[Fred Dello Russo]: The 17th regular meeting of the Medford City Council will come to order. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Capiello. Present. Councilor Falco. Present. Councilor Knight. Present. Vice-President Long and Kern. Present. Councilor Marks. Present. Councilor Scarpelli. Present. President De La Russa.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Present. With seven members present, none absent, please join me in rising for the Pledge of Allegiance. 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. Commendations. This is in reference to agenda item 16382 to give a commendations. to the St. Raphael's 5th and 6th grade boys basketball team, Northeast Regional CYO champions. And to do that, Vice President Breanna Lungo-Koehn, who offered the resolution of congratulations to you all, will come up and give out the awards and citations. So at this time, I turn things over to Madam Vice President.
[John Falco]: It's a pleasure to have you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I want to thank all the boys from the 5th and 6th grade St. Ray Fields boys basketball team for coming tonight. Thank their parents and their grandparents, who are huge advocates for them. If it wasn't for Mr. Johnson, he's the one that educated me on how well you did, and we're all so proud of you. Just to let the public know, this is the 5th and 6th grade boys basketball team from St. Ray's. They recently had a big tournament in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They outlasted, I guess, eight other participant teams and became the Northeast Regional CYO champions in their final game against St. Peter and Paul from Hartford. They were seven points behind with six minutes left to play. They went into, obviously, defense mode and allowed the opposition a mere two points for the rest of the game while scoring 14 points themselves and eventually winning the championship by five points. you boys should be very proud of yourself. And I'm sure your parents and grandparents are very proud. It sounds like you had extra practice, which definitely paid off. So hopefully you always practice and you get good results in sports. And I think that correlates to studying hard and extra study and obviously get better grades. And you treat your parents and your grandparents with kindness, because you should just do that anyway. I'd like to invite the coaches up if they're present to help me shake some hands. I'm going to read the accommodation. The Medford City Council takes pleasure in awarding this council citation And it also states, to St. Rayfield's elementary school 5th and 6th grade boys basketball team in recognition of being outsized in virtually every game it played. The St. Ray's 5th and 6th grade basketball team played tenacious defense while employing a blistering fast break attack and achieving undefeated record of 22 to 0. and capturing the New England CYO Tournament Championship April 3rd at St. Joseph's High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut. On behalf of the entire members of the Medford City Council and the citizens of the city of Medford, congratulations. I'm gonna read your name and I hope you come up and get your citation and definitely shake hands with the rest of the council and your coaches. Max Philpott.
[SPEAKER_15]: Good job.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Jimmy Ball. Daniel Barbarian Tom O'Leary Job Connolly. Cameron Vivolo. Sam Grant. Cameron Flaherty. Tim Cochran. Richard Foscarato. Matthew Zubricki. Jared McDonough. Ronnie Listro. Five coaches? Oh, she's... Coach Dan O'Neill. Coach Charlie Ball. And Coach Mike Philpott. I'd just like to recognize the two assistant coaches, Coleman O'Neal and Paul McDonough. Is that him? Pauly? You're Pauly? You're coached? Awesome job. If anybody would like to say a few words.
[Fred Dello Russo]: This is our spokesman. Sure.
[SPEAKER_14]: Well, we really wanted to thank the council for having us come tonight. We wanted to thank all the parents, the grandparents, everybody that made this season possible. And mostly I know I speak for my other two assistant coaches here. No, they were a big help. I said the players really made it possible. They made it really easy to coach this team. Anytime we asked them to do something, they did it. They usually did it with a smile, and they were a great tribute to their school and to their families by always thinking of the team first. As my assistant coach, Mike Philpott, said many times, the important thing is to know your job. And they each really figured out what their role was on that team. And they were able to come through. And you can see the results that came from that teamwork. So thank you so much to the council. And it's an honor for us to be here tonight. And we really want to thank everybody. So thanks.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Madam President. I just want to congratulate all the boys. I'm a proud graduate of St. Rayfield School, and I played basketball back some many years ago, and we never made it as far as Bridgeport, Connecticut, but I can tell you when we made it to the playoffs, we went as far as High Street to St. Joseph's. And unfortunately, our playoffs ended there. But you've made us all proud. And you've put St. Raphael's on the map. And it's really a team effort. So you should all thank each other. And thank your parents and the coaches for taking the time.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Everybody go back there, and we'll face this way.
[Fred Dello Russo]: You got that paper, George? On the motion of suspension of the rules by Councilor Knight for paper 16-463. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Under suspension, item number 16-463. That's not it. offered by Councilor Dello Russo. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council invite Kayla Hindle of the American Cancer Society to present to us about the upcoming Relay for Life. And we invite before us Kayla. Just so you all know, over the past several years, the council has invited a representative of the American Cancer Society to present to us about the Relay for Life which is an awesome fundraising opportunity and night for people to gather and share their efforts in a cause to promote the greater good. So we invite Kayla up to share with us her name and address for the record and to tell us about the Relay for Life.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. My name is Kayla Hindle. I live in Marlborough. Do I need to be more specific than that? Thank you so much to you and to the council for your time. Relay for Life of Medford-Somerville has been around for many years, but we can always use more support, more people involved, and things like that. So I just wanted to share some news and updates and opportunities for folks to get involved. We need teams, survivors, sponsors. Everyone can sort of get involved in a way that suits them. So the event this year is June 4. That is a month from tomorrow. And down at Hormel Stadium, Bob Maloney is incredibly generous in hosting us there. This year, we are continuing to make it a six-hour event as opposed to overnight. But we're hoping to one day go back to the overnight event since that is a really meaningful part of Relay for Life And just to give a little bit of background for any folks that aren't familiar with the history of Relay for Life, it is an event that is the main fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, but it's so community-driven, and it's very much built by the volunteers and by the community members. So we, as much as possible, want to get folks from Medford and folks from Somerville very involved. and to drive these efforts because, unfortunately, cancer is something that virtually touches everyone's lives. And so this is an event where people can feel like they're taking action to fight back, joining together, and also sharing their emotions and, you know, experiencing something that other folks have experienced as well. So there's fun and food and entertainment and ceremonies, and it's a really great community effort. So, I am happy to share the information that I have here with anyone who's interested. As I said, you know, we encourage folks to create teams. If you know any survivors, please invite them to join us. We have a free survivor reception for survivors and a caregiver, a free dinner and gift and T-shirt. We want to honor and celebrate them for the fight that they have fought and, you know, also looking for community sponsors, businesses to get involved as a promotional opportunity for them as well. Any questions?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much, Kayla. Thank you. Councilor Marks? Maybe if you could give out your website?
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure, yeah. It's relayforlife.org slash MedfordMA. So pretty quick and easy. Awesome.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Anything else? Well, thank you very much, Kayla, for coming up. Yes. You have our support. Thank you. And we're grateful to the American Cancer Society and to the people who are involved in this effort for making showing community support and encouraging life and health and progress in our city.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the motion of Councilor Knight that it be received and placed on file. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carries. On the motion of Councilor Knight while we're on suspension to take before us paper 16454. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carries. 16454. offered by Councilor Knight. Whereas it has come to the attention of the Medford City Council that approximately 36,000 Verizon workers in the company's landline and Fios division are currently on strike. And whereas Verizon forced the workers on strike by demanding that they allow increased offshoring and contracting out of goods jobs from the communities, even after Verizon has already sent thousands of formerly good union jobs overseas, and whereas Verizon workers are fighting for good family-supporting jobs, and whereas residents and businesses deserve high-quality telecommunications services and state-of-the-art fixed broadband services, not a network that Verizon chooses to neglect, especially in an emergency, by a low-skill, poorly-motivated replacement workforce, and whereas Verizon has made $39 billion in profit over the past three years and paid its top five executives more than $230 million over the past five years, and be it therefore resolved that the City of Medford will not enter into any new contracts or obligations to purchase Verizon products or services while the strike continues, and be it further therefore resolved that the City of Medford will review any current contracts or obligations to purchase Verizon products or services and then any contracts or obligations were permissible by the terms of the contract and the party's obligations to one another and be it further therefore resolved that the City of Medford urges Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam to end the Verizon campaign to destroy good jobs and be it therefore resolved that the City of Medford go on record in support of the Striking Verizon workers. Finally, be it therefore resolved that the City of Medford find good jobs and good telecommunication services are vital to local communities and supports Striking Verizon workers in the fight for good jobs that benefit for every worker and their families in our community.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I apologize in advance for the length of the resolution before us this evening, and I thank you for indulging me in bringing it forward. The issue that's before us this evening is really an issue of poverty, Mr. President. As the top 1 percent continue to get richer in America, working families are under attack, and the situation here on the horizon is no different, Mr. President. If you take a look at what's going on with Verizon in the current situation between their workforce and their collective bargaining, you'll see that Verizon really has put profits ahead of people. You'll see that their top five executives made $230 million in the last year. You'll see that in the first three months of 2016, they've made $1.8 billion in profit per month, Mr. President, but they want to replace jobs that pay a living wage, jobs that provide unemployment health benefits, jobs that provide retirement security, but jobs that don't. Mr. President, this hurts our local economy. This hurts the 100-plus families in the city of Medford that have worked for Verizon for a number of years that have been committed to their job. president that were working with Mar-Bell and Miller-Manning, the same people that have made this organization so successful and have put this organization in such a position that they can make such record profits. But I really think that it's not right, it's not fair to put profits ahead of people and to really sell out the workforce to offshore overseas accounts and to a workforce that's not going to be as committed, because they're actually employees of a president, you know, such an organized party. I'm here in the audience. We do have several individuals who reside in the city of Manhattan who are directly impacted by this corporate grief. Corporate grief, Mr. President. And I'd ask my council colleagues to stand with me and to stand with the 3,600 members that are striking between London and New York to fight corporate grief to its finest, to force Verizon, to urge Verizon to end the campaign to destroy the jobs, and to be sure that we can have jobs that pay a living wage and remain in our community because they are essential to the well-being of all of us, Mr. President.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Councilor Knight.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo, and I thank Councilor Knight for his presentation. My question, because I know this involves city contracts, so my question to Councilor Knight through the chair is, has he had any conversations with the mayor of the, you know, Mayor Burke and how she feels about this? And if she's willing, if we do pass a resolution like this, is she willing to entertain it and follow through with it?
[Adam Knight]: I spoke with mayor Burke briefly on the issue. I think that the person that should speak with mayor Burke would be the men and women of IBEW local 2222 who endorsed her candidacy when she was running for mayor. I think that those are the people that she should really be accountable to. However, she did not seem to be opposed to the idea that we support the striking Verizon workers, that we ensure that we have jobs that pay a living wage in our community, Mr. President. She did not seem like she was opposed to that at all. So with that being said, I'd ask for approval. And my motion of approval by constant night and vice president.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. And with regards, do you have any idea of, cause we are mentioning contracts, um, held within with the city. Do you have a list of those contracts just so we know how the bottom line would be affected?
