[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening, the fourth regular meeting of the Medford City Council, January 26, 2016, will come to order. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello. Present. Councilor Falco. Present. Councilor Knight. Present. Vice President Humbert Kern. Present. Councilor Martins. Present. Councilor Scarpelli. Present. President Donoso.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Present. Senate members present and absent, please rise to salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 16-040 offered by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. Be it resolved that the Chief of Police update the Medford City Council on how many citations slash tickets have been given in 2015 and 2016 with regards to vehicles illegally parking on sidewalks in the City of Medford. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I bring this up with regards to vehicles illegally parking on sidewalks in Medford because of a few complaints in a few different areas. I know we as a council have spoken about this and we had pictures and we had maybe four or five people in the audience two months ago with regards to the problem that's happening on Main and Harvard. But I also have received complaints with regards to Winthrop Street and in one other street since that meeting aired. We have a problem in the South Medford area. The chief of police at the last traffic commission meeting, which was held back the first week in January. No, maybe January 5th, I believe, stated to the audience and stated to us that we're in the audience enforcement was going to be picked up and that they were going to start, I believe, I'm not going to put words in anybody's mouth, but I came to think that more tickets were going to be issued. So not only are people parking there, large Mack trucks are pulling onto the sidewalk, completely blocking sidewalks, not allowing, I mean, you cannot go to a wheelchair or a stroller or even, you know, an adult and a child who need to walk side by side. You can't traverse the sidewalk. I'm getting complaints from five, six, seven, eight different people down in that area, and I know we all are, day after day. I mean, I think I've gotten four emails from two different people today alone with pitches attached to the violators, and I just don't think it's right. And so I'd like to see how many tickets were issued with regards to vehicles parking on any sidewalk, not just that area, because I want to see, you know, I know I've seen it all over the city, and I want to see what enforcement has been done within 2015, and now come 2016, how many tickets have been issued. Maybe we could break it down to North Medford, South Medford, West Medford, so we can get an idea and a better picture on where the problems lie, and if we're enforcing at all. I'd also like to amend this to just request from the mayor's office, you know, what stance the mayor's office has with regards to enforcement on sidewalks. I think it had, you know, the chief of police is very nice and he was willing to listen, you know, him and the traffic commission were definitely willing to listen the beginning of January to the problems and the issues and the concerns, but I don't think enough is being done and I don't think I really would hope that the administration from the top down would let people know that that's not acceptable, it's not right, and we need to figure out as a city how we can get these deliveries to our businesses that isn't going to impede on people's ability to traverse our sidewalks. So I know that area sticks out at me specifically because I see pictures every day with regards to trucks and vehicles parking on those roads, blocking driveways, blocking the sidewalks. not only should they not be blocking sidewalks, but if a Mack truck is pulling up on a sidewalk where people, that's a busy area, that's a bus stop right near there, and people are walking and traversing those sidewalks all the time, I'd hate for a pedestrian to get hit while on a sidewalk by a Mack truck that accidentally didn't see somebody. You'd hate to see somebody heading to school, a young child heading to school, have to come into the street because they can't use a sidewalk and get struck. You see it in other cities. You see it on the news. I don't want it to happen to Medford. I don't want it to happen considering those emails are sent to every department head, almost every department head in the city. They're sent to the chief of police. They're now being sent to our new mayor. It needs to stop. We need to figure this out and we need to enforce it. I was adamant about enforcing it a month, two months ago when it came before the city council. I, as one of probably three city councilors, I know Councilor Caraviello was at the traffic commission meeting. We made the effort to go on a two o'clock, I think it was on a Tuesday. Us and residents took the time off of work to be there because it's an important issue and I don't feel like it was given the weight it should be. I feel like almost we were appeased, we'll enforce, we'll enforce more. I just feel like that's not enough. So I really ask, number one, how many tickets have been issued? Because if not many tickets have been issued in 2016, especially since when we told there were going to be, then we have a problem. And I also want to amend it to see if the mayor of our city will step up, ask the chief of police to step up enforcement with regards to this particular issue.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Vice President Lungo-Koehn, as amended, Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. At that same meeting, It was suggested that the republic parking do that also. Seeing that they're going around doing the other ticketing, why can't they ticket those cars too? And it was suggested that maybe I have another motion in regards to Park Method later this evening, but maybe it's time for Park Methodists to to come in with us and step up there and see where they're going in the future. And I'll talk about that later in the evening. But again, that was a suggestion for that D.N. Nash, go out and hire a couple more people, because you can't do a whole city with four people.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor.
[jCO6jvvXtn0_SPEAKER_03]: Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record. I'm Nick Tomazook, 29 Garfield Ave. Welcome. How you doing, guys? I'm just parking business. I walk my dogs every day. I have two dogs. And how many times I have to go out in the street because people park their cars in their driveway and block the sidewalk. And no ticket. You see unattached trailers just sitting on the roadways, no tickets. And those are commercial trailers. commercial cars parked in the streets, no tickets. I called the station and they told me that they're too busy to ticket. And I don't know if you guys remember when I first spoke about parking, we were talking about getting retired people in the city to issue parking tickets instead of this monstrosity that we have. And this is all revenue that the city's losing. But we need to get after this. And to, not to get off the subject of the parking, but I'm talking, when you try to cross in a crosswalk and these cars, when they pull up to the red light, it seems like they forgot what a stop line is. It seems like they have to get their car right into the crosswalk. So you have to walk around them. You know, nobody's getting ticketed in the city. We need to get somebody, you know, to get after, You know, whoever we have to, if we have to get another parking enforcement crew from the city and forget those other idiots and do our own thing and raise revenue for the city so we don't have to raise taxes or anything else, I'll volunteer to tax. I'll bet you I'll write you a thousand tickets a week. And a thousand tickets, even if it was five bucks each, do the math. We have to do something. I mean, it's just getting rampant. You know, they park on the sidewalk, they block the crosswalks, they block the sidewalks. They don't care, because they know they're not going to get ticketed. And this 48-hour business, I mean, we had a snowstorm last Saturday, right? Drive down any given street in Medford, and I'll bet you find two or three cars that haven't moved yet. They were waiting for the sun to melt the snow off their cars. All right, that's all I have to say, folks.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you, sir. Chair recognizes Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: On that point, and thank you, President Dello Russo, I think if we left the people alone who are maybe paid for parking and are there for an extra five, ten minutes and instead worry about the actual serious violations within the city of Medford, we would have far less tickets to just the average person who maybe in the hairdresser an extra five or 10 minutes, and we'd have resolved to problems such as this with regards to people parking on the sidewalks, in handicapped spots that they don't have a handicap placard. I mean, there are so many other violations and things that could keep Republic Parking very busy, and enforcement, enforcement. But the problem with that is it needs to come Our department, our police department needs to get direction from the chief of police to be able to do that. Or needs to, public parking needs to get direction from the chief of police. And I strongly believe that our new mayor needs to put pressure on the chief of police to do this enforcement that's so desperately needed. It needs to happen. It's something that the old administration back in 2015 and prior to did not put enough effort into at all. We're known as the no enforcement city. I don't know of any other city that doesn't enforce the way we do. I don't know of a ticket that has happened I obviously never get complaints about tickets because we don't ticket. We don't enforce. If you go to Somerville, if you go to Malden, even if you go to Winchester and park for over an hour in a spot that's an hour parking, you're getting a ticket. Republic is the only sense of enforcement that we have, and they're just getting the people that could be doing other things and ticketing for other good reasons and clearing up some of these problems that are persistent. And I know I sound frustrated, but I I went over the history on this, and it goes far back. It goes back years at this point, and it's very frustrating, and it's very frustrating for all the people that can't traverse sidewalks and that live in these neighborhoods where it is a serious problem.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor Lungo-Koehn. The Chair now recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I can certainly understand the frustration of the residents down on the Main Street area, I can certainly understand the frustrations of Councilor Lungo-Koehn. However, I think it's very important to point out that if we want enforcement, we want enforcement across the board. I don't think we want our parking enforcement officers to pick and choose what they want to enforce and what they don't want to enforce. And, you know, although I understand where she's coming from, why are they ticketing someone who's 10 minutes over the meter and not ticketing the car that's on the sidewalk? I think they both need to get a ticket because the ordinance is clear. We've entered into a contract with Republic Parking. Republic Parking has the responsibility to enforce the ordinances that are in place. They're not doing that. They're not doing that. We have some ordinances that are in place. They're not being enforced, and they need to be enforced, Mr. President. It's really an enforcement issue. It's not a legislative issue. And I scratch my head every night thinking about ways of how we can prompt action, but it's really a function of the administration. So I certainly do agree with Councilor Lungo that we need some directed enforcement down in the area. We've all seen the pictures. We've all heard the stories. We've all voted in favor of directed enforcements down there, Mr. President. So I can understand why the level of frustration is growing high. However, I guess the question that I pose is whether or not they did 100 tickets or seven tickets, what's the end game? What's the solution at the end of the day? What are we going to do to ensure that this enforcement gets done? And that's the question that I pose to the body. You know, we need to provide a solution, some sort of solution. What is that solution? I don't know, Mr. President. I don't know. I don't have all the answers. I think that this body, based upon the seven people that are behind this reel, could certainly come up with several solutions and several recommendations, Mr. President. And I'd request that our subcommittee on transportation meet to do that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Consular. The chair now recognizes the citizen at the podium. Good evening, welcome, and please state your name and address for the record.
