[Morell]: Eighth regular meeting of the Medford City Council April 11 2023 is called to order Mr. Clerk, please call the role.
[Hurtubise]: Yeah. President seven present zero absent please rise to salute the flag.
[Morell]: Announcements, accolades, remembrances, reports, and records. 23-085, offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it so resolved that the Medford City Council commend and congratulate the Medford Pee Wee Bee Hockey Team on winning the Valley League Championship. Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Madam President. Being a former president of the Medford Hockey League, I still follow them closely, and I just wanted to congratulate our Pee Wee Bee Hockey Team for winning the Valley League Championship. If maybe the coach can come in here and give them a citation for the team, that would be appreciated. So again, just congratulations to the team on a great season.
[Morell]: Thank you, Councilor Caraviello. Anyone else wish to speak? On the motion of Councilor Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Records, the records of the March 28, 2023 meeting were passed to Councilor Collins. Councilor Collins, how did you find them?
[Collins]: I found them in order and I move approval.
[Morell]: On the motion of Councilor Collins, seconded by Vice Mayor Bears. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Reports of committee, 22-453, March 20th, 2023, Subcommittee on Public Health and Community Safety report to follow. The chair of that committee is Councilor Collins. Councilor Collins.
[Collins]: Thank you to President Morell. We had a first meeting on a proposed ordinance to protect seekers of gender affirming and reproductive care in Medford. We'll be meeting again to discuss it further. Oh, motion to approve.
[Morell]: Thank you, Councilor Collins, on the motion of Councilor Collins to approve, seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? All those opposed motion passes to to dash 605 April 4 2023 subcommittee on ordinance as rules reports a follow Vice President Ferris is the chair of that subcommittee.
[Bears]: Thank you, Madam President, we met on the waste tolerance ordinance which has kind of changed into just updating the chapter 70 solid waste section of the city ordinances, there was a lot of issues with the existing language that's going to be addressed by the waste hauler ordinance. Anyway, we're pretty close. I think we just need to take one more quick pass at it. Building commissioners involved, health director, planning director, and DPW commissioner. So we have an all-star team working with us. Move approval.
[Morell]: Thank you, Vice President Bears. On the motion of Vice President Bears, seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes.
[Bears]: Madam President, motion to suspend the rules to take paper 23-090.
[Morell]: On the motion of Vice President Bears to take 23-090 out of order, seconded by Councilor Second by Councilor Collins. All those in favor.
[Bears]: Aye.
[Morell]: All those opposed. Motion passes. Got it.
[Morell]: To Honorable President and members of the Medford City Council regarding the MSBA statement of interest. I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body approves the Massachusetts School Building Authority MSBA statement of interest on behalf of Medford High School that has been prepared by the Medford Public Schools for consideration for the MSBA's core program. The submission is in follow up to the March 27th letter you received from the superintendent of schools. Superintendent Maurice Edouard Vincent will be available at your meeting should there be any questions or additional information that members would like to attend. Thank you for your consideration. MSBA required form of vote to submit statement of interest resolved. Having convened an open meeting on April 11th, 2023 prior to the SOI submission closing date, the city council of the city of Medford in accordance with its charter bylaws and ordinances has voted to authorize Superintendent Marice Edouard-Vincent to submit to the Massachusetts School Building Authority the statement of interest form dated April 2023 for Medford High School located at 489 Winthrop Street, which describes and explains the following deficiencies and the priority categories, which an application may be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority in the future. The Medford City Council hereby further specifically acknowledges that by submitting the statement of interest form, the Massachusetts School Building Authority in no way guarantees the acceptance or approval of an application, the awarding of a grant or any other funding commitment from the Massachusetts School Building Authority or commits the city of Medford to filing an application for funding with the Massachusetts School Building Authority. 2023 Medford High School MSBA core program statement of interest summary replacement renovation or modernization of school facility systems such as roofs, windows, boilers, heating and ventilation systems to increase energy conservation and decrease energy related costs in a school facility. Having been originally constructed in 1970 and with substantial portions of the building's infrastructure dating from that time, Medford High School motion to waive.
[Collins]: motion to waive the remainder of the reading for a synopsis by the presenter. Second.
[Morell]: The motion of Councilor Collins to with the reading, um, in lieu of a summary from Madam Superintendent second by second Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor. All those opposed. Motion passes. Madam Superintendent, thank you for being here. If you'd like to share with us a summary of what's before us.
