[Richard Caraviello]: Commissioner Kerins is present to answer any questions. Commissioner Kerins.
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: Name and address for the record, please. Brian Kerins, 6 Milton Terrace and Hyde Park. Could you explain what we're talking about? Okay, the truck that we're talking about, Mr. President, is to replace the existing truck. which was in 1999, it has been out of service now for about a year due to age fatigue and it's economically not feasible to replace it. This particular truck would maintain and manage the flow, so to speak, of the sewer mains, the storm sewer mains, and in addition to that, cleaning the storm sewers in the city.
[George Scarpelli]: Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you, Mr. President. So I take it in the past year, what have we done, Mr. Kerens, to rectify this issue during the absence of this vehicle?
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: We've had to rely solely on outside contractors. And that's been a pretty penny, I suppose. Just as an example, if I were to call today for a VACTA truck, if available, it's $2,500 a day, quarter to portal. And again, if I recall,
[George Scarpelli]: This vehicle assists us in making sure that we eliminate any flooding in neighborhoods, I believe, is that one of the?
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: It helps to manage it, depending on what type of an event it is.
[George Scarpelli]: Okay. I think that, again, this is one of the initiatives I think we all have spoken about, making sure that our DPW is equipped with the proper equipment to make sure that our city can run as it should. So, um, especially thinking about the, what we've lost and revenue due to the fact that we've had to go and outsource it at $2,500 a day to me is, is frightening. So I, uh, strongly, um, accept this, uh, this motion and the purchase of this machine. Mr. President. Thank you. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, Mr. Karens, a couple of quick questions. What's the average lifespan for a vehicle like this?
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. There is a window of time in the summer that the health, working with the health department, all right, they put pellets into the catch basins for, you know, the storm sewer. So, you know, we ceased for a couple of months during the summer. Okay. Okay. But that, okay, you know, that doesn't have anything to do with the actual domestic sewer lines that get backed up.
[John Falco]: Okay. Great. Mr. President, I, I second the, the resolution and move approval. Thank you. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Dello Russo. Mr. President, I'm delighted to also endorse this project. Nothing's too good for the people of Medford.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Councilor Lango-Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. It says on the paperwork that it's, the estimate is $409,000. Do you know where we're going to get the extra $10,000?
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: Okay, that would have to be worked out with the, you know, Treasurer's office and purchasing, but the money is there, Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So we're going to find the other 10 somewhere else.
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: That's correct.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Um, maybe if we could just ask the question, where's the other 10,000 going to come from?
[Richard Caraviello]: And if you could ask where the other 10,000 will be coming from. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And if you could just name what other pieces of equipment are you in dire need for besides this?
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: Well, last year, last year, uh, per the mayor's request, uh, I had submitted a capital plan for a few years as far as the actual, you know, turning over of, equipment, uh, within all departments within public works. Uh, we're now into our second year and, uh, we'll be, you know, phasing out some of the light duty vehicles, the one ton dumps, the pickup trucks that in most cases are, you know, around 10 years old and, uh, are in, uh, you know, deteriorating pretty rapidly.
[Richard Caraviello]: Okay. Great. Thank you. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Uh, Mr. Cairns, how are you?
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: Fine. Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: Good. Are we able to perform the maintenance on this vehicle in-house? The maintenance and upkeep on this vehicle, would it be able to be performed in-house?
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, the preventive maintenance. Obviously, any kind of repairs that would have to be done to it would be covered under a warranty plan with the company we purchase it from. Okay, thank you. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Kerins, we currently subcontract out for the cleaning of our catch basins. currently. That's correct. And with this piece of equipment, are we going to maintain the same contract or are we going to be able to do a lot of it in house?
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: Uh, we'll do a fair amount of it in house. Councilor, uh, keeping in mind there's a 4,555 storm drains in this city that public works has to manage. And you know, our target is, has been all right to at least, you know, get a minimum, of half of that every single year. Our goal is to try to get everything. Again, it would depend on weather, personnel availability, but at two o'clock in the morning, we have a backup somewhere. I have nothing to rely on as far as in-house equipment. And of course, public safety, public health dictates we have to address the issue right away.
[Michael Marks]: So, so currently right now we're, we're doing, we're trying to get to at least half of them. That's, that's a mandatory minimum. And is that through the private contract that we have or is that? That's private contract. That's correct. So we're going to, we're going to maintain that contract and then have this piece of equipment. So we're going to be able to do more than half now with this piece of equipment. Okay.