[Adam Knight]: I do not have a list of those contracts, but I'm unaware of how the city's bottom line would be affected if we didn't enter into any new contracts. I think that the idea here is, Mr. President, is until the corporate juggernaut realizes that the people that made this corporate juggernaut successful do some respect. There's only one way that you can get these corporations to listen, Mr. President, and that's to hit them in the pocket. And I think that hitting them in the pocketbook is certainly the way to go. We should take a long, hard look at the business that we're doing with Verizon and with other corporate entities that take advantage of their workforce, Mr. President. So, you know, with that being said, I do not know how this will affect the city's bottom line, but it's my understanding that we don't have much contractual obligation with Verizon at this point in time. But I'll be happy to follow up with the Superintendent of Lights and Lines and get back to you on that.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, if we could maybe get a report from the administration. I know that all our self-employed The department had cell phones. The last time we heard during budget hearings, I believe that was through Verizon. So I do know there are some contracts. I just want to see how that would affect our bottom line budget. I have a close friend who's actually striking with Verizon at the VFW. I think he's logged in about 120 miles walking back and forth, and it's been a couple weeks now. So I can only imagine the last strike was It took a few months, so I understand the issue and I understand what the families are going through because I do have a close friend striking himself. I just want to make sure that what we're voting on is something in our purview, something that the administration will take into consideration. And I do want to know, you know, how this will affect the bottom line of our budget and, you know, what contracts, how many contracts are involved here before we maybe, you know, I'd like to hear from the public.
[Adam Knight]: I'm going to strike out after the second, be it therefore resolved. I'd like the resolution to read that the city of Medford will review any current contracts or obligations to purchase Verizon products or services. I'd like to cross out in any contracts or obligations. We're permissible by the terms of the contract and the party's obligations to one another. I think that might address Councilor Longo's concern as to whether or not there is a monetary effect it will have on the taxpayers here in the community, and it will also send the same indistinct message. And it will also, I think, make her friend feel very happy that she's supporting this cause as well.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. So on the motion of approval by Councilor Knight, as amended by Councilor Knight. Chair recognizes the citizen at the podium. Good evening, sir. Please state your name and address for the record, and welcome.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you, Mr. President. I'm Robert Capucci of 71 Evans Street. Uh, my, my first question on this matter is has, has the city council of Medford, uh, decided to, uh, become a, uh, a union talking point. Now I don't really take either side on this issue. My question is the function of the city council to represent all of the citizens, citizens of Medford. I mean, if you're going to start taking up every single union issue that It reflects badly on this body, in my opinion. Why not take up the issue of the local 25 here, where the new mayoral administration has pretty much nearly wiped out their overtime? But that's another matter. Councilor Knight has brought up some very good points, but he doesn't just cite Verizon. He cites all of corporate corporate America. Now, the unions in this case are actually representing the work line, not the entire workforce, as Councilor Knight alluded to. It's the work line force of Verizon. Since the year 2000, their responsibility, their Department of Verizon, in terms of their overall economic intake, in 2000 it was 60% Today, in 2016, it's actually less than 7%. What Verizon is doing is actually, in my research, and I got this all from the public record that anybody can look up, what Verizon is doing is conforming to the 21st century and the times. What is before this union and the company is a contract, and that's up to them to decide. If the councilor wanted to, you know, make a statement on it, but to actually call for this city to take action, I think sets a precedent.
[Adam Knight]: Now — Point of information, Mr. President?
[Robert Cappucci]: Point of information.
[Adam Knight]: I believe about one and a half years ago, this city council did take action on a very similar matter that I brought forward when they were going to lay off 33 janitors up at Tufts University. And we brought a similar resolution forward, Mr. President. And I'd like to point out that there were 33 people on the chopping block. Only eight people got cut. So the council did take up an issue that might be outside its purview and outside its scope, and I don't think that's an unreasonable thing to say. Yeah, I mean, this has nothing to do with, you know, the legislative body of a local municipality. Absolutely not, Mr. President, but it does have to do with the lives of 100-plus citizens in this community who aren't going to work and aren't collecting a check every day, Mr. President. And that's what it's all about. It's about our neighbors and our family and the people that want to be able to provide for their families and people that want to make a living wage so that they can afford to live in Medford. The same people that have lived in Medford for their whole life, that have helped make Medford great, now can't afford to live here, and we're going to say it's okay, outsource their job, send it overseas, and tell them to go work for minimum wage? I don't think that's right, Mr. President. I don't think it's fair.
[Robert Cappucci]: Well, Mr. Citizen. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I thank the Councilor for his comments. Being a longtime worker for unions, I'm sure he's representing them well. But he's here to represent the city of Medford, in everybody's opinion, not just the unions. The contract that's before these workers. Point of information, Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: Point of information, Councilor Knight. I believe I'm entitled to have an opinion as well.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Point of information.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Point of information, Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I agree with what Mr. Pucci is saying in a way, but I also agree with my council colleague, Councilor Knight. When somebody is passionate about a subject and they want to speak on it, and you're right, maybe it should just be a statement. But this is a council forum. This is a procedure. Everybody should be open to the public. And so I agree if Councilor Knight wants to make a statement, then I'm all ears and I want to hear it. I just hope that Councilors, including Councilor Knight, understand that when maybe I want to talk about the schools or transparency of the school system, that that is relevant and obviously affects not workers, but our children and parents and teachers. So I just hope the same courtesy is extended back and forth.
[Fred Dello Russo]: If I might point out. that if local bodies didn't speak out on these passionate matters, especially with the livelihood of its citizens, perhaps the areas of the Rust Belt, the Midwest, greater Detroit, Michigan, would be thriving metropolises today. Mr. Citizen, if you would continue.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you very much, Mr. President. Well, Councilor Knight has said a lot about corporate greed and one of outsourced jobs and things like that. Let's take a look at what, first of all, Verizon is offering the workers right now. A 7.5 percent wage increase.
[Adam Knight]: The President. Point of information, Mr. President. I wonder if the gentleman would be qualified to discuss this, considering he's not a member of the bargaining team for Verizon and he's not at the table. I believe he's reporting to us what Verizon's reported out in their media campaign to destroy good jobs.
[Robert Cappucci]: No, this is a part of the public record. Mr. President, the Councilor has brought up an agenda item. This is an open forum. He's brought up points about corporate greed and everything else. I have the full right to offer my opinion in refusion to him citing corporate greed and everything else. Let's talk about what's actually being offered here.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Let's talk about- Mr. Capucci, you are welcome to continue speaking, and we're grateful to you for coming up here to speak to us. Thank you.
[Robert Cappucci]: Thank you. May I continue? You may. Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, what's actually being offered here, is a 7.5% wage increase, a no layoff provision, a 401k plan matching a pension plan, with three annual increases and access to health care. Last year, Verizon invested $7.8 billion in America's technology infrastructure. They paid $8.4 billion in taxes in 2015, added that to 2014 and they actually paid $15.6 billion. That's a 35% tax rate. In salaries, they paid a combined $16.1 billion. They've purchased $4.25 billion from diverse suppliers. Those purchases alone create jobs in other industries. They paid $8.5 billion to shareholders in cash dividends. They paid $2.3 billion in pensions and retirement benefits. This is all just last year. $3.2 billion in health care benefits covering six 170,000 beneficiaries given top-of-the-line access to medical, dental, prescription that was so robust that it qualifies for the Cadillac tax under Obamacare.
[Adam Knight]: What's the total, Mr. President, if the gentleman wouldn't mind answering that question? What's the grand total, after all those billions that he just rattled off?
[Robert Cappucci]: You're looking at almost $100 billion here.
[Adam Knight]: One third.
[Robert Cappucci]: Mr. President, if I have the floor, I would appreciate you ruling on civility in the forum, so I'm not shouting it down. Thank you. Verizon, just a month ago, signed a contract with Boston to bring in fiber technology to Boston, Mass., making it one of the most advanced, industrialized, and technologicalized cities in America that Mayor Walsh has partnered with because it's going to bring jobs and benefits to the people of Boston that many of these Metro residents that are working on. One of the things with— Point of information, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Point of information, Congressman.
[Adam Knight]: It's also been very well publicized in the public record that the gentleman speaks about that while Verizon does bring Fios services and broadband services into certain communities, those communities that they bring them into are usually the more affluent communities. And low-income communities don't necessarily receive the same treatment or the same service or the same level of service, Mr. President, which, again, is, you know, reflective.
[Robert Cappucci]: So not only are they corporate greedy people, they're also Is that what you're alluding to?
[Adam Knight]: No, I believe that what I'm saying is they would deliver the services to the more affluent communities because they have an easier chance of getting paid. They have a better chance of receiving some breaks.
[Robert Cappucci]: Well, with the fact that this particular department has declined over 53 percent, what Verizon has done is expanded in fiber for broadband services. They invested in workers and tools. to keep a lot of these jobs. What we're talking about here, actually, is a private case that the council has brought forth that the city of Medford is now going to clamp down on corporate evil greed America. And that's what's really fueling all of this, Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, looking at the resolution, I believe the resolution asks that the City of Medford review any current contracts or obligations to purchase Verizon products or services. That's what this resolution asks for.
[Robert Cappucci]: Right. And the reasons for that, Mr. President, as the Councilor outlined, are corporate greed and not doing things for poorer cities.
[Adam Knight]: No.
[Robert Cappucci]: That's what you said, Councilor.
[Adam Knight]: No, Mr. President, that's absolutely positively not what I cited. That's exactly what you said, Mr. Bates.
[Fred Dello Russo]: It's not the forum for you to debate. Mr. President. So, Mr. Capucci, if you would just continue with your statement. Thank you very much.
[Robert Cappucci]: will wrap it up shortly. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I'm from a union family. What happened? I'm not against unions. No, you're not, Bernie. Yeah, sure I am. Yeah, I am. Thank you for calling order to this forum, Mr. President. Thank you very much for not doing that.
[Clerk]: Drinking Kool-Aid.
[Robert Cappucci]: I'm not drinking any Kool-Aid. I'm just reciting facts of what Verizon did. That's all I'm doing. It's all part of the public record. that people can go home and look up. I'm personally proud of a country I can live in where it can pay out this much money and provide all of these jobs. Look at what's being offered to these union workers. A 7.5% wage increase, no layoff provision, 401k They're offering you a medical plan that's so good that it qualifies for the Obamacare Cadillac tax. They paid $15.5 billion in taxes in the last two years under a 35% rate. Who's being greedy? Who's being greedy there? I lift paycheck to paycheck. I have no pension. I pay a lot for my health care. A lot of this health care gets paid for by Verizon.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, if I may, I don't think that Mr. Capucci or I are going to be able to settle the Verizon dispute in this room right now, this evening. The reason I brought this matter forward was to stand with the men and women of Local 4222, the men and women in this community.
[Robert Cappucci]: Would someone move the question, please?
[Fred Dello Russo]: I've moved it like six times.