[Edouard-Vincent]: Good evening, Madam President Morell and esteemed body of our city council. Thank you, City Councilors, all of you for having me this evening to present our resubmission of the MSBA statement of input statement of interest application. We submitted a year ago and we've submitted many years in the past. This past year, we were very close, but based on the feedback that we had received, the amount of schools that were approved this past year was a smaller number. And as a result of that, we just weren't able to make the number. We didn't make the cut, but we were given very positive feedback to resubmit our application, which we have done. This evening, I'm requesting the entire city council if you would approve Medford Public Schools reapplication for the statement of interest for the core program for Medford High School. Thank you. I'm available to answer any questions. Councilor Knight.
[Knight]: Madam President, thank you very much. Madam Superintendent, how does this application differ from years past and what changes were made based upon the feedback that you mentioned that you received? Obviously, we haven't been able to secure this. funding now for multiple years, we're getting feedback from the point the enabling authority. So what changes are we making to the application to maybe enhance our chances.
[Edouard-Vincent]: So, we had a very strong application, again this past year, and because the number of schools that were awarded this year was a reduced number. Unfortunately, we, we just missed that cut. and we were encouraged by the MSBA to resubmit for this year. There is one key difference. In previous years, MSBA was having two programs, the accelerated repair program and the core program. This current year, They are not accepting applications. They're not doing the accelerated repair program. It's only the core program. So we're resubmitting our application from last year with the addition of a few things that have surfaced at the school. We had pipes bursting and some asbestos work for tiles that had popped on the floor. So we did have additional work that needed to be done because the building is aging. And so we are reapplying for the core program and MSBA will come back out if we're approved, if our statement of interest is approved, they will come back out and do a senior study and follow the appropriate steps. And I also want to say that this is just, today's request is permission to, reapply with the statement of interest. But as we continue with MSBA, there will be multiple opportunities to come before your body and respond to questions and let you know the status of what is happening. MSBA just does not want a school district on their own to go and say, we're putting in this application and not have the support of both the school committee and the city council. The school committee did approve it last week for us to move forward, and my request is that the city council will allow us to apply. I think we should continue to apply. We know that the high school needs work, and I feel very confident in our resubmission and based on the feedback that we received that we should not give up but move forward. Thank you.
[Knight]: So on that, Madam President, so the one difference, the difference is nothing other than the fact that we moved some items that were covered under the accelerated repair grant from last year over to the school grant. That's what I'm understanding.
[Morell]: Is that correct, Mr. Lieutenant?
[Knight]: It's the same exact application as last year with the addition of these infrastructure items that were under the accelerated repair grant being moved over to this one. Is that accurate?
[Edouard-Vincent]: The additional pieces that I just shared were things that happened this year since we applied.
[Knight]: The question they asked was, you know, how does this application differ from years past?
[Edouard-Vincent]: So that's what it was, yes.
[Knight]: So that one item, right, okay. All right, yeah, I was looking, because I had my files, I was looking, I usually have my files nice and organized, but I can't find the documents. Someone must have moved them, so that's it. But I was looking to see if I could look at last year's application and see if we could take a look at that as well. But I didn't have it in my files yet, because my filing system's a little screwy. But I'm looking at this so ultimately, this is the same application that we submitted last year with a couple of additions that application is the same application we submitted the year before.
[Edouard-Vincent]: No, it's not identical year before last year's application was was significantly different brought in consultants and had additional help in terms of how we structured the application. And so last year's application was looked upon very favorably, and we did advance to the next phase of senior study, which is promising. Some districts do not advance even to that phase. So we were able to advance to the second phase. And again, we did receive positive feedback from MSBA to definitely reapply. And so, That's, that's why we're reapplying resubmitting the application was the additions, what was the consultants cost. I do not have the cost of the consultant right now but we did secure additional support. And I don't, I can get that number to you.
[Knight]: Thank you. I'm just seeing, you know, a lot of money being spent that's not being spent in the classroom, and I'd like to take a look at that as we get prepared for the budget. Madam President, ultimately, you know, it's pretty cut and dry, right? It's an application we submit every year. All we're doing is asking for free money, so I don't see any reason why we shouldn't support it and move for approval.
[Morell]: Thank you, Councilor Knight. A motion from Councilor Knight for approval. Vice President Bears.
