[Fred Dello Russo]: The 28th regular meeting of the Medford City Council will come to order. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Present, seven members present, none absent. Please join us in rising to salute the flag. 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. My apologies for this microphone, but we're obviously having technical difficulties. Item of business is commendations for Eagle Scout, for Mr. Andrew Knight. And at this time, I invite, I invite Councilor Marks up, whose motion this was to commend our friend, Andrew.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. It's my honor and pleasure, Mr. President, tonight to recognize a young gentleman in our community who has put in countless hours to rise to the top of being a Boy Scout. And anyone that's been in the Scouts realizes that you go through different levels to attain the highest level, which is Eagle Scout. And it's many countless hours of community participation, it's many countless hours of obtaining badges, field trips, and then leadership within the scouts. And here we have a young gentleman in pack 416. And that's the Otis Street Church, United Methodist Church, that sponsors the PAC. And over the last, let's say, three or four years, I've had the privilege of recognizing many Eagle Scout recipients. from the Otis Street Pack. And they've done yeoman's work in representing our community and putting out young gentlemen of Andrew's caliber within our community. Just a few things I'd like to state. Andrew earned 28 merit badges, 21 of which were Eagle required. He had various positions in the troop, including patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, and senior patrol leader. As part of the Eagle Scout, every Eagle Scout is required to submit a community service project. And we've had a number of Eagle Scouts within our community. The last one I recall was an Eagle Scout that fixed the flagpole when it came down during a hurricane, in front of the Medford Public Library. And he did a fundraiser and raised funds and so forth. And he also put some shrubbery and bushes around that and erected our flag. And Andrew came up with a great concept as part of his project. I'd like for him to say a few words on the project itself. And you know, most of the times I ask, people, would you like to come up and say a word or two? And Andrew, without hesitation, said, absolutely. So he must be a gifted speaker. Uh-oh. I set the table for you now. So Andrew would like to say a few words. One other point I'd like to mention is when you look at Eagle Scout, it's not just the scout that's going through it. It's the mom and dad, which we have in the audience tonight. that, as they could probably attest to, spend many countless hours on these projects and chaperoning the scout around and so forth, and they participate as well. But an interesting fact is only about 5% of all Boy Scouts attain the rank of Eagle Scout. And since 1912, when this was established, there has been 1,700,000 Boy Scouts that have earned the rank of Eagle Scout. That may sound like a lot, but we're talking over 100 years worth of millions of Boy Scouts, hundreds of millions of Boy Scouts throughout this country. And it's really, truly a big honor to obtain this level. So at this point, I'd like to pass it over to Andrew so he can explain his community service project.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'd like to thank you for inviting me here. And for my community service project, I decided to do it for the Medford Boys and Girls Club located on Forest Street, because I've been going there as a kid ever since I was six years old. I've been going school years and summers, and it's kind of like a place that I've grown up at. So when it was time for me to do a project for a community, it was easy for me to decide to do something for them. So I went to the club director, Lisa Gosbecki, and I talked to her about the type of things that you would need at the Boys and Girls Club that would benefit them the most. And she told me that some type of recycling-oriented thing would help the kids learn about recycling and help them dispose of recycling materials properly, because at the time, they only had trash. So I then went back and made a plan to build a recycling center that would sort the recycling machine, paper, plastic, and cans, and then designed a recycling program that had games and activities that would teach the kids about recycling so that they could learn and take the knowledge home about what you're supposed to do with these materials so that it can better our environment. So then with my troop, I coordinated the building of the recycling center and then designed games and made activities for the kids. And I presented it at a family night at the Boys and Girls Club. So there were families there, kids there. And I was able to present the box and the information to everyone there so that they could learn about recycling. And it also worked as my Eagle Scout project after all the time I put in. And that was basically the impact it had on the community. A lot of the kids learned about recycling. They learned things that they've never heard about before, like how long it takes for things to decompose, because you never really think about that when you might throw away a styrofoam cup in the trash. But in reality, that thing never decomposes. So they're more aware of what they're doing now, and they can better the environment.
[Michael Marks]: So as we can see, Andrew will be in good company. Eagle Scouts, Neil Armstrong, Michael Bloomberg, Method Man, Stephen Breyer, Judge Breyer, President Gerald Ford, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State, Steven Spielberg. So you're in a real elite group, Andrew. And at this time, I'd just like to present the Method City Council accommodation. says the Medford City Council takes pleasure in awarding this council accommodation to Andrew Knight, Eagle Scout, Court of Honor Troop 416, on attaining this high ranking within scouting. The realization of this outstanding achievement will undoubtedly lead to success and accomplishments throughout your life. Signed by Council President Frederick Dello Russo and myself, City Council, Michael Marks.
[SPEAKER_21]: Thank you very much.
[Michael Marks]: If we could take a picture out here, that'd be great.
[Richard Caraviello]: Congratulations.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello for motion to suspension of the rules.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, if we could take up motion number 16679, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Caraviello to take out of order, paper number 16679. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The ayes have it. 16-679 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that Medford City Council request the mayor to install a traffic light at the corner of High Street and Alston Street at the Brooks School for the Safety of Children. Many parents have contacted me since the side of school about this problem. Mr. Councilor.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, fortunately, we come here tonight. Though I had this on the agenda last week, we come here tonight because a young man was struck last Friday night by a car. Fortunately, he was not injured. He was slightly injured. His parents are here tonight. And I say, thank God he wasn't hurt seriously, which is a saving grace. But Mr. President, that's been a problem on that corner for many years since my children went to school there. And in this day, with the traffic increasing and more people distracted driving, The road is becoming heavier and heavier and heavier. People don't adhere to the crosswalks. Even though there's a crossing guard there during the day, there's a lot of school activities there in the evening. And the Brooks School is one of the heaviest for after school programs in the city. So I think at this point, some changes need to be made on that corner. And in my opinion, I would think A street light should be installed with maybe a flashing light. St. Raphael's has a light in front of theirs. St. Joseph has a light in front of their school. There's some easy things we could do to make that area better also. One is, in the evening, getting rid of those orange lights. They're dim and they don't, I mean, for the few pennies that we're saving on them, it's not worth it to have them there. I think we need to put either LEDs or go back to the bright white lights so people can see it both in front of the school and on the side. where all the kids come out at 5 o'clock when the parents go by to pick them up on Auburn Street. Again, that's a dark area. And maybe, you know, one of the parents gave me some suggestions here about changing some markings that a highway person gave them. And some simple things like putting the markers in the middle of the road during the day. Because people are coming through that way now because Route 16 is a nightmare to get down to from route two. So now everybody's coming down route 60 to get the 93. So the cars are getting, you know, they're just traffic. It's just increasing. Speed is increasing and people they're on the cell phones and they're texting and they're not paying attention. Mr. President. So at this point I would, I would ask that we ask the mayor to immediately requisition the traffic light to be put there.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor chair recognizes vice president Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I just want to thank Councilor Caraviello for putting this on the agenda. I knew it was going to come up because all of us have got the phone calls and emails with regards to the complaints and what happened Friday night, and it's pretty disturbing. And thank God the child is okay. I agree wholeheartedly there should be a traffic light. And I also think part of this is, you know, the enforcement quite possibly putting a, somewhere on the road, putting a speed limit sign so people know how fast they're going, because I think speeding has a factor. And when we don't have enough enforcement, it obviously leads to the speeding. So I've brought that up many, many times, to have speed limit signs like we have on Elm Street put in different locations in the city, especially near the schools. So I would just like to add that. somewhere near the Brooks School sign letting people know how fast they're going. To deter speeding would also help along with the traffic light. Hopefully we'll be able to deter any future accident that even could possibly happen at that location. We also need to take a look at, you know, all of our schools and make sure we have them all safe. And I know Walk Medford is doing a good job evaluating the community But I also believe there's a grant that was received, and I'm not sure if that went out for a proposal or how we're going to be spending that money, but I believe it hasn't been spent yet. And I think that's something we need to get on top of and make sure we make the appropriate changes at every location, everywhere in the community, because we just want to keep the pedestrians safe from, you know, and do everything we can to deter any accidents anywhere that could happen. So I just want to thank Councilor Caraviello.
[Fred Dello Russo]: second, the resolve and, um, move to amend it to as, as, as stated on the motion, uh, offered by, uh, council caviello, uh, seconded by vice president longer current and amended, uh, chair recognizes councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I'd also like to thank, uh, councilor Caraviello for bringing this forward tonight. Um, this is an issue that, uh, needs to be addressed. It's long overdue and, uh, I would, uh, support the addition of a traffic light at that intersection, a hundred percent. The traffic is out of control down there. People seem to, no one pays attention to where they're driving. That goes everywhere, but I think in between when we get a traffic light put in and today, we need to come up with some steps to actually make this a safer intersection for our students. and for just everyone in general. And I think definitely additional signage, hopefully additional police presence, but I'd also like to see a crossing guard added in the morning for the middle school students. Right now we currently have one for the elementary school students, but I think that the middle school students also need one as well. I have received calls from parents that have kids in middle school and it is a very hard intersection to navigate in the morning. in the afternoon, and I believe that a crossing guard for the middle school students would be beneficial as well. I also talked to Superintendent Belson, and I was advocating for additional crossing guard with him as well. He had told me that, I guess there's going to be a meeting, I think on Thursday, between the mayor and the superintendent, and I think the police chief as well, and I think they're gonna hopefully work on a solution for this. But I also, and I also believe too that The city really needs to hire a traffic engineer. I think a traffic engineer would help with a lot of these problems just by looking at how our roads are set up, what we can do to keep our residents and everyone that passes through our city safe, and just make commuting in general safer. So I think that, you know, I'll keep advocating for that, but I think a traffic engineer is something that we desperately need in the city as more and more people move to our city and our city just becomes, I think, more popular as each day goes by with people wanting to move here, businesses wanting to set up here. So I think that's something that we desperately need. So I support this 100%. I thank Councilor Caraviello for bringing this forward this morning, this morning, tonight. And it's been a long day. And I definitely support this resolution. So thank you. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on today's motion, it's amended by Vice President Long and Kern and Councilor Falco. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. And thank you to my colleagues for your input on this important issue. Having grown up in the area and attended the Brooks School and having been involved near accidents myself as a child in that intersection, I certainly understand the situation that's at hand, Mr. President. One of the things that I was thinking, listening to Councilor Caraviello in his presentation would be, we do have a dock pickup area on Auburn Street. If this ordinance gets passed this evening, there's no guarantee that those lights are gonna be changed tomorrow. So. Do I sound like Sinatra? So, as I was saying, Mr. President, I think Councilor Caraviello brings up some several good points, as does Councilor Falco. One thing that concerns me is that these events have been occurring quite frequently. They've been occurring for a number of years, and I believe there should be some reporting requirement that's taking place. at the school level. So I'm wondering if we can amend the resolution to request that the principal of the Brooks School, Suzanne Galusi, provide us with any suggestions or input that she may have in what she feels as though would make her job a little easier and make the students there safer. She's there every day, Mr. President. She also went to the Brooks School and grew up in the neighborhood, so I think she has a pretty good grasp and handle on the issues at hand, and I think that she'd be able to provide us with some very helpful information. And one of the other items I'd like her to look into, if possible, would be to move the pickup area to the rear end on Prescott Street, where there's a large lot that people can pull in and out of, where students can congregate free and absent of being right next to the main roadway, Mr. President. So those are the two items that I'd like to add to this matter. I appreciate the Councilor for bringing it forward and it's something that I support.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you, Councilor. And as amended by Councilor Knight, Chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I think there was a number of good suggestions. Often, um, there was a pilot program created, uh, I believe it was about three years ago at a request of this council, uh, to implement raised crosswalks throughout the community and other, uh, communities have been very successful, uh, in using raised crosswalks as a traffic calming approach. Um, and, uh, to date we've had one raised crosswalk, uh, which was implemented on Winthrop street. And we're still waiting for the other two as part of the pilot program. And I've asked the administration a dozen times and we have yet to get a response on, uh, when the other two race crosswalks will take place. But, uh, this is not rocket science and you know, in particular around schools, around senior buildings. There are many methods that you can use. Many communities widen the sidewalks. And when you widen your sidewalks, it slows down traffic because you don't have, as we all know, High Street is two lanes, but they're very wide. And it lends itself for cars to pick up speed in that area. There's also markings you can put on the road that when cars approach they appear to be, they're 3D in nature, and they appear to be some type of obstruction in the roadway, and cars tend to slow down. So you have raised crosswalks, you have these 3D images in the road, you can widen sidewalks. There's a number of approaches that we can take, in particular around school. zones to make sure that our children are safe when crossing. It's far easier to cross a road that's maybe 25 feet in length or width rather than 45 feet in width. And these are the things that really we need to move forward on as a city. And we're finding it difficult to get the administration to just paint crosswalks. And that's another issue that's going to be brought up, uh, tonight. But, uh, here we are in September and we still haven't painted all our crosswalks throughout the community. These are just basic, basic, uh, public safety, uh, um, initiatives that could take place. I agree with councilor Falco. I think, uh, that we do need to hire, uh, an engineer, a traffic engineer, uh, within the office of community development and a city this size, uh, with the number of streets we have, the number of intersections, I think it's only appropriate in that we can't rely on the traffic commission to solve all our woes, but we can take some small initiatives to make our streets safer. I've been saying for years, we have to take our roads back. We're at a point right now, people don't want to go out and do a power walk because they're afraid to be on the sidewalks. They're afraid when they get to an intersection that they have to cross. And really, our city should be much more user-friendly when it comes to pedestrians. So I would also add, Mr. President, that a raised crosswalk at that particular area would be reviewed by the Traffic Commission. You know, a set of lights is great there, too. But I think we have to look at a number of options that we can explore. I think a raised crosswalk is very beneficial. I know on Winthrop Street it has done a lot. If you talk to area residents, at first they heard a lot of banging of the undercarriage of cars because people didn't recognize it. And even with the neon signs on both sides of the road, but now people do, if you stand out there and watch, people do slow down when they come to that raised crosswalk on Withrop Street. So that would be my suggestion, Mr. President, that these issues be looked at immediately in the interest of public safety.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. So as amended by Councilor Marks, Chair recognizes the citizens who wish to speak. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Oj3ns4r1Qn4_SPEAKER_04]: Frank O'Leary, 85 Arlington Street. Also a board member of the Medford Community Coalition. I just wanted to thank you for taking up this initiative out of order. I witnessed the incident on Friday night and something definitely needs to be done. There've been many conversations on social media about the traffic around that particular area. There've been many C click fix postings that have gone ignored, you know, not just for that area, but for other areas for similar incidents. You know, it's one of these times we may have a worse issue than what happened on Friday. And thank God, You know, the boy's okay, but it's one of these times we're not gonna be so lucky. We need to, this needs to be addressed sooner than later. The planning, I understand looking at it and getting engineers, but something needs to be done sooner. Put a barrel in there, one of those white and orange barrels right in the middle that's filled with concrete or water. First time somebody hits it, they're not gonna hit it again. You know, put a, you know, get traffic enforcement there. Part of this is, you know, maybe they need to have a police officer further down to tick, to watch that and pull people over and ticket them. You know, a couple of times of people seeing other people get pulled over, you never heard mentality. They're going to start getting scared and they'll start slowing down because they'll always suspect that there'll be a police officer there. You know, but I just wanted to come up and say thank you and let you know that there would have been more parents here to support this, but there's multiple PTO meetings tonight. And Andrew was in Brooks and the high school. And I was told that I had better mention that or I'll be hunted down. So thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. O'Leary. Hi. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_12]: Thank you. Luke McNeely, 26 Whitney Road. I have two daughters at the Brooks School. I did not witness the event but heard about it after the fact. I cross, I walk to school every day with my daughters and I cross that road and I'm very thankful for the crossing guard who controls that intersection very well. I think that there's obviously conflicting needs at that intersection. We've got a lot of commuters who need to get through, who aren't necessarily from our community, but utilize it as a means to get to where they need to go. And we've got key moments when kids and adults need to cross that street at that particular intersection. Of course, we've got other intersections of similar importance throughout the city. I'm extremely thankful that we have the traffic department putting an intelligent and capable person at the intersection at those key moments, but whenever there isn't a key moment throughout the day, I understand middle schoolers also cross when there is not a crossing guard. I think it's important that there be some smart ability to stop traffic only as needed, but as needed and on demand. Traffic signal, a crossing signal would help with that. I certainly agree an engineer could help us look at other intersections to help avoid this kind of issue down the road. Thank you very much for your attention on this. I think it's an important issue. Thank you, Mr. McNally.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_08]: Thank you. Matt Carty, 58 Summit Road. I have some written comments. I'm hoping could be entered in a public record. And I'm just going to mention a couple things from them. Councilor Falco, I think that's a great idea, having a traffic engineer. A traffic light intuitively is the right answer. But what does yellow light mean? It means speed up. There are treatments, Councilor Marks mentioned, The raised crosswalk, I think infrastructure treatments ought to be studied. They are the sorts of things that are there 24-7 when a crossing guard or a police officer goes home. The best thing you can do for a road is narrow the lanes. Narrowing the lanes reduces the speed of the cars. A study done by MIT a couple years ago on these streets, Cambridge and Boston streets at least, showed that people moving 40 miles an hour are four times less likely to stop for a person in the crosswalk than someone moving at 20. We know that if you're hit at 20 miles an hour, you have an 80% chance of surviving. At 30, 40, it drops to 10% chance. Slowing the cars by narrowing the lanes, it can be done, in consultation with the traffic engineer, it's a 53-foot wide right-of-way at that point. I mean, that is a really long way to cross. There's a bus stop on each side so there might not be a lot you can do in the immediate term With that width as far as bump outs you'd have to talk to MBTA about moving those bus stops But that's the right thing to do and I like the suggestion earlier about the barrel in the middle of the road If you go by Tufts on College Avenue right in the middle of the crosswalk, they have a A little pop-up thing. I think if you hit it, it just bounces out of the way. It says, drivers yield for pedestrians. That's the sort of thing that keeps people from edging out and making a dangerous pass. So these are all things a traffic engineer, I think, could give us a better solution, one that's more effective and maybe even costs less than a traffic light that we might otherwise want to rush into. So thank you very much for your time.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you much, sir, and submit your written remarks to the messenger, and he'll make sure that the clerk puts them into the record of the council. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_17]: Thomas Dobson, 21 Irving Street. It was my son and I that were hit Friday night in front of the Brooks School. Thank you, Councilor Caraviello, for bringing this to order. Councilor Falco, I 100% agree about a traffic engineer. I think somebody from outside the city could definitely make this better, however they do it. In the meantime, putting up just a sign right along the yellow line, just to let people know there's a crosswalk there. It's a long stretch of road where people can build up way too much speed before coming to the walkway in front of St. Raphael's, all the railroad tracks, and then coming from St. Joe's, same reason. I agree there should be a walk late there, and I just want to say thank you for bringing it up tonight, and I thank you to the Medford Police and Fire and Armstrong Ambulance for their quick response time and definitely being able to be there. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. Dawson. Hi. Hi. Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_35]: Kelly Braverman, 97 Alston Street. I've lived in this area that we're all talking about for the past 16 years. My whole time living there, it's been very treacherous trying to cross the street. I have a middle schooler now in seventh grade and a fifth grader. The seventh grader has to cross the street every day. He has been almost hit numerous times. I can count him on more than two hands. People that stop for him go around and almost like side swipe him, like what happened to Tom Dobson's child. It's just, something needs to be done. We do have flashing lights. They don't work. We do have more signage now. They haven't worked. Something, we need to curb that street. It's too wide. So, just wanted to let you know. Also, I know that we have a grant for $400,000 or something, and Alston High is on that, but we can't wait. Something has to happen sooner than waiting for this grant to come around. Thanks.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_34]: Good evening. Uh, Chris Davido, 67 West street. Um, the person who spoke a couple of people before me basically said what I was going to say, which is the, the narrowing of that roadway is really the only way to properly slow cars down because, um, and especially for people trying to cross at the crosswalks where we've all traveled that road, we know you can't really see the person as you're traveling the roadway. It's wide enough. so that it's out of your peripheral, it's in your peripheral vision, just at the edge. And if you try to, of course, edge out onto the roadway between cars, even when there's no parking at the bus stop there, you're kind of blocked coming down High Street. I did wanna say that, and maybe I missed this earlier, got here a little late, is that there seems to be no signal on all of High Street until you get to Medford Square, essentially. There are two pedestrian signals, one at St. Ray's and one at St. Joe's in front of the library. But I don't think there's any signal until Medford Square there, essentially. So that whole stretch of High Street, people kind of see as a way to go through. Of course, the railroad signal. So I just want to emphasize that. And this is not a new issue in a way because some of us parents had been working with the prior administration on getting a traffic calming measure there. And those speed sensors you see now are the result of that. Mayor McClain put those in. I think one is functional and one is not at the moment. Those are part of the solution, but not the complete solution. Obviously, we need to slow traffic down to prevent what happened about a year ago, which is a truck driving up onto someone's lawn, traveling too fast, trying to avoid a collision. That could have been a deadly accident. Luckily, no one was hurt. So that's all I want to say. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, sir. Ma'am, will you or the young man be speaking tonight?