[Robert Cappucci]: I'm a Medford City resident for 46 years.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Knight for approval as amended. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Marks. Just if I could, Mr. President. You know, I've been on the council a number of years and this is the precise reason why this body has never gotten involved with collective bargaining. First of all, we have no business being in collective bargaining. We don't get in any of the businesses of our local fire department, police department, who have all over the last couple of years gone through some real tumultuous collective bargaining with the administration. And it's not under the purview of this council. Now, as a recent union member myself, I support union workers. I support the right to strike. I support a living wage. I support not sending good jobs out of the U.S. And I support all that, Mr. President. However, some of the language, and I'm sure the motion that was offered by Councilor Knight, he wanted to be thorough in his motion. But some of the motion deals with issues that I, as a Councilor, for years, Mr. President, and anyone that's been on this council for years, fought to bring cable competition into this community that lacked for some 20 years. For 20 years we had one cable provider, and it wasn't until several years back when Mayor McGlynn entered into a contract with Verizon to bring Fios to allow cable competition into this community. And anything that may or may not threaten that particular negotiation, Mr. President, is a concern of mine. And some of the language in this, although I can support some of the other language, some of it talks about contracts and not entering into any new obligations and the purchase of project products and services. It's much more involved than just giving us support like we did with Tufts University and the custodians, which was a nod saying we empathize, we support you. and so forth. But I as one member, in good faith, the thousands, and I say thousands of Method residents that opted to leave Comcast and go to Verizon because they thought they could get a better competitive rate, they thought maybe Verizon was quicker and so forth, regarding cable, more dependable, who knows? But I am not going to do anything tonight to jeopardize that contract that was signed back some years ago that I as one member and other members of this council fought very hard to bring cable competition into this community. And I'm not saying that's Councilman Knight's intent to eliminate one of the cable providers. However, the language in here, I don't feel comfortable voting on this entire proposal, Mr. President. And, you know, maybe a sentence or two stating that we as a city council support the workers, I have no problem with that. But anything other than that, Mr. President, in good faith, I cannot support that here tonight. And that's the reason why, Mr. President, if it remains the way it does, I cannot support this tonight.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Caraviello? Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, you know, I think what started out here as a voice of support for the Men and Women Walking Alliance. In fact, before I came here tonight, I was at VFW and I shook hands with all the men and women on Mystic Avenue. And I come from a family whose business was outsourced overseas. And we were a union facility for 60 years, and my whole family lost businesses because of jobs being sent overseas. And I support all these men and women here tonight and the job they're doing. But again, I don't think we came here to negotiate a contract for these guys. I think we're here just to give them a voice of support and that we stand behind them. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes the speaker at the podium. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: Thank you very much. Rachel Tannenhaus, 26 Pearl Street. I am a proud union member and steward. I am not a Verizon employee, and I am not part of IBEW, but I wish solidarity to my fellow union members here. walk by protests right near my office many times a week. And I always thank the protesters, the employees striking out there. That having been said, I think that you want to do this right. You want to do right by the employees here, and you want to do right by the citizens here. And so you want to make sure that you're actually doing something that you're allowed to do, because you don't want to, like, break the rules in the name of the union members here. So I think that it's important to look at what the city council is and is not allowed to do. If they're allowed to do these sorts of supportive things, yay, awesome, I am 100% in favor of them, and I'd like to state that. But I also am a government employee, and I know that when there have been labor issues with folks that my employer has done business with, and I am not representing them here today, there was not allowed to be any kind of official thing. Like when Hyatt, and you'll notice there's a Hyatt down the way, when Hyatt was having their shady hiring practices going on, we were all really upset about it, but the state couldn't officially make a statement about, hey, Hyatt, you suck for doing this, even if people were really upset about it. So I think that if it is allowed to make this statement, or to look at the contract or something like that, that's great, but you probably want to look at your rules. around that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: But if it is, absolutely do it. And I think that there is a difference between going around and telling local businesses, do this, don't do that, and looking at multinational, multi-continental corporations that, I mean, all right, let's be straight up here. I'm not sure any of the other telecommunications companies are doing any better, all right? You know, they're all, like, wicked crooked. But these guys are wicked crooked in public, apparently, which is not smart. And so since they happen to be the ones that we're noticing, I think that there is a huge difference looking at that. Verizon's a big company. It's not like they're terribly, it's not like we're hurting their feelings.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thanks.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: Thanks.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, sir. Please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_03]: My name is Nick Tomazook, 29 Garfield Ave. I've been a union member for over 40 years. I've been fighting these corporations. But it's not going to help. What you have to do is you have to stop all those lobbyists in Washington that are giving stuff away so they pass the bill, they can take all these jobs out of this country. How the hell is anybody going to afford a house or anything else on minimum wage? They take all the good IT jobs and they send them to India. And now they're sending all those Indians here. All the people that were involved with all the telecommunications in India, they're sending them here to work here. What you have to do is get after Washington to pass a bill that it will cost you just as much to make a product in this country as it does in the other country. And you'll keep the jobs here. But until that time, these corporations have all to say. We have none. But we have to get after those people down there and get rid of those lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. On the motion of Councilor Knight for approval, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. On the motion of Vice President Ungel-Kern to resort to the regular order of business, hearings 16-426, notice of public hearing, City of Medford, July 1st, 2016, June 30th, 2017, annual action plan, year 42, development block grant application. A public hearing will be held by the City of Medford City Council and the Howard F. Alden Memorial Chambers City Hall metric mass on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2016. The purpose of this public hearing will be to invite the general public and representatives of public service agencies to express comments regarding the city's annual action plan for community development and planning. The action plan contains the proposed use of community development block grant funds for year 42, which extends from July 1st, 2016 to June 30th, 2017. The Office of Community Development will be requesting that the Medford City Council authorize Mayor Stephanie M. Burke, official representative of the city of Medford, to submit the one-year action plan application for funds and all other assurances and certifications to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city is applying for $1,403,910 in block grant funds. Additional information and review of draft action plan can be obtained at the Office of Community Development, City Hall, Room 308, Medford during regular business hours on April 1st, April 13th, 2016 for public review and comment, et cetera. Edward P. Finn, City Clerk. Councilors, we all received the action plan in our packets over the weekend. We discussed it in committee whole some several weeks ago, had presentations from all the representatives of the various charitable organizations. And we have before us the year 42 draft action plan presented by Lauren DiLorenzo, our director of community development. Before us at the rail is Ms. DiLorenzo, and we invite her to present to us the wonderful outcome of all these deliberations.
[Laurel Siegel]: Thank you, Mr. President. Madam Director. Thank you for the opportunity to be before you again. The Community Development Block Grant Program, as many of you know, is an annual entitlement program. The city is entitled to apply for it, but we have to follow a number of rules and regulations in order to to receive that money and to spend it properly. The Community Development Block Grant Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and its primary purpose is to benefit low and moderate income citizens in the city. It really isn't a source of money for supporting general municipal services. It really is a targeted approach for community development and housing activities and employment activities, such as creation of jobs for people who are you know, having a difficult time finding housing or jobs or living in conditions of housing that may be substandard or just not as up-to-date or as code-compliant as it should be. So the actual plan that we submit is done on a computer, and we have a draft form of that. I've given you a really general summary of that plan. So the plan that we submit is done on a computer system And it is lengthy. We analyze housing needs. We identify resources and working relationships with our partner housing agencies. And there's a draft online and the final application will be put online at the city website for anybody who would like to look at that information. It's also available up in our office. We identify some general goals and these really are very consistent from year to year. Housing is a goal. We are allocating, we're recommending an allocation of $20,000 for that. Now that seems small, it is small, but we also leverage our own resources with other resources. The city is able to partner with other agencies and also to apply for home funds which are administered through a regional consortium and Medford is a partner agency of that. We also are able to work with other agencies that provide housing services, non-profit agencies like Medford Community Housing. So the number is low there, but we do leverage that with other resources. Physical improvements to city systems. Now, this is a general catch-all for basically public facility improvements that are eligible under CDBG programs. And in this, we include our general activities, water, sewer, street reconstruction. Park Rehabilitation, which is eligible in low and moderate income areas only. And some facility improvements. As I said previously, we really can't use this money for general purpose of city government. So for instance, you want to do, as you can see, you need renovations at City Hall, would this be a good source of fund? Unfortunately, it's not eligible for that activity. The only way that we can really assist general purposes like the library, the schools, City Hall, is the removal of architectural barriers. So we do do that often as, you know, the council has been active in funding removal of architectural barriers in other public facilities. Most recently was at the Medford High School pool and locker room. And this year we are going to use CDBG funds to do an ADA feasibility assessment at the public library. And we hope that we'll be able to use CDBG funds to install an elevator there. I think probably the ramp in the front needs to be upgraded, and we'll do a full assessment of the bathrooms. I know the councils have been concerned about bathroom conditions. It can't be a general upgrade in terms of beautification improvements, but again, we can use a CDBG portion of money to leverage other municipal funds or other kind of grants that may be available. So we'll do that. That's intended to be under this program. We hope to get through the feasibility stage. depending on where the general feasibility analysis happens with the overall improvements of the library. I mean, my goal is to get the elevator installed this year, but we do have to coordinate with other work that's being proposed, or will be proposed, I should say. A couple of these projects are ongoing, but they're in here anyways because some of the expenditures may have to happen after July 1st. One, the most really significant one here is the Senior Center Renovations. As you go by there, the Senior Center has two projects going on. One is the Peace Garden. and the other are the senior center renovations, which you have supported in the past. That's including roof replacement. We are doing some masonry and waterproofing repairs on the exterior of the building. There are some, we'll call them storefront improvements, which are really upgrades to the interior doors, the doors that enter and enter the building on both sides, the front and the back of the building. We're replacing the flooring. We are doing a small lift to get up to the stage that's inside the big general purpose room. We have got some basically flooring, a little bit of carpeting in a couple of the office areas. And I'm probably missing something big, some painting. So the senior center is in full construction mode right now. The seniors have been very tolerant and have been very, you know, wonderful to work with quite honestly. I think they appreciate the investment that you're making in that building. And I hope that you'll all be proud of it when it's completed. They did take a little reprieve from the billing for about three weeks so that the contractors could really get in there and work without having to worry about their safety as much as they do on a daily basis. But generally the contractors are in there at 3 o'clock after the program is completed. So that project is generally expected to be completed by June. So hopefully that will happen shortly and we won't get into the next program year. But we put that in here anyways just in case so we don't have to go through an amendment. The mayor is working with the engineering department and DPW on priority areas and low and moderate income areas for street and sidewalk work. So in terms of CDBG funding, that's really reconstructions, not repairs or maintenance. But she's working on that to identify what low and moderate income areas we can use CDBG money to upgrade. So that will happen this program year. Economic development has been an area that we have not usually spent that much money. We used to spend a lot of money on that, but program regulations changed, which limited our ability to do general economic development activities. We are going to allocate $100,000 and look at what we can do with the CDBG funds. It's a little bit more limiting than what we could do with city sources of money, but we're going to do it anyway. So one will be the recreation of a storefront improvement program. In order to participate in that program, the businesses will have to commit to creation or retention of low and moderate income jobs. So it will be, you know, they won't, not every business will qualify, but the ones that can certainly will be welcome to participate and hopefully that will increase on the creation and retention of jobs and that can happen in the downtown areas. And the other is just work, we got a small grant to do some, a business and economic development strategy in Medford Square. But we've put this money in to just have some money available so that we may be able to continue that in other areas and also to leverage any additional activities that we may want to do in Medford Square. Public services, so I don't think I said when you gave the number that basically it was a 2.1% cut from last year. 15% of that allocation can go toward public services. So we always fully allocate this to public services. We did a little bit different on the allocations which I can read if you would like, otherwise they're part of the package. Would you like me to read them? Okay. I will point out that there was one agency that didn't apply again this year and there is a cut to the SCM community transportation to make up the difference in the deficit funding. And the reason why we picked them was basically they are the largest, it has nothing to do with the importance of the program and honestly it's a great program and we could spend a lot more money than that But they do take up almost half of the block grant allocation. So some of the agencies are getting little, you'll hear the amounts, and at some point it's not even feasible for them to receive a grant because they're getting such small amounts. So it's not that we wanted to cut it, but cuts did have to be made, and this is where the recommendation is. Boys and Girls Club of Middlesex County, which is basically an after-school program, $1,937. Bread of Life, $1,048. Community Family, Inc., $1,745. Consumer Advisory Commission, $6,802. The Council on Aging, $60,028, and that's for a few programs that they run. EMARC, $4,533. Heading Home, $3,778. Housing Families, $8,324. The Immigrant Learning Center, $3,778. Medford Public Schools runs an after school program. This money goes to subsidize people who are low or moderate income. It's $8,505. Mystic Valley Elder Services, $8,161. Salvation Army, $1,162. SCM Community Transportation, $80,000. And the West Medford Community Center for the Senior Programming, and senior director, $20,485. And that's a total of $210,286. Okay.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Marks, do we have to do a public hearing process? Yes. So all those in, or anybody in favor of this, please present yourself. and indicate so at the podium. Anybody in favor? That will come up afterwards. Anybody in opposition? Anybody in favor? Hearing, seeing none, others, we close that portion of the public hearing closed. Anybody in opposition? Anybody in opposition? Hearing, seeing none, we close, declare that portion of the public hearing closed and chair recognizes Council Martins.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Lauren, the economic development section, can that money be used for all of our business districts, or is it just allocated to the business districts in different economic sections of the city?
