[Clerk]: Councilor Ney? Present. Councilor Kerr? Present. Councilor Marks? Councilor Penta? Present. President Camuso?
[Paul Camuso]: Present. Six members present, one absent. Please rise to salute our flag.
[gvpawZbv1GQ_SPEAKER_05]: 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.
[Paul Camuso]: Item 14-762, offered by Councilor Knight. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council congratulate Michael Ryan on his retirement from the position of Executive Director for the Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation. Be it further resolved the Medford City Council thank him for his many years of service toward protecting, preserving, and advocating for the Middlesex Fells Reservation. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Thank you very much, Mr. President. I believe if my facts and figures are correct that Mr. Ryan served 14 years as the executive director with the Friends of the Middlesex Fells, and at the end of November, he retired. And I'd like the council to join me in wishing him a very fond farewell. He did a great job down there, and I think the fruits of his labor proved to be rather bountiful. The Department of Conservation and Recreation just recently released a master plan for a recreation plan for the Middlesex Fells, and a lot of that had to do with the work that Mr. Ryan did. Mr. President. So I'd ask that my council colleagues join me in congratulating him on his retirement and wishing him the best. Thank you for his service.
[Paul Camuso]: Thank you. Counsel on the motion of council on night. All those in favor, all those opposed. The ayes have it. Item 14 dash seven 63 offered by Councilor Knight. Be it resolved. The Medford city council extends its deep and sincere condolences to the family of Irene platty on her recent passing. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Thank you very much, Mr. President. The platties have been longtime family friends. I had the pleasure of meeting Irene and her son Joe during my time as an aide to Charlie Shannon in the state Senate. Since that time we developed a great friendship. Irene was a dedicated public service, a dedicated public servant. She spent a number of years as a cafeteria worker here in the city of Medford and we offer our deepest condolences to the family.
[Paul Camuso]: Thank you. Counsel, please rise for a moment of silence. On the motion, all those in favor? All those opposed? The ayes have it. Item 14-764. Petition for a secondhand article licensed by Nyan Group, Inc. Doing business as Cache Point, 32 Riverside Avenue, Medford, Mass. Marat Hananyan, President, 36 Owen Street, Hyannis, Mass. And the Chair recognizes Vice President Caraviello, Chair of Personal Licensing.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. President, I reviewed the papers and I find them everything in order. Mr. President, I have one question. We still have that something on our calendar for the other business that was on Salem Street? Has that issue ever been resolved?
[Paul Camuso]: The Chief of Police will notify us through the city solicitor and the clerk when he is ready to proceed. It's still pending in the Middlesex court.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Everything seems to be in order Mr. President and a motion for approval. On the motion of approval.
[Paul Camuso]: All those in favor. All those opposed.
[Robert Penta]: Councilor Penta on the motion. Could you explain to the people who might be watching, have no idea, location, hours of operation and what you intend to do? Yes. Councilor.
[SPEAKER_12]: Mr. President, counsel is Richard Villiardi. I'm the attorney representing the applicant. Uh, property location is 32 Riverside Ave. It's approximately a storefront of 1,900 square feet. The hours of operation will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. closed on Sunday. The applicant, the president of the corporation, Merak Hunanian, will be a hands-on owner of the store. He intends to work the store himself for the first year to get the premises established, the store established, and then at the end of the year, hire someone to run it. He also has stores in Revere and two stores on Cape Cod, one in Hyannis, one in Falmouth, and has a tremendous amount of experience as a secondhand goods dealer. No complaints at any of the other stores. And we ask that the council request Council, grant the license favorably.
[Robert Penta]: Could you, again, what's at the present location?
[SPEAKER_12]: The location is 32. What's there right now, sir? I believe it's vacant at the present time. What's on either side?
[SPEAKER_05]: There's a restaurant next door. I think there's a Mexican restaurant on one side and a diner on the other side. Councilor, I think it's the old VIP.
[Paul Camuso]: The old TV3, it's one of the others.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yes, yes, yes, VIP is actually, yes, vacant.
[Robert Penta]: And again, could you just repeat your hours of operation?
[SPEAKER_12]: I'm sorry?
[Robert Penta]: Hours of operation again, one more time.
[Robert Penta]: 7 days a week? 6 days. 6, Monday through Friday.
[SPEAKER_12]: Monday through Saturday, closed on Sunday.
[Paul Camuso]: On the motion, all those in favor? All those opposed? The ayes have it, good luck. And you will be meeting with Detective LeBert, it says, prior to opening, correct? Thank you very much. Item 14-765, petition for a taxi operator licensed by Albert T. Morenci, 92 Dever Street, Malden, Mass., driving for Citywide Taxi, 40 Canal Street. Name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_08]: My name is Albert Morenci, I live in 92 Davis Street, Morden, apartment 203.
[Paul Camuso]: Chair recognizes Vice President Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I reviewed everything that seems to be in order here. I have a couple of questions. I see you hold a license in another city, assuming that's Boston? Yes. Why are you not driving in Boston anymore?
[SPEAKER_08]: Because the Uber situation take me out of business.
[Richard Caraviello]: The Ubers put you out of business? Yes. And then I live in Mordor. And you feel you can make more money in Medford than you can in Boston? Excuse me? Pardon me? You feel you can make more money in Medford than you can in the city of Boston? Yes, I believe so. You know that your license in Medford is only you cannot go to Boston to pick up people. You know that?
[SPEAKER_08]: Yes, sir.
