[Falco]: The ninth regular meeting in the Bedford City Council will now come to order. Clerk Hurtubise, please call the roll.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Present. Vice President Caraviello. Present. Councilor Knight. Present. Councilor Marks. Present. Councilor Morell. Present. Councilor Scarpelli. Councilor Scarpelli. Here. President Felton.
[Falco]: Present. All seven members are present. At this time, I'd ask everyone to please rise to salute the flag.
[SPEAKER_13]: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[Caraviello]: 20-097 offered by President Falco be it resolved that the administration update the City Council on the precautions and The administration is taking a decisive method to protect our residents, in particular, our children, seniors, and first responders from the coronavirus.
[Falco]: Thank you, Vice President Caraviello. Thank you, Vice President Caraviello. I've been receiving many calls from people throughout the community regarding coronavirus. And we have basically, if you're online or you're watching TV, everyone is talking about it. concern, a real concern throughout our community, throughout our country. And so we have a number of people here from the administration tonight that would like to speak and give us more information as to what the administration is doing with regard to coronavirus and how we're moving forward and if they could please come forward at this time.
[Caraviello]: If we could have someone from the administration please speak.
[Falco]: Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Good evening. Name and address of the record, please. All right, good.
[Dave Rodrigues]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Everybody, am I good? Thank you. And thank you, Mr. President, for putting this item on the agenda this evening. Dave Rodriguez, Chief of Staff, Office of the Mayor. I'm joined tonight by Mary Ann O'Connor, who's the Director of the Board of Health. This is an issue that the mayor's office and the mayor specifically is taking super seriously. We spent a lot of staff time over the past couple of weeks. I was encouraged to see the piece on the agenda this evening. So we got together in order for us to update the community and update the council on some of the things that the administration's doing in order to increase our preparedness with regard to the situation. So I'll hand it off to Marianne and we can go back and forth, have a conversation about the administration's situational response to the issue.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Good evening. Thank you for having us here this evening. So yes, this is a true public health concern, and while here in Medford the risk still remains low, it is certainly something we're taking very, very seriously, and we know it's an evolving situation that could change at any time. So for several weeks now, my department has been on weekly phone calls with the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, as well as the Mass. Department of Public Health, discussing guidance and preventing measures we could take. At this point, we're really beyond containment and at mitigation statewide and nationwide. Obviously, as you've heard, the best precautions, the best prevention is wash your hands, hand sanitizer, cough etiquette, stay home if you're sick, which we're also talking about in real discussions around what we call non-pharmaceutical interventions. The best one of those is what's called social distancing. So, examples of social distancing you've seen already in the news, those are your travel restrictions. You saw the governor today saying that he's going to halt seminars and conferences and travel. Going forward, these are things that we're gonna need to discuss around social distancing and what does that mean for Medford? Does that mean we have to really start looking hard and seriously at canceling some events that may be difficult? but certainly necessary for the good of the citizens of Medford and for our safety. So we've also met with local emergency personnel and a couple of weeks ago at a department head meeting, we really started the conversation around what's called continuity of operations and really asked department heads to start thinking about what happens in their department. What are the essential functions of their department that we need to continue to do to serve the citizens of Medford? But what are those functions that if we get really thin, if absenteeism really hits the roof and we're not able to do, what are those functions that we can temporarily suspend? What are those functions that some of your employees could do remotely from home? And to really have department heads start thinking about, what if they get sick? Who's in charge? Who's the next in charge? Who's the next after that? So those efforts are underway. We're really going to be honing down on department heads to really come up with those plans. They're called COOP plans. And so we're working with them on those. We also have another meeting scheduled tomorrow with all the emergency management personnel going forward to start making plans. been training and talking with first responders and looking to make sure they have the proper equipment as you've all heard. masks are scarce, so we've been gathering up what we can. Right now we think we're good, but obviously going forward, it was good to hear in the governor's news conference today that they have some PPE coming in from the national stockpile. Hopefully that will trickle down to communities as well, because if this thing keeps evolving, we're probably going to need those supplies. The school department we've been in close contact with every day. I have my morning call with the school department. And as you know, you've seen efforts that we've taken there as well. And some of those are social distancing efforts, like what happened with the teachers who had returned from those countries. So any other questions, anything I've missed?
[Dave Rodrigues]: So just briefly, as it was released today, and we did do some extensive outreach this afternoon, there has been a presumptive positive test for a case in the city of Medford. We release that information, we're certainly not obligated, and we spoke with DPH regarding the release of that information. It's our commitment to give the information to the public as much as we can, as quickly as we can, in order to one, make sure that they have the information. Second of all, to make sure that they're advised of some of the mitigation and the general precautions, the hand washing, the disinfecting. the social distancing, some of those efforts, and also to alleviate concerns. We truly understand how much anxiety this is driving for the public in general, and we want to make sure more information is always going to be better than less, and any information that we can give, we want to give. Of course there is information we can't. There's privacy concerns that are in play, identities, locations, exact circumstances of attraction, stuff to that concern. We work closely together. I think Marianne spent three or four hours in my office today strategizing on these things, working on these things. All department has been instructed in order to do coup planning in order to ensure the delivery of services, identification of essential functions and essential personnel in order to make sure the government keeps running, that we can continue to provide these services. So the mayor is. I can't stress this enough, is that the mayor's commitment to transparency regarding this issue is paramount. And every piece of information that we can give, we are going to give as quickly as possible. We think that can mitigate and contain the spread. It's beyond the point of being able to stop it. We have to try to mitigate what's going to happen now. So the meeting that's going to take place with emergency management personnel is going to be very important for us tomorrow so that we can rely on the guidance that's been given by Department of Public Health, CDC, the governor's office, the Declaration of the State of Emergency, and analyze that for how we can adapt those plans. Public safety dispatchers have been given protocols as to what to do and what questions to ask if somebody calls 911. Regarding an issue like this, too, in order to protect the first responders that are responding. Protocols have been put in place for fire and police for them as they respond to make sure that they're insured safe. Kirkland Washington was a perfect example. We took some really hard lessons from them. they have 25 firefighters stuck in a firehouse as quarantine because they all rushed in because that's what they're trained to do. If somebody's in trouble, they want to go help. So we have to slow things down a little bit in that regard to make sure that the firefighters stay safe, the first responders stay safe, ambulance stay safe. We're trying to be as thoughtful as we can in this approach.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: And we do have the public information set up on the website. We would refer people for more information to go to the city website. And as well as the DPH website and the CDC website for guidance.
