[SPEAKER_05]: Isso é.
[SPEAKER_02]: Obrigado. Obrigado. Sim. OK.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Meu cheque um, dois, meu cheque um, dois, um, dois.
[SPEAKER_02]: Acho que é uma boa pergunta. Parece que sim.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Boa noite a todos. Sinta-se à vontade para se sentar. Vamos começar um pouco na hora porque queremos que todos cheguem em casa seguros com o tempo. E estamos tentando manter o programa em menos de uma hora. Então, obrigado a todos por estarem aqui. Em primeiro lugar, quero anunciar que temos um convidado muito especial para começar esta noite. Temos nosso primeiro Poeta Laureado, Terry Carter, que vai nos ler um poema. Terry é autor publicado de cinco livros. Atualmente escrevendo seu sexto, que será impresso em breve. Ele é um grande trunfo para todas as partes da nossa comunidade, as escolas, o Centro Comunitário de West Medford e a comunidade como um todo com a sua poesia e muito mais. Então, sem mais delongas, Terry Carter.
[SPEAKER_05]: Deve ser o comitê de boas-vindas.
[Carter]: Um estado de espírito de Medford. Você tem prestado atenção nisso, tenho certeza. Por favor, saiba que nossas intenções são temperadas e puras. Queremos fazer com que nossa cidade funcione desde o gabinete do prefeito até o secretário municipal. Queremos que você conheça as acomodações, as ciclovias, os parques e as estações de metrô. Queremos que você veja as colaborações das artes, organizações sem fins lucrativos e fundações firmes. Queremos que você observe o sucesso das pequenas empresas e a saúde pública mantenha as pessoas vivas. Movimentos progressistas com um sentido de tradição podem ligar o motor à medida que os cidadãos resolvem os seus problemas e a calma substitui o grito de raiva. discussões reais sobre raça e razão, e sem medos obscuros de traição romântica, a nova escola com dados e evidências, a promessa da velha escola de bom senso. Esta continua a ser a nossa maior esperança de uma governação de âmbito experiente que satisfaça as necessidades de cada alma, que nos torne mais fortes como um todo, que não tome o voto como garantido, mas que honre as sementes que os nossos antepassados plantaram. que ilumina a confiança do público com soluções sábias e justas. Estas rimas simples, por ilustração, fazem a declaração desta cidade. Trabalhar juntos, de mãos dadas, como uma banda marcial do Medford Mustang. Onde os trabalhadores possam negociar e conquistar a sua fé, desprovidos de ódio. Onde os socorristas ganham respeito e, sim, sempre servem e protegem. Onde os construtores fazem uma pausa consciente para ler além da cláusula do contrato, para ver além das suas brocas e serras, para ouvir a voz da causa comum. Onde o arco-íris do orgulho fugiu totalmente e as diferenças não nos assustam. Onde as igrejas adoram uma paz semelhante e seguidores fiéis. libertação gentil, onde Black Lives Matter é fundamental e vemos todos os rostos como gentis e gentis, onde educamos nossos filhos com olhos abertos e lições que não apenas higienizam, onde os professores podem ensinar e as crianças podem aprender, e não há bruxas ou livros para queimar, onde damos as boas-vindas a novas pessoas de todas as nações, bengalis, latinos e haitianos, onde a inovação corteja a tradição para formar uma nova condição e legado melhorados, faz uma dança maravilhosa com o avanço ousado da transformação. Este é o grito do coração da cidade. Nesta nova temporada, é por onde começamos. Visar o progresso, ao mesmo tempo são e inteligente, que une e não separa. Onde a justiça social ressoa, as pessoas se envolvem em debates saudáveis e a boa comida enche os pratos de cada família enquanto os vizinhos passam pelos portões abertos. Agora é o momento de todos ouvirem uma mensagem de unidade em alto e bom som, enquanto outros podem defender a raiva e a dissensão e fazer o seu melhor para provocar tensão. O objetivo de uma administração confiável é uma comunicação clara e transparente. Nesta era de COVID, ainda devemos pedir aos líderes que removam suas máscaras com segurança. A verdade simples do estado da cidade é que as pessoas querem ver mais provas. Que líderes competentes conduzam o navio e tenham um controle forte e constante. Que novas ideias sejam implementadas à medida que a sabedoria jorra como o vinho fermentado das profundezas da história e fermentado para ser dispensado quando o progresso pedir. Qual é a solução adequada e sólida que leva à execução perfeita, que afasta a perseguição, que detém a onda de retribuição? Estas rimas simples, por confirmação, confessam a nossa sede de ativação, confessam a nossa busca pela recuperação da melhor cooperação de Medford. E assim o poeta lê as estrelas como vaga-lumes em potes de vidro transparente para oferecer uma dica do que pode ser um 2023 esperançoso. As marés místicas irão torcer e dobrar. Mas esta é a hora de Medford consertar os trilhos quebrados em nossas escadas cívicas, a fé desgastada em nossos assuntos públicos. Esta continua a ser a nossa maior esperança de uma liderança experiente que atenda às necessidades de cada alma e que nos torne mais fortes como um todo. Este é o meu apelo, bom Medfordita. E agora este poeta diz boa noite. Obrigado. Obrigado. Obrigado. E agora é minha honra. Obrigado. E agora tenho a honra de apresentar a vice-presidente do comitê escolar, Jenny Graham.
