[Fred Dello Russo]: The 10th regular meeting of the Medford City Council will come to order. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello? Present. Councilor Falco? Present. Councilor Knight? Vice President Lowell-Curran? Councilor Marks? Present. Councilor Scarpelli? President Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Present. Six present, one absent. Please rise to receive the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello for suspension of the rules. All those in favor?
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those opposed? Suspension of the rules is granted. Item number 16-306 offered by Councilor Caraviello, be it resolved that the Medford City Council award a certificate of appreciation to Chad Murphy and Associates for their volunteer work on the home of Frances Blomworth, a World War II veteran. Chad and Associates installed an elevator lift ramp and updated electrical services on Mr. Blomworth's home with funds they raised for veterans in our community. The elevator was donated by Kate Trevor Morris, who just moved to Medford nine months ago. Councilor Coffey.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I'm happy to be there tonight giving this certificate out to Chad and his friends. About three years ago, Chad left to me and asked me about starting a program helping the veterans that needed repairs. And since then, it's grown into something that's been pretty good. Anytime I've called Chad and his friends, they've been there to help out a veteran or a veteran's family in need. On this particular one, This is a project that maybe got a little bit out of control for us, and maybe we got a little bit over our head on it. But just to give you a short story, Ernest Lindsay, the veteran service director, called me with a gentleman that was stuck in his house for the last couple of years. So, Chad and myself went over to the house, figuring that the gentleman was looking for a ramp. Soon after we got there, we find out the guy's not looking for a ramp, but he needs an elevator lift to get up and down out of his house. His house is a raised ranch, and he's probably about 10 or 15 feet off the ground. And guy hadn't been out of the house in a couple of years, and every time he goes out, it costs about $385 to go out by ambulance. So we go in there, we explain to the guy that, you know, this is really not what we do, you know, it's kind of a little bit over our head, you know, funds and everything, but we'd look into it and maybe see if we can find him, you know, something or another agency to go to. So we left, and Chad, said he maybe knew of a friend that had one. I myself, I made a couple of calls, and one of the calls I made to was my favorite veteran, Dominic Marcellino, and within two hours, Dominic calls me up. He says, I found you a lift on the House on Gordy Road. He said a friend of his they knew was over there had passed away and the house had been sold. I went over there and I met the people, nice people, the Morris's. And I asked them if they would be kind enough to donate the lift to them. And they said yes. I called Chad. He came down. We looked at it. We thought we could do it. And the next week we picked it up and he brought it over there with his friends. And I think soon after we got it over there, what we thought was going to be a simple, you know, put it in the ground and put it up and down, got a little crazy. Before you know it, they're cutting down trees. He had to extend the deck. The power had to be brought into the house. So again, I don't know if anybody saw the story on Channel 5 that ran this week, 5 for Good. A citizen called up, commending us for our work, and I want to thank the citizen who did that, and they made it sound like we had it done in four hours, if you watched the show there. But again, this was a good thing, and if you saw the story, and you saw Mr. Bloomer's face when he was down in his driveway by himself for the first time, you see the smile on his face, you'll say, this is why we do the job we do, And that's what it's all about. And at this point, if Chad can come up here.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. Messenger, why don't you let him into the council?
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Unfortunately, the Morrison's won't be here this evening. They had a work commitment, and I will deliver the certificate to them. But Chad's here, and all his friends have helped out on this massive project. Chad, if you want to say a few words.
[SPEAKER_09]: I really don't, but. I thank you, Rick Caraviello, for all your help. He's really willing to put it all together. We do this, my brothers and I, a club that we have out of Medford. We raise some money every year. We try to find a local hero that needs a little bit of help. And we're more than willing to do it. I think the thanks goes to Mr. Blumenth, who devoted his life to serve for this country. So we're happy to do what we can for as long as we can.
[Richard Caraviello]: The Medford City Council takes pleasure in awarding this council accommodation to Chad Murphy and Associates in recognition and appreciation to Chad and Associates for their volunteer work on the home of Francis Bloomer, the World War II veteran. Chad and Associates installed an elevator lift ramp up the electrical service at Mr. Bloomer's home with the funds they raised for our veterans in our community. Chad, thank you. Thank you. And on Friday, when we finish the project, the first thing Chad said to me, let me know what's next, what do you need to do? So again, I can't thank these guys enough. Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Southern New Medford. Can you get any smaller guys going?
