[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam Clerk, would you kindly call the roll?
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Councilor Caraviello? Present. Councilor Polo? Present. Councilor Knight? Present. Vice President Mungo? Present. Councilor Martins? Present. Councilor Scarpelli? Present. Councilor Dello Russo?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Present. Seven members present, none absent, please rise to salute the flag. Aye. 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. 16-485, hearing. A public hearing will be held in the Howard F. Alden Memorial Chambers, City Hall, Medford, Massachusetts, on Tuesday evening, May 31st, 2016, at 7 p.m., by A&E Auto Repair, Incorporated, doing business as A-Tech, to operate a Class 4 automotive repair and body shop at 67 Mystic Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts. Petitions and plans may be seen. In the office of the City Clerk, room 103, City Hall, Medford, Massachusetts, 781-393-2425. Call 781-393-2501 for any accommodations, aides, TDDD. By order of Medford City Council, Edward P. Finn, City Clerk, advertising the Medford Mercury, May 23rd, 2016. So this is a public hearing and so we just ask in public hearings that those who are in favor or those who are opposed of the item before us present themselves to the podium and state just that, whether they're in favor or opposed when called forward. It's not a period for discussion or merits as is custom in a public hearing. So at this time, the chair invites anybody in favor of this item to present themselves to the podium, state your name and address for the record, and whether that you are in favor. Anybody in favor of this matter before us? No one is in favor. Is the petitioner present? Please come forward. Are you in favor of this matter, ma'am?
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: Yes, I am.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Your name and address for the record.
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: Eliane Caraviello in my home address.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes.
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: 51 Chalfers Street in Somerville, Mass.
[Fred Dello Russo]: You're in favor. Yes. Very good. Anybody else in favor? Anybody else in favor? Hearing and seeing none, I declare that portion of the meeting closed. Anybody in opposition? Is anybody in opposition to this matter before us at 67 Mystic Avenue? Anybody in opposition? Hearing and seeing none, I declare the meeting closed. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Licensing. Mr. President, I have reviewed the papers earlier in the week, and I find them to be in order.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Can you tell us what operation was there presently? Are you taking over business?
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: You are. And can you tell us the scope of your business?
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: It is auto repair. And also, we are applying for a dealer, class two auto dealer, that we are asking for permission to run the business as auto repair and use it for a dealer.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And you're asking also, have you applied yet for the auto dealer's license?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: You have applied. Yes. Is that application before us, Mr. Chairman? This is, Mr. President. This is also here. Presently, we have this on the operation for a class four auto repair and a body shop. So on the recommendation of Councilor Caraviello for approval, seconded by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor?
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Marks? Just wondering if I can ask the petitioner what type of off-street parking do you currently have?
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: We have a parking in front of the building and also a few parking space on the side of the building.
[Michael Marks]: When you say in front of the building, on Publix Road? Oh, no.
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: It is on a lot.
[Michael Marks]: Roughly how many spots do you have?
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: It is around 15 in the front and around eight, nine on the side of the building.
[Michael Marks]: And how many bays do you have?
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: Two.
[Michael Marks]: Two bays?
[a52ZUinVlks_SPEAKER_26]: Yes.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of approval by Councilor Caraviello, seconded by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Congratulations. Suspension of the rules. Suspension of the rules. Madam Vice President, for what purpose?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: To allow residents from the Evans Street neighborhood to speak to the council on an issue.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, ma'am. You may be seated. Is it on the agenda?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: It's not on the agenda. I don't believe the residents put it on the agenda, but they asked.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Is there a resident from the Evans Street here to speak to the council? Please present yourself to the podium. State your name and address for the record. Purpose of your presence.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: Shawna Smith, 91 Evans Street.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I'm sorry, your name?
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: Shawna Smith.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Shawn Smith.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: 91 Evans Street.
[Fred Dello Russo]: 91 Evans Street. Welcome.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: How can we help you?
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: My street's atrocious.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I can't hear what you're saying. Your street's atrocious. Your street is atrocious.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: My street is atrocious. There's potholes, rocks, because the asphalt, there's no hot tub, there's no asphalt anymore, so the gravel that's underneath the big rocks, I have some in my pocketbook. that I brought. This is what my daughter is riding her bike on and wiping out. A little boy broke his arm in September. My mother broke her hip five years ago from the street. I've called seven times. I've called Town Hall. I've filed two things on C-Click Fix. They came out. They fixed the big pothole in front of my house. But it's not just the pothole. It's the rocks, because you can patch it all you want, but the street's crumbling. There was four open complaints on C-Click Fix this morning.
[Fred Dello Russo]: What is it that you want us to do for you? You want the street paved?
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: Yeah, the street needs to be paved.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Scarpelli, that Evans Street be paved. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, if we could allow the resident to finish. It was open on CClickFix.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: There was four of them that weren't from me. I put two of them on there, but there was four of them from different neighbors. I don't know who they were, but I followed it. I voted to have it fixed, and I got four alerts, one after another, on my email. that Lauren in the mayor's office was happy to announce that the issue has been resolved and the issue is closed because it was fixed.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So they fixed the one pothole in front of your house.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: They fixed that back in March. These are all new issues that have been opened up in the last week and they're fixed.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: We just had a meeting with the mayor, and Lauren was there giving us an update on the C-Click fix, and it seems like Lauren from the mayor's office is the monitor of the situation, but I'm not sure why something like that was closed. I don't know if my colleagues can see the pictures, the streets.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: So that's the whole street.
[George Scarpelli]: That's the whole street.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: They're in my driveway, they're in my front yard, they're in my backyard.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: That's my street. And so in March you, you reported the problem that one pothole was fixed, but nothing else. And then. There's been six more complaints, two of yours, four others, and nothing's been done. They just were all closed out.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: And this neighbor is one of them. I think she's 90, and she said that she's lived there for 62 years, and the street's never been paved. And her husband, who passed away, used to come to this meeting every time that Mr. Notola came. And he couldn't get anything done complaining about it. He probably died 20 years ago. Yeah.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I think this is the priority when we talk about taking $500,000 out of free cash to do sidewalks. I think streets need to be included in that or we need to take a better look at some of our streets and how they're crumbling and get some of these fixed. And obviously Evans Street, for people to report it multiple, multiple times on C-Click Fix and have to come to a council meeting and actually bring rocks. We definitely see a problem, so I definitely move approval to see if we could get an estimate on how much it would cost to repave the street and what the recommendations would be if we weren't to repave the whole street. But to get some resolve, it's terrible. I always say we are being reactive rather than proactive. in this situation where you have a broken hip and a broken arm, it doesn't even look like we're being reactive.
[hQQ4PYNrfCE_SPEAKER_10]: If that was my daughter that broke her arm, and she rides, she's rollerblading, she learned how to ride her bike, and she's hitting rocks this big, and dumping, and not, you know, not one, she better not be hurt.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Oh, there's my rock. Councilor Scarpelli, that Evans Street be repaved, seconded by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. She recognizes Councilor.
[Michael Marks]: So much. Thank you, Mr. President. I will support this tonight. But I can tell you firsthand, I've supported the last four times we've asked for Evans Street to be repaved. And we're still in the same situation. So I would ask my colleagues tonight The mayor asked for approval of 500,000 for sidewalks. We have over 8 million in free cash that we put contingent upon the 500,000 that Evans Street be repaved. So if we make it part of that report, we know Evans Street will be repaved and we won't be getting lip service anymore. I would venture to say that Evans Street is probably in the top five worst streets in the entire city without any hesitation. And it's getting worse. And pothole patrol is really not what's needed. You need a whole new grind down and repaving of the entire street curb to curb. So I would ask that my fellow colleagues, I'll be more than happy to put that forward when we discuss the paper for $500,000 for sidewalks, that Evans Street, Pinkett Street is probably the second worst street. So it's right next door to Evans. Then you have Wicklow, you have Pleasant Street. I mean, you can go down the list of streets that are in deplorable condition, but these residents have had to deal with the street for long enough. It's a public safety concern when you drive down the street, you kick up rocks, which is a very dangerous situation. And, you know, I think that's probably the best way of doing it because just merely another recommendation from this council is going to fall with the other four or five recommendations. So I would ask that we put that on the paper that's a little further on the agenda.
[George Scarpelli]: On the motion for approval, Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the residents. I did come out yesterday and walk the streets with a couple of your neighbors, and it is horrible. I mean, I concur with my colleagues in the fact that one of the neighbors told me that she was bringing her groceries in about a year ago, and when she came back out, her back tire was gone. because it was eaten by the sewer cover. So that is a dangerous street. I know that. But we do have, I know that the mayor announced tonight that we were graded, I believe, a 99 on the open streets grant process to move forward. So obviously there's money. I, as one, will really push for the Evans Street resurfacing it. That's not a pothole issue. This is a whole resurfacing issue. And I think that Lauren did do her job by closing out that pothole, but understanding that Evans Street isn't a pothole issue. It's the whole street. So, thank you again.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So, on the motion for approval, I second it. I see that, Madam Vice President.
[Robert Cappucci]: Please. Thank you, Mr. President. Robert Cappucci of 71 Evans Street. So, I mean, just a few questions. When you say that Lauren did her job, there have been, going back a couple years now, reports to the city about this street. It spills out into Central Ave. These rocks are in front yards. They're on sidewalks. My question, I guess, is will we get a time frame? of when this will be done, because it is the summertime now. Kids are out of school. They're going to be all over that street. It's only a matter of time before a tire spins one of these up. I mean, we've already had injuries. With all due respect, Mr. President, is there any way we can get some type of time frame on when to expect this street to be fixed?
[Fred Dello Russo]: I do not know the answer to the question, but I'm sure Councilor Scarpelli might add an amendment to his resolution that we ask for a timeframe on this when we place the question to the mayor's office.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I mean, when, you know, when we consider the surplus amounts completion of the project, uh, be a reported back to the council as soon as possible.
[Robert Cappucci]: When we consider the surplus amounts in city coffers and you know, we have, an endless list of taxes to be paid, quite frankly. And no disrespect to this body, but this is—it's an abomination. It really is. And the amount of money that we pay as residents and taxpayers, that this wasn't done two years ago when you were first informed of this. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much, sir. Welcome, please state your name and address for the record, sir.
