[Richard Caraviello]: Commissioner Kerins is present to answer any questions. Commissioner Kerins.
[Brian Kerins]: 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?
[Brian Kerins]: 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?
[Brian Kerins]: 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?
[Brian Kerins]: 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?
[Brian Kerins]: 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.
[Brian Kerins]: 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?
[Brian Kerins]: 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?
[Brian Kerins]: 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?
[Brian Kerins]: 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?
[Brian Kerins]: 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.
[Brian Kerins]: 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?
[Richard Caraviello]: No. Three in the negative, four in the affirmative, motion passes. 17-729, offered by Councilor Kern.
[Fred Dello Russo]: That's right.
[Richard Caraviello]: You are correct, Mr. Councilor La Rosa. So tonight it will take its, so this will take its first reading this evening, Mr. Clerk. In order that's changed it, we have, we have the language that council and we're going to put in. So this will, this will be its first reading. Yes.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. Vice presidents acceptable to my colleagues. I'd recommend that we send a resolution as approved by the council to the city solicitor so he can craft where it should go within the zoning ordinance and then send it back to us for our, for our debate and our discussion. No, send it right to the city solicitor. Councilor Layton.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, the reason I didn't support the paper was because there was no text and no language for an ordinance to be changed. If a paper is going to go to the city solicitor for him to draft one, I have no problem supporting that. I'd like to say that I'd be voting in the affirmative for that.
[Richard Caraviello]: I would change my vote if it's going to the city solicitor also.
[Adam Knight]: Ultimately, Mr. President, the paper says, be it resolved the Medford City Council had a city ordinance that requires all zoning board of appeals to be held at times of conflict with the city council meetings. What section of the zoning ordinance is that going to go in? When is it going to fall under administration of government?
[Richard Caraviello]: I would. Motion to rescind the vote, Mr. Woods. That hasn't been called. Motion by Councilor Knight to rescind the vote. Motion for reconsideration by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll again.
[Adam Knight]: As amended.
[Richard Caraviello]: This is going to, as amended, that this go to the city solicitor. To craft the craft language. Yes. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Yes. Councilor Layton. Yes. Councilor Kern. Yes. Vice President Rodgers. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, none in the negative. Motion passes. 17-729, offered by Councilor Lungo-Koehn, be it resolved that the Medford City Council be provided with the scaled map that was used to figure out which addresses were to be notified of the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting regarding the Medford Street Broadway development. Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I was asked by a resident who lives in the area and wasn't notified for a scaled map. I believe it's available in City Hall. Wondering if we can all get a copy in our next packet for Friday. I'm basing it really just to see who wasn't notified on this project, but also this with a list of which abutters we already approved, which abutters were notified. I just want to get an idea of really how many people were notifying on a project of this magnitude, because this has been a recurring issue over the last year and a half, two years, where abutters are really upset they're not getting notification, and they live across the street or very, very close to a project. So I really want to take a look at a map, take a look at the abutter list of who was notified, and really figure out where we're going wrong here. I know we have another resolution coming up that more people be notified. And I think we can obviously take that vote tonight, but also look in the future to see if we need more than the 300 feet radius. Because we have such serious developments going on in this community, and the more people you notify, the better. And if you're talking about a postage stamp, it's well worth it to allow residents the opportunity to be informed.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by Councilor Lococo, seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favour?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Roll call.
[Richard Caraviello]: Roll call vote has been requested Mr. Clerk.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. 70 in the affirmative and the negative motion pass.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Suspension of the rules.
[Richard Caraviello]: Move suspension of the rules by council on the occurrence. Seconded by councilor Falco. All those in favor. Motion passes.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Um, thank you, president Caraviello. Thank you. Councilors. If we could allow, there was, like we said last Tuesday at the zoning board of appeals meeting, there was 10 or 11 people who were not given the opportunity to speak. of their concerns. There's a few here tonight that would like to speak out and voice their concerns, and I think as a public body, we have to give them that opportunity, and hopefully their concerns will get back to those who are making decisions, and I just think it's the appropriate thing to do. So I'd like to offer the floor to any residents that would like to speak on that proposal.
[Richard Caraviello]: Good evening. Name and address of the record, please.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jillian Chernobyl, 12 Shapely Avenue. I just wanted to speak a little bit because I went to the Board of Appeals meeting last week and was told that I could not speak at that meeting. I did go to the building department and I got a scaled map and discovered that my house is about 140 feet away from the development, which is well under the 300-foot radius. So I just want some clarification of why we were not notified even though we are well within the 300-foot radius. Thank you. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Good evening. Name and address of the record, please.
[SPEAKER_24]: Hi, Pamela Cerullo, five Shapely Avenue. I just like to thank the board again for allowing us to have this opportunity to speak. And again, I do have to agree with Jillian that I'm actually less of a distance from this project than she is. And we were never notified. The only way that I found out about the meeting in Somerville was because Mr. Zamuto actually was walking around handing out flyers. And he happened to hand it personally to me. I was glad I was able to at least go there. And again, with the fact that the city council meetings were held at the exact same time, once I knew what was happening, my husband and I literally ran from the Somerville meeting to the city council meeting here. But at that point, I couldn't say anything until after the meeting had closed. And thank goodness we had some of the councillors that listened to me and kind of like got me thinking I've got to get something going because I want to be part of the development of this area. What I do want is a lower building. And that's our biggest concern. And we will address a few things later on if we're given that opportunity. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Good evening. Name and address of the record, please.
[SPEAKER_01]: Margaret Chernobyl Chapley. My daughter, Jillian, spoke earlier, and I would agree that we are less, we're like 100 feet, 140 feet, and have not been notified. Only learned from a neighbor about the meeting when the Somerville meeting took place. I had thought when I came the last week, it was so discouraging that I felt that us as citizens in Medford had nobody supporting us. I really felt left out. Every day I go to work, yeah, and I pay taxes, Yet I didn't feel that council were behind us or anybody was behind us. So I'm glad to hear today that people are, that you do understand what our feelings are. And it's mainly the height, we want to inform, it's mainly the height. Some part of it, it's in our neighborhood. And we just want to, you know, take part in what is happening in our neighborhood. But I do thank you for addressing these issues.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. There were several councils in attendance last week at the meeting.
[SPEAKER_01]: There were, but it just got out. The zone was not hearing us. They were not letting anybody speak. And it just felt that we were not being represented.