[Laurel Siegel]: Well, we haven't created the guidelines for the program yet, and I'll have to re-look at and, you know, work with HUD to see what they're going to say to that. But generally, it's more the business and the jobs that they're creating. Any business that creates a low- and moderate-income job should be eligible for the program. I think that we'll have to look at the amount and see whether it makes sense to, you know, you really want to get your impact with storefront improvements if that's generally what people use in a concentrated area to upgrade the area. So, but yes, generally anybody, you know, we can do a citywide program if that's, you know, what we want to do, citywide program, but the criteria will really be based on the job creation and retention.
[Michael Marks]: Right. But I remember some years back, I believe it was, I want to say it was the West Method Business District. was not eligible for certain funding at the time. I can't remember what the funding was for.
[Laurel Siegel]: We had, years ago, HUD has gotten more conservative, if that's possible. So, years ago, we used to do the storefront program, and we would call it a slums and blight program. Now, it sounds terrible, but that was the criteria, and the criteria for slums and blight work was a lot more lenient. So what we would do is we'd basically take, like, Medford Square, and we'd do an analysis of inadequate infrastructure, maybe roads or sidewalks and conditions and buildings, et cetera. And we would have documentation upstairs that would justify the slums of blight designation. And we did that for a number of years. Salem Street was one. Mr. Gavin, who had an area, Medford Square. The criteria changed, and HUD enforced that. So they actually made us stop doing the program that way. How do I describe this now? So now they follow the state guidelines on slums of blight, which is really what an urban renewal criteria is. And that means that 25% of the buildings in that area that you define have to be vacant. And now they only want you to use the money for eliminating public safety issues. So for instance, if somebody had a cornice of a building that was falling down on their head outside, you could fix that, but you couldn't do the beautification improvements that we were doing, the nice storefronts like we had done years ago and where Medford Square had originally been done. So that's why West Medford just didn't qualify as a slums of blight area at that time for the criteria even at that time. So now it probably wouldn't, I mean it definitely wouldn't qualify again as slums of blight, but perhaps the business itself may be serving enough people who are low and moderate income and have employees that we can make some kind of justification that if they, you know, don't get this kind of assistance, they may lose jobs. This is why it's all kind of related to an economic development strategy.
[Michael Marks]: The Vice President My only concern is I just want to make sure that if funding is available in programs regarding improvements to facades and so forth, that all the business districts receive the same fair shake at any type of funding. And if that can't be accomplished through this particular mechanism, that the city allocate funds to help offset whatever can't be funded through this particular program?
[Laurel Siegel]: I hear that, and I think ideally, I don't know what the budget will bring in terms of new funding for new programs, but ideally there would be another source of funding to match this. I don't know what it would be, but there'd be another source of funding that could be used more flexibly. Because it would be nice to fund businesses like we did before that are just general upgrades to an area based on community development needs or economic development needs that can make an improvement in the appearance of some of these locations.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. I think there was a citizen who had a question.
[SPEAKER_15]: So I had a couple of, oh, Rachel Tannenhaus, 26 Pearl Street.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: I had a couple of questions about, I had some suggestions, but I don't know if they're feasible, because I don't quite, I haven't quite wrapped my brain around what the money can be used for and what it can't. One of the questions is, in terms of retaining or creating jobs that are low or middle income, is it one of the most underemployed groups of people is, of course, people with disabilities. Sometimes employers are concerned, while many of us don't require accommodations that cost any money, sometimes employers, Gesundheit, are concerned about spending money on accommodations that we may need. Is it possible to have as an incentive or could one of the things to retain these jobs or to create these jobs be to have funds available that employers can apply for if they have an employee with a disability that requires an accommodation that costs money and they're not sure how they're going to do that, is that a sort of thing that could be set up as a potential program in the future? Or is there money that could be leveraged towards that? For example, I require software to be able to use a PC at work. It costs money. If I use a Mac, it doesn't cost money. If somebody is hiring a person with my disability to work at a job that requires use of a computer and they use a PC, they may not be real excited about shelling out $500, even though they're legally supposed to do that. But having the funds that they can apply for for the city may make them more likely to not think twice about hiring a person with a disability.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Ms. DiLorenzo can try to answer that for us.
[Sqp6S0Yyr0A_SPEAKER_04]: That is awesome. And also the other thing is that in Cambridge, which I realize is its own planet, but in Cambridge they do have a facade improvement program. And one of the things they do, and again this might involve leveraging other money using this, is that they have If you make sure that when you are altering your facade that the entrance is completely accessible, et cetera, they will match the funds used for that, I think. I'm not sure exactly what the details are, but that's one of those things where they will, if you do that and you can apply for certain facade improvement funds, And you can get more of them if you improve the accessibility. So that's another possible thing. It means that people with disabilities can not only spend money at these businesses, but we can also be employed by them if we can get in the door.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much.
[Laurel Siegel]: So I'll address the second item first. Yes, CDBG funds can be used for the removal of architectural barriers. So doorways, thresholds, they tend to be a little bit more costly. You know, we may have to have a higher offset limit for those activities, but yes. In terms of software, I do not believe so. HUD has, right, some things that like equipment, computers, equipment, or some kind of, but ramps to get in, yes. Anything that's a removal of an architectural barrier that's a physical improvement can be used, CDBG funds can be used for that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much. Do we have a motion? On the motion for approval by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favour? Do we need a roll call on this, Mr. Clerk? We'll have a roll call. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With the vote of seven in the affirmative, none in the negative. Congratulations for another years of good work.
[Laurel Siegel]: Thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Uh, before we take 16, four 55 council card yellow,
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Motion 16.455. Offered by Vice President Lungo-Koehn. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council meet with the Office of Community Development to discuss the Meadow Glen Mall redevelopment. Be it further resolved that the developer be invited to the said meeting. Councilor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Jeanne, I think Jeanne trying to grab Lauren DiLorenzo. I should have grabbed her for this before she escaped. I had put this on the agenda about a month ago with regards to the Meadow Glen Mall redevelopment and how we should be updated and have a meeting, committee of the whole meeting to discuss with OCD. With Lauren DiLorenzo and OCD, as well as invite the developer down, there are a number of residents who live in the area, and there's also a lot of questions and concerns with regards to the development and the landscape. Lauren, thank you for coming back. It be resolved that the Medford City Council meet with your office, yourself, and possibly a representative from the development team for the Meadow Glen Mall. I don't know if you'd be ready to give us an update With regards to that, there's a number of concerns. Obviously, there's a number of residents that live in the Mystic Valley Towers, as well as the Parkway condominiums. There's issues with regards to, or just questions and concerns with regards to the landscape that's gonna be used around the Meadow Glen Mall redevelopment. Are there gonna be solar panels? The drainage system, are there gonna be any walkways? How is the, you know, is there going to be an improvement in lighting in the parking lots? Will there be additional parking? So, I don't know what you'd be able to update us on. Sure.
[Laurel Siegel]: So, they actually, they didn't go through any of the boards. It was basically a building rehab project. So, they worked directly with the building department. They did have a number of meetings with us. There are landscaping improvements. There, let's see, there is going to be some better pedestrian connections and some accommodations for bicycle You know, there's not, there's improvements in drainage on the site, but there's still quite a bit of parking in the parking lot, as you can imagine. I think if you would like to invite a representative to come to a committee of the whole meeting, say, I'm sure they would come, they would attend, they'd do a presentation for you if you'd like that. But.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, I mean, that's what I'm looking for. There are residents who have, I think, emailed all of us with concerns. I know there's a couple engineers that live in the condominiums and people that are very concerned. So I'd love to be able to have the residents that have the questions, have them answered with the developer, with your office. I'd love to see the plans and be on top of it like we are on some other projects within the city.
[Laurel Siegel]: So the building construction plans are a little bit different than if they went through a site plan review process, but those are available for anybody to see. They should be able to see them at the building department. And yes, if you would like to do a presentation, I'd be happy to call them and see. If Ed works with me on a couple of times, I'd be happy to do that if you'd like that.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And do you know if they're doing solar panels?
[Laurel Siegel]: I do not think they're doing solar panels, but I think the lighting in the parking lot may have some solar. Alicia was in on, Alicia Hunt, the director of energy environment, was in on some of the department head meetings, and she has her standard questions that she does ask people, so I know she did bring it up to them, but I do not believe they're doing solar panels.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I did ask for this meeting about a month ago, so I'll just ask the president kindly again if we could set up a meeting sometime, maybe the end of May before we start our budget hearings, a time that we can invite residents and the developer and Office of Community Development so we can review the plans and ask any concerns, ask questions with regards to the project. It's a massive project that I believe is going to take a couple years to finish. We always ask.