[Fred Dello Russo]: While we're on to suspension, we'll take 16-309 communications from the mayor to President Frederick N. Dello Russo Jr. and honorable members of the Medford City Council. Mayor Stephanie M. Burke, amendment to Article 8 of the revised ordinances of the City of Medford entitled Outdoor Dining Licenses. Dear President Dello Russo and honorable members of Medford City Council, I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body approve the attached amendment to Article 8 of the revised ordinances of the City of Medford entitled Outdoor Dining Licenses. This amendment clarifies and codifies the original purpose of the Outdoor Dining License ordinance which is to allow for a process to review and approve the use of sidewalks and other property which is under jurisdiction of the city to be used by an appropriate entity for outdoor dining. In addition, it makes clear that the provisions of the ordinance do not apply to property which is privately owned. Of course, any rules and regulations, e.g. zoning, building, liquor, and health that apply to outdoor dining use on private property will remain in effect and not be altered by this amendment. The following is a text of the proposed amendment respectfully submitted yours, Stephanie Yenberg, Mayor. And then we have the ordinance before us. Before us to present tonight on the matter is the right honorable city solicitor, Mark Rumley.
[Mark Rumley]: Thank you, Mr. President, members of the council. My name is Mark Rumley. I reside at 50 Woodrow Avenue in Medford. I'm the city solicitor. This is very simple. This amendment to this ordinance is to make clear in our outdoor dining ordinance that entities would have to come before the city council for their approvals if it were on city or municipal property like sidewalks. And that's really the only purpose here. Those of you who were on the council when this was initiated know that that was the tenor of our early discussions, but for whatever reason, and they're really not that important, it's been interpreted to apply even to private property. And so this would make it clear that private property would still have to comply with zoning, health, et cetera, all those rules and regulations, but they would not have to come before the council for an outdoor dining license. So it's a matter of streamlining the process. And I've spoken to all my colleagues in particular, Mr. Finn and others, and we all think that this would be an appropriate improvement to the ordinances and would ask your approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, in review of the ordinance and in my discussions with Councilor Rumley when I received this in my packet, I see no problem with the proposed language and I would move for approval. If my fellow colleagues have anything to say, I'd certainly welcome the opportunity. But as far as I can see, this looks like the paper just clarifies a problem that was discussed and identified by the council in previous sessions and terms. And right now, it's our opportunity to correct the inaccuracies of the prior ordinance, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Uh, the motion for approval by council night, seconded by Councilor, uh, Councilor Scarpelli, Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, thank you. And I appreciate the city solicitor coming tonight. And, uh, I remember we had a few outdoor dining licenses, uh, one being Wendy's that came before us, uh, with, uh, a need to approve the outdoor dining that was on their own property and, uh, some clarification in the language. is needed. However, I would recommend, even though this may seem minor in nature, where this is a change in city ordinance, that it be sent to the Business and Economic Development Subcommittee just for a quick perusal and see where it fits within the zoning laws and rules and regulations, and then move from that committee, Mr. President, with the recommendation, rather than just approve it here tonight. So I would ask that it just receive the ample opportunity for review in subcommittee first.
[Adam Knight]: Well, we have a motion before us. Councilor Knight. I certainly have no problem with reviewing the matter in subcommittee. However, I feel as though where it's a zoning issue, that the zoning and ordinance subcommittee would be the appropriate place to look at it, if in fact that's the approach we're going to take.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Does Councilor feel amenable to that? I'm amenable to that.
[Adam Knight]: I withdraw my motion for approval, Mr. President, and make a motion to refer to the zoning and ordinance subcommittee.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I move the motion to refer to the zoning and ordinance subcommittee, seconded. All those in favor?
[Adam Knight]: All those opposed? Motion carries. Mr. President, I'd like to ask the clerk of the city council to post a meeting for next Tuesday at 6 p.m. for the zoning and ordinance subcommittee meeting for the purpose of taking up this paper. Does the clerk have that?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. Also, Mr. Clerk, if you would mark Councilor Mungo Kern as present.
[Adam Knight]: While we're under suspension. While we're under suspension. We have Ms. Miller here from the mayor's office. I'd like to move to take a paper 15-736 off the table, the loan order for the Winthrop Street drainage project.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On motion, Councilor Knight to take a loan order 15- 736. All those in favor?
[Adam Knight]: All those opposed? Motion carries. Councilor Knight. Yes, Mr. President. This paper was laid on the table at the close of last session. It's been on the table now for over 90 days. Ms. Mill is here before us this evening. I would wonder if she'd be willing to give us a brief rundown as to where we are in the process of the subrogation between the vendor that we have taken to court and the situation with the Winthrop street rain project.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: We have not filed a lawsuit at this time. We are scheduled for mediation on May 5th. We have retained counsel and the contractor has retained counsel as well. We're actually very optimistic that we will reach a good settlement for the city.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. On that, Ms. Miller, can you remind us how much is being held from the contract?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: There is no amount that's being held from the contractor. It is the engineering firm that the city has a claim against, not the contractor.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: for the contract between the engineering firm and the city. Wasn't there a portion of money that's being held, which is why you're going to mediation? No, there is no amount of the engineering funds that is being held. So how much are we requesting?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: We were looking for $350,000. Were we withholding it at one point, and then did we end up paying? No.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Or was that a different, because I know we had two issues. So I'm thinking of the other one.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Yes, it's the other issue. On this one, we simply stopped using the engineering firm.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And is it a, it's mediation, so no high or low? No, we have an attorney. You have an attorney. Any figures discussed with regards to high, low mediation?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: There were, but these are in anticipation of litigation. I'm not sure that they are. figures that we would discuss publicly at this time.