[Sorrell]: John Sorello, 20 Metcalf Street. Mr. President, this is not an Evans Street problem, this is a citywide problem. And as a matter of fact, I was shocked to learn how many public safety departments are understaffed in this city. And it was never brought up in the recent committee of the whole meeting with the mayor just a little while ago. And what it comes down to, I was shocked to learn that the Department of DPW, Public Works, has only 17 staffing. How could that be? In a city the size of Medford, it should not be. Now, this is really a public safety problem. And, and this, I think this department is really second to the police and the, uh, fire department. So this is what should be brought up when you have a discussion about the budget. I mean, the whole council should go before the mayor and negotiate with the mayor to have these staffs improved. I'm surprised to learn for instance, the police department is short, uh, 30 offices. How could that be in the city side? This is the first, priority. Is that redundant? First priority? Anyway, this is the first priority of government. That's the reason we have government is for public safety. So this council should not pass a budget until it is agreed that public safety will be improved in the city. And we should have a Department of Public Works can deal with all of these problems. We have problems with sidewalks, with tree stumps, with potholes, et cetera. So this should be dealt with, and this is the city council's great opportunity.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Just a point of clarification. I think when Dr. Starello referred to 17 employees in the Department of Public Works, he was referring to 17 employees that were just exclusively assigned to the highway division. But, Mr. President, I'd like to amend the paper to request that the matter be referred to the administration for inclusion in the capital plan. We just met with the mayor's office this morning, and they said that they're in the process of putting together a capital budget and a capital plan. And this is a capital expenditure, Mr. President, so I'd ask that they also put this on their list of items to add to the capital plan.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, would it be possible to send the DPW down there tomorrow morning to put a temporary patch on that? Obviously, the streets are not going to get paid tomorrow, but in the meantime... Point of information, Councilor Scott Pally. Unless they do the whole street, it's really not a patch. I mean, if they get on there, at least fill it on a temporary basis.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I think the big potholes they did, but walking with it yesterday, just... Well, it's abundantly clear to all of us that the streets are a hazard to everybody who lives there and drives on it, and it needs to be repaid, and it's been needing to be repaid for a decade.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you, Mr. President. Rob Capucci, 71 Evans Street. Maybe if they could come by and pick up all these loose rocks that are, if that's possible. But if this gets added to the mayor's capital plan, what does that do in terms of a timeframe of fixing this street? I mean, when do they meet on that? When is that discussed? When is that approved?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Point of clarification, Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I think Councilor Marks hit the nail on the head with regards to that $500,000 free cash expenditure, associating this, Evans Street, making a condition of that, because the capital plan, the budget director, the mayor said it wouldn't be until they hire a budget director, which would be end of summer, fall, is when the capital plan would even be discussed. So that would push it out a year or two. So I think, too, if we can get councillors to condition Evans Street on that $500,000. This is exactly why we wanted a list of the $500,000, how it was going to be spent, so that we know streets like Evans or sidewalks that are in complete disrepair are the ones that are going to get done. And I think Mr. Cairns, who's the DPW director, is getting a copy of the list for us as we speak, so we can possibly bring that up later tonight. If not, hopefully by next week.
[Robert Cappucci]: So then my next question would be, knowing this, why would a councillor request to put this on the capital plan that's going to push it out another year or two? It's unprecedented.
[Adam Knight]: Point of information, Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I don't feel as though we should be making one project contingent upon another. Two weeks ago, we sat here and we talked about sidewalks, and there's a dire need for us to repair our sidewalks. Last week, we talked about sidewalks. We talked about how there was a dire need to repair our sidewalks. There's certainly a dire need to repair many of our streets, Evans Street being one of them, Mr. President. But I don't feel as though holding one construction project hostage and make it contingent upon another is a good policy. Point of information.
[Michael Marks]: Point of information, Councilor Marks. I think one of the reasons that was brought up last week, the reason why we need new sidewalks is public safety. So we can have all the great sidewalks we want. And then when a resident steps in the street into a six inch pothole line throughout the street, that's a public safety concern. I think we have to address them when we see them. And this has definitely been an issue for a number of years. The council president mentioned a number of years. I think this is the time. This, this is an emergency. This, this isn't something a wishlist would say out of the street, but like they haven't repaid. This is an emergency. Um, and I, I did the same thing. Councilor Scarpelli did. I took a walk around the neighborhood and this street, I'd venture to say is one of the top five in the city of worst streets. So you can imagine the condition it's in. So we have a motion of approval on the floor. But I'm going to do it during, as Councilor Longo said, during that paper. People want to vote for it? If not, that's fine. But the money's there, and the need is definitely there on this particular street. And residents have been waiting a long time.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the motion for approval by Councilor Scarpelli, as amended by Councilors Lungo-Koehn, and Councilor Knight, all those in, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Councilor Scarpelli, yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The amendment was to have Councilor Scarpelli ask that we have a time frame attached to that and vice-president Yeah, resurface the street have a time frame and vice-president Lungo-Koehn had the amendment to Cost estimate on that And those were the two amendments to the main motion and yours was that it be added to the mayor's capital plan council. So on that motion, madam. Yes.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. We had an interruption in the calling of the roll. Seven members in affirmative, none in the negative. The motion passes. On the motion of Council, it will no longer occur that we return to the regular order of business. All those in favor? All those opposed? 16-501, public hearing. Public hearing will be held in Medford City Council in Howard F. Alden Memorial Chamber, City Hall, Medford, Massachusetts on Tuesday evening, May 31st, 2016 at 7 p.m. on a petition from MCREF, Medford Development LLC, under the provisions of Chapter 148, Section 13, of the general laws of Massachusetts for a flammable storage license to park and store above ground 579 automotive vehicles, parking garage spaces with an estimated of 11,580 gallons flammable and vehicle gas tanks at 5 Cabot Road, Medford, Massachusetts, a office zoning district. Petition and plans may be seen in the office of the city clerk. City Hall, Medford, Mass., 781-393-2425. Call 781-393-2401 for any accommodations. The City of Medford is an EEO-AA-504 employer. By order of the City Council, Edward P. Finn, City Clerk. Advertise Medford Mercury May 23rd, 2016. The matter before us is the request for parking in storage of above ground of 579 automotive vehicles, parking garage spaces, with an estimated 11,580 gallons of flammable vehicle gas tanks at 5 Cabot Road. All those in favor, present yourself to the podium in state. So are you the petitioner?
[SPEAKER_16]: Petitioner's counsel, sir. And your name and address for the record, please. For the record, Chris Rainier from Goulston and Stores. 400 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02210. And you are in favor? Yes, sir.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Anybody else in favor, present yourself to the podium, please. Anyone else in favor? Hearing and seeing none, we declare that portion of the meeting closed. Anybody in opposition to this matter before us, please present yourself to the podium. Anyone in opposition? With no one. presenting themselves in opposition, hearing and seeing none, the chair declares that portion of the meeting closed. Mr. Caraviello, Chairman of the Licensing Subcommittee.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I have reviewed the papers and they appear to be in order here. This is for the new parking facility up in Wellington, correct? Along the river?
[SPEAKER_16]: Correct, sir. This is on Cabot Road, the Mill Creek project, the residential project with the above ground parking garage. Yes, sir.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Can you tell us about the scope of the project and what type of project it is?
[SPEAKER_16]: Certainly. Thank you. The project is approximately 297 residential unit project. It does have 10% affordable units that will be set aside and allocated to a lottery. There are, as Council President read into the record, approximately 579 parking spaces in the parking garage of the building. So we're here for the gasoline in the tanks of those cars. No underground storage tanks or anything like that. I did receive from the city clerk's office, the sign-offs from the departments. I can submit those into the record if those are not in your packages, but we did receive no substantive comments from the town boards on the application.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. If you, I know in our packet has like a description of the site, so you have the two lots. And then the project site is going to be separate than the garage? Or are we building on top of the garage?
[SPEAKER_16]: So we're not building on top of the garage. Actually, the building is going to wrap around the garage. So you won't be able to see the garage. One of the real benefits in the project is there's a nice open space, a nice park along the river that the project's going to enhance. So what we're doing is wrapping the parking garage with the building so you won't see it when you're outside of it. But no construction on top of it.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And with regards to distances between the lot and the actual units, is there a decent, what's the distance between the lots and the, you know, the lot and the unit when you are talking about that much gasoline?
[SPEAKER_16]: I just. I do have to move with the project architect. That might be a question for Mr. Carr.
[Doug Carr]: Thank you, Mr. Carr. Doug Carr, 124 Boston Avenue, West Medford. Your question is a good one, Councilor. There's a firewall around the entire garage, separating the residential use from the garage. The garage is fully sprinkled. Fire Chief and all the people in this building have signed off on the project. As you know, it's under construction, but it's a very good question. And as I mentioned before, I think that's, well, that's all. Let me know if you have any further questions. I'm happy to answer them for you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So when you say firewall, if there was an explosion in the garage, the apartments would be safe, so there's an actual wall, or are you talking about the space?
[Doug Carr]: There's actually a concrete wall, and then there's actually a separate wall, separated from it, where the residents begin. So it's standard construction for when you put a residential building against a parking garage.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Great. Thank you, Doug. You're welcome.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. Carr.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Mr. President, a motion for approval.
[SPEAKER_16]: Thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: You are hereby notified that by order of the City Council, a public hearing will be given at the Howard F. Alden Memorial Auditorium, 85 George P. Hassett Drive, City Hall, Medford, Massachusetts at 7 p.m. Tuesday. May 31st, 2016, on a petition of National Grid for permission to construct a location of mains for the transmission and distribution of gas in and under the public streets, lanes, highways, and places of the city of Medford and of the pipes, valves, governors, manholes, and other structures, fixtures, and at pertinences designed or intended to protect or operate said mains and accomplish the objects of said company and the digging up and opening of the ground to lay or place same. Said underground located substantially in accordance with the plan filed herewith, marked GPMED 614113-15-281, dated March 18th, 2016. The following are the streets and highways referred to as part of the fiscal year 16-17 CIM NRPL, program, main and service replacement recommends the relay of approximately 540 feet of six inch LP cast iron, 1912, 1922 with 18 inch plastic and high street from Austin street to canal street and abandoned 15 feet of six inch LP cast iron, 1910 slash 1922 approved chief engineer based on the review of the engineer this work can proceed forthwith, provided the following requirements are met. No city-owned or private utilities or other structures are adversely impacted. National Grid shall ensure that all sewer, water, and drain lines are marked prior to any excavation. The finished trench will consist of a well-compacted gravel and asphalt-based course. Given the routing of the new main, National Grid will pay the city its cost of milling and paving the affected segment of High Street from curb to curb. Before beginning work, the contractor shall notify DigSafe and shall obtain applicable permits from the engineering division. The contractor shall utilize the City of Medford regulations and standards for restoration, as well as remove all debris related to its work. please call 781-393-2425 for any accommodations or aids. Signed respectfully yours, Edward P. Finn, City Clerk. Plans can be viewed in the City Clerk's office downstairs in City Hall. Chair, we'll open up this portion of the public hearing. For those who are in favor, anybody in favor of this project, please present yourself to the podium. Is the petitioner present? Hi, state your name and address for the record, please.