[Graham]: Boa noite a todos. Obrigado, prefeito Lungo-Koehn, por me convidar para falar esta noite. Sinto-me honrado por estar aqui e por ser o vice-presidente do comitê escolar e talvez ainda mais honrado pelo fato de os cidadãos de Medford terem transmitido sua fé a mim há quase quatro anos. o que parece uma vida pequena nos últimos quatro anos. Quando penso no ano em análise, parece que penso em todos os anos em análise desde que entrei para o comitê escolar. E assim, a cada ano, o comitê escolar trabalha muito com a administração escolar para fazer progressos. E a cada ano também fica claro que há muito mais progresso que nossos alunos merecem. E quando penso nisso, muitas vezes fico confuso, mas vou começar com alguns destaques. Então, no ano passado, investimos em muitos currículos de alta qualidade para nossos alunos. Isso já deveria ter acontecido há muito tempo. Isso inclui livros didáticos para muitos cursos do ensino médio. Inclui um novo currículo de matemática para nossos alunos do ensino médio e um novo currículo de matemática para nossas escolas primárias. Também continuamos, no nível elementar, a infundir currículos baseados em fonética em nossa programação, em nossa programação de alfabetização, enquanto buscamos uma substituição mais completa do nosso currículo de alfabetização. Essa abordagem baseada na fonética é claramente o que a ciência nos diz ser a maneira de apoiar todos os leitores e mudar vidas. E, por isso, estou muito grato à administração escolar pela sua tenacidade, pois trabalharam para realmente fazer uma grande mudança na forma como o ensino e a aprendizagem acontecem no ensino fundamental, quando falamos sobre a coisa mais fundamental, que é aprender. para ler. Ao olharmos para o futuro, também estou entusiasmado por ver que reunimos um grupo de residentes de Medford para analisar o nosso currículo de saúde e garantir que, no futuro, o nosso currículo de saúde seja abrangente, baseado na ciência e que trabalha para prevenir o bullying e a violência em nosso corpo discente. A equipe que montamos é realmente incrível. Eles são tão credenciados. Eu simplesmente não consigo nem acreditar que todo esse talento vive certo tome cuidado neste pequenino espaço que chamamos de Medford. Além de todo o bom trabalho que estamos fazendo na parte curricular, outra coisa em que passamos muito tempo trabalhando e da qual estou muito orgulhoso é o trabalho que fizemos para reforçar nosso apoio à saúde mental dos alunos que estão tão claramente, como todos nós, ainda pensando em sair da pandemia e em todas as formas como ela os afetou. Estou muito satisfeito por termos conseguido reforçar esses apoios e o trabalho que estamos a fazer é é árduo e super importante. O ano passado foi importante, pois negociamos com nossos 11 parceiros de negociação. Temos 11 sindicatos nas escolas públicas de Medford. Através desse trabalho, agradecemos aos nossos professores pelo seu trabalho árduo durante a pandemia e depois dela, e certamente depois dela. E acertamos o contrato mais favorável em décadas para nossos professores, talvez nunca. Também assumimos o compromisso de que os nossos funcionários nas Escolas Públicas de Medford merecem um salário digno e encontrámos uma forma de garantir que os nossos paraprofissionais recebam uma compensação que não seja apenas um salário digno, mas um incrível passo em frente para os nossos funcionários e para os alunos que merecem. Também estabelecemos contactos com enfermeiras, secretárias escolares e carpinteiros. E ainda temos trabalho a fazer para liquidar os nossos contratos restantes, mas estamos empenhados em garantir que o nosso pessoal receba um salário digno pelo serviço que prestam aos nossos alunos. Quero agradecer à Comissão de Preservação Comunitária pelo seu apoio contínuo às Escolas Públicas de Medford. Mais recentemente, conseguimos reunir um comité consultivo para analisar a substituição do parque infantil da Escola Primária McGlynn com o seu apoio. O design é impressionante. Reconhece que brincar é aprender, o que é incrível. E é, ou será, o primeiro parque infantil verdadeiramente inclusivo da cidade de Método. O comité consultivo trabalhou muito diligentemente para garantir que ouvimos uma grande variedade de partes interessadas. Ouvimos as crianças, ouvimos os professores do prédio e ouvimos a comunidade porque esse espaço também será um espaço comunitário. E conseguimos criar um design centrado na sustentabilidade, inclusão e diversão. Obrigado ao CPC pelo seu apoio contínuo. Temos compromissos de financiar a construção e com o prefeito por destinar recursos do ARPA para tornar esse parque infantil uma realidade. Tive orgulho de servir nesse comitê, no próprio comitê consultivo, junto com a mulher do comitê escolar, Melanie McLaughlin. E acho que é seguro dizer que todo o comitê escolar mal pode esperar para cortar a fita do playground finalizado. O ano passado apresentou a sua quota-parte de desafios. Tenho certeza que você já ouviu falar de todos eles. E acho que é seguro dizer que nenhum prédio escolar foi mais desafiado do que a Medford High School. Tomamos medidas nos últimos meses para garantir que nossa escola seja segura e propícia ao aprendizado para todos os alunos. Criar um clima e uma cultura que mereçam o orgulho de Medford é certamente um trabalho em andamento e com o qual todos estamos comprometidos. Meu coração e meu trabalho estão com as famílias que sentiram a dor que é a nossa história, e é por causa dessas vozes e porque é a coisa certa a fazer que estamos analisando profundamente o que está dando certo e muito mais. importante, o que precisa mudar. Estou empenhado em fazer essas mudanças, por mais difíceis que sejam, porque nossos alunos não merecem menos. Por fim, nossos alunos do ensino médio também merecem um prédio que possa apoiar uma educação moderna e de ponta e que tenha amplo espaço para nossos alunos do ensino profissional. Estou orgulhoso da candidatura que submetemos à Autoridade de Construção Escolar de Massachusetts no ano passado e fiquei desanimado ao saber que não fomos convidados para a próxima etapa, principalmente devido aos custos exorbitantes em projetos de construção, projetos de construção escolar em todo o estado. Estou pedindo à nossa delegação estadual que faça tudo o que puder para garantir que aumentemos o financiamento em nível estadual para o MSBA no próximo ano e nos próximos anos. E tenho o prazer de anunciar que reenviaremos nossa inscrição em abril, com acréscimos conforme descrito e recomendado pela autoridade de construção, e que também iniciaremos discussões sobre quais outras opções podemos ter e começaremos a explorar como avançaremos na reconstrução ou substituição de Medford High. Também estou ansioso para trabalhar com o prefeito para tornar realidade aquela Medford High reimaginada. Encerrarei dizendo isto a todos os milionários e bilionários presentes: Se você está se perguntando como causar impacto na vida das pessoas ao seu redor, me ligue. Podemos falar sobre o impacto que uma Medford High reinventada pode ter em nossos alunos e em nossa cidade. Com isso, tenho o prazer de apresentar minha amiga Nicole Morell, que é presidente da Câmara Municipal. Obrigado.
