[Fred Dello Russo]: The 31st regular meeting of the Medford City Council will come to order. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Camuso? Present. Councilor Caraviello? Present. Councilor Knight? Present. Vice President Lungo-Koehn? Present. Councilor Marks? Present. Councilor Penta? Present. President Dello Russo?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Present, seven present, none absent, please rise to salute the flag. I, with the pledge of allegiance, do pledge 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. Motions, orders, and resolutions. 15-708 offered by Vice President Lungel-Kern. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council be updated with regard to the implementation of the 311 system or an equivalent of it, C-Clip or C-Click, that was supposed to be implemented to date. After hearing at the great debate that such a system was contracted to be implemented, it would be nice if the council that has been pushing for such a program for years be up to date as such. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I guess I'd like to begin first, because I know we have Mr. Veneziano in the audience. And I just want to say what a great job the Chevalier and Chamber of Commerce put on last Wednesday for the mayoral debate. It was, in my opinion, historic. It went off without a hitch. It was fair. It was run so smoothly, and it went so well. So I just want to thank you for such a great night. in Medford's history. With that being said, everything that came out of the debate, I think, on both sides was very positive. But the one thing that I kind of, you know, was concerned about was the fact that the 311 system that this council has been pushing for for years now, three or four years, I know that I personally have had four or five resolutions on with regards to the 311 system being implemented, or something equivalent there, too. like Somerville has. Somerville has a three-in-one system. I did speak to the Somerville OCD board and the DPW department and got some information, and we spoke about it live on the council floor. And that's something that I believe should have been implemented with or right before the new DPW department opened their new facility. I think they go hand in hand, having the community be able to make a call, know that they're their issue or their concern is going to be put on a list and they're going to get a response with regards to when it's going to be fixed or how and how it's going to be fixed. I think that's very important. And what I found out from the debate was that the city signed a contract with regards to this type of system. I couldn't recall. I couldn't, you know, I was trying to take notes of the debate, whether it was C-clip or C-click, but that the city signed a contract months ago. I have to assume that that was before May. and that this is coming to our community. I just find it odd that the council has voted for this numerous times, seven to nothing for the last four years, and we have to hear about it and learn about it the night of a big debate. And we had, I guess, no respect to be able to let us know what the program entailed, how it's going to work, when it's going to be put into place, how it's going to be operated. I feel like if we could get an update from our I believe the best person to answer the question would be Louise Miller. She's the one that's been working with the council and really trying to update us as much as she can. But I think this is something that I'd like a memo with regards to what is going on. You know, we were promised a dog park come October 2015. There's no dog park. We have an account for it and still is no dog park. We're getting calls. people think they've been lied to, and then now we have something that the council's been pushing for for years being implemented that we don't even know about. We haven't had any, besides what we've said on the council floor, we haven't had any public meetings, we haven't had any input discussion with the administration, and I think that's important. I think we're the ones that get the calls and help people every day, whether it be a pothole, a curb cut, a, you know, trash wasn't picked up, We're the ones that are pushing for this 301 system or some sort of E-Click system, C-Click system for many, many years. I feel like we should have known about it. We should have got updates and been apprised of when it was being implemented and how it was being implemented. I guess there's no other ways I can say it, but I was just very disappointed. That was the one thing I was disappointed to hear about. Happy that the contract was signed, but disappointed that we had no real input besides what we've said behind the rail, just trying to push and fight for the program in general so that there can be accountability and transparency within city government, within the, you know, and I think it's going to help the Department of Public Works as well. It's going to help them, it's going to help let the council and the city realize how much they do do for the community and maybe we need to staff the DPW better. I think it's important and I really want to see it come to fruition. I really want to get updated with regards to this program and see when, and I also want to know, you know, when the contract was signed because we were never apprised.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the motion of Vice President Lungo-Koehn that the director of Louise Miller.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Budget and personnel please.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Budget and personnel, et cetera, report back to the council.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Because she is also serving as the... She's still the purchasing agent of the city. Purchasing agent. So she would definitely be the one to answer our questions with regards to if an RFP was signed or what type of contract was signed. It was announced last Wednesday as a surprise to me. So yes, if she could report back to the council, that would be very helpful.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. On that motion, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carried. 15-709, offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved that the Metro City Council congratulate Richard and Catherine Grant On the momentous occasion of the 50th wedding anniversary, happy anniversary, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I think the resolution speaks for itself. The grand family of long bed fixtures in the city of Medford, and I'm proud to call Richard and Catherine friends, and I'm glad to see that they've had 50 years of wedded bliss, and I'd ask the council to join with me in wishing them a happy anniversary.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Congratulations on that motion. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. 15-712 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council discuss the effects of Chevalier Auditorium can have on the Medford Square District. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, last week, we had a good debate down at Chevalier Auditorium. Close to 1,000 people came. And after the debate, probably 300 of them came down to Medford Square. both to Salvatore's, Carol's, Colleen's, Il Giusto, and all the restaurants in the square, and even outside of the square, all benefited from the people that came to Chevalier for a good evening. And that wasn't an evening of what we would call entertainment, but just imagine, Mr. President, if there was once a month a name entertainer that came to Chevalier Auditorium, the effect that that would have in the square. to all the businesses that surround there. With just the meals, taxes, and whatever else they do, before the show, after the show, it goes to show, if there's something there, people will come, Mr. President. And it's time that The new administration coming in looks at that building hard and hopefully there'll be some funding for seed money for that group so they can go out and bid for some name entertainment similar to Lowell and Lynn and all those other fine facilities. So again, I would ask that we send something to the mayor asking for in the new budget seed money for the Chevalier Auditorium and their program to get entertainers in here.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good, so on the motion of Councilor Caraviello. Ma'am, welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Jeanne Martin]: Hi, I'm Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street, Medford, Madison. I'm a big proponent of the theater, as you know. As you know, I also push your buttons, but this is something that pushes my buttons. I love the theater. I love the acts. I'm going to two of them before Christmas, but the way it's being run with the religious groups in there on Sunday mornings has to go. It is inappropriate for religious groups to look at that as if it's a church. It is being rented and looked at as if it is a church by two groups of people, and it needs to come to a close. If we value this city as this asset, then we need to kick in the money for it. I don't know how, but we need to kick in the money for it the right way. If that's the case, and I've already told these folks, We need to have, we can open up all the buildings, whether it's the South Manfred Fire Station and hold it open for other religious events. We could rent out the schools for Buddhist, Methodist, Catholics, Jewish, every other religion under the sun. These folks can practice their religion and they can say things that are very controversial in this city, in that public space, in that public building. They can say a woman should submit to her husband. They can say that homosexuality is a sin. They can say anything because they have the religious right to do so. We need to be very, very careful of how we run our buildings. I love the Chevalier. I want to see it be run right. And that's all I want to say is that that needs to go. And if we value this piece of property as we should, we need to come up with the money for it. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Jean. Good evening. Come on up. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Susan Fairchild, 31 Hillcroft Park. I am a new commissioner on the Chevalier Commission and also a new board member of the Friends of the Chevalier in the past six, seven months. And I want to say that I too believe that this is an amazing asset for the city and we've been able to make a lot of changes in the past Six months or so, we have a whole new website. We have a lot of new things, shows that are coming in. We are trying to do the monthly entertainment. It is expensive. It is expensive to bring in shows that will bring in 900 people. And so, I fully would, certainly would support the seed money for the theater. The theater also has a lot of the physical wear and tear that we haven't really been able to keep up with as much probably as we should. And so in terms of being able to attract additional shows and additional rentals into the theater, then we definitely would need some money for the building maintenance and even a little bit more updating beyond the maintenance. So, I fully support, certainly, the concept, and thank you very much, and would be happy to provide any information that anyone's looking for, for, you know, the costs, what we have on our wish list, what we have on our budget, as well as sort of what we're trying to budget towards in terms of making some of the improvements. Okay? Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Susan. Good evening, sir. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you, Mr. President. Robert Capucci, 71 Evans Street. Just a question for Miss Fairchild, who just spoke, if she could come back for the folks watching at home and give us the new website address. Because I know a lot of people, after having been at that debate, like myself, who had never been in the Chevalier before, would like to know as much as possible. Maybe there's volunteer opportunities and whatnot.
[John Costas]: John Costas, 25 Salem Street in Medford. The website is chevaliertheatre.com. You can Google it. It will come up. And then you can just navigate it from there. The DVD from the debate, the fantastic, great debate, was given to City Hall. So sometime, hopefully today, they will be running it on the government channel. I am working on the YouTube version. And what will happen is once I get, if they'll If it'll take two hours, I'm going to upload it to YouTube, and then a link will go out to Chamber of Commerce and everybody else, so you can click on it, and then you could see the highlights of the debate, to go along with Councilor Caraviello regarding the benefit to Medford Square. I know I sound like a broken record after all these years, but everything we do at Chevalier Theatre, no matter what it is, from a major show to a dance recital, everybody generates goes to Medford Square to buy stuff. Mostly Dunkin' Donuts. But the larger shows, they generate a lot of revenue for the city. And some of the shows we've had, they require hotel rooms. And we filled up a hotel. So again, the city now ranks not just meal tax, they also get hotel tax. So one thing we really need is we need operating money. All good theaters or any building or any organization needs an operating budget. And hopefully in the new administration, we will get an operating budget to not only promote the larger shows such as Lynn Auditorium does now, but to bring in staff and to bring in more, generate more revenue for the square in the taxes. Because it may seem like a lot of money if you say, you know, half a million dollars for an operating budget for a year, but If you look at how many millions of dollars the city generates in taxes, and that's Lynn's, you know, and Lowell's claim to fame, they'll make so much money in taxes and meal tax and stuff that everybody benefits from it. So I support Councilor Caraviello's, you know, resolution or whatever to help us out. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, John. Point of information. Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President DeLaRusso. Point of clarification, you said that the tape of the debate went to City Hall?
[John Costas]: The DVD went to City Hall this morning.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I heard through the grapevine that it wasn't going to be played. Have you heard that? They're not going to play it because it wasn't educational?
[John Costas]: Well, my understanding is they didn't want to play it on the educational channel, which is 15. But as far as I haven't heard otherwise that it would be played on the government channel. If somebody knows something other than that, I'm not aware of it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilors. Thank you, John. Thank you. Chair recognizes Councilor Penta.
[Robert Penta]: I'll let the gentleman speak first.
