AI-generated transcript of City Council 12-22-20

[Falco]: 38th regular meeting of the Medford City Council will now come to order. Clerk Herneviz, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Present. Vice President Caraviello? Present. Councilor Knight? Present. Councilor Morell? Present. Councilor Marks? Present. I'm sorry, I skipped Councilor Marks. So Councilor Marks. Councilor Scarpelli?

[Falco]: Present.

[Hurtubise]: President Falco.

[Falco]: President, all seven members are present. At this point in time, I'd ask everyone to please rise to salute the flag.

[Unidentified]: 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.

[Falco]: Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, General Law Chapter 38, Section 18, and the Governor's March 15, 2020 order imposing strict limitation on the number of people that may gather in one place. This meeting of the Medford City Council will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. specific information and general guidelines for remote participation by members of the public and or parties with the right and or requirement to attend this meeting can be found on the city of Medford website at www.medfordma.org. For this meeting members of the public who wish to listen. or watch the meeting may do so by accessing the meeting link contained herein. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time via technological means. In the event that we aren't able to do so, despite best efforts, we will post on the city of Medford or Medford community media website, an audio or video recording transcript or other comprehensive record of the proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting. Hearings. Do we have time for this?

[Hurtubise]: I believe so, yeah. Yep, this is National Grid Engineer.

[Falco]: Hearings, legal notice 20-673. petition for grant of location, National Grid and Verizon, North Andover, Massachusetts, locations of poles, wires, and fixtures, Medford, Massachusetts, city clerk's office. You are hereby notified that by order of the Medford City Council, the Medford City Council will hold a public hearing via Zoom on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020. A link to be posted no later than Friday.

[cxtnrZly_dE_SPEAKER_00]: Hello guys, I can't hear any of you. It looks like all of you guys are on mute. This is Sterling from National Grid.

[Morell]: It looks like we temporarily lost that chamber sound, but it seems like they're back on. Yes. I think that the chamber, the council chambers, they weren't, it was not in the zoom room for a moment, but it looks like it's back.

[cxtnrZly_dE_SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I hear everyone now, thank you. I'm gonna let Abdel, not bad, he's the one handling this.

[Falco]: Excuse me, excuse me. I have to read the meeting notice and then at that point I will recognize you and we will begin the process.

[Unidentified]: I'm so sorry, okay.

[Falco]: No worries, thank you. You are hereby notified of that by order of the Medford City Council. The Medford City Council will hold the public hearing via Zoom on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020, a link to be posted no later than Friday, December 8th, 2020, on a petition of Massachusetts Electrical Company, DBA, National Grid, and Verizon New England for permission to locate poles, wires, and fixtures, including necessary sustaining and protecting fixtures along and across the public way or ways, herein named, said poles, wires, and fixtures to be located substantially in accordance with the plan marked Mitchell Ave., meant for Massachusetts, and filed in the office of the city clerk. Wherever it prays that after due notice and hearing, as provided by law, it be granted a location for and permission to erect and maintain poles and wires, together with sustaining and protecting fixtures, As it may find necessary, said poles to be erected substantially in accordance with the plan filed herewith marked Mitchell Ave, Medford, Massachusetts, and available for inspection. In the office of the city clerk, Medford City Hall, room 103-85, George P. Hassett Drive, Medford, Massachusetts, 02155. The following are the streets and highways referred to. Mitchell Ave, national grid to install one, J.O. pole on Mitchell Ave beginning at a point approximately 14 feet east of the center line. Install one new joint pole P2818 approximately 60 feet northeast of existing pole P3817 near 93 Mitchell Ave. Location approximately as shown on plan filed in the office of the city clerk. This was approved by the city engineer with the following conditions. Engineering Division recommends that this grant of location be approved with the following conditions. Number one, the grant of location is limited to this one joint owned J.O. pole as described in the petition. National grid to install one J.O. pole on Mitchell Ave beginning at a point approximately 14 feet east of the center line. Install one new joint pole P3818 approximately 60 feet northeast of the existing pole P3817 in 93 Mitchell Avenue. Number two, before starting work, the contractor shall notify dig safe and shall obtain all applicable permits. for the engineering division. The project must obtain a street opening permit pursuant to section 74-141 of the city ordinances prior to commencing work. Number three, no other utility structures, conduits, duct banks, pipes, or any other apparatuses are adversely impacted. National Grid shall ensure that all sewer water and drain lines are marked prior to any excavation. Number four, the new pole location is located within the furniture zone of the concrete sidewalk. Any disturbance of the curb-to-curb concrete backing must be repaired to the satisfaction of the city engineer. The sidewalk panel must be replaced in kind in the pole surrounded by an expansion joint. Number five, the project must be swept daily and shall be kept free of debris. for the duration of the installation. Approved by the superintendent of wires, call 781-393-2425 for any accommodations or aids. Plans can be viewed in the city clerk's office, 781-393-2425, Adam L. Herdeby, city clerk. At this point in time, I would open up the public hearing to those in favor of the petition. Is there anyone with us tonight that is in favor of the petition that would like to speak? So we have, there was someone from Verizon, right? Oh, okay, so let's see. National Grid, I'm sorry.

[cxtnrZly_dE_SPEAKER_00]: Hello everyone, this is Sterling Ortiz from National Grid. Abdel, not bad, he's also an engineer for NASA.

[Falco]: Abdel, okay.

[Marks]: He's muted.

[Falco]: Sterling has been unmuted and there was one other person, I believe. Oh, okay.

[Marks]: It looks like everyone's frozen.

[Hurtubise]: It's on.

[Falco]: Abdel, go ahead. Sterling, can you hear us?

[Hurtubise]: We should switch to Verizon.

[Falco]: Let's see, Sterling, can you hear us?

[Hurtubise]: No. Thanks, Sterling. Sterling, you're making some changes.

[Falco]: So now West Coast and Sterling? Sterling? Abdelawad? Sterling, can you hear me? Councilor Morell, can you hear me?

[Morell]: I can hear you now, yeah. It looks like we lost the chambers again and now they're back.

[Falco]: Okay. So let's see, so we have.

[SPEAKER_11]: Abdelwahed Nabat, here on behalf of National Grid Electric at 170 Medford Street, Malden. And I'm here tonight to request permission to install a joint owned pole between National Grid and Verizon New England. The pole will be installed on Mitchell Avenue. A lot of static, not sure if you heard that.

[Falco]: Yes, we did hear that. So you are in favor of the petition. Is there anybody else in favor of the petition that would like to speak at this point? Okay, hearing and seeing none, this portion of the hearing is closed. Is there anyone in opposition of the petition that would like to speak? Anyone in opposition? Okay, hearing and seeing none, I declare this portion of the hearing closed. Are there any questions from the council regarding this petition? Councilor Knight.

[Knight]: Does the petitioner have a rendering that would indicate how close to the nearest driveway apron this poll will be located?

[SPEAKER_11]: Councilman, I believe this poll is to be installed away from any driveway. At the moment, I don't have, The drawing. And I believe this, so this poll is actually to accommodate for the building of a new house that's going up on Mitchell Avenue. I believe the address is 88 Mitchell Avenue.

[Knight]: Okay. So this is an additional poll, like at the end of the line per se, say the street ended and this is going to be a poll at the end of the street. Yes. Further provide electricity to our, uh, I guess it'd be electric and phone services. Yes. Thank you very much.

[Falco]: Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Knight. Any other questions from the council? Councilor Scarpelli.

[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. President. This is a quick question. This, when it says double, it's not two poles, correct? No, it is not. Okay, we just want to make sure because I know we've had issues. It's a single poll. Okay, I know we've had issues in the past with double polls. We're still waiting for some relief and taking a few down in the community. So just wanted to make sure so constituents that are listening don't misunderstand that there is two polls, so it's only one. Thank you very much. You're welcome.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor. Scarpelli, any other questions from the council?

[Knight]: There's one, Mr. President. Upon approval, when will the construction commence and how long will it take?

[SPEAKER_11]: I believe when it will start is a little further away, but once it gets started, we're there until we're finished. And installing a pole can be as quick as a couple hours. And sometimes it could be five, six hours at the most, including the digging of, the sidewalk, if there's any sidewalks. So overall construction can be no more than five hours, I would say.

[Knight]: Less than a full day. All right, excellent. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I'm satisfied. I have no problem supporting this paper this evening.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Knight. Any other questions from the council?

[Marks]: Mr. President. Councilor Marks. Just a clarification. On the legal notice that was sent, it says that new joint poll P2818, And then if you look at the schematic, it says P3818. So on the legal notice on the first page, it says poll 2818, and then the schematic says 3818.

[SPEAKER_11]: Mr. Kosterman, I believe that is just an error. the pole that is gonna be installed, it will be numbered 3818, and it is 60 feet northeast of pole 3817.

[Marks]: So it appears that there'll be a pole 3817, looks like it's on the property line of 97 and 93 Mitchell. Yep. and then pole 3818 looks like it's on the property line of zero Mitchell, which is probably a lot of vacant lot.

[SPEAKER_11]: It is where the new house will be installed. I believe it has already, they broke ground there and it looks like it's going to be the new reference point between house 93 and the lot 88. Okay.

[Marks]: Is that common to have telephone poles that close?

[SPEAKER_11]: So this is a geo pole that is between Medford. It's in Medford where Medford allows for a pole to accommodate for telephone, as well as for national grid equipments to be installed on the poles.

[Marks]: Will this pole have a street light on it?

[SPEAKER_11]: I think that when it comes to street lights, I believe the street lights are owned by the city of Medford. And when they do want street lights installed on poles, they can reach to national grid. As of right now, this pole does not include any street lighting. And I'm not sure whether the city of Medford requested the owner of lot 88 to install any street lights when building the house.

[Marks]: Okay. Okay, thank you.

[SPEAKER_11]: You're welcome, Councilor.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. Councilor Knight.

[Knight]: Mr. President, I didn't realize that we had a copy of the rendering in our package as I went through it. I bypassed that. And in looking at the rendering, if we look at number 93 Mitchell Avenue, on each side of the property line, there is a existing, there will be a telephone pole, and then we'll be putting a new pole in. Now, unless that house doesn't have a driveway, or the driveway goes right down the middle of the property, it looks like this pole is going to be very close to the driveway at 93 Mitchell Avenue, should they have one. And I'd hate to get into a situation where we approve a pole to go up in a location where if we move it five or six feet in one direction or the other, we would improve someone's access to their drive. Is the city engineer on the call by any chance, Mr. President?

[Falco]: I do not see him on the call.

[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Mr. President.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Knight. Are there any other questions from the council?

[Marks]: Mr. President? I'm sure the abutters were notified as well, correct?

[Falco]: I'm sure the abutters were notified as well, correct?

[Marks]: Thank you. Motion for approval.

[Falco]: Mr. President, a motion of console marks to approve. Seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. Clerk her to be. Please call the roll council bears.

[Hurtubise]: Yes. Vice president. Caraviello. Yes. Council night. Yes. Council marks. Yes. Council Morell.

[Falco]: Yes.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Scarpelli?

[Falco]: Yes.

[Hurtubise]: President Falco?

[Falco]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. The motion passes. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_11]: Thank you. Happy New Year.

[Falco]: Happy New Year. Thank you very much. Motions, orders, and resolutions 20-675 offered by Council of Bears be resolved by the Medford City Council that the updates on the COVID-19 mitigation actions and COVID-19 safety enforcement actions requested at the Council's December 8th meeting be presented. Council of Bears.

[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I know we tabled this for one week last week. I do want to thank health director O'Connor for sending a pretty detailed memorandum to the council, answering some of our questions and discussing some of the mitigation strategies and plans that they are undertaking given the new surge upon surge of coronavirus cases in the city. Do we have the health director on the call or a representative of the city administration?

[Falco]: Yes, she is. Marianne O'Connor is with us.

[Bears]: It would be great to just hear maybe a, this is a detailed memo, so I don't know if you'd have to go through all of it, but maybe mentioning some of the highlights, especially around mitigation and enforcement.

[Falco]: Okay. Marianne, you have the floor.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Good evening everyone. Thank you. So while this was just a week ago, obviously there's been changes as this thing changes rapidly. So As of the update last week, I had told you there were 2,500 positive cases since the beginning. We are now up over 2,700 cases, 2,781 to be exact. Since 12-15, since this report was written, there's been an additional 180 cases in the last week. As of Thanksgiving, we've had 912 cases. as of the day after Thanksgiving. Also, you'll see in this, there was an update around, as of last week, we're in phase three, step one of the state reopening plan. I'm sure many of you are aware now that the governor today announced additional updates to his governor's order. Basically, most significantly, I guess, affecting All of those businesses that had a 40% capacity have now been reduced to a 25% capacity, including restaurants. Up until this point, restaurants have really, their capacity limit was really around how many tables they could fit with the six foot social distancing, not really tied to a capacity limit. However, now they are tied to a capacity limit of 25%. For places that don't have a pre-COVID established capacity limit, what we're gonna have to use is five people per thousand square feet. as the capacity limit. So it's pretty significant for a lot of these businesses to be cut down, including retail, places of worship are going from 40% to 25% as per the governor's orders today. Again, some of these things have changed because of that. But as far as our mitigation efforts, they are strongly the same. We react, respond to every complaint, every concern. We have a mailing going out shortly to every household. We have lawn signs. We have signage. We have constantly contacted businesses, trying to keep them up to date with the most recent guidelines. An email was already sent out today to all of the businesses for which we have an email address for surrounding the new governance orders and the capacity limits. We are doing our best to keep up with the cases. Our policy around enforcement is always education first. We are there to educate and support. We do not like to use enforcement measures, but we will, and we have. And we have found most businesses to be extremely compliant and helpful. Some need a little assistance. We've supplied them with signage whenever requested. given them any kind of masks or support they need. But if we have constant and continual complaints, or we are alerted to certain situations, we do respond. The way the state has us structured is a verbal warning first, followed by a written warning, followed by a fine structure. That's in place for the different regulations. I don't know if there's anything. I know it was a five-page long memo. A little bit easier for me to write down with my COVID brain right now than to speak, but.