[Dave Rodrigues]: We have some very helpful frequently asked questions that are on the website. Trying to make it as simple as we can for folks that we brainstorm. What questions would we ask if we were on the outside looking in on some of these issues that we're constantly updating, we're constantly trying to be responsive and kind of adjust. The ground is shifting on us a lot. So we're trying to be responsive to that as well.
[Falco]: Thank you very much for your briefing. Very informative. I watched the school committee last night, the school committee meeting, and that was, they talked about what they were doing in the schools, and that was very informative as well. So if we take a look at, you know, our different public buildings throughout our community. So if we take a look at, you take a look at our schools. You know, they talked about, I think it was a GENEO machine that comes in and sanitizes. Okay, they talked about that now it sanitizes the classrooms and stuff like that, which is great And I know they have a they've had one deep cleaning and I think another one scheduled soon Okay, so so which is I Great. As a parent, that's what I want to hear that, you know, our school spaces are clean. And so what about our other public buildings like City Hall, the library, senior center, those being cleaned as well and scrubbed down and whatnot?
[Dave Rodrigues]: Sure. All those buildings are regularly cleaned. And I do know that the bathrooms here at City Hall were deep cleaned recently. But that is going to be a subject, a point of discussion tomorrow about how we approach that and how we contract out to make sure that gets done.
[Falco]: Okay, great. I mean, when I look at the library and I look at the senior center, I look at the City Hall, you know, I mean, there's hundreds if not thousands of people utilizing these spaces, you know, on a weekly basis. So, we just want to make sure that, you know, we're, you know, keep our schools clean, of course, but also, you know, public spaces or public buildings. So, thank you very much for your information. Appreciate all your help.
[Dave Rodrigues]: We are available all the time. Please email the mayor's public email address if there is any questions. We're happy to be a resource for the public. We understand how much how how concerning this is for the public because we're part of the public. So we're concerned, too. So we genuinely want to be as informative as we can.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: People can call my office anytime as well. Thank you very much.
[Dave Rodrigues]: Thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Just two quick questions. First, how does, you mentioned personal protective equipment and some other stuff, what ways does the Governor's declaration of a state of emergency affect how we were preparing up until this afternoon when he declared it?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: As far as PPE goes?
[Bears]: Or just in general. You mentioned PPE as one example, is there other?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: So I wanted to say that Monica Burrell, who's the DPH Commissioner, she mentioned on the conference call, the conference this afternoon that they had already put in a request to the national stockpile for additional PPE and supposedly was on its way. So that's what I was referring to there. But we've been basically following the same guidance that has been put out from day one from DPH and CDC. And that guidance has changed and evolved. But that's been constantly monitored and constantly, you know, in touch with them. And any questions we have, they've been very responsive as well. We're all just really keeping a close eye on what's going on.
[Bears]: So, but just the declaration of emergency is an indication of more resources coming to help, not necessarily.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: For the state it's more, yeah, and it's, it's, uh, it's going to be quicker for the, for the governor to get things done and maybe to waive certain things and to be able to cancel a large assemblies and to be able to act, um, you know, uh, more swift than he would have been able to before.
[Bears]: Got it. Um, and then, um, have you discussed or tomorrow are you planning to discuss any guidance for public bodies in terms of meeting. So we're all here right now. Other committees and groups meet as well. So it'll be we'll have a uniform guidance from for the city for bodies and from public health.
[Dave Rodrigues]: Yeah.
[Bears]: Great. Thank you so much.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you Mr. President. If I can, there were some concerns earlier. I know there are some limitations, we do have limitations of the information we can give about the person that has already been diagnosed and found to have the virus. Is it safe to say or could we say that it has nothing to do with the schools? Because I think that was one of the concerns. Because I think the kids right now, they're feeling anxiety probably more than anybody right now. So just making sure if we could just say it has no one to do with the schools and we're safe from the schools.
[Dave Rodrigues]: has had no contact with school-aged children. So a full investigation is normally done with these by the Board of Health and with our partners to ask these tough questions at the time. We check on that individual often every couple hours. What's your fever? What's your temperature? How's your condition? Have you had any contact with anybody? And so we're asking these questions constantly to ensure that specific concern.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you so much.
[Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Knight to receive and place this on file, second and by? Second. My counsel, Dr. Pelley, all those in favor? Motion passes.
[Alonzo]: While we're under suspension. Which one, 2-8? 2-0, 2-8-2 while under suspension.