[SPEAKER_04]: John Benisiano, 65 Crocker Road, Medford. I know that topic about the debate not being on TV is going to be an issue. Just a couple of things. What's making the theater a highlight all of a sudden is the fact that it's now there's awareness about it. Gentleman just said he hasn't been there in I don't know how long he's lived in the city. But one of the ideas about having the debate when I was proposing it to the chamber was to have it at Chevalier, because it was killing two birds with one stone. And we got everybody in the theater. And of course, the awareness of what the theater can do. What I found really interesting, and I was going to bring it up the night of the debate, but I didn't really know the crowd. I was going to make a joke. But I didn't know if a bus of 1,200 people showed up. or people all of a sudden found parking. Because if you really think about it, the place was crowded outside at 6 PM, plus everybody that was marching outside in front. We opened the doors at 6. And by the time I got on to stage about 7.05, and I looked out, and the first floor holds, if I'm corrected, is 1,200 seats, 600 in the balcony. And I could not see an empty seat from the front to the back wall. And all I could visualize, which was distracting me, Where did everybody park to get to the theater? So I guess if you build it, they will come. Well, if you create shows and programs, people will show up regardless of our parking situation. But we need support. There was mention about funds. What I would like to do, and the committee and I were talking about it today, with the help of City Hall, but also about the citizens. We'd like an idea of just, instead of getting the money, we have ideas of what we'd like to do, what that seed money would do. And if you remember, if you went to the theater the other night, if you walked into the lobby, it all needs a sprucing up. From the time you walk up those front stairs to the time you get to your seats and everything else that the theater that we know needs, instead of just dumping money for shows, we'd like it to be what it's supposed to be. And if you've been reading the newspapers, a lot of the theaters in Boston are now closing. And one of the things I did recognize in the article is that all these directors, producers, actors, they're all finding that supply and demand is going to really hurt them in Boston, and they're going to have to find other places to go. And one of those places are going to be small communities like us that have a theater for them to put on their shows. Because if there's not enough theaters, they're going to have to wait out before they can actually put their performance on. So we are going to have a diamond in the rough as time goes on, because these theaters are going to be hard to find. The value in Boston for these theaters, where they're located, are more valuable as apartments, condominiums, and everything else that's going on. So hopefully we can do that. Ken Krause had asked me if it was okay that I mention that the Method Arts Summit, there's gonna be a presentation by the Method Arts Council from one to four on November 14th at City Hall. And he believes it would be a good opportunity for people to come in and suggest ideas that they'd like to see at Chevalier. And one last thing, there is a vacancy still on our committee, Chevalier, if people are interested in being involved, the mayor appoints that person, and I believe also the friends of Chevalier also have a couple, maybe a vacancy or so with the friends. But it was a great night, not because of all the people that were there, but it was the awareness that Councilor Caraviello brought up about what happened in Method Square. When I walked into Carol's and I went over to Sal's, Both of the managers there said the same thing to me. What a great night I had, and what an asset that theater is when everybody puts something together and shows up. So again, and thank you very much for your support last week.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[May Marquebreuck]: May Markeybrook, 16 Glenwood Ave. Good evening. And first I'd like to thank Councilor Caraviello for once again giving us the opportunity to talk about the potential for the Chevalier Auditorium. I have been an advocate of the Chevalier Theatre for 25 years and founder of the Friends of Chevalier Auditorium and GMAC Gymnasium in 1993. It's very, very gratifying now, at this moment in time, to see that there is more interest and support from the community and efforts to recognize the positive economic benefits that we can have from this wonderful theater. Chevalier is like the phoenix waiting to rise from the ashes. It can become a destination, a gathering place, and the engine to help build the creative economy in Medford. In a recent Gallup poll, the question was asked, what attaches people to their communities? In the three-year study, the researchers found that the key reasons cited by residents for loving their cities were entertainment and social offerings. How welcoming the city is and its arts, culture, and history. Likewise, as reported by the National Endowment of the Arts and as an example of how having multiple cultural events can have a positive impact on the community, Let's say the theater has 1,000 people come to an 8 p.m. performance and leave at 10 o'clock. On the same day, the Medford Historical Society and Museum has 75 people attend an exhibit over the course of three hours. And a rehearsal studio may have 40 or 50 people attending a program and going on every hour during the day. All of this creates foot traffic, which we do not have at this point in time in Medford Square, at least very little. People will go to dinner, buy newspapers and sundries, go shopping, hire babysitters, and use public transportation. These are not my words. but facts documented by major studies about how arts and culture play a critical role in the growth and revitalization of a community. A nationwide study by the Americans for the Arts showed that an attendee at an art event spends $24.60, not including the cost of admission. So, using these data, if 500 people attend an event at the Chevalier Theatre, this generates $12,300 in local business. For eight shows a month, it would be nearly $100,000. What are we waiting for? As we look forward to changes at City Hall in 2016, We need active participation from the mayor's office and the city council for the revitalization of Medford Square and the incorporation of the Chevalier Theatre in a plan that makes an investment in arts and culture. I know many of you have spoken to that, and I look forward to your support. The Chevalier Commission has done yeoman's work. and a lot of heavy lifting for 25 years with only minimum support from City Hall, and that needs to change. We can have the best and the most popular entertainers performing at Chevalier, but we need you, the residents who are listening to this meeting tonight. I also call upon everyone in the city to support the Chevalier Theatre So your social and entertainment dollars will be spent here in Medford. This could begin by your attendance at upcoming shows such as the Bee Gees Tribute Band that will be at Chevalier on Saturday night, October 24th. And also the new onstage concerts scheduled for each month through May 2016. This is a very different, unique setting with the audience and the performers on stage. I attended the program just this past weekend, and it was absolutely delightful. During the ongoing election campaign, the male candidates and the city council candidates have said they are in favor of seeking and providing funds from the city for Chevalier. Let's put these words into action and move forward. I would like to hand out to the council a little packet, which provides some of the information I've just talked about. And do we have enough time? Also, I should just mention this flyer that is circulating around the city showing many of the programs that are coming through the end of this year. And there will be a lot more scheduled beginning in the first of the year. Thank you very much. Thank you, ma'am.
[Paul Camuso]: Thank you, Mr. President. Chair recognizes Councilor Camuso. Thank you very much. First of all, I want to thank Councilor Tarviello for putting this on the agenda this evening. You know, this last week's debate, there was something that we haven't seen, the enthusiasm in that room for both candidates, all Medford residents. It was just something that we haven't seen in a long, long time in this community. You know, when I first got sworn in as a member of the Medford School Committee, that was the venue when Governor Salucci was out here and he swore all of us in, both school committee and city council and mayor. And, you know, it was just a wonderful place. And I remember, you look at some of the old photographs from the swearing in in 2000, and you can see just in the photographs the upgrades that have taken place. since the year 2000 or so at that very beautiful place that we call the Chevalier Theater in Medford Square. You know, as we left the debate and traversed Medford Square going to grab a bite to eat after, all the restaurants were packed. Carol's, Salvatore's, the overflow was down at Bocelli's and Razo's. It was just something that that the businesses can use. And think of the meals tax that was brought in just that evening by the influx of people that were out spending their money in the squares that not necessarily come out on a daily basis. But I mean, I'm speechless. You've got to just really think about what that place can be, especially the colonial theater. is owned by Emerson College now. They just took it offline for the next few years. They're not so sure where they're going to go with the theater. The BU owns a theater that Not really sure what they're going to do with their theatre right now. And as the premier real estate agent in our community just said, the money's not in the theatres. The money's in condominiums inside these theatres. And that's something certainly that we're not looking at here. But as that happens throughout New England and the greater Boston area, as the gentleman spoke earlier, there's going to be a need for theatres like ours that hold 1,200 people. And as I said, the investments that have been made there as a result of Representative Donato, who came through a few years ago and all the seats were done over, the acoustics, I believe, the organ was repaired, or is in the process of being repaired. It's a lot of good stuff. But the night of that mayoral debate, not only the dignity and the respect that was shown for the two candidates to one another on that stage, but the enthusiasm and the Medford pride that was exhumed through that whole area. The restaurants and everything else, it was something that I was actually very, very proud of. I went in there thinking we were just gonna see a debate and go home, but I saw a lot more. I saw a lot of Medford people that are excited that there's an election, are excited to participate, watching that debate. And last but not least, the first I'm hearing about it this evening is about the debate not being played. They made it loud and clear that that was going to be on the public access channel, I thought. So if we can get an update from the mayor, because certainly I think it's very important that the debates be played just as the Tufts University events are being broadcast on the local access channels. So if we could get an update from the mayor's office on that particular piece. And also, if we could send out a thank you to the Somerville Community Access TV for coming in that evening and providing quality camera work and everything else. I know the sound from what I heard was a little bit off at the beginning, but they tweaked it throughout the debate, and it was just a great production. So I want to commend my colleague, Councilor Penta, for participating that evening, as well as our former colleague, Stephanie Burke, participating, because it takes two candidates to have a debate. And both of them stepped up, did something that's not that easy, and brought a lot of Medford pride to the Medford community last week.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So thank you. So on the motion of Councilor Caraviello, as amended by Councilor Caraviello and Councilor Camuso. Citizen, you'd wish to speak?
[Robert Cappucci]: Yes, thank you, Mr. President. Bob Cappucci, 71 Evans Street, Medford, Mass. I would very much like to speak to the point of this DVD not being played on educational access and the government channel from the Chevalier Theater. I was certified in communications by the Massachusetts Department of Education back in 1996.
[Paul Camuso]: Point of information, Councilor Camuso. Who is saying that this event's not being played? I mean, they've been publicizing it that it's going to be getting replayed and replayed the beginning and Mr. Veneziano, the whole group, that was the intent from Jump Street. Otherwise they wouldn't have brought in scat and everything else. Does anyone know who's saying this from the city or do you have an answer Rob? Do you know where this is being said?
[Robert Cappucci]: Only that it was brought up as a rumor by Councilor Brianna Lungo-Pratt.
[Paul Camuso]: Well, we can't govern on rulings.
[Robert Cappucci]: Well, then I would just like to, whether it is or isn't, I just want to stand up here and advocate for it to be played on both channels. Because as a former grad student who taught debate at Pittsburgh State University in Kansas, this debate, I was there that night, this debate could be used as text I sat next to a young man, Alex. I was a senior at Medford High School. I forget his last name. The AP political class was there in attendance, and they got credit for being there. I hope that the powers that be, now that they have this DVD that has been given by the Chevalier to the city, which is owned by the people, get to play that on both of our only two access channels, which is the government and the educational access. And one final point, sir, to the people watching at home, I hope that your voice is loud, that this is played as soon as possible until Election Day on both access channels that Medford does have. Thank you, Mr. President. That was part of the resolution.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Michael Ruggiero]: My name is Michael Ruggiero. I live on 18 Pembroke Street. I just want to make a quick update. The people at Chevalier Theatre have been nice enough to they're going to drop off some DVDs of the complete debate at the library for people to check out. Then until everything is available online, I think that'll provide a nice option for people. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you.
[Anthony D'Antonio]: Good evening.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Anthony Antonio 12, Yale street.
[Anthony D'Antonio]: Um, I know there was a rumor going around and it came from the high school by way of the city hall. Yeah, but let's, let's look at it this way. A real, let's just look at it this way. In 48 hours, if that's not being played, There's a problem. So that rumor will become true because it only takes 48 hours for the tape to go from here to a Thursday night replay and a Friday night replay. Rumors are that it's all being edited. I don't think there's any need to edit, but if it's not allowed, it's not shown anywhere in the city. Point of information, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: I think we're really moving away from the substance of this resolution. You know, the resolution that Councilor Caraviello filed was to discuss the positive effects that the Chevalier Auditorium has on our economic business district down in Method Square. And now it's turning into whether or not the debate's being played. I think it's becoming overly politicized. You know what I mean? We're here to show our support for the Chevalier Auditorium. And, you know, while the resolution is coming out of the fact that we had a debate there, it was very well attended, it was recorded. I think that the intent of the resolution, and the councilor can correct me if I'm wrong, was to highlight the fact that the debate was a big success. It brought a lot of different people to our downtown business district and was a catalyst for economic growth. I don't think it really has anything to do with whether or not the debate's going to be played on channel three or not. I think the purpose and the substance of the resolution, Mr. President, is really about the effects of economic revitalization, the effects of vibrant downtowns that the arts community and that the Chevalier Auditorium can have on Medford. And I'd like to see us stay a little bit more focused on that and a little bit less focused on what direction we're going in terms of whether or not the debate's going to be played. You know what I mean? Is it important? Yeah, it's important. I think that that could be taken up maybe later on in the meeting during the public participation portion.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I share an agreement with you, Councilor. And part of the amendment to the resolution was to ask for a clarification on this important matter.
[Anthony D'Antonio]: Great. Well, the subject was brought up. I wanted to talk on it. I understand that. Great speech. But it's happened before. I want to see that video. Thank you.