[Richard Caraviello]: And you also understand that you cannot deny anyone a ride because you feel that the job is too short. Definitely. You understand that also, correct? Yes. Yes. So you'll take all jobs. You won't be denying anybody because it's only a short job. Yes. Correct? Yes, correct. Mr. President, I find the papers in order and motion for approval.
[Michael Marks]: Okay. On the motion of approval, Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, if you can record me in opposition, uh, until we come up with, uh, an ordinance to cover the taxi licenses, Mr. President,
[Paul Camuso]: As well as Councilor Penta, certainly will do. On the motion, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The ayes have it. Good luck. Thank you. Item 14-766, petition by Joseph Villione, 59 Garfield Ave, Medford, to discuss West Medford Hillside Little League and non-profit finances.
[Joe Viglione]: Thank you very much. May I use this mic?
[Michael Marks]: Is that working, that mic?
[Joe Viglione]: Is it? Okay. Joseph Filion, 59 Garfield Ave., Medford, Mass. Good evening, city council. Happy holidays and Merry Christmas. West Medford Hillside Little League, Stanley and Stephen Comins were sentenced, and the question today is, how can the public utilizing resources of these nonprofits be protected in the future? Going forward, what mechanisms are in place to safeguard the community's investments of time, money, and resources? Didn't West Medford Hillside's Little League use the city's ballparks to operate? shouldn't the school committee and the city council have a right to look into the inner workings of private corporations that are involved with the students? My point is, if you're using something that has to do with the city of Medford, be it a ballpark, a skating rink, the Chevalier Theater, our elected officials, city council, school committee, Senator Jalen, State Rep Donato, Sean Garbali, anyone elected should be able to look at the books or anything or don't allow these people to utilize the city resources. That's my point. If the mayor or the city doesn't have an appointee to these boards, they should have no right to a skating rink or a ball field or a swimming pool that the city owns. Mayor McGlynn met with me in October of 2006 about one of these corporations. The mayor has the ability to put an appointee on the boards of the Medford Housing Authority or the Access TV station. Shouldn't City Hall be able to have an appointee to any corporation, for-profit or non-profit, utilizing any city resources, from land to stadiums, to television equipment, or to public safety equipment and personnel? Let's investigate the issue further. And I apologize, I was collating the material which I had just put together, I have handed out to the city council a public records request that I am going to request this city council look at, consider, and bring to Mark Rumley. In July of this year, Mark Rumley told the Meffert Transcript that he wanted the books of one of these nonprofits. To this date, he has not received them. Now, Mr. Rumley has been very nice to me about this. He said I'll be the first person he calls. when he gets the information. Now, he's awaiting information from the Attorney General's office. I have the Secretary of State asking the Attorney General's office to get me that information. Mr. Rumley is waiting for that. This is separate. The Attorney General's information on this nonprofit and method is separate from what Mark Rumley is asking for. So I'm asking the Council President and the six other councilors to look at this public records request and consider that we just go to City Hall and say, hey, you know, for elections, for a co-host of mine who does a sports show, he's been begging me to do something for him if I can. And I think he talked to one of the city councilors this week, who's absent tonight. But he said he spoke to him and he said, I want my sports show. So that's my talk here tonight. In light of the sentencing, of one of the non-profits, we finally see, oh, and a further point, that individual was in for 30 years, the mayor's only been in for 27 years, so the mayor could have at some point in time said, hey, Pop Warner, TV, Little League, maybe I should be a little proactive and say, hey, you're using my land, or our land, let's see, let's see what's going on here. movement on this.
[Richard Caraviello]: Any questions? Vice President Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Bigelow, thank you for bringing this forward. I agree with you on this. I myself have been involved with many youth organizations over the years and president of one of them. Unfortunately, it's not up to the city to go over the little leagues and it's up to the Attorney General's office to stay on top of these things. And the parents, I think this was A big wake-up call for a lot of the parents in the community. Many people knew it had been going on for many years. And I would hope that people now will, there's a new group running West Buffalo now. They're doing a good job and they've consolidated. I mean, all the other teams in the other cities, they only use our parks. But in the years that I've been involved, we used to try to explain to people, do not pay cash to anybody. Pay check, pay by check. When people have cash in their hands, cash makes us bad things. And I say it's a shame that this had to happen, and I hope it's a wake-up call to the other leagues in this city and other cities around.
[Joe Viglione]: Council Vice President, I know you do a good job for the youth in this city. I did meet with a government official by accident at the old Outback, someone from the Department of Revenue. And I explained the situation. He said, we're overwhelmed. We don't have the manpower. And therein lies the problem when you go to the AG's office and Department of Revenue, they don't have the manpower. And that's how some of these people walk between the raindrops.
[Richard Caraviello]: Well, there's enough parents out there that are involved with these that should ask. We'd like to see the records. Most organizations have an annual meeting where the records are supposed to be out there for everybody to look at. So I don't know if they're still doing that, but that's how we did it when I was involved with youth sports, but that's the normal procedure of how that's supposed to work.
[Paul Camuso]: Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Penner.
[Robert Penta]: Mr. Viglione. If I understood what you said correctly from reading, what you're basically asking is for our city solicitor to respond back or report back on this public records request. And if nobody responds to them, so be it. At least the council is apprised as compared to the solicitors still waiting. to get information, correct? Is that what I understand?