[Caraviello]: Communications from the Mayor. Dear Mr. President and City Councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that Your Honorable Body approve the following recommendation of the Community Preservation Committee, requesting the appropriation of $3,000 from the CPA General Reserve to Elyse Turner and Amishka Durali in association with the- Mr. President, if I may. Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. 2A2, give us a presence in council. I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body approve the following amendments to the revised ordinance entitled personnel article two, classification and communication plan section 66-33 entitled officers and employees non-union by adding new positions of Director of Communications and Director of Community Fair to the following classifications. Amendment A, classification CAF-15 presently states that it applies as follows. CAF-15, sealer of weights and measures slash recreation director. The language of CAF-15 shall be amended to read as follows. CAF-15, sealer of weights and measures Recreation Director, Director of Communications. Amendment B. Classification CAF 11 presently states that it applies as following. CAF 11, Assistant City Clerk. The language of CAF 11 shall be amended to read as follows. CAF 11, Assistant City Clerk, Director of Community Affairs. Respectfully submitted, Breanna Lungo-Koehn, Mayor. Councilor Knight. Mr. President. Hold on one second. I know we do have representatives from the administration here,
[Knight]: I'm on? I'm on now, okay. Mr. President, thank you very much. I do know we have representatives from the administration here as well. In my conversation with the mayor earlier this afternoon, it's my understanding that these two amendments would create classifications that are more in line with the functions and responsibilities that these individuals are performing in their office. The first amendment, amendment A, for director of communications, it's my understanding, would be a reflective title of the position that was held by Ms. Devaney. under the previous administration. And it's also my understanding that the Director of Community Affairs position under Amendment B would be reflective of the position that Ms. Fisk held under the previous administration. So what this is, Mr. President, is actually bringing their functional titles to be in line with the duties and responsibilities. But I won't steal Dave's thunder. Let him give us a brief synopsis of what's going on. I'd appreciate it.
[Dave Rodrigues]: I couldn't have said it better. I think that's exactly right. So we took a hard look at this, and this was This is in line with the mayor's vision for the mayor's office, and kind of being more transparent. Again, you're going to hear me say that quite a bit, of what the duties and responsibilities are. These jobs were both posted. Job descriptions are available for anybody that would like to take a look at them. But it's exactly like Councilor Neilsen.
[Knight]: Yeah, Mr. President, if I may, I spoke with the mayor last Thursday or Friday about the same issue, requested job descriptions. I know she forwarded them to the city clerk's office, and the city clerk had distributed them to the members of the body as well. I, for one, Councilor, I don't see any issue with this paper. I think that the mayor deserves the right to be able to surround herself with her own team for what she feels is going to make her time in the corner office successful. So with that being said, I move for approval of the paper, Mr. President. It is an ordinance, so it's going to have to go through three readings.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to clarify. So these don't have any impact on the budget as far as these changes. These are simply entitled only, and they don't remove any other. They're not replacing any other positions, correct?
[Dave Rodrigues]: No, these are lateral. So the effect on the budget is to be determined. We're modeling that stuff out now. Determine because it's when when there's a transition it's often hard to model exactly how what the year-end is going to look like Based on transitions and vacation buyouts and other issues that are involved with the budget So we're doing our best to model that out and make this as budget Softening as possible. Okay. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you On the motion by councillor night seconded by councillor Scott Perry. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll Yes
[Adam Hurtubise]: I'm sorry, I got to call you last. Okay. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. Councilor Thompson? Yes. And Vice President Caraviello?
[Caraviello]: Yes. 70 to defer, motion takes.
[Marks]: Mr. President, while we're in the suspension.
[Caraviello]: Well, yes.
[Marks]: Paper 20-094.
[Caraviello]: 20-094 offered by Councilor Marks be it resolved that the waste management contract be discussed regarding condominium participation. Click your button. There we go. Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I put this on tonight's agenda because I had several residents that reside in condos, in particular Maple Park condominiums that reached out to me recently regarding waste pickup. And they asked me the question, which I've actually received over the years from other condo people in the community, why don't they pick up my trash, the city? We pay the same tax rate that any other good paying taxpayer pays in this community, and we don't get trash service. So I did a little homework, Mr. President. We have probably about eight or nine residents from Maple Park, and I appreciate they all came out tonight. because this issue is very important to them. But I did a little homework, Mr. President, pulled out the contract that was signed by the city of Medford and Waste Management back in August of 2010, August 25th to be precise. It was a ten year contract which actually ends this year. And it's my understanding in talking to DPW, what resulted from the contract back in 2010 was the city went around to all the different condo associations. And they touched base with each condo association, saying, we're signing an agreement with waste management. It's going to be a 10-year agreement. Are you interested, as an association, to have either recycle or trash pickup at your building? And for a number of different reasons, many associations said, you know what, we are interested in having both. And the city added their condo to the contract, which I have a copy of all the condominium associations and whether or not they get trash, recycle, a combination or none. And so at the time, they went around to all the condos. Some condos, like Maple Park Condo, opted at the time not to do trash pickup. They currently have recycle pickup, but not trash. And it was based on, I guess, the board of directors of the condo association, and they decided not to do it. But within the contract, Mr. President, and I won't read it, it's a lengthy contract, but on page six of the contract under section 12, It states the contractors shall collect refuse weekly and recyclables every other week from condominiums as listed on exhibit D. And that's what I refer to. Exhibit D shows you all the different condo buildings and whether or not they have recycle or trash. It says, Exhibit D, as from time to time may be amended subject to compensation as specified in Section 23.3, condominiums will be required to provide rubbish dumpster and recycling cots compatible with contractor's vehicles at their own cost. Condominiums that require services greater than specified herein will be directed to purchase additional service outside of this agreement from a vendor of their choice. So at the time, Mr. President, Maple Park Condo, and like I said, there are other condos that are in the same boat, decided not to do the trash pickup. And then some years later, they say, you know what? At this point, we'd like to start trash pickup with the city. And I'm being told from the DPW department that in order to do so, if Maple Park wanted to join the contract, they can do it one of two ways. They can ask during budget period, which is coming up very shortly, to have the city, because we have a fixed amount every year that we put into the waste