[Adam Knight]: And I want to see Chevalier get funded. Thank you. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight. Thank you very much, Mr. President. And again, I'd like to thank the folks down at the Chevallier Auditorium, the Commission, and the Friends of for putting on such a wonderful event. The place was immaculate. You could eat off the floor in there. It looked great. I think it's imperative that this council, Mr. President, amends this resolution to request that the administration take a look at putting seed money and to develop a master plan, Mr. President, a master plan to look at what direction the Chevalier Auditorium is going to go, the Chevalier Theatre is going to go in. And the master plan, you know, will take time to put together, but I think if we can act on this now and get some seed money now to start developing a master plan, then we can make this a priority for the FY17 budget. And then we might be able to get a nice line item in there, Mr. President, to start taking care of some of the capital needs that are necessary down there. So I'd move to amend the paper, Mr. President, by requesting that we take a look at developing a master plan to govern Shivire Auditorium's future direction, what direction they're going to go in to do a capital needs assessment, and move forward in that regard.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the motion of Councilor Caraviello, as amended by Councilors Caraviello, Camuso, and now Councilor Knight. Chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I just want to thank Councilor Caraviello for bringing this up. You know, this is not a new issue. This issue of the lack of funding that the city has taken a backseat for many, many years on providing seed money, if you want to call it seed money. And we have to remember, this is a city building. This is not a private building. This is a city-owned building that has been neglected for many years, and thanks to the Friends of Chevalier and the Chevalier Commission that have done Yeoman's work over many, many years, and with all open transparency, I am a member of the board of the Friends of Chevalier, and I can speak firsthand about the countless hours that no one sees behind the scenes of how these performances get put together. And it's not because the city's pushing, or if the city's providing seed money, it's the volunteers that are putting this all together and spending countless hours, as May just mentioned and Susan just mentioned, about the performances. This weekend will be the BJs, BJs, the BGs, and I can just tell you wholeheartedly that that type of performance should bring out a group of 800, 900 people. And I would hope that we anticipate that because I think that suits well to the age group, not only in this community, but surrounding communities that grew up with that type of music. But I just want to mention, Mr. President, that until this city gets serious about its public facilities, and, you know, it was only just recently within the last couple of years that the city finally acknowledged that the arts were part of the community and put a line item in the budget to support those, a minimal line item, but it showed in good faith that the city's behind the arts. And there's no reason why, and the master plan is probably already in the workings with the commission, I'm sure, but there's no reason why there shouldn't be a line item in the budget to support performances. Also, an issue that's been around for a number of years is there's no air conditioning in the building. So you can take out three, four, five months out of the year that it's very difficult to bring in acts when there's not air conditioning. And that's a major concern. I know there's been discussion about the facade and other aspects of the building that need to be looked at. But really, until the city steps up to the plate, and after three master plans for the revitalization of Medford Square that mentioned Chevalier as an economic engine for the revitalization of Medford Square, three master plans You would think someone in the Office of Community Development would have read it and said, wait a minute. What a gem we have here. Look at this. It's standing right here. We have a building that potentially could bring in thousands of people a week into our community and provide foot traffic throughout the community. And nothing has been done by this administration for years. Nothing has been done. And, you know, we could talk about other areas, but Lowell did it right. Lowell provides seed money for their auditorium. They bring in a lot of top-notch performances. And as I think it was Councilor Penta that mentioned it, it takes money to make money. So if you don't want to invest into Chevalier, we're going to be stuck with the need to have improvements done to the building. And I'm sure there's reasons why Performers don't want to come here based on some of the things that we lack. And so this is the wish list I think we need to sit down with the commission and the friends and say, what do we need? You know, if we're going to have a chart the course and a capital improvement plan, it should include Chevalier. And we should be able to look at it and say, for $150,000 or $200,000 or whatever it might be, the figure, this is what we'll need. And based on this, we believe we can bring in these many more performances. Based on this, we believe that it could be used for other purposes. And, you know, it was talked about, I think, John Veneziano and some people talked about movie night there a while back. And I think that's a terrific idea for kids that are 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 years old that really have nowhere to go in this community. after 7, 8 o'clock, and would love to see a movie in their own town, to go in there and see a movie on a giant screen in an old-fashioned theater. And as was mentioned, that night, I had several people come up to me and say, this is the first time I've ever been in this building, and I've been here my whole life. Not that they didn't know about it. It's just the first time they've been in the building. And I think that speaks volumes to where this city has Chevalier on a priority list. And I'm hoping that changes. come January of next year. And I'm hoping that this city wakes up and realizes that we have a gem in this community. And we really do need to step up to the plate, Mr. President, and put our money where our mouth is. And, you know, we don't need three reiterations of an economic revitalization plan to tell us that this is a true gem in our community. We should all realize that, and I think we do. I just want to thank Mr. President, if I could, because the Friends just passed out a pamphlet. And I just want to mention the co-presidents, Cindy Watson and Mike Cerullo, they do a great job. The treasurer, Kenneth Krauss, watches every penny that's going through the Friends. And then you have board members, May Makibrek, who was one of the founding members. Representative Donato, Susan Fairchild, who's been a very active and involved member and now part of the Chevalier Commission. Russ Rossetti, who's been on the Chevalier a number of years, and Keith Barry. And they do a tremendous job in trying to solicit funds and keep that building up to where it should be, Mr. President. The President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Absolutely. Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. I'll just be brief, and I'll finish up on this. But, you know, we have a subcommittee on arts and culture, which I think President Camuso started last year. And I think Brianna, Councilor Longo, I think is the chairman of that. Why don't we have a committee meeting with the Friends and all the Chevalier people? And also, maybe it's time we go out and maybe look for some private funding. Also, maybe like some of the other theaters do, they have like a bank or a corporation sponsor series of things. Let's see, maybe if we all sit around the room and brainstorm, something will get done. I mean, it was my group, the Kiwanis, if you saw a few weeks ago when Facebook was running around, We did a show there with Lou Rawls. And right after the show, we had a private party that sold 400 tickets. May was there, and Mr. Rawls was kind enough to stay till 3 in the morning with everybody. And again, you'll see, this isn't a new idea of bringing people in. So I would ask Councilor Longo-Kearns if she could call a meeting of the subcommittee and get the friends and everybody together. Maybe we could all brainstorm for the next few weeks. And everybody can get on the same track here.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the main motion, further amended by Councilor Caraviello. Chair recognizes Councilor Penta.
[Robert Penta]: Some years ago, excuse me, so many years ago, Shaviro Auditorium could have possibly been non-existent here in the city of Medford. You may remember this. When they were cutting up the old Medford High School, Shaviro Auditorium was part of the original package. And it was at the behest of the then Medford City Council that the separation took place, because if it didn't take place, we wouldn't even be talking about this today. That's number one. This is the second time, I would say, in the last six months, I think it was Councilor Caraviello who brought up the resolution some six months ago or thereabouts, when there was a private film developer here in Medford Square, and they were putting up a marquee on top of the Chevalier Theater, and that drew so much attention. People thought that they were getting a marquee and shows were going to be coming to town. It was a great idea, and unfortunately, it didn't go anywhere because it wasn't It wasn't the auditorium's idea to put the marquee up. It was the private entrepreneur from Hollywood to do it. But it's a showing that if you had something like that, people would know what's coming. Now, as far as the great debate goes, it was well advertised. The chamber should be very proud of what they did. I am very proud of it. And more importantly, I just think it goes to show that if you bring something into that theater, people will come. Now, once you got into the theater, I think you saw something different. I think what you saw was a very old building that probably needs some rehabilitation, but you don't want to take the character away from the building that's contained inside of it. I believe they did a great job in the lobby and the bathrooms coming in, and that took some money. Again, all volunteer work. It's been all volunteer work since the separation took place from Old Mifflin High School and Cheviot became independent. The unfortunate part about it, I just don't think it's ever been looked upon by city government the same way it's looked at now it is today, because you know it's a viable asset here for this community. It can make money for the theater. It can also definitely make money here for the folks here in Medford. The part about it, I think it was Councilor Marks alluded to the fact that it's not air-conditioned. And as you know, when you go to the Boston theaters, they are air-conditioned. And in the heat of the summer, you're just not going to get the type of a show that you think you would like to get because you're not Boston, number one. The drawer is not the same. The amenities around the theater probably are not the same. But this theater is one of the catalysts that's going to make this square come back and come alive. This is what the new administration is going to want to deal with, because it's going to be good for the city of Medford. And it's going to show that arts, culture, and history can be incorporated into your everyday commercial life. It can be incorporated into your business district. And it definitely can be communicated and worked into your everyday nightlife that the City of Medford is working on very slowly. It was quite obvious that on that particular night, we had folks there from Somerville SCAT TV. And the only problem that I would probably say that presented itself that night, that should have been the City of Medford's cable access telecasting that. We're going on the 21st year of the third year of a 10-year contract with Comcast. And because we're going on this third year, and because we just renewed, the city, excuse me, the city just renewed its contract, I believe it was May 7th, the public hearing took place, and I was the only one here for the city because I believe that Shavia, as well as other parts of this city, should have been included into the contract. And if Shavia was wired properly, we wouldn't be talking about this for the next 10 years. So I think what the commission's gonna have to deal with, and it's gonna be a very tough deal, is no matter what they wanna produce there, and what they wanna show, and how they wanna get it out, It's going to be costly, and they're going to have to go out of town because, again, Comcast is not there. Maybe we can do something about that. Maybe we can revisit that whole issue of how we're getting it rewired for whatever it might be. But right now, it doesn't stand that way. And when you have folks there from the high school, which was Channel 15, and you had the government channel being there, the people were excited over the fact that not only did you have almost 1,000 people there, but people would be able to watch this live. They'd be able to see it subsequent to that on a later date. I can't say nothing more other than the fact that I believe it was a good night for everybody there, the contestants, the panelists, the folks that put the program together. It did exactly what it was supposed to do, make the people, let them know, A, there's an election, but more importantly, let them know that Chevalier Auditorium is a viable component here in the city of Medford. So rather than letting, have all these volunteers do the work, it's time that the city steps up to the plate. The city of Lynn, proposes our office, I could be wrong, John, you can correct me. I think it's about $100,000 they started off their auditorium commission over there. They gave them the money to do a show. You go do the show, give us the money back, we'll give you the money for the next show. And slowly but surely, it was one of these little walking steps. Not running steps, walking steps. And that's what they did to get it going. We can do the same thing. You can go to Stoneham. Look what they did to an old movie theater over there. It came alive. Small as it might be, it's alive, it's well, and it's running. Medford has the talent, they have the arts, they have the history, and they definitely have the culture to do this in. So with that being said, Councilor Caviallo, but more importantly, to you, the citizens of this community, and to the Chevalier Auditorium Commission, and everyone who put that together that night, I think it was a great night for the city of Medford, and I thank you, and I'm very appreciative of it. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. I just want to agree with my council colleagues. With regards to a master plan, I think that's something that needs to be started immediately in January with the new administration and the new council. Hopefully being able to work together to discuss a master plan, capital improvement plan on one side and a master plan. And I believe the master plan does have to include Medford Square, Chevalier, and the library. I think it's time that we invest and really take pride in the two buildings we have and revamp our square and and actually get something done with regards to the three master plans of Medford Square that have already been paid for. With that being said, I would ask the Chevalier Commission if you could forward us your wish list. You did mention there's a wish list. If the council could see your wish list. And also, if there's any research that you've done with regards to Lynn or Lowell revenue that's brought in from the theater, money that's input and output, so the city council couldn't be apprised Before we sit down and meet on this, whether it be in committee meeting or, you know, with the new administration, hopefully in January, I think it would be good to see the numbers, to see what Lynn and Lowell are paying out and what they're bringing in, to review their mails tax, their hotels tax, and see what, you know, investment we're able to put into it. Obviously, the budget's going to need to be reworked if we want to put some, I think it should be, you know, a good amount of seed money and some capital improvements to the Chevalier. So that's something that needs to be round-tabled and discussed, and I definitely look for, you know, hope that I'll be able to help with that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: I just want to clarify, Mr. President, because there was some discussion about when I said master plan and when I amended the paper for a master plan, I meant the master plan for the operations of Shavire Auditorium, not a master plan for Medford Square and the library or anything else, just a master plan for Shavire Auditorium, so we can see what direction the auditorium is going to go in, and I think that we can do that with the work of the people that have been doing keeping this place going for so long as it is right now. So, you know, I certainly look forward to a subcommittee meeting on this. I'll be in attendance even though I'm not a member, Mr. President, as soon as it's called because I think this is very important and I think we need to move on it. I don't think we need to wait until 2017. If we can give some seed money now to figure out exactly what it is to develop a master plan and we can start working right now on what the needs are and assessing the needs, then we can fund a master plan, then we can have the engineers come in and take a look at it and figure out what it's going to cost us to actually make a long-term investment into Chevalier Auditorium so that Chevalier Auditorium's up and running, and that there's a commitment from City Hall that's going to continue to fund it, and they're going to be able to generate revenues. I think they've done a great, great job using creative ways to generate revenue that's not on the backs of the taxpayers, and it may be through renting, through organizations and groups that some people don't agree with, but, you know, I think that they've done a great job, and they've done what they have to do to keep the place alive and keep it where it is, Mr. President. So with that being said, I see no need to wait. I don't think we need to wait for a new administration. I don't think we need to wait till January. I think we can start right now.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Camuso, amended by Councilors Caraviello, Camuso, and Knight. Chair recognizes Councilor Camuso.
