[Caraviello]: Good evening, everyone. The 25th regular meeting of the Medford City Council, June 22nd, 2021. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Councilor Bears.
[Bears]: Present.
[SPEAKER_08]: Councilor Falco.
[Caraviello]: Present. Vice President Knight.
[SPEAKER_08]: Present. Councilor Morris. Present. Councilor Morell.
[Morell]: Present. Councilor Scarpelli. Present. Councilor Caraviello.
[SPEAKER_08]: Present. Please rise and salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, Councilor Oosterhof.
[Caraviello]: Councilor Scapelli. Hold on a second. Is the meeting minutes correct? Committee reports. Meeting minutes. 31213398. I take paper 21398 out of order. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Second. Oh, no, what'd you do? Second. Second by Councilor Bears. I forgot that. Okay. Reports of committees. June 15th, 2020, a committee of the whole report. This was, okay.
[Hurtubise]: Mr. President, I just wanted to let the Council know and let the viewers in the audience know that this committee report was prepared by the Assistant City Clerk, Sylvia DiPlacido. It concerns the committee vote last week to reappoint me as City Clerk, so I'm going to step away from my desk and the Assistant City Clerk is going to call the roll and do whatever else is necessary on this paper.
[Caraviello]: So this is to motion report for the community hall to reappoint the clerk for a term of three years. Motion to accept the report by Councilor Bears, seconded by? Seconded. Seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?
[Unidentified]: Councilor Bears?
[Caraviello]: Yes.
[Unidentified]: Councilor Falco? Yes. Vice President Hikes?
[SPEAKER_08]: Yes. Councilor Mahmud? Yes. Councilor Morell?
[Caraviello]: Yes. Yes, seven in the affirmative. Motion passes. While we're doing reports, we might as well do the last one. 21403, June 16th and June 19th, Committee of the Whole reports. This is in regards to our budget, which is still ongoing. The motion by Vice President Knight, seconded by? Seconded by Councilor Morell. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Motion. Mr. Clerk.
[Falco]: While we're on the topic of you had just mentioned budget, have we received any responses from the administration yet with regard to any of the questions that were asked during the budget hearing so far?
[Caraviello]: I have not received anything in my package, unless you've seen something different in your package. I have not received anything. I have not seen anything different, Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Have they communicated anything?
[Caraviello]: I have not had any communication with the Mayor's office.
[Falco]: Thank you.
[Scarpelli]: Councilor Scarpelli. While we're on the suspension, we take up paper 21-419.
[Caraviello]: 21-419, petition for a common eviction license by Ellerton Victor de Oliveira, 6 Vine Street, Spencer, Mass, for grabbing at a pizza, 399 Main Street, Bedford, Mass. I'll refer this over to the chairman of licensing. Sir, if you could please step to the rail and give us your name and address of the record, please. My name is Ellerton Victor de Oliveira.
[Giglio]: 399 Main Street, Medford, Greenfield Pizza.
[Scarpelli]: Okay. Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you, Mr. President. I see, review everything. Everything looks in order. I know we have a couple of questions. Mr. De Oliveira, what are your business hours?
[SPEAKER_08]: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Okay. And how many,
[Scarpelli]: employees will be working for you? Three. Three? And you'll have a delivery service too? Yes. Okay. I know we had one question that the establishment opened before this was approved. I know we talked and- Yeah, I'm so sorry. There was just a misunderstanding. Yes. I did check with, it wasn't with the clerk's office. I did go through Mr. de Oliveira's paperwork. All of the departments are updated now and in order. I wait for any comments before moving approval from my colleagues.
[Knight]: Do we have any comments? Mr. President, I, for one, am glad to see the storefront finally have somebody suitable to fill it. This is the old Tony's by George location, from what I understand. Tony might still be working there with you a little bit at the time. Or George, rather. George might be there with you. But with that being said, Mr. President, I'm glad to see someone was able to fill the storefront. And I wish him the best of luck. And I move for approval of the paper. Any other questions? Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. One quick question. Is that 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week? Yes, it is. Okay, thank you.
[Bears]: Mr. President. Councilor Baxter. My question actually isn't for the petitioner. It's just that we asked the city administration, you know, who provided the information that they could open before we- Mr. Clerk, if you want to make that part of the report, Councilor Baxter would like to know
[Caraviello]: provided the gentleman with the information that he could open before he got his convictious license. Move approval.
[Bears]: Second.
[Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Scarpelli, seconded by Councilor Baerz. All those in favour? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Congratulations. Good luck. Thank you very much. Good luck. Okay. Anything else while we're on this? All right. A motion by Vice President Knight to revert back to regular business. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Motions, orders, and resolutions. 2-1, 4-1-3 offered by Councilor Marks. Be it resolved that the residential outside irrigation meter be discussed. Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I was contacted recently by a local resident that was very interested in obtaining a second meter for outdoor activities, water meter. And after doing a little research, Mr. President, it was found out that only those that have an underground irrigation system are allowed to benefit from the second meter, which does not add on the added cost for a sewer. And after looking at the actual application and reading the application, it seems to me the requirements by the city, Mr. President. Tonight, I'm going to respectfully ask that the Water and Sewer Commissioners meet again, Mr. President, to discuss opening up the second water meter to all residents. This irrigation program was established in 2010. And the first phase was to open it up to residential water meters strictly for underground irrigation. And at the time, it was stated, Mr. President, that this was going to be phase one of the program back in 2010. And here we are 11 years later, and there's never been another phase rolled out. So if you're a commercial property in the community, you are currently not eligible. And if you are a property owner, that doesn't happen to have, like my property, I don't have an underground irrigation system, but I do use a hose. And sometimes I may do it by hand. Sometimes I may put out one of those little devices that sprinkles water around. And like many of us, some people water their garden. Some people fill their pool up. And to me, the same principle applies. If that water is not finding its way back into the sewer system, Then, you know, the whole idea of setting this up was to give taxpayers a relief, a rate relief from using water outside of their home. And the whole intent was to provide that relief to those who do that, Mr. President. And I think expanding the program after 11 years, I think we have a good handle on how many people have taken advantage of this program and look at the metrics regarding how this is working out, what has been the cost, because there is a cost not only to the resident, that's putting in a second meter, but there's also a cost to those who pay water and sewer in the community, because as we all know, Mr. President, when the water comes into the community, it's meted. So there's giant meters that show how much water is coming in. The MWRA assesses us through what's coming into the community. So they don't look and say, well, you're using the water outside, using it inside. The MWRA doesn't care. The city of Medford created that program which allows us to give people, if you want to call it a reduction or abatement, on the sewer for consumption outside. And so there is a cost to all of us regarding this meter program. But I think this program, Mr. President, in all honesty, should be expanded. Because to me, we should be looking at just people that have an underground irrigation system. we should be looking at anyone that uses outside water. And what I would like to do, Mr. President, I have a copy of the application. A lot of residents aren't even familiar that there's a program that exists. But there's an irrigation meter application. The fee is $300 to fill out this fee. And then it goes on to give you the guidelines for the residential irrigation installation. And just for edification, Mr. President, I think people should be aware if they are interested, the city allows irrigation meters on in-ground irrigation systems for residential accounts only. Applications are taken in order they are received and will be handled by the water division at their discretion. All applicants must pass a pre-installation inspection and follow the guidelines for basic residential irrigation meter installation and requirements as stated on the application. So as you can see from this particular guideline, you have to have an underground irrigation system. The first requirement is a licensed plumber must obtain a permit at the building department in order to install this meter. So you can't install it yourself. A certified and tested backflow device must be furnished at the customer's expense. Customers must maintain the backflow prevention assembly on the irrigation system to ensure protection of the portable water supply with yearly inspections. Backflow tests are conducted by the engineering division, and the current fee for inspection is $60 annually. So there's a $300 charge for the meter itself, and then there's a $60 annual charge. So if you don't use a lot of outside water, depending on what you're using, it may not be worthwhile from a financial standpoint to partake in this program. So you really have to sit down and figure out how much watering you're doing outside in order if this makes financial sense. All irrigation systems must comply with all local and state landscape irrigation regulations. All pipes from the service through the irrigation meter and three feet past the backflow preventer must be brass or copper material. No plastic galvanized or cast iron pipes are allowed. New and existing dwellings may split the service connection for irrigation with backflow device that has a T or a Y split to separate domestic and irrigation water. The city of Medford metering division is not responsible for pressure loss or consumption and volume issues resulting from the split connection. The meter and the reading device are issued by the city and the price is included in the application fee. All pipes from the irrigation meter must be inspected to ensure that there are no cross connections between domestic and irrigation lines. You must install shut off valves before and after the new irrigation meter. So that's pretty much what the rules and regulations are, Mr. President. I would respectfully ask on behalf of the many hundreds, if not thousands of residents that water their lawn, that tend to their gardens, that fill their pool, and use a hose outside for a number of different reasons, that I respectfully ask the Water and Sewer Commission to expand the program currently to all residents if need be, Mr. President, and also go into phase two, which would allow for the commercial application of outside irrigation as well, Mr. President. So I respectfully put that in the form of a motion, and I thank you.
[Caraviello]: Councilor Marks, if you could amend that for me, if the Water Commission could look into the program that the City of Revere uses. They have, for their residents, not a big user, but they have a meter that goes onto the spigot, they charge them a nominal fee to rent for the season, and you put it on your outside spigot, and at the end of the season, you turn it in and you pay for the water that you use for your outside water. It doesn't cost any money for any plumbing or any of the, it doesn't cost $100 in plumbing fees to put it in. And they see it seems to be working well, but say it's just a, it's a meter that goes onto your outside spigot. And at the end of the season, you bring it back, you turn it back in and they charge you for whatever water you use through that.
[Marks]: Mr. President, I'm not opposed to looking at that and amending the resolution. So I would respectfully add that in addition to my motion, that the Water and Sewer Commissioners look at the city of Revere and how they use an outside meter for residents that does not incur the cost of hiring a plumber, as well as other associated costs. So I appreciate that.
[Caraviello]: It's a lot easier for the residents to use. Thank you, Mr. President. You make it this. I can't make it. So any further discussion? Okay, on the motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by? Seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion passes. 21414, offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that the Medford Fire Deputy Chief of Operations, Brian Conan, be congratulated on his retirement and for his commitment and dedication for serving the residents of Medford for over 40 years. Councilor Marks?
