AI-generated transcript of Medford Traffic Commission 05-09-23

[Jack Buckley]: Welcome to the City of Medford Traffic Commission meeting. Today is Tuesday, May 9th, 2023, and the time is 5.03. My name is Jack Buckley. I'm the City's Traffic Commissioner and I am the Chief of Police as well. This meeting will come to order. Roll call of the Commissioners. Can you do a roll call for the Commissioners?

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: I believe he's absent. Commissioner Hunt? Present. Commissioner Brzezinski. I'm here. Chief Buckley.

[Jack Buckley]: Present. Three commissioners present. That is a quorum. Um, also present this evening is the secretary to the traffic commission, Alva Erickson, uh, Sergeant Larry Rogers of the Miffin Police Department's, uh, traffic team. Lieutenant Howard McGillivray is present as well as Todd Blake, director of traffic and engineering. The minutes of the April 2023 meeting have been distributed. Have the commissioners had a chance to review them? And if so, I will accept the motion to approve. Motion. On the motion of Commissioner Brzezinski.

[Alicia Hunt]: Sure, second.

[Jack Buckley]: Seconded by Commissioner Hunt. I have a roll call. Approve the minutes of the April 2023 meeting.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Commissioner Hunt. Yes. Commissioner Brzezinski?

[Unidentified]: Yes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Chief Buckley? Yes.

[Jack Buckley]: On a vote of three to nothing, one absent. The minutes are approved. New business 2023-21. Request from Rose Davidson for signs restricting luxury buses going to Tufts University through their neighborhood. Is Ms. Davidson present or somebody present to speak on behalf of the issue?

[Unidentified]: You can ask them to unmute. Oh. Hi, welcome.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: Am I on?

[Unidentified]: You're on. We can hear you. All right, hold on one sec, let me. Sorry.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: So I don't know where to start. This has been an issue I've had for over five years with the bus coming up Tufts, up to Tufts through Gourley Road. And it's gotten progressively worse since the apps for Waze and Google Maps. Now that I have a Nest camera, I pretty much see them constantly, especially during sports season and beyond. I don't know where to start because I've tried Rocco DiRico at Tufts. He passes it on as he can't put signage up or anything, that's a City of Medford issue. City of Medford says they'll work with Tufts, and then it goes back and forth, ping-ponging, wherein I even think someone at the Traffic Commission said they were gonna call Waze and Google Apps to change the configuration of, You know, I don't know how they do it, but they put in something where the buses can't go down Summit Street. So what's happening is, and I'm sure if Rocco's been in touch, you've seen my numerous emails starting from 2018. I've been emailing about this. Before Waze, they would go all the way, come off the highway, go down Main Street, and just take a right on George. Left on College, very simple. Now with Waze and apps, which is basically made for passenger cars, not luxury buses, which these buses are sometimes up to 40 feet long, 14 feet high, and they seat up to 57 people. The bus driver uses his little phone, gets on Waze, and they want to take the bus or the driver to the very beginning of College Ave, because logistically, Tufts is on College Ave. The bus takes a right on Summer, and when it gets to College Ave, it realizes it can't squeeze into that narrow opening at the beginning of College Ave. So he stops, and I've witnessed this, turns back onto Summer, slowly drives up, and then takes the left on Gourley. This happens, like, I can't tell you how many times over the last, like, five years, especially since I've gotten my cameras. So I've actually stopped the driver once, because he made me move my mirror, and I said, why are you driving down Gourley Road? This is a side street. Oh, I don't know, I'm just using the Google apps. All right, where are you going? Tufts, okay. And that goes, and it's just a merry-go-round. I've had to, and neighbors have had to move their cars because the buses are so large. We have side mirrors that get smashed. 7.30 in the morning, we hear like the buses roll up You know, with their big sound, wake us up. And you have to get out in your pajamas and move the car. One time they were in Dwyer Circle. And I don't even know if you've been to Dwyer Circle, but it is not a place for a bus. So let's start with maybe, isn't this a moving violation? Are they supposed to be on a residential street? These buses?

[Jack Buckley]: That's not with the law. There is no law that restricts a vehicle on any of those streets. I mean, there's some common sense issues here, but there's no law that would be prevented from just driving on a residential street.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: It's not a moving violation for a 40 foot long luxury bus, almost 14 feet high, 18 wheels or whatever they have to drive down Gourley Road.

[Unidentified]: Correct.

[Jack Buckley]: Really? Director Blake.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, I was just going to concur with Chief Buckley. There is no law, even if we pass something locally to restrict heavy vehicles, the state of Massachusetts controls the authority over that type of restriction. So unless otherwise posted, they're allowed on the street.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: Okay, so now it comes down to the posting. All right, so let's forget the, you know, traffic violation. That's not going to work. Okay, so let's go down to, I don't know, within a feet of a park or a playground. That's that's not an issue either. What about. just construction vehicles from the Green Line extension coming up with oversized construction vehicle. Anyone can drive down any street continuously, is that correct?

[Jack Buckley]: It's a public way, ma'am, and vehicles can drive down. There are restrictions based on certain For example, if there was a bridge that was too low, we could restrict height, but we do not have the authority to restrict heavy vehicles.

[Todd Blake]: In one of the examples you mentioned with the green line, if there's a specific project, we may have an agreement with that project to use certain roads.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: How about quality of life? How about that?

[Todd Blake]: We're just trying to answer your questions. Speed is one thing we can try to control.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: No, that's not controlled either. So I'm just fed up. It's just been like over five years. And I just want to show you see these. Can you see this sign I'm holding up?

[Jack Buckley]: No video. No, no video. No, we have no video. Chief. Go ahead, Sergeant.

[4FrRjkCyMqA_SPEAKER_06]: I think we need a target somehow.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: Can you see this sign?

[Unidentified]: Yes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: Okay. If you lived in Medford over the last 30 years or 40 years, this sign was posted on Main Street. If you came off the highway from 93, this was posted in Medford Square. It directed traffic towards Tufts University. If you came down Main Street, there was one at the split of Route 38 and Mr. Gavin Main Street, directing the traffic down Main Street. If you continued following the signs, you would find that this sign was then posted again at the top of Summer Street, directing the traffic and the buses to George Street. At George Street, the sign went like this. Tufts University with a right arrow. When you went right, you got to the four-way stop, and the sign went like this. Tufts University left. Something happened 25 or 20 years ago, and those signs were removed. They must have did the streets over or the sidewalks, and they never replaced them. Now, all I'm asking, there's one like this, you can put at the end of Gourley Road where it meets Summer, it's $46.99. You can do that. house has the money. This is 44 99. All I'm asking is a simple sign because believe it or not, people will look at it and if it stops 25% of the buses will be happy streets riddled with potholes constantly.

[Jack Buckley]: Yep. Okay. Hold on one second ma'am. Director Blake.

[Todd Blake]: So I was gonna say thank you, man, the blue sign is something we can work with tough song for guide signs to and from the campus, as you mentioned, not every driveway driver will will follow it, but if some do that's good in terms of the restrictions for the buses that goes back hand in hand with the legal requirement. We can't necessarily put no buses if it's not a restriction that buses can't be on that street. So the blue signs, though, is definitely something we can work with Tufts on. And I couldn't say why they're missing either, but they are amenable to that. They've mentioned doing something like that before. I just said everyone's aware, the Waze problem with apps is a national problem. It's not just a Medford problem. I actually got contacted by a transportation district in Denver from a student that's going to school at San Jose State that's doing a paper on this nationally, and this is happening every city across America is having the same issues. It's the app so so we can do we can but it, you know, even contacting the apps they won't restrict. roads from being available on their apps unless it's physically restricted like a bridge is out or a construction zone. They won't do it just to help cities and towns with their issues.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: I get that. I understand that. But just living in this area, living on this street, I really feel it's unfair. It's unfair not to do anything. I mean you've got to do something.

[Todd Blake]: So some of the tricks we use is to do traffic calming to again control the speeds at least, but we could also artificially control the width of streets by using cones and other things that some people may like or not like.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: We're just going to have to come out of our houses even more to move the cars. No. I just think these were there before. Something happened and someone removed them. But I know they were there. And if you lived in Medford for the last 35 years, you know what I'm talking about. It's just, everyone just ignores the problem. I mean, you're gonna wait for a little kid in a school to get hit by one of these buses over near the tennis courts. I don't know. But it's a simple solution. Start with the signs. And hopefully, if it even alleviates 25% of the buses coming down, I don't know if, Mr. Rogers, is it Jerry or James that was the traffic commissioner?

[Todd Blake]: Sergeant Rogers.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: Sergeant Rogers. I emailed him a parade of buses that came by last week. So nonstop.

[Todd Blake]: Ma'am, we actually agree with you on a lot of points. It's just for some of them, our hands are a little bit tight. So just to explain to you and the members of the commission and the public, We tried to get an official truck exclusion on Stearns Avenue for similar issues of trucks and other things, and the state denied us. So we cannot post legal signs saying no trucks if we don't have a legal restriction. So that's the issue we deal with.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: Okay. Can I please ask, and Tufts, I would think if they tell me they need the city's approval, And if you give them approval, can they at least put their blue signs back up? Actually, it didn't. It said Tufts University, not Tufts. I have it wrong. It's Tufts University.

[Todd Blake]: We would gladly work with Rocco and Tufts to implement guide signs, especially if they're going to pay for it. But we'll gladly do that.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: Well, you know what? I'll take a collection up on the street. How's that?

[Todd Blake]: Guide signs are definitely something within our authority that we could

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: we could manage and implement they're not restrictions, they don't need approval so that's something that we could work with, and could one please be placed at the top, and not covered by the bus stop sign at the top of summer street on the corner of main and summer.

[Todd Blake]: Going straight arrow straight straight at me and summer and right at me and George and left it at George College correct.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: Well, yeah, they know from that point when they take the right on George that with it.