[Paul Camuso]: Just waiting to take the vote, that's all.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Your amendment is?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I'd like to get the wish list from the Cervalho Commission, as well as any research that the commission has done with regards to other theaters, input, output, revenues brought in, so that we can make an informed decision.
[Fred Dello Russo]: As further amended by Councilor, Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And also that we get an update with regards to whether or not the video is going to be played of the debate on Wednesday.
[Fred Dello Russo]: That was already amended by Councilor Camuso. Thank you. On that motion, all those in favor? All those opposed? Carries. Congratulations. Thank you all for your hard work. Petitions, presentations, and similar matters, 15-710. Petition by Eversource Energy to update the council and public on the Mystic Woobin transmission project. Welcome.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Please share with us your name and address for the record.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We appreciate the opportunity to come in again and speak with you. My name is Bill Zamparelli. I'm the Community Relations Representative with Eversource. And I want to introduce our project team. Mark Kimball is our Outreach Coordinator. David Velez is the Project Manager for this particular project. And Jack Lopes is my colleague from Community Relations. I did prepare a, or we did prepare a presentation All the Councilors have been given a copy of this by the messenger. A series of copies up here, if anybody in the audience would like one. I don't know how many are left. There's three or four over here. We didn't know that there weren't video capabilities here. So what I'd like to do is just walk through this. This is really an update on the last presentation that we made. I think that was about a month and a half ago that we were in to see you. The Mystic to Woobin Line project, Medford City Council. What we're going to talk about tonight is the Mystic to Woobin Line project overview, the overall project schedule, proposed route within Medford, the Medford next steps, proactive municipal and community outreach throughout, project duration, and the contact information. Just to refresh everyone's memory, we have proposed a 115 KV transmission line that would run from Mystic Station in Everett to the Woburn Station 211 in the city of Woburn. This is an important electric reliability project that we'll be putting. It's a regional project that will benefit virtually all of Massachusetts and southern Massachusetts. This, along with about 40 other ISO New England projects, will account for about $800 million annually in reduced energy costs to the residents in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. That is really an opportunity for ISO New England to call up the least cost generators. Currently, their interconnectivity between stations limits what generation they can bring up. As a result, more costly energy is required than would be necessary if these projects were in place. The Medford-Woburn Line project has proposed a new underground transmission line that will connect the existing Mystic station to the Everett station. The new line will extend approximately eight miles between two existing substations passing through Everett, Boston. Somerville, Medford, Winchester, and Woburn. Proposed project includes improvements within the existing fence line and the Mystic-Woburn substations. Overall project schedule. We have had a series of open houses that we held in a number of communities, including Woburn, Winchester, Somerville, and on May 11th, we held an open house in Medford. We have filed on May 20th with the Massachusetts Energy Facility Siting Board. And for this project, there was an Energy Facility Siting Board public hearing held July 15th, 2015. We had contacted all of those who testified at the hearing to follow up with them to make sure that we had addressed any of their concerns. There's an evidentiary hearing. that will take place in later December or possibly January 2016. There's a decision anticipated around the fourth quarter of 2016. That'll be the approval of the project. We were looking at starting construction pending the EFSB approval in the first quarter of 2017. And the estimated project in-service date is 2018. There's a map that's included that shows the preferred route and a alternate route. Uh, we are focused on the preferred route.
[Robert Penta]: Sure. Bill on that page, you want page number two, page number two. That's where your preferred route and your alternate routes are.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: Yes.
[Robert Penta]: The goal routes, which align themselves to be the alternative route, which look like they're way out of, the general direction. Why is that? Why would you not be able to do the preferred route?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: Well, we are required to submit two routes to the EFSB. They require us to have two constructible routes. And while we clearly feel that the preferred route that we've identified is the best route, we do have to have a buildable second route that they may consider. It's my understanding that the Energy Facility Siting Board has not selected an alternate route in the past. Now, that doesn't mean they wouldn't in the future, but that's not been the case to date.
[Robert Penta]: But if you were to choose that alternate route for whatever the reason might be, it looks like the way it is here would be much more costly.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: It would be. And part of this is our route that we've selected is much shorter than the alternate route. And distance and cost are some of the major factors that the EFSB considers. But we are required to have the second route to submit that with the filing. MedFed Next Steps. Project Engineering will work with the Department of Public works in the city engineers to review the project design proposed route throughout the city. We are at approximately 50% engineering on the preferred route, and we are working with the Department of Public Works and the city engineer currently to review the route that we've selected. Preliminary line alignment has been completed and is available for review. Traffic management plans will be developed, working closely with the city engineer and city officials. The project will petition the city for grants of location in the public rights way, similar to other public utility projects. And the project and city will negotiate an agreement and project construction timing and community benefits. We are in discussions with the mayor on just those.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Point of further information, Councilor Penta.
[Robert Penta]: On that last point, on the project and the city will negotiate an agreement, you have mitigation in there? Is there going to be mitigation?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: There will be mitigation with this project. We are working with the mayor right now and he has requested if there's any specific mitigation that the city council had interest in, that they should direct that to his office.
[Robert Penta]: Before the city council can direct it, how do we know where to go? In other words, what would the mitigation be and for what?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: I, I, we, we negotiate a host community agreement with the, with the city and we had been in discussions with the, with the, the mayor, um, since August, probably to review potential opportunities that, that this, that the city would, would pursue mitigation for the project. Now, normally these are things that would be tied directly to the project where we would we would look to make improvements in the areas that we come in contact with.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you, Councilor. Bill is going to continue. Go ahead.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: OK. I think we talked about the proactive municipal and community outreach throughout the project. We have made a significant effort We hold public hearings in open houses and we have had a series of contacts with the general public in all six communities that are affected here. We have held the, all of the open houses were regional open houses that were made available to any resident in any of those communities. There were people that, you know, from one community might not have had the opportunity because they had a conflict the night it was held in their community. But we have widely advertised these And there were, uh, mailings and invitations sent to, uh, to, uh, butters along these routes, I guess we wanted to open it up for questions. If you had specific questions, sure.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The number of the question, uh, councilors been waiting in queue. Oh, we're going to start with council. Can you move?
[Paul Camuso]: So thank you. And, uh, appreciate you being here again, Mr. Zamparelli. Um, I don't have any specific questions at this point, but you guys are being very, very proactive, being here a couple times, holding the other community meetings. I'm very impressed, to be honest with you, because sometimes we get the calls after the fact to clean up. And you guys are being very proactive. And based upon that, I know that if I do get any questions, I'll be calling you at your office for specific residents. But thank you for being upfront, open, and Very accessible so far.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We appreciate that. We do make an effort to try to communicate. And if anyone has questions or concerns, we have a website in Eversource.com. There's a web page that would list this particular project. And if there's any questions, our contact information is on the last page here. And that's up on the Eversource website? That would be on the Eversource website also. Perfect. Thank you very much.
[Richard Caraviello]: Good. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Senator, I don't doubt the validity of your project. My only concern is the neighbors of the Rotary, over by Wynton Street, in that area. I mean, these people have just endured two and a half years of construction. And they're going to have maybe a year off, and then you're going to start construction again over there. The road has just been all repaved. The circle's been repaved. Now we're going to dig it all up again. And those are the people that are going to suffer the most, is all those neighbors who say two and a half years of digging and everything, and now we're going to start all over again.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We have had some discussions with the mayor on this, and he has raised some issues about improving that area, and that was one of the issues that has been put forth as a mitigation effort to try to address some of that.
[Richard Caraviello]: What type of improvements?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: Well, one of the questions that came to us was addressing the rotary itself. Apparently that rotary has not worked very well because there's some question about how people use it. So we'll basically be going right through the rotary. So what we would do is look to try to address that.
[Richard Caraviello]: But again, I would think a suggestion maybe have a neighborhood meeting with, especially with that neighborhood, like I said, they've been devastated for two and a half years of construction and they're going to get dug up all over again. Now, are you going to pay from curb to curb when you dig up, or are you just going to just patch what you do?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: That would be part of the discussions that we'd have with the mayor also.
[Richard Caraviello]: I don't think that should even be a discussion. The road's brand new and we're going to dig it up.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: If it's a brand new road, we would leave anything that we touch in as good or better condition.
[Richard Caraviello]: I mean, I, I wouldn't, I wouldn't support anything that didn't have a curb to curb paving for those people. So again, I say, you know, if you, if you can get together with the neighbors over there, there's, I'm sure there's a room at the, at the condo there, uh, and you know, talk with them.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: Would be happy to meet with anybody.
[Richard Caraviello]: Because they're going to feel the biggest brunt of it. And like I said, they've been going through it for two and a half years. So if you could do something with them, I'd appreciate it.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: Okay. If you have a contact person over there, I'd be happy to follow up with them.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Knight, he lives in the building. Should I contact Councilor Knight? Councilor Knight can call a meeting in the building.
[Adam Knight]: And the chair recognizes Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much. I think that, um, one of the items, Mr. President, I'd like to add to the committee report to send to the mayor in terms of mitigation would be, um, to have a traffic study done relative to the timing of the lights. Um, because when construction projects come into the city, um, what happens is there's traffic flows disrupted. And when traffic flow is disrupted, the light timing doesn't necessarily line up with what's going on. And I think we have a problem right now with the timing of our lights anyway, so I think this project will be twofold. If we can get some mitigation to address some of the light timing along the stretch of the preferred route, I think that might be very helpful in the long term as well as in the short term. Second, and as I look at this preferred route, and we see where we cross over the Mystic River? Can you tell me exactly where that is?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: It would come across, we'd be coming down South Street and then we would do what they call a horizontal directional drill under the river and we would come up in the DCL land near where the community gardens is. Now we've been in contact with the people from the community gardens and we've worked out an agreement basically to whatever we touch we will restore throughout that process.
[Adam Knight]: so you can actually go under the river.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: It will be a horizontal directional drill under the river and come up on the other side.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. Zimbra, would you be willing to also meet with the Mystic River Watershed Association to discuss this project as well as to what's going on?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We understand that people don't like surprises and we want to make sure that everybody gets a full understanding of what we're doing and if they have concerns we want to hear about them.
[Adam Knight]: Excellent, excellent. I mean, one of the things that impresses me the most here, Mr. President, is that we get this and they're ready to send it to everybody in the city. And it's who to call, when to call, where to call, if you have any questions, concerns. And I've called and they've been very responsive to me. And I have a lot of faith that they'll be very responsive to the members of the general public. However, in the committee report, Mr. President, I would like to reflect that we'd like to see a traffic engineer address the light timing issues. And I'd also like to see in the committee report that we have them meet with the Mystic River Watershed Association to determine if there's going to be any environmental impact of their master plan, which just got funded through the state legislature last term. And when I was looking at the map, I was a little confused because I thought it was going to bring us right down to You're coming down South Street from Mystic, from the police station down South Street, and we have a large construction project going on right now, the renovations of the Craddock Bridge. So I think the mitigation of traffic in that area is going to be very important, Mr. President. I think it's going to be vital, actually, to the quality of life of the residents that are along the roadway.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: And we will coordinate with that project so that we have the ability to stage this in different time frame so we can work with them to try to avoid.