[Bears]: Yeah, I just want to say thank you. I think that was a great summary. I'm sure that councilors will have questions. But I just want to say thank you again, Mary. And I know this has been an unimaginable nine months. It's been very difficult on everyone in the city and on our Board of Health. So I just want to thank you for everything you've been doing. for this past year to keep Medford residents safe and hopefully the next few months we will have good vaccine distribution and be able to start looking at the other side of this and not have more cases and more deaths in our community and serious long-term illness over the next few months. So thank you, Marianne, again for for that summary is much appreciated. And I know that things are changing constantly. And I think it's just important as a council that we can do whatever we can to keep ourselves and the community updated on the latest ways that we are taking action to keep the community safe. Thanks, Marianne.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: I appreciate that. I think I just want to add to that that what I did include in this update, and I probably should have, Thank you for thanking me, but I have a staff that has worked seven days a week for 10 months, every day, long hours. And I think they really need a huge thank you as well and recognition for all the work they have done. They've done amazing work, created this amazing volunteer pool. We just launched a resource line. We've done food distribution, mass distribution. I mean, they have stepped up and I think the Board of Health staff has not complained, does not receive one ounce of compensation for any of the additional work they have done for 10 months, seven days a week, 12 to 14, 16 hours a day. So I do not want to take all the credit. I want my staff to be recognized as well.

[Bears]: It's heard loud and clear, and I thank everyone, volunteers, staff, everyone who's been putting in overtime for a year to keep Medford safe. Thank you to everyone.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Bears. Councilor Scarpelli.

[Scarpelli]: Thank you. Mr. O'Connor, quick question. With the change in the state regulations, when I know it used to be red and green and yellow, now it's the way they they explain it, it's a little different. It seems like neighbor communities like Melrose and Malden, you see them whenever the governor updates it, but Method's not in that high category. Can you shed some light on that?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I mean, I think as of last week, over 50% of the state was red, and we're still yellow, but our caseload is extremely high. mainly has been because of Tufts testing. They have done such a tremendous amount of work and they've been great. And they're probably a model for most higher education institutions to look at, but, and they are part of the Medford community. So the state includes their testing in our numbers. So you, you see them, you know, you see that Medford has an exorbitant number of testing along with other cities and towns that have institutions of higher education in them as well, who are doing testing and the state includes them. So it's really been, I think, that amount of testing that has kept our positivity rate low, lower. It will change. And probably in this week's report, we will see that because the testing has diminished at Tufts because the kids aren't there now. They've gone home for break. So their testing has diminished significantly over the last week or two. So this week, I think you'll see what the state has done is they've combined not just the number of cases, but it's also an end all with the positivity rate. So the 4% positivity rate.

[Scarpelli]: It's odd because Somerville is one of the neighboring communities, and they're on that list, so we're doing something right. The other question I have is when we open up our businesses, restaurants, doctor's appointments, gyms, do we have contact tracing? Because I know that when we do the contact tracing, don't we have the restaurants or the gyms taking you know, the information of all the people that attend and their employees. Don't they all have to check in? And so there's an ongoing contact tracing list that goes on at those establishments?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Yes, they're supposed to. And most have, and most do very well with it. A little different with restaurants. When you walk into a restaurant, They only have to give one party's name, like a contact for one party. So it could be a party two, could be a party of six, could be a party of five. And you're only getting one name. You don't know who the other four or five or six people were. At that point, before the last update, they could have eight people in a party. We're down to six now, and now we're at 25%. But yeah. All right. It's a little bit different with like a doctor's office or a hairdresser even, you know, they have appointments. So you know exactly who the hairdresser had the appointment with, you know exactly who the doctor's office had the appointment with. So there's a little bit of a difference there. So the contact tracing is a lot easier in places that have appointments like that. The other places like restaurants, it becomes a little bit more difficult.

[Scarpelli]: All right, but, you know, and I bring this up because there were some incidents over the past few weeks with a few restaurants and that the information went out citywide and really put these establishments in a bad light in a sense where, you know, people lost confidence. So could there be something as we move forward so we don't really damage any other reputations for other businesses that we mandate as a city that they do a total check-in where we're responding to those people that were there? And because, again, sometimes, you know, the instant, you know, the word that went out was, I guess, important to get the word out so people can understand the situation's severity. But at the same time, it was also damaging. And especially with what we're seeing in this climate with our small businesses, I'd hate to see more businesses going through this right now. If there's something we can implement as a city that can get the word out to the patrons of those places. And it's not, you know, put out there where people can make their own determinations or be the judge and jury of these small businesses and try to work together with them. Could that be something we can do?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Absolutely. If we can get cooperation, that'd be amazing. But that would mean we'd have to take the name and number of every single person who entered the establishment. which is different from what's required of them right now. But if we wanted to require that of them, we could certainly do that and would certainly make our lives a lot easier as well. So, you know, that's, but you know, other establishments are not following the guidelines at all. So, you know, it's, it's, it depends on how cooperative we can really get the businesses to be.

[Scarpelli]: Yeah, no, but that'd be great. I think that should be something we should take initiative on and look at before we, as this is growing, we're seeing these spikes. If the state's going to mandate these regulations to small businesses like that, then I think that we have to do everything we can to support them and be partners. And if they're not doing what they're supposed to do, then they follow those consequences, but I appreciate that. The last thing, I know that as we move forward, and we're hoping we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I know we talked months ago about opening up the chambers and what we need to do. And I know you said that you needed a plan for the council. And I asked for assistance from your department to send me some bullet points where you would like to see added into those guidelines as we move forward. I haven't gotten those bullet points for assistance with our health department. And I know that I talked to the city solicitor, the acting city solicitor about questions that we had about capacity. Now obviously, we're erring on caution with the numbers increasing. The budget season is going to come pretty quick. And we know what happened last budget season with all the confusion. And I'd like to have something in place, because April, May, it's happening. But as we're seeing the vaccinations coming through, and I want to make sure that we have a plan that we're hitting the ground running. So if you could really assist me with that, I'll be the Councilor on the point with that, Ms. O'Connor, to let that happen. But I really need the guidance from the health department to assist me with that. So I'd appreciate that.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Absolutely. And you know what? I hope to God by April or May, we have the vaccine out there and we're doing much better. But honestly, the guidance right now, you can just have to do the social distancing and have to do the mask wearing. So you can fit as many people in there as you can, as long as it's six feet social distancing and everyone's wearing masks. The rest of it is open meeting law. That's not my expertise, but that's the only guidance right now for municipal meetings. You need to follow the social distancing regs as far as only allowing the maximum number of people in there that can fit with six feet social distancing. So that was it?

[Scarpelli]: Where were you a couple of months ago?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: You definitely weren't the same person I talked to.

[Scarpelli]: You weren't the same person I talked to a few months ago. But thank you. That's pretty easy.

[Falco]: That's pretty easy.

[Scarpelli]: That's pretty easy. Six feet now.

[Falco]: Okay, thank you. We have a number of councilors that have questions. Councilor Morell. Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli.

[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mary Ann, thank you so much for being here and for this update and many thanks to the Health Department and the Board of Health for all they've done for these past 10 months. So I saw in the report that Tufts has completed it's a butter testing as students have gone home. Is that a program that we expect to resume in the spring?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: That's a good question. I know it ended this week. There hasn't been any discussion about it being reinstated in the spring, but that's something we can certainly pursue with them because I know it has been helpful and I know it's, you know, for most of my people took advantage of it, which was good.

[Morell]: Okay, thank you. And just to make sure I understand your earlier point about the amount of tests Tufts doing is kind of contributing to a lower positivity rate. Essentially you're saying if we see maybe that positivity rate tick up in the next few weeks, it's at least partially reflective of not having that large amount of Tufts tests to keep that number down, correct? Correct. Thank you. Those are my questions.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Morell. Vice President Caraviello.

[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Maria, for being here today. Maria, how many citations or warnings have you issued to businesses in the area?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: We've issued warnings. We have not issued actual citations to businesses.

[Caraviello]: Just one warning?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: No, we've issued several warnings. I don't know that off the top of my head. I'm sorry. There are some establishments that we get frequent complaints from, and there are some, you know, most, again, our goal is to educate and to support, because this is a difficult time for them, and we know that. So we're not out there to find people. It's just when we've been there one, two, three, four times, and it's still not getting the compliance, then we will issue a warning.

[Caraviello]: And where are we with our three nursing homes as of today?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: So vaccine is on the way as far as I know to them, which is great. They have been continually testing. There have been a few staff people recently who have tested positive, but as great, and we did have a small cluster, two clusters actually happening at one facility, which seems to have been resolved. with no deaths or anything, thank God. But as far as the other facilities go, their patient testing has been great. Nothing so far. It's been mostly staff, which is from the community spread, obviously. But they are continually testing and vaccine is on its way.

[Caraviello]: I did receive a note from Glenbridge where my dad is, and I guess a couple of patients had gone in there and they were transferred to another facility that could handle COVID patients.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Yes, and I know our Medford Rehab facility has a COVID wing, and they have been accepting COVID patients.

[Caraviello]: I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Medford Rehab and Nursing Center has a COVID wing. And they do accept COVID patients. And we have had a couple of deaths there within the last month, but those were patients who were transferred there already with COVID for basically for palliative care, I believe.

[Caraviello]: And what role will the city be taking in the vaccination process?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: So that's happening really quickly. We're finding out day by day, things are changing of course. And We recently found out that we are going to be involved in the first responder testing. We are hoping to be able to vaccinate all our EMS fire and police by the second week in January, is what we've been told. We're expecting the first shipment of vaccine in and around January 4th, frozen, which then has to thaw. So we're hoping by the second week, we will be setting up, we're going to be partnering regionally to do this because the state doesn't want a lot of, you know, 351 cities and towns doing 351 clinics for their police and fire. So they're asking us to partner up so that you have a minimum of 200. So we will be partnering with Mystic Valley Public Health Coalition, which includes Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Stoneham, and Medford. And I believe Winchester will be joining us as well. Our hope is to set up four or five days of consecutive clinics within each community, so that all first responders, if they can't make the Medford one, they can go to the Malden one, they can go to the Melrose one, depending on when they get off shift. We want to make sure we schedule that appropriately too, in case there are side effects, we want it off shift. So there's a lot of details to be worked out. We do expect to be involved in phase two, which we're hoping starts somewhere in February. Phase two includes 65 plus. It includes people with comorbidities. It includes K-12 teachers. So we're expecting to be involved in those clinics as well. We are not involved in nursing home vaccinations. That's being handled by CVS and Walgreens, who the feds have contracted with. And we're not obviously involved in the hospitals and medical centers vaccinating their own staff. That's as far as we know at this point. But we've been practicing for this for about 10 years now. We've been doing EDS and pandemic planning for a long time. And thank God we have. So we're ready to do this. And it's just a matter of when we get the vaccine, what we know we're supposed to do. And that's all rolling out by the state. It comes quickly. know, when it comes, but that's all we have right now. Right now, we know we're going to probably get the Moderna vaccine for the first responders, so that doesn't require the deep freeze. And again, to assure everybody, there is no live virus in any of these vaccines. They're an mRNA, which is a messenger RNA. They work with a protein, so there is you do not get the virus. You cannot get the virus from this vaccine. There is no live virus in the Pfizer or the Moderna. So we really encourage people when this is available to please take, accept it.

[Caraviello]: It's safe and we need it. And my last question is, I received a couple of calls from people who work in either a doctor's or a dentist's office. And they're asking why, when one of their employees in the office gets sick, the office isn't shut down. Do they have the same procedure?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Sure, yeah. And we speak with them. They are all supposed to be in full PPE, personal protective equipment, at this point. when they're working. So they wouldn't even be considered close contacts because they're PPE, personal protective equipment. So, and that's, that's medical grade. That's not your surgical masks that you're wearing now. It's N95s, face shields, gowns, gloves, booties. So they are not considered close contacts when you're wearing, just like our police and fire. If they were in full PPE, they're not considered close contacts.

[Caraviello]: Thank you, Marianne.

[Falco]: Thank you, Vice President Caraviello. Councilor Marks.

[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank Marianne and her staff. It has been a trying time. And I want to thank, Mr. President, the residents of this community who have been dealing with this for 10 months and have, I think, done a tremendous job, Mr. President, in social distancing and watching out for their neighbors, watching out for people with comorbidities, and trying to do the best they can for their families and themselves in this trying time. So I think they deserve a round of applause as well. Marianne, any idea how many vaccines we're going to get in this community? Yeah, not specificity yet.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Again, it's coming out in phases. So we're in phase one now with the first responders. So phase 1A, our medical personnel and hospital folks, and that's COVID facing only.

[Marks]: Phase 1B.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: So you're actually dealing with a COVID patient. So that's not your dentist's office. It's not your doctor's office. It's your people who are actually in the ERs, in the ICUs, in the hospitals that are dealing with COVID patients that are getting these tests, these vaccines now. Eventually by the time we finish phase one, the rest of the medical community should be included. Phase two is much broader population. which then I think we will be involved in, which, like I said, includes your schools and stuff. The general, real general population, like young adults and such, we're probably not looking at that till maybe April.

