officer also investigate their other operation across from the police station for the used car business that they're running there. They have a license, but they're parking on, they have over the amount of cars I think are allowed, and they're parking on the state property. And if we could amend that to put that in there also.
[Adam Knight]: I certainly have no objection to that, Councilor. I think that anything that we can do to protect the quality of life of the residents in that neighborhood is something that's beneficial to all. So with that being said, I move approval on the question and ask for a second.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favour? Aye. Motion passes. 17669, offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the Method DPW remove the following stumps. 75 Suffolk Street and 15 and Benham Street. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, the tree stump at 75 Suffolk Street and I have a very long and colorful history. I think when I was 11 years old, I crashed my bike on it and got stitches in my head. And since that time, the sidewalk in front of the home at 75 Suffolk Street has been broken up from this. tree and not my head. The sidewalk's not broken because I fell down, but because I crashed into the tree. But the sidewalk's all broken up. The tree is gigantic, Mr. President. It's been cut down, but the stump remains in that location for an extended period of time. So I'm asking that the DPW go out there and take the appropriate steps to fix the sidewalk and to remove the stump. Likewise, for the location at 15 Benham Street, Mr. President, although my relationship with that tree stump isn't as intimate as the one on Suffolk Street, it's the same circumstance, the same situation, same facts, and I'd ask that the DPW remove those following tree stumps.
[John Falco]: That's a focal. Thank you, Mr. President. I support this resolution. And if the councilor don't mind, I'd like to add a free stuff at 27 Saunders Street that has been there for a number of years. And it hasn't been removed and it needs to be removed in the interest of public safety. And while I'm at it, if we could also get a list from the DPW director updating us as to what stumps were removed this summer and what sidewalk panels were repaired. We appropriated funding for that. while back and it would be good to get an update as to see what kind of progress was made during this past summer.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight, as amended by Councilor Falco, seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I thank Councilor Knight for putting this on. I just want to take it one step further than Councilor Falco. If we can get a complete listing of all the stumps. We got one roughly, I think it was about a year and a half ago from Brian Kerins. And what I'm looking for, Mr. President, is a list of the age of the stump. how long it's been there, and what is gonna be done to remove the stump. So I'd like the address, the age of the stump, and when the city plans on removing the stump.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by Councilor Knight, as amended by Councilor Falco and Vice-President Mox, all those in favor?
[Unidentified]: Aye.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion passes. 17-670 offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the striping at the intersection of Woburn Street and Wildwood Road be repainted in the interest of public safety. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Yes, Mr. President, thank you very much. Woburn Street is a relatively busy street that's populated with a number of children, and what we're seeing is a lot of kids walking to school in that neighborhood, Mr. President. Street right up over Austin Street and right down to the Brooks School and the four-way stop sign at Wildwood and Woburn Street is operating but the actual striping on the street is not and in years past they've come out and they've restriped this area and when I was out knocking doors last weekend a number of residents expressed concern over the fact that it hasn't been done And they've also noted that they've seen an increase in the number of cars that are actually running the stop sign now because these controls aren't in place, Mr. President. So I'm asking that the DPW take the appropriate steps to rectify the situation for the neighborhood.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight, seconded by Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And again, I would ask, considering this Not this particular petition, but this finds its way on our council agenda, I'd say probably two dozen times a year regarding unpainted crosswalks. And I, as one member of the council, and this has been supported by the council on numerous occasions, proposed implementing thermoplastic crosswalks, Mr. President, that last up to five years, slip resistant, highly resistible. State highway uses it on their state roads, Mr. President. And I don't know why we as a community are still using the old methods of paint, and then within six months, you can't see the crosswalk anymore. And I realize it's a little more expensive, but I think if you do the math and figure it over a five-year period where you don't have to touch them again, it'll be cost-effective for us to move that way. And I still can't fathom the number of times that I've brought this issue up, Mr. President, why we don't move in that direction. I still have yet to receive an answer from the past administration under McGlynn and the present administration under Burke why we can't move forward on thermoplastic, Mr. President. So I would ask that this respectfully be amended, Mr. President, to get a response back from the administration on why the thermoplastic is not being used, Mr. President, in the interest of public safety. I put on a resolution last week regarding other streets, Mr. President. And I think if you go around, it's already October. If you go around the city, I'd venture to say that probably a little less than half are painted. And we're already in October. So I'm not sure, you know, when the ideal time is to paint, but it's certainly not in the winter months. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I also want to second this paper and second the amendment. I've been a Councilor for many years, and Councilman Locke has brought up thermoplastic crosswalks for years. And it's something that we do need to explore. And we've begged the administration to look into it. We do not have the Department of Public Works staff to paint the crosswalks in the spring in a timely manner. We just don't have the staff to do it, and we don't have the staff to repair the ones that are faded come September, October, November. So to have something that's permanent for five years, we can create a system where we're doing 20% of the streets on a yearly basis, and we'll be able to have all of the crosswalks painted all the time. And I think that's what the residents deserve, and that's for public safety, in the best interest of public safety. So I would move approval on that and beg for an answer at this point.
[Joe Viglione]: Thank you. Name and address of the record, please. Hi. The crosswalks over on Salem Street were painted late and this is very interesting because this is a crosswalk that a resident of Otis Street asked and they made a crosswalk between Tony's Gas and the crossing at Otis Street so I had many potholes on the street and I went to Brian Cairns and God bless him, three days later he fixed the potholes. But they put the tar on top of the freshly painted crosswalk. It had been painted maybe a month ago, a month before the tarring. So now you have a situation where this administration paints the crosswalks late, and then after someone goes to the news media and to Brian Karen's, and I believe that's why it was helpful when I went to the news media, as a resident told me they went to the mayor in May at LaCasse's and the mayor said she couldn't do it on Garfield. I later got them to do it. You can now get this horrendous crosswalk that is like tarred and feathered. It's black and white. It's crazy. And it's double work. So Mr. Kearns told me he would then go and repaint it. So now you have painting, tarring, and painting. Mr. Councilor, Vice President Marks is right. Councilor Lungo-Koehn is right. Thermal plastic would resolve the issue. But they would have to put the roads in good condition. That is a priority. So I would ask that the councilors consider amending this motion or resolution to have that the crosswalks, if they put thermal plastic or paint, that they also make sure that they are paved correctly because we'll have problems, sir, if they have uneven crosswalks. Thank you. Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, I would hope with any new construction that's going on in the community that thermoplastic would be the practice of this community. However, if we wait to fix our streets, which we know we do roughly 20-odd streets every five years in this community, and they're not full streets. So if we wait to fix our streets to a standard that we believe is acceptable, we'll never use thermoplastic. So it's kind of the cat chasing its tail. We're never going to get ahead of this, Mr. President. You know, I'm very supportive of the Complete Streets project that's going on now. It's discussing many issues I've spoken about on traffic calming initiatives over the past 10 years, bump-outs at raised crosswalks, and other initiatives to slow down traffic on our streets, Mr. President. That's all fine and dandy, but we also have to meet the basic necessities which are painting our crosswalks, which are fixing potholes, which is fixing sidewalks. When I talk to business owners and they say, well, you're going to get a bump out in West Method, they say, that's great, but what about the huge hole I have in the sidewalk in front of my business that people are tripping over every day? So it's nice to do those additions, and I support, as I said, complete streets and the $400,000 we got from the state to work on that. But we also have to look at our own infrastructure and start repairing what we currently have, Mr. President, which are basic necessities. This is not a wish list, basic necessities to fix a pothole and paint our crosswalks. That's a public safety issue, Mr. President. I have an item on the agenda a little bit later on in the agenda that's gonna talk again about public safety issues, Mr. President, and what can result when the city does not act upon these particular important issues.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by Councilor Nice, Seconded by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor? Aye. Motion as amended. Motion passes. Mr. Clark, if you could please mock Councilor Scarpelli as being present. 17761 offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the Medford City Council extend its deep and sincere condolences to the family of Philip Bumpa McGonigal on his recent passing Phillip was a Method High graduate of 1942, World War II veteran, retired Malden firefighter, and a caring father, grandfather, and family man. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I think this resolution speaks for itself. Mr. McGonigal recently passed away, and it's with deep condolences that I bring this matter before the city council. I'm asking my colleagues to join me in offering our deepest and most sincere condolences to the family of Phillip Bumper McGonigal. He's the father of MHS assistant baseball coach John McGonigal. John's the son-in-law of former town manager, John Gleoni. So I'd like to ask my council colleagues to support this resolution. The gentleman lived a strong and long and healthy life.
[Richard Caraviello]: If we could have more, Councilor Knight, if we could read that also.
[Adam Knight]: Absolutely.