[SPEAKER_08]: Hi, Mr. President. Chris Marr, National Grid.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Welcome. And you are in favor of this?
[SPEAKER_08]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Anybody else in favor? Anyone else in favor of this project? Hearing and seeing none, we declare that portion of the meeting closed. Anybody in opposition to this project? Anyone in opposition? Hearing and seeing none, we declare that portion of the public hearing closed. And the chair recognizes? Councilor Caraviello, Chairman of the... Thank you, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. President, I've reviewed the documents and I find it to be in order. I'm very happy to see that you are going to be paving crib to crib, is that correct?
[SPEAKER_08]: Yes, I believe, Councilor, that that's gonna be worked out with the City Engineering Office in terms of a contribution that's gonna be done. I believe that this is... Our work is in response to paving that's happening on, I believe, on the side streets. And so we're going to work with the engineering office to have them all paved at one at the same time after our work is completed.
[Richard Caraviello]: Provided that everything is done correctly. Mr. President, I have a motion for approval. The motion approved by Councilor Cavillo. Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: I'm sorry. I believe you said working on it. Is it? So it's not definite that that's part of the, is that read into the, as an agreement?
[SPEAKER_08]: Okay, okay. Sorry, I might have misspoke. I meant more that once our work with the project is complete, that that will be what happens.
[George Scarpelli]: I think that one of the biggest concerns are the questions from residents when the utilities do come in and they're supposed to lay the compact and make sure that it's left the way that they found it, that some of the areas in the community are still sinking now. Can we put an amendment to that to make sure that there's a certain timeline involved with the engineering department to give us help with the timeline, that if that does happen, that there's coverage? So you'd like an amendment to that? that there's a certain timeline allowed that if that, if this sinkage, that the, the, the department comes back to resurface that.
[Doug Carr]: Okay.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So, uh, in, I think, uh, by way of ordinance, there's a year, if I'm not mistaken, is that correct? Uh, Mr. Chairman, thank you. Thank you. Very good. Uh, Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you. Roughly, how long will this job take and when will the work be performed?
[SPEAKER_08]: The work will be performed in the near to immediate future. I believe that this is one of our next projects that we have scheduled for this summer, early this summer. Work will probably be commencing, I imagine, in June. And it will typically take, due to the high traffic area, high street, This project may take roughly one to two months.
[Michael Marks]: One to two months? Yes. And what time of the day will it be done?
[SPEAKER_08]: Our typical work hours are between 7 to 3.30, but typically we work with the city depending on if there's traffic concerns and we have to work restricted hours in certain locations.
[Michael Marks]: So you've worked with the police department already? Because this is definitely a high-traveled area.
[SPEAKER_08]: Yes. I don't believe we've reached out to the police department quite yet. I believe we were going to wait from how the grant of vocation hearing came from this meeting. And then we are going to then line up to talk with the chief of police. the police department in terms of details.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, maybe at some point there should be a paper added to these reports dealing with traffic impact like we do for many other things in the community. And that may be helpful to see if there is going to be an alternate route that, you know, depending on the type of work and also what manpower is needed to protect the residents of this community around the construction area. I'm not sure when we can discuss that, or maybe if it's a public safety subcommittee can discuss that issue. But I think it's an important issue, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The President Thank you, Counsel. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. Knight Mr. President, I think Counsel Knox took the words right out of my mouth. A traffic management plan is something that I think we're going to need to start requiring when we start allowing public utilities to open up the ground, Mr. President. And looking at this particular paper, I'm happy to see that the work is going to be done from curb to curb, and I believe that this is done under a program, I think it's called SRFO or SROF, where the public utility actually gives the city the money, and then the city's responsible for going curb to curb, and the utility's actually going to get out of the pavement business and allow the city to do it. So that I'm very excited about, Mr. President. And that's also something I think we really need to take a long, hot look at and make standard on. You know, we have the residents from Evans Street here talking about how patchwork repairs in the street have created a situation that they're in now where the place is falling apart. And I think that as we move forward and we start opening streets up, we need to really consider going curb-to-curb in the closing up of our streets when the work is done. But with that being said, Mr. President, provided that the public safety impact around our school is going to be addressed, I certainly have no problem with the paper.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Carfield. Thank you, Mr. President. And that was one thing I wanted to bring up. You know that it would be advantageous to have this done before September when school starts because that pretty much is right almost in front of the school.
[SPEAKER_08]: Oh, yes. Councilor, that, that, that will definitely happen. Um, we are on a timetable because we, we will have to have our work complete in order for this, uh, for the, the street to be repaved at this, um, this fiscal year as well.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. President, a motion of approval. Motion approved by Councilor Caffiello.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, through you to, uh, well actually Councilor Knight mentioned something earlier, but you know, uh, National Grid getting out of the paving business. So, which is a good point, if they're giving the money to the city to actually pave the ground, pave the new road curb to curb, what happens in a case where Councilor Scarpelli mentioned the streets begins to sag? Who's on the hook for it then? Is that this national grid, you know, are they on the hook to foot the bill again or is that up to the city at that point? And I'm not sure if anybody knows the answer to that. Maybe that's a question that goes out to the city engineer, but, um, I mean, I think that that's something, that's a question that needs to be asked. I mean, if National Grid's trying to get out of the paving business, which I understand, and it is curb to curb, I think it's an important question to ask. Because a lot of these things do sag.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I cannot offer any amendments because I'm chairing the meeting. But if I were on the floor, my amendment would be have the city engineer be prepared to explain all these matters to us at our budget hearing. Rather than torment her over the expense of money that we spend on rubber jackets for the men.
[John Falco]: If we could amend the paper then to actually have the city engineer report back to us to find out who is responsible for the additional costs if the road does begin to sag after we've received the funding from national grid.
[SPEAKER_08]: If I could speak to that briefly. Typically, if it's determined by the city engineer and National Grid agrees that it's a fault of our own trench, that there is settlement issues following the paving, then that would be something that National Grid would cover. We guarantee all our trenches. especially immediately following the repaving of the street. So that would be something that National Grid would cover. But if it turned out to be a fault of the paving contractor or something where there was an issue with the pavement that was put down, that would be something that National Grid would not be looking to cover.
[John Falco]: Okay. That's one of my main concerns. I mean, this is a problem throughout the city where, you know, time goes by. if we know what it sags into the ground, if we know you have potholes and you have a whole street falling apart. So, um, yeah, I think it's something that we need to have addressed. And if we could have the, uh, city engineer, uh, come back to us with a response. I greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion approval by Councilor Caraviello as amended. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Move approval Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Carries. 16-506 location of poles, attachments and fixtures. and Underground Conduits, Metro Massachusetts City Clerk's Office. You are hereby notified that by order of the Metro City Council, a public hearing will be given at the Howard F. Alderman Memorial Auditorium, 85 George B. Isis Drive, City Hall, Metro Massachusetts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 31st, 2016 on a petition by National Grid of North Andover, Massachusetts for permission to locate poles, wires, and fixtures including the necessary sustaining and protecting fixtures along and across the following public way. High Street. National grid to remove and relocate a one SO pole on High Street at MH616 to new P26 plus or minus 10, one to two conduit. National grid relocating UGAL pole, 26 High Street. Rotary at Winthrop Street across the street northwesterly to be fed from manhole 616, a section of 1 to 2-inch conduit to be placed between the pole and the manhole on the sidewalk. Sidewalk will be restored by a national grid on both sides. Wherefore, it prays that after due notice and hearing as provided by law, it be permitted to excavate the public highways and to run and maintain underground electrical conduits together with such sustaining and protecting fixtures as it may find necessary for the transmission of electricity. Set underground conduits to be located substantially in accordance with the plan filed here with Mark National Grid, High Street, Metro Massachusetts, number 214991724292016. This was approved by the city engineer. Upon review of the petition, this work can be proceeded forthwith, provided the following are met. No city owned or private utilities or other structures are adversely impacted. National grid shall ensure that all sewer, water and drain lines are marked prior to any excavation gesundheit. All impacted sidewalk will be replaced in same or better condition, same or better condition. The existing pole base will be removed and the affected sidewalk panel saw cut and repoured. There must be a minimum of three foot sidewalk clearance at the location of the new pole in order to meet ADA requirements. Before beginning work, the contractor shall notify big safe dig safe and shall obtain applicable permits from the engineering division. National grid contractors shall utilize city regulations and standards, uh, as for removing all debris related to its work. approved superintendent of wires, et cetera, Edward P. Flynn, Finn City Clerk, chair recognizes, oh, here opens up a meeting, the public hearing. To those who are in favor, anybody in favor of this project, please present yourself to the podium, state your name and address for the record.
[Sorrell]: Good evening. Tim Weifert, National Grid Electric, 170 Medford Street, Malden, Massachusetts.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Welcome. And you are in favor of this?
[Sorrell]: Yes, sir.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Anybody else in favor? Anybody else in favor? Hearing and seeing none, we declare this portion being closed. Anybody in opposition of this? Anybody in opposition of this project of polls being replaced? Hearing and seeing none, the chair declares this portion of the public hearing closed and recognizes the chairman, Cairo Viello. Mr. Chairman.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I, for one, am glad you're moving this poll. The pole's been knocked down multiple times. It's just on a bad spot. In fact, the last time it was knocked down, I happened to be at the rotary with a truck pulling a trailer, hit the pole, and there was a gentleman walking by, and luckily I missed him. The guy would have died. I'm glad you're moving it. Will you be moving it across the street, it looks like? Yes, sir. Mr. President, I think this is a good move, and a motion for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I'll have a motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? Councilor Marks, please.
[Michael Marks]: Just if we could, Mr. President, while we have a representative from National Grid, I was hoping that Tim could take back to his superior the fact that this council is overdue on a report for double polls throughout the community. And if you remember, Mr. President, we were on a quarterly basis with National Grid for a period of time because of the number of double poles throughout this community. And I think over the last year, we kind of let our guard down a little bit. But if you look around the city, you're going to notice an increased number of double poles. And I realize they're not all national grid. It may be the phone company, it may be the cable company, it may be the city on some of these poles. But I'd appreciate if you could send us a report on, I know there's a, a system that's used, I forget the name of the system, where you guys log in the double polls and who's currently on it. What's the name of the system?