[UJBcHvzH4YE_SPEAKER_06]: He's leaving behind some of his dinner. Emily Stein, 177 High Street. I'm here as a parent, a resident. I'm with Safe Roads Alliance and also part of the Vision Zero Coalition in Boston. Road safety has unfortunately become part of my life because my dad was killed by a distracted driver five years ago. So that's why I'm here. I was here several years ago to speak to you all about Why don't we have stronger legislation within the city limits of Medford? I think this is something we can do. This is something that other cities have done. So we need the structural changes. We need the education, but we also need enforcement. But we need to change the culture of driving. And Medford is, I live right near Winthrop Circle. I see people speed by. I see disasters happening there, so obviously there are all these places in the city that need structural changes. I see people on their phones texting shamelessly in front of the Brooks School moving. They're not stuck in traffic, but they are moving. So not only can we make serious changes that are short-term and long-term changes at that crosswalk and many others across the city, but I think we also need to address How can we change people's attitudes, commuters going through here? Some people say maybe we can put up a sign that says 20 miles an hour or drive like your kids live here. 20 is plenty. Some people say the culture of Medford won't really like that. I don't know what the solution is, but I think we really need to drive home that enforcement is taking this a lot more seriously than they need to take it a lot more seriously than they are. and that we also need to stand up for our community to show that we care and we're not gonna tolerate speeding. We're not gonna tolerate people being distracted in school zones and work zones in our city. So I'd love your help in trying to figure out how we can do this as a city as well.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much. Thank you for coming up tonight. Good evening, Chief.
[Leo Sacco]: Good evening. Leo Sacco, 227 Elm Street in Medford. uh, police chief here in the city. Uh, I've heard the suggestions, I've heard them loud and clear. I'm very thankful that Friday evening, Mr. Dodson was with his son, uh, had his son been just a couple of seconds later, the consequences could have been a lot greater. Uh, thankfully that, you know, he survived that with some minor bruising and I'm sure traumatized from the whole incident. But I've heard a lot of things tonight and I think I was validated because I know I've told this council in the past, The public in general, when they're driving, they do not pay attention to signs. You can have the flashing speed limit signs out there. They're not paying attention to them. They do help to some degree, but a lot of them don't pay attention to them. If you look at the flashing lights on Harvard Street, or the ones in front of the Brooks School, or even the ones on Elm Street that they placed, sometimes you see people going faster just to see how high up the number will go, depending on the hour of the day. I don't think anything gets around enforcement. we do have to do a lot more enforcement in not just the high street area, but high street primarily, because over the past several years, we've had a number of pedestrian accidents along that stretch of road. This evening in particular, Friday evening, it was a very sunny evening and that contributed to the crash factor that the investigating officers determined that there was some glare. The female operator of the vehicle said that it was sun glare. And the sun was going down, but it was still very sunny. They verified the fact that glare could have contributed to the, to the incident. Uh, but very soon we'll have the time change and it'll be very dark again. And even though we have those streetlights in the square, they're very dim. And we've had a number of accidents with people get off the commuter train and making their way home and trying to cross the street. So we will be stepping up enforcement in the area. I had an officer tell me yesterday, He was working the detail assignment. There's a lot of confusion with all of the construction work going on on that stretch of road as well. The detail officer said he saw a young lady jogging across the street. She stopped at the crosswalk. She started across and a car went out and around her. I'm not sure if that vehicle was stopped or not, but driver attitude has a lot to do with things. They feel as though they have the right of way and they're not going to stop for anyone. I think if you look at, And I know many of you are up and about very early in the morning. You see the amount of traffic that this city holds. And it's a tremendous amount. And if you look at the faces of a lot of the operators in these vehicles, there's a lot of frustration. They're late. They're rushing. They're trying to get through. And if the contractor has that Main Street, Craddock Bridge down to one lane, there's gridlock all over the place. One of these days, I'd like to ask the state police to take an aerial view of the gridlock that happens all over the city. in the morning. This morning, one of our traffic supervisors came in that said Riverside and Bradbury saying people aren't stopping at the stop sign up there on Bradbury coming across onto Riverside. It's all about driver attitude. Everybody's in a hurry. And we're going to do the best we can to slow them down. Road construction, the raised crosswalk, the bumped out curvings, they may work. But Route 60, we'd have to get state approval. And I think you know from that. Our past efforts with the state, they're not always as helpful as they should be. When we try to create a truck route or a non truck route, uh, they kind of, uh, look the other way. Several years ago, we posted the speed limit all along high street at 20 miles per hour. We received a phone call from mass highway saying, take the signs down or we'll be taking them down for you. Uh, because we weren't authorized to post the speed limit. They did allow us to post the 20 mile per hour speed limit in the area of the schools. But that's all they would allow us to do. We were trying to put at 20 miles an hour the whole stretch of High Street, and that failed miserably. But we do need support, and I think we need support from our state delegation as well to make these things happen before we do have another tragedy out there. So, I just wanted to address a couple of those issues, and just to pledge that we will be out there doing more enforcement. We will be looking for the distracted driving. We will be doing speed enforcement, and we will be definitely doing the crosswalk enforcement. as much as we possibly can.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Chief. On the motion of Councilor Caraviello, as seconded by Vice President Lago-Kern, and amended by Vice President Lago-Kern, Councilors Falco, Knight, and Marks. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The motion carries. The City Engineer, the motion has been disposed of. Anybody want to grant the City Engineer the indulgence? Madam Engineer.
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: I'm sorry, I didn't move fast enough. Cassandra Cudelitas, 29 Crystal Street, Melrose. I wanted to come here tonight to give you an update on the work that we have been doing on Complete Streets. We have, since March, been working very hard on a policy statement, a prioritization plan. I hired, along with MAPC, a traffic consulting engineer who went out and looked at a number of locations And we prioritized, as I said, about 20 projects, of which the top seven and the top number one project is High Street at Brooks School. So that project does feature, as people in the audience have mentioned, as well as the chief, curb extensions, the narrowing of the road. It also looks at traffic beacons that pedestrians can push to slope. to alert traffic, oncoming traffic, in a rapid strobe-like fashion to slow them down. Better signage, better striping, this would all extend into West Medford Square as project number two, with more curb extensions and more ways to narrow the roadway, right of way. I am, personally, I'm appalled at the way that people drive in Medford, a lot of people. I was nearly run over myself about a month ago on Salem Street, as a parent, as somebody who is, hyper aware of all of these different traffic infractions. I took a photograph today of somebody who parked on the sidewalk. Can we send a ticket? I got the license plate number. I think we have to do something to address these issues of just rampant, out of control, impatient Boston area driving. So I just wanted to come here and tell you where we stand with the program. We just received the funding today. So that means that I can hire a designer to get going with the survey and the design. We are looking at short-term measures. There was a meeting on Thursday. There are things that you can buy and put in place temporarily that we're looking at, ways to use these called tactical measures to create mock curb extensions for the time being, even to get the public used to it. ahead of time, because we're going to have to do the survey to locate everything. We have to make sure we don't create drainage problems with ponding. We have to pick the right kind of lights and make sure that they're set right. Glare is an issue. All of you have experienced it, I'm sure, as drivers. And then we're doing six projects at once. We're also doing a study of Haynes Square. That's project number seven. So all these will be bundled by about the end of this calendar year, going out to bid for construction start in the early spring.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mrs. Engineer. You're welcome. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Before you leave, Ms. Engineer, I don't know if Councilor Scarpelli was going to ask the same question as I. Is there any way you could just outline briefly number three, four, five, and six, just so we get an idea? I know you mentioned there's seven projects. Sure.
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: Number three, Tufts Pool. and park Main Street at Medford Street. That's a dicey area to cross, as some of you may know. And we're looking to make a stop sign on Main Street, so traffic entering that merge on Main does not have to look over its left shoulder to see who's coming down Medford Street. We also want to take out that triangular parking area and make parallel parking, create an island that would serve as a refuge for people crossing the street, and install the flashing beacons as well. That's number three. Number four is Haines Square, but that's a study only for right now because the issues along the property line, the right-of-way, the parking lot, I think it's going to take a little more time to figure out, and we didn't want it to slow down this other work. So that's four, that's a study. Number five is Medford Square, Salem Street at Ashland and River, where I almost became a statistic if I hadn't backed up. So that's a curve extension, shortening of that crosswalk. It's three lanes, it's a very wide crossing. I see a number of people there struggling to get across, running sometimes. Project number six, Winthrop Circle at High Street. We are bringing Winthrop Circle up to standard for the manual and uniform traffic control, which means striping, signs, everything that's appropriate to have for a roundabout as it's currently configured. And also some improvements to the handicap ramps. We know that there's a larger issue around that location that could be addressed, such as what's the best placement for the circle, dealing with trucks, turning movements, and all of those things. But for the short term, it can be striped, it can be signed, so that it meets code. And then finally, this Boston Avenue corridor from High Street to the Somerville line, it's the addition of a bike lane and share rows on the opposite side.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. And the funding we received today, can you tell us how much that was for?
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: We got all of it. And we're one of 11 communities who have received it so far, so.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Congratulations.
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: We're out in front, yes.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So we're working on, obviously, the designers for the long-term changes, but we're also working on some short-term.
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: Yes, yes. I have calls into companies that provide portable devices and getting quotes from them, trying to see what would work there, what would be helpful. Great. Thank you. You're welcome.
[George Scarpelli]: Council Scott. If we can just, just follow up with that. If we just have a copy of that, that, um, just more deep so we can follow along with the detail.
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: Certainly.
[George Scarpelli]: You know, my penmanship is awful. So the shorthand, I missed half of that. So if you can, thank you.
[fRTeqEogCEI_SPEAKER_39]: I'd be happy to appreciate it. Okay.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, madam, uh, engineer on the motion of council night to Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: I was stopped by a resident on the way in tonight that would like to address the council.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Gentleman, Mr. Poth here.
[John Falco]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_04]: Good evening. My name is Eddie Poria. I was born in Medford a long, long time ago. I'm 56 years old. I've just moved back to the Boston area after being down in Florida for 30 years. I lost my wife last year from cancer, and it was time to come home. And I'm thrilled to be back in the Boston area. I've got to tell you. When I was growing up, I never realized that Massachusetts was called Taxachusetts. And now that I'm back here, I kind of realize why. I'm frustrated. I moved to Florida in 1986. And I just moved back here a month ago. And I'm trying to do the right thing. The law says that you've got 10 days to come and change your license. And so I went to go do my license. come to find out I owe some old bills, which I have no problem with. I owe nine years worth of excise taxes, which amounts to, I think it's $449. I'm disputing two years, the last two years. And the reason why I'm disputing that is because I moved to Florida in 86, was pretty much down there forever. I did come home for six months after going back and looking back and forth at everything, I did come home and I bought a car. I bought that car without having the documents. I believe I bought it in 88 and I moved back to Florida in 88 and I can prove that. I actually have a lease in my name in the year 1988, and I haven't been back since. And here's the problem I have. I've called the mayor's office, waited a couple of weeks, and never got a call back from anyone in the mayor's office. Finally, I got a call from Ed O'Neill, who I think he's maybe in your tax department, real nice fellow, and he basically explained to me that What he needs from me is either a copy of the registration, copy of a bill of sale, or maybe something from the insurance company. And I think that's a very reasonable request. If it's within five, maybe six, seven years. We're talking 30 years. So the best I could do was, is I was able to produce my driver's license records going all the way back to 86. I show notations in 88. I show notations in 90. I'm still licensed right now as we speak in Florida. I'm trying to pay you guys. I'm trying really, really hard. And I come down here tonight. We're talking about $131.80. I owe the city $442. I have no problem paying you all's money. I really don't. But I just, and I'll ask, Mr. President, I'll ask you. If you can't come up with these three things, and the state of Florida is telling me that before 1990, their records are horrible. They've asked me to fill a form out, and they told me they'll get back to me sometime after a couple of weeks. So I've been trying to work through their minds. I've reached out to a couple of the council members, and they've been very kind. They were good enough to return my call. And I'm just frustrated because I don't think that I realize you all need to have your money, and I have no problem doing that, but I think that we're being a little bit unreasonable here. And I'm just trying to find a way to get through this. And, again, like I say, what you all are asking for, it's reasonable, but I'd like to challenge anybody in this room, if they could possibly produce for me their insurance, their registration, or their bill of sale from a car from 30 years ago. I'm trying to do the right thing. I want to pay you guys. And, um, I'm going crazy cause I feel like I'm being stonewalled and, um, I really don't know what to do. So I decided that maybe I'd come down here and speak to the council, ask you guys if there's anything you can do. If there's nothing you can do, maybe you can tell me whose head I can, who, who can, who else can I speak to? because I desperately want to pay you, but I got to tell you, I feel like you guys are I don't know. I just, I feel like you're really being greedy and being unreasonable. And, um, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have, but I think that by producing my, my, all my license stuff and producing my lease from 1988 that I sent to the mayor's office, I don't know. I'm just a little bit surprised that didn't, that didn't warrant at least a phone call back. And, um, I just don't know what to do at this point. So I'm pleading for y'all's help or some advice to, to get through this.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I think Councilman Knight will be able to point you in the right direction, but it seems to me that this is a matter for the Treasurer-Collector's Office.
[Adam Knight]: The Treasurer-Collector or the Assessor, Mr. President? The Assessor's Office. I think you might be able to petition the Assessor's Office for an abatement on the additional $132 in excise. I think that if you petition the board of assessors with requests for an abatement as well as a sworn affidavit saying that your location was Florida and that you disposed of the vehicle prior to you leaving the state, that that would be enough to get your foot in the door and you can make a case with the board of assessors. That would be my advice.
[SPEAKER_04]: I just, you know, there's $311.19 that I know the city of Medford definitely could use. And you guys could have had it a month ago. Right now I'm currently a courier and I'm breaking the law. And I'm a little headstrong. I've been through a lot. I've been through a lot. I've been through a real lot. And I've been beaten down. I've lost everything. I lost my house. The reason why I moved back is because I lost my house in foreclosure. But I lived in a street where 10 people died from cancer. So leaving there and coming back, it's OK. It's OK that I lost that house. I just want you all to be fair to me, and I think that what you just offered to me serves great. It's a shame that the mayor's office couldn't have been good enough to pass an information on, or even Ed O'Neill. But I do thank you very much for that. Are there specific forms? Do I need to call? Do I need to go in the house?
[Adam Knight]: My advice would be to give Mr. O'Neill a call back, as the chairman of the Board of Assessors. He'll be able to point you in the right direction. If, in fact, they'll be willing to entertain an appeal for an abatement. We'll have to go back to the drawing board, but I think that's a good place to start.
[SPEAKER_04]: Well, I'd like to thank all of you for time. Thanks for listening. If you guys have any questions or anything.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much for coming down and welcome back to Medford.
[SPEAKER_04]: I'm very glad to be here in spite of a little bit of muddy waters here. You all take care. Thank you. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Knight to revert to the regular order of business. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-636. Hearing. City of Medford. Notice of public hearing. Public hearing will be held. Medford City Council and the Howard F. Alden Memorial Chambers, City Hall, Medford, Massachusetts, on Tuesday evening, September 20th, 2016, at 7 p.m., on a petition of V.S. Convenience, Incorporated, doing business as N.K. Convenience, for a special permit use to be granted under Chapter 94, Zoning Ordinances of the City of Medford, Section 94 to 148d, Table of Use Regulations, Section 56b, Keno, with monitor at 562 High Street, Medford, Mass., a commercial one district. Petition and plans may be seen in the office of the city clerk. City Hall, Medford, Mass., 781-393-2425. Call 781-393-2501 for any accommodations. City of Medford is an EEO-AA-504 employer. By order of the city council, Edward P. Finn, city clerk, advertised The Medford Daily Mercury, September 6 and September 13, 2016. Um, this is a, uh, we have supporting documentation, uh, uh, before us, uh, the public hearing for the keynote. Um, and, uh, the documentation shows no, uh, uh, objection from the department heads as far as I could see. And Mr. Clerk, we, open this up to those in favor. So anybody in favor of this, please state your name and address before the podium, and your intention of being in favor. Are you in favor, sir? We are, yes.
[SPEAKER_28]: Yes. Please say your name and address. Love Patel, 536 Windup Street. And are you in favor of this petition? Yes, sir. Thank you. And your name, sir?
[SPEAKER_11]: My name is Viral Kumar Patel, and I'm in favor, yes.
[SPEAKER_28]: Welcome.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Anybody else in favor? Anybody else in favor?
[SPEAKER_00]: Disha Patel, 536 Winthrop Street, in favor.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. In favor, sir? Anybody else in favor? Hearing and seeing none, we declare this portion of the public hearing. You're in favor? Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_11]: My name is Ashok Patel, 536 Winthrop Street. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: In favor? Anybody else in favor? Hearing and seeing none, we declare that portion of the motion. Were you in favor, sir? No. No. We declare that portion of the meeting closed. Anybody in opposition? Anybody in opposition, please present yourself to the podium and state so.