[Richard Caraviello]: Seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor. Motion passes. 17 7 3 0 offered by Councilor Kern being resolved that the mayor send a written request to the Zoning Board of Appeals requesting that residents be allowed to speak at the next meeting and every subsequent meeting to ask questions and state concerns. Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I just think it would be great for the mayor to step it up and almost go on record stating what happened last week is not, um, It's not the way we want this city to be run. We want to make sure our boards and commissions listen to the people, allow them time and opportunity to voice their concerns, state their objections if they have them, state their approvals if they have them of certain projects that go on in this city. And I request that she ask the Zoning Board of Appeals to allow the residents to speak at their next meeting, which I believe is going to be held sometime in the beginning of November. There was four or five of us Councilors there on Tuesday, and I all but pleaded, not for or against the project, just pleaded to allow the residents to have the ability to speak. I think it's just a right of somebody that, as the woman just spoke, somebody who pays taxes, resides in this city, and is next to a development, she should have the right to voice her concerns. She probably would have talked for two minutes, listed a number of concerns, and moved on to the other nine people who wanted to speak on the project. You know, I understand people don't want to be at meetings late, but it's a right that a resident should have, so I request that the mayor voice her concern, not for or against the project, even the height of the project, nothing to influence the zoning board. I just request that she go in support of allowing our residents to speak when it's so necessary that they do so. So I would, um, move approval on this resolution and, um, roll call vote, please.
[Joe Viglione]: Name and address for the record. Joe Villione, 59 Garfield Ave, Medford, Mass. I think all these meetings need to be taped. They all need to be. We're here in Alden Chambers, you've got the TV system. Why wasn't it taped on the TV in real time? Because when I do Facebook Live and it's in real time, people, residents can see it and come running down and fix their opinion. So totally, Breanna Lungo-Koehn is absolutely correct. The councilor needs to have the mayor speak up on this. I think every meeting, the Cemetery Commission, the Green Energy, Room 207 with the City Council, It all needs to be out there for transparency reasons.
[Michael Marks]: On the motion offered by Councilor Lungo-Koehn, seconded by Councilor Falco. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Paper 17-731 offered by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Be resolved that the Medford City Council implement an ordinance immediately that requires all owners within 300 feet of a proposed variance request, be provided notice of such request, and be provided the date and time of the hearing. Be it further resolved that this notice be given by regular mail and robocall. Councilwoman Locur.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Vice President Marx, President Caraviello. This is my last, I'm sorry, I just had a few things on tonight, but I, last week got to me, this 300 feet proposal, is something that I proposed back on August 16, 2016. I had, be it resolved that the council implement an ordinance that requires all owners within 300 feet of a proposed variance request be provided notice of such request and be provided the date of the hearing. Be it further resolved that this notice be given by regular mail and robocall and sent by the Secretary Board of Appeals. That was August 16, 2016, about a year and almost three months ago. At that time, we had about nine or 10 residents speak on that. From what I recall, all in support. It was amended that the city solicit a draft and ordinance. It was amended that the Board of Appeals incorporate this into the rules and regulations and policies. It was sent to the zoning subcommittee on zoning and ordinances rather than implement it at the time, which I thank the clerk for pulling this for me. I did a little investigating and found that it was discussed at the zoning meeting that I wasn't able to attend and left in committee. So that's a year and three months ago, and it was left in committee. So tonight, again, I'm asking that it not go into committee. I'm asking, whether it be 300, 400, 500 feet, that everybody within that radius be notified of these meetings. It will clear up so much confusion and prevent what happened last week twofold. because it's happening far too often. And to have people that live across the street from proposed projects to not get notified is not right. So I ask that this be an ordinance change, and it be changed immediately. I don't know how long it's gonna take our solicitor to draft an ordinance, but I ask that he, if that's what we wanna do, send it to the solicitor to make this and our prior resolution, put them both into an ordinance, that's fine. I just do not want it to go to committee.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. So, uh, council, Senator to the clerk for the correct, send it to the city solicitor for the correct language language.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Um, a request that it be done within 30 days so that we can take its first reading, um, by the end of November.
[Adam Knight]: Thank you. Councilor knife. Uh, yes, Mr. President. I'm just taking a look at my notes here relative to the zoning subcommittee and that paper was kept in committee in a legal question was sent to the city solicitor at that time. Uh, the legal question was, does the state law govern notice requirements and is this proposal outside of the scope of local control or is this a minimum guideline and we can build upon it? That was the question that was sent to the solicitor. Um, two, six, 17.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. President, did we get an answer?
[Adam Knight]: I do not believe we have.
[Richard Caraviello]: Okay. Well, um, on the motion by council local current that we send this to the city solicitor for an opinion, I'm sure we throw for a language and his guidance. and reply within 30 days. Seconded by Vice President Marx.
[Michael Marks]: I support this wholeheartedly. I would just ask that when we do send it that I believe all correspondence should go certified mail, not regular mail. That way we can ensure that residents at least get a copy of it, Mr. President. And I'd like to see a greater outreach of notification. I know this, the 300 feet was a starting point, but, uh, I guess when we get the language back, we can discuss it further, but I'd like to see a, a greater, uh, um, circumference when it comes to notification.
[SPEAKER_13]: Thank you. Councilor Knight. I do, as I understand it correctly, Mr. President, I believe that the notice only goes to property owners and if there's a renter, at the facility, they would not receive notice. It would go to the address of the property owner, not the person that resides at the place of the renter.
[Richard Caraviello]: So I'd like to see that change. Seconded by Councilor Falco. Mr. Clerk, roll call vote, please.
[Clerk]: Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Kerr? Yes. Vice-President Monk? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Caraviello?
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, none in the negative, motion passes. Motion to take papers under suspension in the hands of the clerk. I believe Councilor Monk has given us several things here from last week. Motion to take papers in the hands of the clerk, Mr. President. Seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Aye. Offered by Vice President Mox, be it resolved that the streetlight at the corner of Winchester and Harvard Street be repaired. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. That streetlight has been out for some time now, and I would ask that the city immediately send out its new vendor, which handles all the streetlights in the community. and the interest of public safety.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. All those in favor? Motion passes. Offered by Vice President Mox, be it resolved that the part, the past, be it resolved that the past with an orange cone, post with an orange cone, attached, I can't read your writing, Vice President.
[Michael Marks]: It resolved that the post with the orange cone attack posing a trip and fall hazard outside of LaCasha bakery be reviewed by the DPW and electrical department in the interest of public safety. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Uh, and that's eight years of non-school too. Uh, the motion by council box seconded by Mr. President, if I could just, if I could vice president box, uh, that, that particular post was removed, uh, from what I understand many months ago. And, uh, the city put an orange cone and attached it to, uh, the bottom of the post. And it's been like that for awhile. And when people come out of the cautious bakery holding their, uh, tray of pizza. It's difficult to see that shot cone and, and, uh, it's a real trip and fall hazard. And I would ask immediately in the interest of public safety, the city go out and rectify that issue. Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice president on the motion by count by vice-president mark, seconded by councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor motion passes offered by vice-president marks. We resolved that the sidewalk near little bakery on main street be reviewed in the interest of public safety. Vice-president marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I think all of us behind this rail have traversed over that sidewalk at one point. There's a tree that's probably 300 years old in front of the home and the sidewalk is literally up at a 90 degree angle because of the roots of the tree. I don't want to see anything happen to the tree because It's such a majestic old tree, but, uh, I think what we should do, Mr. President is remove the panel and, uh, put a task so, uh, people can traverse baby carriages can go over it.