[John Falco]: I don't personally use a system, but I know what you speak of.
[Michael Marks]: There's a system. If you could generate a report on the location, how long the double poll has been there and who is on the poll, that would be helpful to this council.
[John Falco]: Sure. I can look into getting that report.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, council members. So on the motion approved by Councilor Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Marks. All those in favor? All those opposed? Thank you. Congratulations. The motion passes. Motions, orders, and resolutions. 16-521, offered by Councilor Knight. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council hold a moment of silence in remembrance of firefighter Timothy Brennan as May 26 marks the one year anniversary of his untimely passing. Be it further resolved that May 31st, May 31st City Council meeting tonight be dedicated and adjourned in his honor. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. May 26th represents a one-year anniversary of the passing of firefighter Timothy Brennan, a lifelong Metro resident who was known to be seen running around Barry Park as a child and running in and out of burning buildings as a firefighter, Mr. President. He sadly missed. He was a great public servant, but more importantly, he was a great friend and a great family man, Mr. President, and I ask that the council Indulge me in remembering him on this anniversary date.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Please, if you would all join us in a moment of silence for the deceased Metro Firefighter Brennan. Petitions, presentations, and similar matters. 16-522. Petition for class two auto dealers licensed by Elaine F. Herrera. 51 Tufts Street, number two, Somerville, Mass, for A and E auto repair, doing business as A-TEC, 67 Mystic Avenue, Mansford, Mass, on file, business certificate, building department, fire department, police and traffic impact treasurer, letter of compliance, state tax ID number, workman's compensation, bond application. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello. I think the petitioner may have left.
[Richard Caraviello]: She answered a number of questions for us during the public hearing portion. 16-522. I think she might have thought that they were both at the same time when she left. So we can table this and have her come back next week. Did you have particular questions for her? She should be here. I did have a couple of questions.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of council, can I have you all to the table, all those in favor? All those opposed? 16-523, petition by Eric M. Reed, 158 Jerome Street, Medford, to address the city council on infrastructure.
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Good evening, everybody. My name is Eric Reed. I'm not used to this mic, so do I sound all right? I live at 158 Jerome Street, and I'm here to discuss Medford infrastructure. Evans Street was one of the topics of my conversation. I know you just mentioned resurfacing that road, but it's also going to need a new gas main and most probably a new water main before you can resurface it because nobody's been around there in 68 years. So you should consider that as part of your schedule. So I just want to read my petition. I've been trying to contact the mayor's office regarding infrastructure since January 1, and she hasn't responded. So I have all the documentation over here, which I want to leave with the council as part of the official record. And for now, I'm going to read my petition. First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the brave men and women of our armed services including the police, for protecting our cherished freedoms. Thank you, Mayor Stephanie, for reminding us at the Veterans Memorial Service yesterday that freedom of speech and religion are our cherished rights because they are essential to protecting human dignity. I thank all servicemen and women and veterans again for affording me the right to be here before the Honorable City Council. In peace. And now, to the petition. I'm here to petition the mayor's office to respond to my correspondence, seven months worth of correspondence, and numerous calls to her office which have been completely ignored. Having worked for the engineering department last summer for five months, I have some major concerns regarding improvements to Medford infrastructure. And now I'm going to read The petition, it's actually in a petition format. It wasn't sent to anybody. I'm going to read it here. Whereas numerous roadways in Medford are in disrepair, water mains are in need of replacement, drainage and sewer systems are in need of work, numerous neighborhoods have been waiting for years for promised improvements yet to materialize. Whereas close to $10 million of state funds are available for this work, whereas the citizens and taxpayers of Medford have a right to know how our tax money is being spent, whereas you made commitments in your campaign to openness, transparency, communication, accountability, and performance, whereas you state on your website you have completed budget reviews for all departments, whereas Water Project's plans for construction as far back as 2014 have not started yet. This would indicate that other streets needing work, such as Evans, are simply added to the backlog. So projects removing inflow and infiltration have been put on hold. We, the citizens of Medford, request the complete inventory of all engineering department projects in planning, out for bid, and under construction with a status and budget summary. So water. It is imperative that Medford complete essential water main replacement work this construction season, and it is already very late to get started. Our streets such as Gurley, Dwyer, Evans could have been done last year, but the engineering department said they did not have the budget. This does not match the posted water main repair allocations for cities and towns on the MWRA website. which indicates that they have $4 million available for water main repair, which hasn't been used. As a matter of fact, it's a 10-year allocation. We're starting year seven of this $7 million 10-year allocation, and we haven't spent a penny. So that's water. Sewer is more or less similar. Preventing sewer inflow and infiltration into the system and upkeep is an ongoing effort for any municipality. The city engineer stated the department is not interested in pursuing this work. The current unused MWRA I&I allocation for Medford is now near $4 million at 75% grant. Misusing or not using these funds is an extreme disservice to Medford residents. Please explain the status of this account and the ongoing efforts to improve the sewer systems. Now roadways. Many roadways are in need of repair and we have received another $1 million of Chapter 90 for this year. What is the status of the roadway repair plans? Evans should have been done last year. but it's still not done. The city has applied for $400,000 of state funding for sidewalk repair. How will this effort be implemented? Not to complete essential projects this season aggressively is not in keeping with the mission of City Hall or the performance and accountability standards the citizenry deserve. Another construction season is here, and we cannot afford more lost opportunity. And that was the petition. So now, I would like to submit the body of correspondence from me to the mayor's office, which I consider public, to be included in the city council official records. Thank you very much. Here, take this with you, sir. Yeah, which I consider public to be included in the city council official records, hopefully part of this meeting records. I know there's a lot of paper over there, but computers have a lot of storage these days, so it's no big deal. To be included in city council official records so the general public may have access to this information regarding city of Medford engineering and construction policy. I hope this information will help Medford residents and I get real and deliberate answers from the mayor's office regarding these issues. I am here to petition for a meeting with the mayor to discuss her construction implementation plans for this summer. So in summary, the engineering department stated last summer they did not have the budget to do water main replacement, on Gurley, Dwyer, or Evans Street, which I was pushing for, because they need to be reconstructed, and you can't reconstruct them unless the water main has been fixed first. Otherwise, you ruin your paving job. So the MWRA site indicates they have $4 million available for this water work for Medford. The engineering department stated they were not interested in pursuing I&I sewer work while Medford had $3 million in the MWRA account at 75% grant. We are applying for $400,000 of state funds for sidewalk repair. With limited resources to implement this program, Why hasn't construction started yet? Our season is flying by and it appears we are not prepared. And so my offer to the mayor, in the correspondence you'll see I have numerous offers and suggestions to the mayor trying to push all of this infrastructure work. My offer to the mayor outlines what I think is a creative way for the engineering department to get needed help paid for by state, and not city tax revenue. It's included in the package. This is a freebie and a windfall for the city, and I still can't get a response. These are some of my observations and concerns, which are critical, especially when the engineering department and DPW say they are not interested in speaking to me, and the mayor hasn't released these budgets yet anyway. Could this be true? So let me read that again, because it confused me.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sir, you have one minute left.
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: All right. I encourage everyone who cares to read the backup material I have provided to the City Council. I hope you members of the City Council also take the initiative to read the material. It will provide an insight into how decisions are made at City Hall. General public, please feel free to contact me with questions, concerns, or ideas. My information, my contact information is on the documentation I have submitted and hopefully the general public will be able to see that. Once again, I'm here to petition for a meeting with the mayor to discuss her construction implementation plans for this summer. Thanks again for the opportunity to speak before city council. Sincerely, Eric. Thank you, Mr. Reed. May I chair recognizes Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Eric, if you don't mind, through the chair, you said you worked for the city of Medford?
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: I worked as a temp last summer for five months.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And what was your, what title position did you hold?
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Engineer. Oh. And we accomplished quite a bit last summer. I started off doing the pothole repairs. We went off, moved on to sidewalks. I did a lot of the running around, all the measuring to get all these streets done. I measured all of those streets up, got them ready for paving, and I did the drainage work over there at Boston Ave and Arlington and Forest Street. So I got quite a chunk done, and then I was let go. And if you look at all the proposals I actually applied, you know, I offered to help engineering, and I had an outline to get all this street work done. And I was constantly told that they're not interested in doing it. So here I am. I still, it doesn't seem reasonable to me that that would be the answer, an appropriate answer from City Hall, that we have all this money, we have streets falling apart like Evans, and we're told that we're not They're not interested in doing that work, that they don't have the budget when MWRA website clearly indicates that we have plenty of money there to do the work.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And when you had mentioned the $3 to $4 million with the 75% grant for sewer and then $4 million for water, so that's about $7 million. in the MWRA that we could be applying for? Is that what you mean?
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely, yes. I asked these questions of the mayor's office, and when I didn't get any response, I went on Google, and it all came right up.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And these are the 0% loans or full grants?
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Well, they vary. I mean, I don't know what the conditions are on the water, but it's very generous terms, obviously. But I know on the I&I, it's 75% grant. You can't beat that.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: No, I thank you for your hard work. I know probably Councilman Maxwell will talk about the inflow infiltration. I know we have some serious work that needs to be done in Medford. And we did grill the city engineer last budget
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Well, you know, I was, I was working on removing, uh, I and I three cash basins from, uh, a sewer line on, uh, what's that street called? Right next to golden. I forgot the name of the street. It's by, uh, McCarthy storage, Alexander or Frederick. Uh, anyway, it doesn't matter. It's the street down there full. No, it's right next to golden. It's between Harvard and golden. I forget the name. It's the, so anyway, we're working on that. And even that was stopped. There's a whole bunch of stuff we could have had. I don't know. I don't want to talk too much. I don't want to take up too much of your time, but these are issues which I would hope people consider seriously because as you can see, they're starting to impact Medford residents in a public safety manner.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, if we could, um, forward this paper to the city engineer.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for Councilor Caraviello to forward the paper to the city engineer for commentary. On that motion, Councilor Marks.
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: And also, uh, to discuss an implementation plan with the mayor.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, and thank you, Mr. Reed, for your presentation. Um, I'd like to hear a little more about what your thoughts are or reasoning why, if there's funding available from the MWRA, what is the biggest hurdle in this city to not moving forward on some of these projects that are so much needed in this community?