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today with all due respect and honor for one of methods. Finest Brian Cronin for anyone that knows Brian has served this city with distinction for 42 years, Mr. President, over four decades of an impeccable record, uh, protecting the life and property of our citizens. You couldn't meet a kinder, gentle a person, Mr. President, everyone that I've spoken to that it has seen this on the agenda. Uh, the first words out of their mouth were we're sad to see such a man of character leave. And I'm hoping, Mr. President, that he comes back in other capacities. We were just talking about, and I didn't mention this to Brian, but we were just talking about emergency preparedness and how that position for a number of years has been somewhat of a stipend side position that's gone unnoticed. And it's such an important role in this community. And respectfully, I'd love to see Brian come back as the emergency preparedness head in our community. But with that being said, Mr. President, Brian is retiring as the Deputy Chief of Operations, a very high post within the Medford Fire Department. Brian came to us September 13, 1979. He was appointed to the Medford Fire Department. June 27, 1980, Brian received a special commendation from Chief Leo McCabe for actions at a water rescue incident at the Mystic Lakes on June 25, 1980, under the direction of Lieutenant Charles Parris. September 22, 1981, Brian responded to a house fire at 69 Jerome Street as a member of Engine 2 under the direction of Captain Paul Gennetti, Firefighter Joe Amato and Firefighter Brian Cronin located and removed Mr. Edward Whitaker from a second bedroom after first isolating the fully involved bedroom by closing the door. For their actions that day, the crew of Engine 2, Captain Paul Gianetti, Firefighter Joe Amato, and Firefighter Brian Cronin were awarded the Firefighter of the Year Award. May 3, 1987. promoted to lieutenant. October 22, 1988, Brian responded to a house fire at 20 Rockwell Ave. Under the direction of District Commander Donald McCarthy, the latter two crew of Lieutenant Cronin, Firefighter Robert Booth, Firefighter Alfred Magliari, and District Command Aid Robert Murray, located and removed two residents from the involved second floor bedroom. October 22, 2000, department commendation from Chief Frank Gilberti, Jr. for actions at the medical emergency. Engine five crew consisting of Lieutenant Cronin, firefighter Joe Frazier, and firefighter Rich Jentz responded to a Dexter Street address on a report of a woman in labor. The woman was 34 weeks along in her pregnancy with her twins. Her water had broken and a breach delivery was imminent with a single leg presentational and umbilical cord wrapped around the left hip and leg. The mother was placed in the delivery position and the right foot presented itself. The patient was allowed to push and the baby's torso delivered easily. The head was more serious situation and delivered with difficulty after some delay. The baby was suction dried, but was lethargic with the heartbeat and a severe respiratory distress close to cardiac arrest. Stimulation and additional suctioning of the baby's airway made some improvement. The baby was resuscitated with a bag valve mask. With paramedics now on the scene, this was accomplished with the umbilical cord still attached, with all personnel working in very close quarters, and the second baby beginning to crown. After several minutes of manual restitution, the baby began to breathe spontaneously. The twin brother was delivered without incident. The emergency department doctor at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, where the mom and the twins were taken, told the parents, quote, you are lucky those men knew what they were doing. Otherwise, you and the babies may not have survived, end of quote. Lieutenant Cronin praised his crew and the paramedics for their compassion and professionalism. Lieutenant Cronin, Firefighter Frazier, Firefighter Jentz were awarded the IAFF Local 1032 Meritorious Service Medal. August 3rd, 2007, Department of Accommodation for actions at a fatal motor vehicle accident on Route 93 with multiple entrapments requiring the use of hydraulic rescue tool while under the direction of District Commander Jerry Irving. Firefighter Mike Carpenito, Firefighter Mike Granara, Firefighter Rick Wilson, Firefighter Mike Endicott, Firefighter Stephen Hughes, Lieutenant Brian Cronin would receive the IAFF Local 1032 Meritorious Service Medal. November 1st, 2017, promoted to temporary captain and assigned to the training division. March 23, 2018, promoted to permanent captain. September 7, 2018, promoted to permanent deputy chief and assigned to the administration as the chief of operations. Under the direction of Captain Pat Ripley, conducted first aid and CPR training for the department. Seeing the need for permanent EMS procurement officer, Lieutenant Cronin received permission from Chief Lawrence Sands to take on those duties. With direction from chief and welcome assistance from the department members, improved EMS equipment and training shortly followed. Brian is a member of the Medford Fire Department Honor Guard, Secretary of the Medford Firefighters Relief Association from 2003 to present, and the Medford Firefighters Memorial Sunday Service Committee, 2002 to present, which many members of this council, along with the public, were present to honor deceased firefighters, Mr. President. I personally want to thank all our brave firefighters But in particular, Mr. President, the Deputy Captain of Operations, Deputy Chief Brian Cronin, who is not only a firefighter, Mr. President, he is a close friend to many. and he's gonna be sorely missed, Mr. President. His professionalism, the way he carried himself, the way he made every firefighter, no matter what position he served, all the way up to deputy chief, Mr. President, he made every firefighter, whether you're on the job for one day or on it for 40 years, like himself, he respected and made them all feel welcome and at home. And truly, it's firefighters like Brian Cronin that make the family of firefighters what they are today. And I would ask that on behalf of this council, that we honor Brian by giving Brian a council accommodation for his 42 years of dedicated service to the life and property of the Medford residents. and for conducting himself in a manner that we can all be proud of, Mr. President. I thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank Councilor Marks for bringing this resolution forward. And also, uh, thank Brian Cronin for his years of dedication for over 40 years is quite an accomplishment. And as you heard from Councilor Marks, a very, very successful career. I want to thank him for his service to our community and thank him for answering all the questions that we've had through the years. I know he's always been there to answer questions. And he's always done a great job organizing the annual firefighters event at Oak Grove Cemetery. So I want to thank Brian for his many years of service and wish him well in his retirement. Thank you.
[Knight]: Vice President Nate. Yes, Mr. President, thank you very much. And thank you, Councilor Marks, for putting this resolution on this evening. Brian's someone I've grown to know and respect over the years in public service, and he's someone that's going to be sorely missed. When you go down to the South Medford Fire Station, for example, and you talk about the EMS procurement, you'll see Brian's handiwork right there, where they've set up a whole entire room dedicated to the materials and supplies that they purchase for EMS in first response. Councilor Marks also highlighted Brian's work with the Onagad. And there hasn't been an event in this community that hasn't had the metric fight of Amazon and God participating in one way or another, giving back to the community. So with that being said, Mr. President, I can't thank Brian enough for his four decades of service. He's going to certainly be missed. And I wish him all the best of luck in his retirement. Thank you.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. I also want to thank Councilor Marks for bringing this forward and for also taking the time to read all those career highlights and accolades, which are much deserved. I haven't had the fortune of knowing Deputy Chief Cronin as long as others, but in my short time of knowing him, I found everything Councilor Marks said to be true. Just be an incredibly kind, gracious, service-oriented person. And Medford has been lucky to have him for 40 years, and I thank him for his service for 40 years, and I wish him all the best in retirement.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Scott belly. Thank you, Mr. President, I think Council marks bring this forward and it speaks volumes way. Everybody's talking about it so I all I can add is one thing I realized when I first joined the council and when I was coaching and we had issues and, and Mr. Cronin was involved. He is the fireman's fireman. I don't think I've, I've met a fireman that loves being a fireman more than, uh, deputy chief Cronin. I think that, um, and you could see it with his, with his efforts, you know, uh, not just with the emergency situations, but just the way he carries himself. So, um, he's a great role model for these new, new firefighters that are starting off and, um, he will be missed. So we wish him luck after 40 years of, uh, uh, works in dedication city Medford. and it is time to enjoy retirement and he definitely did his service for the resident city of Medford. So thank you.
[Bears]: Councilor Best. Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank you, Councilor Marks, for bringing this forward and all my fellow councilors for their kind words. I was really moving to hear from Brian at the memorial ceremony a couple Sundays ago. I know the introduction, I think you actually, I went through many of his awards and commendations that were mentioned in his introduction, but it was really clear to see the support and camaraderie he had with his fellow firefighters, which I think you can only gain through all the service that he's provided to our community. So thank you again for bringing this forward and congratulations to Brian.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. And on behalf of myself, Brian is a true professional and a true gentleman. No matter when you see him, whenever you talk to him, he's just a great person. And, you know, Councilor Marks brought up his long record of accomplishments throughout the community. And our fire department is gonna miss a gentleman like him that has been there for four decades of service. And I hope there's somebody that is able and has the qualifications to step into those shoes, because those are one big pair of shoes to fill. So thank you very much. And Councilor MAXX, do you have a date on his retirement?
[Marks]: I want to say it's at the end of this month, but I don't have the exact date.
[Caraviello]: So you will invite him up here for accommodation? If he'd like to come up, sure. If you'd like to invite him up for accommodation, that'd be great.
[Unidentified]: Sure.
[Caraviello]: So on the motion by Councilor MAXX, seconded Second by Councilor Falco. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. 2-1, 4-1-5 offered by Vice President Knight and Councilor Marks being so resolved that the Medford City Council recognize Maria Ryanessa, owner and operator of Bella Scarpelli Salon on the momentous occasion of the business 15th anniversary. Senior Councilor Marks.
[Knight]: Mr. President, at this time, I will defer to Councilor Knight. Vice President Knight. Councilor Marks, thank you very much. And Mr. President, thank you. Just this past week, Bella Scarpelli celebrated their 50th anniversary. And Maria Ryan-Essar is someone that I've known for a very long time, a high school classmate of mine, who's been a very successful business owner in this city now for a decade and a half. And I think that warrants a little bit of recognition, Mr. President. My wife has used their services, a number of occasions and she comes back looking more and more beautiful each time. And I can't thank Maria and her staff enough for the work that they do down there. So, with that being said, Mr. President, I would yield my time to Councilor Marks but congratulations to Maria and her staff.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Anyone that knows the INS of family know them as outstanding method residents. Mr. President, a family that's been involved in this community for decades, giving of themselves at all different levels. Mr. President, Maria has been a tremendous business owner in this community giving back at many, many events. She is the first to step forward and make donations when necessary or when asked to, uh, go over and above the call of duty. Maria, INS is the first to volunteer, Mr. President, and I think that comes from her parents and the way she was brought up. If I'm not mistaken, I also believe she's a proud vocational. I believe she went to the cosmetology at the method vocational technical high school, Mr. President, where she learned her craft and it's evident in the type of business that she runs and the product that she puts out. Mr. President, anyone that comes out of there is coming out with a hairstyle that is second to none. Um, and I just want to congratulate her on her 15 years and wish her another 50 years of success in our community.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Councilor MUX. Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you. I just thank you for my fellow Councilors bringing this forward. We all know the Inessa family, and when you talk about a Medford family and keeping their business in the community, and thriving like it has and what they've given back to the community is a blessing and we share those celebrations with them and congratulate them. Two things though, I know that Councilor Knight's wife doesn't watch this, so it's impressive that he used such great compliments even though she's not watching. And last but not least, they still couldn't do anything with my hairdo. So I've tried, if anybody knows a hair salon that can do anything with this, just let me know. So thank you, Mr. President.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I also want to thank Councilor Marks and Councilor Knight for bringing this forward. And it's great to see someone that grew up in the community decide to open a business here in the community and a successful business at that. So I want to wish them congratulations on their 50th anniversary and also wish them well for a successful future. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Again, I want to congratulate Maria. like Councilor Fletcher said, she grew up in the community, went to school in the community, and chose to operate a business here. I think Councilor Marks is right, she gets her roots from her mother and father, who were long-time residents here, and I just want to thank her for her commitment to City of Method, and congratulations, and hopefully another 15 more years of business here. Thank you.