[Richard Caraviello]: Offered by President Caraviello, be it resolved that the Medford City Council send its sincere condolences to the family of Al Canava. Mr. Canava served our country in World War II in the Navy on the USS Halligan. His vessel was attacked and killing 162 crewmen. He drifted in the public in the Pacific off the coast of Okinawa several days before he was rescued. Mr. Canava was decorated by President Delano Roosevelt for his service. Mr. Canava was also active in many local organizations and was the past president of the Medford Corners. Mr. Canava was also a member of our liquor commission for many years. He was known as Crazy Legs Canava and was a star athlete at BC, and he also played with the Green Bay Packers. The President and our community will be missed. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_13]: Mr. President, motion to suspend the rules to take up paper 17673.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion by Councilor Knight to suspend the rules to take up paper 17673. Seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Motion passes. 17673, dear President Cabrera and members of the Medford City Council. This past April, the council approved food trucks at 10 various events that have or will be held in the city of Medford. In fact, nine of these events have already been held, and there is one scheduled for October at Harvest Energy Festival. I respectfully request that the council endorse similar food trucks for the Fells 5K that will be held on November 5th, 2017. Thank you. Move approval, Mr. President. Second. Motion by, under motion by Councilor, Vice President Marks, seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. We're under suspension, Mr. President.
[SPEAKER_13]: While we're under suspension. Paper 17-433.
[Adam Knight]: It's under reports and deadline, reports due and deadlines, Mr. President. This is the 90-day review of Annie's Pizzeria. 17-433.
[Richard Caraviello]: In his pizzeria, let us examine your special permit hours, 90 day review, October 3rd, 2017.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I'd ask that this matter be placed on next week's agenda and that the business owner be notified to come and appeal before us so that we can discuss any complaints or concerns that have come up during the first 90 days of operation with the extended hours license.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I as one Councilor haven't got any complaints and I don't know if anybody else has but usually if there's no complaints we kind of leave it on the agenda for a little longer so they can always take it up at another time. I don't know how the council feels I just feel like why drag the business owner in if there's been no complaints.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President. Vice President Mox. Just if I could, in the past when we've had 30, 60 or 90 day reviews, does the city clerk reach out to the petitioner to let him know when the review is before the council?
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Mr. Clerk.
[Clerk]: We will now because the conference has requested it.
[Michael Marks]: So we don't just initiate it based on the day that Tseng 36th announced it?
[Clerk]: This petitioner has been checking in and waiting for this opportunity.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Tonight move approval the paper if I may just one more so Clark Finn the petitioner wants to come before us Extended I was
[Clerk]: I think the council, if I'm correct, staggered the hours, 90 days, these particular hours, and based on their view, they moved to another. That's right, yes. Staggered hours, so that's why.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So after 90 days, he was gonna get an extended.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yeah, it was one extra hour.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Okay, sounds good.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight. Seconded by? I second. By Councilor Scarpel, all those in favor?
[Unidentified]: Aye.
[Richard Caraviello]: Aye. Motion passes. Motion to revert back to regular business. Yes. Petitions, presentations, and civil matters. 16672, petition by Joseph Biglioni, 59 Garfield Avenue, Medford, Mass., to address the council with a citizen's report on an open meeting law violation of Chapter 74 Board from the Attorney General's office.
[Joe Viglione]: Good evening, Joe Villione, again, 59 Garfield Ave, Medford, Mass. When I attended a film screening in this very room, three members of what they called a public access TV board introduced themselves to me right outside, including Paul Garrity, who I've known for many years, formerly of Medford community, Cablevision. As we citizens have kept a firm eye on access, I asked members of the council in the school committee if they knew about this public access TV board, which is what they told me was the name of it. The councilors and the person from the school committee had no idea, no idea, and then Breanna Lungo-Koehn put it on the agenda for the next week. So I filed a violation of the open meeting law, and on September 19th, 2017, when we were all at the auditorium, the attorney general's office found that they were not in compliance. that they kept this board, which went on for a year and a half, maybe two years, secret from the public. There were no open meeting laws of a board designed to spend the money that a former city councilor worked very hard to save this city, and now we have this room. So it's kind of like the fruit of the poisonous tree. If you have a board that's operating and the public is not aware of it, And then they get to spend our money, ostensibly, or the administration or the high school or whomever spent the money is getting advice from this board. It flies in the face of transparency, open government, partners in progress. There are no partners. Neil Osborne and I have spoken about this. He called it very frustrating. The diversity director called it very frustrating. He renamed his, his title is now Director of Diversity and Inclusion, which is like, okay, we have to have inclusion in this community. Now, when Mayor McGlynn had his tribunal with a priest, Fred Lasky, and Allison Goldsberry of the school, Citizens came up citizens came out to the tribunal but unbeknownst to anyone Mayor McGlynn had decided to put it here and I think vice president of the council might feel our pain when it comes to the parking commission Maybe he felt a similar kind of slight that we're all working with this tribunal the mayor's given us and all of a sudden we come in here in the mayor McGlynn's in the next room with all these this huge dossier that he gave to people, they had been planning it all along while a tribunal was happening. So this is not open government. That's deceitful. That is not right. And the tribunal itself said, don't put it at the high school. Put it in a central location. So Mayor McGlynn put it here. Now we're stuck with it. So the fruit of the poisonous tree. You have a committee that flew under the radar. Now we know about it. Now they're on the Attorney General's site. You can see Chapter 74 board. And Roy Belson called it a Chapter 74 board and they had to have it for the vocational school. What does that have to do with public access? What do we do now? The station manager was in attendance at the meeting but they were also discussing the station manager so if this board discussed the hiring of a station manager and the public had no input we don't know if this person has a thin resume. Maybe all the station manager did was the lighting for some tribute band which is on his resume and it's like okay this public knows a little bit about public access and it's been held back from us for 30 years. We worked very hard. Some of us in this room worked very, very hard for this, and to find a Chapter 74 board that I have to find out at a film screening in the parking lot of the high school is beyond outrageous. Now, we have very smart people in this administration. So they cannot feign ignorance. They cannot feign ignorance. They have to admit that this was done intentionally. What can we do about it? Can we go backwards? Are we forced to live with the determinations of this quasi board, which had people from Revere, New Hampshire? These people were not Medford people. And the station manager lives in Woburn. And he came from Brookline Access TV. What does he know about Medford? We need a Medford station manager. So I submit to this council, because of this board violation, which took a lot of hours on my part to bring to the attorney general's attention, to find that they violated the law, we shouldn't be stuck with the determinations. We should have a whole clean slate. There's going to be an open house here October 15 for two hours. Does anyone know about it? So October 15th, 10 in the morning to noon, there will be an open house at the TV station. No one knows anything about this. You might need a quarry check to come in here. But because of our hard work, Ben Brown told me last night that they're going to waive the quarry if you mail your shows in. Why did I have to fight so hard for it September 19th? I mean, you know, you shouldn't have to file a court. Every access station I talk to about this is laughing at us. And they cannot believe that our city solicitor told me on Thursday that he created the quarry in this agreement, but he blamed Ben Brown for all of the five pages. And I'll do respect to Mr. Brown and no respect to the city solicitor. The legalese in there, Some young man did not come up with that. This has the fingerprints of a certain lawyer in the city all over it. So we're being denied access. And the material I'm doing is Somerville. Woodburn should be seeing it. I mean, yeah, Medford should be seeing it. And you know, Dan Hurley does a show after me. So Dan Hurley works for state rep Paul Donato. And he does a great show called Somerville Pundits. And if we had a Medford station manager who knew about Dan Hurley and Johnny Byers, And, uh, Councilor Dello Russo's a good friend of Johnny Byers. I want to see Councilor Dello Russo step up to the plate, call his friend Johnny Byers, and get him here at the station doing his sports show. Because the stumbling blocks are keeping Johnny from coming here. He's afraid of getting sued. He told me this. He goes, Joe, you told me about the producer agreement. I can't sign it. I don't want to get sued. And that's the problem. So Elena Nurever, I guess her name is, from the old TV3, she signed all the documents. She's going to be on the air. Meanwhile, because of this Chapter 74 violation, we're watching the Three Stooges, Dedham TV, Westford TV, TV, Arlington TV, it's all coming to Medford. And once again, just like TV3, when that woman that was the station manager did her movies with our equipment. We're back to ground zero. We're back to this circle. It's gone full circle. We are back to the same problem. I don't want to be here. I told Robert Mayocko, the former council president, I'll tell President Caraviello, I don't want to be up here every week, sir. I want you free of me. I want to be on AXS TV, sir. So I think you owe me one. I would like you to go to bat for me, sir. Get me on AXS TV. I don't care about the quarry. You know, and Adam Knight doesn't care about the quarry, but I think 60,000 other people do. What I care about, Mr. Caraviello, Council President, is the legalese where we can be sued because it's Tuesday. That's not fair. So if you could do me a favor, Councilor Caraviello, and go to bat for me. I just want my shows on the air. No nonsense. They're good shows. They're clean shows. You would be happy to watch them. Then you won't have to read Medford Info Central because I'd be too busy doing my shows. I mean, I think it's a fair bargain. So that's what I have to say tonight. The administration's in violation. Shame on Roy Belson. The diversity director asked Roy Belson to leave. Mr. Belson, God bless him. He's done some good work for this community. But sometimes term limits gotta kick in. And Belson, I just don't think you're doing the right thing for the community, taking advantage of public access for the school. You and Stephanie Burke and my good friend Mark Rumley, shame on the three of you because you were the ones I went to for public access. And you people are acting worse than TV3 because you should know better. They were a nonprofit. You are our public servants and you're serving yourselves. It's got to end. It's got to go now. Then Brown should go through the process of really showing us that he knows about feedback. One final thing before I stop. On September 19th, every speaker at the podium was getting huge feedback. And I had just come out of band practice, as you know. So as you all know, I stood eight inches or maybe a foot behind the mic, and I got no feedback. So when I asked Ben Brown last night, he said, well, I couldn't run back here to the studio to adjust the volume. I said, what are you talking about? All you had to do was get people. He's the audio expert on his resume. I'm sorry. All you had to do was stand back here, and the feedback would have went away. But we need a station manager that knows this. We need an older person. You know, as Chris Donovan's out there, Joe Fortunato, I want to help. There's a lot of us out there that know what we're doing. We're not young. You know, first time managing a station, when I looked at his resume, he claims otherwise, but it's his first time. And I've managed radio stations. We know how this works. Fortunato's out there, Donovan's out there, the Gravity Company was here. There's a lot of great resources in Medford. We need someone that knows Medford, that loves Medford, and that wants to help everyone in this room and all 60,000 people. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: Motion to receive and place on file.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion by Councilor Naito to receive and place on file. Seconded by? Councilor Dela Ruzzo. By Councilor Dela Ruzzo. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Mr. President, motion to take. And we're finished with that part of it right now. If you'd like to come back after.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: The suspension of the rule. I suspend the rules, so to speak.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion by Councilor Lococo to suspend the rules.