[Laurel Siegel]: There was a filing to the Community Development Board, actually for the Board of Appeals, but the site plan part of it goes to the Community Development Board for a project across the street. So there is a lot of work going on there. There'll be a Community Development Board meeting on the Locust Street project at the Shaw site on May 18th at 6 o'clock in room 201, so anybody's welcome to come to that. who would like to do that, and there is coordination between the two teams, between the proposed Wegmans and Meadow Glen Mall, and with this project. So there is proposed coordination such as pedestrian crossings and improvements. So I think that, in general, there is a lot of development, but I think that you'll see quite an upgrade to what exists currently. And I think you'll be happy with it, though I'm sure everything can be improved from what the original proposals always are. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, I would just ask that that meeting be called the end of May so that we can, you know, sit down with the developer. Yeah, it would be very interesting to see how we're going to connect the Shaw site. Do we have any potential buyers for, or, you know, can you give us an update on the Shaw site?
[Laurel Siegel]: Okay, so the Shaw site, there was a plan for 490 luxury apartment units. I mean, they know they have to do a component of affordable housing in that. They submitted this past week. It's a pretty intense set of plans. I think they're well prepared. The question of density, pedestrian access, and those kind of things, we had a meeting with them today. The department heads to go over and ask some questions so they had an understanding of what the water and sewer requirements would be and what existing conditions are, what landscaping and site access will be, how much parking they'll provide. There's had been a couple of meetings before that with these people. I mean, originally they've been around for a while, so they own the property, they own the straw site. They originally tried to lease it out for a retail kind of purpose. Of course, quite honestly, the inquiries of people when it was up for sale and they were accepting bids on that property. The calls that we were getting in my office were on storage and things like that, were pretty low level, not very exciting uses. So I think at some point, well I know when the point was, when Wegmans appeared to be making a commitment to Meadow Glen Mall and the upgrades were happening at Meadow Glen Mall, it really changed the interest of the other site and the possibility that something in a higher, better use could be developed at that location. So they met with us. Just like, honestly, we met with the mall people. We had wanted a mixed-use development there. And we recommended a mixed-use development at this location, too. But the economy generates and really dictates what people, developers, are willing to do with their land. So they have gone from a completely residential project to adding some Of course, the Eastern Bank would stay not in their building, but as a tenant on the first floor of one of the buildings. There's three buildings. They're quite long, but their frontage on the main street of Locust Street is fairly narrow, with two driveways going down between three buildings. And they are willing to put in at least 4,000 square feet of retail, though we're trying to get them to increase that. But so this discussion and meetings will be open and I'm sure when it gets to the CD board, there'll be a lot more comments on that project too.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Great. Thank you very much for the update for both sites. Um, and I look forward to hopefully a meeting in the near future.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you ma'am. Vice president council Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: If I can, thank you. If I may, Mr. President, bring this forward. I just wanted to make sure that someone from the building department, you mentioned that, should be at this meeting. The building department should definitely be representative.
[Laurel Siegel]: And if you want to get into storm, drainage, or environment, we might as well invite the city engineer and police. You can have everybody there. So I would say the relevant departments would be happy to work with that to identify who those are.
[George Scarpelli]: If we could just add those.
[Laurel Siegel]: Thank you.
[John Falco]: Councilor Falco. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you to Councilor Langelker for bringing this forward. I agree that we definitely need to have a meeting. This is a major development that's going to impact that neighborhood. I've been getting many questions as well throughout the community, just specifically about the timeframe of the project, the layout of the area, but in particular the traffic. Do we know, is the parking lot going to remain the same as far as the way it's cut right now, the entrance, the exits. Are there going to be any changes to that? Has there been any talk about traffic?
[Laurel Siegel]: Oh, yes. There's always talk about traffic.
[John Falco]: If you take a look at that project and then the project over at Shaw's, you're talking about a major amount of cars compared to what the traffic flow down there now. So if you could talk a little bit about traffic.
[Laurel Siegel]: Right. So there are traffic studies that were prepared for both sites, and there will be an increase of traffic, but not over what's currently existing. And I'm going to say how I want to qualify that is that some of the uses weren't really used very well. But if they stand a traffic report, we'll look at numbers from a traffic manual. And if You know, that's how they prepare their studies. So based on those, it's not as great an increase as you would think because of all the retail use that was already at Meadow Glen Mall and because of the Shaw's site is technically a retail use, which is a higher generator of traffic than an apartment building. So there is a lot. I mean, we have some scheduled improvements that are being proposed by the developer themselves, at least of the Shaw site. And those would be, they have been attached as conditions, but I'm certainly going to recommend them. Things like signal retiming. So signal retiming at Locust Street and Riverside Avenue and Ross Street. And then the same at Mystic Valley Parkway and Freedom Drive. And this developer today, his traffic engineer, committed to them also making any required ADA improvements that are necessary. Now they will have to work with the state to get approvals on state roadways, but in terms of local roadways, I don't think that's going to be an issue in terms of getting approvals. Everybody who comes in the door now has some general discussions when we approach them. Pedestrian amenities, pedestrian facilities, bicycle amenities, bicycle facilities. Everybody is pretty much going for parking variances. Now, Meadow Glen Mall didn't need any variances. They're actually providing more parking than we require by ordinance for the retail use. And that is because Wegmans has asked for parking in the concern that they wouldn't have enough parking. The other project would be asking for parking variances. And, you know, the idea of transit-oriented development is that you wouldn't need as much parking if you're really using public transportation. So we don't just take that for granted. We ask people. So I saw the traffic study. I was just reading it before I came down here. We had a presentation today, and on the Loca Street Shaw site project. They did their calculations very conservatively. So they were estimating 10% of people would use public transportation. In general, in Medford, based on the last census, it's 25%. So it's good that they're underestimating how many people will go. And there'll be accommodations for bicycle parking inside the buildings. We will ask them to do a transportation demand management program, which would be providing information on public transit. how people can access it and all the other ride share programs and commuter programs and taking steps to encourage people to pretty much take the commute to work by public transit. It doesn't eliminate the need for cars and there will be parking on site. Pedestrian amenities are just, you know, kind of safe and attractive sidewalks and safe crossings. We went over the idea of, they have an idea of which would cause, of course, need traffic commission approval. We're putting this new high intensity light across the crosswalk that goes basically from, it's a, let's see, it's the one that goes from the bus shelter across to the Shaw site. So it would be one, signalized, but it's not like a street signal. It's a pedestrian activated signal for when people cross over Locust Street. And I haven't seen the details of what that light looks like yet, but I think that's a good step. So they seem to be willing to make the commitments of what they need to do. We talked about, I'm going to give you the whole thing now, if you want it, but we talked about connections to the streets in the back, where Cummings is and the other streets are, and making sure that people can They're going to want to take the least route of travel, and they've had that connection on the Shaw site. So that needs a little bit of work, and I think the city's probably going to have to give them, maybe, perhaps an easement of something over some of their property over near Hormel Stadium in order to have a legal passageway. So there's that. There's quite a lot, and it's a big project. It's a big project.
[John Falco]: Has there been any talk about, like I noticed, 490 units, so what are we talking as far as height? I mean, do we know how tall these buildings are going to be?
[Laurel Siegel]: Well, they're going four, I haven't looked at the exact number, but they're going four and five stories, so I'm gonna guess it's probably 75 feet of height, but I don't really know the number off the top of my head, so I shouldn't use it, but I'm gonna guess it's about 75 feet.
[John Falco]: And that's four or five stories? Yes. That's what I was thinking, is that it would require a variance in that area?
[Laurel Siegel]: Yeah, pretty much. The, there's a lot of variances required. I don't know if everybody remembers here when we actually zoned that to residential at one point, and then the economy, Mr. Farese, poor Mr. Farese never got, never got his building started, and then it was rezoned back to industrial. See, I'm really dating myself. When, when Shaw's, whatever the supermarket was that started with Shaw's was, and we were at the time lucky to get that. And so here we go again with residential at that site. So it's an industrial zone and it does require use variances and a number of other variances.
[John Falco]: So now as a comparison, if those are going to be four or five stories, how tall are Mystic Towers doing? How long?
[Laurel Siegel]: Oh, that's probably, I'm going to say 10 or 12. Okay. That's what I was thinking.
[Laurel Siegel]: It is far as, uh, it's not, it's not going to be close to that. It's going to be more like the, um, more like I'd say station landings, maybe, uh, maybe one floor lower than that.
[John Falco]: Do we know if I, I'm not sure if you know the answer to this question.
[Laurel Siegel]: Maybe three and four stories.
[John Falco]: Oh, three and four.
[Laurel Siegel]: I'm still getting familiar with the plans myself, but maybe three and four stories.
[John Falco]: Okay. And do we know if that's a, does that pose a problem for any of our emergency vehicles, fire trucks or anything like that? As far as if it was an issue.
[Laurel Siegel]: The height of the building should be an issue. There'll be fully sprinkled buildings. When we go through, we, the fire department was represented at the meeting today. Site circulation and access to buildings is always discussed. And so it should not be approved if it does create, create a problem.
[John Falco]: Did the fire department have any concerns?
[Laurel Siegel]: they always have concerns about width of the streets and circulation and access. So those kinds of concerns were raised again today. So thank you very much. Okay.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I don't know if this is a question for Lauren, but in general, um, we, uh, I don't know, it was probably close to a year ago when we had, uh, the projects on Riverside Ave, the Panera, the noodles and the smash burger. There was a lot of discussion at the time and, I've offered a couple of resolutions on what I thought were stipulations put on some of the licenses. One was that the entrance to the stop and shop on Riverside Ave, there was supposed to be a marking on the street that prohibited cars from actually blocking the entrance. And that never happened. Also, one of the stipulations was to have the crosswalk across from Panera Noodles and Smashburger replaced from the gas station down to the other gas station on the Fells way. And that has yet to happen. Um, you know, my, my concern is, uh, someone that, uh, lives in the area and drives the area is from locus street down to the Fells way. The road is not clearly marked. So it appears to be a two lane road, but, and people drive it as a two lane road, but there's no dividing line. Secondly, the sidewalks, if you walk down any portion of Riverside Ave, going to Locust or going to the Fellsway, there are trucks parked all over the sidewalks. You cannot walk down without going in the middle of the street. So, you know, these projects may create a safe walking area, pedestrian area on Locust Street, but once you exit Locust Street onto Riverside Ave, there the problem presents itself. And I have a lot of concerns about The size of this particular project, I'm not against building, you know, I welcome it, but this is a huge project, 490 units. I think it's 780 parking spots. From what I read in the local paper, the developer had a traffic impact study and said there'll be absolutely no impact at all to that area, bringing in 490 units. Good luck to them. I'm not sure, you know, if those people live in the area, but I could just tell you coming down Riverside Ave every day, The cars queue from the Fellsway all the way up to the fire station on Riverside Ave. And that's without this project and without the improvements that are being done to the Meadow Glen Mall. So there's some grave concern that we have to discuss as a council. And these are public safety concerns in the area. And growth is fine and development is fine, but I think we have to take a long look at the infrastructure. And this city has yet to bring its infrastructure up to the 21st century. And Riverside Ave is notorious, especially in that stretch from Locust to the Fellsway. And we did very little to help alleviate the concern from residents that live in that particular area regarding the traffic coming out onto Riverside Ave from the new establishments in the Fells Plaza. And, you know, we talked about possibly bringing in the state and having You'll be able to cross over the Fellsway and go, what's that, north up the Fellsway, rather than come out onto Riverside Ave. Because right now, if you come off of Fells Plaza, you have to take a right, and it brings you to Wellington Circle. There's no way around it. The only other way is coming out either through Commercial Street or Riverside Ave. And both ways lead you to Riverside Ave, which is a real nightmare with traffic already. At some point, Lorne, I think that these issues, and I know you've discussed pedestrian safety and bicycle and so forth, but these issues on Riverside Ave need to be discussed also. And the two stipulations that I recall that will put us a stipulation on the license were never done. And I offered a few resolutions, and I still can't get an answer.