[Todd Blake]: I'm just concerned so you'd believe it or not they don't sometimes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: I know. I, it's crazy. They've smashed mirrors, and I'm the one that's been on this street the longest. I've been here almost 40 years. And people have come and gone in my neighborhood. And a lot of times, they're just like, too busy. This street is crazy. I'm like, yep. It's sad. It's sad, like nothing's gonna be done.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, the blue guide sign is a great suggestion. And actually we need them approaching from the other side too, because they come off Mystic Ave and cut through that way as well, and then go up either Frederick or Pearl or stay on their stern.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: They had these many, many years ago.

[Jack Buckley]: I have to let the commissioners speak for a second. Do the commissioners have any comments, questions or concerns?

[Alicia Hunt]: Thank you for having a solution. It sounds like this is something that can be handled with directional signage. I'm happy to have myself or my staff sort of weigh in if any of that is helpful as we're looking at other things like we've been doing walking and biking signage. But this makes a lot of sense. I do wonder if it would make sense to put like Tufts University best bus route or something on the signs, on them, if something like that would make sense. We would direct bicycles a different direction, you know, because bicycles maybe belong on a side street and the buses belong on the big street. But I feel like this is something we could take administratively. We don't have to vote on as a commission and we should take offline to work out the details of.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: Okay. I'd appreciate anything at all. Anything.

[Jack Buckley]: Okay. Commissioner Brzezinski, any questions, comments?

[Bob Dickinson]: No, I support Alicia's position. I think whatever we can do to get these directional signs back up, let's do it. It sounds like it makes more sense, especially with Tufts, if they realize the negative publicity they're getting from this and let them know that it's a quick solution to get it done.

[Jack Buckley]: Thank you, Commissioner Brzezinski. Any other parties from the public wishing to speak in favor or on the subject? Raise your hand. HAB-Michael Leccesereeeeeeeeeeeeeeee work on this administratively.

[Alicia Hunt]: Yeah. A motion to... How would we do it? Because we're not approving anything. A motion to remove from the agenda and refer to traffic, department, and the police for implementation.

[Jack Buckley]: I'll modify traffic engineering. That way we can have... Traffic engineering. And the Metro Police Department. Yeah. to find a solution.

[Alicia Hunt]: Yeah, and Todd, let me know if I can help, but we don't need to refer to me.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, Chief, you might want to include DPW because depending on if we allow Tufts to install or if our DPW installs it, basically, whatever.

[Alicia Hunt]: Can you refer to Traffic Engineering and then they can at their discretion loop in whoever they feel is necessary?

[Jack Buckley]: Yeah, so how about this first step for motion remove from agenda and refer to traffic engineering DPW, the Medford Police Department to find a solution that may include the use of directional signs, Tufts University. Sounds good. Do I have a second Commissioner Podanski? Second that.

[Unidentified]: Okay, Alderwood, I'll vote. All of you guys are muted. Commissioner Hunt? Yes. Commissioner Brzezinski?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Chief Buckley?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes, on a vote of three to nothing, one absent. The motion passes. Ma'am, thank you for participation tonight. And we will reach out starting at the end of this week into the next week and try to come up with an immediate solution for this. And we will touch base with you. Thank you. 2023-22, permit parking variance. Chirag Rustigi, 348 High Street for Mystic Street is the petitioner present. Go ahead and unmute yourself, sir. Hi. There you go. Welcome.

[SPEAKER_09]: Hi, good evening, thanks. I wanted to request a variance for parking. I live on 248 High Street. I rent the unit over here. My landlady owns the driveway, so I can't usually park there. The reason why I'm requesting the variance is if I go on vacation for over a week, because I'm on the main road, there's street cleaning every week. If I'm on vacation, that means I don't have anywhere else to park. So that means I'll pile up tickets if I'm parked over there or get towed on the main street. So I was wondering if I could get a very informistic street so I can at least park there if I'm out on vacation or anything of that sort.

[Jack Buckley]: Okay, thank you.

[Unidentified]: Todd, can you pull this up on the map while commissioners look at the area? Thank you. Now, I'm not sure if you heard me or not, because the screen is muted. We have a go. Is there no driveway there, sir?

[SPEAKER_09]: There is a driveway, but it's reserved by the landlady. So she's still working, so she has to go in and out every day. So if I'm in the city, then it's fine. I can park overnight and then leave in the morning. And she's not blocked. But if I'm on vacation, I've got to go out of town for like two weeks. I can't really park in the driveway, I'll lock her in.

[Unidentified]: So I don't really have any other recourse here. Because street cleaning is once every week. Yes. Comments or questions from the commissioners?

[Bob Dickinson]: Is Auburn Street parking? I know that's near Brooks. We don't have, is there no public parking on Auburn? That seems closer. I just, why Mystic, I guess.

[SPEAKER_09]: Is that a question for me, or?

[Bob Dickinson]: It's probably just a general question for anybody. Mystic, any, Mystic in particular?

[SPEAKER_09]: It's closer, I thought. that would be allowed. I didn't know there was public parking that I could park for like a week there in Auburn. So that's why I suggested this pick.

[Alicia Hunt]: I do have the concern that like technically you're not allowed to, correct me if I'm wrong, Chief. You can't park your car for more than 48 hours without moving it or else it could get, people might say that it's being stored and it can be ticketed for that, right?

[Unidentified]: What do people do?

[Jack Buckley]: In general cases, they just ask for consideration in the area.

[Alicia Hunt]: Do people contact the police every time they go on vacation so you don't ticket their cars?

[Jack Buckley]: Not everyone, but some people do. Other people make arrangements, put them in driveways.

[Alicia Hunt]: Right, it seems like the right thing to do would be to arrange with your landlord that you're going to put your car all the way back in the inside while for the period of time that you're gone so that she can come and go in front of it. I just I just am mildly concerned that the solution here is not actually going to be a good solution if he's gonna, if he parks on Mystic and people don't know that it's him, they're gonna call the police and say, this car is stored. They just brought their car here and then they went away for a week. What's it doing here? Because that's what people do. I'm not saying I agree with that behavior, but it's, but people do it. And then if he doesn't move for, Julie empowered to take him, it's my understanding.

[SPEAKER_09]: Yeah. Would it help if I keep the parking permit on the dash that's visible?

[Alicia Hunt]: We don't issue that kind of permit.

[Jack Buckley]: And even with the permit, you still have restrictions.

[SPEAKER_09]: Is there any other solutions that would allow me to park, you know, in the scenario?

[Jack Buckley]: If you're simply speaking or asking about where to park when you leave for a week or two weeks, is there room for two cars in that driveway? You couldn't pull all the way in while the landlord used the car every day?

[SPEAKER_09]: There is space for like the car, but she likes to park all the way inside. So there's like a garage, parking garage at the end. So she would be restricted from parking her car inside there if that happens, if I'm out for a little bit longer than necessary. So she'll have to essentially be parking outside. So I can ask her, but I think last time I asked her, she said, go to City Hall.

[Todd Blake]: Looks like the driveway could fit about three cars plus the garage in the back. I would say that the issue with parking for a whole week somewhere that exists in every neighboring city as well. Somerville, Cambridge, everywhere else. So it's not unique to Medford.

[Unidentified]: So yeah, whatever that's worth.

[Alicia Hunt]: Right. I just, it's less about, you know, is this the right thing to do? Do we give these permits? And more in my mind here that it's, not going to solve the problem. And then we're giving him a false sense of security. Oh, he has a parking permit, he can park on Mystic Street, and then he gets ticketed anyhow.

[Jack Buckley]: Let me ask the petitioner, are you seeking this variance solely for the purpose of being able to park longer than one week?

[SPEAKER_09]: Yeah, mostly just for that. If I'm on vacation, that's it. Like, otherwise, if I'm in town, street parking is fine. I usually park street parking. You mentioned consideration. Does that mean like, I can just give you, give Vector Police a call and then park? Or would that also not work?

[Jack Buckley]: Well, I mean, to some degree, we will provide as much consideration as we can. And you normally park on high street, correct?

[Unidentified]: Correct. But we do the weekly street sweeping. The consideration has generally been granted for the 48 hours, not for something where we would I'm just following Todd's map, trying to think of some other solutions for this.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, what I'm doing is looking at this, even the school area that Steve pointed out, Auburn, it's only restricted during school time, so this is available at night or overnight, not for several days at a time, but... Again, I think the petitioner's problem is a week or more than a week.

[Alicia Hunt]: He actually crosses Mystic to get to Auburn. Mystic is pretty narrow. It looks like there are people parking up on the curb. Not a fan. Oh.

[Jack Buckley]: the only solution that I'm coming up with right now, like, I'm not a fan of granting a variance for the sole purpose of, well, I wouldn't grant the variance for the purpose of extending parking beyond the 48 hours because we can't do that. There was other reasons for the variance I would pursue it further, but, I think the solution may lie with a conversation with the landlord. You have quite an extensive driveway there. I think the landlord should provide some consideration there. And if not, maybe you could come in and speak or send me an email or speak with the traffic team. We could come up with some solutions to provide some sort of considerations when you go out. How often do you go away for longer than a week? Or is it, is it often or is it just a few times a year?

[SPEAKER_09]: Maybe a few times a year, like maybe once or twice.

[Unidentified]: That's about it.

[Jack Buckley]: Yeah, I don't know what the commissioners think on that, but the variance for the purposes of solely for the purpose of extended beyond 48 hours, it's not something we can do. It's not something that should be approved. A landlord should be able to provide one or two times a year some consideration, but if not, perhaps you could reach out to the police department at that time when you leave.

[SPEAKER_09]: Okay, fair enough. I'll have a conversation.

[Alicia Hunt]: I think that I would add, Chief, is that if, because I know you said that your landlord told you to go to City Hall, that if there's some concern, it seems to me that you could perhaps email the Chief and say, could you confirm that you said this? And the Chief could reply, and then you could show the landlord, actually, I did speak to them, and this is, you know, seems reasonable.

[SPEAKER_09]: Okay, sure, I can definitely look into that. That may help.

[Jack Buckley]: Commissioner Brzezinski, comments, questions?