[acqgxK4yhEM_SPEAKER_28]: Good evening, Jace Balding, Mystic Valley Parkway. I wanted to thank Councilor Lingo-Cohen for bringing this issue up. It is something that is near and dear to the folks who have mobility impairments like myself and is throughout the city of Medford. One of the issues with cars parking on the sidewalk is that if you have feet or the ability to use them, You can hop off a sidewalk and go around the car. If you are in a wheeled mobility device, whether that is a power chair like mine or a scooter of some sort, you then have to go backwards, sometimes several city blocks before you can find an accessible way to continue forward in your trip. And the other issue is with people who use canes, like the one I'm holding in my hand, the long white cane. I have caused, I have had personal injury because I've run into a vehicle in the past when I was ambulatory and when I am ambulatory these days, walking at the general human speed, when your cane goes back and forth in front of a car, and it gets stuck right under the body of a car, and the handle jabs you right into the gut and leaves a series of bruises in your gut, that is just something that eventually can cause not only internal damage, but some serious frustration at drivers. So I think that this is both an issue for the citizens of Medford who drive and have vehicles to consider, is that as good citizens we're causing each other pain, and that's unnecessary. And also, aside from what tickets are being issued, Again, what can this body do to support the overall health and safety of all citizens, including those ones who travel the sidewalks and need as much accessibility as possible?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you very much. Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi, I'm Cheryl Rodriguez. I live at 281 Park Street. On my street is Hickey Park on one end and the Roberts School on the other end, which has approximately 600 children, most of which come from the Fellsway area to go to the school. Next to Hickey Park, there is a parking platform that was built by the DPW approximately 10 years ago. The curbstone was built at a slant in order to make it easier for the cars to drive onto the sidewalk. Every day, a DPW worker who lives across the street comes home, parks his car on the sidewalk, and has lunch at home. Every year, there are space savers on that parking lot, and if you walk too close with your dog or anything, they tell you to get away from their car and get off their parking lot. I was yelled at this week for going too close as they were shoveling the snow into the path that I had asked Mayor McGlynn to build. because there was no sidewalk on that side of the street. And on the opposite side of the street, we have a handicapped person who parks blocking the other sidewalk, which was the only reason I was able to get the path built because I was initially told to walk on the other side of the street. It took five years to have that path built. There are still cars parked on there. They had to put a fence between the path and the parking platform because they were parking on the new path. So this is a serious issue and the city workers are doing it too. If you go buy Eddie's pizza, the police cars are on the sidewalk. If you go buy nappies, there's a police car parked on the sidewalk. And Republic doesn't go to my neighborhood because we don't have meters. So Republic will not enforce this. The police will not enforce this. Somebody told me they got a ticket for parking on the sidewalk. but they were able to get it turned around because it's a recognized parking platform. So that's something that you need to look at. A beautiful sidewalk was built and is now a parking lot for city residents.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you very much. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: Hello, Rachel Tannenhaus, 26 Pearl Street. I also have a block full of people who park on my street. It's not a very long street, so you only get a block of people. I'm sure if it were longer, there'd be more. Many of them live there. They often park right in front of my gate. Let me tell you how pretty it isn't when a blind person walks out their gate, and there's a car right there, and there's no room to, you know, I mean, this dog can only do so much. He can't transcend space and time. If there is a car right there in front of my gate, it means I can't get out without injuring myself and injuring the car, which I have to tell you I feel slightly less bad about. During the 13 months between guide dogs, that I had between guide dogs when I was using a cane, It was a very long 13 months. I also had that issue where I would walk out and as Jay said, the cane would get caught under the car and of course I'd be right there. And I have, I got to tell you when there was a car parked on the sidewalk, if I am using the cane for one reason or another, like when I take him to the groomers, he goes a lot. So that actually happens more often than you'd think. I have no problem smacking the car with my cane because It's an obstacle, and that's what the cane is for. And I have to tell you that all up and down my street, and on trash day, forget it. There's no way to get up and down the street because the trash barrels are out there, and people have parked on the sidewalk. In fact, sometimes there are people parking on the sidewalk such you can't find a place to put your trash barrel, which is less of an issue, but still annoying. But I have to say, it impacts my ability to travel safely. I also often have to go out in the street. This is particularly the case in the winter when you have limited amounts of sidewalk you can use anyway. People do shovel, but I mean, ice happens. And OK, people sometimes shovel. So I do want to say that it's not, like Cheryl said, it's not just where the meters are. It's absolutely in the residential areas that don't necessarily have meters. People are just parking there because that's where they figure their parking space is. And it happens all the time. And I have to say, like, if they don't feel like really enforcing it, but it is against the law, I certainly think it'd be interesting to see how many tickets have been issued on that. But the report I would really like to see from the police, if you could request that, would be the list of things that are illegal that they don't really feel like enforcing right now, because that would be a really interesting list, and I bet a lot of people would benefit greatly from it. So, thanks very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Joe Viglione]: Joe Villione, 59 Garfield Avenue, Medford, Mass. I second what Rachel said. She's right on the money there. What's the list of the items that people violate that we don't even know about. Now, June 13, 2015, if you go to my blog, MedfordInformationCentral.com, you will see a Republic parking guy right on the sidewalk, impeding public safety, while there's a woman's car in the bus stop. And then the transit police were there from the MBTA. I don't know why, but they were there, and the woman was illegally parked, and there's Republic parking on the sidewalk. And I'm sitting there. in my window doing my work, and I look out and it's like, wow. The crosswalk on Salem Street, right off from Garfield, always a car on the crosswalk. Why? Now, when I go over to the grocery store there and there's a car there, it's very dangerous because, as Council President even agreed with me, it's a speedway. It's a speedway to Malden and Revere because they get off the highway and it's easier than going down 16, which is like a dozen to two dozen lights. So they all love to go down Salem Street and shoot to Revere. by going through Malden, and they speed. They speed. It's 20 miles an hour, and it's unbelievable. The cars that zip by me while I'm in the crosswalk, while I'm in, and they have attitude. They think, we don't have to follow the rules. We want to get where we're going. And they, it's not only me. I've said this before at the council. There was a guy laying flat out on the street. God knows what happened to him. There've been car accidents out there. All the time I've lived here, and I watch from that window, You cannot believe the craziness. So why aren't we enforcing this stuff? Now, yesterday was the first time in my life I paid for parking in Medford. I paid 25 cents at Citizens Bank in Haines Square because we had to go to the hardware store, and the Malden hardware store. I avoid the city, and I love the stores here. I walked to Mystic Coffee Roasters this morning because my car was in the shop. So I will walk, but I will not pay the bounty hunters. This is just a little information for this city council. Now you have the problem. It's in your lap. Good luck.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record. Welcome, Jean.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. And I'd just like to say that the issue of sidewalks is going to get worse because we have had so much development and we have more cars on the street than ever before. And we have more people on the street. But as far as enforcement goes, The person that's in charge of the ticketing and oversight is Diane McLeod, whose job is the multicultural person, and her job is to be nice. I don't know why she has the job of being the judge of the tickets, because basically her job is to mediate between constituency groups. So I don't understand. It should be under the law enforcement agency of the city. It should be under the chief of police. It should be under his direction and he should be cracking down on enforcement issues. But the reason why he doesn't is because it causes a lot of inner fighting and a lot of grief and people will come up because they're not used to being told what to do. They're not used to being told that they can't park in a certain spot and it causes a lot of grief. and a lot of aggravation. And that's why it's not being enforced. So I just want to say that it's going to have to change. Otherwise, you're going to have people in the streets getting hurt. You really are. You're going to have people in the streets. And wait until the competition. And I'm glad that those ladies spoke from the disability community, because it's called a sidewalk. Walk. A sidewalk. So unfortunately, they can't walk, so they need to wheel. But it's designed for strollers and people and First of all, wheelchairs. And if a wheelchair can't get through a spot, then you need to take the tree out or whatever it is. Trees come second to people walking on the sidewalks, because it's called a sidewalk. I like trees. I'm all for trees. If you can put a tree and fit a tree, and you can fit a wheelchair, all the more power to you. But if you can't, then the tree comes second to the people. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Chief. The Chair now recognizes Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. a really bad public safety issue that needs to be addressed sooner than later. As I walk through the city, I walk to the bus every day, and I do see this, and it's alarming. I mean, you know, I think when you go for your permit and you learn to drive and whatnot, you always learn you shouldn't have your car on the sidewalk. And, you know, in some neighborhoods, and we've all received pictures, you're seeing four, all four wheels on the sidewalk. It makes no sense. These, you know, the police department needs to, you know, enforce these laws. and give out tickets for this. And if I may comment on one of the points that one of the residents brought up earlier is down on Park Street. When I walked down to the fellows way, I see it. There is a section of the sidewalk next to Yankee Park that has a slanted curb. And it's definitely something I think that needs to be addressed or looked into. If we could, if I could amend the resolution to have the police chief report back to us of whether or not this is a legal parking platform, because everyone has full, all four wheels of the car, of each car, they're all on the sidewalk. So I'd like to know, I mean, is this a legal parking platform or is it not, and why isn't it being enforced? I mean, people are being forced out into the street, it's near a school, there are kids walking to school, a lot of kids take the bus, but there are kids in that neighborhood that do walk to school, and this is a public safety issue that needs to be addressed, needs to be addressed sooner than later. We're in the middle of the winter, it's starting to snow. And so if I could amend the resolution to reflect that inquiry regarding the parking platform, greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the motion by Vice President Lungo-Koehn as amended by the same and by Councilor Falco, the chair now recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank Councilor Lungo-Koehn for bringing this up. This issue raises its ugly head every year, and it's been like this for years. And some of the residents, I think, brought up a valid point. When we brought on Republic Parking, their responsibility was for the meated areas in the business districts and also for any area that has resident permit parking. So there are hundreds of other streets in the city throughout all the different neighborhoods that Republic parking is not going into those areas to do enforcement. And they're not under contract to do so. It's up to the police department to get out there. And for years, I've spoken about traffic calming approaches and ways to take back our city streets from people speeding and so forth. And now it seems like we have to discuss taking back our sidewalks because you're right. It's becoming an epidemic in this city with people parking on sidewalks. people not respecting handicap ramps, crosswalks, parking in front of crosswalks, parking too close to an intersection so a fire truck or an ambulance can't make it down your street, parking too close to an apron of a driveway. The city ordinance is that I believe it's two feet from a driveway that on either side that you can't park. And that's never enforced in this community. So I think it's long overdue, Mr. President, that the Traffic Division coupled with the chief of police, sit down and have, I've asked for a public safety summit year after year after year under the old administration. And apparently when pedestrians are struck and killed on our roads, which has happened when this is not something that we're saying, God forbid something happens in the city. We had a woman struck and killed in front of St. Joseph's not too long ago. And these are the things that are happening in our community right now. So, it's not like, well, if we don't do something, something's going to happen. It's currently happening. We've had a number of pedestrian fatalities over the years in our community. And, you know, some of it is for the fact that we do very little enforcement. We're talking about parking enforcement now, moving violations, Mr. President. There was a spotlight, I think it was Channel 4 or Channel 5, did a spotlight about a year ago, and they listed 15 different communities. And Method was the