[Joe Viglione]: Correct. And from what I understand in talking to Mr. Rumley, he's asking for something separate from what the AG's office is asking. And I know it works kind of together, but his request is financial. The AG's office might be financial as well, but there are different aspects to it that the city solicitor needs.
[Robert Penta]: If I understand 501c3 correctly between the federal IRS and the Commonwealth of Mass, Department of Revenue, there are certain requirements that are implicit in any one of these 501c3s. Absolutely. And there's requiring, there's time restrictions, a regulation basically talking about who the corporate officers might be, if any change of offices, elections, whatever it might be. Some of them are on an annual basis, and some of them are just when needs to be. The part that I, Councilor Caraviello, the part that I think is a little perplexing here, when you say that, you know, parents have been involved for a long period of time, and maybe a long period of time they knew something was going on, they did nothing about it. Shame on them for allowing that to happen, okay? And there's no one to blame on that situation except them. Even if they had an iota, that something might smell wrong, they should have done that. Been asking is one thing and acting is another, okay? That's number one. Number two, just making a quick reflection back on cable television and Channel 3. The difference here, if I understand you correctly, Joe, is the West Medford Little League is not the same as Medford Community Access Television. The city has a direct person on community access. It's the mayor's appointment, as a matter of fact. And having the mayor's appointment and not getting the information that is supposed to be given and retrieved, and not on an annual basis, there is something wrong. And I think it's as clearly defined with Judge Jackson's report that she wrote in I believe it was December of 2011 or 12 or whatever it was. 2009, excuse me. But with that, I've got no problem making this request. And I don't think Mr. Remley will have any problem responding to it, too, because if he gets no response, that just puts more fodder into the argument with the AG and the Secretary of State's office that not only is our city solicitor waiting for information who's played somewhat of a role. I don't know how deep we can say a role is because, unfortunately, he doesn't have the information. now to go forward and continue on what he needs to do. But there is definitely something wrong. When you have a tax-exempt nonprofit sitting on, or the city sitting on, it's over $303,000 in the city's coffers downstairs right now, if not more. And knowing that by, I think it's April 30th, a new contract has to come forward as it relates to Comcast, Verizon is still ongoing. The fact of the matter is this, that there is a time sequence. that a public hearing needs to take place. And we've got no notification. Ratepayers have received no notification. Nobody's received any notification. And neither has the mayor responded to our request when and if the public hearing is going to take place. So I see the analogy that you're trying to draw. It's a shame that it took place. But you're right, Councilor Caraviello. The parents on this one here in the West Medford community, in the West Medford Little League, the onus was on them. If they had an idea that something was wrong, they should have pursued it. And they didn't. Thankfully, it got caught up to the people who were the perpetrators. Channel 3, an entirely different story. I think that just escalates the situation right into the corner office. It's his responsibility. He knew what was going on. We've asked for information. It hasn't come forward. The proper documentation has yet to be filed, to the best of my knowledge, with the AG's Office of the Secretary of State, maybe partially, not totally. And for the sake of having any kind of an argument, Channel 3 could still be legitimately an operating functional business here in the city of Medford, because they're alleging that they filed disillusion. has never been accepted and recorded and duly noted. And if I remember correctly, I believe it was Candidate Coakley, who lives in Medford, who at some point in time, I think it was January of last year, indicated that she was going to look into this cable access and the public access area in the city of Medford because it's huge. It's a big thing. And I'm just going to detour real quick, Mr. President, on this. It'll come up under my suspension. But I have spoken to so many people since this Thanksgiving Day football game that are so upset that they couldn't watch it on their local access that they've had for years, as other cities and towns have it. One lady went out of her way, and she made a remark as it relates to one of the candidates running for governor, who happens to come from Medford. I won't mention the name. Totally disappointed that that individual did not pursue the fact that public access was not made available, not only for her, but every other candidate running. And with that being said, there's a true concern here about not only money being misspent and misappropriated, but money being held in abeyance and no action taking place. And it just continues to go on. And unfortunately, ratepayers, each and every month when you get your bill, you're going to see the money that's going to be going there for public access TV. There's no public access TV. I don't know what it's going to take to cause a storm. Same thing with your water bills. It just keeps going up and up and up, and nobody says nothing about it. So with that being said, Mr. President, I have no problem moving this forward. I don't think the city solicitor has any problem accepting it because if in fact he gets no response back as duly requested, at least we'll know and we'll all be on the same page. And at least I think we can take the next step to go forward. That's how I'm viewing it. I could be wrong, but that's the way I'm looking at it.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. And the way I read this is that you're looking for financial data. Does this also include any inventory? that the City of Method is now in receipt of. Have we ever received an itemized list of any inventory from Channel 3?
[Joe Viglione]: Um, Mr. Romley has been very forthright with me. So, uh, he has that data, but I would like the city council, you people as elected officials should have that data as well. But Mr. Romley, I believe has that data and the equipment is somewhere secure in Medford. I would like to use a camera this weekend. I would like to be able to take a camera from somewhere and bring it back on Monday.
[Michael Marks]: So, so Mr. President, if we could, and I have no problem asking for the financial data, I think that's appropriate. but also if we can get an itemized list of the inventory that was received, and I know Mr. Rumley said that he has a number of items, and I believe he has a list, I just never, I've never seen it yet. So if we can add that to this resolution, I would be in full support.