[Bob Dickinson]: I was just looking, I mean, I know it's a little bit of a walk, but there is what public parking behind Snappy Patties, right? And then is that long-term or is that daily? And then of course, the long-term lot that feeds the commuter rail behind Walgreens. I think that is, like you can do that on your phone and pay for it daily. So not the best suggestion. I do like to take, I agree with Alicia's take, the false sense of security, if we granted them a parking spot on a neighboring street, it's not necessarily gonna work. And again, I think this is also indicative of the problem we have in Medford, if landlords basically dumping parking responsibilities onto the city. So whatever we can do to help this gentleman convince his landlord that what she's doing I think is unreasonable. I'm here to help, but also just understand there are potentially some long-term public parking solutions down in West Medford you might want to check into.

[SPEAKER_09]: Okay, thank you for the suggestion.

[Alicia Hunt]: I'm pretty sure they're all restricted that you can't park more than two or three hours, the commuter rail like all day, but I'm not clear that you won't get tagged for parking overnight.

[Bob Dickinson]: Yeah, probably snappy patties, but you may want to check out the one behind Walgreens to see what it says. Because again, I know you can pay for it with your phone. So you may just have to pay for it daily instead of doing it long term.

[4FrRjkCyMqA_SPEAKER_06]: If you'd like, just a quick comment. But to remind the commission, there's no overnight parking in most of these parking lots.

[Jack Buckley]: There you go. So I need a motion from the commissioners related to the permit parking variance. Based on the tone of the conversation, the petition would be denied, but in the denial, we would have the Medford Police Department work with the petitioner and landlord to try to understand what's going on with the situation and offer to provide some help.

[Alicia Hunt]: Should I just motion to not to deny it? Or would you like me to say motion to deny and the police?

[Jack Buckley]: Motion to deny it. Yeah, it clearly understands. Okay.

[Unidentified]: I'll second that. All right, I'll have a roll call vote. Commissioner Hunt? Yes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Commissioner Brzezinski?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Chief Buckley?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes, on a vote of three to nothing, one absent, the motion is denied. That being said, you know, feel free to send me an email, jbuckley at medfordpolice.com. We'll see what we can do. I am out of the office for the rest of the week, but I do have my emails. We'll see what we can do to kind of come up with a long-term solution for you. Thank you for participating this evening. 2023-23 and Fretz 215 Harvard Street. Add bollards to corner of Harvard in Main Street next to 373 Main Street and extend installation along Harvard Street sidewalk up to 215 Harvard Street unit number seven. Ms. Fretz, floor is yours. Did we get her unmuted?

[Unidentified]: She has to unmute herself. I'm asking her to unmute.

[Ann Fretts]: Hannah, you see, there you got it. Finally, sorry, it's not my computer. I only have an iPad these days. Thank you for having me speak this evening, I appreciate that. One of the issues that we're faced with is a lot of changes in Medford. And what has happened is the beautiful trees that we once had on along the street in front of the townhouses and in front of the Lincoln building and for the driveway, are now down from I believe about 15 down to four. And even though there are three signs on the street that say no parking, we're receiving most of the trailer trucks and delivery trucks, UPS, DHS, you name the truck and they're parking as long as well as 18 wheelers that are customers of Main Street restaurants. And the Issue we have is the back in 2014, the traffic commission at that time approved putting bollards in around the corner at the crosswalk and around the corner down to, I believe it's 159 past 159 Harvard street. The bollards were not put in around the corner. Only two were put in at the crosswalk to block access. and the access onto the sidewalk continued. And my long-term friend had a son who was living in the first condo and the morning trucks were parking on the sidewalk, blocking the son from coming in his home at 5.30 in the morning. Caused lots of problems. So the city council approved and facilitated having the five funeral urns of flowers that are the concrete urns and the urns immediately were moved to make way for vehicles to get onto the sidewalk again. And as an aside, I also have a petition into, um, I submitted it to the City traffic commission and it was determined that it's probably best to submit it to Bill Foley, I'm sorry, Bill Forte, and I did that this week, to have a cutout on Harvard Street so that there could be delivery trucks that would be accommodated for short-term parking and drop-off, trash pickup, etc. Um, what I would like to see and others who are owners of the properties would be to remove the urns that are basically unsightly and unwelcoming to most of the people coming into Medford. Replace them with movable bollards. There are type of bollards that can be secured with, um, with tops and bottoms that in case of any need to access the side of the building or anything at 373, 377 Harvard Street could be facilitated. That was submitted to the previous DPW commissioner two years ago, perhaps three years ago. But again, more changes occurred. The concrete on the sidewalks are now spalling, which means that the top has lifted off because of poor cement quality in a certain section where the trucks are now parking. And if you can see in the pictures that I sent this afternoon, I'm sorry for having sent it so late, they are cracked and it will, absolutely turn the area into just a pile of broken concrete, which is not great for our condos. And, um, I would prefer this be kept with the traffic commission, but we're having a difficult time seeing any appreciation for our condos when they're resold. And there is one up for sale right now that didn't sell three years ago. And one just sold this summer and didn't appreciate over a four-year period. It sold for less than it was purchased for by a dollar. So now we have the question, could we put bollards in in the stretches where the trees have died and been removed? They've died from people hitting them, killing them, or the natural gas leaks that we had drove them out. And for us at Lincoln Kennedy to re-groom, re-loom, and put in grass or sod on a strip that runs the length of Lincoln Kennedy on Harvard Street, 215 Harvard Street, would be about $1,000 a year. We've been spending quite a bit of money trying to do it, but the minute we put any sod down or any grass seed, they just get destroyed by people parking on the sidewalk. And again, If we want to put signposts out there to block cars or trucks, that would be great, but I'd like to see the bollards put in place, which gives them a more streamlined professional look than what we have now, which is chewed up dirt. And it would also protect the pedestrians that are using this side of the street. Any questions? Did you get the pictures?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes, we received everything. Commissioners, any comments or questions for the petitioner?

[Alicia Hunt]: I kind of wish the DPW commissioner was here tonight because I really would like to get the DPW position on this. And I don't know if Todd from traffic is able to weigh in on this. I do see that there are bollards at the crosswalk. And I can also see that this appears to be like the delivery area and where they keep dumpsters for trash behind a fence. So it's clear that of course vehicles need to be emptying those dumpsters and need to be doing stuff there. That doesn't, I'm not saying it's clear they have to go up on the sidewalk, it's just I understand why it's happening at this location.

[Ann Fretts]: It's been like this for 13 years, and what used to happen was customers and staff and the owners would drive through the crosswalk as people were on the sidewalk, including one night when Chief Sacco had a large group of us assaying the area, assessing what was happening in the area, and they drove right through us, which is why the bollards were put in place. We had also asked for a ramp to be put there, a rubberized ramp that would have the nodules on top that would prevent us from slipping. We've tried to work with the Republic Services, and they basically haul the two yarders out to the street and lift up the units and dump them in. Or they go through the crosswalk and park with the dumpster through the crosswalk and the waste management or Republic Services vehicle parked in the bus stop to empty it. I'm not sure who's coming through these days, but there seem to be parking on that stretch near what Todd just had up, and then coming up to our driveway and backing up into our driveway, cracking the newly laid concrete that's at the the apron on the street. So there's lots of stuff going on down in our area. I'm just trying to take it one piece at a time. We've had to identify who's doing what, but if you can see where the urns have been pushed back, pulled back, it doesn't take a whole lot to pull them back, but there's at least five feet from the curb, and it is a tough area. All of this area would allow a large truck to pull up and park there. And that's what is happening. I'm sorry I didn't get any photos of it, but that's what is happening. And you can see, I didn't have photos of the trucks on our strip in front of the townhouses, but you can see the tire tracks there. I could spend all day taking pictures, but.

[Todd Blake]: To answer Alicia's question or some of the questions that have come up, I wouldn't necessarily, so we're in agreement that a truck shouldn't park in the travel lane because it causes safety and traffic issues. A truck should not pull up on the sidewalk and block the sidewalk either. There's no curb cut here for a truck. The potential solution for a cutout here, it wouldn't work either because And this is private property over here. So, so we'd be trading public sidewalk for an individual loading area. So, I don't see that as solution either. Some of the solutions, you know, put here various different treatments, bollards and other things, but to protect the public and the sidewalk and things like that.

[Ann Fretts]: I don't necessarily see I could interrupt for just a second. I submitted this request at the behest of the two owners to Brian Karen's and they were in agreement that they would give up part of their private property to move the public sidewalk into their public area. and possibly move some of their corral in so that the public could have a safe place to walk, right? Yes, right along there. So it's not something that is inconceivable as far as they were concerned. And they were supposed to come up with an architectural plan to do that. And this was a couple of years ago before Brian retired. And it It hasn't been, well, it's been since COVID, we dropped the issue. And I spoke with them again, spoke with Luciano on Saturday, and he said many things, and one of them was, sure, try it again and see what happens, because they would give up.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, I mean, that's also a process involved with it. It's still redirecting the public sidewalk into an unusual pattern. But, but, you know, if someone wanted to propose something like that, the city could review it, but it would be a planning project, because it would be, if it's not by right, they'd have to go through a process. I just wanted to step back and say, in my opinion, this isn't necessarily It is an issue as you described Anne and others, but it isn't necessarily a unique or individual issue. We're only discussing one particular business, but this whole square, every single one of these businesses gets deliveries. So it's more of a holistic approach to loading zones and deliveries for business districts versus even if we tackle this one, many of the other trucks that you speak of could be or are likely in other areas that don't necessarily impact Harvard Street or the condos, that they're either double parking or taking up other spaces. So I would suggest more of a holistic approach to looking at shared loading areas on the street that allow for everyone and work with the business owners to determine what's the best place for those. Because some people prefer to be in front of business. Some people don't want to be in front of business. And even if we go that route and find a solution like that, the individual drivers, the contractors that are delivering the goods, you know, don't necessarily follow them anyways. But we could try. That's the best we can do. But we have that situation elsewhere in the city where even where there are loading zones, they want to park right in front of where they're delivering or picking up. trash bins are on wheels, so they are meant to come out of there and go to wherever the truck may be appropriately parked. So, yeah, I just wanted to throw it out there for the commission that, you know, it's not to discount anything in saying those things do happen, those things shouldn't be happening. It's just for the potential solutions, anyways.