[Mark Rumley]: Uh, no, we prefer not to discuss opposition publicly with the mediation coming up. Uh, we have met with, uh, uh, our attorney who is a, uh, specialist in construction law, especially this, this kind. We've had meetings with the other side. We've made our demand. We're preparing our evidence. We're going forward with the hearing and we're not going to show our hand tonight.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Tonight. Okay. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam vice president.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: And Ms. Miller, if I remember correctly, the engineering firm that was hired gave us some engineering plans relative to the replacement of the drains on Winthrop Street. Those plans were inaccurate. Public utilities had to be moved, which resulted in a cost overrun on this project, if I remember correctly.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, there were two issues. One issue was a failure to identify some rock, basically, on the road so that the work had to be done by hand rather than other methods, which would have been less expensive. And then there was an unmarked duck bank that was an electrical and a gas duck bank. And we had to move part of the water main in order to accommodate the duck bank that was unmarked.
[Adam Knight]: And this $350,000 is owed to the people that actually did the work as opposed to the engineering firm, correct?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: No, this is the money that we feel that we would not have had to spend had the engineering firm done its due diligence at the time of the design, so that when we went out to bid, the water main would have been in the right location. We wouldn't have had to spend money to move it basically in the middle of construction. And different means of removing the rock would have been used by the contractor, had we known that there was the amount of rock there where the drain pipe was going. And it was a large drain pipe. It was a 48-inch pipe that had to be dug down. very deep for her. So this $350,000 is to make the city whole. Right now, we're basically short $350,000 that we paid out to the contractor that would have to be covered by the water operating budget if we do not get this loan authorization.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Councilor.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I move for approval, Mr. President. On motion for approval by Councilor Knight, second by Councilor Caraviello. Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: So Louise, has the engineering firm been paid? I guess I'm not sure about that.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: They were paid for all the work that they performed up to the time that we discovered that the work was not adequate, at which point in time the firm, we stopped using the firm, the city did. So we had paid them up to the point at which we stopped using them.
[Michael Marks]: Right. So is any portion of this 350,000 going to the engineering company?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: No, it is going back to the city. It is going to the city. If we do not authorize this loan order, the $350,000 is going to have to be made up out of a fund of the seated that additional $350,000. So either we're going to have to make it up with water, most likely enterprise funds, or some other source of funding.
[Michael Marks]: But it's going back to the city with the purpose of what?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Replenishing our own funds.
[Michael Marks]: And not to pay the engineering firm?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: No. We are not paying them another dollar.
[Michael Marks]: OK.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Knightson. A motion for approval by Councilor Knightson, seconded by Councilor Caraviello. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello. Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With a vote of seven in the affirmative, none in the negative, the motion passes. Thank you.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: There's another loan order.
[Adam Knight]: While we're under suspension, Councilor Knight, I move to take paper 15-734, loan order additional DPW facility project funds in the amount of $300,000 off the table.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion to take item number 15-734 from the table. Thank goodness. by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? All those opposed? As before us, law and order. Addition to the DPW facility project funds of $300,000. In council, November 10th, tabled. In council, November 17th, tabled. In council, December 1st, referred to committee. In committee, December 8th, reported out, December 8th, tabled, December 8th. Now before us.
[Adam Knight]: for a first reading. Mr. President, looking through the breakdown of the legislative history of this piece of legislation, this paper was brought before the council due to underestimation of contaminants at a DPW site, and as such, there was some cost overruns related to the removal of contamination. Because of that, we had to add to the project scope, and that cost about $300,000 is my understanding, but I think Ms. Miller will be able to give us a better breakdown than I.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: No, that is entirely correct.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair awaits a motion. Chair recognizes Vice President Juan Gocart.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. With regards to the loan order portion of it, is there going to be any combined? Are we just going to go out to bond for $300,000, or is there anything else that the city is looking at grouping this with?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Well, we would combine it with the $350,000 from the Winthrop Street.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So those will be the only two, so it'll be a $650,000 bond?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: At this time, yes. That's all we have.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And the mayor has asked for a few different expenditures from the free cash. Has free cash been discussed with regards to these two projects?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: We did discuss it with the council. I don't remember at which other meeting we talked about it. Committee of the whole meeting. At the Committee of the Whole meeting, yes. And my own recommendation to the council is that we bond this. The two projects were originally bonded and we should continue to bond them. My recommendation is to continue doing what we started doing last week, which was using the free cash to fund studies and smaller items of capital that come up before council and that we bond larger construction costs and construction projects.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And after last week's vote, you had mentioned the figure. Are we still at $9 million?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: After last week, we're at about $9.3 million.