[Knight]: by me, seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Ayes have it. Paper 21416 offered by President Caraviello. Be it so resolved that the Medford City Council amend the current parking ordinance pertaining to private ways to allow resident only parking and allow the police to enforce it. Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, for the neighbors who live down by the lakes, Pine Ridge, Oak Ridge, Sagamore, Pitcher, that whole area down there, every weekend, they get inundated with cars. I mean, not one or two cars, but hundreds of cars that it's barely passable for people to get by there. And it's been going on for many years, but it seems over the last couple of years, it's gotten a lot worse than it has. And it's not so much but the parking, but it's what's happening when people leave. They're leaving trash in people's yards. They're leaving trash all over the parkway. you know, diapers and everything, it's not fair to these people. And you know, it's not just the residents of that end, but it's also the residents that live up by the fells, on Governor's Ave every weekend, they're inundated with the cars and people from, you know, going into the fells with bikes and everything. And you know, I guess that's the price we pay for having something, you know, as popular as the lake and the fells. But going back down to the, to the lakes and down that area. The lower lake is not supposed to be for swimming or anything. And I think at this point, we need to reach out to Representative Gobley. to have the environmental police come down there on the weekends to start patrolling that area and make them knock and say, you wanna use the beach? Go to the beach area. But every year there's an accident up there. If you go through the woods, it's littered with cans and toilet paper and diapers. It's really a mess. And I had the opportunity to drive down there at 5.30 on Monday morning. The whole stretch of that Mystic Valley Parkway was just littered with cases of beer and bags of trash or anything. It's really a shame. But aside from that, we've had meetings down there with the residents, the mayor, the police, and I can't seem to come up with a solution. Chief doesn't want to do anything. They won't take it in tow because there's no signs posted. and we don't have an ordinance to allow us to do that. So after the last meeting we had last week, it was suggested that city council have the solicitor draw up a language to amend the current private way parking ordinance they were having. According to the Kim, it's not that big of a deal. Two or three sentences get added on to that ordinance. And if we can get it, hopefully get it out this week and get it back soon before the summer break, give these people that live in these neighborhoods some much needed help. Like I say, because it's not fair to them every Saturday and Sunday that they had to, you know, you drive through the Winchester end There's not a car parked on that over there. And it's a shame that there's not more parking down that way. The DCR has land to maybe put some more parking down there, and maybe they should do that at some point. But like I said, it's just not fair that every week these residents have to suffer down there. And I'm tired of going down there when I'm getting the calls and being a policeman for them. So again, I ask my fellow councilors to support this. I think there's some people here that may want to speak on that.
[SPEAKER_13]: Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you. Council President Cavill for bringing this up. I know that I've talked to a few neighbors and they're appalled. And I think that changing this ordinance might help. But I know that we should look into, I know Council Member Marks has brought this up for years, looking at our private ways in general in our community and the lack of funding we're losing because they're not being charged to our roads and streets here for federal reimbursement. So I think that it's important that maybe we call for either a subcommittee, a committee of the whole soon to visit this ordinance in general, and look at the negatives of having that in place and trying to weigh the pros and cons. And I think that that might be the beginning, but I think that this has to be something that we reach out to the director of DCR as well. And if we can't send him, I don't know who it is, they change them every month, but send out communications DCI director that enlightens them on what's going on in that area, because it's obviously it's being used for recreational purposes. And if those, you know, cars that are coming and families that are showing up and those parties that are throwing in our residential neighborhoods, if they're giving different outlets in different areas where they are approved to recreate and we can help them with that, that might be something we can move them along. But I think something has to be done because the neighborhood is failing it. I know that some of the music and the noise and heard gunshots. One person told me, I mean, it sounds like it's like the okay corral down there and it's something that we really have to stand up. I know that Councilor Caraviello has been the active de facto sheriff and going down there, but it shouldn't be a city councilor that's going down to support and help our neighbors in that area. I think that we have to really get our state delegates involved and other state agencies to get involved to make sure that we find some solutions to move these these groups out of there because it's really deteriorating that neighborhood. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_13]: Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank President Caraviello for bringing this forward tonight. I have two received calls regarding this issue, and this needs to be addressed. It's long overdue. I know Councilor Caraviello mentioned previously there was a meeting that the administration held, and I know that it was sponsored by the administration. We weren't invited to the meeting. I wish I knew about it. I would have loved to have been there, but we weren't invited to it. But this is an issue that needs to be addressed. There are many quality of life issues here with regard to noise, safety, when you talk about gunshots, I've heard about drug use, I've heard about trash, grills, the possibility of fire, people swimming where they're not supposed to be swimming. These are quality of life issues that are impacting residents and the residents should not have to deal with this. Not only the quality of life issues, these are public health issues. the people going to the bathroom in the woods from what I hear, this is just unacceptable. It needs to be dealt with. The administration needs to help out with either calling the state delegation or calling the environmental police or the state police at the very least. I'd like to amend the resolution to add that the state police step up their patrols on the weekends and make sure that this is dealt with immediately. I think as far as the ordinance being adjusted to allow resident only parking and allow the police to enforce it, I fully support that. I think it'd be nice to discuss it, you know, as Councilor Scarpelli said, just to see if there's any additional safeguards that we can place in this, but this needs to be dealt with. It's long overdue. And like I said previously, the residents should not have to deal with this. So I second the resolution that was offered by Councilor, President Caraviello. Thank you.
[Knight]: Chair recognizes Councilor Morell.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you President Caravelle for bringing this forward. As Councilor Falco mentioned there's a number of issues going on here I have. Great concern with the public safety issues in public health between the trash and the swimming and the open fires. I've been reaching out to DCR probably as long as I've lived here about the trash in that area. It seems they have a carry and carry out policy, which essentially in practice is just carry and leave wherever you can find it in bags wherever else. So that's a major issue and I would love to have our state delegation help and see what we can do there because you can see it with your own eyes. This isn't something that can be ignored. If anyone from DCR ever drives by, they can see all the challenges that are faced. public health, public safety, and otherwise. I do have concerns just about the private ways as far as enforcement. It's my understanding by state statute that because these aren't accepted as public ways, we can't use city money for the police to enforce parking on that. I support Councilor Scarpelli as far as moving to a committee of the whole and just exploring this. I would be interested in because the ideal way to do this is these streets become accepted as public ways, If we could get just insight from this, the city engineer the traffic engineer, or the process of accepting these private ways as public ways so we can enforce them as such. And if there's a priority list, or you know any process that exists already for moving a number of these private ways that have a number of issues. And accepting them as public ways. And I do just want to read also from the Commission on parking and policy and enforcement, they did address this issue and one of the recommendations was. to consider a program where residents of private ways can enforce parking by towing, which is allowable by the state statute. This program would allow residents of private ways to file a permit notifying the city of the preferred tow company for that private way to tow away vehicles parked illegally on that private way. I guess this is a program that's done in Somerville. Medford isn't alone in having private ways, but we are specific to having very desirable private ways for parking for a number of resources within the city. So I would love to have that committee of the whole to really talk this through and address this. Thank you.
[Knight]: Do you recognize Councilor Bears?
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you to my fellow councilors. I hear what Councilor Morell is saying about the legal issue. So I would like Solicitor Scanlon to confirm that we are allowed to take this short-term step. It sounds like she thinks we are, which is good. I was driving through there on a Saturday recently, and it is bonkers. I mean, there are so many people down there, more than I've ever seen before. And you can really tell because there are multiple ice cream trucks up at Shannon Beach, and they're really taking advantage of it too. It took me 10, 15 minutes to get from the circle at High Street up into Winchester. So it's a huge volume of people up there every weekend. I think what everyone has said is accurate. The piece that I really just wanna make sure we take on is even if we are able to implement the short-term solution, we can't forget the long-term solution and really addressing this larger issue of private ways, because at the end of the day, what Councilor Scarpelli said is correct. We're gonna end up spending city resources on enforcing this issue, but not getting the money from Chapter 90, not getting the money back for the large volume of private ways that we have. Certainly I support whatever we can do to address this immediately. It seems like the situation is way out of hand and it got that way pretty quickly, but I agree with Councilor Morell. We have to have some sort of committee of the whole on the long-term situation with private ways in our community as well. Thank you.