very last community on the number of moving violations issued out of all the surrounding communities. You know, and some people might say, great, I won't get it. I don't have to worry about getting a speeding ticket in Method. Or when I go to a stop sign, I don't have to worry. But that's not the case. The case is pedestrian safety has to come first. We have to take back our streets, Mr. President. This is just one aspect of enforcement that needs to be done. When you see a street that doesn't take the time to paint their crosswalks, That sends a loud message to people that, you know what, pedestrian safety doesn't matter in our community. It doesn't matter that the crosswalks go unpainted. It doesn't matter that there's no proper signage to indicate that there's a crosswalk in a particular area. You know, we had, the mayor promised us a couple years back, a pilot program to do three raised crosswalks. Now that's not a lot in a city this size. The mayor implemented one on Winthrop Street, The other two on Central Ave and Harvard, they put speed bumps, not raised crosswalks, and then they removed the speed bumps, Mr. President. I asked three times already for a response back from the administration and from DPW on what is the status of these raised crosswalks, which work great on traffic calming within the community, Mr. President. Widening sidewalks. These are things that can be done. Putting markers in the road that appear to be 3D in nature, so when you're driving, you think you're coming up to something, and there's nothing there. But it allows the driver to slow down. They do it in Cambridge. We don't have to recreate the wheel. These are things that are already being done, but this city, for whatever reason, Mr. President, you know, when we brought in Republic, it was to supplement the police department, not to take the duty of ticketing away from the police department. And that was understood from day one. It was to supplement them. And, you know, the police department now doesn't have to worry about the business districts and ticketing. They should be in the neighborhoods going around and doing the proper enforcement, Mr. President. And I just have to address, I think it was brought up by Councilor Falco or Councilor Caraviello about commercial vehicles. I can only speak for my neighborhood, Mr. President, but there's a rash of commercial vehicles parking all over the roads, and heavy commercial vehicles, Mr. President, all over the streets. And it's a real concern in a neighborhood where you're paying $5,000, $6,000, $7,000 in property tax, and I have to look out at a truck that has 35 ladders on the top of it. And furthermore, it's ripping all the branches off the tree, in front of the House. I mean, these are the things that, for whatever reason, you know, I don't know. It just seems like no one cares in this community, Mr. President. It seems like no one cares. And, you know, really, I think we should ask, and I know you have a lot on your plate. There's a lot going on, Mr. President. But I think we should ask for a public safety summit with the new administration, with the chief of police, with DPW, and go over these issues. Because we're the sounding board. We get the emails constantly, like we got today, the pitches of Salt Method and the other circumstances going on in Harvard and Yale and so forth. And these are the things we hear over and over again, and they never get resolved. So I would ask, under your leadership, Mr. President — you can make a name for yourself now — under your leadership, let's start moving some of these issues forward. So in a year from now, we won't have to say, well, it was the old President that never acted on these things. We could say, no, we acted as a council to hold the administration and to hold the department heads accountable, Mr. President. That's what we're here for. So I would ask, Mr. President, that we set up public safety summit, Mr. President, with the chief of police, Sergeant Carroll, who's the head of traffic division, with the DPW, the new acting commissioner, Mr. Kerens, the administration, and whoever else wants to sit down, Mr. President, so we can discuss these important public safety issues, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Marks. And not only do you care, but I care, and Carvey cares, and all of us care. Chair now recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Several months back when the chief was before us speaking about the rolling out of resident parking and the resident parking situation, he did make a representation that they were going to be looking at rolling out a citywide resident parking plan. And I'd like to amend the paper, Mr. President, to request an update on the rollout of the citywide resident parking. And I'd also like to point out that the mayor's office is conducting a survey. relative to their constituent services and ways to better communicate between departments and with the community, Mr. President. And those surveys are available in room 204 here at City Hall, at the Senior Center, at the library, and online at the City of Medford's website. And I think it's very important for us right now. We have a very unique opportunity to help the mayor shape her vision of what we'd like to see Medford be. And that's going to take participation from the community, Mr. President. So with that being said, I just wanted to be sure that everyone was aware that they do have that opportunity and option as well to voice their concern through the survey method.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Briefly, I just want to second the idea of a public safety summit, whether it's a committee, the whole meeting, I'd even take that, where the mayor is involved and the chief of police and the city council. So we can really decide and make changes so we can hear how our new administration is making changes with the chief of police and how we're going to move forward. We cannot enforce the way we enforced prior to January 4, 2016. It just cannot happen. It's not right for the city. It's not going to better the city. We need enforcement. And I think bringing everybody to the table probably will be best because today I have an issue with people parking on the sidewalks. But it involves enforcement in general and how we're going to move forward with enforcement, because I do remember the story, and I knew we were known for the no enforcement. I forgot the major news stations picked up on it. But, yes, I remember it clearly now, and it was embarrassing. And I really hope that we can move forward, make changes, let the public know, give a warning time to the public. and do the things we need to do for the public's public safety. Somebody did get hurt. Many people have gotten hurt and many more people will get hurt if we do not make some changes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the motion of approved by council and night is seconded by a vice-president Lugo Kern as amended. All those in favor roll call vote has been requested. Mr. Clerk, if you would please call the roll council.
[Clerk]: Caraviello council Falco council night vice-president Lugo Kern.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Council Marks.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Dello Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With the vote of seven in the affirmative, none in the negative, the motion passes.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Motion passes into the rules as well. For what purpose?
[Adam Knight]: We have several pocket related papers Mr. President that are in your hands and I think it would make sense for us to continue that discussion while we're on broader.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And also to allow a president to speak. The motion for approval for suspension of the rules to take parking papers in the hands of the clerk. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Papers in the hands of the clerk under suspension. We will start with 16-042. Some of these were submitted but by some sort of expiration of time. They didn't make it onto our desks. 15-042 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be resolved that the Medford City Council requests that the owner of the Bigelow building on the corner of Forest and Salem Street take the necessary action to remove the graffiti that has been on the building for some time now. Also, we also ask that the owner find a solution for the unsightly trash problem that persists at that location. please see attachment of photographs.
[Richard Caraviello]: Chair recognizes councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. You know, Mr. President, this has been a long, ongoing problem. You know, the chief goes out and, you know, see something, say something. Well, obviously this didn't take five minutes, two, three minutes to do. And hundreds of cars go up and down Forest Street all day long. I don't, I don't understand how, uh, no one saw people standing out there with 10 cans of spray paint painting over windows and on a fire escape and didn't see anything happening and didn't call the police. And also, Mr. President, if you see down on the second photo, the dumpsters that are always out on Forest Street. And right now they happen to be empty, but if you go by there on a Monday, they're full and it looks disgusting. I'd ask that the owner of that building also come up with a gate or something to put over that so it doesn't look so unsightly. I know the Board of Health has been down there multiple times and as you can see, to the right of the dumpster, you see multiple trash bags that are just sitting there. And there's a restaurant right next door. So I'm sure that the Board of Health shouldn't condone that. But again, if there was a fence there, it would look a lot nicer. But I don't know if we have a notice on our books that could force the owner of that building to clean up the graffiti that's there. It's very unsightly, Forest Street is a busy street, you get the post office there. And we're always talking about economic development, well, economic development doesn't call for graffiti art on buildings. So that's, uh, I would, I would motion that it goes to either the code enforcement officer, uh, I think to, uh, maybe have this cleaned up. Very good. So on the motion for approval, uh, by Councilor Caraviello, all those in favor. Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor. I want, I want to thank Councilor Caraviello for bringing this up. And, uh, you know, the ironic thing is if you look at the trash bin, it says, uh, there's a big sign on it says, go green. Uh, you know, with all the trash hanging out of it. But needless to say, Mr. President, other communities, in Worcester in particular, have taken very creative ways of dealing with people that do graffiti. You're never going to eradicate graffiti, but they've set up sections in their city and they've installed boards, maybe 10 by 20 boards. in particular areas. Some of them are in parks, some of them are in downtown business districts, and they allow these graffiti artists, and many of them consider themselves artists, to go and actually on a city-owned piece of wall, which they create, to go out and express themselves on this particular wall. And they found out over years of looking at this and researching, that the number of graffiti incidences dropped, Mr. President. And it was because the city took a proactive step in not saying, oh, we're going to go after these people. We're going to put cameras everywhere. We're going to arrest them. But they got creative and said, you know what? Why don't we erect our own wall? Why don't we invite these people? It's not illegal. You can do it on this wall. We're going to build you a wall. And we're going to allow graffiti artists to go down anytime you want and put your own marking on it. You can put your own fair, whatever you want to do. And guess what? It'll be covered over and covered over and covered over. And it allows a freedom of expression, Mr. President, similar to what we allow the artist. And I'm not comparing people that do tagging to our art population in the city. But last year, uh, the Mackey group got together and they did yard, uh, yarn bombing in many of the poles in the square. I don't know if people saw it. They had yarn, all different color yarn wrapped up the pole. And it just, it was, when you looked at it, it gave a sense of, uh, just pride, a sense of a homey type feeling. It was just, it was great what they did. They painted the electrical boxes around the community. And these are the things, Mr. President, maybe if we reached out to, uh, You know, we're able to unite with some of these taggers and reach out. Maybe they could do some good in the community. And maybe we could put them to work on doing some nice painting on our hydrants or other boxes that are owned by the city and not create this adversarial type thing. And like I said, it's never going to go away, but it's a suggestion, Mr. President. It's all it is, is a suggestion, something I think we can look at maybe as a council and offer the recommendation. You know what, Mr. President? I offered two resolutions recently to take a look at the tea shelter on Riverside Avenue Square across from the old McDonald's. And I'm proud to say, Mr. President, I asked in several resolutions to repurpose that area that really is being used for nothing in the square. It's dilapidated. The tiles on the roof are coming down. The facade is falling apart. And to turn this into a repurpose, multi-purpose area for outdoor performances, to maybe even have a board where taggers can go down and have an area for that such activity, Mr. President. And I'm proud to say that this is sitting administration. The new mayor has picked up on the suggestion and is having a public meeting on the Riverside Ave Plaza. And it says anyone in Method submitting an application I'm sorry, it says the City of Medford is submitting an application to the Mass Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Department of Conservation Services for funding under the Land and Water Conservation Grant Program to be used for the rehabilitation of Riverside Ave Plaza area in Medford Square. Mayor Stephanie Buccini-Burke invites you to give your input prior to the submission of the application. So Thursday, February 4th, At 6 p.m. here in the chambers, they will have a meeting to discuss any possible uses of that particular area, Mr. President. And I'm glad to see that this current administration is actually looking at things that are offered by the council and acting upon them, Mr. President. So if anyone's interested in the repurposing of this particular area, I would recommend Thursday, February 4th at 6 p.m. here in the chamber at City Hall. And I want to thank the administration, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you. And your committee for the distribution of linkage funds has funded this effort on behalf of the citizens. We have a motion for approval as amended by Councilor Marks to send this note of recommendation to The Transition Committee for Culture and Recreation.