[Fred Dello Russo]: That's $9,300,000.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: I'm sorry. $9,300,000, yes. Thank you so very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam Vice President?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I guess since the last bond, since those new certified cash just came in from last year. Was it discussed further? I know we, cause we had our subcommittee meeting back December 8th. Has it been discussed further to take anything out of free cash for this particular item?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: No. And I really would not recommend that right now. We're going to start the budget process and we're going to try to put together a capital plan over the, that's going to be a longer term capital plan over five years. And we're going to, um, propose different funding methods. depending upon the type of capital. And I think it will be a much more comprehensive capital plan that includes vehicles, smaller capital items, sidewalks, roads, and building projects as well. So until we have that capital plan, I would not recommend that for these two projects right now.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: What is the, I know it's been three, four months. So what is the interest rate as of today if we went out to bond for 650,000? I still think it's just under 3%. And can you remind us, because it has been a while, how many years are we going to take out the loan for? 20 years. That's all the questions I have right now. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Madam Vice President. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight. Move approval. On a motion for approval by Councilor Knight, Councilor Martins.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you. Just where this has been several months now, can you refresh my memory on the consultant firm that was hired by the city? what their actual report back to the city was regarding the cost for the contaminants to be removed, and ultimately, what did it end up costing us?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: So basically, in rough numbers, they had estimated approximately $1 million to remove the contaminants from the site, and it was approximately $1.5 million. We were $500,000 over the total estimate. And will any portion of this $300,000 go to this particular consultant? No, it will not.
[Michael Marks]: Have they been paid in full?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: They were. Yes.
[Michael Marks]: And I know we had discussions with the city solicitor regarding trying to recoup some of our money. Is that futile right now or is that ongoing?
[Mark Rumley]: That was part of the discussion that we had with our construction experts and the, just to put it in the briefest way possible, no matter how you look at it, we would have had to expend those dollars to remove that contamination. Therefore, the prospects of recovery on this matter would not be more probable than not. We're focusing in on the other part of the case that deals with the ledge and the other, the vault, which was subsurface that caused us so much delay. But on this one, no matter how they estimated the soil, the amount of money would require to remove that soil, we would have had to have done some under any circumstances because we're the owner of the property.
[Michael Marks]: Right. That, that is one way of looking at it. And then another way is if there were other options on how to treat this, it could have been a plan a plan B plan C. And based on the dollar amount, we could have opted for a different plan. So I hear what you're saying. And you know, if it had to be removed, it was going to cost us that. But I have a tough time paying a consultant company that comes in and this is their expertise. and for them to go over $500,000. We're talking originally a million, and they said, oh, we're off by $500,000. Why pay this consultant company? I mean, why are we paying them?
[Mark Rumley]: Of course, there's a — respectfully, I'd say there's a bit of hindsight involved in why pay them, because at the time, we didn't know that their estimates were so — were so low. And the fact that they were doesn't change the fact that all cases against a third party for negligence, which we use one standard, always requires an element of damages, and the damages would be that we spent more money than we should have because of their negligence. In this case, we spent the amount of money that we're required to spend to get rid of that contaminated soil. I know that it sounds a little bit vague and maybe even esoteric, but that's the conclusions that I think are warranted under the law, and that's the way we've decided to proceed.
[Michael Marks]: And we had a discussion some time back regarding what the protocol is with these particular companies. And I was under the impression that choosing anywhere from 5 to 10 percent, the margin of error, and to have the margin of error that's 50 percent, to me, would lend itself to some type of action. And I just see it on a number of fronts that Yeah, I could have gave him that estimate. It's a million dollars. I mean, and I have no background in it. Here's a company that we bring in. What do we pay this company? I don't know.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: I don't recall off the top of my head. I would guess approximately $200,000. That would be my guess. But I do not know for certain.
[Michael Marks]: We were better off just doing it off the cuff. could have saved the $200,000 and just estimated ourselves. I mean, really, when you think about it, to be off $500,000, you know, I know we have to pay the bill, but it just really troubles me that, you know, they're allowed to get away with this. And, you know.
[Mark Rumley]: I am not going to. There's no dispute that I would raise with the logic that you've just applied. So, I'd say to you that it's simply common sense what you've just said. If the margin of error is 5 to 10 percent, well, how could they possibly have been so high? But the element of damages which is required in any claim, in this case, would be zero. Damages in terms of measured by how much we had to take out of the ground and what it cost to take it out of the ground. So I think that I understand your position, and I hope that you understand mine. But I think it's time to say that on this issue, that horse has left the barn. Right. Are we going to use this company again?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: No, we do not have a contract with them currently. What's the name of the company? Brown and Caldwell. Brown and Caldwell.
[Michael Marks]: We've used them in the past on a number of things.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: We have used them in the past. Yes. They no longer are our engineering on call. Right.