[SPEAKER_24]: Thank you. My name is Ernest Meunier, 24 Newton Road in West Medford. I am not. You're in opposition? Yes, I'm not.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. You can speak your reasons afterwards.
[SPEAKER_24]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Anybody else in opposition? Hearing and seeing none, we declare that portion of the meeting closed. And we open it up to discussion, Chairman of Licensing Committee. But we just vote on non-objection, right? No, this is a special permit. This is a special permit? Yeah. Who's Chairman of Zoning? Ricky? Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much and thank you to the petitioner as well as the gentleman who came up to speak in opposition. After a view of the papers, all the paperwork does appear to be in order. Mr. President, as we've noted that this is an issue that requires a special permit, I personally feel as though we don't have a need for any kino monitors in our convenience stores and I'd like to be recorded in opposition. However, the paperwork is complete. I see no problem with the paperwork. This is a philosophical issue for me, Mr. President, not a matter of public process or procedure. So, with that being said, I'd move for approval on the papers, but I'd like to be reported in opposition because I feel as though we have enough keynote monitors in our convenience stores as it is right now.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So, Councilor Knight moves approval. Chair recognizes Vice President Lago-Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President De La Ruza. I was going to ask the same question you just asked the city clerk. I thought we voted to
[Clerk]: not object or to object, usually it's... I think that was done prior and then we made the petitioner, he didn't object, but made the petitioner, alerted the petitioner that he needed a special permit. So it was a prior meeting, he didn't object. but you can't proceed until he gets it. Yeah.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If we could hear from the residents that are, well, for, for, I know the petitioners are for it. If we could hear from the people that are against it. I've received emails and phone calls with people in, um, who are against it as well. So I just want to kind of hear it out and see.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The chair will recognize the petitioner. Your reasons for wanting this special permit?
[SPEAKER_11]: The reasons for this is this is a common Keno license. The state lottery gives out to the agents who are qualified to get the Keno permit. And that reason, they give us the permission to get the Keno license. And that was the reason we applied for the Keno license.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chairman Knight?
[Adam Knight]: Does the gentleman have the ability to sell Kino right now, absent the monitor?
[SPEAKER_11]: Yes.
[Adam Knight]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_11]: That is correct.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I believe somebody wanted to speak. Anybody else?
[SPEAKER_33]: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I've been a manager at the store for quite some time. I've always helped my cousins out. Since at the age of 13, I've been filling coolers and stuff. I've always been at the store. This is where we're started, and this is the initiative store that we've always been a part of. I went to McLean myself, as well as Medford Eye. I've always been part of this community, and I agree that the other places do have kino stores, which I don't understand why I may not have the same rights as someone else does.
[Adam Knight]: If I may, Mr. President, it's a special permit issue. Whatever permits were granted before I came on the council that I have no control or knowledge of, however, since I've been on this board, I've consistently voted against Keno monitors and convenience stores because I feel like it takes the convenience out of convenience stores. You go there for milk, you got to wait in line for people to play Keno, people are standing around loitering. It just gives a bad feel for the neighborhood, Mr. President. It's a philosophical thing. It's nothing to do with the individual. I think that they run a great business. I'm very familiar with the business. I was very familiar with Dan's convenience before they took over.
[SPEAKER_33]: I just philosophically oppose keynote monitors that I can be in the stores Thank you So to oppose that distraction and keep the convenience we actually have two keynote machines so one is towards the side of the end of the store where the customers can watch and and play the keynote aside from the convenience side. So anyone that wants to come in and out, grab milk, water, paper, they're more than welcome to. So that should not distract whatsoever. And I've also provided a layout up the store as well of how it's going to be set up.
[Adam Knight]: I know that the application, Mr. President, indicated that that layout was still required by, I believe, our building department to take a look at before. Yes, we need a plot plan for the special permit through the city clerk's office. City clerk's application from the building commissioner. So that plug plan does need to be submitted to the building commissioner. We have submitted it. Yes. Everything has been submitted.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. There was somebody in opposition who wanted to speak. Welcome, please state your name and address for the record again, thank you.
[SPEAKER_24]: Yes, again, Ernest Muneer, 24 Newton Road in West Medford. I've been a resident there 30 plus years, and I don't wanna get into the nuances about whether or not having a gambling related establishment or part thereof in the neighborhood is philosophically a good idea. I wanna talk about public safety. And that is that, well, as an example, as part of the complete streets project that Cassandra related to, I spent a few afternoons in the last two years doing pedestrian, bicycle, and motor vehicle monitoring at that intersection of Sagamore, Boston, that's a continuous straight line, and High Street. In addition to the fact that I live in that neighborhood and cross that intersection, perhaps 20 or 30 times a week, I've noticed the difficulty and I'm here to prevent the next serious accident. As everyone knows, continuing through High Street at that bend is a snaking operation. Parking is allowed on both sides. people coming westbound toward Arlington Center who want to stop at this and do business at this convenience store stop blocking the intersection to traffic on Sagamore and almost always within the 20 feet distance told to me by the chief of the DPW. that's required to stay away from an intersection. Those of us who come down Sagamore and have to turn right onto high street are often blocked from doing so by cars parked on the corner or even double parked on the corner, blocking the road itself. I've encountered cars who are there empty, idling, running to the convenience store, and more often than not, come out without anything visible. It means they're not buying milk or potatoes or bananas, they're buying cigarettes and playing with Keno. This was a shocking bit of truth that I discovered watching traffic in this area. The city has Originally 20, 30 years ago, bad intersections, curb stones were marked yellow. Now the paint is long faded. They're fully weeded and there's no signage. I went to the DPW meeting last week by coincidence, unrelated to this petition to state that this is a mess. that people are going to be hurt here and the difficulty involved, that the intersection should be cleaned up and signs have to be put up simply saying no parking to corner, both on the Sagamore, Boston Avenue and high street sides of the corner. I think that as a prerequisite, and the curbstone should be painted yellow, as a prerequisite to allowing the increase of traffic to establishments on this corner, particularly the convenience store whose clients seem to be most transient, not walk-ins from the neighborhood. It's not a convenient neighborhood store. It's for people passing through to buy cigarettes and play gambling games. That, I believe, is the predominant nature of their business. At least if we decide philosophically to allow that to continue, we have to at least post the signs on the intersection prohibiting parking in the middle of the intersection, on all eight curves of the four-way intersection. I would like to see the cleanup of that intersection and proper postage and marking as a prerequisite to the granting of any extended license. Thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, sir. We have a motion for approval.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If I may, I'd like at least another week. I had discussed this with a few other residents that were not able to attend tonight, and I'm not sure if they reached out to the rest of the council, but I'd like to just kind of get more. I told them that we usually don't that we usually vote to approve. I just want to make sure they get the correct information that this is before us. Um, so I'd like to table this motion to table.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. Madam vice president.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion to table on debatable. Sure. Recognize this council Scarpelli for requests to suspend the rules.
[George Scarpelli]: 16, six, seven, four, six, seven, five, and six, seven, six, please.
[Fred Dello Russo]: on the motion for suspension of the rules to take communications from the mayor. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-674, to Council President Dello Russo and members of the Medford City Council, from Stephanie M. Burke, Mayor, reloan order, City Hall roof facade improvements. Dear Mr. President and City Councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that your Honorable body approve the following City of Medford, Massachusetts loan order for City Hall roof facade improvements, municipal facility, be it ordered that the sum of $1,800,000 be and hereby is appointed, appropriated to pay costs of demolishing and reconstructing the roof and facade of Medford City Hall and all pertinences, uh, there too, including the payment of all costs, incidental and related there too, And that to raise this appropriation, the city treasurer with the approval of the mayor is authorized to borrow to set some under and pursuant to chapter 44, section 7, 3A of the Massachusetts general laws as amended and supplemented or pursuant to any other enabling authority and to issue bonds or notes of the city therefore. and further order that the city treasurer is authorized to file an application with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Municipal Finance Oversight Board to qualify under Chapter 44A of the general laws, any and all bonds or notes of the city authorized by this vote or pursuant to any prior vote of the city and in connection therewith to provide such information and execute such documents as the Municipal Finance Oversight Board of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts may require. and Sincerely Yours, Stephanie M. Burke, Mayor. Here with us tonight to present on the matter is the Building Commissioner of the City of Medford, Paul Mokey.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Thank you, Mr. President, members of the Council. As stated in your remarks, we have had a bid opening already earlier this month for the first of three phases of the City Hall renovations, which is the roof repair, parapet wall replacement, and cupola restoration. And earlier today, the Procurement Office emailed out the notice of award and the contract to the low bidder, and we are hoping that if he processes that in a timely manner and all his paperwork is in order, we're hoping that that work sometime on the middle of October would begin. And of course, uh, when you're doing any type of roofing work, that's going to be dependent on the weather, but we're hoping to get the roof weather tight, uh, before the snow starts to fly. That's the first phase of the project. There were two other phases. The second phase would be the renovation of the council chambers. And obviously where there's some roof issues, we want to have to, um, make sure that the, uh, the roof is completed and the weather tight before we would do That phase of the construction, that's currently, the bid documents are currently in the process of being prepared, and we're hoping sometime at the end of this month, beginning of next month, that we would get the bid, have the bid opening for that. And the third phase, which would be the front entry, new doors to the front entry, front entry renovations would be done sometime in the spring. And again, there's also James Barr, one of the principals of Russo Barr Engineering Firm is here. He's in the process now of preparing all the bid specs and documents for that, and we're hoping sometime the end of October, the beginning of November, that we would have a bid opening for the third phase of that construction.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. Mulkey, for being here this evening. I appreciate moving forward with this. I know that many residents have talked about the the jewel of our community, the center of our community being the piece that people look at and start to judge who we are as a community. So I'm happy this is moving forward, but one of the, I know that if you can, if there's a way that we addressing one of the biggest concerns is also the bathrooms. Is there motion, is there movement in what we're doing for the restrooms here?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Yes.
[George Scarpelli]: We've,
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: We have the on-call contractor, Irving Plumbing Associates. We've had him in here at the beginning of the summer to do a report to a walkthrough of all the bathrooms with us. And right now, we have some prices to do that. But I'm having him brought back in again, because one of the issues that we're facing, and I'm sure you can appreciate any 80-year-old building, the water lines here that's so old that we're trying to, we're looking into alternatives, maybe putting some new lines so we can isolate each floor of the building so that when we do some repairs such as this, we don't have to kill the building, and that would also help us with some of the fixtures that are in there. So I'm hoping sometime before the end of this month to get him back in here, but that is being addressed. There's a lot of code issues we're looking into that, but hopefully within the next month we'll have some definitive numbers and a plan to move forward on that.
[George Scarpelli]: All right. Excellent. Thank you. No, I know.
[Adam Knight]: Obviously.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Yes. Mr. President, thank you very much. And Mr. Moki, thank you for your presentation. I think it was a rather thorough. It's my recollection that this council has appropriated funds in the past to make sure that the roof was weathertight to get it through the winter. I think we did that last winter. I think we might've done it the winter before as well, if I remember correctly. We've appropriated some funds so that we maintain that the roof is in safe water until we could get a paper like this before us so that we could go and get to work, if I recall correctly.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Yes, we've done some work in the last several years and with the anticipation to, um, you know, make it secure whichever way we can with, we knew this, uh, major renovations was coming. So we didn't want to put a lot of money into it, whether we'd have to, you know, a year or two down the road, rip up and do the whole thing over. So we did what we felt was necessary to make it, to make the wall secure and also to address any leaks that we were experiencing at the time.
[Adam Knight]: And with the approval of this paper, you feel as though you'll be able to get the construction work started out there in the next, looks like, what, 30 days' time almost.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Yes, well, I had a discussion with Mr. Russo earlier tonight, and fortunately, the low bidder is a contractor he's had experience with and he's familiar with. As a matter of fact, the notice of award in the contract was emailed earlier today. We're planning on doing a follow-up call with him tomorrow to emphasize the urgency of getting this done, and we're hoping that he's going to be cooperative, as we think he will, and really willing to get on this as soon as possible, of course.
[Adam Knight]: And soup to nuts, Mr. Moki. We're looking at this project starting and how long do you think phase one will take to complete.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Well, phase one, which of course is making the roof weather tight, we're hoping, I said the middle of October, we're actually hoping, trying to get them a little bit earlier than that, but I'm trying to be a little realistic with the schedule too. And we want that, we're really hoping to get that weather tight before the snow flies. But for the whole wall of wax, the completion day of the project is next June 30th for everything.
[Adam Knight]: We're at the close of the fiscal year. Okay, excellent. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Moki, for your report. I, too, am very happy to see this project. Very happy to see it getting started. This is, for many people that don't live here, they might come here to do business. And a lot of people, of course, that live here come here to do business. And it sends a message how we treat this building. It sends a message to the community about what we're about. Quick question about the parapet up top. So is that going to basically, when it's replaced, is it going to look the same?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Yes. We were very sensitive to that fact. We want it to look exactly the same. And what we've, in our pre-bid construction meetings with Russell Bioengineering and also our site visits with the contractors, and it was clearly specified in the construction documents and bid specifications that we are going to, we want an exact match of what's out there. As a matter of fact, we, in one of the areas, in an interior corner where one of the balustrades was loose, we saw it, kind of took it out, so they literally had an exact, it wasn't an exact replica, they had the exact piece of the balustrade, so they were able to match that very precisely.
[John Falco]: And as far as, right now I believe, with the type of material right now is concrete that's up there. Is that going to be concrete or is that going to be another material?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: No, it's going to be a polymer mix. It's polyvinyl. It's going to look very similar to concrete. It's going to have a finish on it which matches the textured finish that's up there now also. So it'll be a very close match. And again, before anything is finalized, we're going to have different samples to pick from. But that was, again, something we We're very sensitive to the historic nature of this building, and we're working very hard with the manufacturers and the engineering firm to make sure that's a very precise match up there.
[John Falco]: And I assume that the polyvinyl probably holds up longer and more weather-resistant?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Yeah, it's much more durable. It's more cost-effective. And as far as the construction process, it's a lot better to assemble that on the roof as opposed to the old piece of old concrete that was up there before. OK. Thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Again, um, long overdue, uh, as you can see, you know, since in my five years here, I've seen the roof fall down on people. Uh, luckily not hurt somebody one day. Uh, we see a leaking on the walls over there, but, uh, I'm glad that, you know, we're keeping the historical, uh, look of the building and, um, I support this, uh, motion, uh, wholeheartedly and let's get started. Okay.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair awaits a motion.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion for approval. Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Knight. Chair recognizes Vice President Lungo-Koehn. Chair recognizes Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Just briefly, before us tonight in the three papers is money to be taken out of free cash, a request for $1.2 million out of free cash, $1.8 million in bond, and $45,000, I believe another $45,000 out of free cash. That's $3,045,000. I would just ask that we have a committee of the whole meeting and invite the mayor to sit down with us. I think it's important to go over these three projects in a little bit more detail because each one of them didn't come with more than a paragraph or two. And also— Point of information, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: However much money it is, it's millions of dollars. And we also have requested a number of times, including in our June meetings, budget meetings, that we sit down and we've requested multiple times, I think, not only to see what the budget's going on a month-to-month basis, but also that we see what the capital improvement plan that the mayor's putting forward, what it's going to look like. I believe there was a rough draft of it done in August. We asked to see the rough draft. We weren't apprised to it, which is fine. Supposedly, it's coming out within the next couple weeks. I think it's important that we sit down and we meet with regards to a number of different projects that we've all asked for and we all want done and projects that do need to be done. But we're talking multimillion-dollar projects. If anybody's walked through the police station, I mean, I, as one councilor, want to see where we are with that. And if we're not going to do it in its entirety for millions and millions of dollars, then we need to make sure that within this capital improvement plan, there are monies in there to redo portions of that police station that need to be desperately done. I was in recently, and it's filthy. I can't believe we are allowing our men and women to operate in such terrible conditions. So that, along with the library roof, along with city hall roof, I think it's something that we need to sit down, even if it's an hour, an hour and a half meeting. We can do it next Tuesday before our meeting, city council meeting. I think it's important we as a council get apprised of what is coming forward. How many millions are we going to go out to bond for? What are we going to take from free cash over the next six months? And how are we going to move forward rather than, you know, obviously, piecemeal a little at a time. I think we're owed that. I think we owe the citizens to be able to say, we're going to expend and go out to bond for 10, 12, 14 million dollars in the next year, and this is why, this is what it's for. But right now we just have, you know, the one before us, and I think it's extremely important we get to see the big picture. And whether that's seven days, I don't think it's going to, you know, be detrimental to this project, but I think that it's something that you know, we deserve answers to, and I don't think we're going to get the answers anytime soon unless we, you know, obviously hold up the paper and demand the answers. That's just my opinion, and I understand this needs to be moved forward. Most Councilors want this to move forward. I think the seven of us do, but I truly believe that we need to sit down and discuss it as a whole. Capital Improvement Plan, we've been asking for it for many months now. It's time. It's time.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by council Caraviello, seconded by councilor night chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Uh, thank you, Mr. President. I think all of us behind this reeling realized the need for repairs to this particular building. And, uh, I know councilor Scarpelli brought up an issue that's near and dear to me about the, uh, which I refer to him as prison restrooms we have, uh, within this building here that are in deplorable condition. So I too would like to see a total plan. And I was under the impression after budget deliberations that we were gonna be seeing the mayor's capital improvement plan sometime in September and October. And to me, that would give me a better vision of what the future's gonna bring, rather than having it come before us piecemeal. We all realize the parapet and the exterior of the building is in tough condition. I remember some years back, and some of the councilors were on at the time, that any spending paper that was before this council, we voted as a council to have it appear, not the first time on the council floor, but at a committee of the whole meeting. So we can sit down with the department heads, we can sit down with the mayor. and discuss the need for the spending. And I don't know why we got away from that, but now we're seeing multimillion dollar items appear on the council floor for the first time without any committee of the whole meetings. And, uh, you know, I, I prefer, uh, the ladder. I prefer committee of the whole meetings, uh, and, uh, discussion. You know, we received a paper stating what's gonna be done, and the paper we received from the mayor's office, it goes on to say phase two will be a bid in the spring for internal work in the council chambers, external work such as front entrance doors, et cetera. Now, if I was gonna do work in my house, And I went to the contractor and said, what are you going to do for this $50,000 I've given you? And he says, well, I'm going to replace your windows, et cetera, et cetera. I'd say, wait a minute. No, what does et cetera mean? What's actually involved? What are we getting for our dollar? So I think this needs to be vetted personally, Mr. President, and the committee, the whole meeting. I don't think anyone behind this reel doesn't think this is well overdue. As we know, the city for many years neglected its buildings and its infrastructure without having proper maintenance. So I would just respectfully ask that this be laid on the table until we have a Committee of the Whole meeting. Mr. President, I'm sure you can set that up next week and we can discuss this further, as well as any other capital improvements we heard about the woman's locker room at the police station. I heard about that a dozen times. I've yet to see that. That's a cost of the estimates that I've heard, half a million dollars to add a woman locker room. in the police station. There's a number of issues that we were told during budget that don't worry about them during budget. It's going to be part of the mayor's capital improvement plan. So I think we really need to sit down, Mr. President, as a council. You know, I've been around for a little while, and I refuse to get things piecemeal like the city worked for many, many years under the past administration. And I think it's only appropriate that we're the stewards of the taxpayers' money. And it's an easy fix just to approve everything. But I think we have to do our homework and our due diligence on this. And, uh, I don't think it hurts anyone to have a committee, the whole meeting on this.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President, was that a motion?