[Knight]: Chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank President Caraviello for putting this on the agenda. I come from a little different train of thought, Mr. President. These are method streets and the fact that it may be a private way, in my opinion, has zero bearing on the responsibility of the city to make sure public nuisance and public safety issues are not addressed. I think it's a cop-out to be quite honest with you. 40% of our 719 streets in this community are private way. So what are we saying? 40% of our streets we can't enforce on. It's ridiculous. And I've been talking about this issue for years. No one wants to discuss it. But it is an issue, Mr. President. And as far as I'm concerned, if I was the CEO, which would have happened where there would have been signs posted all in those streets stating resident only. And I would have had the tow trucks out there and the cops out there ticketing immediately and worry about it after the fact. Because what we're doing is providing parking for people that want to use the DCR land. So we essentially become the parking lot. DCR's not providing parking. We are. And it's a cop-out to say, well, it's a private road. What benefit? Ask any of the neighbors. What benefit do you have living on a private road? You have zero benefit. You pay the same tax as everyone else, and you get zero benefit. So if they're unable to give tickets on a private road, why are we plowing? That's city money. That's city resources. We're allowed to plow? To me, that has zero bearing. And if there was leadership in the community, they would have acted immediately, Mr. President. And it's no different as what's happening at the top of Governor's Ave. It's no difference. And really, it upsets me because I think the city should be the first to step up. Worry about the consequences after the fact. Send a message. We're not going to tolerate it. We're not going to allow you to invade our neighborhoods. We're not going to allow you to have cookouts in front of someone's home and leave debris behind. We're not going to allow you to change out of your bathing suit in front of our home. We're not going to allow public drinking. That's the message that has to be sent, not that we're worried if we give a ticket out because, oh, it's a private way. That's baloney. That's absolute baloney. And to hide behind that, Mr. President, is shirking your duties, as far as I'm concerned. These residents, they're right. They've been going through this for years, for years. And if it takes an ordinance change, fine. I don't know if that's going to do it all, Mr. President. We have a serious issue with over the years, over the last 50, 60, 70 years, when this city was being built up and so forth, that the city at the time allowed them to make private ways, Mr. President, because they didn't want to go through the acceptance process to accept a street. And it was done for a number of reasons, because some of these streets, Mr. President, didn't have the proper infrastructure. You go up the heights, a lot of them didn't have the proper drainage. and they tapped into the sewer system where they shouldn't have been. So a lot of these roads were created as paper roads and private ways because the city wasn't, for years, didn't really follow through on this, Mr. President. There's no reason why. If a road still wants to be a private way, fine. But we should send out a survey to everyone on private ways right now and ask them, would you like to change over? And for those that want to change over, we should move immediately to change over, Mr. President. There's a process. For those that want to keep it private, fine. But everyone should be receiving the same city services. You pay the same taxes. And police enforcement is a city service. Plowing is a city service. Your sidewalk being done is a city service. Your tree being trimmed is a city service. And there's no reason why 269 roads, which are thousands of homes and tens of thousands of residents, have to say, well, I live on a private way. I'm not entitled to the same enforcement or the same upkeep on my street. It's ridiculous. It really is. So I support the president, Mr. President. I would ask that immediately enforcement take place. And I know that request already happened through a neighborhood meeting. And I guess those saw, those wooden saw horses were broken in half and people tossed them aside. But we need true enforcement there. And if we need to station someone there, Mr. President, have a police officer stationed in that area, then so be it. This is not Mayberry. It's a city of 60,000 people, seven square miles, $190 million budget, and we can't tell residents that are paying tens of thousands of dollars in taxes, sorry, you live on a private website. We'd love to help you out, but we can't do it. You're on a private road. Unacceptable. Thank you, Mr. President, for bringing this issue up.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to note that by I believe our current ordinance and our number of legal cases at the state level enforcement related to public safety is allowable and encouraged. And there's a number of reasons related to public safety that the street, the police can enforce on private ways. So I think to Councilor Behr's point, there may be something easy we can do. The city solicitor can help us out with because this is a public safety issue.
[Knight]: I believe there was some towing that went on a couple of weeks ago because of that.
[Caraviello]: Councilor Karygiela. Councilor Marks is right. It's a cop-out because I've been down there with the police, and they're saying—I was there last Sunday with Officer Montgomery, and as fast as Councilor Paul knows, he's telling them not to pull on there, saying, you can park here all we want. The biggest issue is there's no posted signs on there. And but I agree with Council Marks, tow all the cars out of there, we'll deal with it later. Because again, these are Medford residents' cars that you're towing. They're all out of city and out of state plates there. I was there, I'll tell you, last Sunday, in front of a neighbor's house, a pickup truck pulls up with six kayaks. I says, well, what are you doing? He says, I'm parking my truck here. He says, it's a private property. I says, well, I'm telling you, your car's not gonna be here when you come back. Meanwhile, the tow trucks were there, the police were there, and Officer McGivery's standing there again. I've been down there multiple Saturdays and Sundays with the police standing there, not able to do anything because we'll get the call from whoever's in charge that day, leave, nothing we can do, and run. Tow the cars out of there. If you see how fast, the people won't be back there the following week. But one of the problems is it's not posted. So we can't enforce anything that's not posted. Towing companies said they'd be more than happy to give you all the signs you want to put up there. But again, that's part of the ordinances. It's going to be posted. Get some signs up there quickly. Help these people out now, not at the end of the summer when it's too late. So.
[Marks]: Point of information, Mr. President. Councilor Marks. So we have outside construction companies come into our community, post their own little handmade signs all over the neighborhoods. No parking or you'll be towed. But the city of Medford can't do that to help residents. It makes no sense, Mr. President. We allow outside utility companies to come in and invade our city and post these signs, but we can't do it. That should happen overnight. I agree with you, Mr. President. That should happen overnight, Mr. President. It makes no sense at all. We really need answers on this. Point of information.
[Scarpelli]: Point of information, Councilor Scapelli. I appreciate everybody's comments. I think that we had an issue on Equavia Road just recently during the pandemic where cars were parking from the fells and parking in the neighborhood. And the temporary signs that were put out there with the horses made it reasonable for towing. So, and I think they just did it just for the weekends because that's when the traffic air really started, no different than what we're seeing in this area. So I can't see why we asked the chief and the traffic engineer to put out temporary signs in these areas on Friday afternoons through Sunday, so this could be policed properly. I don't think we have to wait for a sign to be erected.
[Caraviello]: We've been down there numerous times with the police, the traffic engineer, everybody. Instead of offering solutions, they're offering excuses. And that's really all it's done.
[Scarpelli]: Again, Mike, we need to demand this from the chief, the traffic engineer and the mayor's office that this is what's being done in other neighborhoods and it's worked. So I'm a little confused with the, so I think that we make a motion that as part of the report that we asked for the temporary signs to be erected by DPW from the traffic department on Friday evenings and then taken down on Sundays. And I believe that would allow the police, the leverage to toe because I know it's not, it's not the officers on the streets. They want to do it. Yeah. You know, they, it's not them. They're getting it from higher up. So I think we need to get really, uh, more clarity right now from the chief and get this taken care because, um, you know, until someone drowns out there and it's one of our firefighters that are going out there and one of our police officer going out there and jumping in the lake, trying to help a family that shouldn't have been out there and they lose their lives. I think that's when we're going to see some movement, and that's not what we all want to see. So I think that's, we need to move on that immediately. So thank you. Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. And through you to President Caraviello. So you were at the meeting, and maybe it's the residents that may want to. Some of the residents were there. If residents want to speak, I'd love to get their perspective. But so when you were at the meeting, could you tell us, did the administration promise any type of deliverables as to what they were going to do?
[Caraviello]: Again, they offered solutions about, we need to change this, we need to change things, but again.
[Falco]: No timetables or anything?
[Caraviello]: No, there was no timetable. Again, the traffic engineer was there, a representative from the police department was there. Again, every time we thought of a solution for an immediate action, oh, we can't do that, we can't do that. We have to, again, Council Member Baxter's right. Put the signs up there now, Again, like he says, construction guys, they put signs up there and they take it in tow. You can put the signs up there, at least for the season, and take it in tow. You don't have to go for a big expense. Again, the tow company said they would give you all the signs you want to put up there, so when your car got towed, you'd know where they were going. We're looking for immediate relief. And listen, Councilor Morell is right. We do need a long-term solution for this. But in the meantime, these people need help on the weekends. They can't go out of the house. And Councilor Morell says, you've got the carryout stuff. Yeah, they carry it out and leave it in front of their house. That's what they're doing with it. They are taking the carryout there, but they're leaving it on our streets now. And again, these people need relief now, not in August and September, when it's going to be gone. You go on the Winchester side, there's no cars parked by there, they're running to the beach. Because they put up signs, nobody parks there, it's home away. There's a car there, it's gone immediately. Again, put the signs up, not that big of a deal. And it can be done as early as this weekend. We'll worry about the consequences that are laid, Dave, while this is working. We'll put the signs up, get it done. And Mr. President, if you'd also please amend it that this be sent to the solicitor immediately and that the administration contact the environmental police. And I can't say that the state police are down there. They probably tow 200 cars every Saturday and Sunday. They're down there. They're doing their best just to keep up with the parking down there. So again, let's get this done quick. These people need help. It's just the beginning of the summer. It's only going to get worse.
[Falco]: No, I want to thank Councilor Caraviello. I agree a hundred percent. I mean, this is not even July yet. It's still another eight to 10 weeks of summer. This needs to be dealt with right away. So I would agree with my colleagues.
[Caraviello]: We need excuses. I mean, we don't need excuses. We need action.
[Falco]: Correct. I'd love to hear from some of the residents if you want to speak about it. Thank you.
[Knight]: Chair recognizes Mr. D'Antonio from Yale Street. Name and address for the record, please, sir.
[D'Antonio]: Anthony D'Antonio, 24 Hicks Avenue, South Medford. Um, I live down the other end. However, I used to go up for on the weekends to enjoy a sandwich or whatever, walk around that little area, uh, near Sandy beach or it used to be Sandy beach. And, um, it's disgusting. I've seen things you can't believe. I wish we could have somebody in the board of health go down there. These people should be ticketed to dumping diapers, the water grown men defecating in the water. It's true. You can't get anywhere. And these people that go down there, God bless them. There's a lot of good families, but they're not all good people that go there. Believe me when I tell you, I don't know how these residents put up with it. I'd go out of my mind to be honest with you. So they do need help. You got to find a way to do it and help them. I mean, I don't go there anymore. It's not enjoyable, you know? So they need the help. Let's get going here. So thank you.
[Knight]: Name and address for the record, please.