[Ann Fretts]: If I can just, I'm perhaps misspoke in that it would be a commonly used delivery. It's not just for this side of Main Street or the other side. If you've driven down Main Street, when Cisco and their 18-wheeler has pulled up in front of the new meat market, where Copa Bianca used to be, it's now treacherous to even try and drive down there. And there's no consistency on when they're arriving. And it's one of the solutions we came up with was to try and move the MBTA bus. We have neighbors who live across the street from us who walk to the bus, but will walk down to the one closest to the Tufts pool rather than have to walk out to the street because the service vehicles are parked in the MBTA bus scooting across to Nick's or to whomever is on the opposite side of the street. So it's not just for our corner nor just for the condominiums. It's for everybody that walks on the sidewalk or has a business in the area. It is a holistic view. And it's one of the places that we could see that would be readily available with the permission of the owners of 373 and 377 Harvard Street. Nick was all for it. When I discussed it with him two years ago, I haven't spoken to the new meat department owners. when the same thing happens across the street with Arthur's Pastry, when his Rokoff's kosher delivery vehicles come in, they park in the MBTA buses. We had, Jim Silva and I had led a coalition to try and move both buses, both bus stops to a different location because there were so many in the area. And Honestly, when there aren't delivery trucks parked on the MBTA buses, there are customer vehicles parked there. So it would make sense to move those as well. And I see a large project coming, but again, we're also faced with the people parking in front of the condos and having our area not look as good as it could. So there's that. So perhaps if we want to leave the earth as they are to our projects,

[Todd Blake]: I will say for you and in the commission that the MBTA is actually very favorable in terms of consolidating bus stops. So if the city ever wanted to remove One, I'm sure they'd oblige us. So the question would be, we also still want to be cognizant of transit accessibility to people in Medford, good access to transit. So if there was a solution where the bus stops on the edges of the South Medford Square area, like the Yale Street and the Wareham Street, and remove the ones in the central portion, that could be a solution if others were amenable to that.

[Jack Buckley]: So let me interject here now because the Traffic Commission has no authority over bus stops. We can't move them. We can't do anything with them. It's more of a city council issue. A lot of what I'm hearing is about planning, design, and not so much regulatory. I guess some of these things come with regulatory enforcement. And so I'm having trouble seeing what the traffic commission can do as it relates to this. In some sense, we're talking about redesigning part of a city square here, and that does not fall under our purview. So having said that, I'm just going to defer back to the commissioners before I open it up to public comment. I know there are at least one hand raised. If Commissioner Brzezinski or Hunt want to speak first, I can go to public comments afterwards.

[Bob Dickinson]: I mean, I agree. I think this is more than just a Tuesday evening kind of solution. I feel that the probably the entire intersection including the. parking spots in front of the odd-numbered businesses on Main Street could potentially be reworked to create a loading zone, or at least a part-time loading zone. But I don't necessarily know. I don't think bollards are the solution, particularly stretching bollards or planters all the way up to the townhouse area. That's a long way to go. Um, so I don't, I don't necessarily know what the process is to start kind of getting this to the right people to start really taking a look at it and see what can happen here, but I don't necessarily know, um, which I'm all for. I don't know. Cause we, uh, go to a lot of the shops down here. I don't necessarily know that it's how we solve it tonight.

[Ann Fretts]: If not for the ball, could we get some more signs, no parking signs in those blank areas down in front of the townhouses and the Lincoln building?

[Jack Buckley]: That may be a potential solution. Let me move to some other, I know Mr. Perrella wants to speak. Commissioner Hunt, do you have anything before I move to Mr. Perrella?

[Alicia Hunt]: I'm just been thinking that it feels not exactly like a complete streets project, but like we need to look at the whole area holistically and that's an engineering project. Thing is, it's not a quick answer. It's not gonna fix anything tomorrow. And I do wonder, I would love to have DPW weigh in on how they would feel about sort of some sort of bollards as a temporary safety measure. as we embark on it because I understand how this works and it would take us more than a year before we would have a solution and then it would take us a year or two to find funding so we could say today refer this to the engineering department for a regional like look at the whole thing but we're talking about a three to five year project to make that before it's done right in realistic terms.

[Bob Dickinson]: One other thing to add about her point about the parking signs, I just really like that idea. I'm not a huge sign fan, but Harvard Street is such a horrible area with people who generally disregard the signs anyway. I think we voted not too long ago about removing all parking on Harvard Street, but I still continue to see people there. So I like the idea of a temporary bollard, if that's something that's within budget that we could put up. But it's, you know, if people are gonna park in a certain area, sometimes they're not gonna worry about signs or bollards to stop them, particularly if they're only temporary. So if there's a short-term solution to help them, I'm all for it. But I agree with Alicia that I think this is a long-term project, and unfortunately, it could become a really long-term project.

[Jack Buckley]: Yep. Director Blake, if I could just open it up. Mr. Perrella's been waiting. Mr. Perrella, can you unmute yourself, open it up for public comment?

[David Perella]: Great, thank you. And yeah, so I do agree with Anne. And I do think the bollards are necessary, just from a public safety perspective. Trucks do park on that corner. And it really makes it dangerous for pedestrians trying to cross Harvard, because as motorists, we lose visibility of them until they pop out from behind the truck. And so I liked Alicia's suggestion about temporary bollards, but I would hope that they'd be substantial so that they couldn't be moved like those urns. And then the question, I had a question. So the trucks that are parking on half on the sidewalk and half on the street, is that illegal when they do that? Yes, make it easy. That's simple. Okay. All right. Well, all right. I didn't know that. And when they double park, so we have all those angled park spots. I can assure you that every morning there are those massive 16 wheelers parked in front of Oasis. And it really, it makes that intersection extremely dangerous, not only for pedestrians, but for motorists as well. So yeah, so right here. So there are always the 16 wheelers that are parked right in front. And it creates this, there's a blind spot now as you're trying to navigate through. And I know that's a bigger question, but is it legal for them to park in front, those 16 railers to park in front? And they're not parking in close to the curb. They're parking in basically in traffic and it coincides with rush hour.

[Jack Buckley]: All vehicles need to park appropriately. Yeah, parking there.

[Todd Blake]: That's what we're getting at. It's more holistic, because it's the angled parking, there's bus stops, there's a lack of designated area for delivery trucks to be able to deliver. So that's one of the issues to solve. In terms of the easiest, quickest solution in terms of bollards versus signs, a sign post is going to be cheaper and quicker, much cheaper and quicker than a bollard. So that's what I would recommend. But at the same time, either one, as Steve Brzezinski said, It's not necessarily the correct treatment to use. It's really an enforcement issue. And we got to think as a city, when you do something like this, there's many areas that have no parking at all and shouldn't be parked on sidewalk. So to put enough treatments to physically block every situation like that is not feasible. So a sign that's missing on that one stretch that used to have the trees that says no parking seems to be doable. We've done that in the past in some other areas. I will say, though, that every time we put more signs, we hear other people say sign pollution. So signs for no parking should be every 100, 200 feet, not every 10 feet or so. So it's more of an enforcement issue.

[David Perella]: Yeah. But the signs can be disregarded, and the bollards can't. The bollards could physically prevent trucks from parking on that sidewalk. And that would really make it safer for pedestrians and motorists, because the motorists are losing visibility there.

[Jack Buckley]: So I don't disagree with that. We can't, I'm sorry, we can't add signs. I mean, that's something that the traffic commission can do and has the authority to do. We're not sure we can, we're not even sure temporary bullets exist. We would have to go beyond, that would be beyond this traffic commission's sort of authority here. So I think that's why we're kind of leaning towards signs. And I mean, I know my traffic sergeant is present and there can be some increased enforcement down there, which we've been doing anyway, as it comes down to this. But do you have any further or final comments, Mr. Perlow? The floor is still yours. I just wanted to interject with that. Okay, no, thank you for that.

[David Perella]: And I will say that I think Oasis is a much larger establishment, so their deliveries are more extensive. The other businesses do have this, you know, the illegal double parking, if you will. But that tends to be more transient in nature, and there's a greater consistency And it's also the location where Oasis is at that intersection that it really does create that blind spot for both motorists and pedestrians. So I understand that there's a bigger, perhaps we'll re-engineer that intersection, but at a minimum, I would hope that, and I understand that the bollards may be out of purview of this commission, but I do think that will, That corner, I think, really would benefit from the bollards.

[Jack Buckley]: Thank you, Mr. Peralta, for your comments and for your participation. Any other public comments before I refer back to the commissioners?

[Ann Fretts]: I just have one more. The length of the condos, the townhouses, is 300 feet, and we only have one sign on that particular section. and then the length of the Lincoln building, I'm not quite sure what it is, but we could use a sign there and perhaps one right next to the home that is at 1 Benton Street, because there are trucks pulling up on the sidewalk that's part of, in front of our property and blocking their driveway. So it would be a big help for that.

[Jack Buckley]: And as- Can you give me that list one more time? I gotta write this down.

[Ann Fretts]: The townhouses are 300 feet long. So it's a hundred yards. There's only one sign and four trees. Trees aren't gonna last much longer by the looks of them. And we can't replace them. Aggie said it's just not possible. We can't put shrubs out there because they'll die as all the balsam did that used to line our property. Lincoln building, I'm not sure what the width is, but it's at least 100 feet. And there's only one sign. And then there's the flashing speed sign. and the crosswalk sign. We could use, by the way, we could use a crosswalk sign that flashes too. It's tough trying to get across there. And then at the small section, that would be to the left on the screen, down where the layers is located, there's a driveway right next to our property, right just past the, Speed sign. Yes, right there. Trucks will pull up there and block my neighbor's driveway right here. And we try to keep our tree trimmed so that they can see backing out of the driveway. So having a truck there is very difficult for Karina and her husband to try and back out. So that's one Benton Road at Harvard Street that we need another

[Unidentified]: OK, got the list. Thank you.

[Todd Blake]: So it looks like there's four existing signs. One here, one near the hydrant here, one here, and one here. There's space approximately 170 to 200 feet apart, which is, you know, you could definitely use one or two more, but it's not that sparsely. Anyway, so there are some, but you could use one or two more.