[Laurel Siegel]: So there should be conditions that were attached to the Board of Appeals. We can take a look at that. And I know there was still some finish work, because they were finishing up some of the site work at the very end of the season. They were working with the city engineer. I know the sidewalk that was replaced across the street was in bitumen. Is that supposed to be concrete? So I know that has to be completed. And perhaps there was some striping also. So you can check with the city engineer.
[Michael Marks]: I think the council put a condition in regards to the drive-through. So it's a conditional drive-thru, okay. Not on the common vituals license, but on the drive-thru.
[Laurel Siegel]: Well, we can check with the building department inspector and make sure that they have those conditions.
[Michael Marks]: If you could, the striping at the exit of Fells Plaza, cars just queue up there. No one can get out of Fells Plaza. It's really, you take your life in your hands, because they're trying to get out of there in the worst way. You're trying to get through the Fellsway with a set of lights. It really is a gridlock. Thank you, Councilor. It's a real gridlock issue in that area. And I think at least the striping would help to notify people that they really shouldn't block that entrance. And also the sidewalk across the street.
[Laurel Siegel]: I think we don't own property over there, unfortunately. But if there was some way to increase connections and get some traffic to get out to commercial street, things would flow a lot better. And to get out to a signalized intersection, that would help a lot.
[Michael Marks]: As part of that project, we did put a sign requesting people exit onto commercial. I don't know how many people are using it, but I can tell you it doesn't appear that people are opting for that. But it definitely needs to, you know, the more we start redeveloping that particular area, the infrastructure really is not suitable.
[Laurel Siegel]: Right. It was, you know, the Riverside industrial area was just that, an industrial area. And I think that people really didn't give it much thought because it was a home for trucks and this and that. And now we have more people living in there and more people traveling and walking.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you. Councilor Scarpelli. If I can, thank you. As, well, when we reach this topic, I just wanted to share some concerns that I think we should look at also. The possibility of Illuminae not being completely filled yet, now with 400 and somewhat units, what impact will it make on the school department numbers? I think that we're, you know, our biggest concern Has that been discussed we
[Laurel Siegel]: They're going to do an economic study, and they are trying to contact Roy Bellson. I don't know if they did, but I can call them and make sure that they address specifically school population. The distribution of the units are predominantly single and twos and a few threes. But sometimes people stay someplace with it longer than they thought they were going to do. And all of a sudden the family's with them and they didn't necessarily, you know, maybe they thought they were going to own a house someplace and that doesn't happen. So I think it's a legitimate concern and they should be able to address that question. Okay.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Scott. Councilor Scott Peveley. On the motion of Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Roll call vote, that we have a meeting with Lauren DiLorenzo, her department, the two developers of the metal gun projects, and all appropriate department heads, hopefully before the end of May. I know it's budget season.
[Laurel Siegel]: I mean, everyone's- You want to do the two meetings together, or you want to do them separately? If we can get the- I will caution that the other project is just beginning its permitting process. Okay, well- Probably just the Middleton Mall. Okay. Maybe we just do the Middleton Mall first and then as the other one- Right, and you're all welcome again to participate in any of the community development board meeting is next. That's the 18th. And then the Board of Appeals, I believe, will probably be the last Tuesday of the month.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you. A roll call vote has been requested. Mr. Clerk, if you'd call the roll.
[Clerk]: President DelaRosa. Yeah. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Layton? Yes. Vice President Long-Term? Yes. Councilor Moniz? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli?
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes. Councilor Pavlio? Yes. Motion passes 7-0. 16.456, offered by Vice President Long-Term, be it resolved that the Medford City Council schedule a meeting with the Mayor to continue discussions that are of concern, such as status of the Medford Public Library, the transparent succession plan about superintendent, parking enforcement, and the issue of parking on sidewalks, staffing changes at Medford City Hall, and other topics that are of concern for the administration and the council. Councilor Longo, go ahead.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. You put this resolution on. It was about six weeks ago now that we, maybe even almost two months now, that we sat down with the mayor of the community and discussed really just pinpoints of what you wanted to inform us of. And I think we definitely are in need of a second meeting. We're in the beginning of May. We have a budget that should be coming out sooner rather than later. And a number of serious issues that are going on in our community that need discussion. We need to know what's going on. And I feel like we're not being apprised of some pertinent information. It's information that we're kind of just hearing rumors on, and people are asking us questions, and we really don't know how to answer it. It's almost like we're continuing this genre from what we left off on, from learning our information from the paper, and I think that's really unfortunate. One of the—these four issues are important to me. I know there's other issues that are of concern. It's extremely important that we sit down and meet with the mayor as soon as possible. The first is the Medford Public Library. I've been a big advocate to redo the roof, obviously, and put some necessary upgrades within our library. The leaks are a serious problem. We've expended money on that and just would like an update with regards to where we're at and when everything's going to be complete and where we're going moving forward. with regards to the transparent succession plan of our superintendent. This is of grave concern to a number of parents, a number of residents. There are, I think, two petitions going around, one online and one hard copy, with regards to parents who have formed a group and are really, they're concerned about what's going on and they want transparency. I know that the contract was at issue last week with regards to the superintendent's contract. I did get a copy from the school committee's attorney, and the school committee, within the contract, it does state that the school committee shall advise the superintendent of its intent to extend his contract by June 30th, 2016. Nothing has been brought to the table with regards to what their plans are. If they have talked about it, it's in executive session, and we happen to know nothing. And I think that's of grave concern and something that obviously the mayor of the city could enlighten us on, because she does sit on that committee. Within the contract, it also mentions that the committee agrees to evaluate the superintendent using a five-step process, which includes self-assessment, dual analysis of goal setting and plan development, implementation of the plan, mid-cycle assessment, and a summative evaluation to a schedule agreed upon by the parties. That's supposed to be done every year. And I believe somewhere within this contract, the evaluation portion is two pages long. But there should be a final evaluation report from not only the superintendent himself, but each individual school committee member was to create an evaluation of the superintendent. And I think there's some key issues that the parents are talking about. that school committee members are talking about, that residents are talking about. It really affects our budget. It affects the city as a whole. It's the reason why I voted. Part of the issues are the reason why I voted against the budget in June 2015, because I believe that the school department is somewhat top heavy. You have the kindergarten aides who are only allowed to work three hours per day. I believe it's three hours per day. I could be quoted maybe a little bit more than that. and are getting minuscule raises, where you have the upper-level department heads, some of which are making, over the three years, once I broke it down in spreadsheet form, 15% raises in three years. You're talking tens of thousands of dollars per person each year. This has nothing to do with the person that's listed. It has to do with our budget. It has to do with the PR job that was put in about four months ago, and the fact that that's a $90,000 job. And then I got calls from teachers with regards to books, and books needed to be replaced, and lack of stipends, and a whole host of issues. Maintenance of our schools was pointed out to me. A five and 10 year building and grounds maintenance upgrade plan. Issues with the facilities and community schools. Our schools are a level three district. We have decreased MCAS scores. This is of concern. I mean, I am passionate about it. I have kids in the school. I have a lot of friends with children in the school. And it's something that the city council needs to take hold of. And we need to get involved. Number one, it's involved with our budget. I have people calling me. Lately, I feel like I'm on the school committee and the city council. I can't even get anything done at my office some days because my phone is ringing off the hook. I'm putting in 40 hours a week sometimes between the phone calls and the emails and meetings. Something needs to change, and people need to understand what is going on. Security issues, lack of communication with parents, what happened with the bomb threat and the McGlynn theft, people weren't notified, parents weren't notified for hours if not days after the fact. These are all things that should be evaluated by the school committee. I watched the school committee meeting last night and just the reactiveness of our superintendent, it's unfortunate. Good questions were asked and people were laughed at. I know a resident went up and questioned the contract of the superintendent. And she was laughed at. That's wrong. And we need to take this under our wing and help. I mean, I've been asked for help. People are asking me for help. And I'm not afraid to speak out. I've been retaliated against within the last four months. And I know it's going to keep happening. But that's my job. That's what I'm getting paid for. Are we laughing over there? I'm sorry. I thought a Councilor was laughing at me. This is no joke. This is not a joke. It's not a laughing matter. This is hundreds of thousands of dollars that should be reallocated within our school system, if not evaluated completely. And one person is responsible for this. I saw the superintendent shushing people last night, and it was really, really pathetic. So that's my spiel on the schools. And I could go on. I mean, I can go on and tell you Many many more things because I've got lists from probably six different people of everything that needs to be evaluated That's within the school school department that the third serious issue is the parking enforcement, you know, we have a public parking who sold a We need to know what's going on. We haven't been told anything. The administration is trying—you know, at first, we were so—we've been so quiet. Everybody's like, your meetings are getting out so early, so early. Well, you know what? I want—for me personally, I want to give people a chance. I want to—you know, I didn't want to be how I was the last 14 years or at least the last 10. The transparency is, it's like, oh, I'm trying to be transparent. But no, no, you're not. You're not transparent at all. I mean, we get minimal questions answered. And it's not right. You know, if they have the four votes for the budget, then no, we're not going to get any documentation. But last year, we had four people who kind of stuck together and said, we want information. We want A, B, C, D. And we got it. You know, the budget was approved. That's fine. I chose not to vote for it, and that was my prerogative. But at least we had the group effort to get information that we needed. And I hope that happens again. I really do. I ask my colleagues to stand strong and get in some information. And obviously, within the next few weeks, we're going to be asking for a lot of information from a lot of people. So parking enforcement, there's people who are complaining day after day about parking on sidewalks, about commercial vehicles on streets that aren't being tagged, about how certain streets aren't tagged for certain reasons, and spot enforcement. And that's definitely something that we need to talk to our administration about. The last thing is with regards to the staffing changes at City Hall. Changes are fine. Changes were expected to happen, but when you have We have to ask the city council to change ordinances so that you can hire certain people, and then they're leaving fired, whatever the case may be. And we don't know what's going on. That's wrong. I'm learning from the paper what is happening. I'm learning from school committee members that somebody in the schools is now going to be signing our city-side RFPs, whether or not that's true. And it may be fine, all well and good, but shouldn't we know that? Shouldn't the administration tell us that? Who's going to take over for Karen Rose? That's an important, important job. Who's going to take over for Louise Miller? We should be updated, and I think we all should be demanding answers. We shouldn't have to hear from the editor of the paper or reading the paper. These are four serious issues that need to be discussed. They need to be discussed on concerns that we have, not just a list of things that want to be told to us so that we can vote, so that she can have the votes for what she needs. Change has to start here. I mean, it really does. And I hope my colleagues can move approval on this. so that we can get some of these answers and really start the discussion before the budget.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Madam Vice President. Obviously, the paper is more plugged in than we are.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor, President Dello Russo. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I have been in conversation with the mayor to plan our next quarterly meeting. We're working on scheduling issues, and I'm delighted to have these additional matters presented to us tonight on the floor so that we might ask them to be included in the agenda for the discussion. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much. If I think back and remember correctly, When we met before at the Committee of the Whole meeting with the administration, we adjourned. And when we adjourned, we said that we would reconvene again in 90 days. And I think that Consulate de la Ruzo has told us that he is working on setting up a date for that matter. So with that being said, Mr. President, I think we're looking to schedule a second meeting. We adjourned our last meeting with the intentions of having a second meeting. So with that being said, a motion to receive and place on file, or a motion to send these questions to the mayor. I mean, I don't know what you want to do with the issue of having the meeting and scheduling the meeting. I think it's already been decided and discussed and voted on by this council. We'd like to get these questions answered. I don't have a problem with that, and I don't think it's a bad idea at all. I guess my question is, how do we proceed at this point? Thank you. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. If I could add two things to the meeting agenda when we do meet with the mayor. Budget format. I mentioned it a while ago. I think it's important. We need to see it. It's one of the most important responsibilities that we have, passing the budget. And we should know what it's going to look like, the format at least, before we get to those meetings, before we get the budget book, so we know what we're dealing with. So that's important. I want to see that addressed. And I'd also like to see budget calendar. When are we expected to get the budget? When are we going to meet with department heads? I think it's important. And I'd like to see that as well. So if we could discuss that at the meeting, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Councilor.