[Michael Marks]: Yes, it would be a motion. Mr. President, motion to table matter is tabled committee, the whole meeting. That was part of the motion.
[Fred Dello Russo]: 16-six 75. To the Honorable President, to the members of the Medford City Council, City Hall, Medford Mass, 02155, dear Mr. President and City Councils, I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body approve the appropriation of certified free cash in the amount of $45,000 for the purpose of providing necessary repairs to the library roof. As you are aware, the building committee for the libraries in the process of preparing comprehensive application for building improvements. An engineering report was prepared by Russo bar detailing the options. The balance and certified free cash prior to this vote is $8,187,775. The building commissioner, Paul Moki will be present to answer any questions you may have. Sincerely, Stephanie M Burke mayor. Mr. Moki.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Thank you, Mr. President. As you know that we also commissioned Russo bar to do a two studies at the library and existing conditions report of the existing roof and a feasibility study to, uh, for the possibility of putting a second floor addition on and the, uh, to address the roof portion of that study first, um, It was determined that there were three layers on the existing roof in the library, and that it's over 20 years old. It's in pretty tough shape, and the recommendation in the long run is to strip those three layers and put a new roof on, and that would also encompass other facets of the roof repair, which would be there's some through-wall flashing, the drains are not clogged, not working properly, and some of the vent stacks need to be renovated to be brought up to code. So that's the one recommendation would be to strip the whole roof, do those repairs and renovations, and we'd have a whole new roofing system. In the meantime, which ties in with this first project, there was also a study done on the feasibility of putting a second floor on the library, and that report came back that in order to construct a second floor, We would have to upgrade the structural system in particular of that building because when that was built in the late 50s, there was no mass state building code and no seismic requirements that were really addressed. And one of the issues in doing a project of this nature is in the existing building code, you have to upgrade all the structural systems for seismic loads. So that was one of the recommendations they made that based on their studies, their preliminary studies, there'll be a lot of structural work need to be done for an addition. Having taken that into account, they also gave us another option as opposed to stripping the new roof. If the decision is to go with an addition instead of putting a whole new roof that may only be having to take out in a few years, they gave us an option to perform some repairs. And the option for the repairs would range from $35,000 to $45,000 to go up there and do various repairs to make everything weathertight. as opposed to a whole new roofing system. And right now, we're in the process of getting bids to do that work.
[Adam Knight]: So at this point in time, Mr. Mulkey, it would be the recommendation of the administration that we move forward to repair the roof and take further look at the seismic requirements in the state building code that might allow us to expand the building, as I understand it.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Yes, right now I've been instructed to get the three quotes, and I'm not really sure the immediate plan for the addition or for the seismic study. We're still in the process of discussing that.
[Adam Knight]: So there's a possibility that we could expend $35,000 to $45,000 this evening for repair work to the roof that ultimately will need to be replaced in the future if the addition doesn't go as... discussed or planned?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Well, I think that's what we're still in the process of trying to make that determination. Obviously, we don't want to spend that money if it's only going to get us a few years. We want to, of course, make the roof weather tight, which we have done recently. But upon further investigation by the Russo Bar, there were a lot of underlying factors which may need some immediate addressing also.
[Richard Caraviello]: Okay. Thank you. Thank you Mr. President. Mr. President, I ask that we approve this money this evening. I am on the library building committee and the group is working very hard to get the first part of the comprehensive plan done by the end of October for submission because in January the library commission will be awarding the grants for library construction. So I think this is a small amount to hold us over. for a little bit of time to buy us into January to see if we're part of the process that will be given some funds to rehabilitate the whole library. So again, I ask that this be done just to buy us a little bit of time to get us into January. And as I say, if in January we're successful with our grant, all the better. But I say, you know, I'd hate to see the library go through another winter of leaking all over the place.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello, Vice President Legelkern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I mean, I'm sorry. Thank you for allowing me to speak. I agree with Councilor Caraviello. I think this council made it very clear that the library leaking needed to be like top priority back, geez, February, February, March, I believe is when the leaking really began to happen. and now we're in September. I think Councilor Knight had a great question and I also would continue on those questions with regards to if we expend this, what would happen? How much is it gonna be if we do want to change the structure of the building, put more money into it to create the second floor? I think these are all questions that we almost need to know what the plan is going forward. Do you know if that's the intention of the administration?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Well, I think the initial report that came back on both the roof replacement and the feasibility of an addition is something that came in about a little over a week ago, and we're in the process of looking at it. But also, the immediate recommendation is to do this estimated 35,000 to 45,000 repairs to make it weathertight. tending to focus on that right away so that, as Councilor Caraviello said, we can assure that there won't be any roof leak issues going through the winter.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And how much would it cost to put a second floor and create those structural changes?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Well, the report did not get into any projected cost analysis. The initial phase of the report was to do an existing condition study with focusing on a lot of the structural work. and that was all they were commissioned for. They did not get into any projected costs of any additions because at this time, there's not really any decisions been made in terms of size of the addition or what exactly the space would encompass for that addition.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So is there any, I mean, I think the question was already answered by Councilor Knight, but we're expending this 35 to 45,000. Is it gonna all be for naught if we decide to create a second floor?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Well, I understand what you're saying, Councilor, but I wouldn't say it would be all for naught, because as you said, the roof is so bad, I think something really has to be done right now. Because if we did decide to move forward with an addition in the near future, as we all know, going through the public procurement process, bid specs and design, that's going to take a little bit of time. So I don't think that's time we can let the roof go the way it is without doing some type of repairs.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I don't know how my colleagues feel. I mean, I've seen the roof in its leaky state for so many months, but at the same time, I do wish that we could sit down with the mayor and really see what the priorities are. And if the library happens to be the sixth or seventh priority versus the police station, then obviously, yes, let's put this money in immediately. But, you know, should we do more? Should we do less? I think there's a number of questions that need to be asked. you know, face-to-face in a committee of the whole meeting so we can get a better idea. And I appreciate all the work Councilor Caraviello's doing and the grant that's going to be applied for, and hopefully we can make improvements to the library. And this roof does badly need to be fixed, but should we be doing more at this stage or should we be doing a little less? I just think there's all kinds of questions that need to be asked within the scheme of where are we at with a number of different projects that this council and the administration want to move forward on. And obviously, the administration is going take forefront. We're going to, you know, obviously ruling authority is going to, you know, take place, but I just think we need to have some important—we need to be educated on it, and we need to know where we're going before we make money expenditures, whether it's $20,000 or a million and a half. I just feel like two lines is not enough. It's just not enough, and I think whether it's 30 minutes or an hour, we need to be able to ask some questions and get to the bottom of the capital improvement plan.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you. And I don't want to put my colleague Councilor Caraviello on the spot, but where he sits on the, um, uh, committee on the public library for the rehab of the public library, uh, in the best case scenario, if we were to get the grant money from the state after filing the application, are we looking at two years out before we possibly could get some funding and start looking at an addition? Are we looking at three years? Are we?
[Richard Caraviello]: Well, again, um, you know, January is not that far away. Um, if we could, uh, I think if this, this, uh, holds us in the, into January, uh, I mean, like you said, you know, the funding is not going to come, you know, January 1st, you know, uh, applying for the funding space, you know, the first phase, um, we are, we're in the process of picking the architect right now and hopefully that'll be done by tomorrow. That's, that's the goal. Get it done before the end of this week. Um, and so we can get that part, But like I said, the funding is not going to come immediately. And there'll be no putting a second floor on immediately. But this is something that is needed immediately. So you're looking sometime, even if we were successful, you're looking at sometime well into next year, even on the good end. And again, if we miss this round of funding, the next round doesn't come until 2022. But then, you know, it's history. So again, this is a small amount of money to get us through this, to at least get us into January, and we'll know the direction of the library. So I say, I ask that we approve this tonight, so this can get started before the winter. Again, you know, the contract is gonna be all, we're gonna end up being in the same predicament we got in with the sidewalks, we waited too long, and no one's gonna do the work.
[Michael Marks]: So, uh, Mr. Moki, it was about, uh, I don't know, maybe four months ago that, uh, there was an appropriation made, uh, for some repairs to the library roof. They did some repointing, uh, around the top of the building. Uh, a major concern was the fact that no one was cleaning the drains. So we didn't have a lot of places where water was actually infiltrating through the roof, but people weren't cleaning the drains out in the top. that was creating pooling up there, and then water will find its way, you know, eventually. So, and that was a major repair from what I remember. The dollar amount was far less than $35,000 to $45,000. Over the last four or five months, what have we found? Because we were told that they were going to fix the roof, not a complete roof because there were three options at the time, but fix the roof to stop the leaking. And I thought we did that. And now you're saying that we're at $35,000 to $45,000 to
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: stop additional leaking now is this that's correct what we did this over this past winter as you just stated council was we were up there for a far less amount and we cleaned out some of the drains, and we patched whatever seams. It was really a patching of a lot of seams that had been damaged over the years, some of the counter flashing, pulling away, things of that nature. But this study that was done by Russovar in August, it was a very comprehensive study of the roof condition itself. And one of the things, to answer your question about what really changed, they found there's three layers of roofing up there, which is over 20 years old, so that has to all be stripped. But also part of this, their recommendations to address exactly what you said, to flush, to use a jet stream of water, flush out all the drains, and put in new drain strainers at the top, the counter flashing, The counter flashing in several areas is really too low, and when you get to the flashing at the edges of the parapet walls up there, it's all pulling away. So this, more than just patch isolated areas that we saw before, they would also clean off the roof, power wash it, spray it down. and walk the whole roof surface to just pinpoint and mark all the areas that are leaking and also put some type of hot welded seams there as opposed to just a cold pass. So it's a much more elaborate repair than we did before, but it also goes into other areas of flashing and cleaning all the drains, because as you said, there's a lot of ponding up there and the drains just weren't working properly right now.
[Michael Marks]: I, you know, I, I agree with some of the comments in what council Longo said. Um, and I, and I think a meeting's definitely needed for this particular building because it's a much larger scope and the project's much larger. Uh, but the library roof has been a bone of contention for a period of time now. Uh, it's heavily used by our youngsters and residents of this community. And I think to at least give me a peace of mind and people working in the library and people that go, uh, frequent the library, I think it's a small amount to share up that particular roof. So I would support this tonight, knowing that the study was done in August and that, you know, no matter what takes place with the building, we need to do something now, because I agree with you that we can't plan on a mild winter. I think, you know, we have to plan for the worst. And so I would support this tonight.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Cavill, are you all set? Motion for approval, Mr. President. Motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I'll reserve my comments. I think we're all understanding where we are right now and how we're going to vote. So with that point in time, I'd second Councilor Caraviello's move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Knight. Councilor Falco on that motion.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to also state, I think this is a project where time is of the essence. It needs to be done right away. I think back to the winter where walking into the building, I felt like the ceiling was kind of like a sieve. I mean, the water was just coming in. It needs to be repaired as soon as possible. And I also would like to see this approved tonight. So thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Chair recognizes Vice President Locarno.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. If we could ask just for an update in writing of exactly what the bid comes out at, the actual, whether that's $35,000, $40,000, $45,000, and what is actually going to be done. and then just have an update at the completion of the project, so that we can better understand where the money was spent.
[Fred Dello Russo]: As amended by Vice President Lungo-Koehn, Mr. Kern, the motion for approval, I second it. Mr. Clerk, call the roll. Please.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello? Yes, sir. Councilor Falco? Yes, sir. Councilor Knight? Yes, sir. Vice President Lungo-Koehn? Yes, sir. Councilor March? Yes, sir.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Scarpelli? Yes, sir. President Del Rosario? Yes, sir. Seven in the positive, nine in the negative. The motion passes. 16, Councilor? Yes.
[Michael Marks]: We had our first annual fundraiser for our dog park event this Sunday.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Got to put his mic on. Your microphone.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President, for those at home that didn't hear. We had our first annual fundraiser for our dog park that's going to go on Riverbend, hopefully next year, behind the McGlynn School. And we had a fundraiser this Sunday, 11 to 3. There were a number of volunteers that came to the event. It was well attended. We probably washed anywhere from 70 to 85 dogs. And let me tell you, if you haven't washed a dog, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work. I want to thank the organizers, Mr. President, that have been with moving this dog park forward for the past two years. Patty Flynn, Jim Silva, Gary DeStefano, and Diane Gintner, the chicken and rice guys, sponsored the event. So you came up, you got your dog wash, you got a plate of chicken and rice. We had a pet photographer there. I want to thank the administration, the mayor's office for allowing us to use City Hall and allowing us for the event to go forward. And again, I want to thank all the volunteers. It was a very successful event. We hope to have more events and hopefully this will lead to first dog park in the community. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes, Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: I also would like to just to make a quick announcement. Um, and that was that back in the spring, I offered a resolution to bring the monthly community police meetings, uh, into the neighborhoods. And, uh, I've been working on that and, uh, happy to say that we have a few dates coming up where we're actually going to be bringing the community, uh, police meetings into the various neighborhoods throughout our city. So therefore people can go to their, uh, just stay in the neighborhood and go to the meeting. So we're bringing the meeting to them. Um, so yep. Let's see. The first meeting is going to be October 5th at the Brooke school. Uh, the second meeting will be November 2nd at St. Francis. The third meeting will be on December 7th at the Andrews school. and the fourth meeting will be in South Medford, I believe on January 4th, but I just have to confirm that, but I just wanted to let everybody know that those community meetings have been set up. I talked with the chief about that as well, so we're always looking forward to it. They all start at 7 p.m., and if anyone has any questions, feel free to give me a call, I'll be more than happy to answer any questions. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. 16-676, to the Honorable President, Councilor, We're on 16-676. To the Honorable President and members of the Medford City Council, City Hall, Medford Mass. Dear Mr. President and City Councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that Your Honorable Body approve the appropriation of certified free cash in the amount of $1,200,000 for the purpose of awarding the contract to the lowest qualified bidder for the City Hall roof, parapet, and dome. An additional project, phase two, will be bid in the spring for internal work in the council chambers and external work such as front entrance, doors, et cetera. As you are aware, this body authorized the study to be performed by Rousseau Bar in late spring. They prepared the specifications for this bid, and we are eager to get this project started before the winter settles in. As you will note, there is a loan order on the agenda to cover the project, as well as the estimate for phase two work. We hope that you will authorize both appropriations. And once the loan order takes three readings, we will submit a paper to rescind this vote. The balance and certified free cash prior to this vote is 8,187,775. The building commissioner, Paul Moki will be present to answer any questions you may have. Chair recognizes Mr. Moki to explain this paper.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Thank you, Mr. President. This, uh, the, um, 1.2 million, the, uh, is in a appropriation for the, as we mentioned earlier, the phase one of the city hall renovations, which is the roof, uh, paper wall, uh, roof replacement, uh, paper wall replacement and repair and a restoration of the Cooper, uh, the Cooper and that this bid has already come in. and we request an appropriation of the money to sign this contract to begin this work on the roof.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair awaits a motion on the motion of Councilor Knight for approval. Motion to table by Councilor Marks. All those in favor. All those opposed. Chair's in doubt. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll on the motion to table.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello? No. Councilor Feldman? Councilor Knight? No. Vice President Malauulu-Coon? Yes. Councilor Markswell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? No. President Del Rosario?
[Fred Dello Russo]: No. The vote of five in the negative, two in the affirmative. The motion to table fails. Motion for approval by Councilor Knight. All those in favor, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Markswell? I would evoke rule 20 section four, Mr. President. Uh, thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Rule 20 has been invoked. Section four, which ends. Yes. Councilor Knight consults. It's the rules. It's the rule. It's the rule. On motion of council night to return to the regular order business all those in favor all those opposed motion carries 16-6 55 offered by council caraviello be resolved that Medford City Council requests the metric police increase the president presence in Medford Square and discuss possibility of putting on a foot or bicycle patrol officer council caviello Thank You mr. President mr. President I've been to
[Richard Caraviello]: multiple meetings about the improvements in Medford Square and making Medford Square more viable. During my mornings in the Square, in the afternoons in the Square, and late in the evening in the Square, there's a lot of loitering in the Square, people sitting around, in the Century Bank Garden there, smoking, using vulgar language, sleeping on the benches, same thing over where the bus area is. Again, people, as I say, people using vulgar language, again, sleeping on the benches there, and just littering the place. And Sunday, we're gonna open up the Peace Garden. And I would hope that that won't happen over there, because I've already heard concerns from many seniors that they're afraid that that's going to happen. And in the effort of trying to draw people to the square, having people sleeping on benches and doing those things is not the appeal that we're looking for, and that's not a way to get business or people into the square. So, Mr. President, I would ask that the chief I think he was here, but he's left. Offer some kind of help with either a foot patrol officer during the day to get these vagrants out of there, to stop people from sleeping on the benches. I don't know if there's an ordinance about sleeping on the street. Again, police officers drive by these guys multiple times, and somebody's got to get them off there. It doesn't look good for the merchants. I've heard from many merchants in the morning that they're coming from the rooming houses that we have in the Method Square area. So again, someone's got to keep these people moving on. to entice businesses to get there and not chase business away.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-656 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council recommend to the police chief that no trucks be allowed on Harvard Avenue in efforts to increase public safety, be it further resolved that the crosswalk at Harvard Avenue and Mystic River Road be repainted. Councilor Kavial.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, you know, a few weeks ago when they had the basketball tournament down at Duggar Park, when I was down there, I saw tanker trucks coming down Harvard Avenue. And what they're doing is, you know, they're trying to avoid High Street now with the traffic being the way it is. But like I said, Harvard Avenue is no way equipped to handle 18-wheel trucks on that road. I mean, there's a park there. And again, it's bad enough that road is narrow when there's cars parking on it, but to have oil tankers going down there on a regular basis, Mr. President, it's just not a thing to do. And I would ask that the chief put up a no heavy trucking sign and maybe do a little bit of patrol there for the trucks. Also, Mr. President, the crosswalks on Harvard Avenue and Mystic River Road have not been painted yet. There's a playground there, kids are crossing the street. And the unfortunate part is the DCR just paved that street. And when you pave the street, what happens is the Mystic River Road was paved by the DCR. Very good, they did an outstanding job, but when you pave the street, the cars go down there more and they go faster. And again, people just aren't stopping at those stop signs there on Harvard Ave or on Mystic River Street. So if the chief could put up a sign there and maybe put up a little bit more patrol over there to slow the cars down, and if the mayor could have the DPW paint the sidewalks, it'll be appreciated.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion approved by Councilor Caraviello, Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I was going to say a motion to refer the matter to the Traffic Commission for review. I'm in support of it wholeheartedly. I think it's a great resolution and I thank Councilor Caraviello for putting it on.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval, as amended, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-657 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council have the Building Department instruct the owners of the WEEI property on Commercial Street to install a a six-foot fence from the adjoining property to the guardrail in an effort to stop the illegal dumping. Be it further resolved that the city install a no-dumping sign and look into the purchase of a poll camera to help apprehend the parties doing the illegal dumping. Councilor.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I went by there about two weeks ago, and that area of Commercial Street I think had 16 television sets there that the DPW cleaned up along with all the building refuse. So I made a call to DPW, they came down, they were great, they picked it up. I went by the next day, there was rubbish there again. I went down and I spoke to John Bavuso about who owned the property. He informed me that it's owned by WEI. And I asked about if it would be possible for them to put a fence of six foot height from the adjoining property at least to the guardrail to curtail the dumping. He said that he didn't see a problem with that. And other than that, if the dump is gonna continue there and there's no fence there, let the owners of the property start picking up the tab for cleaning the property up. It's not fair to those people down there, that when they go home, to see all that rubbish dumped on the side there. Also, I know we had talked about putting a poll camera up there at some point. I don't know where that went, I don't know if I think we approved it, but obviously it's not there, and there's no sign that says no dumping. Even if we get a make-believe sign that says there's a camera there.