management contract, and if we were going to bring on a new condo association, that would increase the contract amount, naturally, that we would have to add to the budget based on the newcomers into the program. So that would be the first way. If Maple Park and other condos said, you know what, we'd be interested now in joining, please sign us up. The city would have to make compensation within the budget to account for that. The second way, Mr. President, is the way of The contract ends in 2020. So it ends this year. It's a 10-year contract. It ends this year. And I'm not sure how this new administration will go about doing this, but I would assume it might be similar to what they did 10 years ago and reach out once again to all the condo associations in the city and saying, would you like to participate? And we can gather a new list at the end of this contract, which is this year, and have the city fund this brand new list. I'm being told also in the past, over the last ten years, based on a by request, the past mayors If an association went to the previous mayors, they would make their case for why they need recycling or trash pickup through the city, and the mayor would grant it or not grant it. And I've been told that in the past, there have been condo associations that have been granted this additional pickup service through the mayor's office. So I'm offering tonight, Mr. President, a way that not only Maple Park, but the other condominium associations that I have on this particular list, like Craddock Cove, I think the Regency Condo, Wellington Condo, there's a number of other condos in the city that may opt to participate. So I'm asking through this resolution, and I'd like to hear from some of the residents also, Mr. President, that the mayor determine how she wants to handle it. If she wants to do it in this year's budget, we have to make sure that the condos that want to participate make it known and that we add that to the budget or if the mayor feels best that we wait out the five or six or seven months that are left in this 10-year contract and then just see if anyone else wants to join. That may be an easier way, Mr. President, but I'll leave that up to the administration. That's not up to me to decide. But based on my findings, Mr. President, the contract, in my opinion, does call for allowing newcomers into the contract. And it does state there'll be an associated cost for a newcomer. It also states if you have a large condo and you need more than the one pickup, which may be the case in some of the larger condos, that that's added at your own expense. And that's spelled out in the contract. But my hope tonight, Mr. President, is really to put everyone on the same playing field. You know, we all pay taxes. I've had people in the past say, I pay taxes for school, but I have no school-aged kids. That's not how we work in the city of Medford, Mr. President. We all pay a tax. We all should receive the service. And there's no reason why the condo associations and people that live in condos and pay the same tax shouldn't get that same service, Mr. President. Another issue too, Mr. President, if you don't have trash pickup, you're not eligible for bulk pickup. So someone that lives in a condo that wants to dispose of a bureau or a mattress or something, they're not eligible for the pickup that every other resident is eligible for. And that's unfair too. So I'll have residents, one resident told me he had to take his mattress over to his friend's house. This gentleman is not a spring chicken, Mr. President. And to have him get in his car and bring his mattress over to a friend's house is unacceptable. And they should be added, Mr. President, as well to the bulk pickup. So I'd like to hear with some of, I know Cindy Watson's here, with a number of residents. And I would offer that in the form of a motion, Mr. President, that either suggestion be entertained by the mayor to ensure that Maple Park Condo and any other condo in the city that opts to enter into the program is able to do so.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. Thank you. On the motion of Councilor Marks, seconded by Councilor Knight, can we please have your name and address for the record?
[Watson]: Yes, Cindy Watson, 65 Valley Street. First, I just want to preface this by saying thank you, Michael. Michael has had an ongoing dialogue with many of the people at Maple Park. And just by mere fact alone tonight, there are 44 owners, residents at Maple Park, and we have more than 20% represented tonight. So that shows you, illustrates the commitment. Now, again, we're not asking for anything extra. It's just sort of an equitable situation that has been overlooked. We do have one of the residents who was on the Medford Coalition condo a few years ago and did meet with former Mayor Michael McGlynn, and it was to be resolved that bulk pickup would happen. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what happened. It went through the loophole. We don't have it. Again, just to go back to what Michael said, over 40%, probably closer to 50% of the residents in Maple Park are senior citizens. We just had a situation where there was an older couple who just moved in, and it really caused a lot of disharmony because they didn't know the rules. It was about a mattress pickup, and the boat pickup should be something that is allowed for everybody. And again, you know, we pay taxes. We all have a beneficial interest in being an owner at Maple Park. Folks love Maple Park, and I can assure you, we follow the rules. When people come to visit me, I say it's a combination of a convent and a prison because we're so quiet. We follow the rules. We just want to follow the rules, and we want some level of, you know, reciprocal interest back so that we are able to get bulk pickup.
[Falco]: Thank you. Would anyone else like to speak on this issue? Any questions from the council? Come on, don't be shy. Come on. Don't be shy. Name and address for the record, please.
[Eddy]: My name is David Eddy. I'm a resident at Maple Park Condos. I was also a co-chair of the Medford Condominium Coalition, which petitioned the city to pick up trash or condominiums throughout the city. At the time this contract was signed, we would have had to rent two dumpsters from waste management, because our dumpsters apparently are not compatible with the pickup trucks of waste management. The cost for renting those two dumpsters exceeded the cost of the private contract that we had for picking up the trash. So we still pay property taxes, like all good people do. Included in that tax is trash pickup services. We chose to go with the private pickup because of the cost, being less expensive than waste management. So we're still paying for trash pickup, and I don't see why we can't have the bulk items picked up at no cost to us. Thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you. Would anyone else like to speak on this issue?
[Watson]: Thank you again, Michael.
[Falco]: Please have your name and address for the record.
[Mulvey]: Paul Mulvey. I'm a resident of 65 Valley Street, Maple Park condos. And one of the things I just want, we have rules and regulations as everybody else does. And part of our, one of our rules stipulates the trash pickup. And it's a whole page and it tells us who to call. We've had this for years. Now we're talking about bulk pickup. We may use this I'm going to say at the end, eight times a year. I'd say between six and eight. We pay between $125,000 and $140,000 in taxes. So we're just looking for a little fairness in really what we've had before. Nobody can tell me how it stopped. I know we do have something, notes about a meeting with Mayor McGlynn. But this is 10 years old. We haven't had any problems. We've called these people. They said leave it at the curb, whatever it was, two weeks from then. Then all of a sudden, I would say a couple of years ago, nothing. And it's stupid. It sounds silly that every time we have a problem, we've got to run down to City Hall and get in touch with The mayor, if we can't get in touch with anybody else, because these people don't talk to us, they just say no. Well, just saying no isn't what we're looking for. But we have other documentations and stuff too. That's my pitch.