[Bears]: Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Madam Superintendent, for being here. I certainly agree with Councilor Knight's point that this is something that we submit regularly and we should submit. I'm really grateful to hear that the improved application that was submitted last year was seen significantly better than prior applications. I think that's great news. I think it reflects the work that went into that, you know, I think the big issue that we're, you know, not necessarily dancing around I think we're trying to go at it right is that the city doesn't have enough resources to replace school buildings, the state has determined that cities don't have the resources to replace school buildings. and created the MSBA for the purpose that we need new school buildings in the Commonwealth and obviously I'm in for high school needs that I think, you know, maybe many, many of us behind this real can attest to it but Councilor Tseng and I probably most recently and, and, you know, my locker was in the very cold overpass on the second floor of C building, and, you know, while I appreciate Medford High School in the building for what it is significant improvements need to be made you know I for one. I'm just hopeful that we can get into this program and that the state will recognize our need. The building has major, major, major needs. not just the HVAC systems and the infrastructure and the structure of the building or the AV or the technology or all of that, but quite frankly, just the size of the building, it's not built for the group that's there now, it's not built for the team that's there now and that causes issues and those issues need to be addressed as well. So I'm really hopeful that MSBA will accept our application and we can start to move forward those important community discussions about addressing Medford High School. So thank you for submitting this and I'll be supporting it.
[Morell]: Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you. I was there when the building was new. I was a second graduating class. So it's 52 years old now. And I've seen the wear and tear that's gone over the building over the years. And I've toured the building with the previous superintendent see all the boilers and things that, and I agree that you know, ask for everything and we get whatever we get. So it's something I supported over the years. I was also here when we, you know, when we got the money for the science labs and the technical school, I think, you know, I think the money was well spent there and the renovations come out good. So again, this will be something I support again and hopefully we'll get what we need this time to keep the school moving forward.
[Morell]: Thank you. Councilor Tseng.
[Tseng]: Thank you. I wanted to first reiterate some points from last year when this came before us. Back then, I mentioned a lot of the needs that I saw when I was a student there about five years ago, so not that long ago. where a building had flood and their needs in their heating problems and overpasses and a lot of different heat, I mean, even heating problems in their classrooms, sunlight problems and all of that. I encourage anyone who's not, who wants to learn more about why this is important to read the application itself. You guys have, your team has put together, I think, in very clear language, many of the problems that we're seeing in the high school that doesn't match the education that we're providing today. And I think we're seeing that the physical building doesn't match the quality of the instruction that's in the building. And that by improving the physical building itself, we can hopefully bring more pride to Medford and shine a light to the good work that's happening inside the high school. And to As a student there I know that it can be a very bluntly said drab and depressing environment to study in, and I would want for future students at Medford a happier place and a more encouraging environment to work in, a physical environment to work in. I think it's important for residents. I mean, this is an issue that came up on the doorstep time and time again, especially from parents, but even the parents of graduates, of students who've already left Medford High. This is, I think, an issue that much of the community can unite around. given the importance that everyone sees, there might be different approaches to what we do with the building exactly, but it's really important to take the steps that allow us to have as many options on the table as possible. And a yes vote on the council tonight allows that. And as we were chatting before this meeting, we mentioned, you know, it's super encouraging that they asked us to reapply. It's great to see that there have been even more improvements made to the application this time. And, you know, it's about trying. It's about trying whenever we can and keep pushing for it, because we don't know what year it's gonna happen.
[Morell]: Thank you, Councilor Tseng. Any further discussion?
[Bears]: I second Councilor Knight's motion to approve.
[Morell]: Any members of the public wish to speak? Seeing none, so we have a motion from Councilor Knight to approve, seconded by Vice President Bears. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll when you're ready.
[Hurtubise]: Vice President Bears? Yes. Councilor Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Collins?
[Morell]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. Councilor Tseng? Yes. President Morell?
[Morell]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative, the motion passes. Thank you, thank you for being here tonight. You're still under suspension.
[Knight]: Yes, and looking through our responses that we received, I just like to point out, Council response to paper 23048 from my state delegation. This was a request made by the city council to ask that the dot and DCR provide some routine roadwork and. Representative Donato has gotten back to us, saying that both the DOT and the DCR have indicated that their repairs have been made. However, if we go right to this on-ramp right here, right beside City Hall, the repairs aren't done. So maybe we could just ask that the administration follow up on that request, please.
[Morell]: Thank you for that. I can follow up with the mayor on that.
[Knight]: Motion to revert back to regular order business.