[Joyce Paul]: It will only take me a minute. I spoke a long while ago about I don't want a show. I don't have a show. I don't want anything like that. But I know people who do and they cannot understand how we don't have this in Medford. And I talked to somebody who runs the station in Somerville, and he's right. They laughed. They said to me, I don't understand what's wrong with you people. And when Bob Pinto was running, we had to have somebody come from Somerville to tape it. It's absolutely ridiculous. And we have someone running for mayor, where he should be able to go on once a week and introduce himself. So I have nothing personal about it, but I really want to get this done. I've been in Medford 17 years, and for 17 years we've been talking about it. It's absolutely crazy. So I thank you.
[Robert Penta]: Thank you.
[Unidentified]: And that's it. Thank you very much.
[Robert Penta]: The part that I think is concerning is when we go back to the September 19 meeting and I don't know if Mr. Burns is in the other room or not but the question was asked when he came to the podium and he couldn't answer the question. I know the solicitor is here so he may want to answer it. I just don't know what somebody can do to make a presentation. If they can submit it by mail, which means they need a query check, if they don't need a query check. Right now, do all you Councilors need a query check because you're in a building where you're close to children that are outside in the school? The next question begs itself to City Hall. Does every member of City Hall, every employee need a query check because if a parent comes in there or a taxpayer comes in there with a child and the child goes to the bathroom and the child is not with the parent and there's an employee there, does that subject the city or the employee to some kind of liability of a query check? I don't know. But I think this whole issue has opened up a great question needs to be asked. Why do we need a query check and under what conditions and circumstances do we need it? If I understand this thing properly, if I'm a candidate for office like the seven of you are, a candidate for office, and if you come in here, supposedly you don't need a query check, but if you submit your take a desk by mail when you need a query check, or can you come in at any time, even though you're independent of your role as a Councilor being here tonight, walk around the building, and for that purpose, do you need a query check? Do employees in this building, custodians in this building, do they need a query check as it relates to their interaction with students? Yes. I understand that teachers, when they come on board, there's a query check sign on them. I understand all of that. But I don't know the nuances about everyone. Contractors, and I think we had here a couple of weeks ago, there was a gentleman come up, said he was putting lights in a certain part of the building, and in their second shift the question was asked, they said that they would be getting a query check. Okay, that's all well and good. But I'd like to, I know the solicitor's here, but I'd like to have the council have a report that comes out that basically said, How is a query check going to be implemented? And more importantly, if a taxpayer citizen wants to come up, work this room, submit a tape, does that taxpayer citizen have to be query checked or not? I mean, because don't forget, this whole idea of public access was just what it's for, public access. And if it was in any other location but this place here, I don't think we would be talking about a query check. But I understand that this has its own entrance, its own locks, and it's separate from the main entrance of the building. And I believe that in and of itself should probably give some credence that a query check is not needed, however this room is being used. So I think we need some clarification to finalize this thing and we can move on with an election which is right around the corner. And let me just say this one last thing about the election. It's a damn shame. It's a damn shame, and I use the word damn shame, that this room and the access used for this was not in place prior to the primary election where all the candidates, incumbents, would have had an opportunity to come and make their presentation. This unfortunately seems to be at a last minute. It's a quick ploy to get itself in. You've got your notices. The last one is tomorrow or the next day this week. It's sort of like- It's sort of like- They've extended the schedule. They have extended the schedule but it's a little unfair. This has been running around for a long period of time. They had $650,000 of taxpayers' money from Verizon and Comcast that was used to put this building together. This has been taking place for a long period of time and I think it's just a little bit unfair and especially when the rules are inconsistent right now. I think that's what we need to know whether you're an incumbent or a newcomer running for this office. So, I would say before you take it and receive it and place it on file, I think those questions should be answered before you take that and receive it and place it on file. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Robert Penta]: Mr. Solicitor, the paper's already been disposed of, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: That is correct, Councilman Knight.
[Mark Rumley]: Name and address of the record, please. Yes, I'm Mark Rumley. I'm the city solicitor. I reside at 50 Woodrow Avenue in Medford. There's been some discussion about the Corey Check requirement for producers at cable access television. So I'm going to run through it just so it's understood. First, Corey Checks are required under Chapter 71 of the Massachusetts General Law and Massachusetts Code of Regulations 803. I can't give you the specific sections off the top of my head and therefore anyone who is employed in the school system or who would be a contractor who works here during different things like a roof or lighting or anything of that nature and it even goes to volunteers if they would have, or the possibility of having, direct and unmonitored contact with a student, with a child. It is required. This studio is part of the high school building. It may have a separate entrance, but it also has other doors in this room which could lead out, which do lead out to the school proper. And it is on school grounds now. The studio is also used, I'm not sure if, I think it's through the vocational school, but it's for the students who are involved in media arts. There is a time every day in which there's an overlap of time in which the studio could be used for public access and can be used by students for media arts. And because of that overlap, there is a possibility that producers who come here to produce, bless you, that producers who come here to produce public access television shows could have unmonitored and direct contact with students. Therefore, if they're going to be a producer who's going to work here in this school building where this access studio is, they must be quarried once. Now, there are two exceptions to that. The first exception is a question that came up a couple of weeks ago when Ben Brown said he'd like to give those candidates for public office the opportunity to have some type of production, a limit on the time perhaps, but it would be given to every single candidate. Now, I explained to him in a way which is a lot longer than I can explain tonight how he is the producer of that show and everyone here would be, those who would be running for office, would be invited to come here. That doesn't rise to the level of being the producer of a public access show because you're responded to an invitation to come up and do a political spot. So they would not have to be quarried. That was established a couple of weeks ago. And in a conversation that I had with Mr. Brown this week, he said, if a producer is going to produce their show or whatever it is, their product, off-premises, and not come to the school, do they have to be quarried? Well, obviously they don't. They'd have to be a member of public access, but they wouldn't have to be quarried. The requirement of a CORI check arises because of this location, the overlap in time with public access and the media students, and the requirements of state statute and regulation. It wasn't put in there just to make somebody's life difficult. It was put in there because it's required by statute and regulation, and that's why it's in the producer's agreement. That's it. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I think it was a two-page contract that also needs to be signed by anybody that wants to produce a show.
[Mark Rumley]: There's some people who... Yes, there's a producer's agreement, and it deals with their productions, their liabilities, and that sort of thing. The notion that no adult is ever liable for any actions they take, and a public access producer would be just like that, that notion is just simply not true as a matter of law. If you libel somebody, or if you do something to infringe on another person's rights, you could be liable for it. and the producer's agreement acknowledges that. The original one which was sent to me by Mr. Brown had some clarifications that it needed. The major input that the law department made on that was to insert the CORI requirement for the reasons that I've just described to you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Mark Rumley]: You're welcome.
[SPEAKER_13]: Okay, call for the orders of the day, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. 17, 675. I wanted to respond to Mr. Rumbach.
[Joe Viglione]: It's very important.
[SPEAKER_13]: Point of Parliamentary Inquiry, Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Paper's been disposed of. Gentleman's had an opportunity to discuss on this.
[Joe Viglione]: This is very important for the public. This was my paper.
[Adam Knight]: This isn't even an item that's on the agenda at this point. The paper has been disposed of.