[Richard Caraviello]: Um, in the interest of public safety on the motion by vice-president Mark second and by councilor Dolo Russo, all those in favor motion passes often by vice-president Marks. Be it resolved that the trees on both street be trimmed. Vice-president Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. As you may or may not know, I'm not rather tall, but when you walk down Bow Street, your head hits the branches of the trees on Bow Street. That's how low these branches are. And the branches need to be trimmed, Mr. President, so residents can walk safely down the street. So I would ask that the trees on Bow Street be trimmed in the interest of public safety, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Vice President Mox, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Motion passes. Offered by Vice President Mox, be it resolved that the Traffic Commission review adding no parking signs from here to the corner of 3rd Street and Middlesex Avenue. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. That 3rd Street and Middlesex Ave is a tough intersection with cars coming out to take a left or right onto Middlesex Ave and cars park right to the intersection. And it poses a real concern, not only for vehicles, but pedestrians that are crossing that particular intersection. So I would ask on both sides of 3rd Street at Middlesex Ave that no parking here at a corner, signs be placed in the interest of public safety.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Vice President Marx, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Motion passes. offered by Vice President Mox be it resolved that the City of DPW respond to why street sweeping is not taking place on Medford Street and Main Street around Higgins Avenue. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. As we know, the City of Medford sweeps our main thoroughfares and this particular section of Medford on Medford Street and Main Street, right near Higgins Ave, has not been swept in some time or not on a regular basis like it should be. And I would ask that DPW make sure that this portion of the city is on the street sweeping list and get done properly, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Vice President Marx, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Motion passes. Offered by Vice President Marx, be it resolved that the pedestrian crossing light on the east side of the Fellsway at 4th Street be repaired in the interest of public safety. Vice President Marx.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. When you're on the west side of the Fellsway and wanting to cross over to get to the side where Stop and Shop is, there's a pedestrian crossing light. As we know, you have to cross two lanes of the Fellsway. And that'll get you across. The only problem is coming back, there's no pedestrian cross light that's working. So you can't get back, more or less. It's very difficult to get back. So I would ask, Mr. President, that the pedestrian cross light on the east side of 4th Street be repaired in the interest of public safety.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Vice President Mox, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Motion passes. Offered by Vice President Mox, be it resolved that the Traffic Commission review ways of reducing the amount of cut-through track traffic on College Ave from Summer Street to George Street in the interest of public safety. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: If anyone's aware, that's a two-way road, and you can barely get a car down a two-way road. And in certain peak times, it creates a lot of chaos and backup and is a very dangerous situation for those living on Summer College and George Street, Mr. President. So I would ask that the Traffic Commission review the College Ave from Summer Street to George Street section to come up with ways of improving the pedestrian safety and resident safety in the area, and to take a look at possibly, Mr. President, making it so that cars do not use it as a cut-through, maybe resident-only signs. I'm not sure, but the Traffic Commission needs to review the situation, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Vice President Marx, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Motion passes, offered by Vice President Mox. Be it resolved that the sidewalk at 103rd Street be reviewed in the interest of public safety. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: I would just ask that DPW, Mr. President, go out to that sidewalk. It's a real trip and hazard concern and that it be repaired and replaced in the interest of public safety.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by Vice President Mox, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Offered by vice-president Marks, we have resolved that additional traffic enforcement at the corner of 2nd Street and Middlesex Avenue be reduced due to cars failing to stop. Vice-president Marks?
[Michael Marks]: There's a set of lights, Mr. President, at the corner of 2nd Street and Middlesex Ave. And I heard from a number of residents that when the light turns red, they expect they can cross the street. However, cars coming down Middlesex in particular from, uh, where Wendy's is, uh, coming down Middlesex, uh, to, um, Wellington circle, they're not stopping. They're blowing right through the light. Uh, it is a kind of a dead man's corner, uh, when you come around from BJ's, but there's ample time to see a red light. So I would ask that enforcement be stepped up in that area. to let drivers know that when the light turns red, they need to stop, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Vice President Mark, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor. Aye. Motion passes. Offered by Vice President Marks, be it resolved that the city administration report back on the status of the railroad tracks growing across Middlesex Avenue. Vice President Marks.
[Michael Marks]: There's a set of railroad tracks on Middlesex Avenue that's been defunct now for several years. And a resident asked if there's anything can be done. I know that's a state road. But I would ask that this paper also be sent to a state delegation to see if we can remove the tracks, Mr. President, and pave over the street the way it really should exist.
[Richard Caraviello]: The motion by Vice President Marx, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Motion passes. Offered by vice president marks. Be resolved that the construction in our Morrison street mangles taft and Gulch and Gil street be discussed. Vice president marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I apologize. A lot of these things were on last week and they weren't taken up last week. So I didn't want to, uh, you know, have this all on the agenda, but, uh, this is stuff from last week also. Um, I received an email from a resident that was very concerned. Uh, she was, contacted by a private company that's doing business with the city, CRL, and they asked that if they could set up an appointment to gain access to her basement and around her house so they could videotape based on some work that's being done on Taft and Guild Street. The same type of work was done on Morrison and Mangels and is still in process. I reached out today to the engineering department. I spoke with Penny. who was extremely helpful. She sent me a correspondence that was delivered to the homes of residents on Morrison Mangals, Tufts and Guild Street regarding the construction. She also sent me a correspondence from Cassandra Kudalitis, the city engineer notice. And if I could read it, Mr. President, because I think this is almost in the same way of what we're experienced with notification with some of the zoning board and other projects that are going on in the city. And it's extremely important that residents are aware of what's happening because according to this letter, if residents don't allow this particular construction company, to gain access into their homes, then this letter states that they will have no other recourse when the hammering and construction takes place in the neighborhood to file a suit, which I don't think is legal anyways. But if I could read the notice, I think it's important, Mr. President. It says, Catch Basin Disconnection Project, North Medford. Dear homeowner slash resident, the city has contracted with CRL, Incorporated for the upcoming drain main construction in your area. During the project, CRL Incorporated will excavate Morrison Street, Mangle Street, Taft and Guild Streets to install drain main pipes and catch basins. Please refer to the attached map for exact work limits. The existing catch basins that are currently tied to the sewer system will be disconnected from the sewer system and connected to the new drain system. This project is part of the city's efforts to remove INI inflow and infiltration, which I've been talking about for a hundred years, from the sewer system. Construction is expected to begin in early September and will be completed in approximately four months. The project will require rock removal that's present on site. The contractor will have to inspect the homes in the area to record their existing condition before the start of rock removal and construction. please refer to the third page for details. Another notice will be delivered later as we get closer to the start of the construction process. During the construction process, signs will be posted on the affected streets with on-street parking restrictions. Detail officers will also be on site to assist with traffic management Any questions, you can call Penny in the engineering office at 781-475-5979. And the portion, Mr. President, that I want to also read was that this is the letter that went out to each home. It