[Morell]: Obrigado, vice-presidente Graham, por essa introdução e pelo trabalho que seus colegas realizaram nos últimos anos. Eu sei que algumas pessoas dizem que o comitê escolar é na verdade a tarefa mais difícil na política e estou conversando com todos vocês. Eu concordaria. Obrigado ao prefeito Longo Cohn por me convidar para falar esta noite para compartilhar alguns destaques do conselho municipal. Se houver uma criança gritando durante isso, é meu filho. Então está tudo bem. Tenho a honra de servir como presidente do conselho municipal de Medford. E tenho muito orgulho do trabalho que realizamos nas mais de 100 reuniões que realizamos desde janeiro de 2022. Trabalhamos em novos decretos, votamos a favor de uma revisão do estatuto, aprovamos o financiamento para alguns projetos transformadores e concluímos a recodificação do nosso código de zoneamento, tudo em apoio a uma Medford mais habitável, vibrante e sustentável. Muito do que fazemos como conselho é um trabalho em andamento, porque um bom trabalho leva tempo. É hora de trabalharmos uns com os outros como Conselheiros, como o Conselheiro Carballo, que vejo aqui esta noite, tempo para ouvir e trabalhar com os residentes, tempo para equilibrar pontos de vista concorrentes e tempo para responder aos enormes esforços dos departamentos, conselhos e comissões da nossa cidade. Ao longo do último ano, o conselho concentrou-se na habitação, continuando o trabalho de estabelecimento de um fundo de habitação acessível, fornecendo sugestões para o plano abrangente da cidade, votando a favor do plano de produção habitacional e trabalhando para estabelecer uma portaria de notificação de habitação, todos com o objetivo de proporcionar oportunidades de habitação e apoio aos residentes. No início do ano passado, o conselho finalizou e votou a favor de uma recodificação do zoneamento, a primeira revisão e reforma abrangente do zoneamento de Bedford em décadas. O zoneamento atualizado é claro e conciso e estabelece as bases para o desenvolvimento sustentável e oportunidades de habitação. Aguardo com expectativa a segunda fase do nosso trabalho de zoneamento e agradeço ao prefeito por alocar financiamento para isso, e neste trabalho onde podemos mais uma vez trabalhar com os departamentos municipais para atualizar nosso zoneamento para apoiar os residentes e trabalhar em conjunto com o plano abrangente para a cidade. Além do nosso trabalho de zoneamento, o conselho tem trabalhado para modernizar as leis e políticas em torno de restaurantes ao ar livre e food trucks na cidade, respondendo à nossa comunidade empresarial e aos nossos residentes para apoiar uma Medford movimentada. Aprovámos a proibição do poliestireno na cidade, liderada primeiro pelos estudantes do Centro de Cidadania e Responsabilidade Social. E com isso, Medford se une às comunidades de todo o estado, levando a sério os impactos nocivos desse tipo de poluição e o nosso compromisso com a sustentabilidade. O conselho também votou para vincular o limite de diferimento do imposto sobre a propriedade para idosos ao crédito fiscal do disjuntor para idosos, o que expande automaticamente a elegibilidade para este programa a cada ano e ajuda os idosos a permanecerem em suas casas. No ano passado, atualizamos nossa lei de remoção de neve e entregamos uma série de sugestões de políticas à administração para agilizar as orientações de remoção de neve e, esperançosamente, um dia pilotar um programa de limpeza de calçadas administrado pela cidade em Medford. Fizemos tudo isso com a ajuda dos moradores e, principalmente, dos conselhos e comissões da cidade e do pessoal deste edifício. Eles são parceiros neste trabalho e fornecem conhecimentos e conhecimentos inestimáveis. E agradeço aos funcionários da cidade por dedicarem tanto tempo para apoiar este trabalho. Ainda temos muito trabalho a realizar e estou confiante de que podemos trabalhar juntos como um só na prefeitura para avançar com atualizações de zoneamento, avançar com uma Medford mais sustentável e resiliente e avançar com a revisão do estatuto da nossa cidade para garantir que ele reflita a cidade que somos hoje. Quero agradecer a todos pelo seu tempo e por me permitirem compartilhar alguns dos destaques que fizemos como um órgão trabalhando juntos e trabalhando com as pessoas neste mesmo edifício. E com isso, gostaria de apresentar a Honorável Prefeita de Medford, Brianna Lundekarp.