[Richard Caraviello]: Please suspend the rules again. If somebody wants to suspend the rules again,
[Joe Viglione]: It's only fair because Mr. Rumley was not appropriate and I have to straighten it out. Okay. Thank you. Joe Villion, 59 Garfield Ave. Now at Somerville Cable we are separate in Union Square and we have children come in and they pay $200 a week so we generate $2,000 every 10 children that come in and the children are all around us producers and they do annoy us because we're trying to do radio and they're all yelling and screaming. I shut down Winchester High School four nights, four weeks in a row. No one had a quarry check, and Mr. Rumley, all due respect, is incorrect. If you have direct contact with children, unsupervised, in a school, not in a public access center, if there are doors here, they should be locked, because in Winchester and in Wakefield, we have public access centers and there are no quarries. Now, I talked to many TV stations, many, and one of the executive directors said to me, That's just absurd. So it is a stumbling block. It is a scary thing for people who want to do Access TV. It is the antithesis of outreach. You have a separate facility on the high school ground, but Wakefield and Winchester and so many stations around the Duxbury, so many using the high school, do not ask for CORI checks. That is absolutely wrong. It can be contested in a court of law, and I guarantee you I can win on that point. But the second point is the five-page producer agreement, not the two-page producer agreement. And I agree with Solicitor Romley. You've got to have the libel statute in there, but you can have one page. One page from Hingham, one page from Malden. You don't need five pages. And what the law department seems to have inserted into this, which I don't believe Ben Brown could have done, but allegedly, I'm not sure. You would have to hire a city attorney along with your own attorney, and it goes on and on and on in a way that is the antithesis of outreach, the facilitation of programming. I don't know. I've been doing this since 1979, so I think I know more than the city solicitor on this aspect of it. I have been in access longer than anyone. I've been on the BBC. What a clarification, Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: What a clarification, Councilor Knight. The gentleman's talking about a legal document. Is he proclaiming that he has more knowledge than the city solicitor about the law?
[Joe Viglione]: know about the document. There's a big difference, sir, but then again, all you do is do point of interruption. Point of interruption.
[Adam Knight]: I was just trying to clarify because- We're clarifying it.
[Joe Viglione]: I know more about public access and signing those documents, I believe, than the city solicitor. A five-page document's unheard of in Access TV. What do I know? I've only been doing it about as long as you've been alive. So if you had a little respect for your elders and listened instead of talked, you might learn something about Access TV.
[Richard Caraviello]: Point of personal reference, Mr. President. respect the Councilor. Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: I think this is why we have an agenda Mr. President. I think if he respects his elders I can respect the Councilor. Point of personal privilege is the Councilor or his body Mr. President. Thank you. We have an agenda. That's correct. That's why we have an agenda so things like this don't happen.
[Joe Viglione]: I call for the orders of the day. What things like this is five pages is too much. One page. One page to express liability is very simple. One page and then from the Cory check out the window. It's insane. It makes no sense on school grounds because no one else does it. The city of Medford is always the city that is being ridiculed by other stations for censorship policies. It's pure censorship. That's it. So it's bad.
[Mark Rumley]: Thank you. Thank you. Mr. President. Yes. As the city solicitor, I am not going to sit back and say that censorship is ever part of the mission of the law department, of the city of Medford, of any of its officials, elected or otherwise. We're not censoring anything, but what we're going to do is to make sure that our school children are going to be able to come to this building and that this is going to be a safe environment. A quarry check is not prohibited, it is required. Thank you.
[Roy Belson]: Mr. President, may I?
[Richard Caraviello]: Name and address of the record, please.
[Roy Belson]: Roy Bellson, Superintendent of Schools, 2500 Mystic Valley Parkway, Medford, Massachusetts. Mr. President, members of the council, I just want to clarify a couple of things. Chapter 74 is the Vocational Education Act that governs vocational education. It has been around for a long time. Advisory committees have been part of Chapter 74 for a long time. It's not new. The Medford School Committee knows about Chapter 74 Advisory Committees, and many of you have participated on it, including Councilor Penter at one time, and others have been on these advisory committees. It's not an unknown thing. There was one error that was made. It was made without thinking it was an error. It was simply that advisory committees meet and they go over the program that they were interested in, the Multimedia Center for Students. Their issue wasn't community access, their issue was the multimedia program for students, because it's required by Chapter 74. Chapter 74 put out a manual and they increased the idea that the open meeting law should apply. The director at that particular time didn't see that, didn't pay attention to it at that particular time, put it on the website for the school thing and didn't think it needed to be posted. Typically a public body is a body that deliberates and then can make a decision. as opposed to a public body or a body that simply advises an administrator who then advises a governing body like a school committee what to do, so it was an error. That's all it was and it didn't necessarily affect anything to deal with community access. People ask the question, well, what does Ben Brown fit in this situation? Well, Ben Brown, if he's going to manage this place, is going to interact with the teaching staff of the vocational school. So his name is going to come up, or his position will come up in that process. There's no attempt to block anything. I think we all recognize that this space is a good space, and we hope that it will be a terrific space for the community and a terrific space for the young people. And the good news is that we can share it, and we can do a lot of good things together. As to the Corey check, what's to prohibit a program that's being jointly produced by young people along with community members? What if they're together? What if they do a program together? I think that's highly desirable that our young people do that. But if they do that, then it would be good for them to know that the people who are going to be doing it in this space are people that we have checked out. I think safety is always on our minds. I think we all agree on that. It doesn't hurt. If an individual feels that the Cori check has been unduly denied, they have the right to get it and appeal. Now, do you think that any of us would ever be able to stand up in front of you and say that a person who had an insurance violation is a reason for denying them the right to come in here? But if a person has been involved with molestation, or the person been involved with assault and battery, and a person's been involved with destruction of property, maybe we should know that. Maybe we should know that. So I don't think it's unreasonable. I think it's something that we should consider. And I think it's there. And I think as far as Chapter 74 goes, despite what the individual has to say, it was totally different than the community media thing. And it's really a part of us making sure that we're in compliance with the state. We can stick with the open meeting law. It won't happen again. In fact, we've posted all the meetings going forward to the advisory committees. And every shop in the school has an advisory committee. Every shop. And some of you have participated. We appreciate that because it's important for the young people to get expertise, not only from Medford, but from practitioners around the Commonwealth. We appreciate your listening. Thank you. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: through the chair, if we could get a copy of the, I'm not sure who has it, a copy of the decision stating there was an open meeting law violation. I find it more than a simple error and I definitely want to take a read.
[Mark Rumley]: Just to address that, surely we can give you a copy of that. I'd also say this, and I know this is beleaguered a little bit. When the allegation of the open meeting law violation came up from the petitioner back in June there was a response made by the school department almost immediately in which all of the documents of this committee were given, about 280 pages were given to the petitioner. He continued to allege the violation of the open meeting law and when the city responded, the city responded in the very beginning of July we said it was a violation of the open meeting law to the petitioner. And then the Attorney General months later said, yes, it is a violation. We've never hid that. It was on the school calendar, but it was not posted. So the immediate response by the law department when this allegation was made was that, yes, it should have been posted and it wasn't. The Attorney General said, yes. It should have been posted and it wasn't. So next time post it. So you will have all of that document.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And through the Chair, Solicitor Rumley, whose fault was that?
[Mark Rumley]: I don't know what official in the school department is responsible for the posting. It was on the school calendar from the beginning of the year. And also keep this in mind, that the Chapter 74 committee is required to meet twice a a year, once before the holidays, once after. They did meet twice. It was on the school calendar, but not posted the way you would post an open meeting law notice. So I'm not sure who in the school department is responsible to do that, but it was not done. And when we made our response to the petitioner, we said it wasn't done and it should have. So it isn't something where there was this clandestine effort to hide anything. As a matter of fact, the response was an admission. And that was made months ago. So the notion that there was some type of James Bondish effort here to hide up some vocational committee is absolutely nonsense. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So it wasn't just my last question. So it wasn't City Hall's doing. It was the school department school department.
[Mark Rumley]: Yes. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: I just Mr. Romley. Yes. I don't mean to put you on the spot, but several weeks ago when this issue was brought up, I asked the superintendent at the time whether or not this would also apply to outside entities that rent this particular building.
[Mark Rumley]: You mean quarry checks?
[Michael Marks]: Correct and the reason why I asked is because as we all know safety of our students is the utmost important and I agree What you laid out tonight was the fact that there may be an overlap in time. Yes, and the fact that it's in this building would lead you to believe that, was it Chapter 74?
[Mark Rumley]: Chapter 71 on the quarry.
[Michael Marks]: Chapter 71 would apply. My question, and I didn't expect the superintendent to answer, but I expected a different answer out of the superintendent is, is this something we also have to look at if we have an entity that rents this building, just say on a Saturday, and students are up here on a Saturday, and there may be some type of interaction, whether it's in a restroom or walking by someone in a hallway, would the same apply to that Mr. Solicitor?
[Mark Rumley]: That's a very interesting question. It gets into a gray area. I'm going to give you an example. I am quarried in another capacity in my life. I am quarried every single year as a requirement of my vocation. However, and that's part of the church. However, in that, people that go to church every week are not quarried. But because I'm a deacon, there's a possibility that I might have unmonitored direct contact with children. As a matter of fact, it's probable, given the role of a deacon. Now, using that analogy here at the school, with renters, the time when they would be renting, if it's like a Saturday or Sunday, I think that would come into play. One of the things that the overlap that comes into play with this room is the fact that that would happen during the day or at the end of the school day. I would defer to the judgment of the Superintendent of course but I would say if there is a higher likelihood of direct unmonitored contact with students in this building, and that's who we have jurisdiction over, then they should be Cori checked because we have contractors Cori checked, bus drivers Cori checked. Everybody you could imagine. People who would do the grounds if they were doing them under contract would be Cori checked so I'm not the Superintendent. I can't answer that for him, but I would say the higher the likelihood of the unmonitored in direct contact with a child, yes, they should be Cori checked.