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: You know, I've got to be honest with you. I'm trying to get answers to that. I can't get any reasonable answers, but from my perspective, We had Gurley Dwyer and Evans Street. I was pushing. They were slated. All the documentation was on my computer, okay? We would have pushed them out. I was into budgets. I was into working. And so I don't know why that happened. I really have no idea. It just doesn't make any sense to me.
[Michael Marks]: Is it a lack of manpower? Is it a lack of leadership?
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Well, right now, clearly there's a lack.
[Michael Marks]: I mean, it has to be something. You were in the department for five months. You must have some indication why.
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: There's no communication. No communication. I went out and did everything on my own initiative. I worked very well with Mark Shea, who is very good with field work and on the construction side. I think we got a lot done. But as far as policy goes, I have no idea what the thought process is. I'm trying to figure that out myself. You know, I was shocked to find that the money was sitting there in such large sums recently after being told last summer that we didn't have budget to do a mountain of work that I was proposing. And if you read the documentation carefully, hopefully you'll be able to scan it and put it online, you'll see that there just leaves big questions, not good questions, very big questions.
[Michael Marks]: So ultimately, in the engineer's office, who would be responsible for making sure that Medford takes advantage of these particular loans and grants from the MWRA?
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Well, as an engineer, from my perspective, it's the responsibility of the engineering department to track the condition of Medford infrastructure, and make prioritized repairs, prepare the plans, prepare the design.
[Michael Marks]: Who in particular?
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: It would have to be the leadership of the department.
[Michael Marks]: So the chief engineer would be responsible?
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Well, technically, well, in any department, the leader obviously would define the mission.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I'm just going to caution that we not move to impugn anyone.
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Exactly, that's what I'm saying. Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Well, you've made a lot of accusations, sir. So, you know, I don't think it's fair to... Budgets are budgets.
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: I'm not accusing anybody.
[Michael Marks]: No, you're not accusing, but when I'm asking the questions on where has there been a lack of communication and where is the process failed, I mean, I think those are legit questions, and you were there for five months, and that's why I'm asking these questions. Who would know best than someone that worked in the department? And if there is funding available, and we were told on many occasions, because as you mentioned, Mr. Reed, that many of these grants and programs that are run by the MWRA are lengthy in nature. And if you don't take advantage in one year, you can actually take advantage the following year on projects. as long as you have a plan in place. So I've been told in the past that the city of Medford has exhausted all the revenue or funds, I should say, available from the MWRA and even the zero interest free loans that are, I think, outside of what you've discussed regarding what's available. So I'm very concerned that if there is funding that the city is not taking advantage This council has talked ad nauseam about INI. I think we're at about 50% inflow and infiltration. It's costing the rate payers that pay water and sewer in this community millions of dollars to pay for inflow and infiltration and treat it as raw sewage. The leak detection program is another issue that we've had in this community. And so I'm very concerned. I agree with Councilor Caraviello. I think this paper should be forwarded to the city engineer for response. Um, and also if need be that, uh, the mayor get involved, uh, to find out, uh, why we're not moving forward on projects. Uh, if, if that is the case that Evans street, uh, you were working on a project on Evans street for the water main back some time ago, you're right. It wouldn't make any sense for this council to approve the repaving of Evans street if the water main wasn't done. So that's the first I'm hearing.
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Well, this is why I was trying to push so hard, because recognizing that it takes a year to get good settlement, you know, like your problem, the gas company, we don't want our water mains to do the same thing, have trench settlement. So the idea is to get the water main done the year prior and then move in next year and do the roadway repair. You know, you've got to remind the gas company they've got to jump on Evans Street too. And that's how normally it's done, but now we're and everything's pushed out another year. Water main wasn't done last year, so now what does that mean? They gotta wait another year for the roadway to get done? That's where we're at. That's basically where we're at.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Marks. On the motion of Councilor Caraviello, that this paper be forwarded to the city engineer. Madam Vice President. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Just as an amendment, if we could get a response also from the mayor's office with regards to that package. And if we can be scanned the documents, I know we can go to the city clerk and get them. But if the council could be scanned, um, what you had given us so that we can review it at our own leisure at home, the entire packet was sent to us in our weekend packets on Friday.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you. On that emotion of a amendment by vice-president long occur, sir, please state your name and address for the record.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you, Mr. President. Robert Capucci, 71 Evans Street. Just to address some of the things that were talked about here, I don't think Mr. Reid was coming up here to try to be accusatory. I just think he was asking for accountability and transparency on issues that have been going on in the city of Medford for years, if not decades. When I ran for this body in 2013, my main issue was the water pipes. You're asking the citizens of Medford to pay for the rainwater in the snow melt. You add that to the meals tax, the sales tax, the property tax, which is about to have a surcharge put on it, and we want answers as to why things are not being done. The Honorable Mike Marks asks, well, where do you think that the lack of communication came? Well, you heard my neighbor and friend earlier tonight say four recent additions to C-Click Fix were taken down today as resolved, and obviously they're not. Those pictures I took were yesterday. This gentleman is talking about a state allocation of $4 million that we could be using on top of what is in the excess of the water account now. It's like $7 million or something like that was the last report I heard. Now we're talking about $10 or $11 million. It doesn't need to be discussed or pushed forward anymore. It's not just Devon Street, it's also Pinkard Street around the corner from me. In working on several campaigns that I've worked on and ballot initiatives, walking around the city through the Heights, through South Medford, it's literally the whole city, with some streets being at an emergency condition, with matters of public safety. we're asking questions about all the tax dollars that we pay and the fees that we pay, the parking meters, people paying after six o'clock. I mean, where is all this money going? I think it's not being done because it looks great sitting in the accounts. And then Medford elected public servants can go around and say, well, Moody's just upgraded our credit rating to AAA. And yeah, that's great. on paper, but when you look through and walk through the city and you're wondering why communications are going ignored from people who work for the city, and you ask a question, it's like, where's the problems and where's the miscommunications? It's right there. And we're just asking for the work to be done that has been years in dire need of it happening. You got the budget next month. I hope a lot of people will come down. and ask questions and hold you folks accountable and transparent to the citizens that are paying for all of this, that are not getting anything back when Dr. Stirello talked about the police department deficiencies. I hope people will come tomorrow night to the town hall that the chief will have at the police station. and ask questions there. But I know you sigh, and I'm talking, and I'm taking too much time, President Dello Russo, but these are very important things. It's a matter of public safety. It's a matter of work not getting done with all of the money sitting there when petitions are being ignored for months. I'm sorry, but it's really at the brink, and this body really needs to come together and do something to light a fire under this. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those in favor.
[2MzH8zDWQL0_SPEAKER_01]: Yes, I just want to emphasize that it's not budgets, it's really implementation. We need implementation. Because we can talk about budgets till we're blue in the face, but until people actually get together and figure out how we're going to get this done and come up with a real plan, it's just talk.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On that motion, all those in favor? All those opposed? Reports of committee 16-5 24 committee of the whole report from May 25th 2016 on municipal aggregation We of the whole met last week Wednesday at 6 o'clock and the council office to hear a presentation on municipal electrical aggregation from the office of The environment, I think they call themselves the Office of Sustainability now. The purpose was to review and discuss the paper on municipal aggregation. There was an authorization plan presented to us, a rather steep schedule. There was a presentation to us on what is municipal aggregation. Homeowners would be able to choose which electric company they want, National Grid or Good Energy or others. There will be a public hearing for people to sign up to. There was a request to check other cities and towns to see how they may have dropped out. And upon the motion of Councilor Caraviello, the paper was reported out of the committee, and that motion passed. We are expecting in the coming weeks a presentation before us from the Office of Energy Environment on this matter, but you had presented to you a rather detailed explanation of the process, and I know Alicia Hunt is available to all of you to answer any of your questions you might have on the matter. On the motion of Councilor Caraviello to receive and place on file, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Uh, papers in the hands of the clerk by the, uh, request to council Cavill to, uh, take papers in the hand of the clerk under suspension. All those in favor, all those opposed offered by president Dello Russo be resolved that the Medford city council offered sincere condolences to the family of the Reverend Francis Garrity on his recent passing father Garrity served at St. Raphael parish. He was pastor of St. Francis of Assisi parish and also served for many years of the as chaplain of Medford Police Department. And I might add, he's a fellow alumnus of St. Anselm College. So if you would rise and join me in a moment of silence for this good priest and good former citizen of Medford. Offered by Councilor Caraviello, it will be resolved that the Medford City Council discuss Republic Park ticketing of Gaston Street, the first day after Memorial Day, starting at 6 p.m. Councilor Caraviello, 6 a.m., I'm sorry.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. This morning, my day started actually early with emails from a resident about cars being ticketed 6 a.m. on Gaston Street. And I made some phone calls around, and I was informed that there were signs up there saying that Permit parking is because of the pawns, rights pawns. Permit parking is from Memorial Day to Labor Day, which is fine. But I mean, they had to wait the first thing in the morning at 6 AM to start hitting these people with tickets without giving them any notice. I mean, it's kind of been a lax thing over the years, but I would have think that the people could have at least given a few days to get the permits. rather than start ticketing, Mr. President, at 6 a.m. In the morning. I mean, you know, talk about taking the low-hanging fruit. Very sad. It's very sad, and I would think we need some type of vaccination. These people need maybe a little bit of time to go out and get the permit. You know, just, you know, say one day after the holiday, it's kind of, you know, I understand there is a sign there, but, you know, I think a little leeway would have been nice.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. I think Councilor Caraviello hit the nail on the head. I too got the e-mails. A lot of upset people who went out to work, said they were going to get the permit, you know, this week, and they have a ticket on their car. It had to have come 6, 630 in the morning. I just feel like some warning should have been given or at least, you know, a couple days leeway for them to obtain the permit. I think the way it's worked in the past years is they've had a week or two to get their permit before the city jumped on it. low way on how to collect revenue, where there is obviously other violations that aren't enforced at all, such as parking on some of our sidewalks in the city that really should have the attention. And we don't give the attention to those types of violations. So it is unfortunate. It felt terrible for the person, although there is signs up there. And I hope that while the city solicitor and the mayor are looking into the issues with regards to the sale of Republic, that some of these things are addressed and discussed. And we make improvements through the whole system, obviously not the one or two little things that have been improved upon so far. But we really need some serious improvement.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. President, I would hope that the mayor's office would look into this matter. and hopefully make a recommendation to our republic to give these people a little bit of liberty in getting a permit.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion, I'll caveat that these people be given a break. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I'd like to amend the paper to request that the traffic commission waive the tickets for all residents who purchase a permit. Same thing, but at least we can make official action of the traffic commission.