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you so much. First, I wanna start by thanking Steve. I wanna start by thanking Steve Smerity, the director of communications and Emma Tombley for helping me write this speech you're gonna hear tonight. I think Steve and I had a tougher job the last week cutting it down from 25 pages to nine. So you can thank me for that later, but there's so much that has been accomplished in this city that I wanna speak about. So I'm gonna do that tonight. And I'm not gonna rush, usually I rush, I feel so bad, I'm long-winded, but I'm not gonna rush because this work that everybody's doing on a daily basis is worth taking my time for. And just before I start, please know that just because something's written on a sign doesn't mean it's true. And I'm sorry that the horns are beeping. And I'm sorry to Terry, but the horns were beeping. Thank you for those joining us here tonight. Thank you, if you're watching from home or on Zoom, I do know that we have many elected officials here, Representative Donato, School Committee woman, Kathy Kreatz, Member Ruseau, and City Councilor Rick Caravielloa, and Member Hays. Thank you. And former member, Paulette Van der Kloots. Thank you for joining us. Thank you to Terry Carter, our poet laureate, member Jenny Graham, and President Nicole Morell for kicking off the event. Before I begin, I must thank the tireless work of our department heads, city staff, and volunteers who have committed to doing amazing things under the difficult and ongoing conditions caused by the pandemic. You're all integral to the success that I will be highlighting here tonight. You're the reason why we're here tonight. I stood before you last January and outlined my vision for Medford, listing many long-term goals, including numerous projects that are currently underway, and laid out our roadmap for the next two years and beyond. Now, as we begin this fourth year of growth and progress, I want to give an update on how things are going, what challenges lie ahead, and how we continue to deliver on the promises we made, the vision we shared, and the future we've imagined. Walking through the city, visiting places I frequented as a child, young adult, and city councilor, what struck me in many instances was how infrequently some places change. A community that does not grow does not thrive. And here in Medford, because we have done the planning the last three years, we now are about to see growth mode. We've been able to make this transition and kickstart our economic engine because of a key goal, tapping into the unrealized potential of our squares, our green spaces, and our city-owned properties. The most obvious opportunity to begin our next generation of development is at Wellington Station. The untapped 28 acres of land has been in city control for over half a century. Since 1969, and in our community was completely missing out. not only on the potential revenue streams, but also the exciting opportunities that could be realized with diverse transit oriented mixed use development designed to attract new families, workers, and students. Since we issued the request for information in September, we have spent the past few months reviewing proposals from eight highly qualified developers and released those to the public earlier this month. Each plan had a unique vision for the area's potential and suggested bringing much needed housing options and other mixed use features, such as retail, office, hospitality, and green space. We will take you through these proposals and use them to help inform a future RFP in 2023 that fits the needs of our community and brings about generational change to the Wellington area. In addition to Wellington, we're also attempting to reimagine a few underused city-owned lots in Medford Square. with the help of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council working to develop priorities and criteria for future redevelopment through a community-driven analysis and visioning process that will incorporate the needs of residents and stakeholders. We will finally see progress on this project in the coming year and get out an RFP for Medford Square in 2023. We have an opportunity with these lots to implement smart resident-focused development that aligns with our community's priorities and vision. If we do this the right way, it will benefit our downtown square by creating a more sustainable and accessible future for the area. But as I said, we can't do this in a silo. We must engage and work with our seniors in the neighborhood, our local small businesses, Chevalier Theater, and residents to access their needs, assess their needs, and implement a strategy that recognizes their importance to building a more vibrant and thriving downtown area. One of the three 40B projects we are negotiating on Mystic Ave has been a topic that has garnered much debate, controversy, and discussion over the years. There's an opportunity for meaningful, lasting development on this strip that we can't afford to miss. Director Alicia Hunt, Economic Development Director Victor Schrader, now part-time, and I would not settle for thousands of luxury apartments at this site. and have been working with the developer on a different vision, one that can bring innovation and lasting possibilities to Mystic Avenue, a $1 billion life science development equipped with open space and first floor retail. As we look to strengthen our commercial corridors, we must not lose sight of ensuring that people who will use these new developments also have the ability to continue to live in our city. It's no secret that there's a housing crunch in the region, Cities across the Commonwealth are feeling the pressure to create lasting solutions to this problem and Medford is no different. Our city, however, is finding solutions that will bring more housing, especially affordable housing to Medford. We'll have a comprehensive master plan, which is being released very soon, will help guide our housing policy in the future. We currently have two other 40B projects that my administration is negotiating and working on. We worked with the developers on the project on Mystic Valley Parkway to resubmit plans to the Zoning Board of Appeals that includes 350 units, 25% of which are affordable housing units. We're committed to using ARPA funds to support and assist with affordable housing projects, like