wasn't certified. The last letter was certified. And a portion of this letter I'd like to read It says, also, please be aware that if you decide not to allow CRL and Corp to inspect and video both the interior and exterior of your home and property, you shall waive your rights to file any future claim for damage to your home and property in relation to this project. I don't think that's legal, Mr. President, first of all. And secondly, if residents happen to not get notification, for whatever reason, we just had a major windstorm that was down trees and power lines. And it's easy for a piece of paper like this that's attached to your door. They told me they taped them on your door to easily fly off, you know, in a windstorm. And so I would ask, Mr. President, that we — it also states that homes will be only inspected within 200 feet of the project. So if you live 225 feet, they're not going to come out and inspect your, uh, your, uh, basement for any or the surrounding foundation for any type of damage. So it's only within 200 feet. But I would ask that, um, the city, Mr. President, uh, notify, to reverse 911 in addition to possibly sending up a representative from the city. It's only four streets. To knock the doors, Mr. President, to let people know what's going on in the neighborhood. From what I understand, the number that CRL put on this, if you have any questions or concerns, CRL said call us at 391-3800. A resident called, no voicemail, couldn't leave a message. It just rang and rang and rang. So we really need to have a clerk of the works representing the city when this project starts. In particular, when they start hammering the ledge, as we all know about Winthrop Street when they did blasting, it's going to create foundations to shake. And people are going to be concerned, Mr. President. And everyone in that community should be notified on those streets that they would be highly recommended to have someone come in and videotape to safeguard their home. And I don't think we're doing enough right now. to get the message out to the community, uh, once again, regarding this very important project. So that would be my recommendation and my motion, uh, Mr. President, that, uh, a clerk of the works from the city engineering department, walk the streets, knock the doors, a reverse 911 be targeted for that particular neighborhood, uh, regarding what's taken place and contact names and numbers, uh, regarding what's happening, Mr. President, with this, uh, very important project. Um, I do support the project. as I've spoken timeless over the years, that we have a number of catch basins that are illegally hooked up to the sewer system. And every time it rains, that water goes out and is treated at Deer Island as raw sewage. And it's costing the rate payers of this community millions of dollars a year to treat rainwater from catch basins that are illegally connected to the sewer system. This will rectify that problem in that particular area. So I thank the city for moving forward on this, but I want to make sure that, uh, the residents, uh, safeguarded Mr. President for any type of, uh, property loss or property destruction. Mr. President.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. Vice president. Councilor Scarpelli. Uh, thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate my colleague for bringing this up. If he doesn't mind, could we, could we amend that to maybe, um, I think it's such an important issue, especially when you're talking about, uh, jackhammering or maybe even worse, maybe that we should have the city engineer call for not only just going door to door, but then call for a community meeting for that area up in that, in that, that location. So we can answer all the questions. I think we're going to be similar questions throughout all the residents. And if my colleague doesn't, doesn't mind to add that on, I'd appreciate it.
[Michael Marks]: President Mox, I think that's a great suggestion. The correspondence I received, and I received a few from the city, one says that the utility project in your area is starting Thursday, November 2nd, which is two days away. The other one says I'm taking a utility drain project starting the week of November 13th. And I think there was one other one. Oh, the videotaping, November 2nd and 3rd. and the 6th and the 10th, so November 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 10th. Residents of Taft and Guild are being told 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. So this is really on the fast track now. I don't mind having a hearing, a public hearing, meeting, whatever, but someone needs to get out into the neighborhood. Also, Mr. President, I received a complaint from Mangels that when they did this project, it rained and a lot And I have pictures that it turned their driveway, as you know, when concrete and water mix, it turned it a mixture of concrete and water and stuck to their driveway. And they contacted the city and the city said, we'll have someone come out and power wash it, but we'll use your water. And the resident took exception to that. This is your problem. And I guess there was some back and forth on that, but I would also the paper, Mr. President city, go out to Mangels and look at the driveways to make sure that the cement that leached into the driveways is power washed off, Mr. President, no expense to the residents of that particular area.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Vice President Knight as amended by Councilor Scarpelli and Vice President Mox, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All those in favor? Motion passes. Offered by Vice President Mox. resolve the rodent issue in Wellington being discussed. Vice President Mox.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I brought this up two weeks ago regarding a complaint I received from up the heights of rats, up the heights in Wellington. And I have to report back that Allison Conboy from uh, the health office was out in both bullets. From my understanding, uh, did mine active, uh, red, um, uh, thank you. Rad Burrows. Uh, in some of the areas, Mr. President, um, I asked that, uh, two weeks ago that the city hire a pest control company. We've been successful in other areas of the city, hiring an outside company. We have the whereabouts, the capacity, the manpower to handle large neighborhoods to solve an issue like this. Much of the Wellington area that's under construction, we're experiencing from the casino, which is along the river, and the rats are making their way down the tracks and on the river. The bridge that we're building in Wellington, is creating this infestation. What I'm hearing from residents, some residents are not closing their barrels, and the rats are actually jumping on the barrel and helping themselves to this food source, which doesn't help the situation either. So I would request, Mr. President, in the interest of public safety and the fact that it's pretty rampant in the Wellington area. I've been getting a lot of calls from Third Street, Middlesex Ave, Bradbury, all over Wellington. regarding rats. And these aren't two-legged rats. These are four-legged rats that are running around. And I would ask, Mr. President, that we receive a report back on a plan of action. because I've yet to, I asked two weeks ago, I've yet to hear about any plan of action by the city. And, uh, I think notification should go out to all residents in these particular areas to advise them that there is a concern. And if there happens to be an old vegetable garden from the summer, that's still around and there's some old tomatoes, you got to take away the food source. If you're taking your barrel out, make sure your trash is squished all the way down and the lid is secure and tight on it. And maybe if we take away the food source, we can get these rats. One resident mentioned to me that if you introduce skunks, they're a natural predator to the rat, and they'll do away with the rats. But then you have skunks. And I'm not sure which one is better, to be honest with you. The issue, Mr. President, is a very serious issue, and they're going to start leaving these boroughs in the cold weather and try to find their way into people's homes and basements and so forth, and garages. And this is going to be a real serious issue if we don't get ahead of the curve. But off of those two motions, Mr. President, notification of residents on what's happening. through verse 9-1-1 and any other notification process and a plan of action on how we're going to handle this particular problem.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. I believe my rodent complaint this week came from the South Medford area, but not necessarily rats. Can you give a little more detail? People listening can know exactly where this is. Is this happening in the park, near the parks, near homes, in people's backyards?
[Michael Marks]: It's actually the whole neighborhood. Oh my gosh. I've witnessed them myself. Just run by. Typically at night, but it's everywhere. I was at Harris Park. Last weekend, every resident that came out to talk, that was their number one complaint. I was waiting to hear sidewalks and other issues, and it was the rat infestation. And I've never seen it like this in the particular area. I know we have a number of food establishments that the Board of Health has been great to be on top of these particular food establishments and their disposal that are outside on the perimeter of the property. This is an epidemic. In my opinion, Mr. President, and we need outside pest control to step up and come into the city, Mr. President, and try to alleviate. So it's throughout the entire neighborhood.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: of Wellington. And then you said North Medford as well.