[Ann Fretts]: That would help. especially in the dead zones. And I wouldn't ask for Sergeant Rogers or Sergeant Canova to do enforcement on me. It's just not productive for them to do that. There's nowhere to park. There's nowhere to pull over. We're not going to call for that at all. It's an unnecessary burden for them, but it's more dissuade the people. I've tried calling all of the delivery services and said, pull into our driveway. We have a whole swing around. We've given them codes to get through the gates. We've tried everything to work this so that it works well, but it's the 18 wheelers that pull up there and all that. rather than repeat it. It would be a help to have the signs. As far as the bollards, there's no such thing as a temporary bollard. They were removable that can be cemented in and you can unscrew them. That's all I was able to find. But again, thank you. Whatever you can do would be a big help to us.

[Jack Buckley]: Thank you, Anne. So to the commissioners, we've narrowed the subject. I mean, I think the traffic commission has the authority to approve additional signage in the area. And we certainly can refer this whole matter to engineering. But your thoughts on those two points?

[Alicia Hunt]: The bollards aren't regulatory, so can we just refer the whole thing to engineering?

[Jack Buckley]: Yeah, we can, and would we do have the authority for us to approve additional signage, no parking signs?

[Alicia Hunt]: Oh, right, so we probably should, but at least, honestly, I would say at the discretion of, I would rather not say exactly which sign should go exactly where here tonight if we don't have to. I would rather say no parking signs as appropriate, approved by the Director of Traffic and Transportation in the Police Department.

[Jack Buckley]: I like that.

[Alicia Hunt]: I'd like you to go out there and decide exactly where they belong and not just have a sit here and use Google Maps and make that decision, typically.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah. Is it possible to say a spacing that you're targeting? you know, give us a little guidance, because it's, this is really, if it ends up being more than typical, it's really following your direction. So it's equal spacing helps because then no matter where you pull up, there'll be one within X feet of you. So.

[Alicia Hunt]: Right. I mean, as a driver, I kind of look at like, well, there's not one, there is one on this stretch, but, or here now we're broken by a driveway, and there's not one on that stretch.

[Todd Blake]: you know, it's. So in general for the commission and residents information, a good rule of thumb is a sign on the side, you know, every 200 feet that way, you know, more than 100 feet from a sign, which is five parking spaces for streets that have a lot of permanent parking signs and street sweeping signs. It adds up quickly if you do it more spacing than that. So, so usually 200 feet is a good rule of thumb that you never more than 100 feet from a sign. But if in this case, you need to go tighter, We understand but I'm just trying to get to the point where we're not expecting like one every 10 feet type of thing. You know what's reasonable.

[Bob Dickinson]: You know what one question I have is when is there a certain time of the day. that these delivery trucks are in the area? Is it the mornings? Because we have to kind of strike a balance here between these businesses getting their things in so they can sell them and then not creating these safety hazards. I'm wondering if for a while, Chief, we could have some of these, the parking enforcement people to go by there and talk to these guys and talk to the businesses about how we, how we do this better. I still think maybe turning some of those angle parking spots into a loading zone at least from say 7am to 10am, and then talking to the businesses about trying to, you know, park there during that time because we're not really going to, you know, be sticklers about it. Then after that, it's got to, you know, we got to stop. But I mean, I think it's if they're parking as far down as the townhouses and making their and walking down the sidewalk all the way to Maine and Harvard must be kind of a desperate type situation for them to do it. Maybe it's because they're coming at all times of the day. to drop off their things. So I would like to increase enforcement in that area. And not necessarily ticket everybody, but at least talk to these drivers, get him or her to kind of move to some better spots and not continue to do this. Because again, we could probably put up 100 signs, but if they'll fit between the signs, they're going to park there. Because they know they're transient, they know they're quick, they know they're going to be in and out, and hopefully a police officer is not going to come by during that time.

[Jack Buckley]: Yeah, I think both of those are doable, uh, and, uh, items that the police department can work on. Increased enforcement and advisement is certainly one of those, but I think we need to talk to the business owners and bring them in and make them part of any solution that's going to develop. They may, they may know, um, you know, that a time of day that's for them to do that. And we can kind of work with them and make some considerations if that's the case. Well, Regardless of how we motion this, I think that we're definitely, I mean, that's an odd matter. I think we can put within. Mr. Perrella, do you have your hand up for one last comment before we go back to the, I don't wanna leave you, I don't know if your hand was up or remained up or.

[Unidentified]: Okay, thank you.

[David Perella]: I think it's important to know when the deliveries are scheduled. I think it does seem to coincide with rush hour traffic. And I would honestly hate for them to come much earlier. So the last thing I want are the 5 a.m. deliveries on Main Street, primarily for Oasis establishment. But if they could schedule it later in the day so that it's after rush hour, I will say that it's a guaranteed thing. If you're driving at 7 or 8 in the morning, you're seeing the 16-wheelers parked at that corner. So I would prefer, you know, if, and I love the idea of, you know, let's get, if we could get rid of long-term, get rid of some angled parking, put in a loading zone, and then that would serve all the businesses, and then they could work together on getting it scheduled and keep it safe for everybody. I love that idea. But at least as a temporary stopgap, yes, I would say that if we could at least schedule it maybe, you know, mid-morning as opposed to early morning. Yeah, okay. Agreed. Yeah. Thank you.

[Jack Buckley]: Thank you for the comments. So to the commissioners, I think what we're talking about here is a motion that would approve additional no parking signs at the review, along with the review of proper placement by the director of traffic and transportation. And then we would refer the matter in its entirety to the engineering department. Separate from that, and not needed in the motion, would be an increased enforcement and a conversation with the business owners about when's the best time for these deliveries and how to properly perform those. Thoughts on that issue of that matter?

[Alicia Hunt]: Right, and I do think I know it's come up before I know Miss Francis said it in the email, we need more signage pointing, and I know we've been talking about signage parking, pointing to our parking areas, and I don't understand why we haven't put up nice big blue piece lines with arrows. I mean, I understand there was some interest in fancy parking signs from one of the offices but But we really need, the angled parking is very convenient for customers, is very dangerous for the traffic, and it would be great if we just had some P signs that pointed people to the parking lot.

[Todd Blake]: Yvette ordered the signs and they may be coming very soon for not just this square, every square. And the big P with the green text with the arrow is a standard sign nationally. So that's what we're getting. but we're getting larger and larger of the variety. Yeah, we have some smaller variety out there, but hopefully it will help to what you're suggesting. Great.

[Ann Fretts]: Is it possible to talk about where they could be placed on Harvard Street? I think I referenced that in the original email to Alicia, because we're getting hit by weird people who think it's public parking, or private parking is public parking. And I'd hate to put up more signs bigger signs than what we've already established.

[Jack Buckley]: So the chair will suggest that you send an email further to Director Blake on that one, because we do have an agenda. We do have several other people. I don't want to take another subject matter that's not on the agenda. So if I could go back to the commissioner.

[Ann Fretts]: Thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

[Jack Buckley]: Thank you. Can I get a motion?

[Alicia Hunt]: I've lost track on everything that should be in the motion. Can you say something and I'll say so moved?

[Jack Buckley]: So a motion to approve additional no parking signage after review of proper placement by the Director of Traffic and Transportation as well as the Metro Police Department and Well, that would be the motion, but included would be after the motion would be increased enforcement by the Medical Police Department in a conversation with the business owners for any possible solutions. We would also refer the matter in its entirety to the engineering deposit.

[Alicia Hunt]: So moved.

[Jack Buckley]: Do I have a second?

[Bob Dickinson]: I'll second that. I do want to make sure, though, that we somehow make known to whatever higher being it is that this intersection needs to be looked at long term. But I know that's the second point. I will second Alicia's motion, but I do think, you know, this intersection has come up a lot of different areas. It's come up on the Green Line. No parking area. We now have this issue, which is going to continue to be an issue. I do think that we need to put this on the list of intersections in our town that really need some help because it's quite clear going through there at any time of the day that this is an incredibly busy intersection that does not function as it was originally designed. But that's for another time. So second on that motion.

[Jack Buckley]: Okay, second, and then we will refer to engineering as well as other bodies that would participate. Alba, can I get a roll call on the motion?

[Unidentified]: Commissioner Hunt? Yes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Commissioner Brzezinski? Yes. Chief Buckley?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes, on a vote of three to nothing with one absent, the motion passes. Thank you to Ms. Fritz and Mr. Peralta for your participation this evening. 2023-24 permit parking variance for Gwendolyn Bond, 1420 Mystic Valley Parkway for Ravine Road. Please unmute yourself and welcome. Okay. Yeah, we can hear you. Welcome.

[SPEAKER_02]: There you go. Okay, cool. Hi. Hopefully this is a bit fast. I'll share my screen to kind of show you the problem. Hopefully I know everything's forever, right? Oh, I can't share my screen. Okay, that's fine.

[Jack Buckley]: We can put it up for you.

[SPEAKER_02]: There you go, yeah. So I live, my address is 1420 Mystic Valley Parkway when this house is from 1900. Back then, I suppose it was off the parkway, but since in the interim time, the land between my house and the parkway, I guess, was sold or somehow it belongs to the Mystic River Conservation Department, some department that handles wildlife stuff. I don't know much about that. It's DCR, I'm sure. There you go. Yeah. So anyway, there's no way to actually get to my house from Mystic Valley Parkway. The way I get to my house is on Ravine Road. That's where my garage is. That's where if you go take a look, there's my garage. It's a very small garage. I don't actually have a driveway. Um, this is where I kind of need to park in the summer. A lot of people come to see the lake. And so a lot of people want to park on ravine road. They can't because there is a, it's restricted. Only people with parking permits can park on ravine road. Um, so they tend to go up to like Sagamore Ave and park there, which is fine and cool. I appreciate that. The problem is, um, I also can't park on ravine road. And I need things like my dad comes to watch my daughter during the week while I work. I need a visitor permits for him. I'm actually the only, our house is the only house on that side of Ravine Road. And so I'm asking if I can get some residential parking permits for Ravine Road for my property.