[Casey]: My name is Lucy Chapman. I live at 1454 Mystic Valley Parkway. And I've lived there for a long time, roughly 25 years. And I've really seen this whole situation evolve. I mean, it's been a problem for many years, but most of the cars used to be up towards Sandy Beach, but now they've really gravitated down right in front of my house, actually. I mean, literally in front of my house, in front of Bill's house, and trash is left all over the place. I mean, I didn't grow up that way. I respect people who want to hang out in the woods or have a picnic with their family or whatever, but You know, I would literally carry out, or even when I was smoking cigarettes, I would butt them out and stick them in my pocket. I wouldn't even leave that on the ground, even in my 20s, and it's very, very different now. I took pictures just today, just walking across the street, and I know most of you will not be able to see this, so I will describe it. So I walked across my street. Hang on one second. And this is, people bag their trash. They did bag it. I was like, well, at least they bagged it, but they don't even put it on the side of the road where somebody like could see it, could like pick it up and see it, you know, like a garbage collector or something. Not like they do that, but they put it back in the woods. So they bagged the trash and then threw it back into the woods. So there are these like five giant trash bags in there. And as soon as you cross the street and you start walking the path, you see this. And at the telephone pole, there's another picture on there that is like a market basket bag. with trash falling out of it. So that's just today, one day. And had I known I was gonna be here tonight, which I didn't at the time, I would have taken a lot more pictures. I'd have gone inside that woods and taken pictures for all of you to see. But it's a sad state of affairs and there are health issues and people come very early because they wanna park. Okay, where do they go to the bathroom? Right? You know, they're parked there all day long. Now come on, and they're drinking and eating and cooking and grilling. And you go back near where the river meets the lower lake, and that whole area is like smashed bottles. So there's glass everywhere. My neighbor who walks her dog is afraid that her dog's gonna get cut on the glass that's out there. So there's a lot of problems. And that's just talking about, the lower Mystic Lake. One other thing I wanted to throw out is for years, for a number of years now, I have seen the crew from the prisons come in, but they only clean the upper lake. Why is that? That's a state-related issue. I pay taxes like the Winchester people pay taxes, but they stop where the road is to the dam. And I saw that little truck with the guys in their orange suits And I'm glad they're using them to do this. I think it's good for those guys. I think it's good for the community. But I said, how come you don't come down to the lower lake? Because there's been trash there for years and the neighbors have been picking it up. We have a lot of people in our neighborhood who walk with a trash bag in their hand. And as they're walking, they put trash in the bag. But I asked, why didn't the prison guys come down to the lower lake and do that? Nobody has the answer to that. So there's a lot of, inequities that I see happening between what happens in the Winchester end and what happens in the Medford end, including the curbing of the side of the road there where they put the nice curbing in, including the lights they put up. Why does it stop at Medford? I don't get that. I mean, maybe you guys understand that. But just to speak to the private road thing as well. I live on a private road. It looks like Beirut after the bombings. That's what it looks like. There are holes everywhere. The city comes in and they patch the holes every year because the plows get under the lip of those patches, they end up on my lawn. That's where that tar ends up. And we're cleaning it out of our banks for the whole season. But that's what they come in. They come in and just do a patch job, just do a patch job. We were so hoping when the gas company came in recently and put in all the new gas lines, that maybe they would pave that road. And it's not a private road, it's the only way you can access Pitcher Avenue is by going on Lakeview. You can't access it any other way. So if it's private, technically, people on Pitcher should not be using it. I guess that's the way I look at it. I don't care that they use it, I want the road paved. So I guess I have a lot of issues. I'm deciding, I don't come to many of these meetings, I'm throwing them all out there today. But the paving of the road is a huge one for me. And if making it public instead of private is the way to go to get the road paved, I'm all for it. So, thank you. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_13]: Thank you, Ms. Schremer.
[Knight]: Name and address for the record, please, sir.
[SPEAKER_15]: Hi, my name's Bill Darnell. I live at 1466 Mystic Valley Parkway. And I've lived there for 22 years now. And the last couple of years, I've definitely gotten 100 times worse. And I hope that you can do the ticketing and the towing. But part of the problem, I think, might be that people, I'm also a board member of the Medford Boat Club. And the parking, they've been there since 1898. And they've always used the parking area by the Tufts Boathouse. And to find a parking spot there today on the weekends, you're lucky if you can drive in and get out again. the parking is really getting bad for them as well. So they ended up parking in the neighborhoods, members of the boat club, Medford residents. So we kind of, as a member of the Medford boat club, we're like, well, now we're gonna get screwed if we're getting towed, if you're not a resident of that street and you're getting towed. So I don't know if there's a way to, look at someone with a Medford Boat Club sticker on the side streets and give them a little break because it's tough for everybody. But we definitely want to see this problem cleaned up. It's terrible. I walk my dog across the street, and I'm afraid that he's going to cut his paws out. You see glass everywhere, toilet paper, all kinds of trash. And something has to be done, and I'm glad you're looking into it. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
[SPEAKER_13]: Mr. President. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello. I'll yield to the gentleman.
[Richard Shultz]: My name is Richard Schultz, and I live at 1454 Mystic Valley Parkway, which is right on the corner of Lakeview, which is a private way, in Mystic Valley. And this is my wife. So if I move my car on a Sunday and I park on Lakeview, I have to put a trash can in the spot where when I come back, I won't have a parking space. And that is every Sunday. Additionally, I have had situations where I've said something to someone about parking on Lakeview and I get an earful from them. They're belligerent. Lakeview, when you cross the parkway, it leads to a path that takes you right down to where the river meets the lake. And you can see hundreds of people going down there on a weekend, carrying everything imaginable. And as you've heard, they leave all their trash behind, they defecate in the woods, and they have no respect for the environment. Now, that area is not supposed to be for swimming and picnicking, and I don't understand why it isn't posted in that way, so that people would know that you have to go to the designated areas. This has become increasingly a big problem. In front of our house, And the front of our house is quite long. We have an old Victorian house. We pay high taxes. And on Sundays, there's bumper to bumper in front of my house, people yelling, especially when they come back, making noise. You can't sit on your porch and have your meal. We have to sit in the back porch to do that. This, I'm glad that you're looking into this, but we need action. And we don't need to deal, I don't need to deal with belligerency. I don't need to deal with having to put a trash can in my parking space so that if I go out, get some groceries, I can't find any place to park in my neighborhood. And the final thing I would add, and I said it before, we have a turn of the century Victorian. We pay a lot of taxes. That house is valuated high. We're not getting services for it.
[SPEAKER_13]: Thank you, sir. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Richard, for bringing that point up. He's right. The neighbors shouldn't be down there fighting people. I mean, I've been down there, I've argued with people, I see the other neighbors arguing with people, and they just don't care. Again, a couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to go with Representative Garberly on a walkthrough of the lower lakes. The lower end there, what they're talking about? There's makeshift bathrooms with toilet paper dispensers hanging on the trees. I mean, diapers everywhere, but it's just utter filth. And she's right, I don't know why. They'll clean the upper part, they won't come down and clean the lower part. It's not fair, and I ask for immediate action on this as soon as possible to help these people out. before the summit even starts. Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. If I may, and the residents bring up a good point, if we could get a report back or maybe some answers from our representative Garbali as to why is the upper lake treated differently from the lower lake with regard to cleanliness and the state being proactive with regard to cleaning that area? There must be a reason, or maybe it's just being overlooked, but it needs to be addressed. It's not fair that only one section is getting clean, but the rest they just don't care about. So if we can get a report back from that, I'd greatly appreciate it. So if I can make that as an amendment, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.
[Scarpelli]: my my comments earlier is for a motion that we call for a meeting uh to and bring in the stakeholders so um if we can you know one of the uh upcoming meetings i know we have finalized in the budget but having calling for a meeting with state delegates, a representative from the DCR, even somebody from the sheriff's office to answer these questions directly, as well as the traffic engineer and the police chief for the traffic department. Because again, I appreciate that, that Councilor Caraviello went out to this meeting and when I was told it wasn't a big deal, It was just neighbors that were concerned and they were trying to bring it together. But I think this has to be some answers and they have to be people sitting across the table to answer those questions. So if I can call that as a motion to call for an immediate meeting, not to say that we shouldn't try to do something this weekend, but what I'm saying is get some resolution quickly. and I know that Mr. Donnell brings up a good point, why penalize Medford residents? You know, when I'm gonna, from what I've heard, it's 99% of non-resident people that are just looking in that area because it is a beautiful area. If you want it, spend millions of dollars and buy a huge colonial on the corner and they can have those rights, but I just wanna make sure that's on the record, thank you.
[Knight]: On the motion of Councilor Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Scarpelli, as amended by Councilors Caraviello, Scarpelli, Falco, Morell, Bears, Mox, Scarpelli, Caraviello, Falco, Scarpelli. All those in favor?
[Falco]: Aye.
[Knight]: All those opposed? Hearing none, the motion passes. Paper 21417, offered by Councilors Bears and Morell. be it resolved by the Medford City Council that the city administration work with the Medford Public Schools to issue a communication regarding the expanded child tax credit that will provide a maximum of $300 per month for each child under the age of six and $250 per month for each child between the ages of six and 17, for which I have two, Councilor Bears.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President. With the American Rescue Plan Act, the federal government significantly expanded the child tax credit for families and specifically for children and providing additional resources for all of the different costs that a child has. This is a great expanded benefit. It's estimated that it will significantly help millions of families across the country. And right here in Medford, I'm sure thousands of families, however, Not a lot of people are fully aware that this benefit has passed and may not be taking advantage of it. So the intent of this resolution is that the city administration work with the public schools. And I would like to amend this to include the Medford Family Network to just notify families that this is an option, that these funds are out there and that they can help families and children across the city do better. So I've turned it over to Councilor Morell. who co-sponsored this.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. Councilor Bears mostly covered it. So this was actually, there was an article about this recently about, you know, those most likely to benefit from this are probably largely unaware of the program and some 53% of people may not know about this tax credit. So a resident brought this to our attention. So just getting this out there and also it may be beneficial just as a side comment. The board of health I know is working really hard as far as snap gap and identifying people who are not enrolling in benefits that they are eligible for. So this seems like something similar to that. Perhaps the schools could reach out to the board of health to see how they're identifying and reaching out to people to ensure that they are enrolling in programs that they are eligible for. So move approval. Second. On the motion, and Council Member Beall is in the room, I'll second it by Councilor Belco.
[Caraviello]: Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall.
[SPEAKER_08]: Council Member Beall.
[Caraviello]: Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye. Council Member Beall. Aye Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to congratulate the friends of the method family network for their efforts during the pandemic. They had to adjust and they had to usually they have a full range of fundraising activities that benefit the method family network. And during the pandemic, they were limited. but they adjusted and they moved forward and they had a lot of virtual events, virtual trivia nights. It was a virtual ice cream social and they successfully raised money to make sure that there was programming moving forward all the time. And it is always, it's free programming. So I just wanted to thank them for the effort and, you know, constantly raising money and constantly being active in our community to ensure that there is always free programming for the Bedford Family Network and I want to congratulate them and invite them down to receive council accommodations. So thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. And if I could say thank you to Councilor Falco for bringing this forward. Maria and her group, a tremendous group of people. COVID did not They haven't missed a beat on anything. They continue to provide food, clothing, and everything for members of the community who really need it. So they didn't need the COVID to slow them down. They only stepped up. And again, I want to thank them. In fact, when I talked last night, as I was going through the school budget, I was kind of shocked the amount of compensation Marie Cassidy receives for the tremendous amount of work. And as I happened to call Councilor Falco last night and asked him if that was the correct number, because I was just like, can I take him back? But we can't pay Marie and her staff enough money for the amount of work they do. So again, I wanna thank Councilor Falco for bringing that up. Now on the motion by Councilor Falco, seconded by Councilor Bears. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Move suspension of the rules to take public participation, Mr. President.
[Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Marks, the suspension to take public participation. Seconded by? Seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Public participation. We have a, hold on. We have Anita D'Antonio on the agenda. If I can find her paper here. She was first. Anita's paper? Hold on a second. Okay. Okay. Anita D'Antonio, 14 Yale Street, MFMS. Anita D'Antonio would like the opportunity to speak regarding the renaming of the Columbus School and the process of the renaming of the school. Good evening, Anita. Name and address of the record, please.
[Anita Dantonio]: Good evening, thank you. Anita D'Antonio. 14 Yale Street, Medford. Mr. President, members of the city council, bear with me, I'm gonna read a statement rather than ad lib it tonight. Let me say this is not a rehash or relitigation of this issue because the issue was not hashed or litigated in the first place. We were in the midst of a pandemic and this issue was given a priority that seemed to surpass the importance of getting children back into classrooms. If that's not the case, it certainly left that impression. From the outset, the movement to remove the Columbus name and the renaming process have been divisive, yet ultimately revealing. Columbus is but one of the villains du jour in the midst of our own cultural revolution in Medford, served up by a national contagion. And so a name change was put on the agenda. There was no room for argument or discussion when it came to Columbus, not even for a professor emerita from Stanford University in the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology for nearly 20 years, Carol Delaney, PhD, author of Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem, and who I believe appeared before the school committee by Zoom and got a less than indifferent reception. didn't fit the narrative, primary sources, Howard Zinn said so, and the acolytes followed. And who passed the baton to Zinn? In an article written by Jennifer Braceras entitled, The Intellectual Roots of the War Against Columbus, she states, and I quote, The war against Columbus is cloaked in the lexicon of diversity and the rhetoric of inclusion, but what many of its foot soldiers don't realize is that in fact it has its intellectual roots in the ideologies of Marxism and white supremacy." Marx reviled Columbus because he saw him as the godfather of capitalism. The KKK detested Columbus because of his association with Catholicism. Strange bedfellows with a common purpose. There is no purity with regard to Columbus arguments pro or con, but wouldn't it have been a great learning experience for young minds and all of us to do what great educators do, encourage discussion, thought, challenge viewpoints, argue, listen to different opinions, and in the end, acquire knowledge. This is not the example that was set by some members of the school committee. Mines were made up long before it was put on the agenda. For some individuals on the school committee, the message seemed to be, if we want your opinion, we'll give it to you. Objectivity was nonexistent, notwithstanding the effort to appear otherwise. In the removal of the name, the selection of a new name in the final vote itself. We were admonished again and again that this was all done in the name of equity, justice, wonderful positive change, signaling how loving, tolerant, open, and welcoming we are as a city. And by the way, Columbus was evil and his mere name traumatizes children. So what did this process reveal to me? Well, it exposed some virulent bigotry and bias directed toward those who did not want the name change, but then moved on to support a particular nominee to replace the name Columbus. That nominee's reputation was even besmirched, disgraceful. I learned that what is old is new again, ethnic bigotry, whether it's 1921 or 2021, again, specifically directed at Americans of Italian descent. Some of us were even more special. We were old and our lifelong residents. There was even an attempt to stop speakers from stating they were lifelong residents. Fortunately, the attempt failed. But what does it say about a school committee member who would try to stifle free speech that way? We are, according to one voice, the most racist, cruel, hateful humans in Medford, white supremacists, right-wingers, false narrative bearers, white self-admitted Italian-Americans who may have cheated by simply voting for our choice of nominee, and last but not least, the worst of the worst. If this is the change, if this is the progress, if this is what passes for making Medford a loving and welcoming and tolerant community, we are failing miserably. I will not stand by and allow anyone to violate or smear the character of my family, my parents, my grandparents, because we happen to be of Italian descent. I condemn those who prioritize their bigotries, cloak them in virtue signaling, trading one bigotry for another, thinking they have the high moral ground and feeling justified in doing so. Those who bellow about bullying and marginalizing have become the bullies, the marginalizers, and now even the new colonizers. I want to see a city that can grow positively for all. There are those who see a city that won't be right until it's made in their image, no matter how long or how briefly they have lived here. That is what we just experienced during the Columbus School renaming. And it will not end there. There are those who will adopt another city's or state's crises and try to include Medford in the same crisis. That is not an example of injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. That is destroying a city's character and uniqueness and driving it to a divisive and dead end. Finally, I would ask this city council to vigorously condemn bigotry, and specifically the bigotry that has been directed to those of Italian descent. Thank you so much for this time.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Any further public discussion? And any other subjects? No more further?
[Puccio]: Good evening, name and address of the record, please. Good evening, thank you, Council. Thank you, Council President Caraviello. Tony Puccio, 11 Tanger Street, Medford, Mass. 42 year resident. Thank you. I just really, all I wanted to say was I can't say anything more than what Ms. D'Antonio has already stated. Thank you. I wanted to thank her for coming up and speaking on behalf of several residents. in Medford, there's a lot of people who are in favor of the change of the school, and I understand that, I accept that, but for every person that I hear about that is in favor, there are many that are not as vocal that approach me and thank me, and people like Anita and other people who continue this. I don't wanna say resistance, because it's really not a fight or resistance, but it has to be made known that there are feelings that have been hurt, as well as, not just feelings, but there's just not, you know, people's backgrounds feel, it feels like they were threatened and it can't continue. So I would hope, and I echo what Anita says, that this council would take it upon themselves to condemn these acts of, not necessarily the changing of the schools acts of hate, but the ones that are following afterwards, people seem to think that We can't get over the fact that the school name changed, but there's so much more to it than that. This is a fight for Italian heritage and what we believe in, and no one can change what people believe in. the way they feel. And I, again, I want to thank Anita and I would again appreciate the council hopefully putting forward an act that would condemn this kind of bigotry. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_13]: Thank you, sir.
[Caraviello]: Good evening. Name and address of the record, please.
[McKillop]: David McKillop, 94 Rockland Road. Thank you, Council President. Just two minutes in a short time of walking the streets and meeting people, I find it very interesting, the undercurrent of how frustrated many, many, many people are. And I've heard some people several times say, it's time to move on. It's time to move on from this situation. It's time to move on from this situation. What's interesting is that the community did move on. The community decided collectively that, hey, we've got an opportunity to be part of a change of a name. And they took that opportunity, and they rose to the occasion. And they were still ignored the second time. So this frustration can't be ignored anymore. It's hurtful. It's sad. It's sad that we have a community that's so divisive right now because of because of a lack of education, really, more than anything else. It's a lack of education about the history of Italian-Americans and what they went through. It's a lack of education of exactly where these teachings are coming from and is there validity to any of these teachings? In fact, if you really want to go through history, if you really, really want to be upset, you have to be more upset about the Spanish Inquisition than you are about Columbus himself. You have to be more upset about that. If you really want to go back in history, you could go all the way back to Egypt and be upset about those folks and how they grew their civilization. And you could just go on and on and on and on and on. It's a real sad situation that we can't come together and figure out how collectively as a community we can move on from this, because there are certain specific people that continue to agitate the situation. One thing I want to make very clear, Jean Barry Sutton made that school about community, about teachers, about parents, about children, and about love and caring. Our school committee made it about a name. And people have to remember that. And that's a real sad situation. in a very short period of time. I can't think or I stand corrected. I would love to have been able to ask Jean Barry Sutton, how many kids came to her on the way to school and said, principal, I can't come to this school because the name hurts me. How many kids did that? I can only imagine what the answer would be because she made it about them. It wasn't about anything else, not the politics of it. We've got to pull back together. We've got to come together somehow, because it's going for the Brooks School. It's going for all the parks. The names are going to just continue on. And how do we get proactive? How does this community stop this movement or even have a voice to stop this movement? They need to look to someone for that leadership. And where do they go? Who do they speak to? We need help there. We understand that we have that power in elections. But further than that, how do we be proactive and be part of that conversation when it is time for everyone to decide it's the Brooks School, the name has to change, or it's the Columbus Park, the name has to change, or so on and so on. And you can go down the list how many streets are named after people that You can investigate anything about anyone. You can never look at history through today's lenses and expect a similar result. You just can't. Thank you very much.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. President. Just comment. You know, it's been It's been bothersome to me as a first generation Italian American. I was fortunate enough to be raised by a wonderful Italian family. And I was taught lessons by probably one of the greatest men in the world, my dad, who studied in the Jesuit seminary. And he always told me as I started my journey as a school committee member and a Councilor, that no matter what the issue, put yourself on the other side. And he was, you know, his saint was Padre Pio, and it meant a lot to our family. And I hear the cries and I hear my neighbors that are upset. And the naming of the school, like my father would say, stepping aside, if it truly offended one person, it's something that we should look at. And if it really needed to be changed, we should look at that. I'm disgusted in the process. I thought the process wasn't something that we heard everyone, but why I decided to speak tonight is very important for the fact that I'm very proud of who I am as an Italian American. I wear that with a badge of honor and what I'm hearing from my neighbors, especially my older neighbors that made Medford such a great, great community with, with many other unbelievable nationalities is that they feel like they that they're being talked down to and they they've been thrown away and the heritage isn't what they brought to this community is not important. And that's what that's what bothers me, because I think if my mother and father, my grandparents felt that way, I'm doing a major disservice by sitting in the seat by not saying something. So my comments aren't just to just talk about it and let you know where I stand, but one thing that my father taught me and the Italian culture taught me, especially in Medford, we always found a way to bring everybody together. And I think Medford's screaming that. And to be honest with you, I think that most people on one side or the other, they feel the same way. They really do. And the people on the other side, they're all not animals. Besides that, when you hear side to side, and the people on this side, you're not disgusting animals. So there's gotta be something this community can do. My mother said to me, bring them all to a table, cook for them, let everybody sit at a table. look across the table from each other and talk to each other. And you realize how many things you have in common. We've heard new Medford, old Medford. That statement should be gone. It's Medford. We said this the other day when we lost Buddy Kelly. Buddy Kelly had a way as the athletic director to bring our community together. He made everybody feel like you were a Mustang. and you had one of the prerequisites of being a Mustang is that you had to have pride. And I think everybody that comes to this community, whether you are new or old, you have prides for this community. So I think what we need to do as elected officials and we need to do with the mayor's office is try to find that common ground, find a way we can bring everybody together. It could be something as a community event. that we bring everybody together and say, hey, let's sit down and let's just talk to each other and understand because some of my new neighbors I've talked to, they said, George, I'm just so disgusted with this group that doesn't understand that Columbus was a slave monger and it hurts people. And my discussions with those people and the understanding is that's really not the cry. The cry is that what Columbus meant to the Italian Americans at a very difficult time, they gave them, that symbol gave them an understanding of what America was and made them feel part of America when they didn't have a country. Something very similar that a lot of people in this country are going through right now, whether you're Latino, whether you're Brazilian, whether you're Haitian Creole and you're moving to this country, they want to be in our country. They love our country. This is what makes America great. So I, you know, I know we're not supposed to comment. We're not supposed to make motions. This isn't This isn't anywhere that we can do that, but as we move forward, I think that maybe this council can be creative enough to work together, all seven of us, and look at all of our groups that we work with and try to find a way with the office across the hall and maybe find a community event that brings everybody to the center of our town and celebrate it with cultural music and cultural foods and, and, and open tables. I mean, we have round tables for everything, but I'm almost sure the people in this room haven't really sat down and talked to people on the other side of that social media blog that they're beating up because they, there's just no communication. So someone told me my best quality when I first started as a, as a coach was I I did a great job bringing people together. And I think I'm on account of a great group of people that want to bring people together. And I think that as we move forward, when we can make motions and we can move forward, that we're creative enough to find something that'll help Medford heal. And it's so divided right now. And it's not comfortable for me. It's not comfortable for my children. This isn't what, this is how I wasn't raised. And we love Medford for a reason, just like the people that just came in on Carberry and just bought an $800,000 home because they want to be part of Medford. They want to be part of this community. So I think we have to find a way that we really work together. So, you know, you can't belittle the opinions of Ms. D'Antonio. I think it's how you feel and whether you like it or not, you still have to listen to those words. and vice versa. So I thank you for bringing this topic forward just so I can let my feelings, you know, be told that I haven't really expressed. I think that, um, you know, when I sit back and talk to my dad, these are the stories he tells me is he would have told me is to find a way to bring everybody together and use our culture and our heritage to do what's been done for years. So thank you. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: We have someone from the audience, Mr. Giglio. Mr. Clerk, could you unmute him, please? Mr. Giglio, name and address of the record, please.