[uVH2naDKUEE_SPEAKER_02]: What, what are, what our goal would be is to bring down possibly, all right, you know, the contract, the inner, the outside contractor as far as, you know, his availability. We definitely, we need, you know, more than one vehicle out there because again, we lose the summer months, right? Where we cannot do any storm basin cleaning at all from, from June, right through the end of September, those months are gone per the request of the board of health. So they can put the mosquito pellets in the catch basins. So again, and it also really would depend on what kind of weather events we have throughout the year, you know, whether it be bad rain storms or whatever that could clean or clog these bases with all kinds of trash and debris, because sometimes they can, some of them can fill up very fast.
[Michael Marks]: Okay. Cause back, back some years ago, maybe even before you became a commissioner, uh, we used to get through a hundred percent of the storm drains and every year they would market a different color, yellow, blue, orange to know which drains were completed. And over the years, I think it's, um, we kind of took money from that particular account and weren't able to get to as many storm drains. So I'm happy to hear that if we're able to maintain that current contract and then this be additional, because it's vital. We have flooding in every part of it. I don't have to tell you. Every part of the community has flooding and largely due to catch basins that end up filling up and get clogged from leaves and sand and everything else that clogs them. And it creates flooding in people's basements and so forth. So I'm pleased to hear that we're purchasing this equipment. It's needed in the community of this size. And I support it tonight, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. On the motion by Councilor Scarpelli, seconded by Councilor Falco. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Feliciano? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Montgomery? Yes. Vice President Marks? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Caraviello?
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, none in the negative. Motion passes. Mr. Clerk, please mark Councilor Knight as being present. Thank you, Mr. Kearns. Motion by Councilor Scarpelli to revert back to regular business. Seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 17-729 offered by Councilor Lungo-Koehn being resolved that the Medford City Council be provided with a scaled map that was used. I'm sorry? Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry, pardon me. 17-727 offered by Councilor Lungo-Koehn, be it resolved that the Medford City Council be provided a list from the administration of what addresses were sent notification of the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting regarding the Medford Street Broadway proposal. Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. As we all are aware, last Tuesday there was a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting that coincided with the Medford City Council meeting. And I know a number of us stuck around to attend that Zoning Board of Appeals meeting when it moved to the council chambers. The reason there was so much issue was because of the notification of a proposed project by the city of Medford, not by the developer, by the city of Medford. And it seems that people who live across the street from the project were not notified of such a meeting. They had to find out of the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting through City Council alderman from Somerville who happened to litter the neighborhood about a meeting that Somerville was having. So once our residents in the neighborhood found out, and I believe there was 10 or 11 people here last Tuesday at the zoning meeting, that weren't present during the initial zoning meeting in September because they had no notification. They were here last week and wanted to speak on the proposal, wanted to ask questions, had concerns, and they weren't notified. So I would like to get a list from the administration of exactly who was notified, a breakdown of just the name and address of all those that were notified. Very simple request, but in future resolutions I have on the agenda tonight, Um, it speaks to giving more notifications. So we don't run into these problems like we did last week, which is extremely unfortunate. I think it's holding up the process of that specific development more than it should because of what went down last Tuesday and why it went down and lack of notification is a big part of this. So if we could be provided that, um, that would be very helpful and we can better understand when we are getting a complaint or an email or a concern, we know, why we're getting it now versus in September when this initially should have taken place and probably been resolved. So I'll just move approval on that, ask for a roll call vote.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Locurin, seconded by Councilor Falco. Mr. Clerk, a roll call vote has been requested.
[Clerk]: Councilor Feliciano? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Locurin?