[Michael Marks]: And you're saying the city stance right now is that we're not going to use them going forward?
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: That is correct.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Knight, Chair awaits a second. Second. Seconded by Councilor Caraviello. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll for the first reading.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Rumble-Kerr? Yes. Councilor Marks?
[Michael Marks]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Scott-Bell? Yes. President De La Rufa?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With a vote of seven in the affirmative, none in the negative, the matter passes the first reading. Uh, one piece of clarification. Am I to understand that a item number 16-three 10 is a withdrawn.
[Unidentified]: Oh, yes. Thank you.
[Mark Rumley]: Yes. Mr. President, members of the council respectfully, uh, on behalf of the mayor, we withdraw this request and I would say that it is unlikely that you will see it again.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Item number 16-three one zero is withdrawn. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight for suspension of the rules.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, can you read the items so people at home and people here that maybe came for it know what's happening?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Into the record, 16-310, March 10th, 2016. To President Frederick M. Dello Russo, Jr. and honorable members of the Medford City Council, from Mayor Stephanie M. Burke. Deed restrictions, 15 Maple Park Avenue, Medford. property commonly known as the Hegner Center. Dear President Dello Russo and honorable members of Medford City Council, in 1991, following the procurement process set forth in General Laws Chapter 30B, the city of Medford transferred the property located at 15 Maple Park Avenue to Hegner Center Incorporated for $1. The Hegner Center, a Massachusetts non-profit corporation, served individuals with intellectual disabilities. The deed from the city to the Heckner Center contained the provisions that, in the event the premises shall no longer be used for non-profit educational purposes, premises shall revert to the city of Medford. On October 31st, 2007, the Heckner Center merged with Bridgewell Incorporated as Heckner had done before, Bridgewell also works with individuals.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, I move the waiving of the remainder of the reading. That was just to give anyone that's in the audience here or anyone at home to know that that issue has been withdrawn by the mayor.
[Fred Dello Russo]: With pleasure, councillor. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight for suspension of the rules.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor. Motion to take paper 16307 out of order, Mr. President. A petition for a common victual is licensed by Denise Baker, the manager for ADTM. LLC doing business as Salvatore's 55 High Street, Medford, Mass.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion to take item number 16-307 off the table. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-307, petition for common visualize license by Denise Baker, manager of ADTM, LLC, DBA, Salvatore's 55 High Street, Medford, Mass on file. Business certificate number 36, building department, fire department, Police Traffic Impact, Health Department, Treasurer, Letter of Compliance, Tax ID, Workman's Comp, Certificate of Organization, and Petition. And the petitioner is before us. Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise Baker, 55 High Street. Very good.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello, Chairman of the Licensing Commission.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I reviewed all the paperwork, and they appear to be in order. And I want to thank Denise for having the vision to invest in our city. Other people may not have Denise's vision, but since Denise has taken over the restaurant, it's turned around 100%, and I commend her for her commitment to our community and recommend approval. The motion is approved by Councilor Capiello. All those in favor?
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those opposed? Congratulations. Thank you very much. While we're under suspension. 16-308, petition for taxi cab operators license for Ezekiel Luzama, 40, Governor Winthrop Road, Somerville, Mass, 02145. Driving for on-call taxi, doing business as metric cab, 407 Rare, Mystic Avenue, Medford, Mass, 02155 on refile court report, police department approval for recommendation. And test is the petitioner here. Mr. Oluksama, please present yourself before the rail. State your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_09]: My name is Ezekiel Oluksama. I live at 48 of Element Road, Somerville.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Chair recognizes Councilor Cavill, Chairman of the Licensing Subcommittee.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I reviewed the records and they appear to be in order. Mr. Oluksama. You understand that you won't be able to pick up in Medford? Yes. And not in other cities, you won't be picking up in Boston or other towns?
[Unidentified]: No.