[Paul Camuso]: On the main motion, and amended by Councilor Marks for the itemized list, Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Camuso. I think I have a number of questions too, but it's probably because The administration went and set up a three-person committee, and I'm not sure any of us behind the reel or in the audience know, whatever happened with the committee, what kind of outcome did they have? What is the mayor doing with the money, $303,000, that are sitting? There are taxpayers, cable ratepayers' monies that are just sitting. We have no idea. what they're going to be used for, when they're going to be used, and when we're going to have a new station. So I'd like to also ask the administration, the mayor's office, I know we've asked before, but when are we going to have a station for the community, for the city of Medford? And if we're not going to do it anytime soon, if that's not the plan, then why are we taking from our cable ratepayers? Why am I, why am you, why are you paying every month a percentage to just sit in the city's bank account. It's the wrong thing to do. It's the wrong thing for the city to do. And as we spoke about it, I believe last week and the week before, there are cities and towns out there that have filed suit against their actual administration due to the fact that this is going on. We have a serious problem. TV3 has been a problem for the city of Medford for years and years and years. Finally, something was done about it, and now we're back to having problems again. I don't understand what the holdup is. So I just wanna voice my frustration with the whole process. You're right, you should be able to go get a camera. So shouldn't a 15-year-old, 16-year-old high school student who wants to maybe get into communications, but we don't have that in the city of Medford right now, and that's unfortunate.
[Joe Viglione]: what Councilor Penta brought up about the football game. I was brought in about three, four years ago for Winthrop and we taped the Revere-Winthrop game and it was a joint effort by Winthrop Cable and Revere and they edited for us. I was one of the cameramen. It is stunning. Speaker DeLeo is on it because he's behind me so I go and get a comment from him on the show. You have this amazing show that the parents, the athletes, their friends, the cheerleaders, everyone enjoyed it, but we in Medford, the citizens aren't even aware of this because they don't have it, but they're paying for it. The football game, Councilor Penta, thank you, the Thanksgiving game is so key for our history. You know I'm a music historian. I would love to see, and I talked to Mr. Poleri about this in the good old days when we got along, putting a monthly review of the city, what we had on cable TV, in the library, so anyone could see January 2010, January 2002. Oh, highlights of the football game, highlights of the city council meeting, highlights of the, is tomorrow the tree lighting?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Joe Viglione]: I went out and taped it for TV3. They asked me to go in the freezing cold in 2000. I was out there. Mayor McGuinn shook my hand. He was smiling. Everything, everyone was happy. It was a love fest, and I got it on tape for the city. I volunteered when I lived in Woburn. I volunteered for this city, and it was freezing cold. I had to go across the street and get a scarf to put around my hand. That's how cold it was, and I volunteered for this city, and look where it got me. Honest efforts and hard work. But I thank the City Council, because this is important to me. It's important to John, the sports host. I think everyone knows the sports in this city could be documented, could be at the library, I don't care if it's soccer, basketball. We don't have that and other cities and towns do.
[Paul Camuso]: On the motion of Councilor Penta, amended by Councilor Marks and Councilor Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor?
[Jeanne Martin]: Roll call.
[Paul Camuso]: Roll call has been requested by Councilor Penta. Name and address for the record.
[Jeanne Martin]: Hi, Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street, and I'd just like to echo what Joe has to say about nonprofits and oversight. And I totally agree with him if it has the name Medford in it. It should be open for anyone in this city, whether it's the Brooks Estates, the Royal House, literally anything that has to do with Medford absolutely should have oversight. And it should be, and I want to know, because I belong to the DAB, you all know, and the DAB does meet in a firehouse. It meets on a Medford property, and it does wonderful things. And we have strict rules about how the checks go out and come in, and there are spend-down requirements, and a whole host of things. I write down every check in six different places. including the meeting minutes, I scan them in, I have an electronic set of them, I have the receipts, and the state tells me to keep all receipts for seven years. I don't know if the requirement is more than that, but that's what the state DAB told me to do. So I have no problem, if they are working in good faith, as an organization, they should not be afraid to show you their books, whatever the organization is. And I have no problem doing that. So I just want to reiterate that anything that has to do with the properties of Medford, because there's a lawsuit, you have a problem on a playground, you know, Medford's on the hook for it. So there is, you know, a private partnership, private-public partnership that has to happen more and more I hope that it does. So thank you for listening. And I just want to echo what he had to say about nonprofits and oversight. Thank you.
[Paul Camuso]: Thank you very much. Roll call has been requested by Councilor Penta. The clerk will call the roll.
[Clerk]: Vice President Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Dello Russo? No. Councilor Kerr?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Penta? Yes. President Camuso?
[Paul Camuso]: No. For the affirmative, two in the negative. The motion passes. Item 14-767, request for expenditure from the law department. Claims over $1,000. Date of November 24th, 2014. To the President and members of the Honorable Medford City Council, from Michael J. McGlynn, Mayor. Claimant name is Patricia DeJesus. And the date of the accident was May 8th, 2014. The date of the settlement, November 24th, 2014. Uh, the amount of the request is $3,246.59. The claimant, Patricia DeJesus, 49 Chetwin Road, Somerville Mass, 02144, seeks compensation for damage to DeJesus's vehicle, which was allegedly struck by Medford Fire Department Engine 7, as Engine 7 was in the process of pulling out of a parking space in Hill Hall parking lot at Tufts University. The accident occurred on May 8th, 2014. The case was settled prior to trial. Necessary releases have been obtained from the claimant, and the total settlement is $3,246.59. Name and address for the record.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Mr. President. Kimberly Scanlon, assistant city solicitor, 75 Ashcroft Road.