the ones at our Housing Authority complexes at 121 Riverside Ave and Walkland Court. We've allocated 400,000 to help offset permitting costs of renovations, thanks to the help of Bill 40, for upgrades and renovations to new affordable units at 121 Riverside Ave just this past week. Using existing funding sources like ARPA are helpful and allow us to make immediate expenditures to ease the burden on partners, but we're doing so knowing that we need a long-term plan for additional revenue sources. ARPA will end in 2025 and we don't want our partners left holding the bag. That's why establishing affordable housing trust is so important and will help allow us to fund new projects in the absence of ARPA. We've done the work, communicated with stakeholders, and are ready to move forward. The next step in the process is working with the council, who I know is supportive and understands the value of the trust. Those are just a few of the over 30 development investments we are working on. A special thanks again to our planning team led by Director Hunt and our now part-time economic development administrator. Thank you. Thanks to the work of our police chief, Jack Buckley, Medford PD is setting an example for how to operate as a diverse professional police force that continually engages with the community, builds new lasting partnerships and promotes inclusion and empathy with the way each of our officers conduct themselves. Aiding in that mission is the remarkable facility that the MPD calls home. And I have made it a priority to see that the fire department has a headquarters that is just as dynamic and meets the current needs of our firefighters and emergency personnel. Also, one of the ongoing initiatives that has been moving forward over the past year is upgrades to all six of our stations. We have already spent over $1.3 million on over 20 projects to upgrade each of our stations, including lighting projects in each substation, roof repairs or replacements, kitchen upgrades, and one final one to go. And we will continue to ensure these are the best working environments to keep Medford safe. Since day one, bringing our fire stations up to the standards of the 21st century department have been a priority of mine and my chief of staff, Nina Nazarian and chief John Friedman have been working tirelessly to get an owner's project manager hired and an architect contract signed. We are happy to announce that we do have an owner's project manager that we have hired and are very close to signing a contract with an architect firm for the design of the fire head quarter building. A special thank you to Medford residents, Luke McNeely and Paul Holian Jr. who have also done a lot of work, a lot of reading as it relates to this project. Please know that these things take time, but there is a committed group pushing these projects as fast as they can with me nagging them every step of the way. In addition to the efforts underway for the fire headquarters, our fire substation, engine three on Salem Street, is going to have the garage floors replaced this year. Thanks to the work of this team, as well as the dedicated help of our chief officer, Fiona Maxwell, and her team, and available community block grant funding, we can move forward on this project exponentially. Finally, this year, we'll begin IT work of over 500,000 and are designing window repairs or replacements at all the substations too. That's an additional over $2.2 million investment in new projects at the fire stations with a potential over $20 million bond after that for the headquarters. And in order to help fund these infrastructure improvements, I spent months negotiating to have cannabis dispensaries in Medford that would benefit our community. Our terms were eventually met and in addition to receiving the maximum 3% gross revenue coming back to the city, which will be used towards roads and sidewalks. We were also able to secure funding for our library, fire stations, DPW vehicles, cruisers for the police department, local nonprofit aid, veteran aid, and so much more. With all of these new projects coming online and countless more already completed, it's critical that we have sufficient transportation infrastructure in place to handle the demand and allow people to get to move about the city safely. That's why we commissioned a street and sidewalk infrastructure assessment early in my first term and showed the city, and the city has 200 million in backlog of road and sidewalk work that needs to be fixed due to the decades of neglect. This is a huge task, and although the city does not have the funding or capacity to complete this work in a year or two, we are not shying away from planning and implementation. We have been diligently working to complete our most critical roadways. In the past few months, With the help of our city engineer, Owen Hortella, we outlined a pavement strategy for Freedom Way. The road was in dire need of repair and was used regularly to access schools and city facilities. I'm happy to report that we have done the initial repaving with plans in place. Owen, there's more work to do. For a complete road rebuild in about two years. We've made a significant investment in upgrades to our sidewalks as well. This past year, we bonded a million dollars and we'll be going to the city council for an additional bond of 1.5 million that will include equipment. So even more work can be done in-house by our DPW team. Thank you to treasurer Judy Johnson for always helping us whenever we need her, when it relates to bonds. We've also identified more cost-friendly options for some road repair. Recently, 94 streets were identified in our assessment as prime candidates for a process called crack sailing. Over 30 streets have been completed with roughly 60 more to finish this spring. We are also