[Michael Marks]: So how can we gauge the likelihood of interaction? I guess that's the question. How do we know? I can tell you from firsthand experience that a particular entity that's been renting this community has been here consistently for probably over 20 years. in the same location in the same building with probably the same interaction. So this is not a one-off that you'd say well they're coming into the building once and I think it warrants at least some investigation and I would hope it would be from your law office or your law department and not the superintendent of schools because the feedback I've received from the superintendent is kind of there's no concern and I think it needs to be looked into a little further by the law office.
[Mark Rumley]: I would always be available to the superintendent or to any other municipal or school official to assist them in their positions.
[Michael Marks]: I would ask if then you can get together with the superintendent and have a discussion over this because As we've all stated, and it's not just lip service, from when I stated about security in this building, or the lack of security in this building after hours, and following up with this particular issue, it's all in the same breath as to say we have to look out for the interest of our children. And if there are people in this building that I'm corey-checked, I believe they, as we said with this particular media room, this should be reviewed, Mr. Solicitor.
[Mark Rumley]: I also feel this before I yield to I guess the Superintendent. The key is direct unmonitored contact and if that's a possibility it's not very prohibitive to have a Cori checked on. It can be done very quickly and it's not a very intrusive process. Why not? That level of protection especially for children. especially for children so if I can be of assistance to the Superintendent and I would never give that lip service that I would have.
[Michael Marks]: I didn't mean lip service for you. I meant in the past when we were talking about security and safety of our students. It's not just lip service. It's something that I really believe in And having three children go through the public schools and knowing what took place today at the Columbus School with someone wielding a knife in a lockdown, it brings it that closer to us and people that are concerned about this issue.
[Mark Rumley]: A very relevant example.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you.
[Roy Belson]: So if I may, just for a minute. So we have football games at Hormel Stadium. So everyone comes through the gate, should be quarry checked because they might sit next to a student.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. Superintendent, that's not clouding the issue. No, I'm not clouding the issue. Who's talking about Hormel Stadium? Hormel Stadium is a site, is a site. The building you're standing in right now, Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: No.
[Michael Marks]: No one's talking about Hormel Stadium.
[Roy Belson]: Hormel Stadium is the site of student activities. We have football kids there. We have cheerleaders there. We have other people there. Public access, public areas are not subject to the CORI. Now, it's direct, these key words, direct, unsupervised. If I'm working with you, if I'm in the area where I'm working directly with you that's direct and unsupervised. Indirect is not the issue. People in areas you could be anywhere and have people who are near students and the like or near young people. That's not the way the Corey statue has been interpreted and applied across the commonwealth, so You know, we could check everybody out everywhere they go. When you go to the state house, you have to empty your pockets, you have to take off your belt, and you check everything like that. You can keep going and going and going. But at some point in time, the terms are direct and unsupervised. Otherwise, every public gathering where there are young people and families would require everyone to be quarry checked. It's not the same thing. It's just the way it's been interpreted across the Commonwealth, and I'm sure there are plenty of people that would comment on it.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you. Mr. President, just if I could. Vice President Mox. The superintendent is excellent at circumlocution when it comes to diverting what the issue is. What's that word? I'll teach you after. What the issue is, Mr. President, and clearly the issue is not outside of this building because we're not talking about outside this building. We're talking about a media room inside of the high school. And what I mentioned is, if you have an outside group, and when I say outside, I mean from outside the city, that rents this particular facility, Mr. President, on a weekly basis for the past, every Saturday for the past 20 years, and they are coming into contact with our students up here, Mr. President, I think it warrants a discussion. And you know, so I'm not cloudy on the issue. I know what the issue is. And it's not going outside of this building, checking out every little venue that we have to make sure people are Corey checked. That's just the cloud the issue. The issue is whether or not we're providing adequate security up at this high school, and whether or not we're making sure that when our students are within this building, Mr. President, They come in contact with people they should come in contact with. And as the superintendent alluded to a couple of weeks ago, he made it sound like a Corey check could be done within 24 hours. So as the city solicitor mentioned, that's not a large undertaking to ask an entity that's coming into our building, using our classrooms, using our cafeterias, using our gymnasium to ask them to be subjected to the same requirements that someone from the city of Medford would come up here and want to put a show on local access. I don't think that's a hardship, Mr. President, and I think in the interest of safety for our students, I think it warrants it, Mr. President. And I'm a little troubled when I address these particular issues with the superintendent, how he tries to dismiss them, Mr. President. And honestly, I think this issue needs to be addressed, and I would hope that he could sit down with the city solicitor. I'd be more than happy to attend if we want to have a meeting. But this issue needs to be ironed out. And from what I heard from the city solicitor, as he mentioned, this is a gray issue. And I think it deserves at least discussion, Mr. President.
[Joe Viglione]: Thank you Mr. Vice President. Very quickly. Name and address for the record please. Joe Villon 59 Garfield Ave. When the three people talked to me outside they called it a public access board which is why I so investigative on it and then when I got the documents that the city solicitor referenced it said radio television board. It was the Attorney General's office that and Mark Rumley who who told me through Belson it was a chapter 74, but this is what the attendees called it, a public access board. This is what the document said, radio and television board, so it got me very concerned that the city council and the school committee didn't know about it and in conclusion They just it's it is a lot of gobbledygook These are these are professionals when mayor Burke and other people including the council president had to respond about the compliance with the Open meeting law. I believe their documents were filed Mr. Carey element have filed it on time, but the certification paper I believe was filed late and I found that with Paulette van de Kloot Stephanie Burke didn't even do her online training her online training was for the ethics until I filed an open public records request, so this whole thing of that it was just an honest mistake. They've been in business far too long. It wasn't an honest mistake. It was deliberate. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If I may move the question. Move the question to get a copy of the Attorney General's decision.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Council Member O'Connor to get a copy of the complaint from Senator Romney.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: All those in favor? Aye.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion passes.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: May I comment? Regardless. I really have very little comment. I just wanted to say it's a sad state of affairs that TV 3 has been off the air for approximately four years and also it would be nice if it was housed instead of here in a central location. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, the demise of Medford Square back in 1970 is when they closed Medford High School in Forest Street and opened up this high school.
[Richard Caraviello]: We're talking about TB3.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Yeah, exactly. In TB3. And they put the high school here in the West Medford Woods. which in effect was the kiss of death in Medford Square. Then the middle of Glen Mall was final nail in the coffin. And coincidentally, ironically, they went bankrupt, except for Wegmans, bail them out. The point is, we're repeating, we're not learning from history, in my opinion. We're repeating the same mistakes. We're not putting it in a central location. Hopefully you understand my point.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. 16, 17, 765, offered by Councilor Lockern. Be it resolved, the building departments update the Medford City Council with regards to the Rock Pile and Water Street. Councilor Lockern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, thank you, President Caraviello. I received a few complaints. A lot of the neighborhood around this area has been talking about the rock pile that sits across from the gas station on Winthrop Street. And I've received two emails from abutters questioning what is going on at the site. They started work, I believe, started bulldozing, drilling, and blasting on the site September 2016. This past August in 2017, work has ceased, and now nothing's going on. The neighbors also have a very reasonable concern about the attractiveness of this site to a child. It's a large rock pile, large hole. Children could get hurt, and there's really nothing blocking it off. So if we could get a written response from the building department of what is going on on that site, what is planned to go on on that site, when will it happen, and in the meantime, if we can somehow, it's an eyesore at this point, but somehow, as best we can, block it off so people do not, especially children, do not go near the site. I think that's extremely important. It's something that the neighbors asked me to put on the agenda and see if we can get some answers and a resolve on.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Del Rosa. I just like the wording of being called a rock pile. It sounds punitive in nature and it's certainly been punitive towards the neighbors in that area.
[Richard Caraviello]: Second. On the motion by Councilor Laura Kearns, seconded by Councilor De La Ruza. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 17-676 offered by President Caraviello be it resolved that the meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 be canceled due to the municipal election that will take place on that same day. Move approval.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If I may before the roll call. Thank you President Mayako. We obviously have to cancel this.
[Richard Caraviello]: Oh geez. I'm sorry. Thinking about you Bob.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Tuesday November 7th is the election. The week prior is October 31st.
[Unidentified]: It's Halloween.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I know I shot an email to everybody and we heard little tweet birds because nobody responded. I understand it's an important meeting. It's a Tuesday night before the election, but I just wanted to start a discussion. I promised my seven-year-old I would ask. It's my children's favorite holiday. It's Halloween. I don't know if it's possible, if anybody would be agreeable to move the meeting to the Monday prior, which would be Monday, October 30th. and even potentially have a second screening on October 31st for those who are planning on watching. It's just something I want to throw out there. I obviously will be here if we're going to have a meeting, but October 31st, I have three young children. I know some others have children as well, maybe a little older, maybe a little younger, and I just think it's something to discuss.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Clerk, you're set up.