[SPEAKER_08]: Yes.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello will sum up this item before we take a vote. Thank you, Mr. President. Again, Mr. President, I don't know, but when you drive down Mystic Avenue, in Somerville, on the highway wall, they have put up boards like Councilor Marksley suggested, and you see art on there. And if you get down by the new assembly on the underpass there, The trend there, there's boards there that people have done art and makes it look a lot nicer. And I've seen it in other cities, where they're done on the highways, they're done on the underpasses, where they're unsightly, and this brings it out. And I also want to thank the mayor. I know Councilor Marx has brought this forward on a couple of different years for finally bringing this up, and for her having a meeting on the 4th. So I hope everyone will attend. On the motion for approval, Mr. Citizen, please state your name and address for the record.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Welcome. My name is Michael Ruggiero. I live on 18 Pembroke Street. Um, I love the idea of Councilor Marks. I've seen it done successfully in a number of cities, Los Angeles included. Uh, but my concern involves more than just the idea of getting a wall to make sure that people can express themselves. My concern is that if we have a parks department that has trouble emptying trash cans, responding to people that leave when the park lights are left on all night, needles that are sometimes found in parks. My concern is broader. If we can't have a park system that addresses these major problems, perhaps a wall with some interesting art on it might not suffice. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. While we're in suspension, continuing, 16-043 offered by Councilor Caraviello, be it resolved that the Medford City Council request the Massachusetts State Police increase enforcement on Mystic Valley Parkway and Auburn Street for vehicles making the illegal left-hand turn onto Auburn Street both during the morning and evening rush hour times. We also ask that the Medford Police increase enforcement on Auburn and Prescott Street area during the same period, as drivers use these streets as the shortcut to avoid parkway traffic.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, you know, the problem of taking that left after the Whole Foods, it's not a new problem. It's been going on for probably 30 years. And in the past, there has been enforcement there. But I've not seen a state trooper there, and I lived in that area in many, many years. And I'd say, especially during that morning and the evening rush hour, when the parkway is backed up down the Dillwood Field there, people are just cutting off, thinking they're getting a shortcut when they really not. And there's stop signs at Auburn Street and Prescott right at the school. And people don't even adhere to the stop signs anymore. They're cutting down Prescott Street. during these rush hour times. And again, there's stop signs on all these streets, and people just go right through it. If you stand out there and you yell at them, they ignore you. They make obscene gestures to you. And there's children in that neighborhood. It's a school area. And like I said, I ask that we call the state police and step up some enforcement over there on that illegal turn. And also, if the Medford police could do a little enforcement over by the school during those rush hour times, Mr. President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. We always have complaints with regards to speeding, and my neighbor, who lives on Highland Ave, has complained to me recently. The speeding on Highland Ave is out of control. If we could get an increased enforcement, whether that's some ticketing, That would be very helpful. I know there was a near miss recently that was witnessed by my neighbor. And this is just one other thing that does need some enforcing, if I could amend that. And also, I know we have the electronic sign that's kind of as a traffic calming approach, if we could get that. Number one, get that out, whether that's for a week or two on Highland Ave. But also see if our department can do a couple traps in the area that, I believe it's 25, and you have people go in almost 50. It's almost a speedway on Highland Ave as you head into Maldon, Woodland Road. So if we could do that, it would be greatly appreciated.
[George Scarpelli]: If I can. Thank you, Mr. President. We also amend that the chief also look at the speeding issues on Salem Street. And we're realizing that neighbors have called that they're cut through from Salem Street to the Fellsway and using the streets on the left of going toward Malden. Cutting through Cherry Street is probably one of the biggest streets that they're using as a cut-through, Power Street, Cherry Street. And the other one is on Spring Street. They're using, after the satellites, where the Super Red is. That's an area of concern. So I think that, and I know that I appreciate Councilor Brianna, my current focusing on the speed machine, this tracking, so really deter the speeding. So if we can amend that, Those two areas, too, I'd appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So as amended by Councilor Scott Palac to include Salem Street, Cherry, and Spring, one of the efforts that made quite a difference on Harvard Street was the installation of solar-powered speed tracking devices, which worked quite well. Chair recognizes Councilor Haynes.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Over in the city of Malden, right at the Highland Ave line, along the Fellsway, there is a crazy rotary right down there. It's a backwards rotary, actually. It operates in reverse. So you normally would drive through a rotary. It's supposed to yield at this location, right at the foot of Highland Ave. And it's been brought to my understanding that Councilman Matheson and Secretary Pollack at the Department of Transportation have been discussing a traffic study relative to the redesign of that intersection, Mr. President. And I think it might be beneficial to us to request an update or have our DPW director or our office of engineering request an update as to the discussions that are going on between the state and the city of Malden relative to the changes at the Rotary because they will certainly have a large impact on the traffic patterns that are going to back up into Medford. Maybe the positive impacts, maybe the negative, until we know what's going on, Mr. President. I really am not comfortable commenting, and that's why I'm asking for an update.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Awesome. So as amended by Councilor Knight on the May motion, as amended by Councilor Langley-Curran and also Councilor Schapiro. The chair recognizes the citizen at the podium. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record, Ms. Martin.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And I wanted to say that Mr. Marks is right on the money. He's been on for years talking about traffic calming measures. And it needs to be done systematically. And I think this guy back here, Michael. Michael had talked about an engineer coming in, a traffic engineer or something. to come in to look at it as a systematic thing, because what I keep on hearing is this street, and this street, and this street, and it's not being tackled as a systemic issue. And I'd like to add, it needs to be thought of as a systematic approach, that the whole city needs to have this looked at, all of it, all of it, just the whole But I can't say it anymore. And also in the interim, the speed light, the traffic lights, have we ever put on cameras on the top of the traffic lights? And maybe we ought to, because speeding through a red light is getting more easy to do. As you know, yellow is not yellow in Medford. So I just wanted to let you know that we need to, because people are getting more aggressive. They really are. Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Just also, if we could add enforcement, Mr. President, at the intersection of Park and Doonan.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, council. And the chair now recognizes, thank you. So on the motion of approval by councilor Lungo-Koehn as amended, seconded by councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Offered by councilor Caraviello, be it resolved that Medford City Council request for the second time, a report from Republic Parking after the first year at Medford. Also, we request a meeting to discuss its past and present practices to see what is working in the best interest of our residents. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I think two weeks ago, maybe longer, we asked for a report from Republic on the parking after one full year, and I don't think it takes three weeks to get a report from them. I don't know where it is. But also, Mr. President, I think this council needs to sit down with Republic and discuss the practices that they're using in our city. Some are good, some are bad, and let's amend some of them. I mean, I know we have some people in the audience that are going to want to speak about this thing. But again, they're not a very customer service friendly company, and I think that needs to change. If they're going to be here for the next seven or eight years, ten years, nine more years, I think that's something that needs to be discussed, and how they're going to do this. Otherwise, it's not going to work out for the people. Thank you, Councilor. Good evening.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_19]: Good evening. My name is Linda Kelly-Poinsky. This is my husband, Michael. We live at 23 Marion Street.
[Unidentified]: Welcome.