working on a comprehensive patchwork plan that will be finalized and released to further repair our roads. Engineering and our Department of Public Works Commissioner Tim McGivern have been instrumental in this planning. With an eye on maintaining and improving the structural integrity of our streets and sidewalks, we've made tree stump removal and tree planting a priority. Working with our tree warden, Aggie Tudin, over the past year, we've secured over a half million dollars in funding for this work. And we'll continue to invest our resources towards this over the course of the year. I want to thank our state delegation, Rep Donato, Rep Garbally, Rep Barber, for providing some of that funding for this project and many, many others. Thank you. As we upgrade infrastructure, we additionally want to continue investing in our local businesses that are so important to the fabric of community. A few weeks ago, the city awarded $75,000 to 23 local businesses for storefront improvements. With this second round of funding completed, we have awarded over 100,000 through small business facade improvement grants. I spoke about revitalizing Medford Square in my inauguration speech last year, and I'm proud to say we are working towards that goal with programs like this that inject funding and create opportunity for local businesses to thrive. I can't mention local services without mentioning directors, Pam Kelly, Kevin Bailey, and Barbara Kerr, who have done an excellent job running our senior center, recreation department, and library through the last few years of the pandemic. And of course, without the leadership and expertise of our board of health director, Marianne O'Connor, and the staff in the health department, we would not have been able to navigate our way through the early days of the pandemic. Marianne and the team, including Board of Health Nurse Sarah Harris, provided clarity and calm during a truly chaotic and scary situation. So thank you to all, including our volunteers who helped administer over 2,800 COVID vaccines and 600 flu vaccines just in 2022, including close to 190 homebound vaccinations. Vaccines were administered throughout the city with the help of our community liaisons. who connect the community to city resources and expand communications and accessibility to our non-native English speakers in Medford. Expanding opportunities to showcase Medford's growing diversity and culture offerings has been a key part of our development strategy. Our parks and recreation spaces have also been upgraded with new murals. And just today I was at Wright's Pond working on the next with a local artist and Kevin Bailey. Chevalier Theater additionally renewed a five-year contract with the city back in September, bringing world-class entertainment to our hidden gem for years to come. We have signed a contract with a cannabis dispensary company, Theory Wellness, to construct our first-ever art center on Mystic Ave. They have broken ground, and we cannot wait to see this become a reality. Medford's waterfront will also become a new place for residents to enjoy, with plans in the works to create more recreation areas and beautify the area with murals and other art from the community. We hope to release the initial design for community feedback late this winter. Our city services and facilities are not the only community driven spaces that deserve our investments. We've also been able to prioritize our local nonprofits that have been instrumental to providing critical services and resources to our community. In addition to CDBG funding, we awarded over 230,000 to 25 nonprofits through the Community Fund Committee earlier this month. Included in this round of funding was the American Legion, Temple Shalom, the Medford Chamber of Commerce, and all four of our elementary PTOs, just to name a few. We expect to open up the second round of funding of grants later this year. We've talked a lot now about our progress and excitement for future projects, but we have also been met with some challenges this year, especially in our high school. Our schools, especially the high school, have needed to make change to better address the growing issues stemming from the pandemic. And I've spent, thankfully spent a lot of time over the last month with our superintendent, Dr. Maurice-Edouard-Vincent, as well as other district leaders, pushing for plans that are sustainable, adaptable, and work in the best interest of students. We have two newly trained student resource offices, a revised bathroom plan, and are engaging with students on a much more personal level. But most importantly, we have heard the students' concerns and listened to their lived experiences. We must strengthen our relationships and trust with both the students and caregivers and ensure that our school system is safe and an inviting place for all. As Jenny stated, we're still looking to obtain an MSBA loan to build a new high school. The building we have now is not amenable to quality education, and we believe we have a strong case for the next round of loans due in April to rebuild a state-of-the-art flagship school that our students and faculty deserve. I thank the school committee, the superintendent of schools, Dr. Maurice Edouard-Vincent and Mr. Dave Murphy for all their work on that application and we will be resubmitting. As our community continues to grow as a destination for families and professionals, there is a significant opportunity to expand accessible and efficient public transportation options. As I'm sure you've all seen and hopefully written, the Green Line Extension finally opened in December after many challenges, delays and questions. That was probably the happiest I've seen people at 5 a.m. on a Monday morning cramming in line to get a spot on the T. That just proves that the extension is a