[Morell]: On the motion of Councilor Naito to revert back to regular order business, seconded by Councilor Tseng. All those in favor? All those opposed, motion passes. Motions, orders, and resolutions. 23-086, offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it so resolved that the Metro City Council update the ordinances pertaining to body shops and automobile repair facilities. Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Madam President. This is something I've had a discussion with the chief about, and especially around the Mystic Avenue area, is we've got a lot of repair shops coming to Metro because they've been pushed out of Somerville and Cambridge, so they're all coming here now. And what's happening is they're moving into these small lots, these small garages, and parts are getting harder to come by, and cars are sitting there longer. You're now parking the cars all over the streets. And as I say, it's a discussion I have with the chief many times, and the chief says, he says, I can't enforce an ordinance that doesn't exist. So tonight I'm proposing that we have an ordinance set up for body shops, toe shops, and garages, service facilities, not the parked cars in the street. Because what's happening, they just, if you go by like Columbia Street, The whole street is all cars parked from the other garage. You go by down Swan Street, all cars parked from the garages there. No matter where you go, you're seeing all these garages just parking the cars in the street. They're doing repairs on the street. So I think we need an ordinance to make sure that they keep the limit. to what their permit was for the amount of cars in the space. No on-street parking. Councilor Bears, I think is the head of that committee, subcommittee. I gave him some of those ordinances, which was pretty simple and concise, and I think it will address the needs. So I would hope that the subcommittee of ordinances would take this up as soon as possible so we can get that out there and we can start cleaning up our streets.
[Morell]: Thank you, Councilor Caraviello.
[Knight]: Madam President, this is an issue that I've discussed in the past as well and I think it's really an issue of parking capacity, you know, we issue a permit to a repair shop, but we really don't put any restrictions or confines on parking capacity based upon the size of the lot. So if you drive down Mystic Gap, the first two shops you'll see in probably what Volsar and Atech. If you look at the parking lot at Atech, I mean, you can't fit a piece of paper between the cars in the parking lot there. There must be 35 cars in this very small parking lot. Now, you know, we approved the permit. I have no problem with these people trying to make a buck. You know what I mean? It's the American way. But, you know, at the end of the day, it's also creating issues where These lots appear overcrowded and unsightly. Mystic Avenue, for example, is a gateway road to our community. So we're going to drive from Somerville into Medford, and that gateway road is going to look like an industrial park, right? The condition of the roadway is bad enough as it is, but now to have, you know, unsightly businesses that really aren't a welcoming business to the community, I think is something we need to talk about as we go into our meeting tomorrow night. Also, it raises, I think, issues about safety, whether or not these lots are questionably safe. If you have a parking lot with 25 cars in there, how can you get a fire engine in there? These repair shops, they have flammables, they have combustibles, and it puts us in a position where we may be putting our first responders and our fire personnel at risk in responding to these, to cause these locations because of the overcrowding of the parking lots. So these are definitely things that we need to take into place. And I might just ask that this be set to fire prevention as well. So that fire prevention can be provided the opportunity to pipe in. It's all too often when we talk about permitting a new business, we talk about the parking and the impacts that it's gonna have on the community, but we don't really think about the impact that it's gonna have on fire safety and fire prevention as well. So I just ask that this paper be sent to the fire chief.
[Morell]: Would you like that as an amendment? Or is this embarrassed?
[Bears]: Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Councilor Caraviello for putting this forward. I think definitely we can move on this right away. I've heard making sure at least that the chief has consulted in some way the fire chief. Probably going to want to bring the traffic folks down from the police department. But is there anyone else that you want us to invite to that meeting? Code enforcement in the building, Commissioner? Yeah. Okay. Great yeah and I agree with the point that you made again I don't know what property this was on in the area I don't know if it was a car shop and I'm just saying that to put that out there in advance because I know if I don't say that people will be frustrated but we did have, there was a fire, and there was a someone who was, I believe, killed in that fire in that area. And again I don't know the circumstance I'm not saying it was because of car parking or anything but again I think it just speaks to your point. around is that even the best use in the area? And that's a long conversation and I know a lot of people obviously have livelihoods that depend on the businesses there, but I also think we can't just be packing, packing, packing cars and car repair shops in that area without addressing the negative effects that may come from that. So we'll work on it. Thank you, Councilor Caraviello.