[Michael Marks]: At the top of North Medford. Uh, I received complaints, uh, right around car park, uh, from residents up there that said they've been seeing an increase. I haven't received as many calls to be honest with you from the Heights as I have from the Wellington area, but I received the same type of complaints regarding infestation, um, up in the Heights too. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Vice president.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Second. Thank you. I second the motion to the motion by vice president marks.
[Richard Caraviello]: Seconded by council. All those in favor? Motion passes. Petitions, presentations, and similar matters. 17-732 petition by Cheryl Rodriguez, 281 Park Street, Medford to discuss, to address the council on zoning board of appeals meeting held on Tuesday, October 24th, 2017. Name and address for the record, please.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi, I'm Cheryl Rodriguez from 281 Park Street. Thanks to everyone who was waiting to speak on this that stuck around. I wanted to talk about the Zoning Board meeting that happened on Tuesday, October 24th. It was actually a continuation of the meeting that happened on September 26th. I think it's important to note that it was a continuation from that date There was a City Council meeting on that date that was held at the Medford High School So anyone who had business with City Council or city councilors were unable to attend that meeting so A Somerville alderman, I'm going to ruin this name, but Nader Gang was there and he requested that the hearing be postponed so that his constituents could be informed. I heard through the grapevine that there was a meeting being held by this alderman, which was also on the night of a city council meeting, but he's from Somerville, so he's under no obligation to meet around you. I attended that meeting. There were about a hundred people in attendance at that meeting. And a lot of concerns were brought up that I didn't think were mentioned at the October meeting. Since only the elected officials were able to speak, we entrusted the sum of all the men to give us the information that transpired at that meeting, and we didn't hear from that. The biggest thing that the people were talking about is that we want open and transparent government, and the number one way for us to get that is to have open meetings with public participation. When the meeting started, we were in the room. I was in the front row. The room was filled. There were at least 20 people in the hallway. The room was too small. City councilors came in and advised that the chambers were available and that we could move the meeting to that room. The chairman at that point said that he was very comfortable where he was, didn't want to move. There was a lot of dissent in the room at that point. I said, gee, it seems like if a bigger room is available, it may be a violation to deny people the opportunity to be present for a meeting. that they have concerns for. That meeting was then moved into this room. All of the props that were shown were facing away from the audience, the people in the gallery. The Somerville alderman spoke and said that $33,000 in traffic mitigation had been offered to Somerville. But he didn't mention that there were a lot of issues about parking in Somerville. The plan that we presented in Somerville was that overflow parking would be in a public parking lot that was across the street from the development. And many of the Somerville neighbors were upset because when they have the snow emergency parking, they rely on that parking. And they felt that 10 guest spots that also combined as commercial spots were not sufficient and would give them issues. There were also issues from Somerville and Medford residents that that area frequently floods when it rains. There was nothing brought up about that being changed. And when asked about loss of water pressure, about strains on utilities, we were told that that was okay because they were gonna hook into Medford. When they asked about the front door being located on the Broadway side Because they were concerned about ubers backing up. He said that if he had a hard time getting that variance He would just go with the Medford board because the Medford boards easier to get variances through The general tone of the meeting was that he was doing his best to conform with the Somerville zoning but as we've seen in many of the meetings Medford zoning is very flexible and Although it's not supposed to be, because we're under the Massachusetts general law, 40A, section 10, entitled variances, that the reason for variances to be granted are very strict. And none of them are that the piece of land is too small for me to build the project that I want. I also felt that when I looked at the paperwork for this project, they seemed to be assuming a use variance. Rather than asking for a use variance, they're assuming one. This is a general residence commercial one area. In a commercial one area, you are allowed to build residences, but this is a mixed use building, which means that they're combining residences and commercial. So that's a mixed use, which is a special permit that I didn't feel that they were applying for. When I asked that, they said, no, no, it's not. But when you look at the project you can clearly see that this is not two separate buildings. It's one building So I'm concerned about that. I was also concerned that when the meeting start after our elected officials spoke The chairman asked if there were any residents who wanted to speak in opposition to the project. He said let the record reflect that ten residents would like to speak in opposition of the project. At no point did he ask if anyone wanted to speak in favor of the project. Perhaps there were another 10 or 20 that wanted to speak in favor. They also were not given the opportunity to speak in this open and public meeting. The meeting was not recorded. Apparently the recording device is not working. They did say that we could speak if we didn't speak on zoning, parking, density, height, use, traffic, infrastructure, among other items, which precluded any resident from speaking. I'm not even sure we could comment on the color of the building because everything on that list we were not allowed to speak on. There was a certain level of complaint from all of us that we were not able to attend the Somerville meeting. People were not notified of the meeting. We kept being told to come back last September, which is an impossibility. That meeting was missed. The reason that the hearing was held over was so that the residents could get more information. And I thank the Somerville Aldermen for proposing that because our own Councilors were unavailable to do that. But then we were not given the opportunity to speak. One of the other alarming things that happened was one of the Zoning Board members addressed the City Councilors in attendance. I know that you touched on this a little bit earlier, but she said that the reason they were granting this number of variances is because our City Council hasn't updated the zoning. While it's true that you haven't updated the zoning, it is not in the purview of the Zoning Board of Appeals to change the zoning. They are only allowed to grant variances under the strict rules of Chapter 48, Section 10. I think that they should all be made to review that ordinance, that law, it's a state law, and figure out what they're supposed to be doing because they're not doing this properly. I think the only remedy that's going to work is for this hearing to be heard again. We should be able to have the The project presented to us because we did not get the full presentation. People should be able to speak in favor, and people should be able to speak in opposition. Because while the project may be great, we have no idea because we weren't given the opportunity to hear it. We weren't given the opportunity to speak in opposition or in favor. So I just wanted to say that zoning is our most important thing, and we need to protect our neighborhoods. And I think that you should definitely use the reverse 911 system for this. If I can get a call, for the drug take-back, if I can get a call for the Harvester Energy Festival. There's no reason that I can't get a call once a month that says there's a project on here that's 55 units. If you're interested, please come to this meeting on such and such a date and time. Thank you.