[John Falco]: Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I want to thank council longer current for bringing this up. And, um, I, I too agree that, uh, in addition to what was mentioned by council along the one important topics, uh, the capital improvement plan, uh, that we've discussed for the last several years, uh, should be a topic of discussion, um, uh, regarding our municipal buildings and, you know, you know, there's been a lot of discussion about having meetings with the mayor and you know, the discussions are now centered around what we'll meet quarterly with the mayor. And, uh, I, I would say what, what happens between the quarterly meetings, what happens in the 90 or 85 days between the quarterly meetings is equally as important as the four meetings a year. And I agree with council Lungo that we should be kept abreast. of everything that's going on in this community. Not to micromanage the community, but be able to answer when constituents call us and email us and meet us in the street and ask questions. We should be able to give residents an answer, Mr. President. That's what we're elected to do. That's what we get paid to do. What better than to have seven people out here that are advocates for the community? And right now, the administration is not using us as advocates. Uh, you know, and it's unfortunate and there's been a lot of rhetoric and lip service about, uh, you know, coming to meetings and so forth and assigning liaisons and the council liaison. Let me see if the council liaison is present. Is there a council liaison that works in the mayor's office here tonight? Can you raise your hand? No, I don't see anyone here. And I don't recall seeing anyone here since the beginning of the year, Mr. President. And I don't recall seeing anyone here since the beginning of the year, the council liaison. So I think these are the issues. If you ran a private corporation, saying that, I'm only going to meet with the board of directors four times a year, or I'm only going to discuss what's going on with the employees that run the company or the employees that answer the questions and deal with the public. I'm only going to talk to them four times a year. You wouldn't have a successful business. And that follows suit in the city, you know, Mr. President. So, you know, I don't know about these quarterly meetings. Now, it's okay. It's great to meet with the mayor quarterly. What about having discussions with the mayor on a daily basis, Mr. President? or a weekly basis.
[Adam Knight]: And... One information, Councilor Knight. I'm only speaking for myself. If I pick up the phone and I call the Mayor's office, I can get the Mayor on the phone whenever I have a question. I can get a department on the phone whenever I can have a question. So I think that that recourse is available to us. I personally think it's nice that we have something in the calendar that says that we're gonna meet with the administration quarterly. Nothing's precluding us from meeting with them more frequently than that or doing what we do as individual Councilors. But in terms of having quarterly meetings as a body of the whole, I don't see any harm or foul in that, Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you. So as I was stating, Mr. President, it's incumbent upon the chief executive officer of the community to be a good communicator, to be open and transparent. And it shouldn't be incumbent upon residents, members of the council, whoever it might be in the community to say, oh, I got to keep on calling the administration to find out what's going on here, or I got to keep on calling to, you know, we may not have to call the administration as many times if the administration was willing and open to present this information to us in the first place. So there's definitely a breakdown of communication already, and, you know, I hope it doesn't continue this way. I know it's a new administration, and I know there's a lot out there happening, but definitely the transparency Communication and just lack of response to this council is evident so far, and I hope it improves, Mr. President, not on behalf of me or on behalf of the mayor, but on behalf of the taxpayers who are paying the bills in this community and expect government to communicate with each other. You know, anyone can pick up the phone. Councilor Knight's correct. I could pick up the phone 12 times and call the mayor. But I don't think government should operate that way, nor do I think the mayor should receive 60 phone calls from this council a week either, Mr. President. And if communication was flowing the way it should flow, there wouldn't be a need to pick up the phone every minute and find out what's going on with appointments, what's going on with programs in the city, why aren't the crosswalks being painted, what's going on with the Field of Dreams behind the high school, what's going on with a number of issues and, you know, You know, we have the positions now established. We have a liaison to the council. Let's see that in motion. Let's see that work. You know, we have a business liaison. Let's see that work. Has this business liaison been out to the different business districts in the community asking what the needs are? I don't know. Maybe that happens on month eight of the year. I think that position is currently being reviewed. Well, it currently may be being reviewed. But what I'm saying is if the positions are there, they should be working. And if something's not working, it's not a terrible thing to raise an issue or raise a red flag. It really isn't. So I thank you, Councilor Longo, for bringing this up.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Point of information, Councilor Longo, please.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Just thank you, President Caraviello. Just on that point, the liaison, I feel at this point, has never come to a meeting. I feel like it is a joke. And I have department heads. Some departments are open. And supposedly, they were told they can't meet with the city council without approval, just like they can't talk to the paper without approval. I mean, there are people speaking out. Things are not going well. So we need to get a meeting going and find out what is going on.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you very much. Name and address for the record, please.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martington, Cumming Street. And, um, there's an overall question about communication and the role of the mayor with the council. And then there's a subtopic that I'd like to discuss, but, um, the overall is it needs to improve because it kind of feels like the old is, is leaking into the new, the old administration habits are leaking into the new and maybe just having email alerts to all of you from the mayor's office when an important position has been filled. whether it be the liaison, whether it be whatever, whether it be a firing, a hiring or whatever, just you don't have to say, I fired so and so today or whatever, just put, you know, so and so has left. And, um, you know, just so that you guys know what's going on, because there are some people who feel very comfortable calling the mayor every time, you know, and there are people that don't feel that they should be calling the mayor every 15 minutes. So, you know, um, there are ways to improve that communication. And I, I want to, Encourage that because she has a lot on her plate. It's a big big job to take over for the last administration So I want to encourage communication and I want to be put a positive spin on that Someone said this week that when they hear me speak that I'm always respectful and I hope to constantly be Respectful when I'm up here because then people have a harder time, you know Kind of denying what you have to say. So the more respectful we are when we're up here Yeah, a regular person told me that this week, that we, whether she agrees with me or not, I'm always respectful. And so she has to consider what I have to say. So, um, and I hope to hold that. I hope to always hold that. Um, secondly, one of the things that you specifically mentioned, which I was at the school committee meeting last night and the superintendent was testy with, uh, miss D D Benedetto in an inappropriate way. Cause she was asking valid questions and he got testy. Um, he's from the old administration. He's been around forever. My sister graduated in 1975 and he was a history teacher. He was a teacher back then for her. So I mean, it's just, it's not that he's a bad guy. It's that he's been around forever and he's part of the old legacy of the past administration. I mean, can you imagine he's been around since the new school was built, which is an old school. He's just been around too long. And fresh eyes on the school system is something that should be considered. I'm not saying he should be fired or replaced or whatever. But that we should.
[Adam Knight]: One information, Councilor Knight. The gentleman's under contract. And when the contract expires, they'll either renegotiate a contract or not. You know what I mean? But I mean, to say the gentleman's got to go, I think that that's problematic. I didn't say he has to go. Excuse me, sir. Do I correct? He is under contract.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Knight.
[Jeanne Martin]: Councilor Knight, excuse me. I didn't say he has to go. I said there is absolutely nothing wrong with looking at other members that could, other people that could come in to this city to re-look at it and give a fresh set of eyes to our school system. Because we do have a new population in Medford. We don't have the old population. And he is part of, he has a lot of bad habits from the May and McGlynn years. Nobody that worked under May and McGlynn for that long doesn't have, but.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. Chairman, I'm just concerned that people are being spoken of in a way that's not appropriate for public discussion. They're not here present with us to offer defense on their character.
[Jeanne Martin]: That's a fair question. That's a fair statement.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. President.
[Jeanne Martin]: Fair statement that I shouldn't be, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a brand new look.
[Richard Caraviello]: I think those issues are up to the school community to make. What's that now? Those are issues for our school community to make those decisions.
[Jeanne Martin]: Yeah, but if she's getting phone calls all day long, this is the last line.
[Richard Caraviello]: I think we all get phone calls.
[Jeanne Martin]: I'm sorry?
[Richard Caraviello]: I think we all get phone calls and emails.
[Jeanne Martin]: Okay. My point to that is this is the last line of defense. This council meeting is the last line of defense. When people don't feel like they're getting their answers from the school committee or any other place, this is the place to come. So, and I'm not a parent. Huh?
[Richard Caraviello]: One information, councilor Longo.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Rick, I appreciate that too, but I'm getting calls from other elected officials, teachers, parents, I'm getting calls from the school committee for help.
[Richard Caraviello]: And I think that's why Councilor Logan-Curran has asked for the meeting. And hopefully we will get to a vote on these things.
[Jeanne Martin]: Absolutely. And thank you very much for listening to me. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_03]: Name and address for the record, please. Nick Tomazook, 29 Garfield Ave. Councilor Curran right there about the parking on sidewalks. parking spots in front of these people's houses and they got to stick the car to block the sidewalk. I sat on my stoop the other night. I counted five commercial vehicles on my street, a detached commercial trailer. The sidewalk was blocked two houses down from my house. A cop drives down the street and just keeps right on going. Who do you have to call in order to get laws enforced in the city? You are correct. Commercial vehicles should be off the streets by midnight. Exactly.
[Richard Caraviello]: You are correct.