[Clerk]: I don't know what location, Monday.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, I guess that's why I'm asking now so maybe we can look into it and people can think about it I don't want to pressure anybody.
[Adam Knight]: I know it's I don't want to pressure anybody, but we can look into it and maybe I Think the city clerk might have some work to do leading up to these elections to if I'm not mistaken Yeah
[Richard Caraviello]: If the clerk could take a look at that and have a report for next week.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And I'll reach out to see if the school committee has a meeting and maybe that would be a potential resolve. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Move approval on your paper.
[Richard Caraviello]: The motion is seconded by Councilor Felch. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 17677 offered by President Caraviello, be it resolved that the Medford City Council congratulate Ed O'Neill, Medford Chief Assessor, for the past 14 and a half years, and thank him for his dedicated service to the community, and wish him well on his new assignment as the Assessor of the Town of Bonneville. Move approval. On the motion by- Mr. President, if I may. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: I just want to thank Ed O'Neill publicly for the work that he's done for the city of Medford and for me personally. He's a great guy to give a call and ask some questions to and he always gives you answers. He's always been readily accessible and sometimes referred to as the smartest man in city hall. So with that being said, Mr. President, I think we're going to feel a void. He's going to be greatly missed, and I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavor, but I want to thank him for his friendship, his help, and being a mentor to me during my early years on the council.
[Richard Caraviello]: It's been a good man, and it's going to be a big loss to this community, and I hope that the person who replaces him is equal to his talents.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I want to second that. I think Ed's done a great job. He's been here quite a while and definitely very knowledgeable. I wish him good luck in his retirement or new job. I appreciate all the work he's done. If we also could maybe get an update on a B paper with regards to when the job will be posted. It is posted. It's posted, okay. Because I know two people in the office left over the summer. Ed left kind of short notice recently and that concerns the entire council, I'm sure.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by President Cabrera, seconded by Councilor Dela Luzo. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Motion to take. Papers in the hands of the clerk. Aye. Seconded by Councilor Locario. All those in favor? Motion passes. Offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that the Eversource project be discussed. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. This is the fourth time I've offered this resolution, or something similar, to alert residents of this community about the project that Eversource is going to be moving forward with. that's going to be a large undertaking and quite a disruption on our thoroughfares in our community. If people aren't familiar, there is a project that's underway, that's in the process, that is going to be the Mystic-Wubin line project. And the proposed underground transmission line, which is an electrical line, will connect the Mystic substation in Everett to the Wubin substation. And from what I understand, it's not going to have any benefit to our community. However, it's going to be a major disruption. The line will extend approximately eight miles between the two substations passing through Everett, Boston, Somerville, Medford, Winchester, and Woburn. The proposed project also includes improvements within the existing fence line of the Mystic and Woburn substations. Eversource has made a commitment to elicit feedback from neighbors, public officials, and stakeholders. And to date, we had one public hearing that this council called for, where representatives from Eversource came forward. And at the time, this was probably a year and a half, two years ago, when we found out about the project. And I have not heard anything other than what we've inquired about, Mr. President. If you go on to the leaflet I got from Eversource, it also mentions the projected schedule, and it said start of construction first quarter 2017. I'm not a mathematician, but I would think we're past the first quarter in 2017. And I think, Mr. President, we need to get some answers on this project. This project will stretch from the Winchester line on Winthrop Street in Method all the way down Winthrop Street. It'll take a left onto Salt Street. It'll go down a portion of Main Street in front of the police station and then hang a left onto Mystic Ave and follow Mystic Ave all the way down. This project also includes manhole installations, trench evacuation, and pipe installation, cable pulling, and pipe fluid filling. Additionally, the manhole structures deteriorate due to constant traffic resulting in increased noise and vibration to the area. Manhole installation of 19 precast concrete vaults located underground will be in addition to the trenching they're going to be doing. And each underground vault is going to be eight feet wide by 22 feet long and six feet high. And it's going to take roughly 7 to 10 days to install. And then the trenching will be 100 to 200 feet per day, followed by 10 to 18 days of construction. So this is a very lengthy project where residents that are above Winthrop Street, Salt Street, Mystic Ave, may not have access to the driveway for a period of time. There's been no communication from what I can see other than what this council is trying to pull out of Eversource. Eversource also mentioned that they were going to do a briefing and presentations, email updates. Anyone on this council get email updates? So if we're not getting them, you can assure the general public's not getting them. They were going to put out door hangers. I haven't seen any door hangers. I realize construction hasn't started, but the time to do this public outreach is not when construction starts, it's prior to construction. They also mentioned that they were going to do direct monitoring to homes along the route, and I have yet to hear anything about that, Mr. President. In addition to the disruption that's going to take place on all our streets because of additional traffic They're gonna have to reroute traffic and so forth There's also been discussion about mitigation And with any large project, like we saw with the FAST 14 project, when they did the largest building bridge reconstruction in the state's history, there was mitigation done by the contractor with the city of Medford. I have yet to hear about any mitigation. How we are going to assist residents of this community and those discussions need to take place and they need to be open and transparent and Residents should have input whether it's power washing a house that may have these vaults You know in front of their homes that are going to be constructed whether it's the trenching that's going on that may have an impact on someone's driveway Whether it's the hours of operation when the project takes place None of this is being discussed at all. And this is a huge project, Mr. President. I get phone calls, reverse 911 calls on a daily basis telling me about the migration of pigeons or something that I don't need to know about. But we don't get a call on a project that's going to cut through our city, 2.3 miles of excavation through our city of drenching. And then there's a whole other issue I brought up, Mr. President, about when they put these particular wires underground. They emit transmission, radio emission, not radio, transmission from them. And there's been studies done about long and prolonged contact for infants and young children. These are the things that have to be discussed and looked at. And I'm not sure why we're not discussing this with the president.
[Richard Caraviello]: They haven't come before us for a public meeting yet, public hearing yet.
[Michael Marks]: Well, they did come before. I requested a public hearing, which they did come before. But that was just with the council. We need to have an open and notorious process with the general public that can come up and ask questions. How is this going to impact their routine? Is there going to be a disruption in their electrical service? Is there going to be a disruption in getting out of their driveway to work or driving their kids to school? There's a million issues. Where is going to be the platforming where they put their construction equipment? If they're going to set up shop in the city of Medford for 2.3 miles, they're going to want construction areas where they can put their equipment. As we heard tonight on Wildwood and Winthrop Street.
[Richard Caraviello]: Excuse me, Councilor Markswell. You can leave that door open, please.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, so these are the issues that we've already been confronted with regarding smaller projects, and you can imagine what's going to take place with the larger projects. You know, we've gone through this with utility companies. When they do trenching, they feel that they don't have to do a curb-to-curb restoration. Now, as part of the mitigation, is all the streets that are impacted going to be curb-to-curb? Are we going to get new handicap-accessible sidewalks? Are we going to get new sidewalks? These are the things we have to discuss, Mr. President. And, you know, on Winthrop Street alone, we've all fielded the phone calls regarding the slopes and peaks and valleys in Winthrop Street. So when cars go up and down, as we hear, it creates noise for the residents on Winthrop. Will we be able to mitigate that when this construction's over? We need to have a serious conversation with the city engineer, the mayor's office, DPW, Eversource, and really start discussing this, Mr. President. So I would offer that in a form of a resolution, knowing that their own literature is saying construction is going to start the first quarter of 2017. We really need to get ahead of the curve and start discussing these issues on behalf of our residents, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Clerk, if you could send a letter to Eversource requesting a meeting so we could have a possible council of the whole meeting with Eversource and a public meeting.
[Clerk]: Just to let you know, the Eversource petition for grants of location had been submitted a month ago. It's currently in the hands of the city engineer. it back to me, that be placed on the agenda for a public hearing, which should be probably, I would think, three to four weeks.
[Michael Marks]: Right. And I appreciate all that. But what do we tell residents that are calling us up anticipating the work being done? This is not a question for you. But, Mr. President, what do we tell residents that are calling us up as their elected officials saying, you must be in the know, you must know what's happening, And then we have to tell you, you know what? We know as much as you do. We've been trying to get answers on this. And in my opinion, this administration has failed to present any type of cohesive meeting on this so we can get some answers and let the residents know what's going to take place. So that's my intent tonight, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Clerk, if you could contact Eversource, if we can set up a meeting before they come before us. Name and address of the record, please.
[uIlyuj9UctU_SPEAKER_01]: Carolyn Jones, 32 Arlington Street. I'm just wondering, is it possible that they can just come in and make this deal without the residents of Medford knowing that it's going to take place? No. It sort of splits Medford up. So if there's traffic enough at rush hour and at other times during the day, And very often, I have to get on 93. But if they're going to have the streets all dug up, how do I get there without going past Tufts?
[Richard Caraviello]: There will be a public meeting at some point to discuss that. At the moment we don't have a date, but they do come before us before they start any project.
[uIlyuj9UctU_SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I just want to be sure that there's no deal that's been made before the citizens know that a deal's been made.
[Richard Caraviello]: Or that it even exists. There'll be a public hearing which you'll be able to attend.