[Giglio]: Hi, Bill Giglio, Wentworth Street. What everybody said there is very true. I mean, my question to the council is, what as a council can you do to put some sort of a restriction on major name changes like this being put on the ballot? Because we, I mean, we know that the whole process was a farce. So we think they believe their own BS, whatever they want to do. So my question is, in the future, if this same school committee does get reelected, hypothetically, they can now just go on to do the Brooks School and then so on and so forth. Is there anything that the city can do where these major name changes can get put on the ballot. So the city, the community has more of an input, has more of a say, sort of the same way Wakefield just did with their mascot. They put it on the ballot and it got voted down. Is there anything that the council or the city can do, or is it the school only, only the school community has the jurisdictions for the schools?
[Caraviello]: From what I, the understanding is that only the school committee has the jurisdiction for the schools. And I think the question with Wakefield, I think, with that on the ballot, that was an informational question also.
[Giglio]: So- Right, but it's still, it's still went on the ballot, you know, and in this, I'm, this is not gonna stop. I mean, it's gonna just continue. And if the community didn't have and input on the last one, we won't on the next one either. It's just the way it is, but thank you guys anyway. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, sir. Any further questions or comments for public discussion? Mr. President. Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I wanna thank the speakers tonight because I believe this council has tried to act over the last year to be a sounding board for residents that felt that their voice wasn't being heard. And, you know, we may have not had the ability to make substantive changes, but I think we did act as a sounding board for this community. I would like to say that I don't believe any body, whether it's the city council, the mayor's office, or the school committee, has the sole authority, Mr. President, over city-owned buildings. I do believe that the school committee had the authority to rename the school. However, I don't think there's anything that would prevent us as a city council, which is the legislative body, to put an ordinance in place that would require a check and balance on the naming of any building within the community. So at some point, Mr. President, I would like to offer that as a motion, and I'll do it here tonight if need be, that we request the city solicitor, Kim Scanlon, to look at whether we as a legislative body, the Medford City Council, through a city ordinance can require that we as a legislative body elected by the people would also have a say and the renaming of any building, whether it's municipal or school building, Mr. President. And that way, there would be a check and balance in that process. As we all know, the school committee doesn't even have the authority to appropriate funds. And these buildings are city-owned buildings, Mr. President. And I think we require closer scrutiny. So I would put that in the form of a motion, Mr. President, that we ask the city solicitor whether we can do that via an ordinance. I also think when we talk, Mr. President, about this community and about the division over the last couple of years, it's important that we as a community, I think, call out hatred whenever we see it. I mean, hatred can't be one side or another. Hatred is hatred, right? So what gets me is, you know, someone will say, well, you didn't call out this hatred or that hatred. I think we all stand and I won't speak for anyone else. We can't, as a community, tolerate hatred, period. Any type of hatred. And I think, as a community, what really divides us, Mr. President, and I have to bring it up, and, you know, when you have people on social media, and God bless people that want to use social media, I'm not on it, Mr. President, and it's intentional. I think it's the demise of society, to be quite honest with you. For those that want to get on social media, Mr. President, I think they have to be careful on the words that they use. Because if your intent is to get your point across, that's one thing. If your intent is to continue to divide, I think you have to be called out on that, Mr. President. Because this is far too good of a community to let that happen. And there's one email, Mr. President, that went out. Actually, it was social media. It wasn't an email. and it was a call for action right before the Columbus School vote. I won't mention the person's name, although that person didn't mind throwing everyone else in the community under the bus, but that's fine, if that's the way they want to operate. But we as a community, Mr. President, someday this may be you that they're targeting, someday it may be your group, someday it may be your ancestry, someday it may be your religion, Mr. President. And the list goes on and on. I've always stated as an elected official, just because you have the ability and the power to do something doesn't mean it's right. And I've been saying that for decades, Mr. President. And here's a perfect example of a school committee that had the ability, had the power to flex their muscle, and they did it. Didn't matter anything else, they did it. They flexed their muscle. And in my opinion, those are not true leaders. Because a true leader will listen. A true leader will deliberate. And they'll take into consideration, Mr. President, everyone's feelings and factors, Mr. President. And that truly did not happen with this issue. And I think it's a shame. And it's why it polarized our community, Mr. President. But I do, Mr. President, want to read this hateful, hateful posting that went out. And I'm sure there are a lot of them. But this one really hit home with me, and it was a call right before the meeting for the Columbus School vote. This is a call to action. The final voting on the new name for the Columbus School is happening on Monday night during a school committee meeting. The meeting starts at 6.30. There will be public participation permitted, and the right wing of Method is organizing around this. The worst of the worst will be there in force. and they are defending nothing less than white supremacy in Medford. The groups that have been energized by this are using the Trump playbook and creating completely false narratives about what happened in the process of how the name change is being handled. We need bodies at this event in person, and we need faces on Zoom. Fear warning. The people who are going to speak are the most racist, cruel, hateful humans in method. And this action will be painful. Mr. President, I was president at that meeting. There were many, many residents present on Zoom, Mr. President, and at the meeting that took time to come down. There were many people in this community that had strong feelings about the renaming of the school. And we're all entitled to our feelings and our opinions. Take that away, what do we have as a society? And to be told that you may have an opinion that differs from someone else, that you're hateful, that you're a racist, that you're a white supremacist for showing up, is a disgrace, Mr. President, an absolute disgrace. And it's an intimidation, nothing more than an intimidation to have people say, you know what, if I show up to that meeting and speak my mind, I'm going to be lumped into this. And we can't allow, as a community, no matter what side you are on the issue, because someday, Mr. President, you're going to be on the opposite side. You may be the one they're targeting. As a community, you would hope we all stand together and we're able to decipher what's right and wrong. Put everything aside. We're all humans. What's right and wrong, Mr. President? And calling people out because they have an opinion or trying to label them in the worst way, Mr. President, calling them white supremacy, calling them hateful, the worst possible thing you can call someone, Mr. President. And for the most part, it's untrue. So that really bothered me. When I read that, Mr. President, I've been elected a lot of years, and that language alone really bothered me. I know there's a lot of language going back and forth, but that language resonated with me because, Mr. President, it's not who we are as a community. Get to know the community that you moved into. Get to know your neighbors. Get to know the people across the street or the people who live on the other side. Listen to what people have to say. Don't be quick to judge and react or pay people in a corner. Or you're a righty, you're a lefty, you're this or that. That's hard law. We all live in this city because we love it, Mr. President. And if you don't love it, you know where the door is. See you later. Because we're not going to tolerate hate, Mr. President, in this community. I hate to see all these stop hatred signs all around the community. People put them out because they feel strongly about it, Mr. President, but that's not who we are. Do we need to work on things? Absolutely. It'd be naive to say otherwise. Are there changes we can make as a community? Absolutely. And I think we're all willing to do it. We all want to do it. But we're not going to get there through a vehicle of intimidation and harassment and name calling. We're not going to get there, and we'll never get there. And if people think we're going to get there by browbeating people and calling them names, then they're misunderstood, Mr. President, because it's not going to happen in this community. We're too good of a community, and we're going to rally around this.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman. Council Mark says motion on the floor. As you know, this is under public participation, and it will be on next week's agenda Council Mark so.
[Marks]: I understand that Mr. President I'm fine with that just if you could just read back the motion or I'll state it again. Well, just so for the edification of the people watching now, the wording is that I request that we ask the city solicitor for a ruling, Mr. President, whether or not the city council through way of a formal city ordinance can craft the process of the naming of any municipal or school building So any facility, municipal school building, Mr. President, and whether we can do that by way of ordinance.