[Adam Knight]: When I excuse myself and Garmin notes, actually I did take a look at that and I saw some of the commitments that were made before that it could be phased and it could be done in certain sections and segments and so forth. And one of the other things that I'm also looking at is the fact that it seems as though you're pretty much on schedule at this point in time. Nothing's changed from the last time you had all the time that you to the, to when you appear before us now in terms of timeline. which is very good because, you know, as Councilor Caraviello said, certain individuals that live along this stretch have been subjected to extensive periods of time of construction. And I'd like to see, you know, that as we move, we move according to schedule. I know it has to get done. It's something that needs to happen. And, you know, I can certainly appreciate the fact that you're here. I can certainly appreciate the fact that you're offering an olive branch to mitigate the circumstances. You know, I think that this is the way that we should be doing projects and I really commend you and your office and your team for coming here this evening, once again, to further update us on the situation. So thank you very much, Mr. Zamparelli. And Mr. President, I just ask that the report reflect such.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The clerk has that. So motion moved by Councilor Knight. Chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And first, I'd like to thank the city administration for sending out, at the request of this council, a reverse 911 to notify residents of Eversource's presence here tonight to explain the project. Although the reverse 911 went out today, it was still notification. So I just want to thank the administration for sending that out. At the last meeting, I believe it was back in May, that you were before the council. Yes. There were several questions asked that I don't believe we've received responses to. Which questions are those? There was probably a dozen. Maybe the city clerk can get the papers from that meeting. They weren't responded to. Some of it was because of the fact that I guess much of the design has not been done.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We are at 50% engineering at this point. We were at 25 to 50, I believe it was at that time. Was that correct? Right. So it becomes a much clearer route and much clearer answers as we proceed with the engineering. And so we're now at a 50% stage. We will be working with the DPW and the city engineer to further clarify any issues in the design.
[Michael Marks]: So the question I posed back in May was the fact that this project is roughly 3.2 miles through our portion of the city. And along that 3.2 miles, there'll be an eight inch steel pipe, 24 inch wide by 60 inch deep trench. The full length of this 3.2 miles. And the concern I raised at the time is approximately 17 manholes uh, will be neat to install. And that's for the whole entire project or just within the city of method.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: I believe that's, that's the whole project, right? It is the whole project.
[Michael Marks]: So at the time I asked how many manholes will be installed within the city. It's my understanding that at least 10 by 10, uh, and, um, and they're going to be anywhere from 2000 to 2400 linear square feet apart. And, um, Do we have an idea where these 10 by 10 manholes are going to be located?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: I think that's what we're going to be working with the city on as we speak. We've had an initial meeting with the city engineer to review the existing design that we have, and we will try to further that as we continue.
[Michael Marks]: So you do know where currently you plan on putting them?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: I think we have ideas of where they are. Okay. Yes. The answer, I guess, is yes.
[Michael Marks]: Because, in my opinion, the 3.2 miles of the 24 inch by 60 inch deep is going to be a huge inconvenience. But these manholes are going to be a giant inconvenience on our roads, on roads that, if you go through in the morning, you'll realize just even trying to get your kid up to Medford High School in the morning is a task in itself. And I think I asked at the time, It was going to be along the curbing, I believe the gentleman said, with the underground trench that was going to be dug. It was going to be close to the curb. Is that correct?
[SPEAKER_12]: You might have better answers on some of this.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Hi. If you could just say your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_12]: Sure. David Velez, project manager with Eversource on this project. I live in Arlington, Mass. And to address the mantle thing issue specifically, We do have our 50% design, which does have the proposed alignment. So we now have a set of plans delivered to the city engineer's office that shows exactly where in the streets we propose, at this point, the trench to go, as well as where the proposed manholes are. Those are, as you mentioned, generally every 2 to 2,400 feet apart. That is a function of you have to join the cables together at certain parts. The cables can only be so long before you have to join them, and that's the function the manholes provide. But there is some flexibility in that we don't necessarily have to do them at the furthest extent. If the math put that right smack in the middle of a big intersection, we can shift it, maybe make that distance smaller to reduce, you know, the impact of where that manhole would be. And that's the purpose of giving these plans to the various municipalities and their engineering departments so that they can look and have more knowledge maybe than we do to say, you know, this particular location might be a problem. This intersection has a lot of traffic. Could you consider shifting things slightly? And that's something we would look at.
[Michael Marks]: So based on what you have to design right now, where will the eight inch pipe steel pipe be located?
[SPEAKER_12]: It varies, it does, it's not, I can't tell you it's just along the curb for the entire length of Medford. In some areas it is along the curb, in some areas it has to cross over other utilities, has to get to the other side of the street where it gets to the curb. In some areas, I'm thinking particularly on Main Street and 38, in the commercial area, there's a large center island and it's right in the center. So it does move as it progresses through the route.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: It's based on what's built in the street now. We would work to try to avoid existing things and find a slot that works for everyone.
[Michael Marks]: So a typical trench, would that be located in the middle of the street or towards the curb?
[SPEAKER_12]: Again, it varies based on the location.
[Michael Marks]: So from what you're telling me in a 3.2 mile stretch, uh, we, we could have an obstacle course. Uh, our streets could turn into an obstacle course because you have piping that goes across the street. You might have a trench that's located on the other side of the street. It doesn't seem to be, It's systematic.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: I think it's important to realize that, you know, we wouldn't open the whole trench up at once. What we will do is we'll work down the street with a construction team that would actually do excavation. They would probably saw cut the street, and then they would excavate. They would install that pipe, and it might be 100 to 150 feet long, and they'd just move down the street, they'd backfill the trench, and they'd have a temporary patch behind it.
[Michael Marks]: Right. I'm talking about the trench itself.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: That's what I'm talking about.
[Michael Marks]: Right. So if you have a trench that's 10 by 10, and what's the average street width on Winthrop Street?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: The trench would actually probably be five feet wide, and it'd probably run two feet wide by five feet deep.
[Michael Marks]: No, no. I'm talking about the manholes. The manholes.
[SPEAKER_12]: The manholes. They're actually not square. They're roughly 12 by 24. They're larger. These are transmission manholes as opposed to distribution manholes. The 12 by 24? Yes. They are larger.
[Michael Marks]: Right. So if you were gonna put that in the middle of the street, you're talking probably, no matter how quickly you work and how efficiently you work, lots of detours.
[SPEAKER_12]: Detours or, again, moving the traffic, taking the lane, shifting.
[Michael Marks]: What's the average width of just say Winthrop Street down towards the Winchester line?
[SPEAKER_12]: I don't have that dimension off the top of my head.
[Michael Marks]: You don't know what the average is? Is it 20 feet wide? Is it 25?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: My recollection is it's probably about, you know, somewhere between 20 and 30 feet on each direction, going either way. Because I think there's a lane for parking and then there's an active lane going, if it's west or north, I'm not sure. And then on the other direction, there'll be a lane and there'll be active lane for parking also.
[Michael Marks]: Right. You know, I just think at some point, I realize you're only 50% there. But at some point, we really need to see some type of, and I know the project's slated for 2017, but I really, and the reason why we called for this meeting, I know members have been thanking Eversource for coming up, but we actually requested that you come up here.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We're happy to do it.
[Michael Marks]: Right, and provide a presentation, and I'm happy you came up, and honestly, I've been very pleased with the outreach and the documentation we've received. But I think at some point, as a member of the council, because I'm receiving the phone calls and emails. Uh, you know, people would like to know what's going to happen and you know, they're curious about the project, but they want to know what's going to happen in front of the house and you can't blame them. And that's why I'm trying to get more specifics so we can tell people, uh, you know, on this stretch, you may have a manhole on this stretch. You're not going to have a manhole, but you're going to have just the trench or, you know, So when do you think we'll be able to see that prior to the construction?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: Well, I think that's the reason why we had the open houses. We actually had had demonstrations of what that would look like, what a typical trench in the excavation process would look like at that May 11th open house. And we had three other regional open houses, but the, but in terms of giving them specificity in terms of right in front of their house, I guess we'd have to have this engineered. And I think that's part of this process working with, The DPW, the city engineer, to try to move this to 100% engineering is what we're looking for. And to get to that point, it's probably going to be running parallel with the approval process.
[SPEAKER_12]: If I may, there's two parts to what I believe you're asking for. One is the engineering, the alignment plan itself, the plan view of that. is now complete, and again, that's been delivered to the City Engineering Office for review. At this point, while it's a public document, I would not support putting that out on a website for everyone to see, because it will change over the next several months. It is a work in progress, to be certain. But the point you're asking about is how are we going to manage the traffic, how are we going to manage the construction? Will it mean a detour or will it mean a lane shift? All of that is worked on in the traffic management plan process, which is our next step. In the grand scheme of things, we just completed the alignment. That step is, you know, the ink is still wet on the page. We now move to the traffic management plan part where we give that alignment plan to the traffic engineer. They start doing these staging plans to start identifying, here are some key intersections, here are some high volume traffic routes, here are bus routes, et cetera. They put that all together. Then they reach out to various municipalities, engineering agencies. They reach out to MassDOT. They pull this together, and that's when they come up with proposals and say, OK, for the manhole here, we would suggest implementing a lane shift, and then we would take that out and discuss it with the various areas that are impacted. So that effort is starting now. We are bringing on board the traffic engineering firm that we think we're going to use. I think the work in earnest for that will start in the beginning of next year, and by the first quarter, certainly by the middle of next year, we're going to be far along on that.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: I also should say that we will be seeking grants of location in the public way for the, for the pipeline and the manholes. And so there will be an approval process that the city of Medford will have over that process.
[Michael Marks]: Right now. Uh, I read online that the Winchester project, which is about a third smaller than our project in terms of length, uh, was expected to take place within a six month construction period. Is that going to be comparable on our side? Can we take the six months and say, well, we're a third larger? It's going to be roughly, you know, eight months?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: I think what we'll find is that we're not required to start at one end and go to the other end. We'll probably have construction going in the different communities. I think the point is that we know we're going to make 100 to 150 feet a day, and we'll work our way through that process as it continues. Now, there'll be more than one crew working this. It's not going to be just one crew that's going to be constructing this. multiple crews in different locations. And we'll try to work with the city. You know, we expect, you know, we'll have all the traffic management plans and the police details and whatever is required to ensure the public safety.
[Michael Marks]: Right. But the, the length of the project is anticipated two years altogether, right? Is that 17, 18? Is that the ballpark? Entirety of the project, including substation work, the entirety of the project. So is it safe to say, because of how you're going to do the work, that it's possible that our roads will be under some sort of construction for two years? I wouldn't say that. Well, what can you give us? You know, I realize on your end, you're going to try to do it the most efficient and probably cost-effective way. And on our end, I want to see you come in and get out of our city, to be quite honest with you. And, you know, so it's not advantageous for us or the residents or our traffic, so it's cost-effective for you. to be here for two years. So I wanna see you do your work and get out. Just so you know that.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We share that desire.
[Michael Marks]: You may or may not, but the city of Cambridge right now is putting a moratorium on any openings of their streets for non-emergent purposes. And I'm not sure what this project would be classified as, but it begs to be looked at because as Councilor Caraviello mentioned, our roads have been dug up so many times Not just for underground utilities, but for other reasons. We have mains from the MWRA that run and feed other communities. And we're constantly under construction in this community. And the Winthrop Circle, as Councilor Caraviello mentioned, has really borne the brunt for the last several years. So, you know, I realize the overall project is to help with, you know, electricity for communities that are further out.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: It's not just further out, it's the entire state of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire will benefit from this, and it will be a significant improvement from electric reliability and the cost of generation.
[Michael Marks]: And just the last point, Mr. President, I'd like to make, and again, I thank Eversource. You know, the project slated for 2017, 2018, we're trying to get a handle, and I can appreciate the fact. I do have an issue with the mayor, negotiating mitigation, a mayor that's going to be leaving in a couple of months, and the project doesn't start until 2017. And the next mayor come this January might have very different ideas on mitigation and what they may want to do to Winthrop Street and some of the areas that are impacted. And, you know, I'm not quite sure why the mitigation, although I think it's warranted, has to be discussed with this current mayor at this particular point. And, you know, I'm not sure how other councilors feel, but I truly think this should be an issue that is confronted with the next mayor and their vision and their ideas that they have, Mr. President. And on that note, I'd just like to thank Eversource again for appearing.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Marks. Chair recognizes Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. My questions were mainly answered, but with regards to the excavation and then the backfill, how long of a stretch will you be doing before you then go and repave the street? How much trench are we going to have open in the 3.2 miles in Medford at a time? That's kind of my question.