[uIlyuj9UctU_SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I'd like to ask that the city engineer before granting the petition for a right of way or before resubmitting it to the city clerk that you take several steps and collect certain information for the City Council. I think it's going to be very important that we have this information in our hands when it comes down to make a decision. Some of it, it would piggyback on what Councilor Mark said. Ultimately, a residential mitigation plan's important. I think that's something that we need. And I think that the city clerk needs to provide, I mean the city engineer needs to provide that with us before she submits back to us the special application for a permit for the grant or right away. Also, Mr. President, I think we need to have a comprehensive review of the traffic management plan. We have to identify critical path items. If we're thinking about this project, it's gonna come right past this high school. Right past this high school. It's gonna go right in front of our police station. You know what I mean? Our police and fire headquarters, we're going to have construction in front of them for an extended period of time. And then when the construction's over, they're going to tell us they're going to come back in a year, and they're going to retrench and repave to bring it back to city of Medford standards, which we haven't seen happen from these public utility companies. And lastly, Mr. President, I think we need a clear and concise schedule with dates. Dates of when shovels are going to be in the ground, dates when we can anticipate that this work's going to take place. So I think Councilman Marks put together a great resolution on this issue. I'd like to amend the paper and ask that the city clerk express to the city engineer that we need, number one, a clear and concise plan and schedule with dates. We need to identify the critical path items that are going to affect the operation of day-to-day government. We need a traffic management plan that needs to be reviewed. And we also need a residential mitigation plan, Mr. President. I think those are four key items that would make a big difference in helping move this project along, helping inform residents in the community what's going on, and helping us maintain a strong quality of life while it's going on. Ultimately, when you think about where the project's going, Winthrop Street, the residents on Winthrop Street dealt with two years of a drainage project. Then the day the drainage project was over, we got a letter from MassDOT saying that they were going to do 135, not even 130 feet of bridge, and it was going to take three years down to Medford Square. And the traffic management plan was to revert all the traffic right back up Winthrop Street on the new street that just got fixed. And now, when that project's over, we're going to see Eversource come in, and they're going to put their shovels in the ground, and they're going to tear that road up again, Mr. President. The residents in that area and that neighborhood have faced a lot. And it's not something that's happened for two years or three years or four years. Now we're looking on a half a decade. So I'd ask that these matters be added to the paper as a B paper as an amendment, Mr. President, sent to the city engineer and forwarded to us prior to her submitting the application for the permit for the grants right away.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Lococo.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I wanna thank Councilor Marks, and I agree with him wholeheartedly, and I also agree with Councilor Knight. I just see if we could amend this as well to include the city solicitor. Residents on South Street have been advocating for, obviously, reduced speed, reduced heavy trucking and speed, and they have a number of concerns and a whole checklist of things that they want done on South Street, and that will be the case for every street that Eversource is gonna dig up. And when we looked into it, we found out through the mayor's office that the city solicitor will be negotiating the contract with Evisource. So I think he needs to be involved and I think the residents need to be involved as well before the contract is finalized. There's no better person than a resident who lives on a road that can tell you what should be in that contract as far as before it's dug up, while it's being dug up, and what needs to be done when it's going to be permanently reinstalled. So I'm glad this is put forth. I'd like to add that the solicitor be involved in this meeting that is going to hopefully take place. And I agree with Councilor Marks. People come to us all the time asking for answers. when we can't give them, it's just a sad day. And we should be more informed and Eversource should be on the forefront. And this city administration should be in the forefront of educating the public and the city council so that everybody knows what's going on, when it's going to take place, how it's going to take place, and for residents and the city council to give input. So I second the resolve.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Marks, as amended by Councilor Knight and Councilor Locario. All those in favor?
[Michael Marks]: Roll call vote.
[Richard Caraviello]: Roll call vote has been requested, Mr. Clerk. Please call the roll. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I made a commitment back, that's actually three years now, that I wasn't going to let this issue die. And I'm moving forward with my commitment. We were promised back three and a half years ago by then Mayor McGlynn that there was going to be a pilot program in this city to implement three raised crosswalks. And the mayor did his homework and research and decided that Harvard Street, Central Ave, and Winthrop Street were going to be the pilot locations. To date, we have only installed one, Mr. President, on Winthrop Street. The other two raised crosswalks, I have offered several, actually countless resolutions to this administration on an update on when we're going to see these other two raised crosswalks. Not just because I want to see a raised crosswalk, because it's a proven way, Mr. President, for traffic calming. And it's done in many other communities. It's not a speed bump. It's a raised crosswalk. It slows down traffic, which is probably one of the top concerns I get from residents in this community, speeding cars and the fact that it's very difficult for a pedestrian to get around this community. You know with all these different projects going on as I stated earlier It's great to do complete streets and look at bump outs in some other areas But we also have to attend to things that we've already approved and already decided are going to get done whether it's filling a pothole whether it's uh doing thermoplastic on a crosswalk or completing the other two raised crosswalks that we discussed three and a half years ago. I realize it's a different administration, but if this administration doesn't want to honor what Mayor McGlynn put forward three and a half years ago in that pilot project, then the administration should come out and say, I don't want to honor it. And then I'll know where I stand with the issue, Mr. President. I'll still fight for it, but I'll know where I stand. But we have yet to get an answer that at least satisfies me where we stand on the other two raised crosswalks. And residents on Central Ave and on Harvard Street deserve to know, Mr. President, because they were all wondering, where are these crosswalks? They were originally told, well, we got to wait for the construction on Harvard to stop. Central Ave, they would talk, well, we got to — there's some other things pending right now. We're going to start with the crosswalk in front of the park. And I have yet to see anything, Mr. President. So I would put that — again, you know, the mayor is going to get sick of seeing this every several weeks, but maybe the squeaky wheel will get the oil in this case. And we'll get raised crosswalks for pedestrian safety, Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. I'd also like to add a B paper to this, Mr. President, and ask the DPW commissioner to provide us with a report listing the pros and the cons of the use of race crosswalks. Maybe we're missing something here because I think it's something that the council supported in the past, but it's really not moving forward. And maybe there's a reason why that we don't know about. So like Councilman Mox said, we'll know where we stand. Why don't we have the DPW commissioner send us a list of the pros and the cons, what's good about it and what they see is bad, and then why it hasn't been implemented. But I think that we're on the right track. Race crosswalks, anything that could be used to improve pedestrian safety in this community is necessary, Mr. President. Every week we hear the same old stories, traffic, crosswalks.
[Michael Marks]: On the motion by Vice President Mox. Mr. President, I don't mind the B paper. We can look into that. But when you're talking about a raised crosswalk, there is study after study if you go on to the Internet. And all you need to do is look at Cambridge, look at Somerville, look at Arlington, look at every surrounding community that uses raised crosswalks for pedestrian safety and also to slow down speeding traffic. Mr. President. You know, when you look at other communities that are using thermoplastic or doing bump-outs or extending the curbs to slow down traffic, this is not a secret. It's being done everywhere else. And the fact that we're not doing it, I don't think it means there's Cons, I think it's a lack of the administration to get something done, to be quite frank with you. And a lot of the stuff that I'm seeing is window dressing, saying, hey, look what we're doing. But we're not taking care of the very important issues, Mr. President. And I don't mind that as a B paper. But clearly, this has been on the table for three and a half years now. And to go back and look at the city come back and say what the pros and cons are. I think the host is already out of the bond on this, to be quite honest with you.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. The reason I say let's get the pros and cons is so that if there are cons on the list that maybe we can do some research and refute them and drive a better bargain to make a more convincing argument. They're saying, no, this is why we don't want to do it. Well, let's find out the reasons why, look at them, and see if we can come up with reasons why we should. And some kind of counterargument, Mr. President, was all I was saying. But I think it's a great resolution. I'll support it wholeheartedly.