[Morell]: Thank you. Any further discussion? So on the motion of Councilor Caraviello as amended by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? All those opposed, motion passes. 23-087 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it so resolved that the Medford City Council have the code enforcement officer notify Tufts University that the city of Medford is no longer picking up mattresses left out on the street, so they can notify all students in Medford living off campus. The university has a list of all students living in apartments off campus in Medford. Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mayor President. I think we all know every year when Tufts closes for the year, we see the furniture and mattresses all left, students just leave them all over the place and not something new. But this year, we're no longer picking up mattresses. There's now a fee. So I think that the university should inform the students who are living off campus and they have a list that they need to call and pay for the mattresses that are gonna be left out there. I mean, I've already called them a few times, the mattresses are already up there and school hasn't even closed yet. So not counting the furniture. So if the university could notify the students that the mattresses need to be called in, they're gonna have to pay to get rid of them and that they have to call waste manager when they get rid of the furniture also. something that, you know, we say we go through this every single year, but let's see if we can get a little bit more under control, especially with the mattresses that we're not paying for. We have to pay for now.
[Morell]: Thank you, Councilor Caraviello. Vice President Bears.
[Bears]: Thank you, Madam President. I think this makes sense. I think it's important that Tufts do this. I just want to note that the reason that that went into effect was a change in state law. The city didn't decide to change that. The state law changed on us. So that's why this new policy is in effect around mattresses. Thank you.
[Knight]: Madam President, thank you very much and I think the council for bringing this initiative up by issue up raises a couple of interesting points. So, here in the city of Medford we have what's called the university accountability ordinance right as Councilor caveat noted down that provides us with a list of all the parcels were touched university students live in our community. And we also have another ordinance called the clean it or lean it ordinance. So I'm wondering how these two ordinances would combine and intertwine, right? If we actually sent our code enforcement officer out to remove the mattresses, could we then put a clean it and lean it on either the parcel or Tufts University where it's an extension of the campus? I mean, I think that it might make sense for us to try to see if that would be something we could tie to the university where we could use the clean it or lean it ordinance to see if we could get some relief in that regard. Tufts is pretty good at policing its own. There's no question about that. And if it comes down to us using the clean and lean and ordinance to promote and produce corrective action to bad behavior, I think Tufts would be on board because one thing they don't like doing is spending money. So with that being said, I think this is something that we can look at a little bit more. I'd like to get an opinion from the non-existent city solicitor. as to how these ordinances were intertwined and whether or not if we were going to utilize the clean, no-lead ordinance, would it be applied to the, could be applied to the university as opposed to the possible property owner? I'll put that in the form of an amendment.
[Morell]: Okay. Would you like to keep that until we have a city solicitor? Would you like a KP law opinion on it?
[Knight]: Just because the administration isn't doing their part doesn't mean that we can stop, we have to stop doing ours. So I'm going to continue to ask the questions.
[Morell]: So you want to take that as a separate motion or as an amendment?
[Knight]: Whatever the board's comfortable with. Either way, it's one of the dozen of the others.
[Morell]: Okay, we'll go with this.
[Bears]: I'm just hearing Dover Amendment, Dover Amendment, Dover Amendment. Right. People don't get my joke that Tufts just says they're exempt from it, you know, pretty much.
[Morell]: Right, but they have, they pay taxes on Walnut Hill properties.
[Bears]: Yeah, so I think it makes sense now, but you know, I'm just, well, these are possible that they don't necessarily own.
[Morell]: And that too, yeah. Right, right.
[Knight]: Yeah.
[Morell]: Any further discussion?
[Scarpelli]: Clarification, it's a KP law. Boy, it's so serious.
[Morell]: Councilor Knight.
[Knight]: Whatever. I mean, at this point, it doesn't matter what we say. We're going to get what we're going to get, which is nothing. So, you know, I'll ask the question and let the administration, when they feel like we're going to have to do something with it, and whoever they send it to is fine with me because it's not going to move anyway, I'm pretty sure. Based upon my experience over the past 36 months. You're asking for a legal opinion?
[Hurtubise]: Yeah.
[Scarpelli]: and Madam President, I support Council mates. Uh, intense 1000% but anything that goes to K. P law, I will not support. So I appreciate that.
[Caraviello]: Madam President, this is where this is kind of time sensitive. If we get asked to get done sooner rather than later, because I'd be happy to offer a separate paper, a second paper.
[Knight]: So the code enforcement officer can do that, but make a notification.
[Caraviello]: I'm just wondering, it's going to be made in a couple of weeks and the students be, you know.
[Knight]: Actually, Madam President, what I would do is I would draw and just ask for the code enforcement officer to report back to us. And then when we get that report back, we can look at it. And maybe by then I can have some answers as to what's going to apply in one month. That'll satisfy everybody.