[Paul Camuso]: Any questions for the city solicitor or a motion? Motion for approval by Vice President Caraviello.
[Robert Penta]: Councilor Penta. One quick question. The settlement is just for property damage, if I understand this correctly.
[Paul Camuso]: Correct, yes.
[Robert Penta]: Right. Was there any damage to the firetruck? No.
[Paul Camuso]: On the motion of vice president's Caraviello, the clerk called the roll.
[Clerk]: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
[Paul Camuso]: Yes. Six in the affirmative. One absent. The claim has been approved. Merry Christmas. Thank you. Merry Christmas. All right. On the motion of Councilor Henta for papers in the hands of the clerk. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The ayes have it. Offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that the shelter located at the corner of River Street and Riverside Ave next to the Harvard Van Guide Garage be discussed for potential community use. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Anyone familiar with this particular shelter? Uh, it's across from the CVS on Riverside Ave, uh, right, uh, adjacent to the Harvard van God parking garage. And, uh, I had the opportunity just recently to, uh, actually go and sit underneath the shelter and just look around and see the condition of it. And I was, uh, really, uh, taken back by, uh, the lack of, uh, maintenance, uh, for this particular shelter. The paint is, peeling off the side of the shelter itself. There are gutters that are missing and hanging off. Inside was in very dirty condition. I don't believe, I think the intention originally was to use this particular shelter for people waiting to catch the bus on the opposite side of Riverside Ave. And I for one have never seen anyone waiting for a bus in that particular shelter. I do see people hanging around in the shelter, which I'm not opposed to, but it crossed me when I was in it, Mr. President, that this would be an ideal location in the middle of Medford Square to possibly have some type of wall put around the perimeter, maybe three sides of it, and maybe for eight to 10 months a year, have an art gallery or some type of arts uh, located right in the smack of a method square. Uh, you could also have a portion of it cause it's a good size, um, uh, coverage. Uh, maybe you could put a portion as a fruit slash vegetable, uh, stand. There's so many different repurposes of that particular, um, uh, shelter that really is, in my opinion, an eyesore and not being used to its full potential. And it's been like that for years. It's not recent. It's not the last week, month, year. It's been like that for years, Mr. President. And I would hope that the mayor takes this council vote, because I'm gonna ask for a vote that the city of Medford look at repurposing that particular shelter for other community uses. And I just throw out a couple. I'm sure there may be 20 or 30 other uses that residents or committee might have envisioned for that particular property, but it's a prime piece of property that right now is an eyesore and could have so many potential uses, and if you wanted to put a little heat inside of it and close it off and make it a glassed-in area, I mean, the potential is endless, and you could use it year-round, and you could provide more lighting in that particular area, because at night, if you ever walk down there, it's very dark on that side behind the cemetery, the Salem Street, uh, burial, uh, uh, cemetery. And, um, I would ask that, uh, we take a vote on this tonight to repurpose it. Mr. President asked the mayor if, uh, he is too busy with a lot of other issues, maybe this council could take the ball and run with it and, uh, find a use for it. But I would like to start off with the administration, um, to repurpose that particular, uh, shelter on the motion of council of marks to council of Penta.
[Robert Penta]: On that motion, you jogged my memory. It goes back some years ago when former Councilor Mayorko introduced a resolution similar to that on buses, advertising for buses in the city of Medford. I think the city generated something like 30, $35,000 a year by doing that. So maybe the advertising of outside vendors on that as a particular part of repurposing can bring in a few dollars, whatever it might be worth. And at the same time, you've accomplished two things.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Councilor Langelke. Thank you. President Camuso, I think it's a good idea. I just would really recommend what you said after that, Council Member Marks, with regards to the lighting. I just wouldn't want it to turn into anything that we have in West Medford where the residents down in West Medford and those who take the commuter rail want to close off the nook part of, it's almost like a little shelter down there. They want to close it out because it brings such a bad element to that area. So I just would want to make sure there's enough lighting and make sure we don't, to create that situation that we have in West Medford. But otherwise, you know, it's a good idea. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Marks, for bringing this resolution forward. I think this is a great idea. It's a great proactive approach to revitalizing our downtown business area. One of the things that I've seen in a lot of other communities is almost like a wall that would speak to the history of the area. And I think when we look at, you know, the Salem Street Burial Ground and the history that Medford Square has, that would be a perfect purpose for it. You know, if you see some of the things that we've done in our community here in Medford, we have a library that they opened up in West Medford Square, and it's just an open-air library, a box. Simple, put a book in, take a book out. Something like that would be a great idea down there as well. I'm really impressed with Councilor Mark's foresight in bringing this matter to the table, and I'm wholeheartedly in support of it, Mr. President. I think this is a great idea.
[Paul Camuso]: On the motion. All those in favor? All those opposed? Roll call has been requested by Councilor Marks. amended to include extra lighting to not have the behaviour that happens in the West Medford train depot lot, correct? Mr. Clerk.
[Clerk]: Vice-President Caraviello. Yes. Councilor Dello Russo. Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor O'Kerr. Yes. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Penta. Yes. President Crusoe.
[Paul Camuso]: Yes, six in the affirmative, one absent. The motion passes. Also, while we're under suspension, offered by Councilor Penta, 14-768. Be it resolved that the Medford High football team be congratulated on their well-earned football victory over Malden High this Thanksgiving day.