[Caraviello]: On the motion by, uh, council Mark seconded by second by council Scarpelli, uh, to go on for next week's, uh, agenda. Yeah. Well, that'll be on the next week. Uh, council box. Okay. All right, we have one more public participation. Mr. Castagnetti. Mr. Clerk, can you unmute Mr. Castagnetti, please?
[Castagnetti]: Hello.
[Caraviello]: Mr. President.
[Castagnetti]: Andrew Castagnetti, Cushman Street, Method, Massachusetts. It's very, very sad that the Method School Committee has caused such a great division in Medford. They said that Christopher Columbus was a bad person. He was no good. He was a criminal of sorts. As far as I'm concerned, it's just hearsay and rumor. So I'd like to know where's the beef? Can someone, anyone out there show me in the method transcript next week or the week after the police show me the court case when he was convicted of any major crime, please. Talking about the rumors of bad people, I don't know if Columbus was good or bad. It's all hearsay to me. Then I hear other rumors, why should we believe anything? For example, did Ms. Rousseau stopped this problem from the school committee?
[Caraviello]: Mr. Castagnetti, we won't mention any names, please.
[Castagnetti]: Okay. Can we mention Columbus's name?
[Caraviello]: You mentioned Columbus's name.
[Castagnetti]: Even though he's not here to represent himself?
[Caraviello]: That's correct.
[Castagnetti]: Aren't you kind? Thank you, sir. Also, I want to ask the city lawyer if a convicted Felon is legally allowed to run And serve as an elected official on that road.
[Caraviello]: Mr. Cassay. I'm asking I'm asking you a question about you Thank you, I'll just say Any further public participation? Okay, motion to revert back to- Second. The motion by Vice Mayor Knight, seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Communications from the Mayor. 21420 to the Honorable Presidents. Dear Mr. President, City Councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that Your Honorable Body approves a supplemental appropriation of the amount of $170,898.10 for perpetual care, from the perpetual care to the cemetery ordinary expense budget. I respectfully request to recommend that your Honorable Body approves the supplemental appropriation in the amount of $103,050 from the sale of lost and grazed to the cemetery salary expense budget. These amounts support the information provided in the fiscal 2022 budget Sincerely yours, our brand of the current mayor. Questions on this?
[Knight]: Yes, Vice President Knight. Why are we making a supplemental appropriation if this is something that's included in the fiscal 2022 budget and we're in the process of deliberating the fiscal year 2022 budget? the supplemental appropriation would be to carry us through the remainder of this fiscal year, I would assume, because it would be a supplemental appropriation supplementing the FY20.
[Caraviello]: We have Aleesha Nunley on the call here. Alicia.
[Nunley-Benjamin]: Good evening, councilors. Every year I prepare this paper for your body to approve. I'm fine with this being tabled if you want to table it until when the budget is, but I wanted to make sure I got it in on time to go before your body to go with the budget, because it's a part of it. It has to be voted separately.
[Knight]: And if I may, Mr. President, this paper is the paper which we usually expend funds from our perpetual care accounts, retained revenue accounts for the funding of physicians in the cemetery, if I'm not mistaken. Is that correct?
[Nunley-Benjamin]: Yes. So through the chair, what this is is for the perpetual care. Yes, correct. It's the interest earned for the year and it goes in and it helps provide funding to the cemetery for both ordinary and for salary. because the ordinary and the salary comes from the sale of lots and graves.
[Caraviello]: Excellent, thank you. Okay, any further questions? Do we have a motion on the floor? Move approval. The motion by Councilor Bears, seconded by Vice President Knight. Well, this is a money paper, let's call for a roll call vote. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Scarpelli]: Yes.
[Caraviello]: Yes.
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_08]: Yes.
[Morell]: Yes.
[Caraviello]: Yes. Yes. 70 affirmative motion passes. Okay. Paper two one four two one. Mr. Presidency counters. I respectfully request to recommend that your honorable body body approve the recommendation of the community preservation committee the Community Preservation Fund revenues in the amount of $2,047,125. In addition, I respectfully request that you all have already approved the recommendation of the Community Preservation Fund expenditures in the amount of $2,047,125 as follows. Open space, $204,713. Community housing, $204,713. Historic preservation, $204,713. Administration, $102,356. General remainder, $1,330,630. Total $2,047,125. We have, let's see who's on the call. Alicia, are you handling this this evening also?
[Nunley-Benjamin]: I am, and I also have Daniel Evans with me from the CPA. So this is the fiscal year 22 appropriation. We're estimating the $2,047,125, with 10% going to open space, community housing, historic preservation, 5% by statute to the administration, and the remainder to the general reserve. So this is the fiscal year 22 appropriation.
[Knight]: Vice President Knight, it's my understanding, Alicia, maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong, but at no time, we need to do a minimum of 10% into each one of these buckets, correct, annually?
[Nunley-Benjamin]: It has to be a minimum of 10% of each bucket, correct.
[Knight]: So we have to appropriate this money in order to comply with the Community Preservation Act?
[Nunley-Benjamin]: Correct.
[Knight]: Thank you.
[Marks]: Mr. President. Council Box. Alicia, do you know how much money we currently have in the historic preservation?
[Nunley-Benjamin]: I can check that for you, one second. So in the historic we have reserved 174,640. I'm sorry, can you just repeat that again? Yep, 174,640.
[Marks]: So after this appropriation, we'll have 374, 640 or 378, 640 around there. Around there, yes. The reason why I asked Mr. President is when we just met with the fire chief to discuss the fire department budget, it was mentioned to us that some of the capital plans, as well as some of the narrative from the report that was just commissioned by the mayor to look at our fire stations spoke about using CPC funds from historic preservation in order to fund some of the renovations of our fire stations. And I just want to make sure that the city administration and I won't put Alicia on the spot, but I want to make sure that these funds that are out there that I'm sure they're going to go fast, that this is one of the areas that they were looking at. And I believe the city administration, Alicia, I'm not sure if you're familiar or not, but did receive correspondence back from the historic commission stating that indeed, fire stations were of historic significance. Are you familiar with that?
[Nunley-Benjamin]: I am familiar with that. And that was the amount that I just gave you was the reserve for fiscal year 21 they don't expend that till the following year and the fiscal year 22 that you would be voting on wouldn't get expended until that is collected which is the next fiscal year but they have been faithfully expending out their historic money because she's already moved. She spent $249,519 this year. She has encumbered $20,793 and transferred $439,000. So they've been spending right along their historic bucket. And for the fire stations, what they were looking for was an off-cycle funding with some remaining funds. And she had to make sure that those fire stations qualified underneath the historic preservation in order to use the funds from the CPA.
[Marks]: Which we found out they do, correct? Correct. Okay. The only reason why I bring it up is because I know these funds go fast. We've approved a number of preservation items before this council. And I just wanna make sure because it would be the city administration reaching out to the community preservation committee requesting funds for a particular purpose like they've done in the past. And I would hope that they're requesting funds now to look at some of the renovations on our fire stations.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Clark. Danielle Evans. Mr. Clark, can you unmute Danielle, please? Danielle. Name and address of the record, please.
[Evans]: Hi, good evening. Danielle Evans, Community Preservation Coordinator and Housing Planner. I just wanted to just explain a little bit. So the general reserve can be used for any of the program areas. And the reason why we do the minimum 10% in the buckets is so that we have the bulk of the money that's very flexible. So some years we may get more historic preservation projects or more open space projects and having them in that general reserve gives the CPC the flexibility to program the funds where the demand is. So if we, And so the aim would be that they're distributed, you know, a third, a third, a third, but sometimes applications don't, you know, come in that way. So I know that we use all the historic that was in the bucket and then also due to the general reserve. So doing the minimum just to read it gives us the flexibility to fund, you know, projects that are important regardless of which category they're in.
[Marks]: Just if I could follow up, Mr. President. Danielle, thank you very much. So that's an excellent point, because the general remainder is a million three, according to the sheet we have in front of us. So if you're seeing a third, a third, or a third, there's potentially another 400,000 available for historic preservation, including the 204. So that makes a huge difference. That's excellent. I appreciate that. Thank you. Scott Bailey.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I'd like to make a motion that we, we, we, uh, convene a meeting, a committee of the whole meeting with our community preservation committee. And, um, really now that we've been working with, uh, these funding, these funds and, and looking at these different pools, be interesting to get a report to see what, what demographic, what groups are really not reaching that? Are we getting enough people in the housing field that are requesting enough funding? Are we getting enough people for the funding for recreation? I know we always talk about the historical sites and this is perfect and it's where it needs to go, but at the same time, are we reaching enough people in our community that have the ability to apply for these funds? And are we doing enough to promote that and communicate with the community? So it really just, if we can, is just having a meeting with the committee and just getting a breakdown and just revisit everything and look at it as a whole again to see as we move forward to the next application process that maybe we should be focusing on one area, not the other, because of, making sure that there's equity with the funding. So if we can do that, that'd be great. Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you, Alicia and Danielle for being here.
[Bears]: So thanks. Councilor Best. Thank you, Mr. President. And yeah, thank you, Alicia and Danielle. I just wanted to add to what Councilor Scarpelli was saying. I know I've spoken with Roberta Cameron. I think Roberta's probably said it before this council. On the housing one, the costs are so high to make a real impact. that they'd like to have an affordable housing trust fund so that we can put money into it, build that up over time, and really hit the big project. So I just wanted to put that out as part of the context as well, because I think, and that may be true for something like the fire stations as well. That's maybe a bigger expense than a park repair or windows on a historical building, something like that. So just wanted to put that out as context, and thank you for letting me speak, Mr. President.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Any further discussion? Okay, on, Councilor is that an amendment? No. On the motion, motion by Vice President for approval, second by Councilor Scarpelli. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Evans]: Yes.
[Caraviello]: Yes. Yes. I'm in the affirmative motion passes. Records. Senior Councilor Marks. Councilor Marks, how did you find those records?
[Marks]: Mr. President, I review the records, find them to be in order and move approval. Second.
[Caraviello]: The motion by Councilor Marks to approval, seconded by Councilor Bears. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Motion for adjournments. On the motion by Vice President Knightley and Chairman, seconded by, seconded by Councilor Mears, Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Mr. President, just if maybe you could give our schedule for our budget hearings if anyone wants to view.
[Caraviello]: Tomorrow night, tomorrow night at six o'clock, Thursday night, 5.30 on Thursday, and we'll do a budget wrap up on Saturday at 9.30. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Motion to adjourn. All in favor? All in favor? Opposed? Motion passes.
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