[SPEAKER_19]: Thank you. I would like to say, President de la Ruzo, thank you for calling me back today. I'd like to thank Councilman Cavallaro, Marks, and Scappelli, who all emailed me back today, so I really appreciate that. I live at 23 Marion Street and in October we received a letter stating that they were turning our street to permit parking. My understanding, the reason for doing this is because we've had a lot of issues with the church, which I live next to. And we've had, well, people were concerned about the T coming in. So that was my understanding from the hearings that I went to, to hear about this. So I had no problem with it. I'm perfectly fine with that. I own my home. I pay my bills. I follow the law. And I said, you know what? I agree it's an issue. So I went in the middle of October down to Park Medford, and I purchased a parking pass for my vehicle. They were out of passes, but they were going to scan our plate. So we had to give our plate information. We didn't get a sticker. So I thought, you know what, I'm okay with this. I dealt with a woman named Pam down there, very nice lady, was willing to talk and was very good. January 2nd, I come out of my house and I have a parking ticket on my car. I drove down to Park Medford, I go in, I'm like, Pam, what is this ticket? So basically, I was told at that time that the parking pass that I purchased in the middle of November was only good until the last day of December. I was expected to go back January 1st to buy another parking pass. At that time, I said, that just really doesn't feel very good to me. I am really bothered by this. So I went down and I talked to Pam. Pam told me that I needed to go through Chief Sacco, who I know because I've also done a lot of work in this community. I call down, Chief Sacco's on vacation, I talk to Alba. She tells me that the chief really has nothing to do with it, I need to deal with Park Medford. I go back down to Park Medford, I talk to Pam again. Again, very nice, and said, well, yeah, I thought it was him, so maybe you should go to the mayor. So I call up to the mayor's office, I speak with, I believe her name was Lauren, but Stephanie also at another time, explained the situation, and my impression was with our new mayor, that was part of her platform in this election campaign was helping to fix the issues of Medford with the parking. So they were both very nice, let's check into it, we will get back to you. Didn't hear back, so I called back and basically was told that the mayor's office has nothing to do with it, that I needed to deal with Park Medford. At that time, I went back to Park Medford. I'd become very good friends with Pam and the other staff down there. And again, she couldn't have been any nicer. And she said, I have to present this to Jim. I need to talk to Jim. I didn't know who Dan was at that time. So she said, I'll get back to you. A couple days later, I hadn't heard back. I went back down, talked to her. She said, I haven't gotten to him yet. I went down the next week. She said, I'm getting to him tomorrow. She got to him. Then she tells me, sorry, that's their policy. We're not doing anything about it. So I went back down and I talked to Pam. And I don't want to get anybody in trouble, but it's been interesting because in the stream of offices that I've talked to, everybody's comment has been, that is ridiculous. And it is ridiculous. We're talking about a $10 parking pass. And to be honest with you, this has nothing to do with the money. This has to do with the fact that I purchased a pass the middle of November. that it should have been prorated, something. But the fact that I have to buy another one for January now, all the vehicles in my house are in our driveway and that's where they will stay. I feel like I don't know where to go with this. I feel like I'm getting nowhere. My husband and I have talked about this endlessly. I had a conversation, I have three adult children and their friends were over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and this topic came up around the dining room table. And I had six young adults in their 20s saying to me, why even bother? Just pay it. It's going to get you nowhere. It was amazing to me that not one of them knew who any of you were Didn't have any interest in politics and basically we're sitting there saying to me you can't fight City Hall It doesn't matter if it's not right. Nobody's gonna listen to you. You're gonna go in front of the council They're gonna say okay, and you're gonna hear nothing and I want to prove them wrong because I do have faith in you all I have faith that you will do something about this and I'm sitting listening to the other issues in this audience feeling that my issue is so trivial that I should just go pay my $10 and not bother your time because President, I do not envy your position. Sitting here for one evening, I do not envy your position. But gentlemen, Their issue is large. My issue has become one that I've talked to many neighbors. Many people don't want to step forward because they're fearing some type of retaliation from the city or the police are going to earmark them. And I wouldn't have gone this far if I didn't get such a negative reaction from people about what our community could do. I don't have any issue with enforcement. I don't have any issue with the sticker. I don't have any issue with all of it. My only issue is that they charged me a month and a half They charged me a month and a half when I should have had it for a year, and now I'm expected to buy a new one. Oh, and then, just so you are aware because you've been discussing this issue, I believe that ticket information is public knowledge, public information, that's what I thought. I said to Jim, I have never seen anybody ticketing on the street. Through November, through December, apparently there is a white box truck that Park Medford drives around in. I talked to Pam on January 2nd and said, you know what, I can't pull in my driveway half the time because of the church. I can't make the angle to get in because they're parked so close. I deal with the church on that. I don't want to bother you. I mean, there's certain things to not bother you with. But he wouldn't produce any tickets. And then he said, oh, there's been some written. And I said, listen, I've talked to many neighbours. There have not been tickets issued November and December. Jim says there have been. Maybe there have been a few, but not for the issue of the permit. I'm very discouraged. I'm very sad by this. I would really love somebody to do something. For all of you, I'm grateful you're here and you're fighting your cause because your issue is a little bigger than mine. But mine is on principle that I don't want to buy another parking sticker for a year when I just bought it in November. So thank you, gentlemen. And thank you.
[Clerk]: The chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Linda, for coming out. I'm going to, maybe publicly, I'll come over for dinner, invite those same six kids. I'd love to come over and talk with them and get involved, okay? Yeah, well, I can imagine. But as we talk about these issues, I think one of the biggest things that we see, and I know that through your email and many emails, I think it's important that we talk about its transparency. The lack of of knowledge of what to do, where to go, who to talk to. It's confusing. I'm a city councilman and I question myself as I read into this more and we talk about the parking process and the whole permit parking and where the equity comes into play. Where in some neighborhoods where there's what was said earlier, parking permits that people are paying for but reliable, they don't have to go to that area because it's not meet it. So they don't need to enforce that area. I do have friends that live right at the corner, actually right across the street from the, um, from the church. And I know that's a huge issue. Um, but again, I think this has to go back to, um, meeting, having follow up with Councilor Marks as, as stated earlier, and bringing this up at, at a, at a forum where these should all be talked about and put out and answered by both reliable, the police chief, and a traffic commission so that we can get an understanding of the frustrations we hear. I mean, this is, you know, I wrote a bunch of different questions. After six, do we know that What are the rules that after six and on the weekends? I know that was brought up.
[SPEAKER_19]: I'm so sorry. I apologize for coming back up, but that was the other issue. You're right. I discovered that the Park Medford tickets Monday through Friday between eight and six.
[George Scarpelli]: Right, and the church is all weekend.
[SPEAKER_19]: The church doesn't start till 630 at night. Tuesday, Thursday, and even Friday, you can't even move. So I had said that to Pam. That was the first night I saw the Medford Parks And it was at five of six. Nobody was at the church. At 630, hundreds of people flew in. And then when I talked to the police department, because I know people at the police department, the police will ticket only in the middle of the night, and they just want residents on the street. So they're not ticketing for the church. They're not ticketing on the weekend. So that is another issue, with all due respect.
[George Scarpelli]: So as I move forward, again, I looked at your neighboring communities and how they do it. having that centralized traffic and parking office, and having the hearing officer that you can actually talk to. And maybe it's not, you don't get the answer that you want, but at least you're talking to someone, the answer's final, and you're not running back and forth. I can only imagine how frustrating that was. The other issue is we talk about permits and the revenue that the city creates through parking permits. Now, does that mean Reliable now gets all of the permits? Is that, maybe someone can enlighten me, Mr. President, but now that permits, when I lived in West Medford, the permits, we came to City Hall, purchased our parking permit, and that revenue came back to the city somehow. Now, if this goes to Reliable, not only are they writing tickets, they're also making, are they making the revenue for the permits?
[Fred Dello Russo]: I don't know the answer to that, uh, Councilor, but if you would like to amend this motion to get that question as part of the report that we've requested now for the second time, I'm sure that that information will be forthcoming within the coming century.
[George Scarpelli]: I appreciate that. And if we can also add to that amendment, um, the, uh, better outline and who to address concerns. I know I went online today, uh, and I went through the whole process you tried to go through and I found it very disheartening. So, and again, this falls back and sitting in front of people that can answer these questions and having the stakeholders involved, which again, I'm going to revert back to Councilor Marks and his, his opinion with having that summit. I think it's going to be very important both for public knowledge and a little finalization here with some of these issues. So again, I apologize that you had to go through such a ordeal and, and, but I can, I can see why so. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. So on the motion of Councilor Caraviello, as amended by Councilor Scarpelli, the chair recognizes Madam Vice President Brianna Longo-Kerr.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. If I could ask Ms. Kelly a question about when Marion Street got changed to permit parking. Was that actually in November 2015?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Through the chair, you may ask any question you'd like.
[SPEAKER_19]: We received the notice mid-October that the street was going permit parking by the middle of, by November 1st. And I didn't even make it down until approximately the second week. And many neighbors didn't even go then because nobody was ticketing.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So obviously within that, so where did that notice come from that came from the traffic commission or? Came from, was it?
[SPEAKER_19]: No, it was the city. City of Medford. It was the city of Medford because they had mentioned, that's why I was going, that they were only responsible for sending out the letter. That's what I was told, that they're not involved with what PAC, PARC, Medford policies are.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And within the letter it didn't mention anything with regards to time frames of when to get the permit and when you'll need to renew your permit?
[SPEAKER_19]: No.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I mean, just as one councillor, I think that's where the problem lies. Number one, we don't know where in the city of Medford you got that letter from. Number two, the department that they got the letter from obviously did not educate you on the topic. So we need to set policies that are gonna make sense. So whether it be, like you said, prorated or just more education to the person who lives on Marion Street, Even if you knew that, it might have made more sense. You might have said to yourself, oh, I'll park in our driveway till January 1st, then I'll get my permit. I'm not going to go up there. It's more, and I understand, it's not the money. You have to go up, you have to, you know, fill out the documentation, write out a check, pay the $10, and then they want you to do it a month and a half later. I think not knowing is the problem. So we need to set policies and procedures that make sense.