[Jack Buckley]: Okay, thank you to the commissioners. So the petition is seeking resident permit parking with visitor passes, comments and questions. And Todd, could you put that map up again? I just don't wanna forget one more thing, the overview. Any other commissioner can speak while I'm just looking.

[Alicia Hunt]: Yeah. Honestly, I would move to approve. It's my understanding. This is literally a technically a corner house and you cannot park on Mystic Valley Parkway. I would have assumed that this could have just been covered under the corner house rule.

[SPEAKER_02]: They said it would cover my vehicle, but it would not cover visitor parking. Oh, right. So she wants a visitor permit. yeah, for my dad to come watch my daughter during the week or, you know, if somebody comes over for a play date or something like that, you know.

[Alicia Hunt]: This seems perfectly reasonable to me.

[Jack Buckley]: Well, that's followed in our purview, and we can do that. And in a lot of cases where the corner rule comes into play, you have the right to park on either arc. In this instance, that doesn't exist, right?

[Alicia Hunt]: Right, she can't park on Mystic Valley Parkway.

[Unidentified]: Correct. Thoughts from Commissioner Brzezinski?

[Bob Dickinson]: Does the garage, do they function?

[SPEAKER_02]: The garage does function. Yeah, I park. That's where I keep my car usually.

[Bob Dickinson]: So like when your father is here, can he not park in the garage and you park on the street?

[SPEAKER_02]: I could take my car out and park it on the street. Sure. And then my dad could use the garage. But like that, I do. I do question Like I'm the only house on this street. The other house is on the corner of the street and Sagamore Ave. And they do also like sometimes they'll have two people park there. But if I can't park here, then who can park here? This house is also on the corner of Ravine Road. And that house, yes, that one's on Ravine Road. That's Charles. And this house is technically also there in the same spot I am there on Mystic Valley Parkway.

[Todd Blake]: It looks like there's only one actual house fronting where everything else is cornered, it appears.

[Bob Dickinson]: I mean, is this something we can approve? I mean, I support this. I'm just trying to, if it's not approvable, trying to find a working solution. But if we could approve what she's asking for, I think this is probably one of the more reasonable requests we get.

[Jack Buckley]: No, it's absolutely something we can approve. We have we have the authority to grant a variance on the permit parking and we do have the authority to grant visitor parking permits. We do try to hold true to the rule that and restrict them because we are adding additional vehicles to another street. I think this is very clearly I don't know who else is parking here, as the petitioner has said. So I don't think that the rule sort of comes into play. We're not taking up additional parking spots on our resident permit parking street, so.

[4FrRjkCyMqA_SPEAKER_06]: If I may just comment, it is seasonal permit parking.

[Jack Buckley]: Yep, understood.

[4FrRjkCyMqA_SPEAKER_06]: Site year round.

[Jack Buckley]: Thank you, Sergeant.

[Alicia Hunt]: I will say that fundamentally, I object to the fact that there's permit parking rules on these streets to prevent people from parking near our natural resources. I actually object to that fundamentally. It's certainly, people should be able to visit the lake.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm actually with you. I'm just today trying to park in front of my own house. Yes. So, you know. Yeah.

[Jack Buckley]: I will add that at one point in time, DCR allowed parking along Mystic Valley Parkway in certain areas, and they are the ones who have restricted it, putting the burden on the city of Medford. So I'll just counter with that point. If they wanted people to have access to our natural resources, they would not restrict parking.

[Alicia Hunt]: Yeah. We actually have this problem throughout the city. They restrict parking on almost all of their roads, and some of them, it doesn't make any sense at all. Some are just too narrow for cars, but that's fine. With two parking permits, sorry, visitor permits.

[Jack Buckley]: On the motion of Commissioner Hunt to approve 2023-24 resident permit parking with two visitor passes seconded by Second. Seconded by Commissioner Brzezinski. Albert, roll call vote.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Commissioner Hunt? Yes. Commissioner Brzezinski?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Chief Buckley?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes, on a vote of three to nothing with one absent, the petition is approved. Thank you for your participation this evening. It will take us a few days to get this all drafted up and written over there and sent back to the parking department. So if you could just give us a little bit of leeway, we'll get that done as soon as we possibly can.

[SPEAKER_02]: Rock. Thanks, guys.

[Jack Buckley]: Thank you. 2023-25 Anna Colarito to discuss parking for home health aides at 99 Riverside Ave. You did request that we unmute you so we can do what we can to get that done. Lieutenant, can we unmute them? We're all set now. Thank you. Beautiful.

[SPEAKER_07]: I'm here with my husband, Rich Capano. We're here on behalf of my mom, Santina. She lives at 99 Riverside Ave. It's elderly housing. That particular housing doesn't have visitor parking, so we can't even park there. It's a small lot. So she's 95, she has Parkinson's, she has 24-hour care. Her caretakers come from vendors through Mystic Valley Elder Services. We don't privately contract with these caretakers. So they're from Mystic Valley Elder Services. And she has several caretakers that come and she gets 24-hour care. They need a place to park and there's no parking at this building at 99 Riverside Ave. And this situation came up several years ago when we went to metered parking before we had no meters. And at the time, we had contacted the mayor's office, we contacted the police commissioner's office, and we explained the situation. My husband went to the meeting. And we're told everything was taken care of. And at the time, they said, go ahead. Home health aides can park in the parking lot at 97 Riverside Ave. Try to get them to park as close to the 999 as possible, as long as they show their company placard. And at the time, also, they had said that for the senior center which is directly across the street, they were going to make available some extra spots in that parking lot where people wouldn't have to pay for the meter seniors going to the senior center so that was all kind of taken care of at the same time. For years, then we've had no problems none of the caretakers have gotten tickets until just a couple of weeks ago, roughly. And now my mom's caretakers are getting multiple tickets. One caretaker who drives all the way from Lawrence has had three or four tickets. She does three days, she does two nights, and she's been getting tickets even at, she got one ticket at 3am in the morning. So there's no other place for these people to park their cars. We also have fill-in aids. So a couple of weeks ago, we had a fill-in for the fill-in. It was a Sunday and I happened to just go over there while she was there because I didn't know who she was or what she could do exactly. And And so when I got there, she's like, oh, I parked my car at the back of the building. I said, you're not. There's sirens everywhere. You'll get towed. I said, you can't park there. But I didn't know what to tell her. Anyway, she left for a half hour and went home. I guess she lived in Somerville, which wasn't too far off, and then had her husband drive her back so that she could work. But that's not always going to work out because, like I said, I have somebody coming in from Lawrence and she's, you know, a good caretaker. So she's already gotten all these tickets. And I don't know even what to tell these people because it's been working for so long. And now all of a sudden, I don't know what's changed, why people, you know, why these caretakers can't park there. They have no other options.

[Jack Buckley]: Can I interrupt for a quick question? Are the tickets for overnight parking in that lot there, where they're parking there, because there is a restriction on parking between midnight and 6 a.m., are most of the tickets they're receiving, or are all of them, overnight?

[SPEAKER_01]: She had sent three images of three of the tickets, two of them of overnight parking and one of them was during the day for not feeding the meter.

[Jack Buckley]: Okay, I mean the city has a lot of things have changed since since adopting or bringing in-house its own parking program. The city does require home health aides, visiting nurses, etc. to get a permit to park and they can get that through the parking department. But that would only cover them for the hours outside of midnight to 6 a.m. So those permits would not be valid from midnight to 6 a.m. Um, I do know that you reached out to the mayor on this subject, and, um, I don't have clear confirmation, but I received an email just shortly before this traffic commission that, um, the people in charge of 99 Riverside Ave are going to post two parking spots inside their property for, um, home health aides. And I think that will go a long way for the solution in between the midnight to 6 a.m. hours. I know that they have not had those parking spaces, but somehow that they are going to find them and post two parking spots within 99 Riverside Ave for home health days. That would not require any social health permits or restrictions.

[SPEAKER_01]: That would help, but we don't know how many. There's a lot of people in that building. I can't tell you how many, but a lot of people in that building that have home health aides. So if there's more than two people, there's still a problem. Understood.

[Jack Buckley]: I think one of the things that has to happen is the home health aid companies should be reaching out to the City of Medford parking department and receiving permits. They require home health aid permits through the City of Medford. And again, that should cover the majority of hours in every single day for them. the two additional home health aid parkings with inside the property of 99 Riverside Ave is is potential relieve some of those I don't know how many home health aides are overnight I'm sure there are a few but probably a lot less than there are during the course of normal business during the day.

[SPEAKER_07]: Well, I think so what so the thing is this, because I know you said that they're the home, the company should get but does the permit, like have to be specifically for one home health aid registered to that home health aides car, because that's like, we've got fill ins all the time. It's, it's crazy. And you never know what these people I mean, they don't make much money to begin with. But also, you know, you never know what's going to happen to their position. Sometimes clients like, oh, you know, I don't want her to come or they might be, you know, clients ends up going to the hospital. They end up going to nursing facilities. Some of them pass away. And so I don't know if this like if if you're and is it something very specific to the the specific AIDS car registration because I don't see how that's going to work. They have probably hundreds and hundreds of home health care workers. And this is through Mystic Valley. So they also contract with not just, you know, one or two companies, they contract with many, many companies. And so I don't know how that's logistically going to work, especially like when I have somebody filling in, no one can foresee that, that person's only there temporarily. So that person's not gonna go and spend $100 on a permit. Plus a lot of these caretakers, they go from place to place. It's just a lot to ask. And I, you know, I guess my question is, is like, I know you said changes are made, but I mean, there's a whole parking lot there and it's worked before, it's worked for several years. I mean, I'm not asking for myself and my husband and I go, we obviously, we pay for the parking. We don't have parking in my mother's building. No one does unless they have a car themselves. And it's, you know, I'm worried. I'm really worried because it's hard for, you know, to get people that, are good and that want to come in right now. I have this one young lady who's been coming for about a year and she's, you know, very good and she comes all the way from Lawrence and I'm just afraid like if one of those spots is taken when she gets there. And by the way, are those spots available day or night at the 99 side Ave?