turning point for Medford. And I want to thank the community group that advocated and worked on this project for years. I will never stop pushing for better public transportation in and around our community as I did with the MBTA new better bus redesign and the closure of the orange line over the summer. I thank director Todd director of traffic and transportation, Todd Blake, for being the expert this city needs, advocating with us, working with us, and advising us along the way. Thank you. With his help and many others, we've also increased the scope of blue bikes around the city this year with three new docking stations at Tufts Square, Brooks Park, and Medford Square. We are working to expand this network further as alternative green transportation options support our climate action and adaptation plan, including efforts to provide residents with clean, sustainable, and affordable alternatives. I'm happy to announce that we have secured funding for seven additional Blue Bike locations, with the next three coming online later this year at Hormel Stadium, Harris Park, and Spring Street. For the four remaining, we're tentatively exploring Riverbend Park, Haines Square, West Medford, and the Hillside. As outlined in our Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, we have lofty goals of reducing our emissions by 50% by the end of this decade and have been working to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. To do this, we've taken a series of steps aimed at making our city operations, facilities, and policies more conducive and adaptable to climate resiliency. The last time I spoke at this podium to you all, I mentioned that we were in the process of securing funding for two additional electric charging stations with the hope of installation this year. Thanks to the work of the Planning, Development and Sustainability Office, especially the work of Planner Yvette Niwa, we've delivered on the promise and have two new stations, one at Hormel and one at Carr Park. And I'm happy to announce that we're expanding on that growth with two more, one at the Missittuck School and one at Tufts Park, coming online this summer with an additional seven being planned over the next year or so. But to implement real changes in the way we conduct our operations, we must commit to reversing our reliance on fossil fuels internally as well. This is also a priority of our city council and school committee. I'm happy to announce that we have secured $230,000 grant Diesel Emissions Reduction Act from the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act from the state with the help of Mike Wentzel from DPW to assist with the purchasing of an all electric commercial grade sweeper, which will replace our diesel engine vehicle. We also made concerted efforts to transition our other vehicles in our fleet to more green friendly options. The police department has purchased new hybrid vehicles and is patiently waiting for their arrival, hopefully in June, which will make their daily operations much more efficient, cleaner, and adaptable to challenges. We also thank director Faye Morrison, who will also be transitioning her fleet in the near future. The city is additionally enhancing its climate resiliency and emergency preparedness efforts through our MedFit Connects program led by our office of prevention and outreach manager, Penny Fanioli. This program seeks to expand and strengthen resources for our underserved community members. And we recently secured a grant, another grant for over 400,000 from the state to accomplish this work. An important part, I'm almost done, I'm sorry. An important part of our commitment to expanding resources and programming for residents is our investment in our green spaces. Medford's many parks are a source of pride for the city. and we have plans for upgrading the construction in many of them, close to 50, actually. I engaged an internal team who have been meeting close to monthly for three years to plan, gain community input and secure funding. In projects scheduled to start this spring and summer alone, we have secured over $5 million for renovations. One of our largest upcoming projects is Carr Park. Carr Park's vision plan was released the end of 21, and we are proud to say that phase one is fully funded and in design and expected to start this spring. Carr Park recently secured additional funding for phase two, which is on the horizon as well. In phase two, we can get excited for new basketball courts, one which will be covered by solar panels, a new playground and much more. Car's solar infrastructure will be funded by $1.5 million earmark in the federal 2023 budget. I wanna thank our federal delegation, including Congresswoman Clark, Senator Markey, Senator Warren, for their work in passing this budget and helping fund community projects here in Medford. Our planning office has been instrumental in this work. Thanks to their work, especially again, Director Hunt and Planner Amanda Centrella, we have not only secured opera funding, but a match of $1 million from another grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for phase one. Awesome job. Upper funds have made a huge impact on our community in the work we are able to do throughout the city. Unlike other communities that set specific funding amounts for various sectors, Medford has taken a needs-based approach, allowing us to invest funding where it is needed most. The data we collected from the community focus survey released this past summer helped inform many of the projects I've mentioned already tonight, with many others that I don't have time for. With the help of our amazing federal funds manager, Lorena Escalero, We will be continuing to invest in areas like affordable housing, public health and infrastructure, as well as plan for the future while