[Morell]: Okay, great. Do you have that amendment?
[D'Antonio]: Okay.
[Morell]: Great. Any further discussion? So on the motion of Councilor Caraviello as amended by Councilor Knight, seconded by- Second. Councilor Scarpelli. All those in favor?
[Unidentified]: Aye.
[Morell]: All those opposed? Motion passes. 23-088 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Due to the increase in traffic on Main Street and Harvard Street be it so resolved that the Medford City Council have the police department increased traffic patrols in that area, along with increased parking and enforcement especially on the weekends in the interest of public safety, Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Madam President. frequent the south method area the main in Main Street and Harvard Street intersection is really and that's another traffic intersection that's turned into a nightmare. You know, we've done traffic calming measures everywhere. We really haven't done anything. And that's at that intersection. You've got probably two of the most popular restaurants in the city across from each other. And the traffic nightmares are there, the parking nightmares, especially on Saturday and Sundays, traffic is just a total nightmare there. There's a lot of accidents and it's unsafe. So I would ask the chief if he could step up patrols over there. And on Saturdays and Sundays, if they could step up parking enforcement, especially in the evening, so much in the day, you know, even in the day but going right right until you know 1011 o'clock at night, because I say that's a, it's a packed area, and the parking is limited for those, those two busy establishments.
[Morell]: Thank you. You further discussion from the council.
[Tseng]: Um, I agree with what's being said. Um, we last year we asked the city also also to pay attention to cut through traffic. Um, we did get a report back. Um, but, um, I just wanted to note to the audience to people watching out there that, um, this this is important to us on the council. Um, and that, um, it's it's in addition to Harvard Street. It's also all the other parallel streets that are facing a lot of increased traffic and people were just speeding right right through as well.
[Morell]: Thank you. Any further discussion from the council? I do see one. I see a hand up from Anthony D'Antonio on Zoom. I'll unmute you and just name and address for the record, please. Mr. D'Antonio, would you like to speak? Oh, there we go.
[D'Antonio]: Yes, there you go. Yeah. Did you hear my address and name? It's 24 Hicks Avenue. Listen, I wanna thank Councilor Caraviello for bringing this up. And I know a lot of the councilors have good intentions to try to get things done, but nothing gets done. All we hear about is, let's have a report from this one. Let's get a report from that one. Let's do this, let's do that. It's not working, number one. We have an influx of people down in South Medford. A lot of children, a lot of parents, a lot of bicycles and bike riders. And it's treacherous down there. I don't know what the traffic engineer had in mind when he put some of these rotaries in or some of these stop signs, which I think are misplaced and should be reviewed. And I'm asking people, anybody in the council, you want to spend about 10 minutes with me. I'll pick the day, Saturday, stand at the corner of Highland Main Street with me, and I'll show you exactly how dangerous that intersection is. I could go on and on about the dangers, but you gotta see it to believe it. And you know, not for anything, the car drivers are not the only ones that are causing a problem. People on bikes, people on these bikes with their kids, with cabooses in the front and in the back, riding around on these heavily, you know, traffic streets, it's dangerous. I don't care what kind of a bus, a bike lane you put in, nobody pays attention to the rules, okay? I got hit two weeks ago in that intersection as a pedestrian. And the person that hit me took off, all right? Nobody saw anything. None of the cars that were there that stopped took the guy's number down, okay? And it was a guy because I was trying to catch up with him. And as I was running down the street there, because I did get hurt, but my adrenaline was so pitched. that I wanted to get this guy because he came, I was in the right. I had the right of way. He was wrong. He came right through the light. And I'm telling you, He saw my life flash before me. So that's number seven. I got two more lives to go. Anyway, it's serious. It's serious. And I'm going to show you how serious it is. Five minutes on a Saturday morning, okay? Forget Sunday because it's pretty quiet there on a Sunday or even a Friday. And the other thing I got a problem with is these school bus drivers. They think they're all on the Indianapolis Speedway out there. It's dangerous. They got these huge buses speeding down Willis Avenue, speeding down side streets. There has to be enforcement. We've had enough of the excuses. It's time to take the, you know, whatever the term is, I'm still banged up from that accident. So it's not coming out all the way. Whatever they do. to make it safer for pedestrians. So who's going to be at fault when the next person gets killed at the intersection there, because we have had fatalities there. And it's a bad intersection just in the way that it's placed geographically. So please, anybody, feel free to come with me, five minutes, 10 minutes, I'll even buy you a cup of coffee, maybe a Danish if you're nice. But that's all I have to say. And thank you again, Councilor Carrie Villela for bringing this up, appreciate it.