[Jack Buckley]: So I just received the email. I do believe that that is true. And I would probably want to follow up with you on that.

[SPEAKER_07]: Okay, so even for the daytime, if those spots were taken, because it is, you know, a lot of people do have caretakers in that building. If those spots happen to be taken, like she can't leave my mother alone and go and feed and meet her. And so that's another thing. So I just don't know. I feel like it might just not, it might just not be enough. I just don't foresee these companies getting all these you know, special permits or whatever, especially if it has to be tailored specifically to a particular home health care worker. And I feel what's going to end up happening is they might just try to take people off that have cars. And it just it's just a mess.

[Alicia Hunt]: Question. You said it working before, was there some sort of permit they put in their car, how do we, how did the enforcement know that this was a home health worker and not a random customer of CBS or whatever, so they.

[SPEAKER_07]: All they had to do, we were told, and like I said, it's just been for years. I mean, we're talking, I don't know, maybe six or seven years. They had to put like something from their company, you know, stating that they're home healthcare workers. And so it was something that the company provided them, just saying who they were, and that's all that they needed. And so these people have gotten tickets because they've been, you know, parking there for the longest time. you know, now they have all these tickets and I hope they at least get resolved because they just certainly don't make much money.

[Alicia Hunt]: Right. It's hard to believe. I can't believe that Park Medford was just saying, oh, just put a sign in your car and we won't ticket you.

[SPEAKER_07]: But through the mayor's office, it was through the mayor's office and the chief's office at the time. It wasn't just Park Medford. They made the decision that this is what was going to happen. And and they abided by that decision.

[SPEAKER_01]: But but something to answer your question something changed and no one's been able to answer it for us because they still have their own placards basically just a thing saying I'm a home health aide taking care of someone but two weeks, a month, whatever it was, about a month ago, they started getting tickets. So I don't know what changed. We know these were always the rules, but they weren't being enforced because it was taken care of. I don't remember the exact date, five or six years ago, but something changed somewhere where now it's being enforced and they're seeing cars in the parking lot overnight, they're ticketing them. or if they don't put money in the meter during the day, even though they have the placard, they're ticketing them.

[SPEAKER_07]: And I specifically asked, I said, are you sure you're putting it in? And they said, yes. And especially, you know, after they started getting all these tickets, but and they said, yes, we've been putting it in. And I think that there might be other people getting tickets because I called actually called your office chief a little bit prior to the meeting. And apparently, you know, I my understanding is that maybe Mystic Valley, I have not reached out to them. So this is all You know, without me the only people I've reached out to is your office in the mayor's office. And so, and the ticketing office but that that wasn't didn't go well but um, in any event. you know, I just don't know what to do because if that, if these two spots are taken, I don't know what's going to happen. They're going to keep getting tickets and I'm going to lose care and good care because right now my mom's very frail. She has the Parkinson's, she's 95 and she's really not doing well. I can't, it's every time someone new comes, It's not it takes its toll on her. So I just can't afford to lose people right now that, you know, are going to be afraid of being responsible for all these tickets.

[SPEAKER_01]: To your point, chief, I think you said overnight. And again, I don't know how many people have overnight health aides. My mother's mother-in-law is one. So that's the center of the parking. Overnight, it may not be an issue. We don't know yet. But during the day, we know I've seen lots of people come and go and I couldn't give you the number either during the day for the health aides. So we would still need and two spots would not be enough during the day. So they would need to still park at 97. And, you know, I don't know if what we used to have before, where if they had the placard saying I'm a home help aid, they wouldn't have to pay during the day for parking.

[Jack Buckley]: So a couple of points here. One is that I think now that everything is in-house, the city is now starting to enforce the overnight parking. And I think that's why you're seeing a majority of those citations. The new parking department and the enforcement officers are probably not aware of this historic or past agreement. So they're just seeing a vehicle that's parked that hasn't paid the meter or does not have a permit park. So I think there's some explanation as to why the increase in parking tickets exists. The problem or some of the problems that we have here is that, you know, as a traffic commission, there's things that we can do, but the parking department is the agency that handles parking in the city as far as designating who's required to have a permit and they have, you know, home health care has been, we've had them on the books. I don't know why they weren't enforced in the past. but it's certainly a permit that is required. I looked up real quickly on my computer while you were talking and it does say businesses and individuals have access to the home health care. So Mystic Valley I'm sure is used to this. Other cities and towns, I know for a fact that Somerville and Cambridge and and most likely Malden have home health aid and visitor nursing permits that they supply. So the business shouldn't, it shouldn't come as a surprise to them.

[SPEAKER_07]: I'm wondering if other towns, like if somebody has like a house, but see, this is a big complex and there's, so if I had, you know, if my mom, you know, had a house and she, you know, had home health aides, then she probably would try to get something for her house. I don't know how that would work, even though she doesn't have a car. So I, but here it's just a big, it's a building with many people being serviced. And so that's the problem. It's like, what do you do with all of these people and all of these caretakers? I know the other parking lot on the other side, it's another building. I don't know the address. I don't know if it's 121. huge lot, huge lot, but it's not the same lot. I mean, if they could provide, I mean, I don't care who provides, but if they could provide a number of spots available just to make sure that we have enough for these caretakers. I mean, I don't care. I just wanna make sure that the elderly and the disabled in that building are not going to suffer because we can't make an exception for some caretakers to park, you know, and that they they don't have to dish out $100 for a job that they don't know if they're going to have tomorrow. And this is the thing, because it's just so in all these, you know, that's a problem.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_07]: The fillings like I said that woman she left me there, thank God I was there she left. She left went home for a half hour. I said where does she go I ended up calling the company, and she's like I didn't know what to do they told me they told and and I went home and my husband drove me back and this is the thing I'm had I not been there. She may have been told, because she parked where she shouldn't have been parked, but you know, I was also left alone, which I could have used some help for that half hour. So it just creates a whole can of worms that I can't always be there. And these people are not going to pay $100 to, to get, you know, a permit for a job that, like I said, you never know. And it's just, I don't know, it's just going to be very, very difficult. I don't see that happening.

[Jack Buckley]: Well, I think to address a couple of concerns, it is a thought and a good idea that maybe we can address parking at 121 Riverside Ave. I knew, I do know that MedFed has some office space there, maybe overnight, that would be available too. I can take a look at that. Some of the other concerns, you know, I know the individual home healthcare provider probably can't always afford a permit for every city, but the companies certainly can. And they know and they're used to doing this. They do it all in all these other surroundings and the companies are able to provide as many passes as they need and hand them off to their workers. Aside from that, I also don't want to go and overlook, you know, One of the real issues here is that 99 Riverside Ave is a private entity for the most part, and they are not supplying the appropriate parking for their areas. And that's why I'm happy to have heard that they stepped up a little bit here and added the home health care. Maybe there needs to be some convincing to add additional parking, but in a lot of development that we see in the city, the burden of providing parking, shifting to the city, instead of the private entities that are responsible for providing that. So let me spend some time at 121 Riverside Ave. And I can reach out and talk to Pam Kelly. Maybe she has additional parking overnight. It's just maybe, I think there's a little cut out for the fence. It wouldn't be easy to do that. But I do know- It would be easy. That would be fantastic. Yeah, that'd be great if we could do that. And I have a give a call to your the parent company of your home health care and ask them about tell them that the city of Medford requires. And I'm sure they've done this. I'm sure it's not going to be a shock to them that these companies know that they may provide them to them.

[SPEAKER_07]: Would it have to be would they have to be specific to that home health aid? Or is this something general that they can pass out and get it back and give it to someone else?

[Jack Buckley]: So when you asked that question earlier, I wasn't quite sure what the answer is, but I looked up on the website for the city of Medford parking and it says they provide home health to businesses and individuals. So I imagine that while I don't know the process that if they're providing it to the business, they may. provide, I don't know, they may say I need six home health care workers and you distribute them and then provide the plates etcetera. So they would need to provide a registration plate because we don't do stickers. We put the input, the registration.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_12]: So let me problem.

[Jack Buckley]: Yep, I have your contact information and I can kind of do a little bit of research both on 121 Riverside and how that works. But I'm sure Misty Valley probably has already done this in other cities and towns. So it's something they could probably do. In the meantime, though, we do have two additional parking spots. That will be a relief. I'm going to try to get some additional parking at 121. And that probably, if I could get two, three, four spots there overnight, that would focus on most of the issues.

[SPEAKER_07]: Can I ask? Sorry. Yes. I keep interrupting you. Sorry. No, no, go ahead. That would be great. Now, do I call 99 Riverside and have to find out where these spots would be to make them available? Yeah.

[Jack Buckley]: I got that email just today, so I don't know when that is happening. I can reach out to them.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, I can reach out to them. I'm a little bit conflicted with calling the vendor that supplies these caretakers because I wouldn't put it past like it's just all very, you know, it's all about economics these days. I think a lot of places and I wouldn't, I would be concerned. My concern is that I might lose somebody. that you know it's just easier to put somebody else in that you know does it that takes an uber or whatever have you so i have a problem with that i really you know just really need to keep my mother's caretakers in place um right now um uh so yeah um and during the day Is it that when this was all decided to they were also going to be some spots for the senior center for people going to the senior center the senior center doesn't have a great many spots. And so how did they how are they going to get by during the day when they we have seniors come and they park in the lot and they're not feeding the meter, are they getting ticketed to.

[Jack Buckley]: I am not sure of that answer. So a lot of this is- The senior center has parking along the edge.

[SPEAKER_07]: They do, but not a lot. And so at the time when this meeting had taken place years ago, that was also addressed, that there would be some spots along the fence there for if there were extra seniors, if they were gonna have something and there weren't enough places to park, that there would be some extra spots available for seniors and they did not have to pay. So I'm just asking.

[Todd Blake]: I think there's about 14 along the fence. Yeah, and then the 99 Riverside, if you pull into that lot on the left next to the senior center, I think the space is there as well. Just to let everyone know, Mystic Valley Elder Services is actually holding a meeting May 24th, and they have a guest speaker talking about transportation equity programs, planning, addressing needs for older, adults and people living with disabilities in our region. So there are other services that exist that may help try to tackle this as a more global, more regional approach. Obviously, they don't control what each city and town does for permits and things like that, but that could be a conduit to go through one central point versus all these individual companies.