[SPEAKER_24]: Long overdue.
[Richard Caraviello]: You know, maybe that were, but you know, these are small fixes, you know, to pick up the crib appeal of our city. People don't want to be riding down a business area and see, you know, 16 television sets dumped on the side of the road. And again, it's not fair that DBW has to keep going down there and picking them up. Either put up a fence or let the owner of the property start paying for the cleanup of the property himself. So if we can send a letter to the owners, asking them, requesting that they put up a fence. Like I say, I did speak to Mr. Vavuso. He thought it was a good idea also, and he will await a motion for us about sending a letter to the owner of the property.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. 16-658, offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that the temporary bus stop closure at Main and High Street be discussed. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Uh, thank you, Mr. President. Uh, the, uh, bus stop at the corner of, uh, main and high street was temporarily closed due to the, uh, construction of the credit bridge from August 31st to September 14th. And, um, I was contacted by a property owner in that direct area. And they said if they can close it for two weeks to help, with construction, why can't we leave it closed until the construction's over? And it made sense to me, Mr. President, that anything we can do to help the business area would be beneficial to not only the businesses, but also to the residents that traverse that area. So I would ask that the temporary closing, which took place August 31st to September 14th, remain in effect until the Craddock Bridge is fully operational, Mr. President, and then we can revert back to a stop being there. We received a report from MassDOT through Councilor Scarpelli's due diligence of several bus stops that we requested to be moved, and that does have a high ridership. I can appreciate that they're saying it services approximately 600 passengers a day on a number of bus routes. And so I know that's a heavy traveled area, but I would say that in due deference to the businesses in that particular location, that this be taken under advisement, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Uh, thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I thank my fellow council, Mr. Marks for bringing this to, uh, to the table tonight. This is something that I would have added to the agenda after talking to the dot, um, coordinator this afternoon or early this evening before we came on board here. Um, one thing they've told us is that this, it was still, still closed even past the September 14th date and their hope was it will be reopened this evening. I did, like I said in the past, I did talk to a few members of the Disability Commission and they're having a meeting on Wednesday evening. One of the biggest concerns I still have with this stop that wasn't addressed is the safety of the buses pulling up. I know that they've tried to in the past move the buses forward, but they're still sticking out and they're still staying in the lane and people are still crossing off the sidewalk onto the bus. So I still feel that because of the construction, it's very dangerous. I know, but I did, um, I did promise, um, the, uh, disability commission that we would meet before we made anything final. I, I, I, I would, I would concur with my fellow council that we ask to keep this, um, that stop closed. And I'd call for a subcommittee meeting next Tuesday if we could. And with the, uh, um, I'm sorry. We can, but if we can have a meeting that we can hold a meeting with the, uh, disability commission and at least until this side of the project, but this isn't, isn't, believe it or not, isn't very a long time. Um, further to go on that side is, um, I think if we can do that, that'd be greatly appreciated on my end that if we can ask to keep that closed for now until next week and then have a meeting with the disability commission in, uh, explaining in depth what this is with the, uh, department of transportation.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So the motion is to keep that bus stop closed until consultation with the DOT and disability commission is completed.
[Michael Marks]: It's currently working now.
[George Scarpelli]: They're saying it will be reopened this evening. That's what they told me tonight, this evening, this evening. They're saying that everything will go back as, as it was in the past. So, but there was also supposed to be done September 14th and that hasn't stopped. So, and again, that leads to one of the questions we had that was, uh, a big fear of mine was the safety of that stop during the construction, because I know in pretty demanding and loud voices, the DOT and the T has told us that it's not the project's fault that the buses aren't pulling all the way up and getting close to the sidewalk, that there's plenty of space. I've done that. I traverse that route every single day just for that purpose. And because of the extra barrels and the opening of that gate, there is absolutely no way the bus can go to that full length of what's needed under their law. So, um, that opens up, I think, a big safety issue. So I'm going to, um, concur with my fellow colleague, and I hope the rest of our committee would agree, and then have a meeting as soon as possible with the Department of Transportation and the Disability Commission to look into this process of closing it until the end of that construction period on that side.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I'd like a motion for approval, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, if we vote for approval tonight, if we could have the clerks send a letter to the TDC first thing in the morning, letting them know of our decision.
[Fred Dello Russo]: As amended by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor. All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-659 offered by Councilor Falco. Whereas the guardrail on Russell Street and Crane Street is in disrepair, whereas the guardrail is overgrown with weeds and brush and impedes walking on the sidewalk, be it resolved that in the interest of public safety, the guardrail be replaced and the weeds and brush be removed as soon as possible. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: A well-written motion.
[John Falco]: Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. President. I received a number of calls from the residents on Russell Street regarding the guardrail that it's basically on Russell Street. And it stands between Russell Street and Crane Street. And it's been in disrepair for quite some time now. And it's also overgrown with lots of brush, and weeds, and trees, and whatnot. And it's definitely a public safety concern. I have a picture of it here if anybody wants to see it. And it's really tough to, if anybody had any type of disability wanted to get by in a wheelchair, it'd be really tough to navigate. It's really overgrown. The guide rail is in complete disrepair. It needs to be replaced. And I'd like to see it replaced as soon as possible. And if possible, at least if we could start by getting the DPW to trim the weeds and trim it back a bit just so people can, traverse that sidewalk. So I'd like to make a motion to have this approved and actually if we could have the guide rail replaced and if we could have the DPW in the meantime before its replacement, if we could have them clean up the area, I'd greatly appreciate it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On that motion, all those in favor?
[John Falco]: Aye.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-660, whereas offered by Councilor Falco, whereas all neighborhoods throughout our city are negatively impacted by graffiti and tagging, be it resolved that the city ordinance section 62 to 94 be updated to impose a fine to property owners for non-removal of graffiti or tagging. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. This here is an issue that impacts or has a negative effect on all of our communities, all of our neighborhoods throughout the city. As you drive around, you see graffiti, tagging on a lot of commercial property, it seems like. And as I did some research, I found that there's penalties and fines for the person that actually tags the property, but there's no, we have nothing in the ordinance to actually have the graffiti removed by the property owner. And it's unfortunate, but I mean, Councilor Caraviello had a great resolution earlier in the year where, you know, the Bigelow building on Forest Street, and that's a gateway to our square. You come down Forest Street, you know, if you go to a show at the Chevalier or you're heading to Method Square, what do you see? The building on the left and graffiti all over the side of the building. It's been there for months and there's no teeth in the ordinance to actually have it cleaned. So we can send out the code enforcement officer, but he really can't do anything about it because there's no teeth. There's no fine. There's nothing. So, um, I really feel that, you know, something needs to be done about this. I think, you know, maybe this paper goes into subcommittee where we research it and see what they do in other cities and towns, but something needs to be done. Uh, you know, all over the city, I see graffiti and tagging and there's really, There's nothing being done about it. And I think something needs to be done. It sends a message to people when they come to our community and they see this, they say, what's going on here? I mean, there's graffiti everywhere. And I think it really sends a message. And the thing with graffiti and tagging, if you don't take it down right away, it gets worse. And people add to it and it just multiplies and it gets out of control. And I feel like we're at a point now where, you know, you go to each corner of the city, there are buildings that have it. And something needs to be done about it. So I'd like to offer this resolution, and I'd hope that everyone would support it. And I think that going to subcommittee is probably the proper approach to take, because I think we should research it with other cities and towns to see what other cities and towns do, just to make sure that we're doing the right thing. but I would like the council's support on this, so thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. Zoning and ordinance would be the committee on that motion. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, again, thank Councilor Falco. Again, I brought up the big old building and the building right beside it multiple times. The graffiti is still there. And again, you know, we have meetings, but we want to build up the square, build a community. This goes to the curb appeal of the city. or curb appeal is horrible. And again, you know, um, I, I don't know how to, uh, you know, put teeth into it, but you know, in the past, you know, the sheriff's department has come down and, uh, with the graffiti patrol and, uh, and, uh, and taking the graffiti down the past, maybe we can make it an appeal to a sheriff contusion, maybe come down again. I don't know if they do private buildings. Um, but again, uh, it's a, uh, The curb appeal in our city is horrible, and as long as people go around tagging, and they're tagging all parts of the city, it just negatively impacts everybody. So again, I support this motion, and I've had similar motions in the past, but I'd say the pain is still there.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I certainly can appreciate the ordinance, and I think that back last session, Councilor Marks came up with actually an excellent idea on a way to combat graffiti in private residences by creating a revolving graffiti removal account and having a graffiti removal team that will go out and speak with property owners who have been affected by graffiti and then, with their permission and waiver liability, be allowed to go onto the private property and remove that graffiti. I think that this is a great opportunity for us to explore further what options and opportunities we have to address this problem. I think that, you know, one of the things that Councilor Marks put together was an actual team that will go out and do it. And when we look at our DPW and some of the areas that we can improve on, I think that we might want to look at creating a permanent sign department that's responsible for the erecting of signs and the removal of graffiti in public and private places. I think that this would be a great, great place to start for us to have the discussion and to jump off on speaking on it. You know, Councilor Falco sits on the zoning and ordinance subcommittee with myself and Councilor Caraviello. And you know, I think that, We have a work product that shows that we've been able to get things done when we met and worked together. So, um, with that being said, I wholeheartedly support the ordinance. I look forward to sitting down with my colleagues on the zoning subcommittee and addressing the issue. Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And yes, uh, console nights. Correct. I think it was about seven or eight months ago when console Caraviello offered his resolution about, uh, finding owners that leave graffiti up. And, uh, you know, I, I don't have a problem if, The city approaches a business, and in this case, it could be a homeowner too, because we're saying business could be a homeowner, and after many attempts, the homeowner of the business says, you know what? I'm not going to clean that off. Then I think there should be teeth that you can go after the business or the homeowner. The concern I have is I, as a homeowner, someone comes up Halloween night and spray paints the front of my house. Whatever the ordinance reads, within 10 days, 14 days, I have to remove it. That adds insult to injury. So I just got my house spray painted. It's probably going to cost me hundreds of dollars, if not $1,000 or $2,000 to remove it. And then I have the city saying, if you don't remove it within X number of days, we're going to fine you. I think it's, you know, it's a little too much. I could see people that are leaving it up. You know, the business that we refer to on Forest Street, that was cleaned off a number of times, and the tagging went back a number of times. So it wasn't, you know, there may be some new stuff or some older stuff still up there, but I think we have to be very careful. The City of Somerville has a great program. First of all, on their website, they have a place where you can report graffiti. Secondly, they have, what Councilor Knight was saying, they have an agreement. It's called Removal of Graffiti Agreement and Release of Liability. They will go to anyone's home, they will go to any business, if the business owner signs the liability form, and Councilor Scarpelli can probably speak better than this than I can, and the liability form waives any type of liability that the city of Somerville may have in the process of cleaning this up. But it's a great alternative to offer to people that were just wronged. You know, most people, you know, don't ask to get their house graffitied or their garage graffitied or whatever it might be. this is something that's done by vandals. And I think to offer a service is a great suggestion. And if you offer a service and someone doesn't want to take you up on it, then maybe we should have teeth. We also have a clean it or lean it ordinance. And the clean it or lean it ordinance, in my opinion, would apply to graffiti also. And that calls for a penalty. So I believe we can enforce the clean it or lean it on graffiti if need be. You know, this city is very lax when it comes to any type of enforcement. But I like what Somerville does. I think this is a great idea. I just don't want to penalize business owners or residents that may have been tagged and saying, well, you better get that off or we're not going to only tag you, we're going to send you a bill on top of it. So I have a problem with that. But I think we can craft something that makes sense and possibly look at, like Councilor Knight mentioned, about having you know, a dedicated office that will go out and do some graffiti removal in this community. I had someone drop off today to my house because they saw this on the agenda, a bottle. Actually, I'm glad they didn't put it in a briefcase or some other bag because it dropped off a bottle of, it's called clarinet. And this is a substance that a lot of municipalities use. You spray it on any new cement. So when we did the Fast 14 project, you spray it on the cement that's holding up the bridges, and it makes it 100 times easier to remove graffiti. And it's really, it's a cost-effective way of, at least the city doing it. I wouldn't recommend people spraying their homes with this, but I think it's an effective way for municipalities and in locations that are prone to, to, uh, graffiti, uh, to use this substance, uh, Mr. President. And, uh, there's a lengthy, um, uh, material safety data sheet that came with it. And if the city administration is interested, I'd be more than happy to pass this on. Uh, I won't leave it at city hall because I don't want them thinking I'm leaving something around that, uh, could be construed as something else. But, um, I agree with this resolution, and I thank my council colleague for offering it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Campbell.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I think it was Councilor Marks who offered the resolution for the city to go out and buy some equipment to do this. I mean, it's only a pressure washer, a high-end pressure washer. Again, not very expensive, and it's kind of a simple fix that could be done. I mean, a lot of people have them in their homes. But I say, I don't know why, I'm sure our city has one. If we don't have one, we should have one. And again, and if we did have one, but the people would sign the agreement. The DPW could help these people out also. But again, I support Councilor Falco's motion there.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I thank my council colleagues for their suggestions because I think, you know, this at least starts the discussion as to what we can do. I think some great suggestions came from Councilor Knight, Councilor Marks, Councilor Caraviello with regard to actually maybe bringing on a team or having a department that does that. And I think maybe incorporated with some teeth if someone refuses, you know, that's something we can look at. But the discussion begins and I think that's the important piece. And I just want to thank my colleagues for their support. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the motion for approval, citizen wishes to speak.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi, I'm Cheryl Rodriguez. I live at 281 Park Street, and I saw this item on the agenda, and in the past couple of months, I've posted a couple of graffiti incidents that happened at the Roberts School. So I posted for two months, someone had written on the side of the school, and the complaint wasn't acknowledged. Finally, this past week, a private citizen messaged me and told me that they had gone down to the school with a bucket and water and a scrub brush and cleaned the graffiti off the school. which thank you very much for cleaning the school. I don't think he should have had to but I appreciate that he did that. There's also a pedestrian crossing sign at the school that has had graffiti on it and the bottom rivet is not connected and that's been there for about two years. I know several parents have called and complained about that. So our DPW, I know, is short-staffed and they really are not able to handle this overflow. So I think the graffiti issue in the city is probably more of a symptom. I can also cite an example of businesses on Spring Street. I drove down Spring Street and there was someone had written their name about 40 or 50 times on one building on Spring Street. And I drove down less than a week later, and the owner had painted over all of it, but that person had graffitied over what he had already painted. So in the span of a week, he had already painted the entire building. They wrapped around the entire side of the building. It was about a foot high, about 40 times. He signed his name, maybe We can find him. His name's on the building. So that's pretty upsetting that the owner was out there that quickly and repaired the damage and then it was done to him again. Again, this is probably a symptom of a larger issue. I know that the police force is down, density is up, and there's less patrol. So this is a symptom and something that we really need to think about. Do we need more DPW? Do we need more police? is just a small level crime, but it is something to think about. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. On the motion for approval, all those in favor, all those opposed, motion carries. 16-661 offered by Councilor Falco, whereas the Medford City Council is required to review and vote on the city budget each year, be it resolved that the city administration provide the Medford City Council budget versus actual budget information on a monthly basis. Councilor?