[Morell]: were hit and hurt over there. I'm glad you're here. Yeah, me too. Yeah, yeah.
[D'Antonio]: It was only a Ford F-150, and that's, it's gotta be a lot bigger to take me out, trust me.
[Morell]: Wow, wow. Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Madam President. You know, as I mentioned about the traffic and the danger, you know, part of the problem comes from these food delivery services. They're stacking up there, they're parking, they're just double parking, leaving the car. That's a giant part of the problem there. You know, and I, It's a comment I made on the meeting before this one is that people forget that we have over 500,000 cars that traverse our roads from ride share services every year. And that's a real number because we know how much we get paid for every ride that starts in Medford, so you know those people are coming back. And these are aggressive drivers, they don't know the roads, and that's a giant part of our traffic problem, especially down, you know, down, especially in that part of town, where there's a lot more students and younger people who depend more on those rideshare services. So again, I do ask the Chief to step up some enforcement over there, especially on the weekends and in the evenings.
[Morell]: Thank you, Councilor Caraviello. Councilor Collins.
[Collins]: Thank you, President Morell and Mr. D Antonio I just wanted to share my, you know, and how unfortunately got hit in that intersection I'm glad to hear that you were doing okay but so sorry that you had to go through that. Thank you. You know, I think that it seems abundantly clear to me that. You know, we talked about the particularly troublesome intersections in the city that particularly troublesome roads, there's so many of them I think it's just clear that roads were not our roads are not built for the Medford of today. So to fix it we need to, you know, approach the problem on all fronts to accommodate, you know, all of the road users that we see right now I think the Councilor car VL brings up a really good point which is, you know, several decades ago, we didn't have ride share companies inundating the streets. We didn't have these delivery companies. That's something that I notice all the time. It drives me bananas when I see delivery drivers blocking traffic, blocking parking spaces, blocking bike lanes. There's a lot of new dangers and there's just a lot more cars on the road than there used to be. So clearly we need to marshal all of our city resources to make sure that people can cross the street, can get where they're going without without being hurt or have to fear getting hurt. So thank you, Councilor Caraviello for putting this forward I think it's one part of the puzzle and Mr. D'Antonio I hope you're feeling better very soon.
[Morell]: Thank you. Any further discussion on the motion of Councilor Caraviello seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor. All those opposed motion passes. Communications from the mayor, 23-089. On the motion of Councilor Knight to waive the reading of the, we have a food truck permit before us. Motion of Councilor Knight to waive the reading and approve, seconded by Councilor Collins. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. I do see we have Mr. Gray from Neighborhood Produce. So motion passes. You are all good. Thank you.
[Bears]: Madam President. motion to take and I apologize. Give me one second. Oh, sorry. We have one more. Never mind. I'll wait.
[Morell]: Oh, yeah. Thank you. 23-091, request for expenditure from law department claims over $1,000, account 010-151-5762. To President Nicole Morell and honorable members of the city council, from Brianna Lungo, current mayor. Claimant name, Valerie Spinelli. Date of accident, February 3rd, 2021. Date of settlement, March 27th, 2023. Date of trial result, not applicable. I'm sorry, amount requested $3,450 claimants attorney clerk and Sinclair and refuse LLP description of alleged claim the claimant USAA casualty insurance company also serving as I don't know what those little constants away seeks compensation for a claim paid to their insured for property damage suffered when a Medford firetruck stuck the struck the side of the insurance vehicle ballpark on Surge's Street in Metro Massachusetts on or about March 8 2018. the necessary release has been obtained from the claimant. Breakdown of amount requested, medical costs zero, lost wages zero, property damage $3,450, others zero, total settlement $3,450.
[Knight]: Madam President, motion to send this back to the legal department. We have here a date of accident, February 3rd, 2021. Then when we read the description of the alleged claim, it says that the accident happened on or around March 8th, 2018. That's a big discrepancy. like to make sure if we're going to be spending money and this is a legal document, legal document that's going to be bound by law once the council approves it, that we're approving something that's accurate. And it doesn't appear to me that this is an accurate description of what happened when we have two different dates of accidents on the same document, which is, again, just another reflection as to why we should probably have an in-house city solicitor, instead of a hired gun that we're using to do all of our legal services for the mayor's office, as opposed to the city of Medford and its people. So with that being said, I'd offer a motion to send this back to the legal department for
[Morell]: Thank you, Councilor.