[Falco]: Thank you very much.
[Marks]: Mr. President, just if I could follow up. I think part of the issue, from my understanding of talking to DPW, is that the city pays hundreds of thousands of dollars a year just for the bulk pickup contract. And at some point, it was determined that if you didn't have trash pickup, that you weren't going to be eligible for bulk pickup. And I'm not sure where that decision was made, if it was a unilateral decision or what. I didn't see it in the contract, but I was told by DPW, if you don't have trash pickup, they're not going to pick up bulk. And I think that was a way of trimming down the exorbitant cost of the bulk items. I believe they said they paid $22 an item in the city for bulk pickup, and it's unlimited. They only do it during the recycle period, so it's every two weeks they do the bulk pickup. But I think that was a way of cutting cost, and that may have been when they cut the service off to Maple Park during that. I'm not sure exactly when it happened. But the reason why I brought up, Mr. President, is to ask these questions. And have the administration, we have the chief of staff here, Dave Rodriguez, who I'm sure will take this back to the mayor regarding this issue. Mr. President, and we'll be able to get an answer. Thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Thank you.
[Falco]: Before I call the roll, would anybody else like to speak on this issue? Good? Okay, great. Great, thank you again. Thank you for coming down tonight. Clerk Hurtubise, could you please read back the amendment?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Council marks the amendment is to ensure that Maple Park or other condominiums can enter into the trash pickup agreement with waste management And then do you want it delineated by the two different options, or just at the administration's discretion?
[Marks]: We can offer those two different options to make, because it could be done in other ways, too. Those are the two that were stated to me. Adding to this year's budget, or when the contract turns out, which is at the end of this year, that all the economy associations be out with their options.
[Falco]: On the motion of Councilor Marks. Seconded by Councilor Knight. As amended by Councilor Marks, a roll call vote has been requested. Clerk Hurtubise, would you please call the roll?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Vice President Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yes.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Falcon?
[Falco]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative, the motion passes. Thank you. While we're under suspension, Councilor Bears. While we're under suspension, 20-283. March 5th, 2020, via electronic delivery to the Honorable President and members of the Medford City Council, City Hall, Medford, Massachusetts, 02155. Communication. Dear Mr. President and city councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that the city council approves the appropriation of free cash in the amount of $47,400.00 to fund the assessor's data valuations. The balance of free cash before this vote is $10,478,681. Aleesha Nunley Benjamin, Finance Director, is present to answer any of the questions, any of the Council's questions regarding this matter.
[Brito]: Good evening. Good evening. Ellen Brito, Chief of Staff. I really like Dave's job. I'm chief assessor. I get so nervous up here. Alicia's out sick, and so I'm here on behalf of. Thank you. She has been to the doctors. She's doing well. She'll be back to work on Thursday. But she's following the directive of if you don't feel good, stay home, which is a good point. Yes. So this item is before you to allow me to acquire some items that I need to begin the fiscal 21 certification. So I know it's a fiscal 21 item, but we really do our work this time of year. So primarily, part of this funding is for personal property to finish the full data collection and valuation. And the state has mandated that 504 class code properties be valued a new way this year. Where I'm in a certification year, 504s are our gas distribution of natural gas, electric power transmissions and distribution. So those companies have a new, we have new methodology to value them. I need assistance to do that. In addition, I have also, I'm acquiring a full blown GIS system for assessors that will also have a public interface. This GIS system will provide me with new assessors maps, new neighborhood maps, a new zoning map. Our zoning maps are quite old. We need these updated. And the time to do it is during the reval year, so I have good data as I set the values for fiscal 21. The other two items is NearMap, which is aerial orthographic images of the whole city. NearMap is a company that flies the city three times a year. They can provide me with data back to 2014. I met with them this past fall, and with their imagery It's change detection software. It's going to take those flyovers and identify properties that have changed since the previous flyover, which is critical to me capturing growth for properties that didn't take out building permits. So it's a check to make sure I'm doing that work. So that's why I'm asking for these funds in the middle of the year to get this work done in preparation for having a successful certification. Thank you. Councilor Knight.
[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. And Mr. Bernal, thank you for being here this evening. So what I'm hearing is that ultimately you're coming before us this evening to ask for the tools that you need to necessarily comply with state mandates.
[Brito]: Correct.
[Knight]: And meet the objectives of the office that have been put forth by the Board of Assessors.
[Brito]: Correct.
[Knight]: Mr. President, move for approval.
[Bears]: Second.
[Falco]: On the motion of Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Bears. Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Just a point of curiosity. You mentioned that when they do these flyovers, they pick out homes that have been improved that didn't pull off building permits. What happens to those homes that didn't do that?
[Brito]: Well, they're going to tell me every property. So I'm going to make sure I've captured the properties that we did have permits for, but also ones without permits. I'm going to go out. I can sit at my desk with this technology and add on that deck or addition or new shed and put it right into the property record card But we always go out and field check them as well. But it's just going to help me identify them quicker. As you know, we do full cyclical cycles. But that's a 10-year cycle. We're only about 15% of the whole city done since the last time. This will help me get through it quicker.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you.
[Brito]: And capture growth.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Caraviello. On the motion of console night seconded by consulate bears clicker to be please call the roll.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
[Falco]: 7 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative, the motion passes. Councilor Scarpelli.
[Scarpelli]: There is a suspension in communications from the mayor.