[Richard Caraviello]: Right. Mr. President, the papers appear to be in order and a motion for approval. A motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: I'd like to be recorded in opposition based on my stance regarding the need to update the current ordinance dealing with tax caps.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I've had the pleasure. A motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? All those opposed, Councilor Marks. One in opposition, the motion passes. Congratulations. See the clerk tomorrow. We have also before us item number 16-311, petition by Sal Zagarella, which has been withdrawn. On motion of Councilor Knight to resort back to the regular order of business, if there is any left. All those in favour? All right. All those opposed? 16-305 offered by Councilor Falco, whereas the Medford City Council, Medford School Committee, and many various boards and commissions meet on a regular basis to discuss city issues, whereas each meeting has an agenda that is required to be posted by the city clerk to comply with open meeting law, be it resolved that the Medford City Council schedule a committee of the whole meeting to meet with vendors to explore various software slash technology options to help streamline meetings, engage citizens, make the meeting process more transparent and efficient.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. This resolution tonight is to bring additional transparency and to our current process through technology. Legislative software is becoming more popular It's used in many communities throughout the state of Massachusetts. And there are many benefits to this type of software. And I know that the city clerk is probably somewhat familiar with the software that's being used. It simplifies meeting management, saves time and reduced costs. It keeps staff and citizens informed, and it promotes accountability. It truly makes the city clerk's office more efficient, As soon as you post the agenda, it goes out online right away. The whole community can see it and they can see all the background documents that the public currently doesn't see today. So any type of background material to the agenda, uh, they would receive that online. And, uh, there's also the options to add cameras to this as well. So we could, if we wanted to, we could, uh, uh, put a camera in the city council, uh, meeting room. I know, uh, council Lungo had mentioned last week about, uh, filming community committee, the whole meetings. This would also go for a board and commission meetings as well. Uh, they could be filmed and immediately loaded right onto the, uh, city website. So everyone could actually view and see what's going on, uh, if they can't make it to the meeting. Um, so I think it's worth it to, um, schedule committee, the hall and bring in a number of vendors to actually just show us what options are out there. Like I said, I think it makes the process more efficient, but more, uh, important, it makes the process transparent. And it promotes civic and community engagement, and it just makes government more accessible to the people. I actually did sit down with a vendor and did a half-hour demo over the phone, and they walked me through the process. It's pretty impressive. So I think it's, you know, worth an hour to sit down with a vendor and just see how we can improve the process even more. And I'd ask that if you could please schedule a committee of the whole. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The President Thank you.
[John Falco]: Citizen — please. Just to, there are a number of towns, surrounding towns that actually use this. Melrose uses it, Somerville uses it, Cambridge, Westwood, and I think Framingham, just to name a few. Some cutting edge places. Absolutely. So I just think it's something that we should definitely look into.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Chair recognizes Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I know we're going to discuss it in the committee of the whole meeting, but what is the price tag on something like this?
[John Falco]: It depends what option you go with. And I only talked to one vendor, so I would imagine there's some flexibility to it. So I think if you want, it's, I think, up to maybe like $1,000 a month. But if you add cameras to it, of course, that's more expensive. But that was just one vendor, so I'm sure that's negotiable. But what it does is, I mean, if you want, everything's on camera. So if you came up from work tonight just saying you wanted to watch the meeting, you get to your house and it's 8 o'clock, You can actually go back and watch it from the beginning. You can just watch a slice of the meeting. You can research through the tool. If you wanted to see all of the resolutions that Councilor Caraviello has made since he became a councilor, you can go back and look at all that. You can search for anything. If you wanted to look at public safety, you could look at every resolution on public safety, and it would pull up all the documents. So it's a good way for the citizens to be involved. It just provides a lot of transparency to what we do.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So if, say, somebody wanted to watch a school committee meeting on a Wednesday, they could just live stream it from their computer at the Monday meeting?
[John Falco]: Yeah, absolutely. Oh, that's great. So it's nice. It's all easily accessible. And that's really the big bonus to it all. We don't have to rely on, I know we have some private citizens right now that actually film some of the meetings. Or actually, they get a disc and put them on YouTube or Facebook. So we can actually do this, the city should be doing this, and this is something that, this service that we can provide to the community, and it definitely, I think, would help the city clerk as well. So there's a lot of benefits to it, but I think having a vendor come in and actually describe the process of what they do would be beneficial to all of us.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, I mean, we have our meetings only on Tuesday, and then it's replayed once. So you have people in our audience, either committee of the whole meetings or school committee meetings, different board and commission meetings that are actually like typing down, posting on Facebook, everything that's said. So if somebody isn't available on a Tuesday or Thursday to watch a council meeting, they have to rely on Facebook or the paper. So this would be, people always ask, when are the replays? And if they can't get it, they can't watch a meeting. So this would definitely be. something I'd be interested in discussing. Absolutely.
[John Falco]: It's it's real time. It's at your fingertips. So it's a, it's very easily accessible.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam vice president. I second the motion on motion for approval by council Falco seconded by vice president Longo current citizen wishes to address us. Good evening. Good evening.
[Joe Viglione]: Counsel, please state your name and address for the record. Joe Filione, 59 Garfield Ave and through the chair, I want to thank, Councilor Falco for really one of the best presentations in a long while. This is something that's very much needed. The Chevalier Theater, when they have board meetings, I'd like to know when. So I go to the clerk's office and there are tons of papers up there. It is very difficult for a citizen who's busy during the day to stop in a city hall and just see the plethora of paperwork up there. So this is a great thing because It's very important for every citizen to be up to speed on the Chevalier, or on sports, or on any of these things. And I hope, I pray that this honorable council considers the public access issue to go hand-in-hand with this. But again, Councilor Facco, this is a great, great thing, and thank you very much. And thank you, Council Vice President, for your contribution to this.