[SPEAKER_19]: And I will never say who that was because they were all very nice to me and were very excited I was fighting this. But that was the phrase one of the employees used, that this is a money grab.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_17]: And I'd also like to... Please state your name and address. I'm sorry, my name is Michael Pawinski, 23 Marion Street. Welcome. Councilor Scarpelli, I think you hit the nail on the head, is the transparency. And Councilor Luongo-King, we don't know who's sending these. We don't know who to go to. We don't know who to fight this with. And just a few answers is all we're asking for, that's all. And I thank you for your time.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I would request that anybody whose street changed to permit parking after mid-half of the year, so July 1st and on, that their new parking permit come 2016 be prorated, that they get, whether it's a half-price permit or that they get their money back for 2015. I think we need to do something to set precedent to say we made a mistake and we need to make things right. I also think that those letters that go out, once a street turns into permit parking, which I believe comes from the Traffic Commission, we need to set the precedent to let the public know, let our residents know, this is the procedure, this is when you have to get your parking permit, and this is when you're going to have to renew your parking permit. It just makes sense. Like Councilor Scarpelli said, transparency, educating the public. If people know what to expect, it isn't a shocker, it isn't a pain. You know, people understand. They can make arrangements. But to — this — it's just so frustrating. It really is frustrating. And I — and I hope — you know, we — I think the administration is going to make these changes and many, many more. I know it's only been three and a half, four weeks, but I hope these changes come sooner than later so that these minuscule things that frustrate people to no end can be resolved.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The President Thank you very much. The chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to thank Ms. Kelly for coming up here tonight. I can feel your frustration on this and I'm a little surprised by the response you got from the police department. Chief Sacco has been the face of this program and anyone that would be involved in implementing policy change or having some involvement in this would be Chief Sacco and the police department. And if it's not him, it would be the mayor's office. So for them to say they have no involvement in it, I really find that troubling. Because as Councilor Lungo-Koehn just mentioned, this is an easy fix to either prorate a ticket or come up with a better solution. I realize the permit parking stickers change colors, and that's why they have to issue new stickers every year. And for a period of time, they weren't even issuing stickers because of an issue. All right, there was an issue with people going out to a nightclub and being followed home because the sticker had your address on it at one point. Well, and so they changed the whole process. And now they went back to stickers because it was hard for a resident who would look outside their home and say, this car's been out here for three days. If it didn't have a sticker, you assumed that they weren't permit parking. But when they did away with the stickers, there was no way of assuming that. So, that's why they went back to the stickers. But I think 99.9 percent of this is just common sense. If I was the head of Park Method and someone came in, like yourself, and came in and said, we just had our street changed over in October. I just got the sticker in November. I didn't realize I had to up it and I got a ticket in January. That's just basic common sense as a manager, as an administrator that would say, you know what? Give me the ticket. Don't worry about it. Tell your neighbors, don't worry about it. There's this, you know. Well, that's good to hear that he wiped out the tickets, but I think it's just common sense. And I think we lose touch in this day and age with all everything electronic and, you know, the face-to-face is gone now. And it's unfortunate that an issue like this that could be resolved in a second You had to take so many hours to go talk to the mayor's office and the chief and come up here that could have been resolved immediately. And as Councilor Knight mentioned, the chief said he was working on creating a citywide resident permit parking system, in effect, that may be by wards, by precinct, that stickers issued. And I know they've been working on that for some time, and I'm hoping that comes about because There's no reason why certain streets have resident permit parking and other streets don't. And you can only park on your street. You can't park on the next street over. You know, so there's a lot of issues that need to be addressed, but I appreciate you coming up here tonight. And I'm not sure what we can, it is a policy decision. And to me, there should be a policy out there that states, you know, as Councilor Longo said, maybe if you get a ticket, a sticker six months into the, to the year, they prorate it, or they give you a sheet with your sticker saying, don't forget, this runs out, begins January 1st, runs out December 31st. And that way you're on the hook if something happens. At least they notified you. So I appreciate you coming up tonight.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor Knox. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I'd like to amend the paper before us by way of a B paper that would read, Mr. President, whereas Marion Street became permit parking in November in the 2015 permit parking stickers were valid only for six weeks, that these permits maintain their validity through the end of 2016.
[jCO6jvvXtn0_SPEAKER_03]: Name is Nick Tomaszuk, 29 Garfield Ave. Not to get off of what I'm trying to say, but they could have issued the next year's pocket sticker. That would have avoided the whole problem that she had. You know, yeah, but I'm saying when she went up in November, give her the 2016 sticker. It's only two months. It would have eliminated so many problems. But my point is, is the biggest The big parking problem is these people that park on these side streets and get on the bus to go to Haymarket. There's a lot of that going around. I mean, so if you give, you know, like a resident, like Medford resident sticker, that would avoid some of those problems. Because there's like multi-families on my street, so everybody owns a couple of cars. So a triple deck is going to have six cars. Where are you going to put them all? The street's only a block long. And they still find a space to put their cars there and get on a 326 bus to go into the Haymarket. So there has to be some kind of a system to stop it. I mean, they could pay and park right here and get on the bus. But it's better to park on the side street. Feel free.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you.
[jCO6jvvXtn0_SPEAKER_03]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you all very much. So on the motion for approval on the B paper offered by Councilor Knight, all those in favor. Roll call vote has been requested on the B paper. Mr. Clerk, if you could read the amendments. Huh? I understood that.
[Clerk]: All right, then let's take the- Well, Councilor Knights is all- Let's take the- All the Marion Street parking for 2015 be carried over to 2016. We're gonna do the B paper first, and then we'll have the amendments on the A paper. Councilor Scarpelli is requiring who receives the revenue on the parking permits. And we have the Traffic Commission, set up a policy that makes sense. Yeah, it's kind of a little vague.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If the Traffic Commission can look into policy changes when notifying residents of their need to get permit parking stickers. clarifying when they need to be purchased by, when the renewal date is, and also looking into a system to prorate the charge, especially if you're over six months into the year.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Anything else, Mr. Clerk? That's it. That's it. On the B paper offered by Councilor Knight. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello?
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Vice Mayor Landau-Kern? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President De La Russa? Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: With the vote of seven, the affirmative, none in the negative, the paper passes. Now on to the main motion offered by Councilor Caraviello as amended. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. You do want a roll call on that, yes?
[Clerk]: We'll take one. Councilor Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Lionel Kern? Yes. Councilor Marks?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Dello Russo? Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: With the vote of seven in the affirmative, none in the negative, the main paper passes. Offered by Councilor Caraviello, be it resolved that the Medford City Council offer birthday wishes to former City Councilor Robert Drennan on his 93rd birthday.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to wish Mr. Drennan a happy birthday. I think he's the second oldest councillor in Medford next to Councilor McGlynn. Very good. I want to wish him happy birthday wishes, fam. So, birthday wishes to the councillor.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carries. While we're under suspension, there's a citizen that wants to speak to us on an unknown topic. Please state your name and address for the record, ma'am.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: I'm Valerie Washburn, Medford, Massachusetts. First, I'd like to thank the city council people who have been of great help to me, Rick Caraviello, in the past. And I'm here tonight with the encouragement of Michael Marks and Brianna. And this is my first time doing this presentation, so I hope you'll be patient with me. Let's see, I forgot my glasses. I got it. I got it. Thank you. Yeah, OK. You want me to repeat? OK. Do you want me to repeat something? OK. Thank you. First, I'd like to say that I had met a number of citizens who tell me that I want to read what I have here. some citizens that told me that they put on their PJs, get some hot chocolate, and settle down to watch the council meeting on TV. And I want to say, come on down. We need more Medford citizens to participate in our government meetings. So, come on down. And meet our very, very kind and lovely city councilors. And our reporter, who's not here tonight, reports for the transcript, Alex. OK, so one of the people interested in what I'm going to talk about decided to write me an abbreviated copy. And I'll read that first of what my focus is going to be tonight. Duties of Oak Grove Cemetery Trustees. How do we create an advisory board made up of Medford citizens. Questions from Mark Rumbly. Is there an open meeting law requirement? Can any decisions be made privately behind closed doors that the public cannot attend by the cemetery trustees? There should be no lack of transparency in the deliberations. What are city laws, state laws regarding cemetery? What are the bylaws regarding the cemetery usage? If there is an open position for a cemetery trustee, which I believe there's one that's coming up in March, how does one apply? Who makes the final decision? What is the appeal process if a decision made by the trustees is not acceptable? Massachusetts general laws do not prohibit green and natural burials, which is something I'm going to be talking a little bit about. Green burials do not cause disease to anyone or problems for the cemetery. Oak Grove Cemetery is contiguous with Brooks Estate land. Groundwater from the cemetery must at times drain into Brooks Estate land. Brooks Estate is a protected conservation area. Therefore, we should allow burials that are 100% conservation conscious. Okay, so that was an abbreviated script, and I would like you now to please listen to mine. And I only have a rough draft because this wasn't decided until last night, and I just really have not time to make it more concise. So I apologize, but I hope you won't find it boring. The concerns I bring to the council meeting tonight is a focus on preservation and fairness to all, especially related to the burial at Oak Grove Cemetery. First, I tell you I have spent much of my life here in Medford, as many of my relatives have. I attended grade school through high school in Medford. I've attended services at almost every church and synagogue. And I've attended classes and functions and used the libraries at Tufts College. My husband and I have worked as substitute teachers in the Medford school system, and we've done other assignments as well. Tonight, I bring attention to our concern for our historic and beautiful cemetery, Oak Grove Cemetery, and the Brooks Estate, which lies side by side in West Medford, and both border the large pond in the Brooks Estate. I bring before you several urgent questions a growing number of Medford citizens and taxpayers have been asking. One is the question of use at Oak Grove Cemetery for burial by the citizens of Medford. My understanding is the cemetery's decisions are made by a group of three trustees selected by the mayor and perhaps other elected officials. There's a cemetery manager who manages and directs the affairs of Oak Grove, but does not have a vote with the trustees. The cemetery is regulated by Mass General Laws, MGL, Massachusetts, which are Massachusetts state laws, and local laws. There are bylaws the cemetery follows, which can and should be examined and perhaps changed to suit the various needs of Medford residents. Can you hear me okay, Rick? Can you hear me now? Thank you. These are some of the questions we asked tonight, and there will be more to come. It has been suggested that an advisory board be established from among concerned residents to reflect the various needs and choices in burial preferences. We asked that an advisory board be established and we wondered if that can be done tonight. Is there a requirement of open meeting laws to be held, open meeting laws to be held in public or can the trustees deliberate on their own and make private decisions? without input from the taxpayers? Is there an appeal process if the trustees vote against a request made by an owner of a gravesite and or by a Medford citizen who wishes to purchase a grave? We understand many of the questions may be answered by our city solicitor, Mark Rumley. Residents with green burial concerns had a meeting with Attorney Rumley, who was asked about the laws regarding the personal choice of citizens who desire to have what is known as a green or natural burial, which does not use toxins involved in embalming and cremation and cement vaults. This is especially relevant to a growing awareness of preservation of health for people of all faiths and all living things. Also, the process of embalming and cremation is a choice many wish to avoid for personal and faith reasons. Mark Rumley stated under MGL laws, Mass General Laws, that Oak Grove Cemetery would be allowed to offer natural or green burials. There is nothing to stop them except their vote in favor of it. There is nothing in MGL's Mass General Laws to prevent Oak Grove from offering this as a choice to those who wish for this type of burial. We ask that an area suitable for this type of burial would be offered to those in Medford who desire it for personal or faith reasons. We ask the City Council to make this an urgent concern for a large aging population here, of which I am one, and for unexpected deaths. This is known as death care. Local community cemeteries in Arlington and Melrose and elsewhere are working to make green or natural burials a reality. It would be wonderful if the City of Medford showed this concern for the fast-growing movement of natural burials from Medford residents who are asking for it and want to be buried in their hometown. Jean just asked me, when she heard me, what I was going to talk about, what about the health concerns? And she thought that was a question many would have. We had a meeting with the cemetery board, let's see, a few weeks ago, and we had a speaker who is an expert in this field, who works at Mount Auburn Cemetery, a private cemetery in Cambridge, and she's a horticulturist. She explained how there is no disease concern from natural burials. In fact, there's more concern from unnatural burials, which would be the other types of burials that I mentioned. And so that's a concern many people have, and it's not really a reality. to be concerned about. And I think that's all I have.