[Fred Dello Russo]: As amended by Councilor Knight.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. I think what we're seeing now is that When you looked at the last financial report, it's clear to me that Republic is not taking in the money they expected. And these are the type of things we're seeing now throughout the community, is that they're generating revenue any way they can. And you're absolutely right. You know, when you outsource a program and lose local control, this is what happens. This is exactly what happens. Because if this was done in-house, like the original recommendation, we would have total control over what happens with the program, when the ticketing takes place, and how aggressive you're going to be. We were always told by Mae McGlynn, this program is not a revenue generator. It's just to provide parking enforcement and public safety in the community. And, you know, you bet your bottom dollar that when you hire an outside company, that's not their train of thought. Their train of thought is how much money and where can we maximize our money. And so that's what we're seeing right now. This is no secret. You know, we knew this was going to happen. And when revenue starts to drop, we're going to find more and more angles that Republic is going to use to generate money. So this is just the tip of the iceberg. You know, it'd be nice if I agree with Councilor Councilor Caraviello, Councilor Longo, and Councilor Knight's recommendation about asking that they receive their money back. However, I think we should take it one step further. And we heard from the mayor tonight that seniors are gonna be allowed to pay $25 up front for a senior pass per year. And the seniors I've spoken with are still waiting for the free parking for seniors. that they were promised back some seven or eight months ago that seniors wouldn't have to pay for parking in this community. So I'm a little disappointed in the negotiations that have taken place between the administration and Republic. And I think what we're seeing right now is a company running rampant in this community and really not caring what the administration has to say or what the administration wants to do about improving the traffic enforcement in this city. So I think, Mr. President, that, you know, Councilor Caraviello, I think you called for a meeting with Republic. I'm not sure why we can't meet with them. Maybe because we don't sign the contract. We can't meet with Republic.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Is there a reason, Mr. President, why we can't meet with Republic?
[Michael Marks]: Right. I think it's only appropriate now. We're the ones fielding the phone calls. We're the ones getting the emails from angry residents that are concerned why they're getting ticketed and tagged. So, I think a meeting immediately, Mr. President, is appropriate. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes the citizen at the podium. Welcome, and please state your unanimous address for the record.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you, Mr. President. Rob Capucci again, 71 Evans Street. There's another issue going on at Republic. I'm not sure or not if it's supposed to. I believe it is. But these machines are supposed to shut down at 6 o'clock. They're not. In the last month and a half, just walking through the city, I told a good dozen people, just tonight, I went to the store before coming here, and at 6.40, there was a young lady starting to feed money into the meter. And I said, no, you don't have to pay right now. It's 6 o'clock. And she said, well, I didn't know that. And I said, well, it's on the parking sign, but it's written very small. She said, well, it would have been a little bit more helpful if it was actually on the meter. itself, that it closes at 6 o'clock.
[Richard Caraviello]: The machines lock at 6 o'clock.
[Robert Cappucci]: You cannot put any more money in.
[Richard Caraviello]: I've tried it myself. At 6 o'clock, they will not take any money. They lock.
[Robert Cappucci]: Are you absolutely sure of that? Because I've seen people feed If there's a way to request receipts and to look at that, because, I mean, you're putting in your personal information. If people are paying after 6 o'clock, and, I mean, as Councilor Marks alluded to, they're trying to generate revenues, I wouldn't be surprised a bit if some of these machines are taking money after 6 o'clock, just my opinion. But I would look into their receipts, see if they are or not. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those opposed, motion carries. Offered by Councilor Caraviello, it will be resolved that the Medford City Council request an update from National Grid on the work being done on 4th Street. Steel plates have been on Riverside Avenue and 4th Street for an extended period of time.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I received a phone call from a neighbor today on 4th Street wanting an update from the Fellows Way down to Riverside Avenue with National Grid. Those plates have been in the ground for some time, and there's several locations of where those plates are. There's like three or four on 4th Street, and there's also some at Riverside Avenue in front of Budweiser. If we can get a report from National Grid on the status of the project and when it's going to be completed, we'd appreciate it, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Caraviello, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Motion to suspend offered by Councilor Knight on today being the day of retirement of the President Emeritus of the Medford City Council, Robert A. Mayarco, Jr., who today retired after a 42-year career with Wells Fargo Securities. Councilor Knight, the reason for your request for suspension of the rules.
[Adam Knight]: Congratulations to Mr. Mayorca. It wasn't for that, you really threw me off there for a second. Mr. President, I'd like to take paper 16-491, a $500,000 appropriation to replace sidewalks and stumps throughout the city. That is 16-491, $500,000 to replace sidewalks and stumps throughout the city.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Knight, the paper is now before us. We have with us, gave us quite detailed testimony, the acting commissioner of public works, Mr. Brian Kerins, was with us in our meeting with the mayor today, at which we discussed many of the aspects of this, as well as we've discussed so many of them earlier this evening, which I'm sure will be repeated again. But Mr. Kerins was going to bring to us some reports tonight, so he's going to hand those to the messenger so that we can have those. Just to remind the councilors, of which they are also very well aware, but the public might not be, that because this paper was tabled, all the amendments that were on it were killed by parliamentary procedure. And so therefore, nothing was reported out, nor were there any formal requests made to department heads. But in his hyper-efficiency, Mr. Keran's Our acting superintendent has complied with our requests in a desire to serve the public very well. Is there a motion on the floor?
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, I for one was satisfied at the last presentation. I feel as though our sidewalks need to be repaired. I feel as though a $500,000 appropriation is a good place to start. I don't think it's a good place to finish, Mr. President. But with that being said, I think there were certain individual councilors here that had more concern than I did as to whether or not this was a worthwhile appropriation. Very good.
[Fred Dello Russo]: We have being given to us now a stump inventory, looks like by neighborhood, very detailed, and we have outstanding requests for sidewalk work. Again, quite detailed here, quite detailed. Madam Vice President, and if we could get an extra copy of that be placed in the record with the clerk's office.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If I could just ask a question, because it does look very detailed. So just going off the first one, the stumps, this is every stump on the list?
[Brian Kerins]: As of today.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: As of today. So total stumps, 192?
[Brian Kerins]: That's 192 reported stumps in the city. That's correct.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And when we discussed it in committee this evening at 6 o'clock, I think you said it would be about $100,000 to $125,000 to remove all 192 stumps.
[Brian Kerins]: That would be approximate, depending on the size.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And then if you could just explain what you printed out for the actual sidewalks to us.
[Brian Kerins]: On the sidewalks, Madam Vice President, is a breakdown on the date that the original call or request came into public works. It's broken down by ward and precinct, the name of the individual making the request, the location, telephone number if they chose to give it to us, and a description as far as what they feel had to be done in front of their either business or residence.
[SPEAKER_21]: And break that down, how many are in this?
[Brian Kerins]: Okay, all together, it was a little over 600 between both lists combined. over 600 sidewalks that need to be replaced? Yes, because on the stump inventory, Madam Vice President, that would also include replacing the sidewalks once they're removed as well.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So there'll be at least, with the stumps, 192 sidewalk panels replaced, because we do plan on getting rid of all 192 stumps? That's correct. The place in the panel was also included in your estimate of the 100 to 125? Yes. So that brings this list down to about 400 panels?
[Brian Kerins]: That's correct. Some of them you'll see, Madam Vice President, could be asphalt, but there isn't as many asphalt requests as there are concrete.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And with the 500,000, we'll do all the stumps in those panels, and then about how many I guess that's where my issue lies. We won't know how many of the 400 on this list will be done.
[Brian Kerins]: You have two things here. One, of course, we're already well into the season, so as far as how the actual bid prices come in, that's number one. But then also, too, you only have four months left this year as far as where you can actually do concrete work. You know, once you leave the month of October, there's a lot of risk involved. So we'd have to cease operations and then pick up in April when there'd be a break in weather.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And do you have a directive of where where exactly you'd start on the list? Are you going to start from the top of this list, or are we going to just kind of?
[Brian Kerins]: OK. Each ward and precinct has locations that go back several years. Those areas would be done first, the ones that are two or three or four years old, to try to clean them up. And then we'd have them, again, if we could have two crews out there, one solely dedicated to the tree stump list and the other just dedicated to the residential of the business list and just go from ward to different wards and precinct one by one.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And the farthest we go back here is 2000 and
[Brian Kerins]: There's several in the Madam Vice Chair that are 2014, I know. And I think there's a couple 2013.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: My concerns would be the older ones get done obviously first and the ones that are obviously in the most disrepair get done first. My main concerns initially when we talked about this for an hour last week is just that I don't want to dedicate $500,000 and then only have done, because you did say if there's many panels on one street, and even if they're not reported, we're going to do the whole street. My concern is I don't want to spend this $500,000 on a named 10 streets and not get the list done, especially the people that have been complaining for years or that have terrible sidewalks.
[Brian Kerins]: That is my concern. I can understand that, Madam Vice President. Each location will be assessed. Those that are obviously the most deplorable condition and the oldest would be addressed first. And then as we get further into the contract, there may have to be some readjustments depending on need and location, getting most serious public safety threats done first.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If we can make that part of the paper, condition on the vote that we do the oldest and the ones that are in most disrepair first. Obviously, if the council could be updated after the fourth four months of what has been done.
[Brian Kerins]: Certainly.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So if we could have some clarity. So we're going to have an amendment that the streets, the sidewalks be done, that the oldest and most outstanding be given priority and that the council be receive frequent updates as to the project's progress. Did we understand that correctly, Madam Vice President?
[SPEAKER_21]: That would be great.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Actually, I think Vice President Longo already mentioned it, but if you could just have a, when you've paved your last sidewalk and pulled your last stump out for the season, if you could just have a report like this just with an update. just so we can see what was accomplished with the $500,000, you know, however much money is being appropriated here. So it'd be nice just to kind of see actually how much we're getting done. Absolutely. Thank you very much.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I'd also like to request a copy of the RFP as well as the contract with the selected bidder when that becomes available to us.
[Fred Dello Russo]: But I move for approval. amended by Councilor Knight, a request to the copy of the RFP. Chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Brian, I appreciate the list. This is more thorough than we had two weeks before us, two weeks ago. My question to you, Brian, I don't know if it was asked two weeks ago, but how do we rate when you get a call or an email from a resident, how do we rate the sidewalk? Do we have a key of conditions that we rate it and then give it a numerical number? How do we go about this?