[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record. Good evening. My name is Matthew Page Lieberman. I live on Canal Street. As some people may know, I've done this. I've attempted this previously, and I've not had much success. But as far as if anybody doesn't know, I put all the meetings online on YouTube. But there are a lot of times I miss them, and I have difficulty. But I'm not really even coming here to argue for or against. I just want to really thank everybody that's kind of taken the initiative, especially when Ed started talking to me about this a few weeks ago on YouTube, John. Everybody who understands it's incredibly important that we have all these meetings accessible so everybody can know what's going on. Thank you so much, everybody. Oh, and by the way, as somebody who has Irish ancestry, and my beard grows in a little red, I want to say that you all look very well with these shamrocks.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the motion for approval by Councilor Falco, seconded by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Congratulations. The motion is carried. Very good. Very good, are the papers in the hand of the clerk on the motion for Councilor Knight? All those in favor? All those opposed? Offered by Councilor Caraviello, 16-315, be it resolved that the Medford City Council commend and congratulate George Turot of Modern Hardware as the recipient of the Chamber of Commerce 2016 Executive Directors Award. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I think everybody in this community knows George, a hard-working guy. He's the spokesman for Haynes Square. And since he's joined our chamber, he's been nothing but a workhorse. And I want to commend him for being the recipient of the Chamber of Commerce 2016 Executive Director's Award. And we have a couple of members of the chamber here to support George.
[Fred Dello Russo]: A motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-012, offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be resolved that the Medford City Council have Chief Sacco contact the state police regarding the two pickup trucks, one with a plow and a snowblower that has been parked in the Route 16 lot for over two weeks and have not been moved.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I drive by this lot every day, and these two trucks have been parked there, I may even be lying, over two weeks. I mean, there's a snowblower in the back, one of them, and the other one sits there with a flat tire on there. It isn't just this lot, but other lots we have in the city are now becoming commercial parking lots for a lot of the businesses. But on this one here, these two trucks have been sitting there. They belong to some company. I don't know when, I don't know what gives them the right just to leave their trucks there for two, three weeks. Say they got a plow on it and just park there. If we can get them out of there, it would be greatly appreciated because many of our businesses in the square are now parking their lot. A motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. 16-313 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the Metro City Council commend and congratulate State Representative Paul J. Donato for being selected as the Democrat of the Year by the Malden Ward and City Committee.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Thank you again, Mr. President. On Saturday, our Representative Donato was honored by the Malden Ward and City Committee as their Democrat of the Year. And I want to commend him for all his good work that he does for both the City of Medford and the City of Malden.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of approval of congratulation of the Right Honorable Paul J. Donato, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-314, offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council commend and congratulate Pat Thurbridge as the Chamber of Commerce 2016 Citizen of the Year. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Again, thank you again, Mr. President. I just want to commend Pat To Burge, he's a hard-working member of the community. He's a veteran, and I want to thank him, congratulate him on his selection by the other members of the committee for being the 2016 Citizen of the Year. And we hope to see everybody at the banquet.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Awesome. Motion for approval by Councilor Campbell. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the Building Commission provide recommendations to section 94-191 of the city of Medford zoning ordinances for council review.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much. Last week, a gentleman named Mr. Serino from Bradshaw street came before this council and he spoke about a problem that he had relative to adding an additional parking spot at his house. And, um, I did a little bit of research on the subject and if we look at our, Zoning ordinances, Mr. President. In division three, we have parking and loading, section 94-191, general parking and loading requirements. It is the intent of this division to reduce congestion in the streets and to contribute to traffic safety by assuring adequate places for standing and storing of off-street motor vehicles associated with any use of land. Continue on, Mr. President, through that division, and what we'll find is that under section three, parking spaces not enclosed in a structure may be provided anywhere on the lot except in an inner court except that no parking may be provided within the required front yards in sf1, sf2, and gr districts. Sf1, sf2, and gr districts, Mr. President, require maybe 15 feet of footage, frontage, at each home, Mr. President. So in my discussions with Mr. Bavuso and Mr. Moki, they said that this has been one of the most voluminous requests that they've received in their office. More often than not, people are coming down that say they'd like to add a parking spot, but they're not able to. because the local zoning ordinance is prohibited. So in an effort to see if we can alleviate some of the congestion in our city streets and provide more off-street parking, I'd suggest that the building department provide us with recommendations to amend our zoning ordinance in this regard, Mr. President. So they're the experts. They understand what would be best in terms of frontage and rearage and so on and so forth. But I think this is a step in the right direction to ensure that residents in the community have ample parking on their streets. and in their, on their properties. And I would move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of approval by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. By Councilor Marks, be it resolved that the sidewalk across from, is it Panera? Panera on Middlesex Avenue be, that's Riverside Avenue, no? Riverside. Riverside Avenue. be discussed.