[Robert Penta]: Name and address of the record, please. My name is Robert Penta, Zero Summit Road, former member of the Saga's party. I'm going to piggyback on what Cheryl talked about, but I'm more to the process more than anything else. Um, this was a, the September meeting of the board of appeals was continued to the October meeting. And once the meeting was continued to the October meeting, um, it was noticed out that the some of all Alderman didn't have enough time, um, to prepare what he needed to prepare. So he wanted to be allowed to speak in the October meeting for which he was, I believe four of members of the council were there, expressed their opinion that the members, uh, They had received emails and telephone calls regarding folks that weren't notified, did not get the notice, and they just heard about it on this particular night, and they rushed down there to come to this October meeting. It was at the discretion of the chairman of the board, Mr. Carman, who indicated that public comment was closed because the September meeting had come and gone. Now, that's not particularly correct either. The meeting was continued, and when the meeting was continued, At the time when the chairman asked for a raise of hands, those who might be opposed, and I believe he said, let the record say there were 10, at that point he opened up that meeting for public participation by the raise of the hands, because he noticed it out. He also said that they couldn't speak. Well, if you're asking for their participation by raising their hands, but they couldn't speak, you really don't know the reason why they were opposing it, because maybe they would have been convinced that they would be far if they wanted to get their particular point across, which unfortunately I never had. So then you go to four particular issues that I think were really prevalent at that particular meeting. The first one was The zoning on parking spaces, Somerville and Medford are very different. Somerville has 1.0 per parking unit, Medford has 2.1. No discussion on that at all. The next issue was the sun being blocked on the streets that are abutting this particular project. It's a legitimate concern. You have the same issue here on High Street. when they were building the new condominiums next to St. Joseph's Church. And there's legal cases and legal precedent. If someone's sunlight is being blocked by a building, and in this particular case, you're asking for variances to a particular project, which is over and beyond just a normal building, that has legal precedence. Also, they didn't talk about the fact that Cheryl alluded to the facts on this mixed-use piece of property that could be put together. Well, in the city of Medford, we do not allow for spot zoning. That's one of the arguments that's taking place on Locust Street right now, the argument of a possible spot zoning issue. That didn't even have an opportunity for public discussion as it relates to the fact that, you know, is it or isn't it? So the mixed use combination of mixed use of commercial and residential, beside not having its opportunity to have a conversation, did not even have its opportunity for the Board of Appeals to say, if we're going to entertain that, And it's obvious that it's a mixed zone, I mean, it's a spot zone issue, which is in violation of the law or the spirit of, not the spirit, of the Massachusetts general law here in the city of Medford that's promulgated. You've got an issue here as it relates to the developer and what he needs to do. Now, Councilor Dello Russo alluded to the fact that the board is not political. It most certainly is political because all three members of the board are appointed by the mayor of this community. So the request that was just made earlier by Councilor Longo relative to asking the mayor to ask the board to let people speak on and beyond, over and beyond, is absolutely on target. And more importantly, you can say what you want about the prior Board of Appeals when Mr. Arena was the chairperson. He always allowed every single person to speak, never mind once, sometimes twice, because he recognized whether you agreed or disagreed with his decision, if people took the time to be there and have a conversation about the project that's before them, then let them speak. And that was not the situation. I almost had the distinct honor of having the police called on me by the chairperson, because I asked him, and I begged him three separate times, would you please let the people speak? And he says, no, no, he can't, because the time has already come. We've already had it in September. And through his reckless act, and that's what I call it, reckless, he canceled the whole meeting, which was the last two petitioners that were on there. They didn't even have an opportunity to speak. Now, the law is somewhat clear, but it's also somewhat fuzzy. In the open meeting law, in the guidelines promulgated by the Attorney General, it does say, it does give the distinction to the chairperson or the chair of the committee to allow people to speak at that person's discretion. But it also says at the very end by the Attorney General, the Attorney General encourages public bodies to allow as much public participation as time allows. This was eight o'clock at night. Nobody was falling asleep in this audience. They were here because for a particular purpose. as much public participation as possible. And for that chairperson to shut off public participation and hear what was on people's minds was wrong. This same chairperson served as an alternate last year when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Attorney General Office came in and told the Board of Appeals that they had to reopen the board because they were wrong in closing down a meeting that was in a continued meeting. Now, if this Board of Appeals doesn't want to understand the law and follow the guidelines by the State's Attorney General, then maybe we need a new board. Maybe when you change the charter, we should have the Board of Appeals be elected instead of appointed that way there. Maybe that would be the safest way. Neighborhood character and neighborhood future buildings be protected. You know, You guys and ladies on this council, your biggest responsibility over the budget is zoning. What takes place in a community by its zoning? You can talk about it all you want, you can advertise it all you want, but people are saying nothing's taking place. This community has changed. You're in the middle of a lawsuit, they're suing the developer on Locust Street in Medford. You've gone to Miloka Street, you've gone to Middlesex Avenue, you've gone to Salem Street, and now you're over here in South Medford on Medford Street. And one of the other arguments that were brought forth is the traffic going to be deposited onto the Medford Street, and Medford Street, as we all know, is a cut-through street to Somerville. These are all legitimate concerns. This isn't to say whether you're for or against the project. It's the concerns that the people wanted to talk about. And when you shut the people off at the pass, that's why they have no respect and they don't believe in their government. And that's why it's incumbent upon you as city councilors. You've been talking about it for two years, about changing your zoning, and you haven't done it. So whoever of you get re-elected, you should make that your priority, along with the new members of the council, that zoning is the number one priority, because you've seen what it's doing to this community. You've seen the character of neighborhoods being totally disrupted. And you can't say it's not political when every member on the board is appointed by a political person, and that's the mayor of this community. So if you want to have clean hands and let the neighborhood and let the taxpayers make that decision, because good zoning might be predicated upon people who get elected rather than people get appointed, that might set the tone in a different direction. And just lastly, I want to say this. This is Halloween. This is trick-or-treat night. And some of you have young children. I think it would have been a good call by you, Mr. President, to delay the meeting by at least an hour to let whoever had children to go out and trick or treat with their family. You still could have accomplished the city council meeting and we wouldn't be in the chaos that we're in right now.
[Richard Caraviello]: We had a public hearing this night tonight that was already advertised. Pardon me? There was a public hearing that was already advertised prior to the request.
[Robert Penta]: And when was that, sir?
[Richard Caraviello]: The clerk had already sent out the letters for that.
[Robert Penta]: I believe you have 48 hours to change that. You've had that since last week. But other than that, I'd be more than happy to answer any questions. But how do you say it? There aren't too many things that you guys and girls really have super control over. Budget, voting it up and down, but zoning, it's all yours. You own it, lock, stock, and barrel. Use it. Don't let the administration abuse it. You guys and girls use it. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Good evening. Name and address of the record, please.
[Joyce Paul]: Tough to follow Joyce Paul, a Mason street. Um, I want to say that just as you are very busy, um, I'm busy and other people are busy. And I definitely think that the idea of a reverse call that Cheryl, brought up is a very good idea. It reminds people of the meeting and it tells people again where and when. And the second thing is, I totally, what I hear all the time is from people, they don't get to speak, they don't feel involved, and they want to feel involved. They want to be able to speak, they want to be able to talk to their neighbors and their and they feel like they haven't been able to do that. Um, and I know you've got a tough job, but it's really important that it would make people a lot happier. And I think things would flow a lot better if we could do that. So thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Ray Scarfo]: Good evening. Name and address of the record, please. Ray scaffold nine sunset F. I think, I think the problem is, is like Michael Mark said, is the notification. uh, it should go out certified mail. I mean, uh, and it should be the cost of the project person, uh, to, to pay for that, to go out because I own a piece of property in a different city and, uh, I had to notify my abutters, uh, on a project that I had to do. And I had to do it by certified mail, uh, as, so you'd get the list of, uh, uh, of the abutters from the city and, uh, you take that and you send out the certified letter. And of course they signed for it. And this way everybody's notified so we don't end up in a situation like this. It makes it just much more smooth. Thank you. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Good evening. Name and address of the record again.