[SPEAKER_12]: And I appreciate the frustration of this answer, but we have not yet developed a construction schedule and a construction management plans. We are still in what we call the plan project phase. So all of that will be discovered at some point. We're not there yet. However, typically what I will say is The trenching crews make an average, as Bill said, about 100 to 150 feet a day. That's the forward progress they make. And that involves a linear, continuous process. The front of this train, if you will, they are saw cutting, they are removing material. The middle of the train is then coming in and putting in forms and putting in the pipe work and then behind that comes the concrete fill work and then the pavement after that. How much of that, generally, we do want to keep it in line with the progress, but at the same time, if we can get in and get out faster, if it makes sense to, you know, say, start the saw cutting now while we're still finishing up the pavement, because perhaps it's before a holiday weekend, we may extend that. You know, all those considerations come into account. All that to say, there's not a formula. It really does depend on the area in question and the timing of where we're at.
[SPEAKER_20]: Okay, so you don't cut up the 100, 150 feet a day and then fill it the next day. It could be, you know, you could go a couple times.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We would close it every night. It would never be left open. We would have it plated every night so that there would always be access when we're not working that for that 150 feet. And we hear you loud and clear that this is a concern of yours. and we will certainly factor this into our scheduling. We understand that there is a fatigue on construction and we would like to try to mitigate that impact on the residents of Medford.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And my second point, I agree with Councilor Knight with regards to a traffic light study and then my suggestion obviously was going to be a traffic impact study, but can you go into a little more detail with regards to the traffic impact study that will be done beforehand so that we make sure there's, you know, least disturbance to the already enough traffic that we already have. Because we're talking about some of the highly congested areas of Mystic Ave, Main Street, South Street, Winthrop Street. Those are some of the busiest streets. I mean, in the morning, Councilman Locke mentioned, you can't get through Medford Square to the high schools. is a mess, Mystic Ave leading into Somerville, McGrath Highway is always backed up, so it would be nice if... detailed studies were done to create as least impact as possible.
[SPEAKER_12]: We are bringing in a professional traffic management engineering firm. This is what they specialize in, or one of the fields they specialize in. They will be coming in. They will be looking at each municipality, at each area where the project goes through. They might do actual traffic count measurements. That's yet to be determined how their approach And how they'll do that, they would come back with recommendations after studying the areas. Essentially, how can we build this project with the least amount of traffic impact? That is the task they are charged with providing to us. That, to get to that final product, they would make, you would do research with the municipalities. They'd bring back recommendations to us. We would bring back preliminary conclusions to the municipalities, again, whether it be to councils or whether it be to engineering departments, get the input, get the local knowledge that our engineers may not have from you. That gets incorporated into the plan.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. And then this council has discussed hiring a traffic engineer within our engineering department. So you'll be given recommendations, but will you also furnish the results of the studies to the engineering department? Yes. make that part of the committee report that any traffic studies that are done by this professional management firm, any results along with the recommendations be furnished to our engineering department for any future help that it could give past this project. I think that would be helpful because I do see something like that in the future.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: And the traffic management plans would be approved by the city. I mean, we wouldn't be doing this on our own. We would be looking for city approval.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I thank you very much for coming. I hope that we can maybe get another update in six months so that we can keep on top of the project. We're getting calls all the time when people start hearing about this street's getting dug up again. So I thank you for coming, and I appreciate the slideshow that you've provided us. It's helpful to stay on top of it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Madam Vice President. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. As you know, we have a growing bicycle community, and I would hope that you would reach out to that committee, the Bicycle Advisory Committee, and discuss with them, because I'm sure you'll be taking over some of the new bike paths, bike lanes that have just been put in. So if you could reach out to that group. Because some of the streets you're going down are where the mayor has put the new bike lanes.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: If there's a contact, if you could provide it to us, we will reach out to them.
[Richard Caraviello]: Okay. I will give the contact person your name.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: Okay.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the, uh, motion of council night as amended by, uh, council Lungo-Koehn, uh, to receive this paper and to, uh, act on those items that were requested and that we can also, uh, schedule with you folks a follow-up meeting in the next term in six months or so so that we can be updated and the citizens can be updated and also hopefully we can do a better job at announcing the meeting so that more citizens can be present.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: And in the interim, if there's any concerns, please contact us. You know, we are available and we're happy to, to engage and try to find answers or address any concerns that need to do with that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: This has been very helpful for all of us. And for the same sense, I think there's one citizen that wants to speak on this before you adjourned this matter. If you'd like to please state your name and address for the record.
[Michael Ruggiero]: My name is Michael Ruggiero. I live on 18 Pembroke Street. I'm an intervener in this project. And there's a couple of things I want to say before I move on to some other points. The first is the general tone of this conversation. This project has not been approved yet. And I think that's important that we consider the pros and cons of this project. The gentleman from Eversource mentioned that there would be significant rate improvements as a result of this project. There are no guarantees to rate payers. As of right now, this project is roughly slated to be about $74 million, and those $74 million will come directly out of our pockets. I want to read a prepared statement I have about this issue in particular, because I think it's important that I make sure I say all the things that I want to. At City Hall on July 15th, Eversource presented its plan for an 8-mile, $74 million power line, which they hope to build underground along Main Street and Route 38. Many citizens from Medford, myself included, voiced their objections to this initial power line presentation. There's a couple of points I want to bring up here. Unfortunately, while I really appreciate Eversource coming down, there And all the questions that the citizens of Medford asked at July 15th have not been addressed. There were about five major flavors of questions, and I'm just going to go through them one by one. While Eversource's power line improvement is intended to benefit the citizens of greater Boston, it's really opaque to understand exactly how Medford will receive any improvements whatsoever. I think that this was a major theme throughout the night. Why is Medford going to be shouldering the responsibility if much of this Power Live improvement is greater New England? That's a very vague term of what's going to be improved. So I think there needs to be a point-by-point analysis on why Medford needs this plan. The $74 million price tag will be covered by rate payers. And it's disappointing that this price tag has not been included in this presentation. Understandably, they didn't want to perhaps spook people, but I think it's an important element knowing that we're going to be paying for this. And as was mentioned at the conversation, there was a lot of concerns about traffic and environmental impact. And unfortunately, while once again, you know, I understand you all are very busy, it would have been good to actually see more information about what is the environmental impact of this. It's going to have an impact. Now, I'm sure Eversource will do the best it can to minimize that impact, but it will have an impact on our roads and our environment. So how is that going to be mitigated? Currently, there is a multi-prong evidentiary process that's going on right now. Currently there's 28 pages of unanswered questions that various citizens have asked. The city of Somerville is in fact an intervener on the process, not an intervener, they're a step below intervener, but they're engaging in this process. I would encourage everyone on this council to engage with it more as well. If you would like to view the 28 pages of questions or any of the documents that I have access to being an intervener in this project, please call me at any time. I'm more than happy to furnish that information, as I'm sure Eversource is as well. At the meeting, I asked four main questions. And one of the big questions I would like to hear answered, and it's in this 28 pages of questions that Eversource has to respond to, is basically, why is this necessary? With improvements in alternative energy sources, from solar to wind, Why is it that we need to build basically another pipeline? Because that's what this is. It's a pipeline. Now, of course, electricity is going through it. But are there other options? I'm sure Eversource will do the best they can answering their questions. Currently, the way I stand on this whole process is I'm not really sure. Maybe it is the best thing for Medford. Maybe it's not. But they are required by law to provide an alternative strategy for this process. Now, Eversource, as of right now, have provided an alternative pipeline, another much longer road that would tear up many more streets than the current preferred plan. But this is sort of a false choice. It's like going to a diner and there's two choices on the menu, scrambled eggs or eggs sunny side up. It's still eggs, right? So what I really hope to see from Eversource is why other options will not solve these problems. And as of right now, I mean, because they're working with the interveners to answer these questions, They haven't presented many of these answers yet. So I think it's important that we remind ourselves that this is a big project, and it is not finalized yet. Eversource has many different hurdles to overcome. But here's what we do know. The process will be expensive. It will have an impact on our society. I would encourage everyone to think seriously about this process that's going to cost us
[SPEAKER_00]: in the end.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Now, maybe, as the gentleman said, this is part of another sort of project that will help New England immensely. But I think we need to consider these ramifications very seriously. If anyone at home is interested in receiving any of the documents I have mentioned, please call me any time at 844-TAKE-GVT. Thank you very much for allowing me to speak, and thank you very much for Eversource for coming down. Sure, my number, once again, is 844-TAKE-GVT. So, TAKE-GVT. Please, I'm more than happy, you can also email me anytime at mr.takegovernment.com. I have access to hundreds of pages of documents, and I'm slowly sort of filtering my way through.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I would also encourage any electrical engineer... Can the public also be assured that these documents are available through public means, through the commission that oversees utilities as well?
[Michael Ruggiero]: I'll post them on my website, takegovernment.com, in the next couple of days with the campaign. It's been a little hectic. Thank you, everyone.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: I think that the folks from Eversource have already reiterated the fact that they would be more than willing to do that. And as such, you know, Mr. Zamparelli is the Eversource Community Relations Specialist for our municipality, and he can be reached at William.Zamparelli, Z-A-M-P-A-R-E-L-L-I, at Eversource.com. And I think many of us that are familiar with the city of Medford are very familiar with that last name, the late John Zamparelli, who represented our city with great pride, Mr. President. contact that other source would be Mr. Zamparelli, and that's how he can be reached as well. I think it's always good to get the info from the horse's mouth. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening, sir. I'd like to state your name and address for the record.
[jCO6jvvXtn0_SPEAKER_03]: I'm Nick Tomazook, 29 Garfield Avenue, Medford. I only have two simple questions. If they researched an existing route, with all those manhole covers out there, there's no existing route they can put their lines through? Like the cable lines, they're putting them through existing manholes. You know, isn't there a way to go that way? And then the other question is, who's going to be the superpower? The bridge builders or the cable guys? Because they're going to come together in Main Street and Mystic Avenue. So now you have the bridge a block away, and you have the power line another block away. So you've got to figure out, because that area is going to be so congested. The only thing is, who's going to be the superpower there?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Exactly. I think one of the goals that they've had is to engage an outside traffic consultant who's going to analyze. That's one of the particular areas that needs a strong analysis because of the impact of the ongoing bridge construction as it affects the development of the trenching.
[jCO6jvvXtn0_SPEAKER_03]: The only thing is these traffic consultants, they don't live in the city. They may come at a real slow time and not come during rush hour. I mean, that traffic backs up up Main Street, up past George Street and beyond. Yes. You know, trying to make the left on Mystic Ave. So what's going to happen now when they close that bridge, move it over, and you've got the construction in Main Street, in Mystic, and then you have a block away, you have the bridge?
[Fred Dello Russo]: The gentleman is taking notes on that as we speak. uh, to make that as part of their, uh, research.