[SPEAKER_01]: yeah i think mystic valleys you know yeah they would be the ones um probably but yeah oh go ahead uh this is in line with this discussion but it may be a separate topic uh the people that have gotten tickets we told them to appeal them but is there anything I would hope that they'll get taken care of, but we want to make sure they get taken care of for these people, but I don't know what we need to do.

[SPEAKER_07]: There's really no prior notice to them. I mean, they've been parking there. This one particular woman was parking there for about a year and never, you know, did not expect this at all.

[Jack Buckley]: I would the best way to answer this is I would appeal the citations of the parking tickets to the parking department. Again, they are a different entity than the police department, and it. For me to suggest that they should be taking care of a resolve is probably improper at a public meeting. And I just, I would just do what is, you know, plead the case just as you pled it to to us to this evening and go forward.

[SPEAKER_07]: The thing is, I did, I did call them. And after I called your office and the person I spoke to, I try to explain the situation. And he just kept repeating that I should call the chief's office, call the chief's office. And all I asked at the end of the conversation was for the person's name. And he just kept repeating, call the chief's office and refused to give me his name and then hung up on me.

[Unidentified]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_07]: And that's when I went to the mayor's office. I did call them and that's, I just couldn't even, you know, I didn't understand that whole thing.

[Jack Buckley]: We have, I mean, I believe I have your email, but if not, you have, I'll give you mine again. It's jbuckley at medfordpolice.com. Just send me an email. We'll follow up on all of this. I mean, I can't have any input or sort of influence on any appeal, but I'm sorry you went through that. That shouldn't be the way that that is handled.

[SPEAKER_07]: I never asked about the tickets when I called them. I had not called for that reason. I had just called to try to, you know, figure out about this whole situation. Originally, when they got the tickets, I really just thought somebody maybe wasn't aware. And I said, oh, don't worry, you know, this has been going, don't worry about it. It must be a mistake. I know it's getting late, so I'm just gonna stop it. So I hadn't called for them to fix any tickets. I hadn't done that. I just asked my caretakers to appeal. I had just told them, I was just trying to explain what was going on. And then that was the response I got was to call and I said, I had just called and then I wasn't given a name and I was hung up on.

[Jack Buckley]: I'm sorry you went through that. I will just put one last perspective on all this. I know it seems like it's been going on for historically you've been allowed to do certain things here and that's having an impact on you now but I've been chief of police for four and a half years and I did not know that that was going on so I mean it's been a long time and that's something that if I said to you oh yes we've always allowed that but I mean, I have no knowledge of it myself, but I do think there's something that we can find some solutions. I think the mayor's office has provided a big boost, and if we can move now to 121 Riverside Avenue and maybe provide a little bit more parking, then it will be sort of... That would be fantastic.

[Alicia Hunt]: That would be great. I would just also add to the other work that my office does. We work with Mystic Valley Elder Service to some extent, not a lot, but I have their contact information and I certainly could reach out to them so that it's a more anonymous reach out that just say, we're aware that they have people servicing clients in Medford. And maybe I could connect them to you so that it's not about any particular client, but rather in general, that maybe they're not aware of the parking situation.

[Unidentified]: and permitting requirements. Yeah.

[Alicia Hunt]: Right. And we could sort of take it up a level out of the hands of an individual client, because I do know they have extensive clients, both for home health aides in Medford, and they do some, they do food deliveries, but that's probably not an issue. That's probably like a stop for five minutes. Yeah.

[SPEAKER_07]: They do a lot of food deliveries in the building. Yes.

[Alicia Hunt]: Maybe chief, I can connect you with at least my contact, or maybe I can ask her who's the right person to connect.

[Todd Blake]: Yep, absolutely. I'm making a mental note because every time the development comes in with units for, you know, elderly, senior or health, you know, other issues, they always claim they don't need as much parking. And I'm going to remember that this home health aid thing, they do need to allocate parking for this purpose. Even if the residents don't necessarily need full time parking. We hear that a lot and they because they run into money issues in terms of they're trying to rehab a building. They don't have enough money to add more parking and we don't have we don't need parking anyways so this plays into that whole discussion. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: And just one last question because this caretaker the one from Lawrence, she's there going to be there tomorrow, she's going to be there Thursday. Where do I, I mean right now she's already gone home right but she'll come tomorrow morning when I'm already at work but so what do I do like she's, is she at risk for getting another ticket tomorrow and Thursday until I can, you know, at least till tomorrow so I can figure out where she's going to park.

[Alicia Hunt]: So she, we have an app that she could actually put her car in and real I realized that this is like a couple of dollars a day, real money, but she could at least feed the meter from her app. Okay, without having to come down to the car. She doesn't have to come down to the machine. She can stay in the apartment on the phone and put money on it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not great. Is that allowed though? I thought you're only allowed like two or three hours. You could keep doing that for the duration of the day or... She's there all day from like eight to five. Yeah, it's all day.

[Alicia Hunt]: I don't know how well the app prevents you from doing that.

[SPEAKER_07]: What's the app again? What app should she go on? I could try calling her tomorrow and she might end up with one more ticket because I won't be able to reach her.

[Alicia Hunt]: It's called pay by phone. Pay by phone. It's the same app that they use in Somerville.

[Unidentified]: Okay.

[Alicia Hunt]: Like I literally use the same app to pay in Medford and in Somerville.

[Unidentified]: Okay. Okay.

[SPEAKER_07]: I don't ever know that, but I mean, there might be one more to name, but I'm up a ticket, but we'll see. And hopefully I can then reach out to 99 and figure out where those two spots are. And if we can get anything at 121, my gosh, that would be fantastic. They have a huge lot.

[Jack Buckley]: Good, that might work.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yes. Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, well, just people previously were parking there and we told them not to. This was past years. They've actually been talked to. They've been talked to because they said you can't park there, that it's not part of this building. But if legally this gets set up and they can do it, that would be awesome.

[SPEAKER_07]: Some of them were trying to park there. They had had clients there previously and they got caught and I think one of them may have gotten towed. Not one of mine, but I just, all right. So it was a while ago. Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you so much. I appreciate everyone's time. I really do. And we'll be in touch.

[Jack Buckley]: Thank you. So for the commission, it's 2023-25 was for discussion. It doesn't really, I don't know if it requires a vote to remove this from the agenda, but we have an idea of what we have to do in this situation. I will also ask you though to consider that 2023-26 is a resolved matter. I spoke to the petition this morning and They were unaware that business permit parking will allow you to park on Governor's Have. They now do so, and there's no overnight restriction there. So they can park on Governor's Have at 4 a.m. I mean, essentially what it was, was the bank employees going at 4 o'clock in the morning. They were parking in the overnight lot. They were getting ticketed at 4 o'clock in the morning for overnight parking. But you can use your business permit to park on Governor's Ave as a street. And they will take that up and they have no longer have a concern over the issue. So whatever we decide to do with 2023-25, we would do the same with 2023-26 to complete the agenda.

[Alicia Hunt]: So in my experience with other committees, if we discuss an issue, it's either tabled and continued to a new agenda, or once it's discussed, it's just automatically removed. I know the city council likes to vote and place things on file, but they're the only committee I've ever seen do that. And I would say that this issue is resolved, that no vote needed to be taken. The minutes would actually reflect that we discussed this, that what were the main topics and that the chief and that I was gonna try and reach out to Mystic Valley Elder Service and that you've resolved some stuff with 99 Riverside. That's what the minutes would reflect.

[Jack Buckley]: I'm good with that. Commissioner Brzezinski, any thoughts on that?

[Bob Dickinson]: I'm fine. It sounds like we have a working solution for that issue. And I really hope we can use some of those spots at 121 to help them. So a motion to say that it's been satisfied, I think is probably the proper way to do it. And with 23-26, it sounds like it just needs to be removed. The petitioner has had their matter settled.

[Alicia Hunt]: Mark is withdrawn.

[Bob Dickinson]: What was that, Alicia?

[Alicia Hunt]: Yeah, Mark 26 is withdrawn.

[Jack Buckley]: Yep, that's fine. OK, so Commissioner Bezos, he did suggest a motion that 2023-25 has been resolved.

[Bob Dickinson]: I mean, it's something. Motion that 2023-25 has been addressed as matter has been taken up for discussion by Chief of Police with neighboring property. Seconded by... Oh, yeah, sorry.

[Alicia Hunt]: Sorry, second.

[Jack Buckley]: Alva, roll call vote. Alva, quick roll call vote.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Commissioner Hunt? Yes. Commissioner Brzezinski?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Chief Buckley?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes, three to nothing with one absent. The motion passes and I will look forward to reaching out to you both and getting a hopefully quick resolution to this problem. 2023-26 has been withdrawn by the petitioner. I will repeat my motion. comments to the secretary so that they're noted in the minutes of the meeting. The minutes for next month. That is all we have. I thought we were going to get done by seven o'clock. Thank you.

[Alicia Hunt]: But we want to. Motion to adjourn, we need. Yeah, I have to be at the council, so motion to adjourn.

[Bob Dickinson]: Motion to adjourn. Second.

[Jack Buckley]: Alva, quick roll call vote.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Commissioner Hunt? Yes. Commissioner Brzezinski?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes.

[MCM00001607_SPEAKER_07]: Chief Buckley?

[Jack Buckley]: Yes, three nothing, one absent, motion passes. I thank you all for coming tonight and for your participation. Commissioner Baszynski, I'm gonna reach out to you. I did see the email. You gotta follow up on some of those.

[Bob Dickinson]: If we could follow up on some of these tabled items and then some of the items again, as I pointed out to Alva about kind of finding out where we are on them.

[Jack Buckley]: I agree, it's a great idea. And we've talked about that in the past, but we need to make it happen now. Everyone enjoy the rest of your evening. Signing off, Chief.

[David Perella]: Thank you. Have a good night.