[Brian Kerins]: Well, first off, all right, is it a public safety hazard? Which would be, we'll say, like a tree trip. We have several panels that potentially are buckled. All right, that's a public safety hazard. So that's, you know, top priority one, all right? Then you've got priority one, two, and three. Priority two would be, A sidewalk that has some pieces of asphalt, potentially concrete, that are missing. And then priority three would be cosmetic, something like a hairline crack in a panel or two in front of their home. Or potentially a little dip in the asphalt that may be in front of the home, depending on what they have.
[Michael Marks]: So on this particular outstanding request list that you gave us, Is there a reason why they're not listed as priority one, priority two, priority three?
[Brian Kerins]: The reason for that is because the inspection of these different requests has just begun. Up to this point, it's been strictly just an intake into our system because of funding sources. Right.
[Michael Marks]: So we don't even know from this current list what might be a minor repair, you know, a hairline fracture. in the cement or something that requires, you know, a panel being raised because of a tree root. So we don't know the extent of what's on this list.
[Brian Kerins]: As far as the accuracy of the tree stump contract, that's accurate as far as the tree stump one. As far as the actual one with just the residents or the businesses on it, No, but from past experience, most are usually accurate. In some cases, you realize that maybe their next door neighbor has the same problem, and that was never reported. Right, right.
[Michael Marks]: I guess what I'm getting at is I don't think anyone behind this reeling is opposed to doing sidewalks over. But I could just state from previous experience, it was back in 2012 when I believe it was Jack Buckley was the DPW commissioner. that he came before us, he asked for the exact amount, 500,000, for sidewalk repairs. He didn't present any supporting documentation at the time, and the council asked that he go back and provide a thorough list of what work needs to be done, where the locations are, the age of the request, and he did that back in 2012. And I have a copy of it in front of me. And, uh, it's color coded. And let me just state that, uh, he provides us a key and I'm not sure why it would change from one DPW director to the next DPW director, unless you come up with a much better way of tracking. Then I can see why you changed the reporting, but I could just tell you from the two reports that I received, uh, the one back in 2012, uh, clearly delineates. what has minor repair, what has poor, what they consider poor, and major. And to me, that gives you at least an indication what you need to go after. On your list, there's no indication. I mean, you yourself just said we really didn't have the manpower to go out and do a thorough review of each of these sidewalks. This is just a report. So anyone can call and say my sidewalk is awful. Okay, with your name, address, ma'am, and they go on the list. So, you know, I still don't understand what we're going to accomplish on this list. Are we going to be replacing sidewalks that have a hairline fracture? I mean, is that what the intention is of this $500,000?
[Brian Kerins]: No, absolutely not. Okay, it's strictly, you know, public safety has its, they have the number one priority now.
[Michael Marks]: So, Brian, I don't want to cut you off, but what do we, because I've been hearing this year after year after year, what do we tell residents when they call up? And they say, okay, I have a concern with my sidewalk. Doesn't it make sense to go out to the sidewalk, investigate it, then get back to the resident and say, ma'am, you know what? We noticed you do have, you can't eat off your sidewalk. There is a hairline fracture, but in the list of priorities, you're not at the top priority. Your sidewalk probably won't be done for several years. people led to believe this sidewalk is going to be done that may have a hailing fracture, and it never gets done. You know what I'm saying?
[Brian Kerins]: There's no accounting. I realize what you're saying, but you also got to realize in 2012 and also in 2016, there's a significant change in staffing. The engineering division back then had two field inspectors, an assistant city engineer, a permit supervisor, and the city chief engineer. Today, there is no inspectors, okay, up to this point.
[Michael Marks]: What happened with the inspectors?
[Brian Kerins]: Okay, that was before my time council.
[Michael Marks]: They retired? They let go? You don't know?
[Brian Kerins]: Okay, I believe one passed away, but beyond that, I cannot explain. I cannot explain. I wasn't here.
[Michael Marks]: You know, Mr. President, I honestly, I'm tossed between approving this and not approving it. And I just don't understand how we can go based on this list that really doesn't prioritize sidewalks. I don't know how you do it. And I don't know how in good faith I could tell a resident that may be on this list that you may or may not get your sidewalk done depending on what. I can't tell them depending on what. I don't know. I mean, I really don't understand. This list that I'm not trying to compare you with Mr. Buckley, but this list of the past that we asked for, I don't know if you've seen this. It's DPW outstanding request. This was July 31st, 2009 to February 7th, 2012. But there is a key on this that really describes the nature of the sidewalk. And I can better understand what's gonna be done based on this color code. And to me it's very helpful. I don't know if you can, that would mean you'd have to review all these sidewalks. One by one council. That's correct. What do we do, Mr. President for future reference? Do we ask that a sidewalk be reviewed ahead of time before we get a list of sidewalks that need replacing? I mean, to me that makes sense. You know, don't present me with a list if it's not a list of sidewalks that are going to be replaced. You know, have a separate list. Have three lists out there, but have one that we're going to get through. You know, this — I don't know what's going to be done on this list. You know, this — you know, I don't know what to do, Mr. President. I don't feel I have all the information in front of me with this list. I don't feel comfortable just allocating $500,000 and say, spend it as need be. You know, we're the fiscal watchdogs. I don't feel comfortable with that. I'm going to wait to see what some of my colleagues have to say. But based on the list we presented tonight, I don't think I have adequate information to go forward and approve a half a million dollars.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dillard. So I think that was my concern two weeks ago when I asked for it, you know, because that is a lot of hours, a lot of manpower that we don't have to evaluate each and every sidewalk. But I did say, give us a list of you know, what are the first 10 to 100 sidewalks we will be replacing, so then we have a better idea of at least what streets we can tell people you're going to and that those sidewalks are going to be replaced. So, if the 500 is approved, we go out for an RFP, and we stabilize the money, how would you begin? Where would you start? With the stumps?
[Brian Kerins]: Okay. Well, depending on, you know, the successful bidder. If he can supply us with two crews, I would go in two directions. One would be stumps and, you know, stump and sidewalk combined. Second avenue would be sidewalks only.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I mean, I would be comfortable tonight voting for the 192 stump removals, and I think we have a cost estimate of 100 to 150 on the higher end. I completely believe that this list is is good enough and we can tell everybody on the stump list that their stump's going to be removed and their sidewalk panel is going to be replaced. And I think that's a good starting point, especially where we're taking it out of free cash. We're not going out to bond on this specific project. But I have the concern, too, and I think that's where I was coming from two weeks ago. I think this is definitely a good start, and we definitely have every stump that's on this list in front of us, but I, too, we get calls every day. You know, I was told my sidewalk's on the list in 2015. Is it going to be done? I heard you were talking about 500,000, and I can't, we can't really tell them. I told one person specifically that we've requested a list of, you know, the top 100 that will definitely be done, but I, you know, we still can't answer that question, and I do appreciate the full list, I guess I'm kind of torn as well, but I think that we can, I would, myself would move approval for knowing that the 192 stumps will be removed, definitely need to be removed, and I think that's something we should try to move on tonight, at least.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I think, you know, first and foremost, I think we need to get this project off the ground and started. If we're going to sit here for another two weeks arguing who's going to get this in first, The end of the season is going to be done, and we won't have any sidewalks then. I mean, Mr. Cairns has only been on the job a couple of months, and Mr. Buckley did a great report there. And if we give Mr. Cairns some time, he can come up with a rating system. But if we're going to sit here another week and let another week go by, another week go by, these contractors are going to get booked up, and we're not going to get anybody, and we're not going to get anything fixed, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: on motion for approval by Councilor Knight. Roll call vote has been requested. Councilor Matz.
[Michael Marks]: I think Councilor Lungo-Curran brought up a great suggestion about the 192 tree stumps which include panels, sidewalk panels. So I think that's a great suggestion. I would also ask my fellow colleagues that You know, if we do move approval on this, that we send a message or at least request from here on in that every sidewalk be reviewed and then graded, Mr. President. So in the future, it might not happen now, but in the future, we have a report that we can look at. You know, it's easy to say, let's just move forward. But guess what? We're accountable to the residents of this community and the taxpayers. And that's taxpayer money. That's a half a million dollars. and taxpayer money, and from a business perspective, we should be able to look at it and say, here's a half a million, this is what we're getting. This is not rocket science. It's not rocket science. And not one person behind this reel can tell me, this is what we're getting. Not one person. So I don't think this is, you know, something that we should be.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you. I don't think it's something that We're asking that's out of the ordinary. I don't think, you know, it puts a strain on the department. If Mr. Kearns, which I believe tells me that staffing's low, then that needs to be addressed because next time we're going to be faced with the same list of sidewalks that need to be done, and we're not going to know what needs to be done, Mr. President. Where does it stop? The buck stops here with this council. So, yeah, it's easy to approve. I mean, you can put a paper, I'll approve everything. But it's our job to be the gatekeepers, Mr. President. That's what our role is, not just to approve. You can get seven monkeys to approve. Our job is to be the gatekeepers and make sure that we're operating like you'd operate any other Fortune 500 company. And that's what we should be operating the city like, Mr. President. So if we put a contingent on this particular proposal, whether it's Council Longo's, which I agree, but that the next reporting that the city, they'll have to hire someone if they don't have someone to manage it, the city, when they get a call for a sidewalk, that the sidewalk be immediately looked at and graded, Mr. President, like was done in previous years.
[Fred Dello Russo]: That's all I'm asking.
[Michael Marks]: It would be an amendment to this paper, Mr. President, because without it, I can't support any more work done, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Did Lungo have an amendment on that too? Did you have an amendment? Did you? Previously? No?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I was just going to add to those comments that I think that's something that hopefully is being done now with C-Click Fix. That it is being evaluated by our DPW. That would bring, you know, obviously a couple in per week. evaluated and a rating system is started. I don't know if that's happening, but that's something that should be happening. They're not evaluating. They're just placed on the list.