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. A seven in the affirmative. None in the negative. Motion passes 17 seven to eight off of my council. Lungo can be a resolve that the Medford city council at a city ordinance that requires all zoning board of appeals meetings to be held at times that do not conflict with the Medford city council Tuesday evening meetings. Counsel Lungo can.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. President Carve yellow over the last several years, I've been, and a number of my colleagues here on the city council have been interested and concerned about the development in Medford and interested in zoning OCD, different types of meetings that are going on, most importantly being the one, the board that gives the variances for certain developments, which is a zoning board of appeals meeting. And I think we've discussed a number of times to make it more transparent. We want all public city meetings to go live. And this is just one request that a number of residents brought up to me over the last several days after the Tuesday night meeting, especially where you have a few of us on the council running back and forth to the zoning board of appeals meetings because there are such important issues that are going to affect large areas, big neighborhoods in Medford and affect everybody that lives there. Yet our meetings are being held at the same time. Um, I think that we, I asked my colleagues to vote to update our ordinances and make this part of our city ordinances. I'm asking for that vote tonight. I'm not asking for it to go to the committee. On zoning, I'm asking for an official vote to make sure that the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings are held any other night besides Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to go on record of supporting this resolution. I think it's a good resolution. Zoning is one of the most important responsibilities that we have. you know, on the city council. And it's something that, uh, we need to make sure that we have the opportunity to attend these meetings. Um, especially when you have major developments, uh, that are going in, uh, people call us, they want answers. And, uh, so we should, uh, you know, have the opportunity to attend those meetings. And if the meetings occur at the same time, then something has to give. So I think that, uh, then moving, uh, the zoning, uh, board moving those meetings to another night, I think would be ideal for everyone, uh, in the community. But I also believe that, and I mentioned this before in the past, they shouldn't be held in the room across the hall. Zoning board meetings should be held here. If you go to a zoning board meeting, it's ridiculous that people have to stand in the hallway to find out what's going on, especially if it's a big issue. They can't even hear the presentation that's being put on by the developer. You could be in support or non-support, but you still can't hear the presentation. And that doesn't do, That doesn't benefit anyone. So really, in my opinion, they shouldn't be held in that room. They should be on a night other than Tuesday night. And I'm hoping that when we have the legislative software that's going to be installed hopefully soon, we'll have those meetings on tape, and people will be able to watch them 24-7. And a lot of the documents will be accessible 24-7 as well. So I support the resolution. I second the resolution. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Dello Russo. Trick or treat, Mr. President. Mr. President, the minutes, the agendas of various boards and commissions are posted on the city website in advance of their meetings. Mr. President, the Zoning Board of Appeals has often been presented to me by legal authorities as being a semi-judiciary board. They make a judicious decisions, uh, regarding alleviating, alleviating, uh, encumbrances or, uh, the actual letter of the law regarding our zoning. Uh, they can be on great matters or small matters, expanding your front porch, uh, widening your driveway, uh, things of that nature, Mr. President. Um, and, and one of the things that protects that board, is that it's free from political influence. It's free from the influence of city councilors going in there, the mayor telling them what to do. That's the way it's set up. And so, Mr. President, Given the way this was just presented to us by Councilor Lungo-Koehn, I cannot support that because we don't have language to change our ordinance. So I'm certainly not going to change our ordinance blindly without having a text before us. Secondly, Mr. President, I wouldn't dare touch this without proper legal advice. And I would think that an officer of the court would know that, Mr. President. I agree, I wholeheartedly agree that there are some flaws with the way people have access to that meeting room. It certainly isn't to a standard that people would want, but that needs to be addressed too, Mr. President. But to change the, by ordinance, when an independent board can meet, to make it subject to influence by members of a separate political body, Mr. President, I don't think is good business. Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Vice President Mox. Thank you, Mr. President, and I support this resolution. The Zoning Board of Appeals is a public board, and members of this council, members of the community, have the right to speak before this board. And in my opinion, I was elected to do so to represent the people of this community. And I'm not going to take a backseat, Mr. President, when it comes to that. So everyone behind this reel is entitled to their opinion. But I agree with my colleagues that spoke that when you have a public meeting for a neighborhood and a room that holds maybe 20 to 25 people at best is not enough. And when you have, half the crowd in the hallway, as Councilor Falco mentioned, that can't hear what's going on, that's going to have a direct impact on them and their quality of life. There's a problem with that. And if no one else wants to talk about it, we as representatives of the people in this community have every right to stand up on behalf of the residents, Mr. President. So I support this wholeheartedly, Mr. President, that, um, Boards of commissions in this community, first of all, should be subject to being televised. It's great that they're keeping their minutes, and I would hope they do so, and they ratify their minutes. But it's also important that we, as residents, those that may be homebound, that can't get out to these particular meetings, have access to see what's going on in government. It's called good government. And the Boards of Appeals is part of this government. They are an autonomous board, that's correct. But they also are part of this city. And when residents come up and hear someone from a board say, sorry sir, that portion of the meeting is over, we can't hear from you right now, or our rules prevent you from speaking right now, in my opinion, does a disservice to every taxpayer in this community. every taxpayer in this community. And I have never been part of a board, commission, whatever you want to call it, that will tell people, residents that come up, sorry, we can't hear you tonight. Sorry, that portion is over. Sorry, our rules. Let's go to the council rules. Is there any council rules that say residents