[SPEAKER_24]: Pamela Cerullo five Shapely Avenue. I just want to reiterate one thing. I never do this, but when something affects my quality of life as well as this building will, I had to speak. I had to say something and, Unfortunately, I was not notified about the first meeting, otherwise I would have been there. And it really hurt when Chairman Carmen made that comment about, well, you didn't make the meeting, whatever, that's your problem, pretty much. Had we been notified, we would have been there, okay? The other thing, too, I just have two questions that I would like to present, and hopefully maybe the developer or council can address this at some point. I was going through the paperwork for the building plans. I didn't see anything from the Board of Health commenting on trash collection. Where is it going to be located? Is it going to be on the Medford side? Is it going to be on the Somerville side? That's my first concern. And the second thing is, someone had mentioned about the shade, all right, the sunlight. Was a shade survey taken for our side of the street, for Medford Street, Somerville, you Shapely Avenue, Sunnyside Terrace. So these are the kind of things that we really wanted to just ask questions. Again, we're not against the redevelopment of the area. We just wanted to voice these concerns, get answers, and then we could, you know, say yay or nay. So I just wanna let that out. Thank you very much. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Dello Russo, I'm sorry.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. President Caraviello. And I, I think there are still a number of questions that really aren't answered and the public don't know. I don't know if the administration or the council, I mean, it's really sad to ask the administration of the council to have a public meeting for the neighborhood, but Obviously, if the Board of Appeals are not going to allow the residents to speak, how are we going to solve this problem that we're in? In the last development that I was involved in with regards to the Salem Street area, residents were given the opportunity and after persistence from several Councilors, several residents, changes were made. There was a compromise made. It was brought down from five stories to three stories. The developer is moving forward and is going to, you know, make his profit. And it was tough to get it done. And the process is obviously not, wasn't ideal then. But it seems like it's even worse now. So whether it be the administration or the council, somebody needs, we have to have some sort of meeting between the neighbors and the development. developer to get some answers and to figure out how we can solve it and move on. And I think it has to come from the administration. It has to be set up by the administration somehow, some way.
[Richard Caraviello]: And I just- Councilor, if I could. If you recall, the Salem Street people, the developers held several meetings on their own.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: They did.
[Richard Caraviello]: If you recall. Yes. They had two or three meetings with the neighbors during that, and I think that was a help.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Maybe so I'd ask that I'd ask the administration to organize some sort of meeting if it's not gonna be organized by the Petitioner then you know some meetings does need to be had the administration mayor of the city has to get involved this is something that is gonna affect so many people in that neighborhood and To for the Board of Appeals not to allow residents to speak again. It was said by many people tonight It's just wrong. It's it's wrong and it It's irked me for the last week, and I'm really surprised by the fact that they just weren't allowed to speak. They could have been for this proposal if they just got, the residents were just able to ask questions and get answers, and it really bothers me, and it's the way we don't operate. We allow people to speak here, thanks to you and the prior presidents since I've been on the council, and that's the way it should be. Whether you limit them for 10 minutes or whatever you have to do, but people should be given the opportunity to speak. And I too agree with the robo call. It was in one of my resolutions and Cheryl brought it up again tonight. And it, it's something that needs to be done. We get notifications on everything from road races to harvest the end of tree festivals, all things we are involved in and want to be involved in. But to not get a robot, not even get notify the residents that live across the street on such a proposal is astounding.
[Michael Marks]: Vice president box. Thank you, Mr. President. And I'll be brief, but if we could make part of the committee report, um, the, uh, question of, uh, trash collection and where the trash will be located, uh, on that particular site, that's important. And the shade study that was referred to, um, I attended a meeting with the Salem street project and the developer came out with, let me tell you a presentation that would, knock your socks off regarding that particular issue alone, the shade in the building actually was re, um, uh, designed, uh, for setbacks on the higher floors based on the proximity of the homes that are, but the property. So they wouldn't lose their shade and they had a timeline, uh, that was remarkable on how the sunlight comes in at certain times and so forth and how it wouldn't impact them. based on this particular study. And I think that goes a long way to reassure neighbors that their quality of life, and sun is part of a quality of life, that the way that hits their home does have an impact on residents in the community. Another thing I brought up that night, Mr. President, is a little known fact, but the Zoning Board of Appeals gets all sorts of documentations that are submitted by the developer. One of them is a traffic impact study. Now that's done by the developers, uh, person that they hire, uh, their traffic, um, firm. And, uh, there's a state law that allows the Zoning Board of Appeals at the developer's expense, to request on behalf of the city, their own traffic study. Because as you know, you know, you could have like an expert in court, you have one doctor saying one thing and another doctor saying something else. So I think it's important that when we have these particular projects, that the city not just go based on everything that's submitted by the developer, but do its own homework, its due diligence, and part of that is the traffic report, the traffic study, and I asked that Zoning Board of Appeals that night, Mr. President, if they would request that, and I don't know, I think they just took it under advisement. I really couldn't tell, but they seem to be interested in that fact. Um, so I would ask also, uh, if there was a shade study done, Mr. President, as part of our report, we're putting together a report now, a report that's going to go back to the zoning board of appeals, uh, to ask question on trash collection.
[Clerk]: Uh, what was just a resolution?
[Michael Marks]: whatever you wanna call it, resolution, report, whatever you wanna call it, but we're asking questions of the Zoning Board of Appeals regarding trash collection. We don't have a resolution, Councilor Marksson.
[Richard Caraviello]: Well, I put before we as the measure for community meeting with the development. We already passed that.
[Michael Marks]: We already passed that. So these are questions they can. Right, so I offer a motion then that we send a correspondence to the Zoning Board of Appeals regarding trash collection, which was brought up tonight, a shade study if one was done and why, if not, one was done and wasn't done, and a traffic impact study submitted on behalf of this city and not on behalf of the developer, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Zamuto, I can only offer you some advice similar to other projects. You have a Sons of Bitly Hall up there. Maybe you could get the residents together on a Sunday evening and meet with them over coffee and hear their concerns and voice your concerns or put your opinion at that spot. My personal advice, I think, I say the people on Salem Street did it. I think it went a long way, got a lot of issues resolved, and that's my advice. Maybe that's something you might want to do where you do have a hall right around the corner from the project, so.
[Michael Marks]: Point of information, Mr. President? Vice president box. The Salem street developer hired a private consultant and their job was solely to reach out to the neighborhood and set up neighborhood meetings. It wasn't the developer. So maybe in this case it would be helpful to have someone that reaches out to the neighborhood. And I agree with the meeting like that. But that wasn't done by the developer. That was done by a consultant that they hired. that their sole function was to act as a go-between between the developer and the neighborhood. Just a suggestion to you, Mr. Zamuto.