[jCO6jvvXtn0_SPEAKER_03]: Okay. And then another thing is I want to wish you all guys good luck. Got a bunch of good city Councilors. If anybody wants to put a sign up on my property, 29 Garfield Avenue, help yourself. I have plenty of fence. So bring them down.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thanks. Good evening, ma'am. Please state your name and address for the record. Welcome.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, I'm Kate Adams, and I live at 21 Blaisdell Road, Medford. I'm here tonight attending on behalf of the policy committee of the Mystic River Watershed Association. And it's been very interesting and informative to hear what the Eversource people have had to say. And it kind of explains a little bit that you're only about halfway through the engineering process, and that's why we've not heard a few more details. The Watershed Association is primarily concerned with the water quality, habitat, and access to the Mystic River, as well as the Aberjona River and the Malden River, and the other tributaries, which, of course, feed the watershed of the Mystic River. We have some specific concerns with, in this case, the Winthrop and South Street crossing of the river. some of which it's been allayed by the idea that it's going to go under the river and not through the river, which makes a big difference. But there's still some concerns about access to the river bank and through the area and the condon shell and for people, say, putting in kayaks or coming to the river to walk their dogs or even for school kids walking through the area trying to get across to the schools which are on the opposite side of Mystic Valley Parkway. sometimes kids come from those neighborhoods and they use, you know, so there needs to be still some preservation of access through the area. Um, I have some concerns having, um, put in my kayak on the South street side that there's, are some erosion issues. And if there's trees taken out or other types of activity in the construction on that side of the river, you know, that could affect water quality. I think one of the bigger concerns the watershed has is the herring runs are just now coming back, now that there's new access up a fish ladder, and we don't want to interfere with that comeback of the herring on the river. It's been a very big deal for the ecosystem of the watershed, and we want to make sure that since they run from generally from April through the end of June, we want to make sure that the activities don't impact that herring run. And finally, there's the public garden, which has been mentioned. I want to make sure that that isn't seriously disrupted. People put a lot of effort into building that. And that's an important draw to the river area. It has to do with the access to the river and also to people's enjoyment of it, which is important for the watershed as well. So I look forward to working with you And also, if anybody in the City Council has concerns that have to do with the river and the water quality and the watershed, please feel free to contact the Watershed Association. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record. Welcome.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Valerie Geiselman, 318 High Street, Medford. I'd like to ask about the manhole covers. We have a few that make a lot of clicky-clack noise from the electric company still outside along High Street, particularly between Walcott Street and Wilburn Street. Those are the ones that I can hear. And just want to express my concern that any manhole covers would not be making any noise. And if they should get loose, they would be dealt with promptly.
[Fred Dello Russo]: They've just made note of that.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear what you said.
[Fred Dello Russo]: They've just made note of that and they've had right behind you as you were speaking, they were writing. So thank you. I think it's a clear message received. Yes. Chair recognizes Councilor Camuso.
[Paul Camuso]: If I may, can we also send to the superintendent of Y is in the DPW commissioner on behalf of the resident to check the manhole covers currently at between Walcott and Woburn on high street, correct? If they can do something to tidy them up so that, especially now that the snow plowing and stuff is going to stop. I hate to even think about it, but within a few months, so.
[Fred Dello Russo]: As amended by Councilor Camuso. Sir, if you can.
[Michael Ruggiero]: My name is Michael Ruggiero. I live on 18 Pembroke Street. I just want to give a clarification. Saying the letters to my number might not have been the most useful for everyone. So my number is 844-825-7000. 3, 4, 8, 8. If anyone is interested in talking about the documents I have access to, I'm happy to help send anything away, as I'm sure the people of Everstar as well.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Everyone has access to those documents. On the motion of Councilor Knight as amended, all those in favour?
[Michael Marks]: Just one last question, if I have a source. I don't think we discussed the potential disruption to driveways. There's many driveways along the uh, course of this route. Um, and, uh, will residents be notified that they won't have access to their driveway for particular periods of time? I'm sure during the construction, there may be hours and hopefully just a few hours that they won't have access. How will that notification, be sent to residents.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We have a number of ways. One is our website. But what we will probably be doing is actually flyering the neighborhood that we're in. If we're going to be in an area that's going to be working at that street, and we know we're going to be there the following week, we will notify them that we're going to be working in that neighborhood. So that they'll know that we're where we are. And they'll see us coming, basically.
[Michael Marks]: So what do you anticipate?
[SPEAKER_12]: If I may add to that as well, just to clarify, yes, we do the general outreach, we do the specific door hanger outreach, but also to be clear, it's not that anyone would ever lose access to their driveway, particularly for a safety issue that is a requirement of the contractors. Long story short, if there is an open trench in front of a driveway, there's always a steel plate available on the construction site. So should a resident need to access, or should there be an emergency issue where there needs to be egress ingress, we can always provide that via the steel plate. Obviously, we try to coordinate. If someone's going to be leaving their house a dozen times in the day, we would try to not do our work during that time if it can be avoided. But we would not cut off a resident's access to their home.
[Michael Marks]: So residents will have access to their driveway throughout this whole project. There won't be any interruption.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We may have to coordinate with them, but they would always have access. If we had to dig in front of their driveway, we would be able to put a plate down if they needed to get access to it. Obviously, if we're doing 150 feet a day, we're probably going to be there in front of the driveway for an hour or two. And so if we can coordinate it so that they can get in and out We get there to do the construction, that's all the better. If not, then we'll work with them to try to ensure that they have access.
[Michael Marks]: So when the machine's doing the digging, you're talking a good hour and a half maybe in front of a driveway then? The length of a driveway, five, six feet? Right. You're talking a good hour, an hour and a half. I would just...
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: you know, but as David indicated, we will have plates that we, if they had to get in and out. I mean, obviously it'd be better if we could let them in or let them out when they needed to get, get to get access. Uh, and we try to coordinate that. If for some reason that isn't possible, we'll have the ability to put a plate down to ensure that they do have access. Thank you. There were a couple of things that were raised here today and I should just try to clarify it. I think, Some of the benefit, I think, is not fully understood. And maybe let me speak a little bit to that. I think it's important. While this is a regional project, it will be paid for by the regional customers, the rate payers. And so it's not just the greater Boston or the city of Medford rate payers. It's all of New England's power grid rate payers that will pay for these improvements. And this is just one of about 40 some projects that are being done throughout the state. throughout New England to improve the interconnectivity between stations. This is significant because it allows for about an $800 million annual savings in generation costs once all of the 40-some projects are in place, because now ISO New England has the ability to call up the least cost generator. It's usually done by what the kilowatt hour cost is for that generation. Because of limitations in the connections between stations currently, they have to call up certain generation that is much more expensive than the least cost. Once this is in place, they will have that benefit to realize about an $800 million annual savings. over the, you know, going forward. That's based on the current cost of power that could change based on what cost of power would be in the future. But I think it is a significant reliability improvement for the greater Boston area and southern New England, southern New Hampshire. And it will absolutely improve economic competitiveness in this region.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you very much for your presentation tonight.
[Michael Marks]: I think we have one more point, Mr. Chairman.
[SPEAKER_12]: I'm sorry. If I may. Just to address one other issue that was brought up that I think is worth mentioning about project alternatives and, you know, the necessity of the project. It was, you know, perhaps alluded to that. We did not answer that question. It has been asked by the EFSB. It has been answered in our initial petition. that is available online via EFSB DPU. There's a link on our website. This is part of the filing that is at the Bedford Public Library. It is a very long and technically detailed analysis of needs, not just of the routes, the preferred and noticed route, but also addressing why can't renewable generation or energy efficiency or other type issues that has all been asked and answered and it's available for anyone to read today.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President. Councilor Marks. The utilities now are assessed. So what was the assessment for the City of Method, do you know?
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: I don't know what that number is, but I can tell you the way it usually works is it's on the real personal property side, and we do what they call a form of list, and we list all of the assets that are in service in the community. This transmission line will pay taxes to the community every year. It is a depreciated net value over time. But the idea is that they will, for every foot of utility that's in service in the city, that they will generate a tax benefit. And I can find out what that number is. The Vice President If you could, I think that'd be helpful. Mr. Kudlow Absolutely.
[Michael Marks]: The Vice President Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor. So on the motion of Councilor Knight, as amended, all those in favour? All those opposed? Thank you very much for your time. Thank you to the citizens who made the time to come down and present.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: We look forward to continuing the conversation. If you have any other concerns, please contact us.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you.
[W1Pcx_tDASA_SPEAKER_18]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Continuing with petitions, presentations, and similar matters, 15-711. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: When I got an email relative to this very issue after the May 20th meeting, I placed a call to the city assessor. And right now, the proposed tax levy on underground utilities in the city of Medford is $73 million.
[Fred Dello Russo]: $73 million will be very helpful to all of us. 15-711, petitioned by Jean M. Martin, 10 Cumming Street, Medford, Mass., to speak to the council about money collected through the parking program and police training. Ms. Martin, welcome. Please state your name and address for the record again.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin. Good evening. 10 Cumming Street. Let's remember why we have meters in the first place, because outsiders were parking in our squares all day for free and riding into town. We also had store owners and workers parking in front of their stores, taking up customer spots. And also, I just want to remind people that the permits, parking, we have been already paying. People that live in the city before we even had meters were paying $10 a year to pay to park on our own street. So that money has already been out there, just to remind you of that, too. You recall that we didn't want to waste professional time of police officers on parking enforcement. And while we have accomplished this goal, make no mistake that parking enforcement ultimately still comes under the auspices of the police department. Now, while some of you will throw tomatoes at me because I know that not everybody agrees with this pay for parking issue, I have to say that I'm okay paying for parking for the following reasons. No one plan will satisfy everyone. That's worth repeating again. No one plan will satisfy everyone. This includes the two-hour or three-hour limit. Someone will always say it is too short a time for some reason. This city has had a free parking program for so long, it doesn't want any change at all. We need to admit that. That said, it should not be punitive. The amount could be as little as 25 cents for a half an hour. It doesn't have to be 25 cents for 15 minutes. The point of paying is to create accountability and not milk the people. Free parking for two hours without a ticket creates a problem. You must move your car if you wish to stay in the square. And we want people to encourage people to hang out in the square and spend their money. I would much rather go out and feed the meter again than move my car and try to find another spot. Let's say we grow Medford Square and it is a bustling with life. We're going to have to extend the hours till 8 p.m., and in some communities they do that. We want people to hang out in the square for four or five hours. The longer they stay, the more money we make from the store's businesses, not from the parking. We shouldn't really look at it as making money from the parking program. This is what I think should happen to any proceeds from the parking program. It should be earmarked for mental health and training for police officers. The issue of late was only properly resolved because it was on video and we were a national disgrace as a result of it going viral. We do not take the mental health of our police officers as seriously as we do their physical health. We need to normalize mental health for our officers before something else happens. We need a zero tolerance policy, but we also can't neglect our responsibility to them and expect stress not to bubble up again. While unions protect an officer from being fired by a mayor for flimsy cause, there is a point at which an officer should be taken off the street. But I also agree that we need a union to protect the officers in case the mayor's on the take. If the mayor is corrupt, right, then he could fire an officer that's doing his job very easily because he has the power to do so. So the unions play that role. While unions have a say, they don't have the last say. Unions are limited by their very nature of not having a full sight of view of the whole city's needs. We as citizens have a say in what requirements we want our officers, police officers to have. But don't think the public gets a pass either. Our job is to make sure that police officers aren't afraid to do their jobs. And if we continue to beat them up in the public eye and they fear being scapegoated for society's ills, they will not be there one day when you need them the most. I propose that every officer be required to talk to a therapist out of the city limits who specializes in police stress once a month. If you have a better idea, please let me know. Only if everyone does it will those who ask for help not be stigmatized. If it becomes routine, it will become a social norm and the guys won't pick on the minority of guys who go. To my fellow citizens, this is not a wish list item. This is a mandatory item. You may offer a tweak here or there, but it needs to be done. Police men and women cannot strike. And that leaves them in a very bad place to be overworked and build up pressure. Remember, when a police officer escalates, he or she does that in our name. He or she works for us. The unions need to do what is in the best interest for everyone, including the public they serve. This is one measure that can help prevent police officers from blowing a gasket. If you find another, let me know. We, the public, need to see the danger in not doing our job. which is to see that the needs of our police department are met. Otherwise, the blood will be on our hands. We only have 105 police officers for a city of 58,000. They are a minority. We need to hear them now, not tomorrow when it is too late. We owe the police officers every opportunity to maintain his or her composure by looking after their health, both mental and physical. And we also owe them a thank you. for doing a job that we do not want to do. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Jean. Sir, please state your name and address for the record. Thank you. Welcome.