[Fred Dello Russo]: You have a minute left, ma'am.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Excuse me?
[Fred Dello Russo]: You have a minute left.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: A minute left. I have some green burial literature here. It's very easy to find on Google and YouTube. There's tons of interest and tons of information. I think I put my mic off. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I know that. Thank you, Ralph.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Will there be any questions?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Vice President Longo-Khan.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I think this is probably a question for the administration as the question went before the administration with regards to setting up an advisory board for the Veterans Affairs. So what you're asking is, whether or not that's something maybe the city administration would do. So if we could ask our new administration if this is a possibility or if they could also look into this while they're looking into other advisory committees within the city, setting up additional advisory committees I never think is a bad thing. And I know you spoke about a number of different issues that I think an advisory committee would probably look into, research. and hopefully develop ideas and bring them to the mayor and to the board of trustees, which is a three-person board. So I think it's a valid question. I think it's something that may help alleviate and figure out a number of different issues that, you know, you obviously are well educated on. And I don't think it's going to hurt to ask the administration what her thoughts are and to see if we can possibly implement one. So I would ask the administration to look into that, see if it's a possibility, if it's something that would work. We have, like I said, the three-person board, so it always helps to have a number of different people looking into different issues that have to do with the cemetery. It's a large cemetery. We have a number of issues there. I know this week I came across an issue, and I spoke to Steve Dunn at the cemetery department, and your question with regards to appeals is, yes, once a decision is made, you can appeal, but you're appealing back to the board. So that might be something an advisory board can look into as well to maybe make some changes on that, because that almost seems like you have a three-person board that's making a decision, and your only appeals process is back to that three-member board. So that could run into some questions and some issues.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Conflicts. Some conflicts.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So I did get that answer, happened to get that answer this week. But I think it's a good resolve, and maybe our mayor can look into it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Did you make a resolution, Madam Vice President?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_08]: I didn't get all that content that you were talking about.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: No, I'm not asking for the content. I'm just asking it just like we asked.
[Fred Dello Russo]: She can't make a resolution. Only the council can make the resolution.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And I'm making the resolution. Can the mayor look into a possibility of an advisory commission to the cemetery?
[Clerk]: For the cemetery board?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: For the board of trustees, an advisory committee.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank Valerie for coming up tonight on these very important issues. I had a brief discussion with Mark Rumley in the subcommittee meeting before this regular scheduled council meeting, and he thought it was best, if Councilor Longo doesn't mind, that we send the paper directly to him regarding how an advisory committee is set up. And he's prepared to answer that question. So if we could just amend that to send it to the city solicitor. So that would be number one, Mr. Clerk. The creation of advisory board for the cemetery. Also, Valerie mentioned about the open meeting law. They required to adhere to all the requirements of the state open meeting law. And I'm sure Mark, city solicitor, will respond back to that. and the appeal process. I think Councilor Longo might have answered it, but maybe if we could see within the Cemetery Board of Trustees' own policy and regulations where that language exists, there may be a timeframe on that. You might only have 10 days to appeal. I'm not sure, but if we can get that appeal process language from the city solicitor, that would be helpful also, Mr. President. Valerie was nice enough not to get into the whole issue, about a request that went before the Board of Trustees, Mr. President. But again, it goes back to, in my opinion, you can have all the policies you want set up, but some of it has to do with what's in your heart and common sense. And this goes back to a family that was in this city. I won't get into the whole story. A family that lived in this city for 30 years, bought four plots for the husband, the wife, and I believe it was the grandparents. They had a tragic situation where their son passed away as a freshman in college, and they used one of the plots to bury their son. Since then, the husband passed away, the grandparents passed away, and this particular woman, who moved out of the city, although she was here for 30 years, went to the Board of Trustees and said, please, I want to be buried with my family. It wasn't the way it was supposed to work out. We brought four plots for us, but my son passed away, and they denied that, Mr. President. And I think some of this is just common sense, Mr. President. But, again, you know, rules and regulations are great, but I think you have to use some common sense. And regarding the green burial, all we need to do, from my understanding, is create a green burial policy within the Oak Grove Cemetery that would allow a portion of the cemetery to be used for green burial. And it's happening now, as was mentioned, across the state and other states. And it's a wave of the future. I don't see why, you know, that wouldn't be something that at least should be entertained, and the Board of Trustees do their home, their own homework on that, Mr. President. Again, I'd like to thank Valerie for coming up on this very important subject.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion approved by Councilor Marks, Councilor Lungo-Koehn, as amended by Councilor Marks. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. On the motion of Vice President Lungo-Koehn to revert back to the regular audit business. All those in favor? All those opposed? uh, 16-041 to the honorable president and members of the Medford city council, et cetera. I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body returned to the sale of real estate at the amount of 201,001,064 and seven cents. This represents the amount received from a state grant plus the surplus not spent from the original appropriation for the Magoon Park Rehabilitation Project, a memo from the city finance directors attached, along with a copy of council paper 14-509 for your review. We received this all in our packets on Friday.
[Adam Knight]: Chair recognizes Councilor Knight. Mr. President, this paper dates back to June of 2014 when Mayor McGlynn put a paper before the council asking for an appropriation. of $292. That appropriation was made, and once the reimbursement from the state occurs relative to the Magoon Park issues that were being taken care of, the mayor indicated that he would be requesting the transfer of the net costs to the city's sale of real estate account. So it's replenishing the account, Mr. President, for which the funds were taken out of. Looks like the state agreed to reimburse us $200,000 on the Magoon Park improvements, and this paper represents, Mr. President, this matter coming full circle. As such, I would move for approval. I believe that all the councillors here, all the councillors present at the meeting voted by way of roll call in the affirmative to appropriate the money, Mr. President. So I think this is just bringing the matter full circle and some housekeeping. So I'd ask that the council move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Knight, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Lungo-Koehn?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: President Dello Russo? Yes. With a vote of seven in the affirmative, none in the negative, the matter passes. Anything else? CREDIT BRIDGE, COUNSELOR MARKS. DO YOU HAVE AN UPDATE ON THE CREDIT BRIDGE FOR US?
[Michael Marks]: I DON'T HAVE AN UPDATE, MR. PRESIDENT, BUT I KNOW THE LONG-AWAITED MEETING WITH D.O.T. WAS CANCELLED FOR TOMORROW NIGHT.
[Fred Dello Russo]: IT WAS BECAUSE OF THEIR INABILITY TO JOIN US. THE CITY CLERK IS WORKING ON SOME DATES TO GET THAT GROUP TOGETHER SO THAT WE CAN ALL BE AT THE TABLE.
[Michael Marks]: MR. PRESIDENT, WE RECEIVED, I SHOULD SAY, I RECEIVED, I BELIEVE IT WAS 14 PHOTOS OF IN AND AROUND THAT PARTICULAR AREA DURING CONSTRUCTION. the utility work, and the number of trucks, and the barriers, and everything else going on in that area. And I'm not sure how business is going to function, but we need to call for that meeting immediately. And I know they only had a few days to get their parties together, but this has to happen immediately. I'm not sure what your recommendation is.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I agree with you 100%, Councilor.