[Michael Marks]: Council Mars. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, uh, a few years back, we were approached by the owners of, uh, Panera and smash burger and noodles, uh, regarding a common vigilance license. And at the time, uh, we put some stipulations on, uh, their particular permit. And one of them, uh, we put one on the drive through and a number of other things. Um, but one of them was that they were going to improve the sidewalks across from their business. And they agreed to do the sidewalk across from their establishment on the opposite side of Riverside Ave from, I believe, the length of the Christie's Market on down to the gas station and also the crosswalk to have that repainted. And to date, we haven't seen any action on that sidewalk. It's in very poor condition. A lot of people catch the bus up by the gas station And now that that area is highly traveled, I would ask that they keep up with their commitment to the city and based on the Community Development Board and also the council vote that they be asked if and when, not if, when the work on the sidewalk will take place across from Panera, Mr. President. So I put in a request before. I don't think we got an answer. So this is a second request.
[Fred Dello Russo]: They were also supposed to do, if I remember correctly, Councilor, some cleanup of the paving in that whole quadrant there, up to the Fellsway, to clean up that roadway, because it's awful uneven. And also, if I remember correctly, there was attached to all the approvals, we had a provision that there was supposed to be painted in there, one of those big Xs, so that the grid isn't, gridlock isn't created at the entrance and egress of that parking lot.
[Michael Marks]: I'm not sure. Was the city going to do that or were they going to do that? I thought the city was going to undertake that, but we can also ask that as a secondary, because you're right. Cars are now stopping. The people that are gracious enough are stopping and allowing traffic to come in and out. But someone that lives in the area, I can tell you that's gridlock around the clock in that particular area. go in and out of that entrance. So I would ask that be added, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. So on the motion approved by Councilor Marks, all those in favor? All those opposed? Carries. We've done everything. The records of the meeting of March 18th, 2016 will pass to Councilor Knight. Councilor, Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If I could just ask, the council could vote to approve just a request of the mayor to work with waste management for a spring cleanup. Residents have been asking if there's a day where they can put out extra rubbish, spring cleaning from their homes, just a one day pickup where they won't have to call bulk mail if it's a large item and waste management can come and collect everything for the entire city.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of approval, for under suspension offered by Vice President Lungo-Koehn that the mayor reach out to waste management to request a scheduled spring cleanup day so people can clean out their houses, get rid of all their junk, and also we begin our yard waste effort in that period of time. So on the motion for approval by Vice President Lungo-Koehn, all those in favor?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Aye.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those opposed?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: One more thing while we're under suspension.
[Fred Dello Russo]: One more thing while we're under suspension, Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Just an announcement. There is a road race in Medford at the Elks on Sunday the 20th. It's the leprechaun run. It's at 11 AM. All are welcome, and all proceeds benefit the Children's Hospital. So I just wanted to make that announcement. It's a great event. 500, 600, 700 people attend and run, whether it's raining or snowing. It's a 5K.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. President, I'll be driving the lead car. Councilor Caraviello will be driving. I'll be driving the little green car to lead the pack. Councilor Scarpelli will be observing. Mr. Scarpelli, he can drive with me.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, it's a great event. Great event. Stew and a green beer after. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Awesome. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. If I just may announce really quick that Method Italy registration for this year is Let's see, it's open for children born between May 1st, 2003 and August 31st, 2012. Let's see, tryouts and dates will run between March 19th and 27th at Tufts University and for players born between 4th, 30th, 2007 who are interested in playing in the majors in minor leagues. Tryouts and warm-up clinics will be held at the following dates and times. Saturday, March 19th, clinic 8 to 10 for double A and triple A players. 10 to noon for major league clinic. Sunday, March 20th, tryouts 8 to 10 for double A and triple A players. These are tryouts for minor league division only. Wednesday, March 23rd, a tryout. 6.30 to 8 p.m. are major league tryouts. And Saturday, March 26th, 8 to 10 major league tryouts. And 10 to noon. 8 to 10? 8 to 10, yes. and 10 to noon double A and triple A tryouts. Any questions, please feel free to email medfordllinfo at gmail.com or contact Bill O'Keefe, President of Medford Italy, at 781-866-9162. Who was that? Bill who? Bill O'Keefe.
[Fred Dello Russo]: There he is. Thank you. Records of the meeting of March 8th, 2016 were passed to Councilor Knight. Mr. Councilor, how did you find them? Mr. President, I've had the opportunity to review the records. I find them in order and move for approval. On the motion for approval of the records of last week's meeting, all those in favor?
[Richard Caraviello]: All those opposed? Motion carries. Counsel, Kaviello. Mr. President, if I could wish everybody in the audience and at home, happy St. Patrick's Day. Aaron, go brown. And I want to thank Mr. Rumley for our incarnations this evening. I didn't have a green tie, I'm sorry.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On motion for adjournment by Councilor Knight, all those in favor, all opposed, meeting adjourned.
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