[Marks]: So, Marianne, when you say phase one, is the city of Medford involved with the distribution of vaccinations in phase one for police, fire, and first line responders?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Oh, yes, we are. The Board of Health will be doing those vaccinations, like I said, with Malden, Melrose, Wakefield. We will be doing a regional vaccination clinics for our first responders for the region.

[Marks]: Right. So every first responder in the city of Medford will be guaranteed that the city of Medford will have their vaccine? Or when you say regional, I kind of get lost because I'm not sure who's the direct responsibility when it comes to regional.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: So we had to have a minimum of 200 first responders to be able to hold the clinic. And we don't have that as far as first responders right now anyways, who have been surveyed to want to receive the vaccine. We didn't hit the 200 mark. So we had to partner up with local other communities to come up with that 200 number, but we will get the vaccine we need for our Medford folks. It will be offered in Medford. However, if that's not a date that's convenient for them, they can go to our regional partner.

[Marks]: So Mary Ann, what is the total number of our police and fire personnel?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: As far as those who are willing to take the vaccine right now, what I've been told by both police and fire, we're looking at probably about 130.

[Marks]: Okay, so now we're talking two different things. Willing to take and the number of first line responders that we have. Because we have over 200 in my last count during budgeting of police and fire.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: If we're going to count- Is this mandatory? We can't because of the emergency FDA approval? I understand that, but- If I have 200 firefighters and police officers that want to take it, I'll get it. But right now I've been told I only have 140. I will get as much vaccine as I need if I have the numbers.

[Marks]: Right. So why wouldn't we go to whoever is distributing this and say, we need 200 vaccines for our police and fire?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Because they asked us to ask how many would be interested in surveying to take it, and we got the numbers, and that's what we were told.

[Marks]: And if that number changes, if I said, no, I don't want to do it, then I decide to do it, is it a quick turnaround to get the vaccine?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, we'll obviously have overage. We can use.

[Marks]: OK, that makes zero sense to me. If we have the 200 requirement, that we wouldn't just get 200 vaccines.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: They're not going to give me extra if I'm not going to use it, because it has to go to somebody else who will take it.

[Marks]: Right, I understand that. But then when you start looking at first line responders, there's EMS. You have, in my opinion, phase 2 with seniors. Any idea when phase 2 is going to happen? February. In February? That's what we're being told. Do we know mid-February, late February?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: We've been told February to March.

[Marks]: February to March. So it's another two months before.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: If you go on the state website, the mass.gov website, that's a great kind of a grid there. And you can see who the different folks are, what the different populations are, and what the timeline is. It's all spelled out. on the mass.gov website for people who want more information.

[Marks]: Sure. So, seniors that currently get the flu vaccination by the city, is it going to be the same process and setup? I hope so.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: That's what we're working for. It's a little bit different now because of the social distancing requirements. We're going to have to really do an appointment basis, you know, thing and do it very carefully. So the state is actually setting up a new database that we're all trying to learn really quickly that allows us to do that. But yeah, that's the plan.

[Marks]: Right. And how do we know the numbers? Naturally, you're not going to be able to check with every senior that may want the vaccine. So how will you order the vaccines for our phase two senior population?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: So I know it's a little bit different with seniors because they don't all have internet access and all those details haven't been worked out, but with this new database that the state's putting out, it's actually going to be out there. It's going to be a COVID ready application, I believe, that UI, Anybody can get on and say, yes, I want the vaccine. I'll take it whenever I can get it. I don't have any of these underlying conditions. I work here. I qualify for this. Because in that second phase as well, essential employees are included. So you sign up and you say, yes, I work at a grocery store. Yes, I work at the DPW. Yes, you know. And all of that will be fed to us. And then when we get the vaccine, we're able to actually call that information out and be able to understand what the numbers are going to look like. I'm not sure what the rest of the promotion and push out is going to be for folks right now for the state, but I'm sure we will get as much vaccine as we need when we need it.

[Marks]: And as far as you know, and I appreciate you answering all these questions, I realize this is a moving target. So as far as you know, in order to obtain a vaccination, you have to go on the state website, expression right now.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: I don't know. I mean, I just learned about this this morning.

[Marks]: I'm just trying to figure it out. Cause I'm getting, I'm fielding a lot of questions from seniors asking when the city will get everybody wants to know.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: And I understand that, but there aren't a lot of, there aren't a lot of really good answers right now. The best answers are on the mass.gov website around the vaccines. That's as much information as I have. I don't have any more information than anyone else at this point, unfortunately. The first responder thing came up last week and we were told to have it ready in two weeks. So, you know, it's happening quickly and we're all doing our best and we'll figure it out and people will get notified, but we're looking at a long process. We're looking at between now and March, April, between maybe May, you know, before everybody and anybody gets in line. But that phased kind of approach is all outlined on mass.gov, who's included and what phase.

[Marks]: Right. I guess if you're in Congress, you overstep all these phases, and you can get your shot right away, because we know how essential people in Congress are. And they can get their shot immediately.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: What are health people on in phase one? What's that?

[Marks]: What health people are not in phase one? They're not in phase one. Okay, well, maybe you have to run for Congress to get your shot. So, and I realize, you know, you don't have all the answers now, but I really am curious how this is going to roll out in the community. And we're partnering with the state, and right there, I don't have a lot of confidence in how the state operates, to be quite frank. So that worries me a little bit, the fact that the only option may be at this particular point. to have someone go on the internet and pull out an application, and knowing that there's a fair number of people that don't have internet access, a fair number of people that may not have the whereabouts to do that, and I'm wondering what process we're going to set up, and this may be too early for you now, but I'm sure these discussions should be had right now. Yeah, we're in those discussions, and we will.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: We will come up with support mechanisms. Like I said, we have the whole resource line set up right now, which is an amazing multi-language resource line. And I am sure we will be using that for people to call, um, and, and tell us they want vaccine and ask us how to send. We will assist. We've been doing this for 10 months. We've assisted everyone we could possibly assist. And we will be there for them going forward through this vaccination program. Um, we will set up systems. You trust me, everyone's going to get their vaccine when they can. And I, you know, like I said, it's, it's fast moving. And unfortunately, yes, we are partnering with the state who has to partner with the feds who, you know.

[Marks]: I understand that. I just want to make sure that when the time comes that we're not sitting here saying, well, I wish we had enough vaccinations because we didn't realize that this many people wanted the vaccination. And I just want to make sure that's well thought out before we enter that phase. And I want to make sure we hit all segments of our population. So not just the elite, that are up in Congress or have the, where the means to get their vaccination before anyone else, before anyone else, you know, get their fair share as well.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: So, and I promise we will, we will use robocalls, we'll use mailings, we'll use everything at our disposal that we've used in the past to get the word out and sign people up. And, and they are promising us though, you know, They are promising us enough vaccine for all. But again, it's going to be a phased approach. Not everyone's going to qualify for the first phase or the second phase. So they're doing it by comorbidities, elders, essential workers. By the time it trickles down to the younger population, we're looking at probably the end of the spring.

[Marks]: And I don't doubt that process. And my last question is, what percent of the testing that currently happens in Method consists of Tufts testing?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Close to half, I would say. So they reported the 23,000 tests last week in the state's report that Medford conducted, and probably 10,000 of those were Tufts.

[Marks]: Were Tufts. So I don't want to speak out of turn, but it's clear to say if the Tufts testing dwindles, that Medford's going to find itself in the red pretty quickly.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: I would think so.

[Marks]: You said you think so?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I would think so.

[Marks]: Yeah, I believe so. Right. I would think so, too. And we all know, yeah. Right. And I don't think that should alarm anyone, but I think it's important to know because as Councilor Scarpelli mentioned, you know, we went from being the yellow to the red back to the yellow. Now we've been in the yellow for quite some time or the green or whatever color we've been in. We haven't reached that red point and it's merely because of the testing, as Councilor Morell mentioned too, for Tufts. And that's going to be very interesting to see what those numbers will be like once that, once that testing goes down, but I appreciate your time. Thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you. Councilor Marks, Vice President Caraviello. Thank you, Vice President Caraviello. Marion, thank you very much to you for all your hard work and to your department. I know that, You've worked long days, long weeks, and many months on this. I just have a couple of quick questions. So if I'm correct, every morning, is your department notified of positive cases? They're notified 24 hours a day. Okay, and at that point, so if you're notified 24 hours a day, when does contact tracings begin? Well, with 862 cases, it's Thanksgiving.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: It's been, it's been difficult. I'm not going to lie to you. It's been difficult to keep up, but we've got, we've onboarded a lot of new staff, luckily. And unfortunately with the state, it takes time to get people onto the Maven system. We tried to train, it's taken us two weeks to get people on, which is not a good thing. So we've come up with a system to bypass that. But we also instituted a first call program because we realized that it was taking time for the contact tracing to happen. So we gathered a team just to let people know. So we get those cases in the morning, we open up the Maven database, and there's 20 cases. We're assigning those right out, right away, so people will get a call to say at least, you're positive, please isolate. think about who you've been in contact with and you will get a call from a contact tracer within a day or two. So think about who you've been with and be ready to give that information. But our immediate need was to get those people who were infectious off the streets and to let them know they were positive. Because what's happening is a lot of the providers and the testing sites who are doing these tests are not following up with these people and not letting them know that they're positive. And that's what we were finding. So we felt it was more important that we make a first call to make sure they knew they were positive and to isolate. We are catching up. Happily to say, as of today, we think we will be there. I'm not sure what's going to happen over the holidays. COVID doesn't take a holiday, but, and I know there's no testing over the holiday, but, and it's going to be, and the state CDC folks are not working on Christmas day. So, you know, the next week is going to be a little bit challenging, but we are catching up with the 862 cases since Thanksgiving. I apologize to everyone out there who has not received a call, but at least you should have gotten a first call. And some people, now that we're calling back to the contact trace to say, I already got a call. I already gave this information out and that was the first call. We're now we're trying to actually get the data for the state database. But the most important thing is that folks knew they were possibly isolated.

[Falco]: And Marianne, how many people do we have making the calls?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: So as of now, we're up to, I believe we're up to five, six, and we have, we had three more go through training yesterday. And we have another three going through. It only happens on Mondays. The training only occurs on Mondays with the state. And then they have to take a test and then they have to wait for the answer. So like I said, there's a delay in actually getting them on the system. But while they're not, while we're waiting for them to get on the system, now we're having to make those first calls. So we had six onboarded as of last week, an additional three yesterday, and I believe an additional two or three next Monday are getting trained as well.

[Falco]: Good. Okay. Thank you. And one last question with, I've got a number of questions on this and I know I watched the school committee meetings and just kind of see what's going on on the school side. And I received questions from residents regarding the metrics that on the method, public schools website. You know, last time I checked, which was earlier today, it looked like they hadn't been updated since November 29th. I mean, is there a reason why it's, taking so long to update those. I know, you know, a lot of parents, you know, want, you know, the latest and greatest data. And I know few, few of the schools have had issues with regards to, you know, COVID outbreaks between, you know, between staff and students. So, you know, I would think that the, I would think that the numbers should be more current than that, you know, November 29th. Are you aware of that?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: No, I thought that they were pretty good. I know they contact me, they put up that, so there is monthly data that goes up and that would be the November data that's there that they take actually from us for communities. But as far as the school-based data, I thought they were pretty up to date. And I honestly, I have not looked at the school website, but I know they contact us on a weekly basis and I know The school nursing department works really hard with them to make sure they have the most up-to-date data. So I'm not sure why it's November 20th.

[Falco]: That doesn't make sense to me. How often do you think it should be updated? I mean, how often do you think parents should actually see, is it daily? Is it weekly? Is it?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: I think the goal right now is weekly for them. So we're doing testing twice a week. So like we did testing today at the schools, we'll get those cases tomorrow and work through those and those numbers will be collected. And then we do testing again on Friday and we do those cases on Saturday. So I believe on a weekly basis, they try to update it Thursday or Friday, but I could be wrong. I shouldn't speak for the schools because I'm really, I shouldn't.

[Falco]: No, no, I understand. I just, I know I've seen you at some of the school committee meetings. I know you've been called upon to answer questions as well as Tony Vanto. And I just wanted to, to me- I can bring that forward to them now. I'll bring that up to Tony. If you could, I'd greatly appreciate it. I know that I've received calls from parents regarding that. It's, you know, I mean, that data should be more current, I would think, than November 29th. And that's, I think, almost a month ago, so.

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I'd be surprised if it's not, but okay, I will look at that. Okay.

[Falco]: Let's see. Any of the questions from the council? Chief of staff Rodriguez has his hand up. Yep. I got him. I just want to get the council first. Oh, sorry. I do have a question. Okay. Councilor Morell, and then we'll go to Dave Rodriguez. Councilor Morell.

[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. Just through the chair for Marion, is there anything, you know, outside of obviously our personal public health responsibilities that, residents can do to assist the Board of Health Department as far as are there contact tracing volunteers needed or anything like that?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, sure. We have the IUK program that's doing a lot of calls. So when we have people in isolation and quarantine, we'd like to follow up on them to make sure they have access to, you know, food, diapers, supplies, if they're stuck in the house, you know, what they need. So we do have a whole, you know, volunteer system set up for that if people are interested. We do have this first call and some of those folks, a lot of those folks are volunteers helping us out with that. The food distribution program in general is volunteer. So we have a lot of volunteer opportunities. And certainly with the vaccination clinics coming up, we are going to need a lot of assistance, even, you know, non-medical certainly, but non-medical as far as, you know, registration, crowd control, you know, information, that type of thing. So if people are interested in helping or registering medical or non-medical, certainly contact us. We'll take all the help that we can.