[Michael Marks]: They're just placed. So you, you put in a C-Click fix, you get on the sideline list.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: They're not, that would be my recommendation. Well, that's the whole, that's the whole point I brought up.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yeah. I mean, all right. So we have a motion for approval as amended by vice president Longo Curran and Councilor Marks. I think there's a couple citizens behind you, Commissioner who would like to speak, so we gladly welcome them and their input tonight. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: Hi. Excuse me. Rachel Tannenhaus, 26 Pearl Street. I don't know much about construction other than accessibility codes, but I can do math. And I've been doing some of it. And the issue is that you're not, under the current system, from what I can tell, and people can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, you're not actually going to get the information you want. Because you're never going to be able to do If nobody is assessing things ahead of time, you're never going to be able to get an accurate report of what kind of money it's going to cost to fix things, because when they get out there, from what I heard, both at the Committee of the Whole meeting and here, they're going to get there, and if they find out that the neighbor or the whole block or whatever also needs fixing, then they're going to have to do that too, which is legit, right? You don't want to have to go back there again. But what that means is that you never have an accurate count of how much money you're going to be spending. And not only is it not rated, but you don't necessarily know what's abutting it that also needs fixing. So even if you had that all rated, you still wouldn't have the numbers you want. And it wouldn't really be doable until they get out there, unless they do like a full report on everyone, which sounds kind of like it's difficult to do under the current circumstances. I'm not saying that that's a good thing. I'm saying that under—you're never going to have—like, that number that you want isn't available. That's a broken system. But I guess the question is, is the perfect going to be the enemy of the good here? You absolutely should know how people's money is being spent. a serious hole in the system that you can't have that number. But I don't know what two weeks is going to buy you in terms of getting that number, because they're not going to go out in two weeks probably to every site and say, all right, well, this guy, he has a giant hole down through the entire planet right here, and next door, that person's got a hairline crack. They're not going to do that in two weeks. I don't know. Is there some kind of compromise? Is there—but the math just isn't there. I mean, for sure it's going to be more than 500,000, but it could be a lot more than 500,000 when you factor in the stumps, which you don't know how much they said in the Committee—you said in the Committee of the Whole. Sorry. Through the chair, who is also at the Committee of the Whole meeting, you know that they said that, you know, they don't know until they get to the stump, like how rooted it is in their, the stumps vary. They do, you know, they have previous experience, and so they estimate it based on that. But just the way it's set up right now, like, that takes some of the money out of the sidewalks, except for the stuff that's used to patch up the sidewalk where the stump used to be. But I don't think there's a thing that's going to give you the number that's going to make you comfortable voting for this. So I guess what you have to decide then is, what do you do about that? And what are you willing to do in the meantime? But the math's not there. Like, $500,000 is not going to cover that much, but it's going to get a start on it. So that's what you have to work with.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Mr. Castagnetti, please state your name and address for the record. Welcome. Thank you. conference president, uh, Andrew Castagnetti, Cushman street method mass. Um, just as a concerned citizen, taxpayer, et cetera, and for other taxpayers, uh, my concern with the old adage or saying is, uh, it ain't broke, don't fix it, but if it's broke, what you should fix it, obviously, especially on the side of safety concerns. Um, my concern is the 600, or 400 sidewalk panels, thereabouts, and 192 stumps. I'm not sure if it's 400 locations or 600 locations. However, my concern is since they're on a list, so they made the grade, so to speak, as a problem, this $500,000 should hopefully be enough to take care of every single location. and not start jumping down other addresses on the same street because, I mean, $400,000, you couldn't even do Clippership Drive. That would eat the whole business of $400,000. So if they just say, well, my sidewalk is busted too, five doors down, well, did you at least call it in? Chances are it was not called in. So they made the grade, but they must be in bad, bad shape and a safety issue. Through the chair, I'd like to ask Mr. Brian Curran a question. On average, I'd like to know, first of all, one question is how many locations? Is it 400 or 600 locations? And then I have a follow-up question.
[Brian Kerins]: Okay, that'd be 600 combined. Okay.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: And at the Committee of the Whole meeting with the Mayor, you had mentioned, I believe, it costs $25 per panel. for the concrete aggregated self material and $28 labor, which equals approximately, you believe, $53 average per panel, depending on how the contract comes in. A panel, I presume, is four feet by six feet, if that, not even. Thank you. So my final question to you would be, hopefully my final question is, on average, if you could just ballpark 600 locations on average per location, some might be yay big, some might be a lot bigger. Can you give me an average per location what the cost might be, please?
[Brian Kerins]: It's pretty hard to say, depending on the location, you could be one panel, two panels, maybe four and a driveway apron may be involved. Each location would have to be examined. It's a case by case basis to come up with the actual final number.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Thank you. So what's unknown. So if we get $500,000 from the hard earned taxpayers money from the free cash that the city is holding, If it's $1,000 a shot, I'm presuming that's going to cover 500 problem areas out of the 600 that's on the list. I'm just guesstimating this. However, Councilor Marks are eluded to past histories about this sidewalk repair business with tree stumps. And I'm not sure if he was accurate, but the numbers didn't make much sense. One million, then another million, that's two million, and the list of 400 or 600, and they never totally got completed. So you're talking like 10, 20, $30,000 per shot. I don't understand. Hopefully this law will work out. Thank you if you're listening.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much. Any other citizens want to speak on this matter before we close off public participation? Welcome, please state your name and address for the record.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you, Mr. President. Rob Capucci, 71 Evans Street. I know you've already had the discussion about Evans Street and you've taken action on that. But it looks like now you're, it's like piecemealing something when, you know, stepping outside of the box and look it in. I think what a lot of people in Medford see is, like Mr. Reed spoke of before, You have allocation of funds on the MWRA for, I believe you talked about sidewalks or something like $3 million, which 75% of which would be grants. We see in the free cash account, something like six or $7 million. What we don't understand as citizens paying all these taxes is how come it can't be that this commissioner's office can't be staffed? with the right amount of people to survey the city, make the proper assessments, hire the people that we need, and get the job done when there's all this money that's at your fingertips to be used. We're talking about $500,000 that we don't even know what it's going to be used for. We're talking about complaints and registers made to SeeClickFix that are taken down and closed and resolved when they're obviously not. It's just a hard thing to wrap your mind around, seeing almost tens of millions of dollars, when an understaffed department that doesn't even have the manpower to go out there and assess what needs to be fixed. I'm sorry, Mr. President, but it has to be said. Leadership has to come in. It has to be accountable and transparent. It has to look at what we've got in order to fund the resources to get these jobs done that are years past due. It's something to consider when you look at the budget next month. I would like to say this, though. The parks project that has gone on, because a lot of hits and a lot of criticism has been made, I've got to give kudos to. You've got to also reward what's good as being done. And Morrison Parks, our new basketball court and a few of the other parks, excellent job. Excellent job. Thank you, Mr. President.
[George Scarpelli]: Mr. Scarpelli. If I can, Mr. President, thank you. You know, it's insightful when you listen to the history and what's gone on in the past here and as we move forward. I did my own investigation and you see what other communities are doing. And for this situation, I think we're in an unfortunate situation for the fact that this is what we have. Not to say you look at it lightly, but you look at different communities and different communities have cement crews in place already that when there is a concern, the concern is dealt with as a case-to-case basis, not something saved up to 600 pieces that unfortunately isn't, you know, something that happened just this week, but over the years. So we have identified locations, and you see the concerns in some of the comment sections. In some of the comment sections, you know, it says National Grid did X, Y, and Z. And, you know, I have concerns with that too. But at the same time, constituents that I've talked to that have these concerns are living with sidewalks that are dangerous. And stalling it now, I think it would be harmful to those constituents. But at the same time, it's something that we have to look at as a committee, looking at the budget and going forward. Because a lot of these concerns are made because of systematic negligence in a sense that we had some faults and we need to correct them. So, um, you know, I, I'd have to, I'd have to vote and move on with, with this project. So, um, thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. So on the motion for approval by council on night as seconded by councilor Scarpelli, as amended by Councilors Lungelkorn and Mox. Councilor Caraviello, finally.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. You know, Councilor Scarpelli has made a point. You know, other cities have crews in place to do these things around the house. Maintenance has been the Achilles heel of the city for many years. And, you know, every year it grows and we pay for it. Now, I mean, you can see right now, I mean, 600 sidewalks. These sidewalks didn't break yesterday. It's been long overdue and we made a small dent in it a couple of years ago. But again, sidewalks just keep coming and coming and coming. I mean, we're an old city.
[Adam Knight]: I'd ask that the amendments be read back and a roll call vote be taken, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes, we're prepared for that. We're going to have a final amendment, Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, a little while ago, I mentioned that I was going to ask that Evans Street be put on this for a complete repaving. And then we heard from the gentleman that worked in the engineer's office saying that there's probably a need for a major water main and gas main on Evans Street. So at this point, it doesn't make sense to ask for a major repaving. But I would ask, Mr. President, that the city administration, as a CPAPA, look into whether or not a complete water main and gas main needs to be replaced on Evans. And if so, that that work be done immediately. And then we can discuss the repaving of the street, which will probably be part of that work anyways.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So we have a main paper, uh, that's been amended. So a B paper then would be separate. Okay. That's fine. Thank you. And the amendments were that, uh, Uh, we, so we've just, uh, heard stated by Councilor Marks, the B paper, which we'll take the vote on first. And then the main paper, which was the $500,000 allotment from free cash as requested, uh, by the mayor two weeks ago, um, in council on May 17th was amended first by vice president Lungo-Koehn, that we get an update, frequent updates on the progress of the project and that preference be given to the most outstanding or oldest sidewalks on the list. Councilor Marks. And most dangerous. Yes, most dangerous. And Councilor Marks had an amendment on there, which is escaping my mind, and Madam Clerk is going to share it with me in a second.
[Michael Marks]: Sidewalks be assessed.
[Fred Dello Russo]: sidewalks be assessed once they're reported. And rated for future reference. For future reference, once they are reported. So, Madam Clerk, on the B paper offered by Councilor Marks, would you please call the roll?
[Michael Marks]: That is regarding Evans Street and the water main.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Evans Street, and for an assessment on water, gas, and other utility replacements which need to be facilitated prior to a resurfacing of the thoroughfare. Madam clerk, please call the roll.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Yes. With the vote of seven, the affirmative, none, then the negative B paper passes now onto the main paper.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Councilor Calvelli? Calvelli? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Lindelof-Burns? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. Councilor Tolson?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With a vote of 70 affirmative, none in the negative, the main paper passes. Thank you all very much. And the records of the meeting of May 28th, 2016 will pass to Councilor Falco. Mr. Councilor, how indeed did you find those records?
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I reviewed the records, found them to be in order, and move approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All in the motion for approval by Councilor Falco. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion for approval is on the motion of Councilor Knight for adjournment. All those in favor? All those opposed?
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