[Falco]: 20-281. 20-281, March 5th, 2020, to the Honorable President and members of the Medford City Council. City Hall, Medford, Massachusetts. 02155 dear Mr. President and City Councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body approve the following recommendation of the Community Preservation Committee requesting the appropriation of $3,000 from the CPA General Reserves to Elyse Turner and Amashika Durali in association with the Medford High School Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility for the Duggar Park Benches Small Grant. The project will be tracked in the Community Preservation Fund for Category General Reserve. Sincerely, Brianna Lunger, current mayor. If we could please have your name and address for the record.
[Durali]: Hello. My name is Amishka Durali.
[Turner]: My name is Elise Turner.
[Durali]: And so we are both CCSR student leaders. And what CCSR stands for is the Center Center of Citizenship and Social Responsibility. And I'll have Elise talk about our project.
[Turner]: So a little bit of an overview of our project. It's called Benches for Duggar. And we want to basically implement four benches in Duggar Park. Because right now the benches there, they're very worn down, chipped, very dirty. So we want to implement the four benches each with different themes that kind of like represent Medford as a whole so we have LGBTQ plus diversity the arts and sports and we have a plan to like get students at Medford high to actually like put in some applications for art to put on the benches that relate to our themes, because we have many friends that are artists and definitely love to express themselves. And over at Medford High, we have a lot of murals that represent Medford and stuff like that. So we think that'd be a good idea to add a pop of color and make Medford even more beautiful than it already is.
[Durali]: And we already have the benches made. They were donated to us by the New England Carpentry Union. And so we have those benches made. So the grant money will really just help us get paint and supplies that we need for the benches. But also, we want to expand this project after we do Duggar Park. We want to expand the project to other parks in Medford, like Morrison Park and other parks.
[Falco]: Thank you. Some of the councilors have some questions. We'll start off with Councilor Scarpelli.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you so much. I think that you coming up, I know that it's a little nerve wracking when you're coming up to speak, but you did a great job in presenting. I know that we've had some of your student body here before, some of your friends, and they've brought up some great initiatives, and we're so excited that here again, and our goal is really to make Medford beautiful and share what we're truly about. And I think that the four categories you chose for Duggar Park, I think it's a great way to spread that love. So I think you guys have done a great job. I think this is a great initiative. I know that my son John is also doing some great things with a great historian, Mr. Ken Krause. So everything is nonstop and it's so exciting to see. So I fully support this paper and move forward for approval.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli. Councilor Bears.
[Bears]: I can't say it better than Councilor Scarpelli, but it's really great. to have you and so many students from Medford High. I was in your shoes not that long ago. I'm a Medford High grad. Just coming down here and voicing what you think we need to do to, I think you said it perfectly, make Medford more beautiful than it already is. So I look forward to seeing you work on some other parks too. Thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Bears. Councilor Knight.
[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I'd like to make a suggestion. This is a PACS project. We are well aware that the PACS department does have a revolving account that's open with modern hardware, I do believe, with a do purchase a lot of their paint supplies. So it might make sense to coordinate with IDPW because I believe we do get some bulk purchasing rates versus regular retail rates. So this $3,000 might actually end up being $4,500 if we spend it the right way with some of our in-house contacts that we have. So I'd suggest that you meet with the PACS Commissioner, Mike Nestor, and speak with him a little bit about whether or not you guys can utilize the account that they have available. And use their bulk purchasing to get some of the supplies that you need to get this done But congratulations, wish you the best of luck.
[Morell]: I want to give you the money Thank You console and I console morale Thank You mr. President. I just want to echo my colleagues and thank you both for coming out I know you're both here early. So thank you for sticking with us and taking the time to present on this It's it's so great to have another space for public art in the city and then combining it with the actual utility of benches Is is beautiful. So thank you for bringing this forth
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Morell. Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank the two young ladies for coming up here for a fine presentation. But I want to thank Mr. Trotter, Mr. Skorka for developing these young people to come up here every other week for different things and seeing them out in the community and being involved in the community. I think that's a tribute to their work, to what they've done with all these fine young men and women at the high school. So I want to thank them also for their leadership of this program.
[Marks]: Thank you, Councilor Caraviello. Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. The Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility, you guys continue to produce. It's one after another after another. It's very impressive. And I like the fact that you're getting donations, you're soliciting organizations, and you're doing it on your own. You're not saying, hey, how can you help or do this for us? You're taking the initiative. And I think that goes a long way. I, too, would like to see, you mentioned Morrison Park. potentially doing this in some other parks. We in the city of Medford are very fortunate to have so many beautiful parks within our neighborhoods, many of which I believe are underutilized. And to introduce something like the arts and attracting people to the parks, I think goes a long way. And I appreciate all the effort that you've both put into this, as well as all of your fellow students. I thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. And if I agree a thousand percent with my colleagues and everything they said, great presentation. I love the project and I think it'd be fabulous if we could roll this out in all of our parks. We have close to probably, you think between 30, I think around 35 parks in our city. And if we could do this in all our parks, I think it would be great. And I can't say enough about the CCSR. Mr. Skorka and Mr. Trotta, they run a great program. My kids are involved in the program as well. I always say to my kids, I say, it's a FALCO requirement. You have to be part of CCSR. And they all are. But I can't say enough good things about the CCSR and the work that they do. So congratulations, great job. And on the motion of Councilor Scarpelli, seconded by Councilor Marks. Councilor Bears, seconded by Councilor Bears. Clerk Hurtubise, please call the roll. Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative, the motion passes. Congratulations and good luck. Thank you. On the motion of councilor Caraviello second of my console appears to revert back to the regular order business all those in favor all those opposed motion passes Hearings 20-066 City of Medford, notice of a public hearing will be held by the Medford City Council and the Howard F. Alden Memorial Auditorium, 85 George P. Hassett Drive, Medford, Massachusetts on Tuesday evening, March 10, 2020 at 7 p.m. on a petition from Elias McHale of Alewife Auto Work of 33B Mystic Ave., Medford for Class 2 Used Auto Sales Use Special Permit in Class 4 Auto Repair Use Special Permit in accordance with Chapter 94, Zoning Ordinance of the City of Medford, Section 94-148D, Table of Use Regulations. Automobile uses 27a for permission to operate its class 2 secondhand motor vehicles sales and automobile uses 37 for permission to operate its automotive repair establishment at 33 be mystic Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts a commercial to see to Zoning district petition in plan may be seen in the office of the city clerk and Medford City Hall, Meford, Massachusetts. Call 781-393-2425 for any accommodations, aids, TDD 781-393-2516. The City of Medford is an EEO-AA-504 employer. By order of the Medford City Council, Adam L. Hurtubise, City Clerk, this was advertised in the Medford transcript on February 20th and February 27th. At this point in time, I declare the public hearing open. This is open to anyone in favor of the petition. If you're in favor of the petition, please come forward and state your name and address for the record.