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. This is an issue that came up right around budget time. And it's something that I believe in. It's something that, you know, it's one of our most important responsibilities is to pass the city budget each year. This year, we're in the range of $162 million. And, you know, but the budget process shouldn't be just in May and June. It should be continuous throughout the year. We should know what's going on with the individual accounts, you know, where we stand, you know, after X amount of months. So the request is basically to get budget to actual details. I had asked for this in a previous meeting, and the administration said we were going to get it. We haven't received it yet, but I did talk to, I said the chief of staff when I came into the meeting tonight, she told me that we will have it at the next meeting. But I think it's important, you know, one of our most important responsibilities is the budget. The budget should be an ongoing process where we're looking at it each month to see where we are. So I think that it's important to us that we keep an eye on the numbers each month and move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion approved by Councilor Falco, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The motion carries. 16-662, offered by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. Be it resolved that the administration update the Medford City Council with regard to what has been done over the last nine months to make City Hall more business friendly. Chair recognizes Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. This came up about six to nine months ago when The chicken and rice guys, I know they're one business that had posted with regards to it taking them nine to 12 months to obtain all their permits and their inspections. I think it was a 12-month period that they had to go through within City Hall to make sure they were able to open business. And this city council voted that we, and I believe the mayor during campaigning also found this to be an issue, and the city council voted I believe six to nine months ago that we work better, work harder to make sure that it's easier to open a business. So I just wanted to know if we could get an update from the administration and the building department to see if anything's been done and a list of things that maybe have been done to make sure it's easier and we're being a little bit more business friendly than we had been with the prior administration. So if we could just get a written update from both the building commissioner and the mayor's office. As to what's been done, they'll be helpful.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On that motion, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, in our packets this evening, we have a letter dated September 20th, 2016 to the President and members of the Medford City Council from Stephanie M. Burke-Meyer regarding Resolution 16-662, Update on Enhancements to Communications and Relations with Business. Dear Mr. President and Councilors, in response to Resolution 1662, I would like to update the Council on the actions that have been taken to improve relations and communications between the new and existing Medford businesses and City Hall. In January of 2016, I created the position of Business and Cultural Liaison to ensure that a dedicated staff member in the Mayor's Office is always equipped and available to work directly with businesses on any and all issues brought to our attention, as well as to spearhead important initiatives that will strengthen our relationship with and promote economic development within our business community. The first priority of this position, currently held by Ali Fisk, was to immediately open a line of communication between the city and the business associations in Medford, including the Medford Chamber of Commerce. By attending numerous Chamber of Commerce government affairs meetings, as well as important membership meetings, Ali has gathered vital feedback from the businesses in an effort to elevate and evaluate business needs and ascertain ways that the city of Medford can better serve the business community. This month, my office will be releasing the Medford Business Guide, an online and print booklet designed to guide individuals through the process of opening a new business in Medford. Depending on the type of business, this guide directs individuals to appropriate departments at City Hall, describes permitting processes, and provides individuals with links to online applications and other web resources. In February and March of 2016, the Business Economic Development Transition Team conducted community meetings in Medford's five key business districts, and engaged over 250 participants who contributed ideas about desired changes, upgrades, and initiatives in these regions. The report, entitled Shaping Medford Community Conversations to Guide Our Economic Future, breaks down suggested improvements by individual business square and makes suggestions for ways the city of Medford can support economic development. In September and October, I'll return to these squares with members of the transition team to meet with businesses and constituents and underscore some of the important findings and suggestions specific to individual business districts. This will be an opportunity to further engage in a deeper dialogue with the businesses and stakeholders in the region about other important initiatives. In an effort to improve customer service at City Hall for both businesses as well as for residents, all City Hall employees have attended a mandatory customer service training, which engaged employees in important dialogue and guidance regarding best practices in customer service. We're in the process of contracting for a new phone system, which will be implemented in four to six weeks, and it will include voicemail, an efficient intercom system, and will allow City Hall to streamline its communications and better respond to important inquiries. This fall, we will be relaunching the senior work off abatement program, which will match the skills of seniors living in Medford with the needs of departments in City Hall. These individuals will provide essential support to the departments and improve the staff's ability to provide adequate customer service in a timely manner as required. One of the many job positions will be a greeter at City Hall to assist all who enter. maintaining a strong and testing relationship with the business community is of the utmost importance to my administration. Well, this letter outlines the important strides that have been taken to build these relationships over the next few months. We will continue to roll out other initiatives, maintain an open dialogue between my administration and business businesses and improve upon customer service systems that are in place here in city hall. Sincerely, mayor Stephanie and Burke.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor on the motion for approval. Madam vice president.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Yes, no, I didn't see this. We just received this today, but I thank the council for reading the letter from the mayor, and I thank the mayor for updating the council in advance of my resolution. I appreciate that. I think all the initiatives are great, especially my resolution points to the Medford Business Guide, and I think that's the important part of it, not only having a guide for individuals who want to start a business and open a business in Medford, but also create a plan to make sure that you know, when they do need inspections, they're done in a timely manner. So I thank the mayor for this report and also just ask for an update from our building department with regards to timeliness of inspections upon request. Are we doing better than we used to do with regards to time frame and when inspectors are able to get out and, you know, fulfill requests for inspections just so that we know we can not only businesses getting the guy, but they're also getting, um, the inspections in a timely manner. And I think once we do that, we're more in a great path.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And the motion for approval by vice president Lugo current, all those in favor of those opposed motion carries 16-six, uh, 63 offered by vice president Lugo current, uh, be resolved that the health director update that Medford city council with regards to where the city is at with inspections, as we were told in June, that there was months behind.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I just move approval for this resolution. Back in June, during our budget hearings, we had met with the interim director of health or the health department, and I know he was trying to do the best he could. And I think they're working really hard on the health department. But one thing that did concern me was the fact that the city of Medford is behind on inspections. months. I think it was months that was quoted to us. And I just want to make sure that, I mean, when we talk about, you know, the sanitary and health situations in the city of Medford, we just want to make sure inspections are, are done timely. And, you know, obviously all businesses are operating, um, up to code. So if we could get an update with regards to where we are with inspections and see how far behind we are, um, hopefully we're, we're catching out up from where we were in June. That would be appreciated.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Well, it looks like everything's coming up roses. We have a new Director of the Board of Health. Welcome. Please introduce yourself to the Medford City Council.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Thank you. Good evening. Pleasure to be here. My name's Marian O'Connor and I'm your new Director of the Board of Health. been here just completed four weeks. So getting to know my way around. And again, I'm really happy to be here. And certainly one of my priorities is to make sure that inspections are done in a timely manner. And I know there has been some backlog. I had actually asked our food inspector for an update last week. And according to what she's been able to provide for me so far, it looks like we're pretty close. We're over halfway there as far as catching up is needed since June. So that's a good sign. And also we're looking to actually implement an automated system, so it'd be easy to track, easy to know what's outstanding, what's not getting done, and how quickly we're responding. Right now, it's a little more difficult with the paper system and such to really, to stay on top of things, so we're really looking to kind of to move things along here. So again, pleasure to see you. Thanks.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. And welcome. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. When you say an online system, is that going to be open to the public to see what you're doing in the department? Or can I, as a Councilor, log on? Will it be on the website?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Not right now. Not right now. It's an internal system I'll have access to, that my inspectors will have access to, so I'll have better reporting available to me. Certainly that would be a goal. And something we're looking at, it's just a pricing factor and a costing factor right now. And that would be for all inspections. The first system we're getting is strictly for restaurants.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And you said we're about halfway caught up from where we were behind. So we're still behind, but when are we looking to maybe... Still behind.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: We're about 90 inspections behind. I'm figuring we can hopefully do four to five inspections a day. We should be able to get those out pretty quickly. If all staff are healthy and not on vacation. So we're looking at about two to four months?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Hopefully two months, hopefully not four. Great, thank you for coming tonight. I appreciate the update.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: I brought this issue up several months back regarding the outstanding number of renewals that were out there. So you said there's roughly 90?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Yeah, it looks like there were, there's a total of 259 that were needed to be done, and it looks like they've been able to complete 163, so 91 are still outstanding.
[Michael Marks]: And that runs by calendar year, correct? That's by calendar year, right. So from January to present, we were able to do what, a little over 100?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Looks like 163, yeah. 163. That's one food inspector we have, right?
[Michael Marks]: And prior to that, we had multiple food inspectors?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: There was also one food inspector prior to that. I believe there was a vacancy for a while, I think, in between food inspectors. There was a little bit of a vacancy within the last year.
[Michael Marks]: So just fill me in. When one of your inspectors go out and do an inspection, it's a thorough inspection of the premises, the kitchen, and so forth.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Yeah, for a food inspection, it's different. We do what's called risk-based. So again, there's a requirement by the state that all restaurants are done twice a year. But if you go risk-based, you can change that. So your gas station that sells candy bars and Coca-Cola, you can call that a type one risk. So that only requires one inspection a year. But then you go from there. So your retail food, like your pizza place and stuff, they'd be a type two. You're going to have to get to them at least twice a year. Retail foods like full-blown restaurants, sushi, more elaborate kitchens, they'd require three inspections a year. And then your most at-risk populations, like nursing homes, hospitals, those types of folks, they'd be what's called a type four. So they require four inspections a year.
[Michael Marks]: So the number outstanding now, is it a combination of all those different? It's a combination of all of those, right. And what do we say to consumers that are going out into these establishments that haven't been inspected? Good question.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Something that's certainly going to get on top of. From what I can tell, all these establishments have been inspected at least once, if not twice. It's your higher risk-based ones that we've done actually the better job on. So the higher ones that are outstanding are your type ones. So there's 40 out of the 91, 44 are type ones that are outstanding. So that's your prepackaged foods, your Coca-Colas, very low risk of foodborne illness. That's what these types are. That's your risk of foodborne illness. Your type threes and your type fours are where you'll have more exposure or more possibility of being exposed for foodborne illness. Type ones, minimal exposure because they're not preparing food. They're not touching food. It's all prepackaged. It's just a matter of making sure it's cleanly and that type of thing. But your risk is a lot lower. So, so we're looking to, uh, so we've, we've really concentrated on the type from what I can see on the type threes and the type fours, which is good, good news.
[Michael Marks]: So, so, uh, on the council agenda tonight, we're looking to implement a food trucks. which is gonna add possibly another 20, 30, 40 different trucks throughout the community. Right now, you don't even have the capability of completing what we have currently in the brick and mortar establishments. Was there a recommendation to add a staff person to your office?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: There has been, and I've actually had discussions with the mayor's office already. In my form, the interim director, Richard Marino, that was one of his suggestions as he left, was that we really needed an additional inspector.
[Michael Marks]: And what is the fee to a business for the inspection?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: It varies on how many permits they have. There's different permit fees. There's milk. There's full-blown. So it varies. An average? Could be 100 to 150, I believe.
[Michael Marks]: So if you go out, do you prorate it? If you're there six months late, do you prorate the fee?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: No, the permit's for a year. So you operate the permit even without the inspection. I mean, they should have an inspection, obviously, if they're a new business.
[Michael Marks]: But you get a permit based on the inspection, right?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: You come in and file for a permit, then your inspection is scheduled, so.
[Michael Marks]: Right, but ideally it's supposed to happen pretty close to each other, right?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: That would be ideal, yes.
[Michael Marks]: So we're charging business owners that are six months into their year a permit that wasn't really inspected. I mean, the city of Medford didn't give a proper inspection. Do you see a problem with that? Absolutely, I do, yes.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: So hopefully that's what we're here to fix. So I've been uncovering quite a bit.
[Michael Marks]: I've never seen it this bad, to be quite honest. I've been around the council a number of years. I've never seen it this bad.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: I was pretty surprised at what I walked into, yes. I have to admit, yes.
[Michael Marks]: So I've had business owners contact me and say it's been five months, I don't have my permit yet. Do you have people reaching? They don't have their permit? Their inspection. Do you have people, the inspection's a separate certificate, right? Right, and most people put that up. You're required to put it up, aren't you?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: You're required to put that up, yes.
[Michael Marks]: Right, so have you had business owners reach out to you and say, hey, what's going on? I'm worried that I'm not in compliance. No? So they just call the council? They don't call the Board of Health?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: As far as I know, we don't have people asking to be inspected.
[Michael Marks]: No, we have people that are concerned that have been around a long time know that there's inspections that take place and the city is nowhere to be found. You know, that's a concern. It's a big concern. Why can't we bring on a temporary food inspector to assist in this rather than saying, well, it might be another two months because too much, you know, is three months, four months. Then it gets around the holidays and doesn't move as quick.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: I'd love that. That's certainly something I will explore with the mayor's office.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, I'd ask that we make a recommendation as a council on behalf of not only the businesses, but every resident in this community that frequents a restaurant in this community. I would hope that, uh, you know, the board of health's doing their job. Uh, and, and here we go tonight, uh, saying that we may introduce food trucks in the community, which requires the same scrutiny. Um, we don't have the manpower to cover what we have. So I would ask that the administration, Mr. President, we saw in the papers tonight we have $8 million in surplus money that they hire a temporary food enforcement officer to assist the Board of Health until we can get this number down to where it should be, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So that would be my recommendation. The motion of Vice President Lungo-Koehn as amended by Councilor Marks. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. That was going to be my recommendation. bring in someone temporary to at least get you by. The other inspectors in the office, they're not certified to do food?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: We have one other inspector in the office and she's pretty tied up with complaints and sanitary issues and housing. She also does the housing inspections as well. So she can cover if necessary, but she's got a pretty heavy workload herself.
[Richard Caraviello]: So I would assume at budget time you're going to be looking for Some additional staff? I certainly will, yes. I would support Councilor Marks' motion that the city bring on a temporary inspector to get you through these times right now. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Vice President Longo-Kurt.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Just one more amendment. Ms. O'Connor, if you could give us an update in two months just to see where we're at, a detailed update. Sure. Thank you. Absolutely.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Vice President Lungo-Koehn, as amended by Councilors Mox and Vice President Lungo-Koehn, Councilor Marks?
[Michael Marks]: Get a current listing with the outstanding permit, whether it's permit 1, 2, 3 that you were describing. And this wasn't reflect. I realize you've only been here four weeks, but there's a frustration that's been going on for a lot of months now. And I understand.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: And certainly as the Board of Health, we're very frustrated as well. It's something that we want.
[Michael Marks]: These are important issues.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Updated listing on the outstanding inspections.
[Michael Marks]: The type of outstanding that the business itself won the last time it was inspected. And you have just paper reporting.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Yeah, the automated system right now, it's mixed, so it's a little bit harder to determine. It's not all paper, but my understanding is it's not always reliable, the software that we currently have, so we're working with trying to figure that out as well. But the new software will make reporting much easier.
[Michael Marks]: Right, and plus you're gonna be getting voicemail pretty soon, too. I know. So that's something brand new. Voicemail just came out. And you're gonna be getting that at City Hall, too. So when you're updating the paper files, you can have your voicemail. Absolutely. Yeah, we're moving forward.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval as amended. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Thank you very much and welcome. 16-664 offered by Vice President Luggo-Kern. Be resolved that due to the last quarterly Massport meeting being canceled and postponed, be it resolved that Medford's appointee to that committee be invited to update the council at our council meeting on October 4th. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I did draft my resolution to hope that the representative would be here tonight, but then I spoke to the city clerk, who thankfully called me, to let me know that the meeting, Massport meeting, was canceled. It was supposed to take place, I believe, the beginning of September. so there really wasn't much of an update. Although I just think this is an extremely important issue and I want it on the agenda because repeatedly, I don't know, I'm sure the rest of the council is getting calls as well, if not hearing the airplanes themselves. Numerous complaints, repeated complaints coming in with regards to, it's not every night, but when you have a night that they're flying on that certain lane, I don't have all my paperwork with me, flying on that certain lane, It is every few minutes, and it is disturbing. I know people who have migraines from it. It's woken me up at night. I'm up in the side of the heights. And it's really, if you're affected, if your home or your area is affected, you are affected all night long, every three minutes. Some of them are a little higher than others, but there's some that shake your house. So I think it's really important to get Attorney Glaiona here. He's Medford's representative to this Massport. And, you know, I know that last meeting when I spoke about this, Mr. Glaiona was in touch with the state delegation and was also attending this meeting. So this council needs an update. I mean, we've had residents here explaining that no more than the council does, explaining what we should do as a city and how we need to complain more to Massport because the complaints are going to be calculated when they review. the city of Medford and how the airplanes are affecting us, which I think is supposed to take place in the spring possibly, but to have a resident say it and to have a representative that has been to these meetings to let us know what can be done and what we as a council and as a city can do to try to alleviate this. I know it kind of dies down. The complaints will die down over the winter because everybody's windows will definitely be closed. Nobody will be in their backyards barbecuing. But I mean, this affects people still, even when the windows are closed. So I think it's an extremely important issue. And we need to do something. We need to make sure that administration is on it. And please, if we could get this representative here, first meeting in October would be very helpful. And it's something that we've been promising the people for months now. Obviously, people have dealt with this all summer long. And now we're into fall. And just an update would be great. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Vice President Lungo-Koehn, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Be it resolved, 16-665 offered by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. Be it resolved that the administration update Medford City Council as to what has been done by the city to ensure that the Malden Hospital site is not overdeveloped. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I put this on Number one, there is a meeting, and I think everybody should be apprised of it, the council and the public as well. This area, the Malden Hospital site, it affects, I mean, the Heights, North Medford, but it also, I mean, traffic's gonna linger into our whole community. The whole city of Medford's gonna be affected by the multiple unit development that is being proposed at that location. There is a meeting, I believe the developer, and I could be corrected, but the developer is having a meeting at the Malden Hospital site, on site, this Thursday night, September 22nd at 6 p.m. And from what I understand, and I know we have representatives from the Felsmere group who's been working very hard to downsize this project and create a plan that will better suit the residents and the area and the traffic and the redevelopment, can definitely explain it better, but I believe there's a moratorium on building in Malden, and that moratorium is up within the next couple months. So we're looking at possible permits being issued. I don't know what type of variance, where they are in the stage, but we're looking at possible approval of a project. I know the development was downsized minimally, minimally, and I say it lightly, not enough in the last, by the developer, and I think that's what's gonna be proposed on Thursday night. So I just want to know from the administration standpoint, I know that myself and Lauren DiLorenzo, Office of Community Development, was at a meeting or two at the BB School in Malden back a year ago with a number of Medford residents. But what else has the city done to ensure and to safeguard? I know we only have three, I believe three acres of the 18 is on Medford property and all the building will be on Malden. So what are we doing to make sure that our two mayors are discussing this and trying to work together and what else can be done. So I just want to see where we're at, what has the office, so if we could get an update from the administration and the Office of Community Development to see where we're at and if the Office of Community Development has been in talks with Malden and what's been done to ensure and try to push this project to be downsized even more. Obviously the traffic, you can not get down Fulton Street some mornings. 25 minutes, you know, that's obviously my neighborhood, but I'm trying to get down Fulton Street. I can't believe I'm gonna be late for school and it should take me three minutes. Nevermind, you know, Elm Street, trying to get on 93, forget about it. Yeah, Murray Hill Road, and those Murray Hill Road residents are the ones that were at our ad hoc meeting for the Malden redevelopment anyway, so we are having some serious, you know, We're going to have some serious traffic problems. And I think that's what our ad hoc meeting discussed months ago, and we do have to schedule another one. But before we do so, I just want to get an update from the administration, because I know we have to make some changes if this is going to go forward with our roads, whether it be making one-way streets or making sure the road is continued to be blocked off. But there's things that we need to do, and I think it's much larger than a city council's job. So what is the city as a whole doing?
[Fred Dello Russo]: What is our office of community develop doing to, to work on this and make sure they're apprised of what's going on on the motion for approval by vice president level current, all those in favor, all those opposed motion carries 16-six, six, six offered by vice president Lungo-Koehn be resolved that the Medford city council discuss a moratorium on building until a well-thought-out plan can be put in place with input from the residents on how to proceed with smart development. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I put this on to create a discussion with regards to building in our community. We have a number of different projects that have taken place already. Some are in the works, some are waiting for their permits, some are getting ready to go for the planning board and eventually the zoning board of appeals. And I think this is an issue that needs some community input. We have Luminaire that went in, we have Middlesex Ave that's underway. I mean, we're talking hundreds of units, apartments and condos being put into the community. And it seems like people are on top of it now and people obviously are very concerned about our infrastructure, the traffic, our school system. I don't believe there's any room left at the Robertson McGlynn with regards to classroom size to add additional classrooms, yet we have hundreds and hundreds of units being proposed or currently in the works. And I think it's time we sit back and decide, with the help of the community, what are we looking for? What is the big plan of the city, and where do we see it going? Because right now we're looking, I mean, we're heading towards looking more like Boston, maybe even New York City with the amount of construction and units going in with the amount of traffic that we already have. I think a well thought out plan with smart development needs to be put in place so that the administration and the city council and the board of appeals and the residents are all on the same page. And right now, I don't think that's where we're at. I mean, the administration wants high density, yet we have these, you know, when we talked about one of the last projects, we had 100 people in this room not wanting high density in their neighborhoods. I think we're kind of all over the place. We had the Canal Street project with 30-unit proposal where the Board of Appeals voted to deny that project, asking them to downsize. And then we have other projects like Lumineer with 165 units that were given variances, as many variances as they wanted. So really, where are we at, and where are we looking to bring this whole city with regards to development? And whether that's a moratorium, like I just discussed, Malden had to put in place, whether that's a group meeting, something needs to be done. Because the people are outraged, and I think it's time that the council really think about it. I'm not even asking to take a vote necessarily tonight, but what can be done to make sure that we don't have what we had a couple months ago happen again?