[Joe Viglione]: Joe Villione, 59 Garfield Avenue for Mass. I want to thank Ms. Martin for an excellent presentation. Medford has to give something to the community if it is going to charge the community. I would like to see the parking monies go to police, firefighter, and other infrastructure. Instead of about two-thirds of it going south, literally, out there on the Chattanooga choo-choo, we need to keep the monies in Medford. Now, this mayor does it with other things. Public access monies, we can't find it, critical election. Where is it? The parking monies in Somerville, 25 cents for me to park there, or in Union Square, they have a little island, and in that island, they have the pay-to-park, and it's a lot simpler than in Medford. You put in your charge card, you put in your, first you put in your space number. I put up to three bucks in there and you get three hours, it's amazing. That way I can do my radio show, and I can go to lunch, and I can go home and I don't have to worry. If there are no metered parking, those kiosk things, then I can go to the 25 cent thing. So I have plenty of quarters in my pocket when I go to Somerville. But that's Somerville. Medford's a little bit further out and we don't have the nightlife and the hotspot. I'll keep it brief. In Medford, we're paying for something, and the money's going south, but we don't get road repair first. If the mayor had repaired the roads, given us something and said, you know, we gotta pay for this now, public hearing, let's talk about it, and he came out here and honestly and sincerely said, you know, people, we have a lot of broken roads, and it's on me, just like Chuck Pagano. The mayor fumbled worse than Chuck Pagano the past Friday night with that debacle of the Indianapolis Colts. The mayor fumbled worse. He should have come here with hat in hand and said, I'm sorry, citizens, 28 years I haven't been there. I've been at my golf turns, whatever. Sir, this is the People's Forum, and this is very important. Had the mayor given us clean, beautiful roads, like we deserve, then he could say, let's talk about parking, then we can pay for it, and then we know it's not because we're Somerville, because we're not. It's because we finally paved the roads, and finally have a city we can be proud of.
[jCO6jvvXtn0_SPEAKER_03]: Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record. Name is Nick Thomas look 29 Garfield Avenue. You know, I like to stop hearing about this policeman, you know, beating on the guy, beating on the guy and keep beating on the guy. He's got citations and everything else. So the guy retires. But the thing of it is, If that potty in that car... was totally innocent. Point of information, counsel.
[Paul Camuso]: Point of information. Just for the record, because we're talking about an individual, there was no allegations of beating anyone up. No, no, but I'm just saying.
[SPEAKER_14]: No, no, I'm just saying. I'm trying to make the point that this person was so innocent in this automobile. I don't want you to get sued personally, so I'm looking elsewhere. I don't know him personally. No, no, no. I'm talking about you saying he beat someone up, and then I could sue you. No, no, no. I didn't say. Let's start beating on the subject. Not on him. Oh, OK.
[jCO6jvvXtn0_SPEAKER_03]: On the subject. No, no. I have nothing to gain, nothing to lose here. I just speak my mind. But the thing of it is, if this guy in the car was so innocent, why didn't he release the whole tape instead of portions of it? The portions that benefited him. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you very much. It just aggravates me when I hear it because this guy's got a ton of citations. It was a good car, and all of a sudden, you take small portions of a tape, and you crucify him on it. It's going to stop. Let's not even talk about it anymore. The guy retired is gone.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. Then we won't.
[jCO6jvvXtn0_SPEAKER_03]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the motion of Councilor Camuso to receive in place on file, all those? On the motion, Councilor Penta.
[Robert Penta]: I don't want to receive it in place on file, because we asked two months ago for an updated financial uh, accounting of just where are we right now between the Republic parking and all the citations that have been dismissed. We still haven't gotten it. So I don't want to receive it, but I want to report back from the mayor.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Once again, this would be the second time we've asked in two months on the motion of Councilor Penta, that a report be grant given to the, uh, city council, uh, on the revenue analysis of, uh, the present, uh, parking, uh, plan and all citations that were dismissed. and on all citations that were dismissed that is sent to the mayor's office for action on that motion. All those in favor? All those opposed? Passes. We'll take a papers in the clerk, uh, hand of the city clerk. Um, first one from council night, be it resolved that the Medford city council hold a committee of the whole meeting for the purpose of discussing the city council appointee to the community garden commission Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much.
[Adam Knight]: Just a few short weeks ago this council passed a community gardens commission ordinance and created a commission and the council has an appointee. The administration has filled their three slots and there is one vacancy that remains and that is the vacancy that the city council is to appoint, Mr. President. So I'd ask that we establish a committee of the whole meeting in short order so that we can review the applicants and create maybe some criteria or parameters as to what we expect from them as the City Council appointee and then move to fill the vacancy.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. On that motion, all those in favor? All those opposed? Granted, we'll call that meeting in the near term. Be it resolved, this is also offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved the Medford Police Department forward a copy of its Narcan policy to the City Council. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Yes, Mr. President. Recently, very recently, our Medford Police Department And its patrolmen have been fitted with Narcan kits, Mr. President. And I'd like to know what the policy is in terms of when Narcan is appropriate. And it's my understanding that they have been trained, that Strong Ambulance has donated some services to train our first responders for the use of Narcan. And I'd just like to see what a copy of the policy looks like so that we can have it for our records.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On that motion, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Finally, offered by Councilor Lungo-Koehn, Madam Vice President, be it resolved that the revenue, I'm sorry, that the reverse 9-1-1 updates be looked into with regards to distinguishing between emergency notices and community updates for the interest of public safety? Madam Vice President. Very good.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. Within the last 30 to 45 days, it seems like we've been getting a reverse 9-1-1 call. Once today, I think I received two. A lot of them are great community updates. Number one, I feel like some of them can be grouped together so you're not receiving so many. But my main concern is with regards to just discussing it throughout the city. People are starting to get a little aggravated. Some have told me that they have made the effort to block the phone calls. And some have mentioned that it's just getting so out of hand that they'd rather not get updates at all. I don't know if we can distinguish, maybe look into distinguishing between people who want to get the community updates and the emergency updates. And then also have a category where it's, you know, an emergency basis and people can opt in or opt out of each, you know, category. I know that I've, people are telling me they're just hanging up. They see the number and they just pick up and hang it up. And that creates a public safety issue. I mean, if we do have a true emergency, and somebody's picking up the phone and hanging up the phone because they're so aggravated, they're getting the calls every single day. What if we do have an emergency? What if, you know, something really is, you know, we need to get it out to the residents? So I think hopefully, you know, whoever's in control of it, the administration, obviously, Captain DiClemente, and the police department, if maybe we can delineate between the two categories, you know, community notices, You know, it's great to hear about the road race and things that are on the council agenda and events that are happening on the weekends. You know, I think, truly, I think I've received 15 in the last 14 days. So I would just like to see if maybe that could be a possibility. People can opt in to just get the emergency or opt in to get the emergency and the community updates for public safety purposes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. So on that motion, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Madam Vice President. The records. Councilor.
[Michael Marks]: Just if I could, Mr. President. I have an update on the dog park. I know it was mentioned by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Last night at the school committee meeting, we were invited by the school committee And when I say we, it was Leonard Design Associates, who is the site planning and landscape architect for the dog park, along with Paws for Method, which was the committee that was created of a group of interested citizens in creating a dog park. And we appeared before the school committee last night to discuss the potential site for the dog park, which is Riverbend Park along the river. And where it's on school property, we needed school committee approval. And I'm pleased to announce that the school committee voted unanimously for approval of this particular park. If anyone's interested in looking at the schematic presentation that was presented last night, if you didn't catch the school committee, you can go on pause, the number four, medford.org. So it's pause, the number four, medford.org, and you can also leave a name and email address on the site and you will be receiving updates of anything that goes on. There's a timeline of the project and where the two particular parks, there's gonna be a small dog park and a large dog park for larger dogs on the site itself. A lot of time and effort went into this particular proposal from the Dog Park Advisory Committee, who created the website on their own, at their own expense. The members of the committee are Patty Flynn, Jim Silva, Diane Gitner, Britt Fitch, Gary DeStefano, John Sardone, and myself. and this group was established in November of last year, and to date, we have brought on board a landscape and site plan design person who put together this schematic presentation last night. I asked the gentleman, along with the other committee members, to appear before the Medford City Council in the next several weeks to give us the presentation, Mr. President. Come this November, The committee will be applying for a grant through the Stanton Group, which is a private foundation that funds dog parks. They funded dog parks in Somerville and in Arlington at no expense to the taxpayers. And they will also fund maintenance and upkeep for a period of time, too. I believe it was in Arlington they funded, I think it was $20,000 for a three-year period for the upkeep. This particular site is handicap accessible. There's lighting in the area, so we don't have to have a great expense to add lighting to the site. There's water in the area. They're going to have obstacle courses for the dogs. It's going to be a real great, great top-notch dog park in this community. And we are projected for hopefully a grand opening sometime in maybe July, August, September of next year, if everything goes well, Mr. President. And that includes approval from the grant, the Stanton Group, and any other design things that need to be worked out. But I just want to update the Council, and I will invite at a future meeting within the next several weeks for a PowerPoint presentation. It's a rather short presentation, but it's really been a labor of love. for many residents in this community and long overdue. Uh, if we all recall the fast 14 bridge project that took place, the mayor negotiated as part of the mitigation $60,000 for the dog park. And we are using some of that money now to bring on this Leonard design associates, uh, to pay for this initial schematic, uh, design that was done. So, um, I look forward to this presentation. in the next several weeks, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So do I. And thank you for that wonderful update. Councilor on the motion, uh, Mr. President, we do have a resident. If we could suspend the rules that would like to speak on the motion of council nine, uh, marks for the suspension of the rules. All those in favor, all those opposed. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Joe Viglione]: Good evening. My name is Joe Villione, 59 Garfield Ave, Medford mass. I just wanted to alert the citizens that we have something called Video on Demand on Comcast for every candidate out there that's running for election 13 days from now, 14 days from tonight, 13 days starting tomorrow. Video on Demand is something that only six cities in the country have, Medford being one of them. It's something to supplement public access when you don't have public access. So the mayor, Mayor McGlynn himself said this will bring a new level of transparency Now, I went to them and they promised me five broadcasts of, or cablecasts of visual radio. They put my Rob Gronkowski up about a year and a half ago, and it was up for like three months, and then they refused to put up any more. Now, I'm a citizen using this video on demand. It's channel one. I would love to see the debate on there. I would love to see Stephanie Burke on there. I would love to see Chris DeVita. Any candidate that wants to put a video up should be able to put it on video on demand so that anyone getting Comcast You can go to Channel One and watch these videos, because a lot of seniors do not have Internet access, and it's very important to know that. A lot of seniors are on a tight budget, so they might get basic cable, or they might not. But they might get basic cable where they don't get Internet. So that's very, very important, and this is a resource that we have to use for this election. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. The records of October 13th.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. We got an update from the Dominic Kamara, chair of the Water and Sewer Commission, with regards to the questions we asked regarding Brooks Estates. And the commission has been recently told that the Brooks Estates does have a water meter. The meter is very old. The commission is not aware of any billing or abatements that may pertain to the Brooks Estate. The commission has also been told that the Brooks Estate does not have a sewer line. The billing department at City Hall would have pertinent information around this inquiry as it pertains to billing history or lack thereof. So that was some of the questions we asked. I just want to hopefully remind the president with regards to setting up a committee of the whole meeting with the Brooks Estate commission, city solicitor, Karen Rose, that we can discuss, you know, moving forward with regards to not having tenants in the property or just discuss some ways we can maintain the grounds without a live-in. So hopefully we can call that within the near future, you know, so we can prevent any future problems.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Madam Vice-President. The records of the previous Councilor Knight, Mr. Councilor, how do you find those records? I find the records in order, Mr. President. Is there a motion? There is a motion for approval. On the motion for approval, the records of the October 13th meeting. All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. Motion for approval, uh, adjournment.
[Michael Marks]: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention, uh, the, uh, the Crystal Campbell dedication that took place, uh, on Sunday, It was a real heartfelt event and well attended. And the administration did a tremendous job putting this together, Mr. President. And I just want to say it really put our city in a great light and is a real tribute to this community and how we honor our residents, Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: Chair recognizes Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I'm very pleased and proud to be one of the councilors that voted in support of that project.
[Fred Dello Russo]: A motion for adjournment by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Meeting adjourned.
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