[Michael Marks]: Well, should we put a date on this?
[Fred Dello Russo]: I think we're waiting on if the clerk wants to.
[Clerk]: Yeah, of course there's a date of February 10th, same time, 5 30. That gives him now again, a week and a half or so to again, try to do it, but having a response back.
[Michael Marks]: I appreciate that Mr. Clerk. And I know how hard it is to get these parties together. but February 10th seems a long way away. But they were already on notice now. And then we're saying next week and that's not going to happen either. They're busy Monday through Friday next week. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not sure. I'm just saying you can make the call. Well, I don't make the call. That would come from the administration of the city clerk, but it's not the, it's not the department.
[Clerk]: I mean, they were on board to come in. They're already requested.
[George Scarpelli]: It's just a point of information. Councilor Scarpelli. We recommend that we ask them at the earliest, earliest convenience, not the 10th, but any day other than Tuesday that we can meet or, you know, we've been on a Wednesday anyways, but give us a long night to further clarification.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Point of further clarification, Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And also, I think this should be a public meeting at 7 p.m. in front of the city council. I think the people need to see this on TV. I think the business owners deserve that. And I think that's what the business owners want. They're crippling business. And two weeks is, three weeks have gone by now where they're completely blocking business owners That's almost a month, and I'm a business owner. You have to pay bills monthly, not on a day-to-day basis or once a year. You pay bills monthly. We should have this meeting. We should ask them to be here next Tuesday night and cease and desist all work from being done, everything being cleared out tonight until they meet with us next Tuesday. That's my opinion.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, if it's a very difficult endeavor for the individuals that are stationed out of Boston to get to MedFed. I would be happy to go to Boston and meet with them there if that's what has to take place, Mr. President. I think we could meet there. I think we could also – I think Mr. Carroll would be more than willing to open up his restaurant to us to sit down there and have the meeting there if, in fact, it's ever going to happen, Mr. President. Now, I've had my discussions with the legislative liaison from Massachusetts Highway. I've gotten a number of correspondences from them because I've been added to their email list, Mr. President. It did seem that they were unable to make it because of the short notice from the last meeting to this meeting, but that there's no reason why they can't figure out when it is that we are going to be here and we are going to put our heads together and get this done. Um, some items indicated that certain phases of the construction have been complete. They're about close to 30% through, um, with the portion of construction, the phase that they're in right now. But there are a number of solutions, I think, that we can present to them. One of them being moving all the staging equipment onto the closed-down ramp on Route 16 right now. The ramp's closed. Put all your junk over there so we don't have to look at it, so cars can drive up and down the street, so people can park in front of the restaurant, so people can park in front of RE-MAX. You know, I think that we've made a number of suggestions, and they have been listen to, and we've been given a lot of affirmative yes, yes, yes, but there haven't been any results, Mr. President. It's a lot of lip service at this point in time. So with that being said, I think it might be easier and more flexible if we as a council are more than willing to go and meet them on their turf or meet them somewhere else if they're not able to come down here to City Hall at certain hours. I'd be happy to go to the transportation building and meet with them, Mr. President. I'd be happy to go up to State House and- Bring your ID.
[Fred Dello Russo]: You have to show an ID to them.
[Adam Knight]: I have a state ID. And I'll lead at Donato's office if that's what it takes, Mr. President. But I think that there's more than one way to skin a cat. And if they're not willing to come here, maybe we have to go to them. The other thing we can do is maybe contact the Secretariat and see if the Secretariat can help us out in putting this together. So with that being said, Mr. President, I just wanted to put it out there that there are other ways that we can do this, and maybe one of them is to go to Boston and to have a small meeting with a group of appointees, maybe, to figure out when it is that we can come in there, what the issues and dispute are, what the agenda is going to be like, to create a format that we can all agree on, so when they do come here, we do have a productive session, Mr. President, It's one thing to drag the project manager and the people from the T down here to bombard them with questions, and that's all well and good. But then they get in their car and they leave. And then nothing changes. And I think we need to come to an accord. We need to work together, and we need to form a partnership with them. And that means that we need to be responsive to their concerns, and they need to be responsive to ours, Mr. President. So I'll rest with that, but I appreciate you indulging me for that moment. Thank you, Mr. Councilor.
[Richard Caraviello]: Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. maybe a quick short-term fixes, just have the construction company adhere to the business hours that they've set at 10 o'clock or 10.30. They're showing up at 8.30, 9 o'clock, parking there. Let the police get on there and demand that they start, or the building commissioner, or someone go down there and don't let them start work until the time they're disposed to. I mean, if you're doing work in your house on a Sunday or a Saturday before 7 o'clock, the court enforcement officer is down there telling you to stop working. But they weren't supposed to start working in certain areas there until after 10 o'clock, and they're starting at 9 now. Again, that's not a big request from the gentleman to just start working when you're supposed to start. And I say, I don't know why the police can't enforce that on our own without even going crazy. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I find this to be very frustrating. I mean, I know I made the resolution last week to have the Committee of the Whole meeting, and here they are. They've canceled, but we're giving them a whole week, and they still can't give us a date. So this is very frustrating. I mean, to me, you're impacting the livelihoods of people that own these businesses. You're impacting the residents and how they get to and from South Medford and beyond. And the meeting really needs to happen sooner than later. I mean, is there any way that we can have our state reps, our mayor, make a call to DOT and explain the urgency of this matter? I mean, this has to happen sooner than later. It should not have to wait another week, week and a half, two weeks. I mean, this, it needs to happen. This is important. And if I may, I know myself and Mr. Scarpelli are new to this committee, would it be possible to get the original agreement between D.O.T. and the city with regard to the bridge and when work was... I'm not aware of us having received a copy of it, but... Well, then can the whole committee, I guess, receive a copy? Because it would be nice to actually see something in writing as to what the rules of engagement with regard to the work that's being done. I mean, it seems like it's kind of everyone's a little bit all over the place with regard to when it's supposed to start, when it's supposed to stop, you know, exactly what's happening down there. So if we could get some sort of communication I'm not sure if it's the engineering department or what, but if you could get something with the agreement between the DOT and the city with regard to how everything is supposed to work with regard to the replacement of the Craddock Bridge.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So that is a motion by Councilor Falco offered under suspension of the rules that the city engineer or appropriate office furnish the seven members of the Medford City Council with the copy of the agreement, uh, signed regarding the construction of the Craddock Bridge. Thank you. Thank you, council. I share your frustration. I've been in conversation with a member of our state delegation as well as the mayor regarding this and they share frustration as well. And I spoke at length with the mayor about this and she's particularly discouraged at the canceling of the meeting for tomorrow night.
[Adam Knight]: Chair recognizes Councilor Knight. One of the things that we discussed several weeks ago, Mr. President, was a central depository or a central receptacle for individuals who weren't able to make the meeting, but would still like to comment on it to be able to provide an email. And it's my understanding that through the works of Allison Goldberry and Mr. Rumley, this email was a setup and I believe Clerk Finn has been involved in this as well. And I think it might be very helpful to those at home who are eagerly and anxiously awaiting the meeting to utilize this tool. And with that being said, I was hoping that the city clerk could recite the email address for us if he knows it offhand. I could get it. I think I have it on my device here if you don't know it offhand. It can be linked through the city website. And it can also be linked to the city website. Medford.org. Yes. So the city is actually soliciting commentary right now on behalf of the council.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I think there was one comment already. One or two. Thank you. Chair recognizes the citizen at the podium. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: Thank you very much, sir, and Councilors. Rachel Tannenhaus, 26 Pearl Street. Well, the first thing is that in my other life, I am, in fact, a government bureaucrat. And the one good thing I can say about bureaucracy, and you don't need me to tell you this, is that everybody has a boss. And eventually you get high enough up on the boss chain that the boss is like, why am I having to deal with your stuff from all the way down there? So the people at MassDOT who are cancelling have bosses and it you know, at this point, you probably already know that there's nothing wrong with, you know, going over their head and saying, hey, your employee is not actually doing their job. Also, obviously, you know, if there are neighborhood organizations that were to, you know, say something to the press about how a city is being ignored by the state agency, And they went with it. Obviously, nobody on the council would do such a thing. But that is something that might also speed things up a little bit on their end is bad publicity. But the thing that I would like to say in my other capacity as the chair of the Medford Disability Commission, which none of that was in, so this is my disability chair hat. It's invisible. It's very fetching, is that The only good thing I can say about the meeting for tomorrow night being cancelled is that those of us in the Disability Commission were very disappointed that it had been scheduled for exactly when the Disability Commission meeting was supposed to be and is going to be tomorrow night because we really wanted to be involved. We obviously have some significant concerns about what's going on with the Craddock Bridge and we wouldn't have been able to be there because it was at exactly the same time and happened quickly enough that we weren't able to modify our agenda. for it or anything like that. So I'd like to, I hope, even if it were the next day after that, that's fine, but I hope that when it is rescheduled that we are, I hope that it's as soon as possible, but I hope that we're also able to be there, members of the Disability Commission, because, so if it could not be during the Disability Commission meeting, that would be really fantastic. I doubt it will be because the next one after tomorrow is in a month, and I think at that point everybody's head will have exploded if they have to wait that long, but we would really like to be involved. And so we obviously would love it if it could happen at a time that was not when we were otherwise meeting. Thank you so much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Rachel. On the motion for approval by Councilor Falco on his motion. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Records of meeting of January 19th, 2016. We're past it, Councilor Knight. Mr. Councilor, how'd you find those records? In order and move for approval. On the motion for approval, the records of that meeting. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion records have passed and accepted on the motion for adjournment by councillor Falco all those in favor all those opposed. Thank you all
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