[Morell]: Okay, so the best way is to reach out to the health department directly?

[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Yes, yes. Brooke Hoyt is actually our local volunteer MRC coordinator in my department. I'm sure she's on the website, Brooke Hoyt. And she would be the best person to contact if you're interested in volunteering.

[Falco]: Okay, great, thank you. Thank you, Councilor Morell. Let's see, Dave Rodriguez, Chief of Staff.

[Dave Rodrigues]: Thank you, Mr. President. Just as a point of clarification, the metrics on the school website were updated on 12-18. That's located right there, including building classroom readiness and some updated numbers there.

[Falco]: Okay. So, but ideally, should it be, I mean, that's more current at least, but the last one I saw was 1129. I mean, is the goal weekly? I mean, should it be weekly? I would think, I mean- Every Friday, yeah.

[Dave Rodrigues]: Yeah, it's updated every Friday.

[Falco]: Okay, because I mean, that there is what? That's- What, almost three weeks? That's three weeks. I think we need to do better than that. I think the parents of our school system deserve better than that as well. So I know everybody's busy, but I think updating the metrics should be a priority. So people know if they're sending their students to school, sending their kids to school, they know what they're walking into. And that's something that we need to make sure everyone is aware of. So, thank you, Chief of Staff Rodriguez. Any other questions from the council?

[Bears]: Second.

[Falco]: On the motion of Vice President Caraviello to receive and place on file, seconded by Councilor Bears. Clerk Cunabes, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Vice President Caraviello. Yes. Councilor Knight. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Falco.

[Falco]: Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. The motion passes. Mary Ann, thank you very much, and thank you to your department.

[Dave Rodrigues]: Thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you. Have a good evening. Thank you. We have 20-076 offered by Councilor Bears, and that motion is similar to Councilor Scarpelli's 20-679. And I believe there's a motion to join those two resolutions. Motion to join. On the motion by Councilor Scarpelli, seconded by Councilor to join resolutions 20676 and 20679. Clerk, please call the roll. Did we lose the connection? Clerk, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Vice President Caraviello. Yes. Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell.

[Scarpelli]: She's frozen.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Morell.

[Scarpelli]: She's frozen. They're not on yet. She's hanging on. I'm telling you, this is sabotage. Someone doesn't want us to read these.

[Hurtubise]: Can you hear us now?

[Scarpelli]: It's sabotage.

[Hurtubise]: Okay. Councilor Morell, we're in the middle of a roll call to join the two resolutions. And you're actually up in the roll call. Yes. Thank you. Councilor Scarpelli?

[Falco]: Yes.

[Hurtubise]: President Falco?

[Falco]: Yes. 70 affirmatives, zero in the negative. The motion passes, the resolutions adjoined. 2-0-676 offered by Councilor Bears, be it resolved by the Medford City Council that the Medford Community Media, Patrick Gordon and Cat Darnell be congratulated for receiving an overall excellence award from the Alliance for Community Media and thanked for their hard work to inform the community and 20679 is offered by Councilor Scarpelli. Be it resolved that the council congratulate Patrick Gordon for his leadership, knowledge, expertise in public access television and his tireless dedication to the citizens of Medford for winning the overall excellence award for community media in the Northeast region. Councilor Bears and Councilor Scarpelli. Councilor Bears.

[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President. I'll be brief and then happy to turn it over to Councilor Scarpelli. But I just filed this to commend the fantastic work of Medford Community Media. Patrick, Kat, and everyone else who have done so much with a limited budget and received an award. And they're keeping us connected via Zoom for council meetings, getting information out to the public, coronavirus information, and really just doing whatever they can to use Medford Community Media as a resource at this time. So I think it's a well-earned reward, and I'm happy to hear from my fellow councillor who I think agrees with me.

[Falco]: Councilor Scarpelli, thank you, Councilor Bears.

[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Councilor Bears, thank you, Councilor, President Falco. This is a different time. I think when you talk about public access that was here in the past, you had a few TV shows that we loved and the community got involved, but when you're talking about the dedication and the tireless effort of Patrick Gordon and what you see, what he's done over the last 10 months, when our world changed in turn to Zoom, a zoom society. You're talking, there are days that Patrick's doing seven zoom calls a day. Now remember, it's a man who has a family and a staff of one and, and still, and still putting together one of the finest public access television programs, media centers in the state. So I think we have to understand that we're very lucky that we have probably one of the most state of the art facilities at Medford High School, which has been before the pandemic struck. the discussions with students and teachers and having that on site and learning from Patrick's expertise, I think it really, really shows with this award. I think that we'll be seeing many, many more. And I think we need to applaud his efforts. When you're talking about accomplishing things with nothing, that's what Patrick's doing. So I really, I think we need to really Go by and see him, send him an email, let him know how great he's been. Because I think it's important that we don't lose people like Patrick in our community. I think that in the past we've had some rocky roads and we've had some negative dialogue. Through it all, he stands above it and makes sure he brings the best product forward. And with this award, it just shows you that it's being recognized nationwide now. So again, congratulations and we should all applaud Patrick Gordon. So thank you, Mr. President.

[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Again, overall excellence award for Patrick and Cat is to say the least, I think Councilor Scarpelli said it the best. He's ushered us into a whole new period of a way of living and how these meetings are conducted throughout, not just our meetings, but meetings throughout the whole city in this difficult time. The guy has worked countless hours. I mean, he's been here many hours with us, day and night. He's got a family. And again, he's just to be commended for his overall excellence award, which is a great achievement for him on a limited budget and a limited staff. So Patrick and Kat, congratulations to both of you. Outstanding job.

[Falco]: Thank you, Vice President Caraviello. Councilor Marks.

[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President, and I'd be remiss if I didn't say anything about Patrick. Patrick's been on board several years now, Mr. President, and let me tell you, the change in this community regarding PEG access, which is the public educational and government channel, has been tremendous over the last several years since Patrick came on board. I remember a day when we used to go in the side room, Mr. President, and have some meetings, committee hall meetings and subcommittee meetings. And guess what? That side room now, it's all televised. It's all open for the public, it's all transparent, and that is largely due to the efforts of Patrick Gordon and the expertise that he brought, Mr. President. And I agree with my colleagues over the last 10 months, Patrick was the first to step up. and make sure that this council had a forum, make sure that we had access to Zoom, make sure that it was compatible to our equipment here, and he's done yeoman's work, Mr. President. There's a movement in Congress to do away with PEG access. And I think it would be one of the worst things to do, Mr. President, in order to stifle open dialogue, stifle participation. And I hope it goes nowhere. But I know there's a movement afoot because of the cost. But the cost to me, the transparency And public input far outweighs any cost, Mr. President. And that's what good government's all about. And we truly have a winner in Patrick. And I think Councilor Scarpelli mentioned, it's a staff of one person, one person. When Patrick has to say, hey, can you do this? He has to look in the mirror, because he's telling himself to do it. There's no one else in his office. It's amazing what this gentleman puts out for a one-person office. Go to Somerville, go to Malden, go to Arlington. They have a full-fledged department with multiple people. And here he is pulling it off with one person. I want to thank him. It's well-warranted, Mr. President, and Patrick, keep up the good work.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. We have Councilor Morell and Councilor Knight. Councilor Morell. Councilor Morell, can you hear me? Okay, we'll go to Councilor Knight.

[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. And I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank Patrick for all he's done. I echo the sentiments of my colleagues. I think when we talk about Patrick Gordon, we know that he's good at and loves what he does. And I think that the most embarrassing part of this whole thing is that we're actually putting Patrick in the limelight right now, because he's usually the man behind the scenes operating like a cat in the dock, someone that's always bouncing around from meeting room to meeting room, making sure the Zoom calls are set up, making sure that Zoom call's set up. And he's done an amazing job, not only with bringing these meetings to the public, but also with the efforts and the work that he's done with our public schools through the Metro Community Media Lab. Over the past 10 months or so when we've been in this crazy world, I've had the opportunity to get to know Patrick very well. And I consider him TV royalty, access television royalty, the count of TV three. He does an unbelievable job and he's someone that I really respect and thank for all the work that he's done. And I'm glad that he received this award because it's a reflection of the hard work and dedication that he's put forward to his position, to the pride he takes in his job, and to his commitment to this community. So I'm very grateful to call Patrick Gordon a friend. The Council TV3 in the City of Medford does an unbelievable job, Mr. President, so congratulations, Patrick.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Knight.

[Morell]: Councilor Morell. Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, I'll be brief since so many of my Councilors have already put forth. And also I missed some of that, but I believe what's happening is an internet, City Hall internet issue and nothing to do with Patrick's fine work. So to echo what Councilor Knight has said, I think this award is a reflection of the hard work that we know Patrick is doing constantly. So I echo the congratulations for him and CAPT. I think what he has done for this community has really been a lifeline, especially over these past 10 months. what he's done to make it so that Councilors and the public can make their best health decisions while also being engaged in city council and school committee meetings is really essential. And just the number of times I've seen him kind of running all over the chambers to ensure we're set up right and address anything that may arise in the building. This award is very much due and I shared my council colleagues in congratulating Patrick and Kat.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Morell. And if I may, I want to thank Patrick for all his hard work and dedication. I know when we first started doing the meetings via Zoom back in March, I always knew I didn't have to worry about the technical stuff because he would kind of get us through that, and he did. And coming back at the chambers, he helped with all the testing and putting everything together to make sure that we could roll to the public as smoothly as possible. He's done a great job at that. He's used some of his own equipment to actually make this happen, especially when we were first doing this in August. Brought in extra TVs, and he really got it up and off the ground. And I can't thank him enough for his hard work and his well-deserved reward, both him and Cat. So, Patrick, thank you very much. I'm not sure if you want to put it on autopilot for a minute. The council has a citation for you. The Medford City Council takes pleasure in awarding this council accommodation to Patrick Gordon, for his leadership, knowledge, expertise in public access television, and his tireless dedication to the citizens of Medford, and for earning the overall excellence award for community media in the Northeast region. John C. Falcon Jr., president on behalf of the Medford City Council. Patrick Gordon. Congratulations. Say a few words.

[Hurtubise]: Congratulations.

[4FrRjkCyMqA_SPEAKER_16]: Thank you. Thank you very much. Hopefully our internet stays up while I talk. I've received numerous messages from people in the city congratulating me. It really, the award is for everybody in the city. It's every resident that's come down and become a member, every member that's taken training and become a producer and every producer that's created content for their city. It's every host and guest and camera operator and editor and council members and everyone that volunteers on a city board, organizations, that's community, that's community media. So I wanna thank everybody in the city for making community media something to be proud of. So thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you. Thank you. On the motion of council night, seconded by vice-president Caraviello. Clerk Hurtubise, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Vice President Caraviello. Yes. Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Falco.

[Falco]: Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. The motion passes. 2-0-678 offered by Councilor Knight. Whereas the Medford City Council has made repeated requests to be provided with monthly copies of the city warrant articles. And whereas these repeated requests have gone unfulfilled by the city administration. Be it resolved that the city solicitor provide the council with a draft ordinance requiring that the council be provided with the warrant articles on a monthly basis. And be it further resolved that the city solicitor send a freedom of information request to the city administration on behalf of the city council requesting the following information. Copies of all warrant articles for the period of January 1st,

[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. As you're well aware, and my council colleagues are, the Warren articles are actually a copy of the bills that we pay at the end of every month. And when we talk about transparency in government, one of the things we always hear is, follow the dollar, follow the dollar. And I think it's very important, Mr. President, if we are going to be a transparent community financially with an open checkbook, that this council is made aware of where the money is being spent and when it's being spent. For example, our vendors that are providing testing for COVID-19. have to get paid? Are they being paid? Do they have a balance? How much money have we invested in COVID testing? Is this money reimbursable through the CARES Act or the HEROES Act? This is good information for us, Mr. President, to have to make solid, strong financial decisions moving forward. So absent the fact that multiple requests have gone unanswered, I do think that this is a good legislative in action, because it will provide us the opportunity to receive this information on a monthly basis required by ordinance. And then after that, we will have that information at our fingertips to disperse and spread to those people that have questions, to maybe possibly adopt a council record, a council rule where we read it into the record at the beginning of every month, what we spent money on the previous month. So there's that fiscal and financial transparency here in the community, Mr. President, that we hear so much about. So with that being said I'd ask my council colleagues to support this measure and ask that the city solicitor draft an ordinance for us to review to peruse and debate and in the meantime she can also send across a freedom of information request for us to get those Warren articles that we've been waiting for for an extended period of time so that we can begin to examine those as well.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Knight. On the motion of Councilor Knight, seconded by Vice President Caraviello, any questions from the council? If I may really quick, Council Knight, thank you for bringing this forward. I think it's, I like the idea of actually seeing the warrants on a monthly or even weekly basis. Remember when we were on the school committee, that's a report that we got on basically, I think it was twice a month. And it was very informative. So I thank you for bringing that forward. On the motion of Councilor Knight, seconded by Vice President Caraviello, Clerk Hurtubise, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Is the motion to refer to the city solicitor to draft the ordinance and send the FOIA request and for approval, or is it just for approval of the resolution?

[SPEAKER_04]: Well, the resolution is to have it drafted and do the Freedom of Information request. OK, so just for approval. So if we approve the resolution, we're telling her to do that.

[Falco]: Correct. On that motion, Councilor Marks.