[Michael Marks]: So if I could, Mr. President. Mr. Vice President. Councilor Knight brings up a valid point. If this is a pilot program, I would assume you create a pilot program to, when you're done with the pilot program, you say, was this a success? Should we implement more? What should we do to improve this? And I have yet to hear any discussion with the Winter Street raised crosswalk. So I think if we sit here and wait for the city to react, We'll hold our breath till we turn blue in the face. Clearly, the city's not going to react. And, you know, I think it's time that we as a council push for the things that we want to see happen and not give them a way out saying, well, what are the pros and cons? I mean, the pilot program has been in existence for three and a half years now. If the city hasn't figured out the pros and cons yet, they never will, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Move approval. On the motion by Vice President Mox, seconded by? Aye. Councilor Lococo and all those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that the safety of our traffic supervisor and residents be discussed. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. It's actually traffic supervisors. I might have misprinted it. Mr. President, today, as we saw on the news, first of all, the Medford Police de-escalated a very potential explosive situation at the Columbus School. And I just want to praise the Medford Police Department for their response and how they handled the situation at the Columbus School, as well as the faculty and principal and so forth. Also, Mr. President, today — and this is an issue near and dear to me for a number of years — our traffic supervisors. And, you know, they're the ones, Mr. President, that you never hear anything about. They have a tiny union in the city. They never ask for anything. But they handle our most precious item every day — our children. Every day, they cross our children on these busy, busy roads. on these busy, busy federal affairs, and you never hear anything. Today, there was an incident where one of them was struck in West Medford, Mr. President. And I hope everything works well with that particular traffic supervisor, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the traffic supervisor. But for a number of years, Mr. President, I've been talking about this issue. And not just because, you know, I want to talk about it, it's because I heard directly from the traffic supervisors that they need a way to communicate to the police department. So when they're on a thoroughfare, just say High Street or Winthrop Street or one of the major roads, Riverside Ave, Salem Street, and a car is driving by very aggressively and doesn't stop far. or poses a threat, they really have no means of communicating directly to the police department. They're the eyes and ears on the street. And we have a number of them throughout the community. Why not take that information and be able to use that information to possibly send out a message to these people that refuse to stop for a traffic supervisor? Someone that's wearing a multicolored vest. that's in a crosswalk with signs and children and they refuse to stop at a crosswalk, Mr. President. I proposed an idea, I think it was two years ago, that they receive just small little walkie-talkies, maybe even the second ones that are discarded after the police get the new walkie-talkies, our police department. That way they can have direct communication and be able to call in a license plate or be able to say, hey, there was just a red Mercedes that ran through and almost created a catastrophe here at this particular location. Can you be on the lookout? These type of things would be very, very helpful, Mr. President. And I'm not sure why, as a community, we're not being a little more aggressive when it comes to creating a safer environment. The second issue, Mr. President, and I talked about this earlier, is many of our crosswalks that have the traffic supervisors that are crossing our kids aren't clearly marked. They're not painted. There's no signage. So we're putting a traffic supervisor and our kids in a very unsafe predicament out there. So when I talked earlier about the need to repaint our crosswalks, it wasn't just to bring it up again, it's because of issues like we saw today, Mr. President. And that may not prevent something from happening, but it will surely help when the crosswalk is clearly marked. It'll surely help when a car coming up can see from a distance that that's a crosswalk, can see the neon signs and saying people are crossing, maybe even blinking signs that Councilor Longo has been talking about installing throughout the community. But clearly, Mr. President, there's a need to integrate a communication process with traffic supervisors as our eyes and ears, Mr. President. There's clearly a need to revisit what's happening with crosswalks throughout the city. that they're not safe for our students and our traffic supervisors and residents that are crossing. And clearly what I'd like to see done, Mr. President, is some type of sting where we have police that are around the corner waiting to see during the course of a day what happens when people go through. I mean, I hear from traffic supervisors that people will flip the bird. You know, they yell out the window, how dare you stop traffic. I mean, you have to see the abuse that the traffic supervisors are putting up with kids across the street. And there's no need for it, Mr. President. And we as a community have to send a message out. It's not going to be tolerated in our community. I realize people get frustrated sitting in traffic and so forth, but when it comes to public safety, we're not going to take a back seat in this community. So I would ask, Mr. President, that the Chief Sacco revisit the direct communication with our traffic supervisors so they can report things on a timely manner, also that we revisit our crosswalks to make sure that they're highly visible and the correct signage and painting is done properly, Mr. President, and that the Medford police do a sting in certain locations to send out a message in this community that we're not going to tolerate abuse of our traffic supervisors or cars speeding through intersections where our children and our pedestrians are crossing, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Move approved. On the motion by Vice President Mox. Seconded. Seconded by Councilor Allend. All those in favor.
[Michael Marks]: Roll call vote Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Clerk roll call vote has been requested. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, involved in the accident today. I don't know, for those of you who don't know, there was a crossing guy to West Mephitt. He didn't get hit by a car, but he got hit by a backhoe. And I say, you know, if you could, maybe when you get back to the office tomorrow, find out what his status is in West Mephitt, at the train, at the place that in High Street this afternoon. So, again, I hope the young lady is okay. Offered by Councilor Langlois-Carrion be it resolved that the council receive a copy of the updated data that was requested by the school committee last night as it relates to adding developments of 100 or more and including all non-school age children within the study of lower developments are affecting our schools. Councilor Langlois-Carrion.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I was watching the school committee meeting last night. a group of teachers were going to speak, and I wanted to take a look. And before that happened, School Committee woman Erin DeBettidetto had brought up the issue with regards to just the research that took place, data that was collected of children from developments entering, and how many are entering Medford Public Schools, and I think it's just something we need to keep track of, especially since we're developing all over the community. She asked for a further report with regards to including developments with 100 or more versus the 150 or more that was done in the last round of data. She also asked for school-age children and non-school-age children so we can get an idea of what will the amount of children that will be entering our schools coming down the line so that we can plan accordingly. I think it was a great resolve, it was supported unanimously, and I would just like, once that is drafted and complete, I would like to get a copy so that we can conclude it with the data that we received two weeks ago. Thank you. And I think it's just one of the, like again, one of the many parts that we need to look into with regards to development and how it's affecting our community. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: on the motion by Councilor Kern, seconded by Councilor Russo. All those in favor. I motion passes records.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, Vice President Max, before you call for the records, I just want to bring to the council's attention. We got responses back from the mayor in our packet. One was for paper 17-six, three, seven. It was an update offered by myself and Council Lungo-Koehn for the future and current plans for the Hagner Center. I believe Councilor Longo and I have put this on the agenda, along with other members of the Council, three times at least. And the response we received on this latest was, as stated on the Council paper June 13th, which is one of the other responses, we will apprise the Council of the needs once an evaluation is completed. So clearly, Mr. President, the city has at least no intent right now to do anything with that particular building. We know the city's track record when it comes to the maintenance of buildings, and the lung of this particular building remains vacant. and unkept, Mr. President, the more it's going to cost this community and taxpayers to eventually fix it for another repurpose. And I know I, as one member, have put out looking at potential, which I think Councilor Scarpelli would agree upon, potential location for new athletic recreation department or a potential use for an art center, Mr. President, in this community. Right now, we don't have a home for Medford Arts, and that building would be of tremendous use. So I would ask that we get a better response, Mr. President. And if the mayor doesn't have any idea what she wants to do with the building, Let me retract that. Originally, when the company that was renting this particular building wanted to sell the building after the city turning the building over for $1, for their use to provide support for people with disabilities. And according to the city, if it was no longer to be used for that purpose, it would revert back to the city. So this particular company, not-for-profit, was no longer moving. They moved out. They were no longer using the building. They tried to sell it. It was this councilor who made that proposal? They tried to sell it for over, I think it was $650,000, a building the city gave to them for $1 for a particular purpose. The mayor came and said she negotiated an agreement that would give the city, I think, don't quote me on this, but I think it was about $100,000. And it was this council, and I led the charge, Mr. President, that stopped it from happening, Mr. President, and requested the city solicitor look into taking that building back. And the city solicitor reached out to the entity, and we were able to secure the building. But now it's been close to a year, and we've been asking, what are we going to do with the building, Mr. President? And we still have no answers from this administration. So I would again ask that we get a response on behalf of the residents of this community and the direct abutters that want to know what's going on, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you Mr. Vice President. On the motion by Vice President Mox. Second by Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you President Caraviello. I agree with my colleague and I just want to go further and ask for what type of evaluation is being done and how long are we expecting for it to be complete? Because we have been asking for answers for a year and I think it's time that we get a little more than half a sentence. because we're not asking, I don't live, I'm not a direct abutter. The direct abutters are emailing and calling us to find out what is going on with the property. Once in a while, they'll see a couple shrubs tidied up. Once in a while, they'll see some activity. I believe our police department's using it. But what evaluation's being done, how long is it gonna take, and what's our plan? It's time, it's time. If we need to, whatever we need to do to get some answers in more than a half sentence, it would be much appreciated.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you. On the motion by Vice President Mox. Mr. President, if I could. Yes. Not to belabor the point, but any any time the administration talks about an evaluation or a study, it just brings back some real bad thoughts in my head about the study that was commissioned to look at a taxi on a water taxi on the Mystic River or a study on whether or not we needed a parking garage behind Colleen's, Mr. President. Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to realize something that we already know. So I hope that the city's not going to move forward with some type of study on this, Mr. President. Because all we need to do is get the wealth of knowledge we have in this community and move forward on a need that we have in this community.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. On the motion by Vice President Mox, seconded by Councilor McCarran. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. The table records of the meeting of September 19th are passed to Councilor Scott Peli. Councilor Scott Peli, how did you find those records? Please forgive me if I could extend that to next week. I'd appreciate it. If we could table those records another week for Councilor Scott Peli. The records of the meeting of September 26th, 2017 were passed to Councilor Dello Russo. Councilor Dello Russo, how have you found those records?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President, after examining the records to the best of my ability, I see them to be without error and move their approval.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. All those in favor of accepting the record?
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President? Mr. Vice President? Just before we end, I think you let us know that next week we may be back at City Hall. We will be back at City Hall next week for everyone.
[Richard Caraviello]: so people know not to come up to the high school.
[Unidentified]: We want people to come up here.
[Richard Caraviello]: Maybe Barry might make a call, let everybody know that we're back at City Hall, our regular home.
[Michael Marks]: I would ask that in the form of a motion then.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Clerk, if you could ask the administration if we can get a call letting people know that we will be back at City Hall next week. Thank you, Mr. President. Motion to adjourn by Councilor Dela Ruzzo. Motion to adjourn. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Meeting adjourned.
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