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I certainly think that we've all had discussions here behind this rail about development in the city of Medford, what direction the city of Medford's going in. what we'd like to see happen in our community, whether or not we want to remain a bedroom community, whether or not we want to be a hybrid bedroom community and a place with vibrant downtowns, or whether we want to be a full-blown extension of Somerville, really, is what it's coming into, Mr. President. So with that being said, I think that there are a number of questions that need to be answered, and I think that this would be a perfect measure to further examine and discuss at the subcommittee level. I'd like to hear from the Office of Economic Development to see what concerns they have about issuing a moratorium on building development would be. I'd like to hear from the Community Assistance Unit from the Department of Housing and Community Development at the state level to see if they can provide us with technical assistance. And we've already been working hand-in-hand with the MAPC in terms of our Safe Streets Program and some other matters that we're discussing, like the revitalization of Medford Square, Mr. President. So I certainly feel as though further discussion is warranted on this topic, and I feel as though further discussion is warranted at the subcommittee level in the Business and Economic Development Subcommittee, and I'd like to amend the motion to refer them out of there.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the main motion of Vice President Lungo-Koehn, as amended by Councilor Knight, Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you. Vice President Kern and I appreciate that. Mr. President, um, you know, I, I, when we were having discussions, deep, uh, discussions with our zoning and our ordinances and our building, I know that I made the motion that we asked the mayor, uh, about looking into the metropolitan planning board. I know we were doing that with Medford square, but they, they, you know, to, to add to that as part of a committee, the whole meeting, would be to investigate or bring someone in from the MPB to discuss looking into zoning and ordinances. And again, I know that I believe Councilor Falco mentioned to come in and do a whole study on that, but we have an opportunity on the money that we've already paid them to come in and do that study for us and to look at all of these issues as well as a whole. So I would, if we can amend that to also, um, ask the mayor to look into the metropolitan planning board to, um, join us in that committee, the whole meeting and help us guide a plan, uh, set a plan. So thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor Scarpelli chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President, and I just want to echo the comments that Councilor Scarpelli just stated. I think it was Councilor Scarpelli several months back that asked for a moratorium that it be looked at, and the Metropolitan Planning Board, I think, is a great suggestion. I know Councilor Falco mentioned about possibly bringing on a consultant, I think the Metropolitan Planning Board can at least assist us. And one of the most important functions of this council is zoning. And zoning is the lifeblood of the community. So we could talk about what the city is going to look like, the future, this and that. It's the zoning that lays the foundation. So it's really this council that needs to sit down, sit down with the Metropolitan Planning Board, maybe a consultant, whoever it might be, and start the process of reviewing our zoning ordinance. You can go up and down Salem Street, for instance, and there may be seven different zoning districts on Salem Street alone. So these are the things I think that we as a council have to say, okay, we want to know what the direction's going to be, but we also have to lay out a framework. We have to lay out a framework by the Meadow Glen Mall. Is it housing? Is it commercial? What is industrial what what what are our thoughts mystic F? What are our thoughts on mystic F? These are the things I think honestly and it's a difficult subject to broach But these are the things we have to just Scott and and and hey I've been on the council probably one of the longest and This council's been neglecting doing it We have not revisited our zoning in years. I think the last really zoning substance was when Councilor Panter-Mayocco did the zoning for Station Landing, and that was back some years ago. So really there hasn't been any meaningful dialogue, so I think committee the whole is fine, but I think the zoning Subcommittee has to get together and we do need some I'm not an expert in it by any stretch I think we need some advice and some you know someone to lead us in the process So I agree with councillor Scarpelli that I think that's a good way of moving forward and if the mayor doesn't see fit to move forward, we're the council, we're the legislative body, we're in charge of zoning. We don't need to wait for the mayor. We'll drive the bus and the mayor will be a passenger. We'll drive the bus. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilman Marks. Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I just want to say I agree with my council colleagues. You know, zoning is one of our most important responsibilities. It needs to be looked at. It needs to be looked at sooner than later. You know, we, it seems like, you know, month after month, we keep hearing about developers that want to come in and build and build and build, and they're seeking all kinds of variances. And, you know, so we need to jump on top of this. And Council Member Mox is right. This is one of our most important responsibilities. And we have to get on top of this sooner than later. And it's correct. Zoning has not been looked at. in this city for close to probably, I mean, with the exception of the stations landing area, I talked to someone the other day and they said it was probably close to 40, if not 50 years. I mean, it has been a very long time. If you take a look at the zoning maps, they're very dated. It needs to be looked at and it needs to be looked at now. So I just wanna go on the record of saying, you know, I support my colleagues. I think this is something we need to look at sooner than later. And, you know, I look forward to working with the subcommittee that's gonna work on that, the zoning subcommittee. Hopefully we will be looking at that soon.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you Thank You council Falco chair recognizes the citizen at the podium Hi, my name is Cheryl Rodriguez.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: I live at 281 Park Street and I encourage a moratorium on building because sorry right now there are over 800 units that are approved and either under construction or or pending permits and And they're all on the side of the city where the McGlynn and the Roberts are. The McGlynn and the Roberts are the most highly populated schools in the city. I met with the principal at the Roberts on Friday. The numbers that he had given to the school committee were 547. He's now, as of Friday, he was up to 555. He gets new students almost daily. That school is very full. The McGlynn School is at 495. If you go across town, you'll see the Columbus is at 401, the Brooks is at 449. So the school populations do need to be considered in approving building projects. If 10% of these new units have one child, that's 80 new children, that will go to the Roberts or the Brooks. Schools that, I mean the Roberts or the McGlynn. Schools that are already having a challenge That's the last school committee. We have you know a second grade class at the Roberts that has 24 students in it So that this these are things that are not considered when the zoning board approves things they don't contact the school department and I We're all have hanging over our head Locust Street, which is 490 units being built on six and a half acres. If you look at every city that surrounds Medford that is opposing a building project right now, those projects are all on 12, 14, 18 acres of land and slightly over 300. They were all denied as too dense. But we approved 490 units on six and a half acres with residents standing up and screaming no. They just pulled the Salem Street development, which he wants 25 units on 18,000 square feet, which is, I think, 100 feet from the Roberts Elementary School, and he wants to put 27 parking spaces, but he's withdrawing because he's waiting because we all heard about the possibility of 40R. I just got the schedule for the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting next week, and someone on Main Street wants to tear down, it's either a one or a two-family house, and put up 12 units. The meeting that I attended in June, they had someone who wanted to tear down a single-family house and put up a seven-family. So even if you put a moratorium on 25, taking one family and turning it into seven or 10 or 12 is exploding our population. I went to the Traffic Commission meeting last week, and the people are in saying, you know, I live next door to a two-family house. They have 15 cars. They have no parking. They're all in the street. I think they're running a rooming house. So density is being increased constantly, and this is something that we need to consider as we're approving things like turning a one family into a two, turning a one family into a seven, building another unit. So we really need to stop, because whatever zoning laws are in place, they're not being followed. Variances are being given out very easily. save the city, save the schools. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. And the citizen from East Smetford would like to speak. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Greetings, Councilor, President, Andrew Castagnetti, Cushing Street, Method Mass. Smart new growth is a wonderful thing, most of the time. When I was a kid, before Marada did any of his huge projects, I reiterate, living on Mystic Avenue, of all places, commercial the old highway to Boston before they built Route 93 in 1960, I believe. I said many times I would have taken all of Mystic Ave on one side only, by eminent domain, when we had the muscle and it was affordable, even if there was an EPA problem at the junkyard. And I would have put a ring road next to 93. and keep them off Main Street, unless they really want to go to deeper squalor in those days, and build 20 stories high.
[Unidentified]: Yeah.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: If you worked here, you'd be at work now. Mr. Sloan took my idea 10 years ago on his billboard, 1.5 in the community to the left, on the major highway, of course. However, that's near the end of the act, because no one would listen to me then, and I'm not even sure about today. But that would have taken a lot of the property tax heat off mama and papa in those days, if it was done properly. And it's not being done properly as of today, still. As we know, Prop 2.5. Thank Barbara Anderson, rest her soul. Every year, you can only raise it 200 percent on your so-called tax levy, which is approximately very close to $100 million this past budget. So that's 2.5% maximum unless you apply for an override. So that's 2.5 million on top of the 100 million. And they never go to 2.5. They seem to go to 2.49% right on the money, very efficiently close to the max. So this smart new growth is wonderful, especially the Roman Empire way. which is like Assembly Road. If you lived, worked, and played here, you wouldn't even need a bicycle. That's very smart. That is smart. My major point is when you have more children attending schools, it costs money for the schools to fire the police. And the problem is the new growth is hurting the existing real estate taxpayers. It's killing us. Think about it. It's common sense. If you use the new growth and applied it to that 2.49% increase on a yearly basis, like clockwork for the past many decades I've been around, fine. But you don't. The city does not. They take the $100 million and they tax it 2.5% increase, $2.5 million, and they do not deduct that new growth, which was approximately $1.5 to $2 million last year. If they did that first, then the increase wouldn't be $2.5 million. It would be more like $1 million increase. Instead of my two-family house going up at a rate of 8%, So what about Prop 2 1⁄2? Well, forget about it. It's hard to explain it. That's a fallacy. So my 2 feet under goes up $400 a year in the past 2 years consecutively. And before that, who knows? But they don't apply the new growth to the Prop 2 1⁄2 increase. Now that's a problem. I rest my case.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. On the motion of Vice President Langley-Kern, as amended by Councilors Knight and Scarpelli. All those in favor? I'm sorry. Subcommittee on... It's going to... Let's do it on zoning, in ordinance. All those in favor? All those opposed? The ayes have it, motion passes. 16-667 offered by Councilor Knight. Whereas, after a decade of consistent decreases in tobacco use by teenagers, the National Youth Tobacco Survey reports that in 2014, overall use of tobacco among youth arose. exposing dangerous new trends. And whereas in March of 2015, the Institute of Medicine released a seminal report detailing the potential public health benefits of enacting a nationwide tobacco 21 policy. concluding a 25% drop in youth smoking initiation, a 12% drop in overall smoking rates, and 16,000 cases of preteen birth and low birth weight averted in the first five years of the policy. And whereas in July of 2015, the Centers for Disease Control released a study concluding that an astounding 75% of adults favor raising tobacco age to 21, including 70% of current smokers and 65% of those aged 18 to 24. And whereas from January 2009 to December 2015, 402 smokers from Medford were referred to smoking cessation programs through Massachusetts Smoking Helpline, yet only 140 of these individuals completed an intake to quit smoking. Be it so ordered, the legal age for the retail purchase of tobacco products in the City of Medford be raised to the age of 21 years by striking Municipal Ordinance 58-45B1 and replacing it with the following language. Conditions of permits. Conditions of permits are as follows. One, no entity may sell any tobacco products in any of its forms to any person under the age of 21 years or not being his parent or guardian may give any tobacco products in any of its form to any person under the age of 21 years unless said person is 18 years of age and in possession of a valid military identification card. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I appreciate you reading through that. It was rather long, but thank you very much. I think this ordinance change speaks for itself. The intention of this ordinance change would be to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products in the city of Medford from 18 to 21 years of age, unless that individual is 18 years of age and in possession of a valid military identification card, a member of our armed services, Mr. President. 130 of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts have adopted a measure raising the legal age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21. That's the equivalent to about 37 percent of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 180 municipalities across the United States of America have adopted a measure raising the age to purchase tobacco products to 21. Massachusetts is obviously a leader with 130 of those communities laying here in our great state, but there are 50 other communities as of August 1st that have adopted this, including New York City, Kansas City, Cleveland, and even Boston, Mr. President. Two states in the union have also adopted a measure making it a statewide requirement that the legal age to purchase tobacco products would be raised from 18 to 21. Those two states are California and Hawaii, Mr. President. One of the largest states in our union, California, has taken this measure. It's a public safety issue. In 1986, in Philip Morris' annual report, Mr. President, you could read the report, and it would indicate that raising the legal minimum age for cigarette purchase to 21 could gut our key young adult market from age 17 to 20, where we sell about 25 billion cigarettes annually and enjoy a 70% market share. Mr. President, data will also say that 90% of all smokers started smoking before the age of 21, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. released in 2011. And 99 percent of all smokers started smoking before age 26, according to the Surgeon General report of 2012, Mr. President. I'm putting this measure forward as an ordinance change in the interest of public safety, and I'd ask my colleagues to support it here at the City Council.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, nobody supports this more than me. My mother passed away from smoking, and I don't think you should. Councilor Nate, are you including the vaping products in this too? Say that again? Are you including the vaping products?
[Adam Knight]: At this point in time, Councilor Caraviello, I believe the vaping products have been addressed by way of a regulation. The Board of Health issued a vaping product regulation, and I believe that that regulation speaks to the vaping products. City ordinance does not at this point in time.
[SPEAKER_21]: Okay. No, I say that I'm in full support of this.
[Adam Knight]: Also, Mr. President, I'd like to add that of the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 communities in the Mystic Valley area that is part of the task force. Medford is one of the remaining communities that has not adopted this measure. So while surrounding communities have adopted this measure, we're actually the weak link in the chain at this point in time, where individuals in other communities that have a legal age of 21 can come to Medford and purchase the cigarettes. So in an effort to work with our colleagues and our counterparts in the communities beside us, I think that this is a great initiative.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to thank you, Councilor Knight, for bringing this forward tonight. This year, I support wholeheartedly. It makes complete sense. Smoking is so dangerous. It's amazing when, back in my years in the school committee, we would get yearly reports about, you know, tobacco trends and alcohol trends and drug trends and whatnot. And, you know, it's so hard to believe, even knowing the dangers of cigarettes, that, you know, young people would still smoke. But I support this 100%. I thank you for a council night for bringing it forward. This is a great resolution and I'm happy he brought it forward. So thank you.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, if I may. In terms of the military exemption that's included in the language here, that was something that I put in there based on feedback from individual constituents that I had spoken about that had served in the armed forces and that spoke a little bit about you know, how they started smoking at a young age in the military and how they felt as though if they were of the legal age to vote and fight that they should be old enough to make a decision to purchase cigarettes. Since that time and since some of my discussions with Ms. Busby from the task force over in the city of Melrose who helps us here in Medford, She's provided me with a number of articles and a number of documents saying that the military actually is looking to curb tobacco use among military members. They've put out a number of reports saying that those soldiers that actually smoke on a daily basis, it's having an effect on their military readiness and it's also obviously, Mr. President, having an effect on their longevity in the community after their obligations to the service of enlistment are over. With that being said, I have no problem with the language in there as it is, but if individuals have a problem with that particular portion of the language, I have no problem striking it. I think ultimately it's a public safety bill, and what we want to do here is be sure that the youth in the city of Medford aren't exposed to tobacco products at a young age so that we have a better opportunity of keeping them out of the nicotine habit. So with that being said, Mr. President, I personally don't have any problem striking that language, and it's really a matter that I'd rely on my council colleagues to provide further input. I have had some preliminary conversations with the administration, and Mayor Burke said that that was an exemption that she was certainly opposed to. She feels as though it provides an enforcement issue, and she feels as though it's kind of counterintuitive to the actual context of the resolution. So, you know, I have no problem striking it. I feel as though it might be an item that comes down to being vetoed anyway. So at this point in time, Mr. President, I think it might be in our best interest to strike the military exemption. send it over to the president to get passed, send it over to the administration to get passed if that's the wishes of the council, and then if we get some feedback from individuals that are over 18 years of age that are active and in the military, we can take another look at the ordinance. But the intent and purpose is a public health ordinance, and I think that putting that exemption in there based upon the materials that were submitted to me from the task force would prove to be counterintuitive and counterproductive, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. Chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Councilman Knight read my mind. That's the one issue I had with this particular resolution. So, if you're willing to strike that, I could support it. You know, I find it ironic, Mr. President, that to run for the House of Representatives, the U.S. House of Representatives, you have to be 25 years old. To run for the U.S. Senate, you have to be 30 years old. You know, it's amazing. You can vote at 21. But you can't run for office until you're 25 and until you're 30 on that level. But getting back to this, I support this whole hotly with the removal of the military identification card and the veterans exemption.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I'd move to amend the paper by striking the following language. Unless said person is 18 years of age and in possession of a valid military identification card.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So it will lend to any person under the age of 21 years period. Yes, sir. Thank you. So person at the podium wishes to address the council. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: Good evening. Thank you. My name is Maureen Busby. I live in Melrose, Massachusetts, and I happen to be your tobacco program coordinator. And I want to thank Councilor Wright for this resolution. I obviously support it wholeheartedly. I was very glad to hear all of the support and especially the support for the military exemption. While I too, you know, I have passion for the fact that, or I should say sympathy for the fact that, and I hear it all the time in all the communities that I've worked in who have already raised the legal age to 21, that we send our young people to war at age 18, but they can't buy a pack of cigarettes. And thankfully, Councilor Wright has done his research and found out that the military is working very, very hard to eliminate smoking in the military. And I actually came prepared. And I can leave these for you, but with some packets of articles that address this situation.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The city messenger will take them from you and distribute them to other houses. Point of information, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: I don't want to take credit where credit isn't due. Ms. Busby did all the research. I just read what she sent me in terms of the military exemption.
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: But you read it.
[Adam Knight]: I did. Thank you for your help.
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: I appreciate it. Thank you so much. And I would like to point out that that military exemption isn't in any of the other 135 communities in Massachusetts that have already raised the legal age to 31. So, again, I had other remarks. Among Councilor Wright and the other Councilors, you already covered everything else that I would have said this evening. So again, thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So we have the Madam Director.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Good evening again. I just wanted to thank you. let you know that I had my first Board of Health meeting today with the city of Medford, and Board of Health is very happy that you're moving forward with this resolution, and also now very happy that you're striking the military exemption, because that was one thing the board wanted me to convey, that they really wish would happen. So thank you very much for moving this forward. This is a huge public health issue, and I appreciate and applaud you. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of approval by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Falco, we will commence our first reading by a roll call vote. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: I don't know, Mrs. Busby, is it Busby? It's Busby. Do you participate when they do the stings within the community for convenience stores that are selling to minors? Yes. Do you participate with that?
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: You mean do the compliance checks? Yes, I take a trained youth to all retail stores in Medford that have a tobacco permit at least twice a year.