[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank my council colleague, Councilor Knight, for putting this on. My question to the Chief of Staff is, what would it take to put together a monthly warrant articles for this council?

[Falco]: Dave, I'm trying to, there you go.

[Dave Rodrigues]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Marks. It's, I'll defer to Aleesha Nunley and John, the management of the reports, but they're not, it's not a huge report that it is to be run. I was unaware of the robust and we can make sure that we can expedite those to you. I don't want to take that as a tribute.

[Marks]: So this is a doable request then? For sure, yep. So do we, and I appreciate what Councilor Knight is offering, but do we have to go through the process of creating an ordinance in order to get this reporting? Or is this something we can receive a commitment that this will be a monthly report going forward that we will receive from the administration?

[Dave Rodrigues]: I can give you that commitment. I won't weigh into the council prerogative as to drafting the ordinance as it pertains to it, but I'll speak with Alicia and it shouldn't be a problem to get you this information.

[Marks]: I'm not opposed to putting together an ordinance. I think that would be a last resort in my opinion. I think there should be that mutual respect among the legislative and the executive branch when we request information. I appreciate my colleagues, frustration with not receiving things in a timely fashion, especially when it comes to financial reports. I know other communities, they meet constantly. They have working groups that meet and go over warrant articles and so forth and see where the spending is and make recommendations. And as far as I know, that's really never happened with this council and I can appreciate this fact. that this is something that we should be receiving going forward. So, you know, I'll support this tonight. I hope there's no need to draft an ordinance and so forth, but if that's the druthers of this council, I will support that as well.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. Any other questions, comments from the council? Okay, any questions? No hands up. Okay, on the motion of Councilor Knight, seconded by Vice President Caraviello, Clerk Carter, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Vice President Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks?

[Falco]: Yes.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Morell? Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Falco?

[Falco]: Yes. Seven affirmative, zero negative, the motion passes. 2-0-6-8-4, offered by Council and Ite. Whereas City Ordinance 94-35, general provisions relevant to the City Council and Board of Appeals requires the City Council to adopt and file with the City Clerk rules relating to applications for special permits, including but not limited to the procedure for application for special permits in the manner and type of maps and other materials that shall be required. Be it resolved that the city council provide the council with a copy of the current procedure and requirements, and be it further resolved that a committee of the whole be scheduled to review the procedures and requirements. That's all right.

[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. In recent months, we've had a number of meetings, public hearings related to special permits. But more importantly, we've had a lot of discussion relative to the codification of our existing ordinance and the potential to expand the special permit granting authority to various bodies in this community. You know, one of those bodies is the city council. And from what I understand, a lot of the proposals that are going to be coming back to us relative to the codification of our zoning are going to require some city council special permit issuance, some changes to the issuance of permits and the governing authority of the special permit granting authority, I should say. So with that being said, Mr. President, I thought it would make sense for us to take a look at the existing requirements that are currently filed with the city clerk's office as required by city ordinance. Review them to see if they're up to date and up to par with the information and materials that we need to make informed decisions. So I think that this is an opportunity for us to review the way that we do business, the way that we conduct business, the type of materials, maps, and other type of information that we require as we deliberate and discuss creating special permits in this community. I think it will provide us with an opportunity to be more informed, better informed, and also for an opportunity for us to review and update the existing requirements. For example, we have a lot of talk about special permits and our ability to require the developer to conduct a traffic study or pay for a traffic study. But our existing requirements might not necessarily speak to that. So I think that there's an opportunity for us to review these and to strengthen them to put us in a better place to address issues that require special permit granting authority, Mr. President. So I ask my council colleagues to support this quest for review of information and hopefully an opportunity to improve the way that we do business and do things a little bit better than we are.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Ike. Any questions, comments from the council?

[Bears]: Second.

[Falco]: Okay, on the... Okay, no hands up here. Okay, on the motion of Councilor Scott Falco, seconded by Councilor Bears. Clerk, please call the roll. Yes.

[Hurtubise]: Yes. Yes. Yes.

[SPEAKER_11]: Yes.

[Falco]: Yes. Yes. 7, 8, 4, 0, negative. The motion passes. Offered by Council on 8. Be it resolved that the rules of the Medford City Council be amended as follows. New section. Public hearings. Matters requiring public hearing before the City Council shall be conducted as follows. Number 1. The petition is read into the record. Number 2. The petitioner provides an explanation of the matter requiring a public hearing. Number 3. The public hearing is conducted. Number four, following the public hearing, a six calendar day public comment period shall commence. Public comments shall be submitted in writing to the clerk. Number five, the council shall neither approve nor deny any public require, I'm sorry. Number five, the council shall neither approve nor deny any matter requiring public hearing until the conclusion of the public comment period and less waived by a majority vote of the council. Councilor Knight.

[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Earlier this evening when our meeting opened up, we started off with a public hearing relative to a grant of location on Mitchell Ave. And the procedure was we call the public hearing to order, we read it into the record, and then we ask if people are opposed to or in favor of the project that's before us. Then we close the public hearing. Then we allow the petitioner to provide us with a presentation as to what the project's going to be. Over the years serving as a Councilor, one of the things that's frustrated me is the process and the way that our public hearings are conducted. because we're asking people whether or not they're in favor or opposed to a project that they haven't seen a presentation on yet. A lot of times, individuals in this community get their local news through the city council, and the first time that they see an issue on the agenda is at this public hearing. So what happens is the council's having a public hearing, people are offering opinions as to whether they're in favor or opposed to it, then we're closing the public hearing. Then we're turning the floor over to the developer, or the applicant, I should say, And the applicant gives a presentation, the council asks questions, and then we vote on it. I think it might make more sense for us, Mr. President, to have the petitioner give a presentation as to what the application is before the body. So that individuals that may not know if they're opposed or in favor of the project have an opportunity to understand what it's about. before they're asked to come up and speak on it. Secondly, what this proposal would do, and I really don't care what the language in terms of where it goes. It's something that's going to have to be hashed out. This isn't something that is at the end of the line discussion. This is just a launching pad. But when the public hearings closed, the council then usually votes on the matter immediately thereafter. And there's no waiting period. So the public hearing closes, and then they said, OK, now on the petition. Is everybody in favor? But OK, sure, we'll grant it. Because people don't necessarily read the council agenda and see what's on it, and there are individuals in the community that might get their news and understanding from community access, from the great work that Patrick Gordon is doing on account of community media. It might make sense for us, Mr. President, to allow a six day comment period for individuals to express whether or not they're in favor or opposed after the close of the public hearing. before we take the matter up for a vote. It's just a pet peeve of mine as to the way that things operate and I'm hoping that maybe we can take some steps to correct the way that we do it and improve the way that we do it so that individuals are more informed when they're speaking at public hearings whether they're in favor or opposed to them and so that residents in the community after hearing the presentation from the administration get the I mean the applicant get the opportunity to chew on it for a couple of days and then decide whether or not they are in favor or against it, and send that information to us so that we can read it. Food for thought, as we say, Mr. President. So with that being said, this is something that, you know, I'm not too concerned about it passing right now. It can go to subcommittee, it can go to committee of the whole, whatever it may be. I'm comfortable with the language, but I wrote it, and this is the first time most people have seen it. So, you know, I certainly have no problem with this going through its diligent process. So with that being said, Mr. President, I ask my council colleagues to support the matter, to be referred either to the rules committee or committee of the whole for further discussion, debate, and deliberation.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Knight. Motion to send this to the Rules Committee, Mr. President.

[Bears]: Second.

[Falco]: OK, on the motion by Vice President Caraviello to send this paper to the Rules Committee, that is seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. Councilor Marks.

[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I think my colleague, Councilor Knight, made a great explanation of what this is trying to accomplish. And many of the crucial pieces of legislation that we put forth require three readings. And I think what Councilor Knight is getting at, a public hearing is really no difference than any other important document we work on. And what happens in a city ordinance, the first reading is what appears on the agenda. So a public hearing appears on the agenda for the first time. The difference between the public hearing and the three readings is the three readings then require you to put notice in the newspaper, then require you to come back for a third reading for final approval. None of that takes place during a public hearing. So my colleagues write. What typically happens is we'll listen, we'll hear both sides, and then typically act. So I agree with 90% of this language. I'm not sure. The six-day calendar day, I think we can debate about that. But there has to be a grace period, which allows for public comments. And I agree with that. Public comments can also be put forth ahead of time However, if you're not aware of what the petition is going after until that meeting happens, then how do you make a comment on something you're not aware of? And there may not be enough information that's presented on the council agenda or so forth to make an informed decision. So I have no problem with that. And I think the section five, which gives us the option, sometimes we may have a public hearing that we want that vote that night, because it's an issue of utmost importance, public safety, whatever it might be, and we want to act quickly. And this gives us an option to act quickly by a majority vote of the council if we deem necessary. So I like 90% of this language. I would ask that it be sent to, I concur with. rules with Council Vice President Caraviello.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. Any other questions, comments from the Council? Okay, anyone? No one has their hand up. On the motion of Vice President Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Scarpelli, to send this paper to the Rules Subcommittee, which is chaired by Councilor Knight. On that motion, Clerk Hurtubise, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Vice President Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell? Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Falco?

[Falco]: Yes. Setting the affirmative, zero in the negative, the motion passes. 20-686 offered by Councilor Bears, be it resolved by the Medford City Council that the city administration implement an eviction moratorium to protect Medford residents during the severe COVID-19 surge this winter. Councilor Bears, I'm inclined to rule this out of order. And the reason why is, and I'm sympathetic to this issue, believe me. but there's a paper that is currently in subcommittee that I think you offered. I believe it's in the housing subcommittee. It's been there since April. And I believe there may have been a meeting. Maybe the clerk can clarify on that, but it hasn't been voted out. And it's basically the exact same paper. So, so that there, I mean, if it's in subcommittee, it really needs to be, You have to have a meeting on that because it's already been voted to go to subcommittee. And I mean, I completely understand where you're coming from with the resolution. Like I said, I'm sympathetic to it. And I believe the state moratorium has expired, but I think the CDC has one to leave the end of the year. And I know there's, I think a pending bill. I believe there's a pending bill in Congress as well. to extend it. I could be wrong. I could be wrong. So, but, um, I mean, if, if I may, if I may, I also believe that, um, this would have to go, I think it would have to go to the city solicitor as well, because I don't even know if we can do this, because I think, uh, state law probably trumps what we do here in this case. But with that being said, This paper is currently in subcommittee. And like I said, it's been there since April. And it really needs to be, since it's already here, it really needs to be, a subcommittee meeting needs to happen to take action on it.

[Bears]: We held the subcommittee meeting on the matter at the So I filed 2302 on April 7th, which is similar. We held a subcommittee on April 25th discussing both 20-300 and 20-302. And by then, the state bill had passed. So we discussed it in the subcommittee. The state bill had passed. We didn't take action on it at that time. So because the state had taken action in lieu of the request that I had made, that has now expired. We did support on 1013-20-595, which is to support the Housing Stability Act, which would reinitiate the eviction moratorium at the state level. That's been almost three months since our resolution was passed, and that bill has not seen action. So I understand what you're saying. I think it's a different time. the context of the subcommittee meeting we had was that the state had taken action. So it was in the report, the report was sent up here, and the report was approved. It is my first year, but my understanding is that we had taken that issue, placed it on file as part of the report.

[Falco]: I believe, if I'm correct, and the clerk would have to confirm, I believe that that paper is still in subcommittee.

[Hurtubise]: The paper is still in the subcommittee, yes.

[Falco]: Okay, the clerk has confirmed that it is still in subcommittee.

[Marks]: Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President, and Councilor Bears is correct. This paper was referred to, paper 20-302, was referred to the subcommittee on the elderly and housing affairs on April 7th. The paper read, it was offered by Councilor Bears, be it resolved that the mayor and Board of Health implement an emergency order to require that no landlord and or owner shall enforce an eviction upon a resident of Medford, residential or commercial, during the public health crisis. We did have a public hearing. I was shown April 22nd. I might be off on the days. I know Councilor Beall said the 25th. But sometime at the end of April, we did have a public meeting on this. There were a number of people who attended. I know myself and Vice President Caraviello, I believe, is on the subcommittee. We actually voted on sending out to the city solicitor to draft an ordinance, Mr. President, and to provide us some assistance regarding The Housing Stability Task Force, that was passed 3-0 by this council. I have yet to see any response regarding that ordinance as part of paper 20-300, which I believe was offered by Councilor Bears.

[SPEAKER_17]: It dealt with housing stability hotline and a housing stability task force.

[Marks]: That was to give guidance and other assistance for Method residents. So I've yet to see any action on that paper as well. But as far as I know, paper 20-302 was left in subcommittee. And part of it was because the state was working on their eviction moratorium and their program. But that doesn't mean this can't be resurrected, and I think that would be the appropriate direction to go rather than just create multiple papers. This is very similar subject matter. I would recommend that the chair set up an elderly and housing affairs subcommittee and discuss the paper that's currently before us, which is in line with, I believe, is being offered this evening. And move in that direction, Mr. President. So that's what I would recommend tonight. I agree with your ruling as well, Mr. President. These are very similar in nature. And we're already dealing with the paper currently before subcommittee, and that could be called at any particular time. Also, Mr. President. Just so people are aware, there are a number of great programs. I work for the Department of Housing and the rapid rehousing programs with raft, home base, there's an influx of money, transitional assistance. The city council voted. to use community preservation money for the rental assistance program. And we just got a report on that several weeks back, how Medford residents are taking advantage. I realize this is not a solve-all, but there are a number of programs out there to assist, Mr. President, and help residents that are the most needy in our community stay within their housing right now, Mr. President. So if people aren't aware of that, and that's why I thought the housing stability hotline I thought that was a magnificent idea. But it's been eight months and for the past eight months people could have been using that hotline in order to make these phone calls and find out what may be available out there. So I think we did miss a little bit of an opportunity to try to implement this. I realize if this council passes that forward, it still has to be implemented by the city administration. So I'm not saying that we have the ability to single handedly do this, but I think there was some low lying fruit with the housing stability task force and the hotline that the subcommittee could have worked on in the past eight months. And I'm hoping the chair calls for a meeting very shortly.