[Bears]: Councilor. I have no problem with that. Um, but I just want to also state that this is the first, uh, paper over $1000 that we've seen in a while, and, uh, I'm hoping that this means that we're going to be seeing all the settlements over $1000 going forward for our approval, which is required. So thank you.
[Morell]: Thank you.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Madam President. Thank Councilor Bears because that was my my my response to make a motion that, um, Obviously, this isn't the only settlement that we're looking at over $1,000 and to get a breakdown of all the settlements that have been forgotten or bypassed or not reported, I think we should ask for a report because this, like Councilor Knight said, for years, That's a long time ago. And to say that because if to say that was the only one is pretty frightening considering in the past years that I've been on the council. I think we've by this time of the year we've all always seen about six to seven close to eight settlements that we've seen with either pothole incidents. city vehicles, hitting different vehicles, or even trip and fall accidents. So, again, Council and I brings up the point that that I find very frightening is that we're not seeing what's really happening. This lack of transparency is frightening. So I'd like to make it a motion that we ask the city, the mayor's office or the chief of staff to get back to us with any information or settlements that we've had, even in a spreadsheet form so we know what's coming. I think that that's important because I, You know, this is, this is frightening the fact that 2018, the sense that it happened and the reporting dates are so off. So thank you, Madam President.
[Morell]: Would you like to take that as a beat paper?
[Morell]: Thank you. This is embarrassing. Yeah.
[Bears]: And I just want to add to that. I think that makes perfect sense. Cause if you look at the Warren articles we got sent, I didn't do it a specific count, but there were dozens of settlements in there. Um, many of them over a thousand dollars that we never saw quite frankly, and not to single you out Councilor Knight but didn't you receive a settlement for for damage $2,149 and 68 cents for two tires and a rim. Yes, I did Councilor Bish and speaks to the state of our roads and the money we need to put into that but also speaks to the fact that I don't think we've been driving one of the well maybe both but we didn't vote on that I don't believe right, and you obviously would have voted present or abstained but I'm just saying. But I'm just saying it never came before us. And, you know, again, I think there were probably dozens of those in the Warren articles that we saw over the past couple of years. And again, you know, it's just kind of the basic due diligence that needs to be happening. It isn't happening, so.
[Morell]: Thank you, President Rivera. Any further discussion? So we have a B paper first from Councilor Scarpelli. Mr. Clerk, can you read back?
[Hurtubise]: Yes, Councilor Scarpelli has a B paper requesting that the Mayor or the Chief of Staff report back to the council as a spreadsheet, if necessary, on all the legal settlements to date.
[Knight]: Can we just amend that to include judgments as well? Settlements and judgments.
[Morell]: So on the B paper from Councilor Scarpelli, seconded by Vice President Bears. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. And on the main paper from We have a motion from Councilor Knight to send back to the legal department because of conflicting dates. Seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes.
[Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Councilor Scarpelli's motion is something I asked for, I think, three months ago. That we get a list of all the settlements and I haven't seen it.
[Scarpelli]: Settlements are different. I believe they said the judgments. Settlements and judgments are different, but we can ask for executive session to review those, can't we?
[Hurtubise]: We can ask, they don't have to oblige.
[Scarpelli]: Sure, let's ask. Because if you've seen the KP law, what was given to us, close to half a million dollars, and I still don't believe that that's a true number. Transparency.
[Morell]: Vice President Bears, you had a, you were moving on something? Can you vote on this? We did. Well, we voted to send it back to
[Bears]: Right, right, great. Yep, sorry. On paper, can we take paper, motion to take paper 23-052 from the table and approve for third reading. This is the amendment to Appendix A of the Code of Ordinance, which just adds the fee for the planned development district, which we created in the zoning ordinance.
[Morell]: We have a motion from Vice Mayor Bears to take 23-052 off the table and to pass for a third reading, seconded by Councilor Tseng. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll when you're ready.
[Hurtubise]: Shuffle survey. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Seven. The infirmary is there in the night of the motion passes for third reading.
[Morell]: public. So public participation anyone. There's no one in the chambers anyone on zoom would like to participate for public participation. Seeing none. I think he was, I saw him. I thought I saw him before he's not here right now. Going back to Councilor Scott motion to adjourn seconded by second person bears all those in favor. Opposed opposition from Councilor Knight. Motion passes, meeting adjourned.
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