[Michael Marks]: Could you just briefly give us an update on how we compare to other communities? Are our businesses selling in general to minors? Will this help raising the age even though they may be selling to minors no matter what?
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so a couple of clarifications. Medford stores are probably, I have seven communities that I do directly, and Medford stores are probably, compliance-wise, in the bottom half of the seven stores. So we could use some improvement in compliance. However, this particular region, the Mystic Valley region that I work, has much higher compliance than most of the other regions in the state. So we do very, very well in this region, Medford could use a little improvement. Now, currently, I use a 16 or a 17-year-old youth to do what we call under age 18 checks. In my other communities where they've raised the minimum legal sales age to 21, I do a third check in addition to the two state-required checks. I do a third check, and I use a 19 or 20-year-old, and I call that the age 21 check. And the reason that I do it is because I've noticed in my other communities that when I use a 16 or 17-year-old, I seldom get a sale, which is a good thing. But when I use a 19 or 20-year-old, I'm more apt to get sales, or, you know, the youth is more apt to get a sale. So the hope that I would have in Medford would be if you pass this resolution, that also money would be provided to do compliance checks using a 19 or 20 year old because the state only provides funding for me to do compliance checks for the under age 18, meaning I use a 16 or 17 year old. I think it's really important when you do, if you pass this resolution, to do an additional check with a 19 or 20 year old so that you're closer to that legal age, that minimum legal age, and you're getting a truer compliance check. Because if you're using 16 years old with a 21 minimum age, you have a five years difference. So I think that's important. I would estimate that it would be around $300 in expenses, my time, youth time, and the purchases, if the city were to fund an additional compliance check out of its own pocket.
[Michael Marks]: if you did this resolution. The violations that are handed out, are they state violations or local ordinances?
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: It's a little bit of a hybrid. The state has a legal age of 18, and so there are state regulations around the selling of tobacco, where the tobacco products have to be placed behind the counter. There are some state regulations. In addition to that, the city of Medford has some regulations a pharmacy ban for instance, but the legal age would be, for the 18, the under age 18 sale, is a state regulation. But the city of Medford authorizes me to do compliance checks, and I write a city of Medford ticket for the violation.
[Michael Marks]: And how much is that for the first offense?
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second violation with a seven day suspension of the tobacco permit, and a $300 fine for the third, oh wait, I think in Medford you don't do, I'm sorry, in Medford you don't do, I'm sorry, you don't do suspensions. $100 fine, $200 fine, $300 fine.
[Michael Marks]: And who issues the tobacco permit, the Board of Health, our Board of Health?
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: Board of Health, yep.
[Michael Marks]: And we don't, it's not built into the ordinance that we could do a suspension of the license, the tobacco license?
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: It is, okay, I'm sorry. I have seven communities and I didn't, I didn't check this before I came, which I should have. It's a seven-day suspension, and a 14-day suspension, and then a 30-day suspension for the third offense.
[Michael Marks]: Okay.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: And then the fourth offense, you can issue a license revoke.
[Michael Marks]: Right. So, would we issue a ticket? That revenue goes back to the city office. That's right. And do you have any reporting on the number of tickets issued and the number of violations per business?
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: I didn't bring it with me. We can produce that.
[Michael Marks]: Yes, absolutely. Pass that along. Absolutely. Thanks very much.
[CKGzHQJRVWc_SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilman Nate.
[Adam Knight]: I guess my question would have been, Mr. President, but I think I have the answer to it, can the compliance checks be handled outside of the scope of the ordinance and by way of Board of Health regulation? And they can because the other inspections are. But move approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval for the first reading, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. With a vote of seven, the affirmative, none, the negative. The motion passes first reading 16-six, six, eight offered by president Dello Russo and Councilor Knight. whereas the Honourable John Jack McGlynn served as the Mayor of the City of Medford from 1962 to 1967, from 1970 to 1971, from 1976 to 1977, and whereas Mr. McGlynn served as Chairman of the Board of the board at Medford Cooperative Bank and its successor, Brookline Bank, for 42 years, and whereas Mr. McGlynn served as Medford State Representative in the Massachusetts General Court from 1959 to 1975, and whereas Mr. McGlynn served as the Commissioner to the Public Employees Retirement Administration from 1983 to 1997, and whereas Mr. McGlynn was a combat veteran of World War II, serving in the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, better known as the Ghost Army. Be it resolved in recognition of the numerous contributions Mr. McGlynn has made toward the betterment of the city of Medford, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the United States of America over a career in public service that spans better than a 50-year period Medford City Council dedicate the 2016-2017 legislative session to the memory of John Jack McGlynn and be it further resolved that the Medford City Council extends sincere condolences to the family of John Jack McGlynn and on his recent passing. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. As we're all aware, I think everybody across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is aware, Mr. McGlynn passed away recently. The guy was just an amazing public servant, an amazing father, an amazing brother, and an amazing man. He's going to be sadly missed. Mr. President, I was very grateful to have had the opportunity to develop a friendship with him over the years, and I'm going to miss him. I know that his family is going to miss him, and I offer my further condolences to them. His track record speaks for itself. His resume speaks for itself, Mr. President. He was a person who gave of himself to the community, to the state, and to the country. and I feel as though dedicating this year's legislative session to him is warranted, and I move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Knight, all those in favor? All those opposed? And we'll motion to take Councilor Falco's with that. Yes. Please join us in a moment of silence. 16-670 offered by Councilor Caraviello be it resolved that the Medford City Council express its condolences to the family of Margaret Weigel on her recent passing. Margaret was a member of the Chevalier Commission. Her presence in our community will be missed. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I got to know Margaret over the years of her being involved with the Chevalier people. Again, she was a good woman. Many people didn't even know she was sick, and I didn't even know she was sick. And again, a moment of silence for her passing also.
[Fred Dello Russo]: We have we have a motion to take these three condolences we have under suspension All those in favor all those opposed 16-681 offered by council Caraviello Resolved that the Medford City Council offer its condolences to the family of dr. Andrew Guthrie on his recent passing dr. Guthrie along with being the pediatrician to countless numbers of children from Medford was the US Navy veteran who served our country in the Korean War. Offered by Councilors Marks and Knight, be it resolved that a moment of silence be held for Willard B. Sampson on his recent passing. And offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that a moment of silence be held for long-time Medford resident Jeanette McGillicuddy on her recent passing. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: I just want to say a few words about Mr. Sampson. I had the unique opportunity to actually run many, many years back for school committee and Mr. Sampson was on the ballot at the time and I got to know him and he was just a fun guy to be around, a real family man. He worked for the school department as a head custodian for a number of years. His son, James Sampson, is a vocational teacher. And, you know, the one thing I remember about Bill is he'd always be there to lend an ear and talk to you about any issue. And he will be sorely missed. And the other one was Jeanette McGillicuddy. Mr. President, as far as I know, for the past 30 years, Jeanette has not missed a city council meeting. She religiously watched the Medford City Council, and she will be sorely missed, too. I'm a longtime Medford resident, and mother, grandmother, will be sorely missed, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Please rise for a moment of silence for these Medford residents. While we're on to suspension, 16-680 offered by council Caraviello be resolved that the Medford City Council come in and congratulate father Paul Coughlin of st. Raphael's parish on the celebration of this past Sunday of his 25th anniversary of ordination to the Holy Priesthood. Father, Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I was able to attend Father Colvin's mass on Sunday. He's been a friend of mine for some years now. I'm happy that St. Raphael's has him. Good man, good for the community. Congratulations for him.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And a great priest.
[Richard Caraviello]: Great priest.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Congratulations. All those in favor? All those opposed? 16-671, offered by Councilor Caraviello, be it resolved that the Medford City Council commend and congratulate Medford resident Paul McCaffrey, director of the Boston Parks Department, on his recent honor at Fenway Park for his tremendous contribution to the children and families of Boston by the Boston Area Church League. and the Boston Red Sox. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Paul has been a neighbor of mine for some years now, and he's always giving me suggestions on how our city could... He works for the City of Boston, their parks department, and he's a tremendous volunteer over there, always working with the children. And over the summer, he was recognized by the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Area Church League for his work with the youth in the community. And again, just wanna... a good guy for our community. Uh, I just wanted to throw it a good, uh, good job.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. On the motion for approved by council night. All those in favor. All those opposed. Motion carries. Uh, we have two reports out of, um, uh, one out of the sub committee on zoning and ordinances chaired by a Councilor Knight. Um, this is, uh, dealing with the, uh, zoning for medical matter. We'll wanna, with a list of recommendations. Uh, council night. Do you want to share? Absolutely. Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: Um, Mr. President, as we noted earlier in the meeting, uh, the subcommittee on zoning and ordinances made up of myself along with Councilor Falco and Councilor carrot yellow. And, um, we've met on a number of times. Uh, we've met at a number of meetings, Mr. President. Uh, 512, 523, 81912, to take a look at the proposed safe zoning, the zoning amendment for the safe access to medicinal marijuana, Mr. President. And we made a series of recommendations for this committee of the whole to further entertain. The motion that came out of the subcommittee on zoning and ordinances was that the committee of the whole would further entertain this for further deliberation and discussion. Um, recommendations include, uh, vesting the special permit granting authority with the board of health, um, expanding the maximum allowable gross square footage of a facility to prevent lines from building outside, increasing the permitting fee and using the, uh, portion of the permitting fee for the programming and related materials to meet the mission of the substance abuse and outreach coordinator, um, requiring the filing of the floor plan with the city clerk, um, We examined the inclusion of C1 and C2 districts, Mr. President, but would recommend that we only allow it in industrially zoned areas. We looked at developing an overlay district versus a zoning amendment, and we figured that the zoning amendment was the way to go as opposed to establishing an overlay district. We discussed limiting the number of licenses for sale here in the community with the recreational bill coming on the ballot in November. There might be some issue with limiting the number of licenses issued for medicinal or other uses here in the community. We examined buffer zone provisions, residential buffer zone provisions from locating a facility near a residentially zoned district. We discussed banning or regulating marijuana-infused products, regulating the potency in packaging versus an outright ban. We also discussed allowing the administration as the contract negotiating authority here in the community to have the sole authority to sign a letter of non-opposition for a marijuana dispensary for medicinal purposes to come into our community. We made a recommendation of limiting the hours and days of operation from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., not often on the weekends. We also recommend that we enable the Board of Health to be empowered to establish rules and regulations to implement the ordinance that's before us. And most importantly, that we'd hold a public information and input session out in the community so that we could receive some feedback from the residents that reside in this community as to what their thoughts and feelings are based upon the proposal that was put before us and the recommended changes that the Subcommittee on Zoning and Ordinance has made and what recommendations the Committee as a whole will make thereafter.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So your recommendation is that this be sent to the Committee of the Whole? That is correct, sir. So on that recommendation, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. And then 1678, Subcommittee on Licensing has done a ton of work as well, chaired by Councilor Caraviello with Councilors Knight and Falco. We had some work on licensing of mobile food trucks and also a revision for ordinances on cars for higher Hackney carriages. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, we sided with the food trucks, with the pilot program that was recommended by the mayor, and it was the agreement that we adopt that ordinance We suggested that we use possibly the city of Boston's permitting process, which is probably one of the most stringent in the areas. We did allow some food trucks to come in for, I think, a few events up until, I think, sometime in October, November. After that, all food trucks coming into the city We'll have to adhere to the same ordinances and regulations that any brick and mortar restaurant has to adhere to also, Mr. President. So we did say that it would be a one-year pilot program from the date of implementation. And we'll say at this point, it's been recommended for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So recommended for approval.
[Richard Caraviello]: Or for discussion in the Committee of the Whole. Discussion, excuse me, I'm sorry. Discussion of the Committee of the Whole. Very good. As well as the taxi cab. The taxi cabs, we did a lot of work on that also. There's been some issues that we've changed. That is going to be recommended to the Committee of the Whole also with the intent on turning it over to the Chief of Police for him to take the program over.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good, so on the motion to send this to Committee of the Whole, all those in favor?
[Richard Caraviello]: Opposed?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good, leave your Tuesday and Wednesday nights open in the coming months. Mr. Citizen, you wanted to speak on a matter.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Yes, if I may, I didn't want to interrupt your moment of silence from my old neighbor, Jack McGlynn, Sr. I'd be amiss not to say, read this short three paragraphs, Please. If I may, please, thank you. I'd like to say some kind words about my old neighbor, Mr. John Jake, Jack Sr. McGlynn. But first off, if I may, I'd like to commend you, Councilor President Dello Russo, for doing an outstanding job on Jack's stately funeral. Mr. McGlynn Sr. may have been the consummate politician But more importantly, he was and still is, as he is reunited with his wonderful wife, Helen Lennox, the consummate gentleman, a kind and gentle man all the time. May God bless him and all of us to emulate his character while we are still here on Earth. Also, I'd like to share a little known fact about Jack Sr. In 1980, I knocked on his door to introduce myself as his new neighbor, and he surprised me by speaking in a fluent Southern Italian dialect. This blew my mind, but later on I surmised he must have learned it as a child, as I did, my Northern Italian dialect. Maybe he learned it from the Perica or the Catino, but I believe it's the Perica side of the family. Although I know he also spoke Latin. There's lots more good stories from the past 36 years, but I'll keep it very brief. Okay, I'll just say one more. About 20 years ago, my son knocked on his door for Halloween. Jack come running down the stairs from the second floor. Put some candy in his bag, I guess, and then when he came back down, my son, He says, Andrew, is that your boy? I said, yes. He says, send him back. So anyways, he started to deposit some more treats in his bag. It's like US currency. Sweet guy. Furthermore, can you imagine how many wakes the man attended to? Including both my parents. Didn't have to do these things. The man was and will always be a class act. He truly is one of the greats of the greatest generation. Jack will be sorely missed, but not forgotten. Thank you for listening.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Presentations and similar matters. 16-672 petitioned by Jean M. Martin, 10 Cummings Street in Metrod, Mass., to address the council about a monument in honor of first responders. Welcome, Ms. Martin. Thank you. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street, and you saved the best for last. Our emergency workers are so much more to us today than they were prior to September 11, 2001, and we as a city need to recognize them as the exceptional people they are. Their sacrifice has not been recognized by the city in deed or material. This needs to change. Starting with September 11, 2001, 411 emergency workers were killed trying to save the lives of those in the Trade Center. This included 343 firefighters, of whom two were paramedics. Of those who were killed, seven firefighters were black men. And yes, this needs to be pointed out, race matters. Thirty-seven police officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey 23 police officers of the New York Police Department, and eight emergency medical technicians in private emergency medical services. Of all police officers killed on September 11, 2001, 11 were women. And of those women, four women were of color. Yes, this needs to be pointed out. Yes, gender matters. Also of note, 12 police officers were men of color. The National Guard, whose job it once was to defend the homeland, are now being deployed to the current wars in Iraq and Syria through Operation Inherent Resolve, and in Afghanistan through Operation Freedom Sentinel. Using the National Guard more as the reserves in regular army has forced our police departments to become literally the front line of our national defense. They have been used to stop terrorists in their tracks whether it be Little Rock, Arkansas in June 2009 at a recruiting station where one soldier was killed and another wounded, or whether it was Fort Hood where 13 soldiers were killed and 31 others were wounded. By the way, the cop who stopped the rampage was a female and took a bullet to her hand from the shooter. Or April 15, 2013, a day Boston will never forget. Or whether it be July 16, 2015, in San Bernardino, where 14 people were killed. Or Orlando, on June 12, 2016, where 49 were killed and 53 were wounded. Or this weekend, in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, where 29 people were injured. The first called to the scene are our police personnel. and they literally put their lives on the line for us. And we need to recognize them for their new role and appreciate them for it. The fire department has played the first responder role as the medical team, very much the way the Army medic traditionally has during a battle. They are the triage unit. They are saving lives by being on the front line during an active mass event. I would also include EMS workers with these two groups. They are under-respected for their service and sacrifice by this city in policy and material. While there are many ways to thank you, one is with a statue or a monument. I'm gonna suggest the statue of my dreams, but I know we don't have the money for it, but I'm gonna, then I'll tell you what I really want. But if I had my druthers, I would, that's right, that's right. If I could, and indulge me in this, I would knock down the dance hall outside, I'd pay for it and knock it down, put a green grass area up there, and I would have life-size monuments of a police officer, saluting a flag with a flagpole standing nearby, and a firefighter doing the firefighter's carry of a civilian. And I think that would be cool. And I would put a park bench near there, and I would have that so that civilians can sit there and contemplate those that protect us. But we don't have the money for that. So in lieu of that, I would settle for a large boulder with a brass plaque. But it needs to be centered someplace very special. It needs to be in an area that's very well kept and a boulder with a brass plaque. And I know it costs money, but I don't care if we have to have a bake sale for it. We know that we're not going to do a whole lot of other things in the near future. We know, unfortunately, I don't see any building going to be put up for a new station. We can talk about it, but we know that's not going to happen in the next two years, sadly enough. So it's a small token of I would love to see more training. I would love to see the detailed whole system gone. I would like to see a lot of things, and I'll talk about those later on in the year. You know you'll hear from me. But one thing that we could do, because I don't think that there's a plaque for the police and for the fire in the city of Medford. And I've seen them in other communities. I saw one in Plymouth, Mass, and it was really nice. And it was just along the walkway, It was in a special place along the ocean. And it was a place that was, it has to be a very nice place. If you're only going to give them a boulder with a brass plaque, don't put it in between two parked cars. You know what I mean? It has to be in a very special place. And so that's what I would recommend to whoever the people are in charge of that. And it's not asking too much, because our police and our fire are taking it on the chin. We need to prepare them for mass events, because they are literally the front line. The National Guard has been depleted, and they're overseas. So when you call for help, the people coming are going to be the police and the fire. So I just want to point that out, and hopefully we can get them some kind of recognition. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Ms. Martin. On the motion of council night to receive and place on file. All those in favor of those opposed motion carries. Uh, on the motion of Councilor, uh, care of yellow to table 16-six 73. Uh, all those in favor, all those opposed motion carries. And we took the reports of the committees, which I didn't see on that back page. And so the records, Tabled records of the meeting of July 19th were passed to Councilor Marks. Mr. Councilor?
[Michael Marks]: I don't have the records. I'm going to need to table them.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On motion of Councilor Marks to table. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion to table is sustained. And the records of the meeting of August 16th, 2016 are passed to Councilor Scarpelli. On the motion of Councilor Scarpelli to If you could, yes, Councilor.
[Adam Knight]: In regard to the minutes underneath paper 16-624, there was an issue of payment of a legal claim. And I requested that the record reflected that the city solicitor found no conflict of interest with me voting after I gave my disclosure on the measure. I just wanted the record to reflect that clearly, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And the clerk will make that amendation to the record. And move for approval as amended. And as witnessed by Councilor Scarpelli, he moves approval of the records as amended and corrected. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion for taking any more issues of suspension, any more public service announcements.
[Michael Marks]: Motion to adjourn.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Claims to fame. Motion to adjourn by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? All those opposed? Meeting adjourned.
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