[Falco]: Thank you very much, Council. Vice President Kavya Longwood.

[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I think Council March is right. There's a lot of programs out there right now that are available to people. But we have our own program that's here. And I think last I looked at, we had about $100,000 in money set aside for people that need assistance. And if we can get a report back the next meeting on how much money is left in that account. that we appropriated money to, and make that part of the bring here. But as I say, I haven't seen a lot of people filing for that money. So again, I would hope that if people are in trouble, there's money there, there's assistance there, they should be taking advantage of it. So as I say, Mr. Clerk, if you can make that part of this report, we can report back on how much money is left in that fund. for the rental assistance.

[Falco]: Thank you, vice president.

[Bears]: So if I may, thank you, Mr. President. Um, yeah, and I understand where we're coming from. I'm, you know, it's been nine months. We filed it early in the pandemic. There was intervening circumstances. So that's why I'm bringing it back up now. I'm also bringing it back up because I have heard from several residents that evictions are ongoing. Uh, one of the issues that we've been having, uh, both with raft and with the emergency, City level emergency assistance fund has been in some cases that large property managers and certain landlords, you know, there has to be an agreement there between everybody to understand this money is going towards rent. And sometimes those agreements have not been made. So, you know, there have been active cases. date set for evictions, you know, that's why I brought this back up.

[Falco]: And... And Councilor Bears, if I may, and I don't mean to interrupt, but this is what I said at the beginning, is this year I'm going to rule out of order because the paper is currently in.

[Bears]: Sure.

[Falco]: it's currently in subcommittee. And the subcommittee has done its work. And, you know, I believe you were saying, Councilor Marks, that you've started doing your work. It's there. So, I mean, really, that's the launching pad. That's where this has to take off.

[Bears]: I mean, it's an emergency. So that's why I put it on this agenda for us to ask the mayor to take action. It's an emergency. You know, people are being removed from their homes. I'm happy to try to schedule meeting after the holidays in several weeks when how many more people may have been evicted, I don't know. So there is a sense of urgency as to why I put it on the agenda. I understand your reasoning. I may not fully agree with it. But there's been massive evidence that lifting eviction moratoriums, taking them away, has actually led and driven a rise in cases and a rise in deaths. So all it is is to ask the mayor to take action. So I'm happy to delay this for several weeks and see what happens and try to hold a meeting.

[Falco]: Councilor Bears, with all due respect, you put this in on Friday, you could have called a subcommittee meeting for this week or early next. So my recommendation is get the subcommittee together, that you're the chair of, and get it going for you the next week, which you can do. And I would think it'll move really quick from there. I would hope so.

[Bears]: I don't know.

[Morell]: Mr. President? Yes, Councilor Morell. I know there are a number of people who came to speak on this, so I don't, if they're unable to speak because this is ruled out of order, if it can be made clear that they can speak at public participation at the end of the meeting. That is fine. And I do, since I know since a number of fellow councilors raised the issue, the resources that the city does have to offer, the city does have a number of resources people can access. Unfortunately, people have to remain in their homes to be able to access them and have these relief programs. So if people are evicted, their rental assistance does them no good if they are already evicted. their apartment. So I just want to add that point. So thank you. Okay.

[Falco]: Thank you. Councilor Morell. So I will move this out of order, but I would encourage council to set up a subcommittee meeting as soon as possible. Councilor Knight.

[Knight]: I just asked that when the subcommittee does meet that they invite the city assessor. We recently had a report back from the city assessor that we have a high volume of homes in this community that are owner occupied, whether they're single family residences or multi-family residences, Mr. President. And we also have people that are homeowners that are taxpayers that are hurting, Mr. President. People that own a home that are also suffering from the same effects that COVID-19 is putting on people that are renters. And the question comes as to what relief are these homeowners being provided if they're unable to pay their tax bill to the community? We're assessing, what, 18% penalties for individuals that are unable to pay their tax bills on time at this point in time, Mr. President? I think it's 18%. So if we're going to look at a relief package, I think we have to have some equity. It's not just about evictions. It's not just about people that are renters. There are homeowners in this community that are suffering too, homeowners in this community that are struggling, that have to pay a property tax bill. And there's an area where we could also help. So I'd ask that the city assessor be invited to the housing subcommittee meeting for her input in that regard.

[Falco]: That's a good recommendation. Thank you, Councilor. So I'm going to move this resolution out of order, but I would encourage anybody that wants to speak, we'll have a public participation portion coming up later on in the meeting. But I want to thank everyone for attending the Zoom meeting tonight. So let's see, next item is communications from the mayor, 20-687, December 18th, 2020. to the Honorable President and members of the Medford City Council, City Hall, Medford, Massachusetts 02155 regarding Community Preservation Committee. Dear Mr. President and City Councilors, I respectfully submit the following recommendations of the Community Preservation Committee to the City Council for their consideration. Requesting the appropriation of $30,000 from the CPA Historic Preservation Reserve to the Medford Brooks Estate Land Trust Incorporated for phase three of the restoration of an historic stone wall at the Brooks Estate. Requesting the appropriation of $275,000 from the CPA General Reserve to the City of Medford Public Library for the Medford Public Library exterior space project. Requesting an appropriation of $76,000 from the CPA Open Space Reserve to the City of Medford Parks Division for the rehabilitation of the Placed at Park basketball court. requesting the appropriation of $15,000 from the CPA Open Space Reserve to the City of Medford Parks Division for the playground resurfacing at Tufts, Capon and Cummings Park. Requesting the appropriation of $293,000 from the CPA Open Space Reserve to the City of Medford Parks Division for rehabilitation of Duggar Park Tennis Courts. requesting the appropriation of $40,000 from the CPA Open Space Reserve to the City of Medford Conservation Commission for the Riverside Avenue stormwater improvements. Requesting the appropriation of $322,000 from the CPA General Reserve to the City of Medford Recreation Department for the rehabilitation and improvements at Tufts Pool. All projects will be tracked in the Community Preservation Fund by category, open space, historic preservation, and general reserve. Sincerely, Breanna Lungo-Koehnman. So I believe we have Roberta Cameron with us tonight. And we have Danielle Evans. I'm going to unmute them just in case anyone has any questions. Council, have any questions or comments on these projects? Councilman Scarpelli.

[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. President. Roberta, thank you for your staff and your volunteers that are putting yeoman's work to make sure this committee really helps our community thrive. So first I want to thank you. But a question I had that a few members of the community contacted me about, these are all great projects. I know that we're in full support as we move forward. But if we had a project that was requested in the past, Is that automatically revisited, is that something that has to be reapplied by an organization?

[Roberta Cameron]: That's a good question. We consider projects on a case by case basis. So if a project had applied in the past and wanted, did not receive funding for one reason or another, we would invite them to reapply. And most likely they would need to go through the application process again anyway, because it's really important that the recommendations that we make are tied to a specific scope and a specific budget. And so we're trying to make these funds accessible to all of the best projects that meet Medford's needs. So we encourage any projects to come to us. And if they've been to us in the past, we'd like to work with them to see how we can make it a project that we can recommend in the future if it meets the eligibility criteria for the Community Preservation Act.

[Scarpelli]: Okay, if you can, I know that I'll identify the phone calls that we're getting from Little League Baseball, and particularly Gillis Park. And I know they've applied, but is there any way that we can, is it practiced by the committee to reach out to those organizations that didn't get the funding and let them know why so they can revisit that process to move forward. Because if we didn't, we'd love to see that. If we did, this is great. But I think the understanding for organizations like Little League that are also another volunteer group that had some concerns about the projects moving forward. So thank you.

[Roberta Cameron]: Actually, the good news is that the Little League and Gillis Park is already in the pipeline for funding this round. The seven projects that we've brought this month are seven out of 12 projects that are in the pipeline for Community Preservation Act funding this funding round. We decided that we needed to spend a little bit more time developing the scope so that we are confident that we know exactly what we're recommending funding for before we can pass on a recommendation to the council for the remaining five projects that are on our slate. So we anticipate after our January meeting, January 14th is the next Community Preservation Committee meeting that will be bringing to the Council the remaining recommendations from this funding round. And one of those will be a master plan redesigned for Gillis Park.

[Scarpelli]: OK, that's great. So that answers that question. So I appreciate it. That helps the community understand the process. And for those who don't and that won't get approval, Usually they get the information with feedback, so they understand, correct? I know that- Correct. Right, okay, perfect.

[Roberta Cameron]: And we try to work with applicants so that we can make a project be well vetted and be able to recommend projects that will work for the community to the best of our capacity and our ability at that time.

[Scarpelli]: Well, thank you, Roberta. That's the answer to those questions. And I appreciate, again, I appreciate all your hard work and all the volunteers that go behind the scenes and make this happen. So thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli. Any other questions, comments from the council?

[Marks]: Councilor Moreau.

[Morell]: Councilor Moreau. Thank you, Mr. President. I don't even know who can see me. I just want to thank Roberta and Danielle for coming out and for the presentation we got last week. I think it's really exciting that all of these projects are focused on outdoor space, which is ever more important to us with the pandemic. And I think we'll really be looking forward to in this summer and the coming summers as these projects are completed and increased access to all of these projects. So I support all of them and I'm excited to move forward with them. So thank you.

[Marks]: Thank you, Councilor Morell. Yes, Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. During our last Wednesday's meeting regarding this particular, the Committee of the Whole, these particular items, there were, I believe, one or two recommendations made. So I would ask that the recommendations made by the Committee of the Whole follow the approval of this paper, Mr. President.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor. Okay, so that's an amendment by Councilor Marks. Okay, let's see, are there any, I see a few hands up. Kelly Catano, do you want to speak about CPA funds?

[Catalo]: No, sorry, sir, wrong topic.

[Falco]: Okay, no worries. Jennifer Yanko. CPA funds, do you have questions?

[Jennifer Yanko]: No, thank you. I'm meant to speak on the eviction moratorium.

[Falco]: No worries, we're almost there. Thank you for your patience. Okay, so seeing that there are no questions, no questions or comments from the council, Roberta and Danielle, thank you for all your hard work. And thank you for meeting us in committee hall last week. On the motion of Councilor Scarapelli to approve the paper, as amended by Councilor Marks, seconded by Councilor Knight, Clerk Hertobis, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Vice president Caraviello. Yes. Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Falco.

[Falco]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. The motion passes. Reports of committees. I think that's the next item. 2-0-680, December 15th, 2020. Committee, the whole report to follow. That meeting was actually postponed due to technology problems we had last week. Not because of Patrick, we had issues with the cable in the building. So that there, we will reschedule that meeting at a later date. President-elect Caraviello.

[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President.

[Falco]: 2-0-6-8-1, December 16th, 2020. Committee of the Whole report to follow that 2-0-6-8-1. We had a Committee of the Whole report last Wednesday, December 16th, 2020. And that was to discuss all of the CPA projects that we just voted on a couple of minutes ago. There was a lot of great discussion and these are all fabulous projects for our community. On the motion of councilor, Vice President Caraviello to approve the report, seconded by Councilor Marks. Clerk Herneby, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Vice President Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Felton? Yes.

[Falco]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. The motion passes. Public participation.

[Knight]: Mr. President, before we start public participation, I'd like to make a motion to cancel next week's meeting in the interest of holiday celebrations with our families.

[Falco]: Okay. On the motion of council on night to cancel the meeting next Tuesday night. Second. Seconded by Vice President Caraviello. Clerk Hurtubise, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Vice President Caraviello. Yes. Councilor Knights. Yes. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Falco.

[Falco]: Yes. 70 affirmative, zero in the negative. The motion passes and next week's meeting is canceled. Okay, public participation. To participate remotely outside of Zoom, anyone that would like to email us, please email our city clerk, A Hurtubise, that is A-H-U-R-T-U-B-I-S-E at medford-ma.gov. So at this point in time, public participation. So we have a few hands up. Let's see, Kelly Catalo, we need your name and address for the record. And I'll give you three minutes.

[Catalo]: I just want to make everybody aware on this eviction thing. So there is a process in housing and it's not easy. There was an article last week in the Globe that I hope some people read it and caught the last paragraph. In order for the landlords to be able to collect the federal money, they have to issue the eviction notice. They do not want to evict people, but in order for them to be able to collect the arrears, they've got to be able to put something on the table. Nobody's trying to put people in the street. Housing Court has reached out to the realtor industry, and they are recruiting hundreds. across the state in order to mediate between the tenants and the landlords. So when the landlord is able to access that federal money, part of getting that money is an agreement that they're not going to evict the tenant. If it's just a money issue, if it's a legal issue that they're breaking the law and they're making people unsafe, I think that's a different situation. But I am on the Housing Sustainability Task Force group there and it hasn't met since last May. I've been asking when are we going to meet because I'm really concerned for everyone in Medford, the tenants and the property owners. We have a lot of people that can't pay their mortgages and one of the best things that the city can do is is to be able to compile resources. And, you know, Alicia Hunt and I have had numerous conversations. She's pulled together an awful lot of stuff. I've been sending her stuff. Everyone wants to help each other. But what I'm afraid of is, like, the state purposely backed off on extending their eviction moratorium because of the federal one that was put out. And the federal government did extend today. they extended theirs until the end of January. So I feel like if, as a city, we start getting involved in that and start making these home rules, it's actually gonna hurt our property owners that they're not going to be able to access the funds, because at the end of the day, they still need to pay their mortgage. Nobody really wants to put anybody in the street. And a lot of our landlords in Medford, they're elderly people, and they're relying on the rent in order to actually live and buy their food. So it's important that we can keep the resources there for everybody, the tenants and the landlords. And I don't think that we're helping everybody if the city steps in and puts an eviction moratorium. Thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you very much.