[Robert Penta]: Councilor Penta. Mr. President, this past Thursday, it was absolutely fabulous to see our Medford youngsters not only win, but win in a huge fashion. I've been attending these games for the last, 56 years. I only missed twice, and I believe both of them were called off because of inclement weather. And as a result of that, I think I can speak with some sense of knowledge as it relates to what takes place during these particular games. These boys absolutely went out of their game. And as their coach, Jason Nascimento, indicated, I think they played over and beyond that for which anybody expected in this day. It's the second oldest rivalry in the country. Latin and English is the oldest one, and Malden and Medford is the second one. And, you know, I think it's a true testament to the fellas and the coaches that they prepared the kids for the game, and they played with a tremendous amount of excitement. But something took place at that game that jogged my mind, and it's a disturbing fact, and I think it goes like this. When first attending the game, I noticed the field. The field was not at all cleared. The snow was on the field. And with the snow being on the field, my first thought was, wow, these kids are going to play on this field. You know, anybody could get hurt at any time, either side, Mauldin or Medford. And when I was watching the news at the end of the day, recapping all the local games and all the local teams that took place, every one of the games that they did and they showed on TV, the recaps, the snow was all put to the side or to the ends of the end zone. And these kids were playing on a decent field. It may not have been the best field, but at least the snow was cleared off of the field. And then I want to thank a fellow by the name of Michael Nestor, because he brought to my attention something that he found written in the local press and in the Boston press. It talks about the Malden coach. The coach's name was Joe Papagallo. And he said, I feel in my heart of hearts, if I had a regular playing field that we could have played on, our regular game, we would have come out on top. What is he saying? The game was in Malden. It's your home turf. It was your place to make sure that the field was cleared out through the superintendent or your director of operations, whoever it might be. And then to add further insult to injury, our Metfed marching band was not allowed to go on the field because Malden did not have a band. So the kids that prepared all for the period of time for the Medford-Malden game were not given the privilege to go out in that field and do their halftime show. What do they have for a halftime show? Someone throwing Frisbees into the net. That was a complete insult to the people who were there, both Medford and Malden, but whoever put this together. And I don't know where the principal of our school at Medford High or the principal, Mr. Brown, at the Malden School was on this. But it's just impossible. Spoke to many parents. Spoke to school committee personnel. They just don't understand how and why this could have happened. We were the guest team. We weren't the home field. And to insult the guest team by saying, your band, we're asking your band not to go on there because we don't have a band to go on there, and then to put a Frisbee thing out there at midterm, at midfield, I mean at halftime, excuse me. Just complete, total insult. But the best part of the whole day is that Medved won 36 to 12. They not only beat them, they proved their point, that they don't need a field in good condition because, quote, he indicated that his fellas, the Malden coach says that his fellas on the team couldn't get their traction, their grip on the ground. Well, what made the difference between Malden and Medford being able to do it? But more important, the bottom line to all of this is a public safety issue of the kids playing on that particular field. There was no other field that was shown on television on that day on highlights that talked about teams playing on a frozen field. They had plenty of time to go out there and clear off that field. And if they had to delay the game to do it, they should have done it. But they didn't do it. And then to add insult to injury, to have the coach turn around and say, if I had a regular field, that we could have had a regular game and they would have come out on top. Then at the end, he throws a kudo, but the Medford kids did a good job and they won. That's BS in plain English. Both sides, both kids go there to play a game on that particular day. Win, lose, or draw, because that's what sports are supposed to be all about. But it didn't turn out to be that way because of one coach's remarks, which were quite inflammatory as far as I'm concerned. And then to add insult to injury, to have our Medford High School marching band not be allowed to go out there because Malden didn't have one, that's an insult. That's an insult to the whole program. And you talk about a program, if you went there, they passed you out a program. Every program had Medford and Malden in it. This year, they only had the Malden players. Medford players were not found on the program. So I don't know who put this whole thing together. It's obvious it came on the Malden side. But their superintendent, their principal of the high school, their coach, and whoever takes care of their grounds should all be held accountable and be told it's a shame that they allowed that game to be played with all the conditions that are surrounding it. But the highlight of the game was the fact that Medford won, and they won convincingly. And they should be so proud under the conditions that took place, not only did they won, I'm so proud of them for taking a picture with their band people after the game to let people know that they appreciated the fact that the band was just as much a part of the Medford-Malden game as anybody else. Mr. President, I've seen a lot of games, I've been to a lot of games, but this is the first that I've ever seen come out like this. and the stupidity, and I'll call it that, of going out there and tossing Frisbees into a net for a halftime show is the most insulting thing you can do when you have a band ready, willing, and able to play. It didn't make any sense.
[Paul Camuso]: I think you made your point very clear. Oh, it is clear. And the motion is to congratulate the Medford High Mustang team.
[Robert Penta]: It is. And I also want to, again, I want to thank Mr. Nesta for bringing this to the attention to a lot of people, it highlighted, and then upon reading it and seeing it and reviewing other comments from other people, you know, it's interesting. You know, I believe it was 1992 or 1994, yeah, because I think the announcement was 20 years on that day. Medford beat Malden six to nothing, and he was the only one that scored the touchdown on that day for Medford. Yeah, he still breaks my chucks, because I get the offensive player of the game. That's beside the point. I'm glad somebody does. But that's beside the point. The fact of the matter is simply this. Medford played an outstanding game. And as their senior quarterback said, it'll be the greatest thrill. It's been a long time coming. And it was a great day for the citizens and the city of Medford. And shame on Malden for doing what they did. but congratulations with high honors and high praise. Mr. President, I'd like to have the Method High football team come and appear before the city council so they could duly receive an award for their outstanding victory in that particular day because it was, they just did things that were totally spectacular and the coach as well. The what?