[Scarpelli]: Councilor Scarpelli. I talked to the petitioner. There were some questions. And I'm requesting a table till next week. Table till next week? Yes, please.
[Falco]: OK, on the motion of Councilor Scarpelli. Councilor Knight.
[Knight]: Retabling the public hearing or retabling the vote on the petition?
[Falco]: Public hearing. Why don't we walk to, why don't we walk to, is he ready to present?
[Knight]: He left, no he's not, so that's why. Okay, sounds good to me.
[SPEAKER_20]: Second the motion Mr. President.
[Falco]: On the motion of Councilor Scarpelli to table this matter to next week, seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Aye. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The motion is tabled. Motions, orders, and resolutions, 20-088 offered by Council of Bears, be it resolved that the Medford City Council request that the city administration notify all Medford retirees by mail of the March 16th nomination deadline for the elected retiree seat on the other post-employee benefits liability OPEB fund board of trustees.
[SPEAKER_13]: Councilor Bears.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President. So we recently created the OPEB Fund Board of Trustees. One of the seats on that board of trustees is an elected representative of the retirees of the city of Medford. I'm requesting that the city administration notify retirees by mail of the nomination deadline. However, I was informed by the administration that the nomination deadline has changed. It is no longer March 16th. Do you have a specific date, Dave?
[Dave Rodrigues]: Thank you, Mr. President. Councilor, I'm not sure of the exact date. Aleesha Nunley, who I get is, I'm sorry. I'm not sure of the exact date. I do know that we were talking about a couple of things regarding the OPEB trust fund, so I will defer to her on the exact date. I can send a communication to you and to the rest of the council with the exact date once she returns from her illness. We're expecting this week.
[Bears]: That would be great. And then, you know, The date would be great, but either way the motion that maybe we can strike the date from the motion and just say notify retirees by mail of the nomination deadline. Sure.
[Dave Rodrigues]: And I do know that Alicia has been working on this issue with the retirement board and trying to figure out an exact way to make sure that we do outreach to all the retirees.
[Falco]: Sue, thank you very much. Consulate Bears, you'd like to amend the original resolution to strike the date that's listed? Yes.
[Bears]: Just strike the words March 16th and just say retirees by mail of the nomination deadline.
[Falco]: Thank you, Consulate Bears. On the motion of Councilor Behr, seconded by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? All those opposed? The motion passes. 2-0-089, offered by Councilor Knight. Whereas rule 37 of the Medford City Council reads, insofar as these rules are not statutory sources of origin. The same may be amended, repealed, or suspended at any meeting by the vote of four councillors, with the exception of papers to be submitted under suspension, which requires two-thirds approval of council. Any paper to be submitted under suspension shall be read prior to the vote for suspension. Any suspension of the rules shall be put on paper prior to the vote of the suspension, so all councillors will be fully informed of the matter on which he or she will vote. If any action is taken inconsistent with these rules, the same shall be construed to have been taken in suspension thereof, provided four counsels concur in such action. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council amend Rule 37 by striking this section in its entirety and replacing it with the following. Amendment or suspension of the rules. Insofar as these rules are not statutory sources of origin, the same may be amended, repealed, or suspended at any meeting by the vote of four Councilors, with the exception of papers to be submitted under suspension, which requires two-thirds approval of the counsel. Any paper to be submitted under suspension shall be read prior to the vote for suspension. Any suspension of the rule shall be put on paper prior to the vote of the suspension so all consulars will be fully informed of the matter on which he or she will vote. Number one, papers offered under suspension for immediate consideration shall be limited to public service announcements, condolences, recognition, celebratory, and emergency matters. Number two any other papers offered at the suspension of the rule shall be tabled following in duck introduction by the sponsor without Further debate and placed on the agenda for the next regular meeting If any action is taken and consistent with these rules the same shall be construed to have been taken in Suspension there are provided for consulars concur in such action Council night
[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I bring this paper forward in response to the 223-2020 legal opinion of the acting city solicitor, which responded to a question asked by the President that was prompted from an inquiry from a citizen. And the question was, Is a paper offered under suspension, is a resolution offered under suspension a violation of the council rules because it's not on the agenda? And the question was asked in the broadest of terms and the solicitor answered it in the broadest of terms and the response came back yes. Papers that do not show up on the agenda that are brought up under suspension are violations of the open meeting law. Then the solicitor's response went on to go into specific detail about matters that could be reasonably foreseen and matters that could not be reasonably foreseen and emergency matters, Mr. President. So in an effort to allow us to still raise certain issues under suspension and in review of some open meeting law, determinations that I was able to put my hands on, one of them being the Oxbridge decision. I came up with some language that would allow us hopefully to have the ability to still offer papers under suspension, but still comply with the open meeting law. Because based upon the 310-2020 committee of the whole that we just had, there was a lot of discussion surrounding the solicitor's opinion and what could or could not be offered under suspension. So with that being said, this is an attempt to address the solicitor's opinion and still provide us with the flexibility that's necessary based upon some open meeting law determinations that have been issued by the Office of the Attorney General. As we are all aware, the Office of the Attorney General is the authority that's responsible for compliance with the open meeting law. Any complaints that would be filed against this public body deliberating in violation of the open meeting law would be handled by the Office of the Attorney General, Mr. President. What I'd like to do is ask that this paper be sent to the city solicitor for a legal review to