[Bears]: Mr. President, just point of information.

[Falco]: Point of information, Councilor Bears.

[Bears]: Thanks, Mr. President. Yeah, how this would work is it wouldn't actually prevent notices from being filed in court. It would just prevent the end of the process, the removal, and the federal eviction moratorium is partial. It doesn't actually apply to a vast majority of households. Thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Bears. Okay, up next we have Jennifer Yanko. Jennifer, name and address for the record, and you have three minutes.

[Jennifer Yanko]: Okay, my name is Jennifer Yankel. I live at 16 Monument Street in Medford. And I would like to read on behalf of the NAACP a letter that we have prepared for leaders of Malden, Medford, Arlington, Everett, and Winchester. And I'm doing this as a member of the executive committee of the NAACP. Dear elected leaders of Malden, Medford, Arlington, Everett and Winchester. The Mystic Valley area branch of the NAACP includes community members from each of your cities, including Medford, and is in full support of the eviction moratorium enacted by Malden's leadership. This policy is an exemplary response to the COVID-19 state of emergency. In order to protect our communities, people must have the option to remain safely housed. The need to prevent homelessness has never been greater. Members of our organization see the eviction moratorium as an essential public health measure to be taken in the interest of everyone's safety. We urge Medford, Arlington, Everett, and Winchester to adopt a policy similar to that of Malden so that communities in the Mystic Valley area can live through this winter knowing they will not be forcefully removed from their homes in this time of great hardship. The Mystic Valley area branch of the NAACP commends Malden's courageous and compassionate steps taken to protect the most vulnerable members of their community. And we hope that other member cities will follow suit. We include here a template for others to enact similar policies to protect our communities during this time of hardship, suffering, sickness, and death. The letter is signed in resolute partnership by Zane T. Crute, the president of the Mystic Valley Area Branch of the NAACP. And we have included this template based on the Malden policy. Thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you very much. Okay, we have Mary Stathos. Mary, name and address for the record, Mary.

[SPEAKER_12]: Mary Stathos, 63 Felsway West in Medford.

[Falco]: You have three minutes.

[SPEAKER_12]: Great.

[Falco]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_12]: So my name is Mary Stathos. I'm here on behalf of the Alpha Tenant Union and I'm a resident of one of the Alpha buildings on Felsway West in Medford. I came to speak in support of the resolution to create a city-level eviction moratorium in Medford. Just two weeks ago, Alpha Management attempted to evict another member of the tenant union and a resident of our building for an eviction that was finalized in February with a 48-hour eviction notice, despite her multiple attempts at getting aid from the city. Due to the noncompliance of Alpha Management to accept this aid from outside resources, they followed through with the eviction. They followed through with the eviction. This left her with nowhere to go and very few resources available to her. Due to the help of the Alpha Tenant Union as well as Greater Boston Legal Services, we were able to enact the CDC moratorium that, as of right now, is still ending at the end of December. We are still in the middle of a pandemic and forcing individuals out of their homes is not only unfair and unjust, but dangerous to the spread of COVID-19. I believe that housing is a right and that we should not be enforcing evictions for non-payment of rent during a time where so many people are out of work or unable to work due to the impacts of COVID. to be able to stay in their home or move to an alternative, safe place to live. While we should never force people into homelessness due to unforeseen financial circumstances, it is of the utmost importance that we do not do this in the midst of a pandemic. This is why I urge the Council to create an eviction moratorium on the city level, like cities in the United States and around the world. as cities like Malden have recently done. As it was stated earlier in the meeting, people cannot access aid when they're not able to stay in their homes, and also when landlords are not responding to attempts to utilize this aid. Thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you. Okay, let's see. Kit Collins, name and address for the record. You have three minutes.

[SPEAKER_08]: Hi, Kit Collins. I live at 42 Williams Street in Medford. And I won't repeat what other people have said about the reasons why an eviction moratorium would add to and not simply duplicate resources that are already available, because in things that a moratorium can do, the existing resources don't or cannot. But I also want to flag something that I think Councilor Bears phrased really well earlier, just to highlight that this is an emergency and being in an emergency calls for acting like you're in an emergency. It calls for bold action, doing things that you wouldn't do otherwise. And while housing insecurity and people being thrown out of their homes should always be treated as an emergency, particularly in the middle of a worsening pandemic, particularly right at the outset of the winter, this does not call for a business as usual approach. This calls for going above and beyond how we would ordinarily react to circumstances. I also just want to say that I think that there's, I see this framing of the issue as the tension between renters and landlords being some sort of zero-sum or not a zero-sum game, really being diversionary. That's really not the case, and this isn't a battle between the interests of tenants and landlords. And it does nobody any service at all to think that it's pitting the interests of one against the other. So again, especially since, this resolution, which, unfortunately, that table was just to recommend bold actions, I believe, to the mayor's office. Me and I think many other members of the community still stand very strongly for that. We really need the city to take bold action on this, or we're gonna see a lot of tragedies unfold across our city. And I don't think any of us want to see Medford being a place where those types of tragedies are allowed to occur. Thank you.

[Falco]: OK, we have Zachary Mabin. Name and address for the record, please. You have three minutes.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. My name is Zachary Mabin. My address is 159 Alston Street, Medford, Massachusetts. I would like to reiterate all those points that were just made. I am in support of the resolution for an eviction moratorium. And so I don't have any prepared notes. But I just want to add my voice among many to the discussion that this is an emergent issue. This is an issue that is going to cost lives, in addition to the additional strain in resources that evictions will cause down the line. I totally understand that mortgages, taxes, these will need to be paid. But the key difference is the urgency that is facing tenants who are being threatened or being attempted to be evicted. So with that, simply, I'd like to turn it over. Thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you. Point of information, Councilor Marks.

[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I agree with a lot of the speakers that this is an emergency issue. And this particular resolution is asking for the administration to act. So I think people should be picking up the phone, sending emails, contacting the mayor's office, because this seems like a roundabout way to get something done that's an emergency. So I would urge people, like I'll do tomorrow, pick up the phone and call the administration, Mr. President, and have them implement it, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Marks.

[Bears]: Point of information.

[Falco]: Point of information, Councilor Bears.

[Bears]: I agree with Councilor Marks completely. I've actually been calling the administration on this regularly for the past nine months. And I think the intent of the resolution that was ruled out of order was that we would add our voices to that chorus of folks who are putting pressure on the administration. You know, the mechanism that would be used here delegated to the executive and the Board of Health through Mass General Law. So, you know, it's not actually something that we as a council can do, which is what was the intent. Thank you.

[Marks]: Thank you. Point of information, Mr. President. Point of information, Councilor Marks. So a very similar paper has been in subcommittee for eight months, Mr. President. You are correct. Eight months. The moratorium ended, I believe, on October 18th in Massachusetts. I may be off on that, but I thought I read on October 18th. So it's been two months, Mr. President, that the subcommittee could have met. Correct. Two months.

[Dave Rodrigues]: You are correct.

[Marks]: We met when the paper was sent to subcommittee on April 7th, and we met on subcommittee two weeks later. That's how quickly it happened, Mr. President. We met on April 22nd. So if this was an emergency, Mr. President, on October 18th, we should have had a meeting the following week. I would agree. To go over the paper that was in subcommittee. I'm not saying it's not an emergency, Mr. President, but I just think this is a real roundabout way of getting something done. And if people truly want to get something done, then let's act, Mr. President. As I mentioned earlier, we got the housing stability hotline that we mentioned eight months ago. Eight months ago, that would be a real use in this community. We mentioned about the Housing Stability Task Force, another real use. And we heard from one of the speakers that hasn't met since May, Mr. President. So we're missing a lot of opportunity to move forward on items, Mr. President. And I think some people are spinning their wheels in the wrong direction. So I'm more than happy, Mr. President, to move issues forward. But we have to do it in a way that makes sense, Mr. President. Thank you.

[Bears]: Mr. President, just a point of information. We did act on October 13th, asking the state to reinstate the moratorium. So we did take action then. And I would be glad if my Councilors are available to meet at the earliest opportunity next week, if they're available. I haven't heard.

[Falco]: Like I said before, I would encourage you to set up a- It's been eight months, Mr. President.

[Marks]: Eight months. So if we want to look to see where maybe something didn't get followed through, it's with that paper and those issues that were before the subcommittee, Mr. President. Because even if the moratorium was on place, you could still work at some point, it's going to end. And you could still work to that end point, Mr. President. And that didn't happen. There was no planning, no follow-up meetings, Mr. President. And maybe that's where the ball was dropped.

[Bears]: Well, actually, I think, Councilor Marks, I've been following up, trying to get responses to the resolutions that we put forward so that we could have another meeting. They haven't been forthcoming. I'd be happy to have another meeting at the earliest opportunity.

[Marks]: Well, you should have been yelling from the highest mountain if that hasn't happened in eight months, because this is an emergency. Mr. Chairman. Mr. President, I work with homeless families on a daily basis. I know you do. On a daily basis, trying to get homeless families and homeless individuals into permanent housing. So I know what the need is. I know what the demand is, Mr. President. So I see it on a daily basis. If this is an emergency, we should have acted over the last eight months, Mr. President, and it is an emergency.

[Falco]: Thank you. Councilor Bears, like I said before, I would encourage you to set up that subcommittee meeting as soon as possible. And I think that hopefully you can make some progress and move forward. I think everybody wants to move forward on this.

[Bears]: I just would say, I think the legislative record and the items put forward reflect that at multiple points, not only has the council had resolutions before it, but has taken action. So I just want to make that point.

[Falco]: Okay. We have a number of residents that like to speak. We have, um, Thane H. Name and address for the record, please.

[SPEAKER_29]: Oh yeah. My name is Thane Hill. I live at 14 New Bern Avenue in South Medford. I can't speak to all the procedural worries, but I can speak from someone who organizes with tenants and knows people. who have been evicted and who have gotten notices to quit. And I want to just speak to the fact that while we're talking about the urgency, there's also been people raising the concern of homeowners, of landlords. And I think if we're going to have a just and equal system here, we have to look after the people most in need first. And that is, in this case, the tenants, those people who are being evicted. In my opinion, the crucial difference between the worries of someone with a mortgage and someone with the worries of being evicted immediately is that they'll lose their homes and it's devastating. And I don't think people really are speaking to that just from my experience, especially like I can't speak to all the procedural like how that, how it has to go to vote, but I think it really is urgent. And I think I want people to keep pushing that. So I would urge that the city council does resolve. Sorry, I don't know the specific terminology, but urges the city administration to have an eviction moratorium. I think it's crucial.

[Falco]: Thank you very much. Steve Schnapp. Steve, name and address for the record, please.

[Steve Schnapp]: My name is Steve Schnapp. I live at 36 Hillside Ave in Medford Square. I'm a homeowner. I support this eviction moratorium. I actually have a question, Mr. President, for you, the council, or anyone else who can answer it. How many families or individuals have been evicted since the pandemic began in Medford?

[Falco]: Does anyone have that number in front of them? I do not.

[Bears]: I am personally aware of 12 ongoing cases. I have been trying to get that information, but have been unsuccessful.

[Falco]: Okay, so you have not, Councilor Villescaz, I apologize. With the heater on, I can't hear you.

[Bears]: I said that I'm personally aware of about a dozen cases. I've been trying to get the specific information for weeks and have, you know, I've been looking through various datas to try to get a specific number, but have not been successful.

[Steve Schnapp]: So even with a moratorium during that period, 12 families have been evicted.

[Bears]: Ongoing cases, Steve. I don't know that they've actually been removed from their homes.

[Steve Schnapp]: But they're under the threat of eviction. And I think, Mr. President, that this is a situation that demands action. And we all agree with you. I'm hoping that the council will take action at the soonest possible moment. Thank you.

[Falco]: We're all in agreement. Thank you, Mr. Schnapp. Thank you. We are all in agreement. This is something that needs to be dealt with immediately. Thank you. Let's see, we have Diane Sullivan. Name and address for the record, Diane. You have three minutes.