being transparent with the work we're doing. Throughout our opera planning process, we have been open and transparent about our financial outlook and the need to allocate a percentage of funding to revenue replacement. Like many other cities and towns in the Commonwealth, the economic effects of the pandemic left a sizable gap in several revenue streams that we traditionally have counted on. For the past two years, the years we have reduced our reliance on ARPA dollars and expect the trend to continue in fiscal year 24 and 25. It's no secret that the city has incurred a structural deficit. And though we have several dynamic development opportunities on the horizon that will inject revenue into our bottom line, thanks to our assessing team, especially, I see Jim O'Brien and Ellen as well have been great. We are analyzing the potential need to come to a solution as to how to fill and address the gap. especially when ARPA is gone. We are closely monitoring and reviewing the need for an override in the future to ensure we keep performing work at this level. These decisions are not easy and we must balance the need and the ability to pay while taking into account that we will need a debt exclusion to build a new high school in the not too distant future. Since hiring CFO Bob Dickinson and budget manager Courtney Cordello, We are back to our baseline staffing levels in the finance department, and my office and the finance team have been hard at work with department heads, collecting information early in the process for the formulation of the fiscal year 2024 budget, especially given the global economic issues that persist, such as inflation and supply chain, in addition to recovering from the structural deficit of the pandemic. Fiscal year 24 is expected to be another difficult year. However, we continue to work hard to get the city's revenue stream to the needed levels to sustain the city's needs. Again, I want to thank everyone at City Hall that made all this work possible. While we're still working to optimize our staffing levels, the strength of the team that I have put together over the last three years in office has completely changed the culture of City Hall. and other places and helped usher in much needed modernization and efficiency updates in city hall operations and policies. Together, we are building the groundwork to professionalize Medford like never before and create a more meaningful and welcome experience for our residents. We have so many new hires that have been instrumental to that change. Those that I've already mentioned, as well as Jeremy Johns, our director of veteran services, Melissa Ripley, our elections manager, Jim Silver, our special projects coordinator, Bill Forty, our building commissioner, Paul Riggi, the city's first ever facilities director, a position the council and I advocated in favor for for the last 10 years. And thank you to HR and our director, Neil Osborne, and the efforts of so many others for keeping this process moving forward and helping fill roles. Accountability has been key to transforming the way our city works and serves our residents. Without accountability, it's impossible to get a professionalized government that the city needs and the people deserve. Part of accountability is ensuring every city employee and resident is aware of the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and has the means and support to actively promote equity and accessibility. It's part of our social justice roadmap. And with the help, amazing help of our director of diversity and equity inclusion, Francis Waje, The city has and will continue to expand DEI training for all staff, city, fire, and police, including implicit bias and cultural competency training. I've said it before, there are things I will not tolerate and no one will discourage me from doing this hard work. We can do hard things. We can transform this city and rid ourselves of the antiquated, outdated, and inefficient policies. But it takes time, it takes focus, and it takes trust. So I'm asking you to trust me. Trust me to do this work. Trust me to make decisions that are in your best interests. And trust me to lead this city to where we all know that it should be. Because there is much more to do. It is often not comfortable or fun having to make these hard choices and do the necessary work. But I've seen and heard about governments run without accountability and they quickly become chaotic and corrupt. And I will not let that happen here. I am committed to a transparent ethical administration for the city and thus will not tolerate city employees who do not share that same work ethic. That said, to be clear, the vast majority of our city employees come to work every day and try their best to move the city forward. many of whom I've mentioned tonight and all of whom I just don't don't don't have all the time. I do and I will continue to do all I can to support them in every way I can. To conclude, please know that so much work has been put work has been put in over the last year to find creative solutions to any roadblocks the city faces. When searching for funding, we find grants and secure them. When presented with differing When we say we are going to do something, we do it. I am dedicated to keeping my promises to Medford and delivering on projects, no matter the challenges we face along the way. And finally, and thankfully, we have the personnel to make it happen. Thank you. I'm the emcee, too. So I want to just thank you all so very much for coming tonight. Those who are watching from home or on Zoom, past and present employees of Medford, we just, again, appreciate all your hard work. Thank you so much. We have a reception outside, so please stay, have a bite to eat, and get home safely. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_02]: OK.