see if it complies with her legal opinion. and get a response back, and then potentially take a look at the way that we do business internally to ensure that we have more transparency, but we still also have the ability and availability to bring papers under suspension. The first meeting of this term, Mr. President, I did put a paper forward requesting that we change the night of our meetings from Tuesdays to Wednesdays. And the reason I brought that proposal forward was because, based upon the open meeting law, you need to have 48 hours before your meeting to have the notice posted with the agenda. Because our meetings are on Tuesday, weekends and holidays don't count. So we need to have to get our agenda out on Friday morning or Thursday afternoon, dependent on whether or not we had a Monday holiday. So that would only allow us a very limited amount of time to put items on the agenda. Upon review of items that have been filed on the agenda, it was pretty one in every four, every five matters that this council discussed by way of resolution that was getting put on the agenda, was getting put on under suspension and never being actually placed on the agenda and seen by the general public when the notice was posted. So this prompts me to bring forward another proposal for rule changes to allow us to be a little bit more transparent, to allow us to have some items on the agenda. for discussion and deliberation or to put items on the agenda at a future date for discussion and deliberation that come up under suspension. So I'd ask my council colleagues to support this measure in moving this matter to the city solicitor's office for a legal review. And that's about it, Mr. President. That's the presentation in a box and bow.
[Falco]: Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Knight. Councilor Scarpelli.
[Scarpelli]: If I can, through the chair, to Councilor Knight. In layman's terms, if people can understand, This resolution is really to have the voice of the people heard and not stifled, correct?
[Knight]: This has no impact whatsoever at all on the public participation portion of our meetings. This is really just related to council action. Only a councilor can bring forward a resolution. Only a councilor can make a motion. So this only affects the actual conduct of councilors.
[Scarpelli]: And in recent, as we can see, we had some discussions about open meeting laws. And I think that I applaud my fellow Councilor to look at these concerns under transparency to make sure that the people are heard and we're giving them the proper forum where we're not stifled and they're not stifled. So I applaud you with this resolution and I support it wholeheartedly. Thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli. Please have your name and address for the record.
[William Navarre]: William Navarre, 108 Medford Street, apartment 1B. I was just looking through the language here and I noticed it was a chance maybe to bring up one of my many pet issues. And that is the use of the word shell. We're talking about making the people more able to interact with the city, and it's actually become part of the plain language federal guidelines at plainlanguage.gov. The word must is the clearest way to convey to your audience that they have to do something. Shall is one of those officious words. that has encumbered legal style writing for many years. The message that Shell sends to the audience is, this is deadly material. Shell is also obsolete. When was the last time you heard it used in everyday speech? So just as a friendly amendment, because I'd love to get a small victory on this. issue, where we can understand. I'd love to see, and I see shell appears elsewhere in here. We're not going to go through and fix them all. But it'd be nice as we add language to the code, I think, to replace shell with must.
[Falco]: Thank you. Councilor Peers.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to add that I definitely support clarification of the rules based on the opinion and also generally going through the rules and reviewing them for making sure that they're aligned with the law, modernized, and clear to the public to read. So replacing Shiles with Musper, we can. Thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you. Council members, if you could please have your name and address for the record.
[Joe Viglione]: Certainly. Joe Villione, 446 Charles Street, Malden, Mass. It's good to see this council again. One of my readers said it's an incorrect reading of the AG's opinion. Now, this reader gave me permission to say this and was a former government official here. Wasn't this same issue brought to the council in April of 2019 by the same city councilor? Is it the same exact wording? April 2019 and it was shot down by the council.
[Knight]: Mr. President, I do believe that pursuant to the council rules, every 90 days you can introduce a paper that's been deliberated on and addressed and deliberated to conclusion. So I'm really not too sure what he's getting at. Ultimately, the city solicitor issued an opinion. That opinion came out on February 23rd, 2020.
[Joe Viglione]: I'm not disputing that. I certainly know the council rules. I say respectfully, I just find it interesting that it's coming back when it was shut down. I believe it's chilling free speech. I really do. And I'm in disagreement with Councilor Scarpelli on this. When city councillors use suspension of the rules so that petitioners, many petitioners, speak at the end of the night, I find it a kind of a quasi-censorship, if you will. So this one concerns me a bit. And as you know, I run magazines. I actually brought a magazine into the city just two weeks ago. And it worked very hard to bring transparency and free speech to the city by having another newspaper here. This is very dear to my heart, as you all know. So having the council voting on suspension of the rules, It just seems like the council wants more power and more power, and the people should have the ability to speak. Maybe the council should consider a new rule where petitioners speak first at the city council at 7 o'clock, and then after a half hour or more, then the city council begins, and then they can suspend the rules and do whatever they want. I'm just suggesting something. A lot of my readers are in conflict with this, and they are very upset. So I just want that on the record.
[Falco]: Thank you.
[Joe Viglione]: Thank you. Move the question.
[Falco]: Councilor Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I thank Councilor Layton for bringing this forward. You know, it's obvious that This council has been in violation for many years, and I don't think there was any malice intended. But it has been brought to our attention that we are in violation, and we are trying to correct the rules to make sure that we are in line with the Attorney General's decision and our solicitor's opinion also. So I do support sending this to the solicitor for interpretation.