[DNuiAY3aRNM_SPEAKER_01]: Hi, thank you. Diane Sullivan, Jerome Street, West Medford. Just want to, you know, sort of shout out in support. And I think, you know, it's great to know that we're all in agreeance that this is an emergency and demands our immediate attention. Understanding, you know, the sort of, I guess, pushback on the procedure. Okay, like let's get onto these next steps, right? But I do want to really just echo something that Kit Collins referred to around the narrative. And I think, you know, we all know that Medford has been identified as a, you know, an unwelcoming community in terms of a rental market, right? We have the study from Suffolk that shows this, and it's also, you know, it will be, it's been demonstrated in the work around the housing production plan. So I just feel strongly that we need to make a statement as a community. And I understand this rests with the administration. And then I think Councilors, you know, your community is hearing you. There's never a bad time to have this conversation in a crisis. So I appreciate that. We, you know, we as a community have been given the grace of A, the education, right? You know, and how to best engage. and B, just the fact that we have the space to have this conversation, because this crisis, while it's happening right now, it's going to continue to happen and there will be a lag effect. So even as some folks in the economy start to see a turnaround, hopefully there are others who will be left behind. And we know that disproportionately in terms of poverty and impacts of hunger and homelessness, that burden falls largely, very disproportionately on communities of color. So we really need to acknowledge that. So I guess I'm saying all of this to say that we've got resources and we've got intent and we need to match all of this. I've done eviction prevention work, being in the courthouses and negotiating with tenants and landlords where when we walk away from the situation, it's a win-win. And it's a win for the city because we maintain that economic sort of addition to the local economy that rentals can bring. So, I appreciate the opportunity to have this discussion. I appreciate what the Councilors are saying around procedure, but it's, you know, we all recognize it's time to work. So I think I'm most encouraged by hearing in the affirmation that this is an emergency and we all have a role to play. So I appreciate your time and consideration.

[Falco]: Thank you, Diane. Let's see, we have Jess Farrell, name and address for the record. You have three minutes.

[Farrell]: Hi, Jess Farrell, 29 Martin Street. Um, yes, I support the eviction moratorium, and I just wanted to say that there are studies out there that show that communities who let their moratoriums lapse actually have higher mortality rates and all kinds of things during COVID. So I'm sure that you've all looked into that sort of science and the research that's been done, so I won't belabor it too much. But I just wanted to state my my support for this. Also in just a few hours, a petition has been circulated to support this moratorium and it's gotten over a hundred signatures. So I think the community is like really behind this and would like to see the Medford City Government lead on this as soon as possible. Thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you very much, Jess. Mr. President.

[Morell]: Mr. President, if I could, sorry.

[Falco]: Oh, Councilor Morell, I apologize.

[Morell]: Okay, I just wanted to share, to address Mr. Schnapp's question, I did have someone just send me a tableau visualization. And the note is that there are currently 50 court cases in Medford related to non-payment of rent. To address that request for that number.

[Falco]: Thank you very much.

[Morell]: Thank you.

[Falco]: Okay. Let's see. Antoinette Hugley. Name and address for the record, please. You have three minutes.

[SPEAKER_26]: Hi, my name is Antoinette Hugley. I currently reside at 53 Felsway West, the Alpha Management Apartments. I am wanting to, well, actually I wanted to speak out because I was one of those people who were faced with a 48 hour eviction this month. I was able to fight that due to the CDC being in place. I can tell you that without that, I would have been homeless and basically, you know, financial support or organizations are put in place. with my situation, it would kind of be hard for me to even accept or even take advantage of that due to me even having court on the 30th of this month. So I'm definitely in agreeance with the CDC, I'm sorry, with the eviction moratorium being in place. And I just wanted to express the situation that I'm currently going through. So that would be a big help to me in that situation.

[Falco]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_26]: Thank you.

[Falco]: We have Doug McKeon, name and address of the record. You have three minutes, Doug.

[SPEAKER_07]: My address is 136 Summer Street, Medford. All right, so I'm in support of the eviction moratorium. Thane Hale, Mary Stathos have talked to various reasons why. I would like to share my personal experience during the pandemic. I'm a massage therapist who's been unemployed since March. I'm six months behind on back rent. I can't work because my housemates have comorbidities, and I frankly don't want them to die. I don't qualify for IRMA, RAFT, or ABCD because household hold a, The household income exceeds requirements. Earlier this month, I got shots of a bone marrow stimulant for a week to sell my bodily fluids for 1K. That is how I've been making ends meet. And I'm still one of the lucky ones. I have three gainfully employed roommates, and my landlord is not insane enough to raise my rent. If any of these support structures fail, kidneys and livers run for $150,000, which I know for no reason. The federal government is a circus. Baker is a joke. The state played on itself and a blade is hanging above my head. Please have mercy on the community and the people who are worse off than I am. I yield my time. Thank you, Doug.

[Falco]: Okay. Would anybody else like to speak? Oh, let's see, Matt. Matt, name and address for the record, please. You have three minutes, Matthew.

[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: John, you know, I think I actually have 10 minutes. That's what the rule says, just like everybody else. If you want to change the rules, I think you need a super majority, which would be five to seven votes of the council during the meeting to temporarily change the rules. But anyway, I would like to know if you have the language of the bill that's currently in a subcommittee, the one that conflicts with this one.

[Falco]: It's basically almost the same thing that was mentioned tonight.

[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: Okay, so this has been an issue that's come up previously about what exactly the council is doing. If it's only calling on the mayor to take a position or if it's actually believes that it has the authority to actually pass some legislation. Is it the case that what we're discussing and what's actually in the subcommittee is just a shared resolution, just making a recommendation upon the mayor?

[Falco]: It's a recommendation being resolved by the Medford City Council that the city administration implement an eviction and moratorium to protect Medford residents during the severe COVID-19 surge this winter.

[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: Yeah, I've read it, but I'm asking concretely, concretely, what is this calling for? Because it was something that was discussed previously in this meeting is this idea that the mayor needs to be lobbied harder by residents. So, and that, you know, Councilor Bears has said that he's made many, many calls to the mayor's office. So concretely, concretely, what is this calling for? Is it just calling upon the mayor to make a decree or does this council believe that it can vote and have a moratorium on subcommittee?

[Bears]: the Massachusetts general law delegates authority around this matter to the board of health and the mayor's office.

[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: Okay. So this, this resolution is just urgent. Yeah. I'm sorry. Is that council bears did confirm. This is just calling on the council in this point of emergency. So we agree, we agree. And we're asking for the mayor to put a moratorium as soon as possible. Is that correct?

[Bears]: That was my intent.

[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: Okay, and so you're saying that it's in the subcommittee, right? And so... basically, you know, this, this council that may say that something's stuck in subcommittee or there's a problem with scheduling, but every single one of these Councilors can say, I pledge, I pledge to try to organize that meeting as soon as possible. I pledge to not create drama about this and, you know, pettiness and posturing. And I promise that I will vote on this resolution in subcommittee. Is that correct? I promise that once this gets out of subcommittee, I will vote in support of it. Is that correct? Is that within the councilor's, is that within councilor's ability this evening to make that kind of a pledge?

[Falco]: Basically, the paper's in subcommittee. The council has to schedule a meeting to actually move it out of subcommittee, which from what it sounds like, it's- That's all correct.

[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: That's all been covered. I'm asking, can all the councilors, can they say, I pledge to vote for that? Once it comes out of subcommittee, I pledge to vote for it. I know I can't do anything tonight because it's subcommittee, but I understand the gravity of this. I understand the emergency and I want to do as much as I can as quickly as possible. Can the councilors actually do that? Can they state, I am committed to this. Matt, thank you very much.

[Falco]: Matthew, if a council wants to state that they were in favor of it, by all means they can, okay? Then your answer is yes. Your answer is yes. This whole body can say, yes, I'm committed to this and I will vote for it. Matthew, thank you for your time. Any other questions from the public that would like to speak on this issue? We have one more person. Christopher, name and address for the record, please. You have three minutes.

[Chris Braiotta]: My name is Chris Briota. I'm at 20 Mystic River Road. I just wanted to speak in support of the eviction moratorium. I think it's an important tool in our present humanitarian and public health emergency. It would help protect our most vulnerable neighbors and also protect the health of our community. And furthermore, I'm a homeowner and homeowners and especially landlords make a choice. to invest in real estate, and there's risk in that. I would support whatever the city thinks it can do to help homeowners and landlords hold on to their homes in this emergency, but to use their exposure to a volatile market as a counterexample for why we can't help renters is a distraction. Furthermore, as a member of this community, I'm uninterested in Councilor Mark's protestations that eight months of inaction on the prior motion allows us to punt on responding to this emergency tonight. Okay. And I yield my time. Thank you.

[Falco]: Okay. Wilma Barr, name and address for the record please.

[Navarre]: William Navarre, 108 Medford Street, apartment 1B. Given that it sounds like most of the council supports the substance of this motion, I was sort of, and building off of what Matthew suggested, I was sort of thinking that it might be smart to advise Jess, who mentioned a petition, to get that to the councilors so they might be able to voice their support. publicly without having to go through the procedures required by the Council rules, which, of course, in this situation, happen to be blocking what everybody agrees is extremely important. And since it's a symbolic motion anyway, I think that this particular petition could be a useful tool in order to do an end run around the council rules and allow the members of the council to make a decision. make that opinion known to the mayor that way. So I hope Jess will consider following up with the council with that petition so they're able to sign that if they so choose. Thank you.

[Falco]: Thank you all. Okay. Okay, I don't see any of the hands. Clerk, did you see any of the hands up? Okay. I want to thank everyone for their patience and for participating in the public participation section of our meeting tonight. If I'm correct, we have records.

[Caraviello]: Mr. President. Before we do the records.

[Falco]: Vice President Caraviello.

[Caraviello]: Before we do the records, I'd like to thank you. for your leadership over the last two years. Thank you. And it's been a difficult, this year's been a very difficult one for you. So again, I wanna thank you for your leadership over the last two years, and I hope I can hold up to the same high standards that you've done over this time.

[Falco]: Vice President, thank you.

[Caraviello]: So I thank you, and good work.

[Falco]: Thank you very much, I appreciate that, thank you. And actually, I want to thank- Mr. President? Yes, Scarpelli.

[Scarpelli]: I think that tonight's a good example. I think that the pressure that the president's put under when everybody feels so passionate about something that, in essence, we all agree on. It's just the presentation of it and sometimes the protocol that needs to be followed by this body that not everybody understands. So it's tough to stand up there, I know that we butted heads in due respect. It's a tough position, but I want to applaud what you've done and it's been two years. So again, thank you and appreciate the lack of hair now that you have due to this position. Yeah, thanks.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Scott Falco. I want to thank all my councilors. This is my last meeting as president and in January, I'll be down on the floor here. And I want to thank President-Elect Caraviello and Vice President-Elect Knight. I want to wish them well next year. And I want to thank all my councilors for all their hard work and dedication to the city. It has been, it's been two years and There's been a lot of hard work here. It's funny, I was looking at the meetings today and today we had, this is our 38th meeting. Tonight was our 50th committee of the whole. 10 subcommittee meetings. That takes you to about 98 meetings this calendar year. And we don't meet a good chunk in the summer. So I know, you know, There's been a lot of weeks where we've met Tuesday night, Wednesday night, sometimes Thursday night. And I know that's a lot of time away from your families. And I thank you for your dedication, your hard work. And like I said, I look forward to being down on the floor and being able to participate more. And I want to thank you for all your hard work and dedication. So thank you so much. So we have the records. The records are Let's see, the table of records in the meeting of December 8th, 2020 were passed to Vice President Caraviello. Vice President Caraviello, how did you find those records?

[Caraviello]: Mr. President, I found the records to be accurate and precise. And motion for approval.

[Falco]: Thank you, Vice President Caraviello. On the motion of Vice President Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Knight. Clerk, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Vice President Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell? Councilor Scarpelli?

[Falco]: Yes.

[Hurtubise]: President Falco?

[Falco]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. The records have been passed. Yes. Council Marks.

[Marks]: just a birthday announcement. Absolutely. A longtime friend, Patty Silva, is celebrating her 91st birthday. 91 years old young, Mr. President. And she's a tremendous woman. She gets on the bus almost daily and goes to Davis Square, gets out there, has her lunch, comes back on the bus. She's a tremendous woman, a tremendous mother, wife. And I wish her well, and I wish her many more birthdays to follow.

[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Marks, and happy birthday to Mrs. Silva. Okay, the records of the meeting of December 15th, 2020. We'll pass to Councilor Knight. Councilor Knight, how did you find those records? Table? Table. I'm sorry. On the motion of Councilor Knight to table those records, seconded by Vice-President Caraviello. Clerk, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Vice President Caraviello?

[SPEAKER_11]: Yes.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks?

[Falco]: Yes.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Morell? Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Falco?

[Falco]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative, the motion passes. On the motion of Vice President Caraviello to adjourn the meeting, actually before we adjourn, happy holidays, merry Christmas, happy new year to everyone. We wish everyone a happy and safe 2021.

[Caraviello]: Mr. President, if I could take a moment to thank all the residents in this community who've come out to support all the non-profit organizations with gifts, food and everything. In my 30 years of doing community work, I've always found that people come out more. And when times are tough, then when times are good. And as I say, there's the Rotary, the Kiwanis, the Family Network, all these organizations, they put food, they put a lot of time and effort into making sure that a lot of families, Medford families, were taken care of this year with toys and all kinds of essentials. So again, thank you to all the residents who came out and supported everybody to make sure that everybody in this community has a good Christmas. So again, thank you to everybody.

[Falco]: Thank you and happy holidays to everyone. On the motion of Vice President Caraviello. Merry Christmas. Seconded by Councilor Knight to adjourn the meeting. Clerk Hurtubise, please call the roll.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Vice President Caraviello. Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell.

[Morell]: Yes.

[Hurtubise]: Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Falco. Yes.

[Falco]: Meeting adjourned. Good night, be safe and healthy.

Falco total time: 34.06 minutes total words: 5392	Morell total time: 3.91 minutes total words: 746	Marks total time: 21.18 minutes total words: 3386	Knight total time: 10.15 minutes total words: 2219
Scarpelli total time: 10.27 minutes total words: 1543	Bears total time: 7.03 minutes total words: 1303	Caraviello total time: 4.0 minutes total words: 663