[Paul Camuso]: Nothing. We'll take a vote on your motion. On the motion. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The ayes have it. Reckage, we're passed to Councilor Penta.
[Robert Penta]: Mr. President, there are a couple of, I don't want to hold up all the records, but there's a couple of typos in there and I think, I think that's, yeah, yeah, just, I can either that or correct it, yeah. Hang on one second.
[Paul Camuso]: uh, records at, uh, the motion of Councilor Penta to table and he will bring a revisions to the clerk and there will be, there's just, there's just two minor revisions, two minor revisions and the records. We back before the council next week. All those in favor, all those opposed, the ayes have it on the motion of adjournment.
[Robert Penta]: Mr. President, we got a copy tonight here of a, um, of a notice of a public meeting that's going to take place next Wednesday evening. I believe it's six 30. Um, Well, anyway, checking into it further, oh, thank you. Checking into this thing further, it talks about the reason why MassDOT, the reason, and it's not explained, I have no idea why it's not explained. The reason why MassDOT is having this is because of a federal, there is a federal inclusion. Because of the money I believe that the city is applying for under the, with the waterway taxi that the mayor has under consideration, I believe 200 and somewhat thousand of that 475, is particularly earmarked for this particular location. And because of that earmark, the MassDOT, or the State Department of Transportation, has to call the hearing. But in essence, it's really as it relates to explaining the whole idea as it relates to the federal money being used for this particular project. The right of way, it's just language, from what I understand. It's just language that's thrown in there if, in fact, temporary or permanent easements are needed. I believe that the easements that are needed One of them already exists. And I think it's just a reaffirming it. And that's the walkway that's between the senior center and the, and the, um, and the one 21 Riverside Avenue. And then there's another one that allows for a, for an easement coming in. Um, so with that being said, Mr. President, I would like to, um, and I think it should have been clear. I, is this Mr. Clark, a notification of a public hearing? Is this the document that went out? notice of a public hearing that they sent out for, for who is it for? It's just it's a DOT department of transportation. It's being held here in the council chamber for the, for the peace hosted by Frank DiPaolo. We got that from a ministry. Could we have, um, could we have, um, either from the chief engineer or the administrator and upgrading, um, an upgraded letter as to, because it's confusing. It isn't really DOT. It's the feds that are going through the state department of transportation. That's the reason why this hearing is being called. So could we have an explanation either from Lauren's office, DeLorenzo, or?
[Paul Camuso]: Lauren sent us the document in the mail, so.
[Robert Penta]: Who do you want to ask?
[Paul Camuso]: Both. All right, to OCD and the engineer. Right. On the December 10th. I got it. Meeting at 6.30 PM. Here in the council chamber. Here in the council chamber. On the motion of Councilor Penta, all those in favor? All those opposed? The ayes have it. Councilor Monks.
[Michael Marks]: Before we adjourn, several weeks back this council took a vote on sending a couple of issues to the Traffic Commission. One was the closing off of the corner of Main and Yale Street, and the other one was to add bollards to the Harvard and Main Street corner. And I was wondering if we can get an update if the Traffic Commission received it, and when will that appear on the Traffic Commission agenda. Also, the second point, Mr. President, I believe we voted for a Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss moving the bus stop on Main Street, you know, 20 or 30 feet down. And if you can set that up, maybe sometime after the holidays or... We're trying and we get two upcoming meetings.
[Paul Camuso]: The Office of Community Development requested a meeting, not next week, the week after, and next week we have the tax rate, but I think it's a very important issue and either myself or Vice President-elect Dello Russo will be scheduling something. The OCD meeting is something to do with the grant and forthcoming. We'll be on the agenda next week or the week after the 12th.
[Robert Penta]: I believe, Mr. President, this is something new that OCD meeting is going to be setting an agenda as it relates to community development, as it relates to certain portions of the community development block grant hearing.
[Paul Camuso]: So no, no. Yes. For my information, the one the one that Lauren called myself on was something to do with the park grant. So it might be another different meeting.
[Robert Penta]: Well, there's another one then that's scheduled as it relates to that. I think it's a preliminary meeting as it relates to setting an agenda that's going to handle the fiscal.
[Paul Camuso]: Possibly? Yeah. At this point, the only request that has officially come from the OCD to have a meeting is regarding a park grant. And the city clerk was checking the schedule, and it will appear on our agenda. Mr. President. Is this park grant the one where. I'm not sure. All I know is. Oh, wait a minute.
[Robert Penta]: If it's, if there was a park grant notice that went out a little while ago, is this, is this the park grant where the mayor, um, Lauren de Lorenzo, and I forget who the third person was, took a picture saying that the city is going forward and voted for this money for a park grant. And this never came before the city council and the law and the law requires the city council to take a vote. And how can the mayor, Go forward.
[Paul Camuso]: The pot grant was before this honorable body earlier this year and she's looking for another meeting. Other than that, Councilor, no, we've, we voted for the pot grant earlier in the year for Webster street park. I believe it was one of them. Um, as Logan Park, exactly. There was several, we have voted on this previously.