can't come up and address this council? Absolutely not. We could suspend the rules at any given time to allow residents to come up. Even if we're past that portion of the agenda, we could still go back. And that's what happened the other night, Mr. President. And then you have a board member, Mr. President, that takes it one step further, saying the fact that they have to issue so many variances is because the city council hasn't done their job updating the zoning. That's not the reason, Mr. President. The zoning's in place. They're given variances, Mr. President, that should be given out for hardships. And building multiple units and raising a building as high as possible is not a hardship based on the fact that developers are going to make a lot more money. That is not a hardship. So I think, honestly, Mr. President, that in addition, I know Councilor Longo has another resolution on a little further in, but we also have to look, Mr. President, at the notification process. By state law, the minimum requirement is within 300 feet of the development. That's the minimum requirement. I asked the board the other night when they were in deliberation. You can go above the minimum requirement. You can go below the state law. You can go above. Why doesn't this board request that the developer notify 400, 500, 600, 700 feet, 1,000 feet, to make sure the neighborhood is aware of what's going on, Mr. President. And I was told, well, that's a great expense. Expense is $300 for this community. Notify. The biggest issue I heard. was development I'm sure there's things that the notification process and once right feel being done behind their back that's when they're going to come out so if the patient to drug which I've been asking for for years on this council that's notified if I can get to one case behind But we can't notify residents that they're going to build a five-story building next to their home. There's a problem. There's a problem, Mr. President. I get four to five calls, in my opinion, that residents aren't really getting, with no one. Just like Eversource and other projects that are going to air in this community, there's nothing being sent out. That's a problem, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I had mentioned earlier that I believe that the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting should be held in Alden Chambers. It should be held in City Council Chambers. I'd like to have a resolution that the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings be held in Alden Chambers.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you. Council Member O'Connor.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I just want to point out the website, city website was mentioned, and I think that's also part of the problem. Over the last, again, year, year and a half where we've had some serious Zoning Board of Appeals meetings with some serious decisions, I've got repeated complaints from residents who went on our city website, and for some reason, The OCD meetings and the Zoning Board of Appeal meetings were some of the only meetings that were left off the city calendar on the city website. Leave it to coincidence, I don't know, but I've gotten multiple complaints about that over the last couple of years, and that raises a red flag and brings a whole other leg to this problem. Secondly, it was referred that I'm an officer of the court and I should know that we need legal language. I just have to disagree with that. I'm not an attorney when I sit behind this rail. I'm voted in to represent the people, the neighborhoods, and those that have a concern and want things to change. I'm not going to sit here and allow this to go to the zoning committee where we sent things a year, year and a half ago, and they either sat there or were squashed by the person that's telling me I should be an officer of the court. Um, so I asked for a vote tonight that we change our ordinance to make sure it's simple zoning board of appeals meetings be held at times that do not conflict with the Medford city council Tuesday evening meetings, period.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Counsel Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: If I can, um, Mr. President, real quick, I know that, uh, last week I did come in a little late and the, uh, there was a little confusion that the councils might not have, uh, word was some councils weren't interested in what was going on the zoning board meeting because they weren't attending that meeting. I appreciate my colleagues being there, but just for a public notification, I feel very strongly about this issue. I know we've talked about our zoning and reviewing our zoning. I appreciate council Lungo current for bringing this forward because I think this is very important and I support it. Um, but again, uh, what, what just to set the record straight, I wanted to be there just as much as any of the other Councilors. And, um, and this is one of the reasons why I support this. Um, I felt at the time that the job that that was given to us with what we had on the, on the calendar, uh, was minimal that I wanted to attend that whole meeting and listen to the concerns of those citizens that called me and emailed me so we can give them the answers that they needed. So just to just wanted to throw that out there to make sure people understood that, that for this Councilor, I feel just as strong as I think every council behind this rail about what's happening with zoning issues and what happened at that meeting because it went downhill pretty fast and that's not the way to do business in our community. So thank you. Thank you, Councilor Scott Peli. Name and address of the record, please.
[McKillop]: David McKillop, 94 Rockland Road. I just wanted to talk a little bit on this as far as the zoning. I've been up here before talking about zoning and how desperately we need to have that conversation to move the city forward because of the simple fact that we will have construction going on and new programs and great ideas coming into the city. They shouldn't be stalled because we can't figure out what to do with zoning. Zoning is a contract. It's a contract with the neighborhoods. It's telling the neighborhoods, this is the direction that we've all decided the city will go. So to have variances which are granted, they're exceptions to the rules, like you were saying, hardship cases. They're not exceptions to the rule where we can squeeze something into a space and make it work. That's not what the variance is for. So to take that and to say that you folks who represent the citizens, you do not work for the administration, you represent the citizens, to not go to a board of appeals meeting makes absolutely no sense. You have to stand your ground. You have to support the citizens of the neighborhoods until we get the zoning problem solved. And if you can't do that, then you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. Thank you very much. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Lungo-Koehn, seconded by Councilor Falco. Mr. Clerk, as amended by Councilor Falco. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor De La Rosa? No. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Nancy? No. Councilor Kern? Yes. Vice President Martins? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Calvillo?