[SPEAKER_20]: Name and address of the record, please. Charlie Zamuto, developer, 87 Method Street. Your concerns, their concerns, are my concerns. We designed this building based on shadow. We have shadow studies. The trash is gonna be trash chutes inside the building, private pickups. Everything's maintained inside the building. There's no trash on the outside. When we had the, when we had our first meeting at the zoning board, I think that the room was packed. Most of the people came up for the project. Then a mock need a gang alderman from ward five and some of all we, the city of Medford required me to get a certified map, which I did. I had to go to city hall in Medford and some of all, and provide, well, the city put together the abuttalist. I don't know how that works or who sent it. I think the city of Medford sent it out. Machnita gang wanted to have a neighborhood meeting. I personally fly at the whole neighborhood around Medford. Machnita gang didn't even want me to do Medford.
[Richard Caraviello]: We did from- We don't really care about Machnita.
[SPEAKER_20]: Yeah. Alfred Street in Medford down to New Bern Avenue in Medford all the way over to Medford Street. most of the neighbors that were against this project, I walked around with the plans. I met with the neighbors and they, you know, when they seen it and I talked to them, explained everything. They, they had a change of heart and you know, I, Mike, their concerns are my concerns. We have shadow studies. We did present them at the neighborhood meeting, but people, you know, some, there was a few people that came that just wanted to argue with Barbara Bruzy, the attorney, and that we weren't allowed to present.
[Richard Caraviello]: It's right again. I'll reach out again and say, you have the sons of Italy there, have some coffee, Method residents only, and have some coffee that night, and reach out to the residents, and everyone gets to, in an orderly fashion, everyone will get to say their little piece, and hopefully, Maybe there's facts that some of the residents don't know. Okay. You can make with it. Just a suggestion. Yes. But again, uh, some good faith goes a long way. Thank you.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi real quick. Cheryl Rodriguez, 21 par street. I just wanted to mention that the hearing has been closed and the next meeting is for deliberation. So if there are any questions or neighborhood outreach going to happen, then something has to change at the zoning board of appeals or they're going to make the decision between November 6th and November 10th. They have not set. the date of the meeting. There are also two complaints about open meeting law violations that have been filed about this project, about that meeting, not the particular project, just the meeting.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion by Councilor Dello Russo to receive the committee report and place on file.
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Richard Caraviello]: Uh, Councilor Marks, you have a resolution you'd like to make.
[Michael Marks]: Well, I, I believe the gentleman answered at least the trash. It's going to be self-contained. There won't be any trash on the exterior of the building, no bins, all private pickup. And then the study, Mr. President, the shade study, if he can make that available, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Robert Penta]: Just as a further point, just as a further point. Now, I can appreciate the developer coming here to make the comment. But these comments were not made at the public hearing, for which a whole bunch of people, almost 100 in total, were here on that night, whether they were from Somerville or from Medford. Arguing the case here tonight with only a few of the residents is not the right way to go. The issue on the sun, the issue on the barrels, that's all well and good. But we have four people here right now that have never heard it for the first time. You folks have taken it upon yourself to bring a suit against a developer on Locust Street because you were dissatisfied because the neighborhood was not addressed. Four of you just attended this past meeting. this past October 24th meeting. I would strongly suggest that the four of you, if not seven of you, make a request to the Board of Appeals to ask them to delay any finality to making a decision and to reopen a public hearing to listen to all the stories. Because it's obvious that they didn't have a chance to listen to the people.
[Richard Caraviello]: Give the gentleman a chance to have a meeting of the committee.
[Robert Penta]: No, he can have all the meetings he's want. I'm talking about the Board of Appeals. As Mrs. Rodriguez just said, they're scheduled to make a final determination first week in November. There are two official complaints being filed. And if they don't respond to them, it goes to the Attorney General's office. Now, do you really want to go that far? Or we can resolve it by maybe having the board, seven of you, respectfully request the Board of Appeals to delay any further action and to reopen.
[Richard Caraviello]: We do not control the Board of Appeals. Pardon me? We do not control the Board of Appeals. You want to make a, you make a resolution.
[Robert Penta]: I'm asking a council Lungel Curran.
[Richard Caraviello]: She heard what I said. She just did. She just did. Okay. Thank you. Well, I want to hear it when you sit down. We'll do our business. Thank you. Councilor Lungel Curran would you like to make a motion?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. President Caraviello. I think it just all falls in line with just a lot. allowing the people to be heard. So I would, I will make any request that has any ounce of a possibility to resolve that problem. So I would request that the mayor, number one, the mayor set up a meeting between the residents and the developer. And I would also request that to the zoning board of appeals that they delay deliberations and have a public meeting for public participation on that project at their next meeting.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion by Council Member Curran, seconded by Vice President Marks. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor De La Rosa? No. Councilor Francis? Yes. Councilor Mack? No. Councilor Curran?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Vice President Marks? Yes. Councilor Scott Delaro? Yes. Vice President Calvillo?
[Richard Caraviello]: No. five in the front of the negative motion passes. I think four, three, four, three passes. Motion passes. Table records of October.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. If, if, if I may just really quick, it is the first Wednesday of the month tomorrow, November 1st. Uh, that means it's time for the monthly community police meeting at the Roberts elementary school. Everyone is welcome, no matter what neighborhood you're from, 7 p.m., Roberts Elementary School, monthly Method police meeting.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[John Falco]: Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: The records of October 17th were passed to Sorcerer Lundell Kern. Madam Sorcerer, how did you find those records? Adam Saucer will be requested to be tabled again. Records of the meeting of October 24th, 2017 were passed to Councilor Scarpelli. Councilor Scarpelli, how did you find those records? On the motion by Councilor Maggs to adjourn, seconded by Councilor Dello Russo. All in favor? Motion.
[Unidentified]: paper on.
[SPEAKER_22]: You have to engage everybody must benefit on this project. Everyone has to have something. Otherwise, if someone don't have anything, there will be trouble. I have gone through this experience and I know tourism business is for everybody. First of all, I didn't really know this, so I was greedy a bit. But I find it out that no, that's not the way. I have to engage everybody in the tourism business so that everybody will benefit and everybody is happy now.
[SPEAKER_19]: Looking to the future, the demand for cruise ship holidays is going to continue not just this year but the next decade and probably the one after that. So is the new generation ready to step into your shoes?
[SPEAKER_22]: Yes, because we are in our retiring age now, but they have to learn from us. If you're really running it like a business, you want success. You have to engage the community in it. I say this because I went through all this experience. That is why I know. If the next people that takes over, if they are like us, the business of the cruise ship will go for more years. But if they are not like us, I think it will be a big question mark to Mr. Allen and the cruise ships.
|
total time: 13.02 minutes total words: 1169  |
total time: 3.0 minutes total words: 286  |
total time: 2.48 minutes total words: 246  |
total time: 2.43 minutes total words: 174  |
|
total time: 15.16 minutes total words: 1363  |
total time: 0.99 minutes total words: 121  |
total time: 32.06 minutes total words: 1566  |
total time: 9.78 minutes total words: 300  |