[Robert Penta]: Some of those monies, I'm going to beg you to differ with you. Some of those monies were used.
[Paul Camuso]: Not to be confused, this is the P-A-R-C-C grant. Right. Not a park P-A-R-K.
[Robert Penta]: Okay. Then we're talking about two separate issues if that's the case. And the issue that I'm talking about is the one where the mayor took a picture and after speaking with the lady in Boston who was in charge of the program, the only reason that the city is not getting its portion of the money, they do not have yet a recorded roll call vote from the city.
[Paul Camuso]: That could be it, council. I hope you pick up the phone tomorrow and call Lauren because I plan on doing it as well. All those in favour of Councilor Marks's main motion for the Traffic Commission to give us an update on when the bollards are going to appear on the Traffic Commission meeting. All those in favour? Both. The traffic calming approach is on several different streets. Councilor Lungo-Kerr.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Ed O'Neill, you said his next week tax, set in the tax rate. If he could give us, I know we always ask him the week he comes to give us a couple of different breakdowns. If we could ask him prior to the meeting, ask him tonight, send a motion.
[Paul Camuso]: Can we take a vote on Councilor Marksley? Yes, yes. On the motion of Councilor Marksley, all those in favor? All those opposed? The ayes have it. Councilor Lungo-Koehn has the floor.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. If we can ask, I'm going to ask Chief Assessor Ed O'Neill to break down the tax rate two or three different ways. One, obviously the mayor wants to probably tax to the maximum, the 2.5%, if he could break it down, how we'd set the tax rate if we were going to give our taxpayers some relief at the 2%, possibly the 1.5%, just to make sure he brings the numbers for a few different options for the council.
[Paul Camuso]: Do you want to ask for that or do you give us the numbers because he's not going to be clear on it? I think he's going to know what I'm talking about. No, that's why I'm asking you. Previous fiscal year tax rate sentence? We've got to vote on something. They're going to come back and say it's ambiguous. We've got the meeting next week. I'd rather put the percentages on it.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. You all set, Councilor?
[Robert Penta]: referring to residential exemptions, whether it's 15, 20, 25, 30%, whatever it might be.
[Paul Camuso]: He brought us the breakdown of each one.
[Robert Penta]: And he also brought down the number of homes that would be affected and what the dollar range was. So if he could do that, that would be great.
[Paul Camuso]: So why don't we go back, ask him for the same data that we asked at last year's tax hearing, we wanted ahead of time this year for this meeting.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, I'm trying to recall. Because it was several different options. Because it was the residential tax rate, it was also the tax levy,
[Paul Camuso]: It was the one too that affected like Cape Cod towns and not up here. There were several different issues going on. So why don't we ask for all the documents we asked for last year.
[Robert Penta]: I know, I think this is, I have an idea where she's going. If it's 10, 15, 20, 25, 30%, and then how does that reflect upon 2.5, 2% or whatever it might be?
[Paul Camuso]: How many homes over a certain value? No, no, no.
[Robert Penta]: How does that affect not hitting the max of 2.5?
[Paul Camuso]: And I'd like to add to that the breakdown of the break even point that last year, houses based at a certain value would have went up significantly. And, I mean, that's the data we asked for last year. So I think we're all on the same page.
[Robert Penta]: As far as the real estate values go, that's an unfair comment to make, Mr. President.
[Paul Camuso]: No, there's a break-even point.
[Robert Penta]: No, no, I understand that. But real estate values have jumped dramatically in this city.
[Paul Camuso]: But there's a break-even point. It's a dollar amount.
[Robert Penta]: That's what I'm referring to. No, but folks in this community, It's either the fifth or the sixth hottest market in real estate for people living in the city or selling real estate. I don't know about living here, but selling it. And with that being said, I think the breakdown that the Councilor Lungelkern is alluding to, it makes a lot of sense because I think we're threading pretty close to now getting to an exemption. Somerville just had theirs up to 35% for residential tax exemptions. They have it all broken down, and as it relates to business, new business, two, a single, double, and a triple family home, and they're doing pretty well. And look at the development that they have over there. Another thing, Mr. President, I'd like to add an amendment to that. How much? Mr. President, I'd like to add an amendment, an addendum to Councilor Lengelkern's thing. I'd like to know the new revenue that was brought in taxes last year as compared to the new revenue brought into taxes this year.
[Paul Camuso]: New growth?
[Robert Penta]: New revenue. New tax revenue. New tax revenue? Yep. Because that speaks volumes as to ongoing. If we, for example, took in a million dollars last year and this year it's projected to go out another $2 million or a million dollars again, that's $2 million extra in each year in the coffers. And once again, the ratepayers aren't seeing that.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Councilor Longo-Kurt and then Councilor Knight. If I may finish, yeah, thank you. If we could get as much documentation in our packet for Friday so that we can have it before the weekend, rather than just being brought it Tuesday night at 5.30, 6 p.m., and asked to vote on it at 7, that would be helpful. On that motion, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: I think it would also be helpful, Mr. President. I remember, I think back in January, the city began doing a real property inspection and valuation program. And it said it was going to take about 24 months to complete the program. I'd like to know where we are in terms of the reevaluation of the properties that have been inspected, how many houses have been done, how many houses need to be done before we move forward on the tax rate.
[Paul Camuso]: All those in favor? All those opposed? The ayes have it. The records have been tabled on the motion of Vice President Caraviello for adjournment. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The ayes have it.
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