[SPEAKER_03]: This thing sits there for, this is the third summer he's back. The thing moves five times a year when he goes racing his motorcycles. That's the only time it moves. My god, this car broke down in front of our house. It was there for two days. They didn't only tag it, but they went down there with a tow truck to tow it. And then when you try to cross at a light on the crosswalk, these idiots don't know where the stop line is. And how many times I almost got killed at this rotary over here because they don't know what a yield sign means. Put a cop there. Damn it, you know, stop punishing these people that are breaking the laws in this city. This is not, you know, some off the wall, you know, city. Somebody has to take the bull by the horns. and get the people that are supposed to be doing these jobs to do their jobs. Like at the school, the Robert school. You know how much bullying is going on in that school? And nobody cares. They go on seminars for bullying and they don't know how to handle it. Or we'll have a meeting with the parents. Or we'll have a meeting between the two kids. What the hell good is that gonna do? He's a bully. He doesn't belong in a regular class. Maybe there's something wrong with him. He needs some kind of attention, special attention. But the resolution is I will have a meet once a week. That's not a resolution, but we have to start enforcing the laws in this city. We're not going to go backwards here. They're looking for more police officers and everything else. Start doing the job now. Then we'll add if need be.
[Richard Caraviello]: That'll be part of the meeting with the mayor.
[SPEAKER_03]: But we have to start enforcing the laws. I think we're all in agreement. With the stop lines and the yield signs and park blockings, sidewalks, and all this other baloney. We gotta start doing it.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you. I think we're all in agreement with you, sir. Thank you. Name and address of the record, please.
[Angela Moore]: Angela Moore, 30 Vine Street. So I was the resident that asked at the school committee meeting regarding the superintendent's contract. And the reason I asked was because it became clear to me that it was coming up within the year. I understand he's still under contract. But to find a superintendent is a lengthy process. And I was simply asking the school committee to start a succession plan to figure out what was going to happen if Mr. Belson decided to retire or if his contract was not to be renewed at the end of his contract. And I asked them to do it by June of this year. And I came here tonight and found out that it's actually in his contract that they should be doing that. But when I asked them at the school committee meeting, it was crickets. There was nothing. There was absolutely no response whatsoever, except for Mr. Belson and the mayor's somewhat questionable response. So my question to you is, is there a set of checks and balances? So when I go before the school committee and I feel I'm either not being taken seriously or I'm just not getting any answers, do I have the right to come to you? Because I've asked the school committee, I've asked the mayor, and nothing has been done. So where do I go from that? Do I have to start a petition to say, hey, this is what's going on and I'm not the only one? I'm not crazy. Or can I come here to you as another body of elected officials to say, somebody has to do something. And if I'm not getting the answers when I ask where I'm supposed to ask, then where do I go?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Caraviello. This was the school department's budget last June. This is what I reviewed. This is what we probably all reviewed. And we had to get more information on it. We had to discuss it. I have it all tabbed. This is additional information that we requested and four of us stuck together and we got the information from the school department. This is a city council job because we approve the entire budget. The school and the municipal side is put together. So anybody, and I'll say it loud and clear because I've been getting calls from a number of people and that's fine. within the school department, within, you know, a number of parents. I review this budget. I believe anybody should be able to come in front of the city council to discuss issues, concerns, or problems and try to get resolves. So yes, my answer is absolutely. Anybody can come to the city council to discuss a school issue. And I believe we all have discussed school issues. We've all discussed things that we're passionate about and that we're concerned about. So this is what I reviewed in June. and there's more at my house, but I bring it sometimes with me every week in case somebody has a problem with me talking about a school issue. Anybody's welcome at the city council meeting and even the mayor put out a parliamentary procedure book and it states specifically everybody to be heard so that decisions can be made without confusion. So this was given to us in the city from the mayor. We can talk about any issue because I think my Good colleague from the past, Councilman Caluso, said that when he wants to talk about school committee issues, the buck stops here. We review it. We have to approve it. We have to decide and ask questions on it. So, again, anybody's welcome to come and discuss issues, especially when it's with regards to hundreds and hundreds of children that go to our public schools.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Vice President. You are 100% right. This is the People's Forum, and they are free to voice any concern they have. to this body at any time. On the motion. On the motion by Vice President Lungo-Koehn that the city council schedule a meeting with the mayor to discuss the public library, succession plan for superintendent, parking enforcement, parking and sidewalks, staffing change and other topics that are of concern to this council. A roll call vote has been requested. And as amended by Councilor Falco, the budget also. Budget format.
[Adam Knight]: One information, Councilor Neal. Mr. President, I think that we've already agreed to have a second meeting with the administration. So now, wouldn't it be us adding the items that we want to discuss at this meeting?
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes, I think Councilor Dela Ruzzo said he has the meeting plans. And, but I think these are topics that right.
[Adam Knight]: So the vote, the vote that we're taking isn't to schedule it to the meeting, right? The vote isn't to schedule a second meeting.
[Richard Caraviello]: It's to have the mayor be prepared at the second meeting to discuss the vice president has had some specific concerns that she wanted to make sure we're in there. And I think they should be in there as along with councilor Falco council.
[Adam Knight]: Right. What I'm getting at Mr. President is that we're not going to schedule a meeting to bring these items up to the mayor to have her say, okay, let me look at them. We're going to, schedule a meeting and have a meeting and send these items to her beforehand so she can be prepared to speak on them.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. I agree. I agree. So maybe we can take that language out that we set up a meeting because one is already being set up and just put that a meeting, you know, at our meeting in May, I'd like, I mean, obviously like we want the budget items in May. So if we could just say in May, we'd like to discuss these six items in addition to whatever else.
[Richard Caraviello]: I think we all may have separate concerns that we may want to voice at that time also. Mr. Clark, roll call has been requested.
[Clerk]: Yes.
[Richard Caraviello]: Motion passes, six in affirmative, one absent. 16457, offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that the most recent street sweeping notification to Medford residents be discussed. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Here we go again, year after year. We have a street sweeping program, but we have improper notification to residents. And we have a lack of permanent signage, which, in my opinion, would solve a lot of issues regarding notification. I realize the city has put out electronic billboards in certain areas to notify residents. I know the city will tell residents to go look at a city website. And I know the city has done reverse 911. However, Mr. President, with that being said, We still have residents, and most recently, within the last week, that were tagged and towed at $176. Can you imagine coming home from a hard day's work and finding your car not in front of your house and finding that you have to go pick it up and pay $176? And this was a resident, Mr. President, on Hamlin Ave that has a landline, and never received the reverse 911 call. So they picked up the phone, and they called the administration up, and the administration asked the person, how long have you been in this city? And the person said, pretty much my whole life, a number of years. And the person on the phone from the administration said, well, you should know better that street sweeping's done in the spring and the fall, And you should know better. And the gentleman went on to say, well, I was never called. I never received the reverse 911 call. And the administration checked into it, called the police department. And indeed, this landline, which is a method number, was not part of the reverse 911. And the resident went on to say, well, what are you going to do for me now? And they were told more or less, that they could try to appeal the ticket, but the toe for the most part was a done deal, and that maybe better luck next time. And, you know, this is just one out of many, many stories. And then I was told by an officer that there were so many tags and toes in certain areas, that the administration sent out a message to the police department, stop tagging and towing. So here you have someone on Hamlin Street that received $176 ticket and someone three streets over that happened to be in that grace period when the administration gave their blessing to the police department because of the number of phone calls. and the number of irate residents calling up saying, I was unaware of this, that the administration asked that tagging and towing cease. I don't know why this community can't come up with a full-fledged street sweeping program. And I'm not asking to do what the city of Somerville does twice a week, which is a great program. They have signage there. They have permanent signage. And in a thickly settled area, actually, it's the thickly settled area in the United States per square footage and population. They're able to sweep their streets twice a week. And we do ours twice a year, and we can't even do the proper notification. So I've been asking for years now that the administration create a full-fledged street sweeping program. And I'm not sure why we can't get over that hurdle, but to have residents base their notification on one or two electronic billboards that they may never pass in the city. or ask them to go on a city website that they may not have access to a computer, or tell them that you'll get a reverse 9-1-1 call when they're not on the reverse 9-1-1 system is a real concern, Mr. President. And in my opinion, I advise the resident, which I would tell any resident, that because the street sweeping is not clearly posted, that I don't believe that they could be given a ticket, let alone towed. And, uh, you know, that, that'll be, uh, you know, if residents want to get together and file a class action suit, uh, then so be it. But I don't think you can tag or toe if it's not posted. And I don't think a proper posting is saying it's on a website or saying that it's on a billboard in Medford square. I don't think that's proper posting. And, uh, the city has a real concern and they've been able to get away with, uh, this, uh, facade of, a street-sweeping program. But, you know, I think before long, Mr. President, we have to take action. And maybe the Public Works Committee. And I don't know if Councilor Knight's the chairman of that or — I might even be chairman of that. You know — We might have. But I — I think this may be the appropriate time, Mr. President, We send a message to the administration that in a city this size, that we need a legitimate program with legitimate notification that gives residents ample time. Residents that I've spoken with say If they get notification, they'll get their car off the street. I haven't heard one person say, you know what, I'm not moving my car for street sweeping. They just want proper notification. That's all residents are looking for. So I would ask that the Public Works Subcommittee convene and discuss the issue of a full-fledged street sweeping program that has proper notification and permanent signage throughout the community, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Marks.
[Fred Dello Russo]: President Dello Russo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it was through the work of former Councilor Camuso some years ago that it was initiated that there'd be regular street sweeping on some of the main thoroughfares in the city on a weekly basis during the non-winter months. It was done as a trial period and I don't think it was ever declared as a permanent fixture. They do, but it was always considered to be a trial. It was always referred to as the pilot. Yes, thank you. The pilot program. And I think it's very unfortunate as Councilor Marks has so clearly pointed out to us that, um, we're at this point now and, uh, and that's all we got to hang our hats on and twice a year in the neighborhoods. Um, I, uh, would hope that, um, uh, that when the subcommittee on, uh, the highway department of public works meets that, uh, they come up with a, uh, plan for the city to make a, uh, maybe we should ask for baby steps and, uh, something that's achievable to have a, uh, more, uh, expanded regular sweeping of the streets. I know they come by every morning. They do the squares. I mean, if I'm not woken up by trash trucks or the barrel men emptying the public barrels on the corner, it's the street sweeper outside my house at three or four in the morning. So I know they're out there regularly. And they do a good job. And it certainly makes a difference. But we need to see that difference have some penetration within the neighborhood. So I hope that's considered in the subcommittee.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I am out there early in the morning, and I see the cars. I see them out there doing their job, and they do a good job. Councilman Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much. Are you head of that subcommittee?
[Adam Knight]: I am, Councilman Mox, myself, and you, actually. The three of us make it up, and I'm sure if we put our heads together, we'll be able to come up with something. I would like to say that with the presence of our interim director, Mr. Brian Kerins in the DPW, I think we're in a very unique and plausible position right now to make this a reality. I believe Brian's background comes from U.S. sweep or American sweeping, where he's actually worked in the industry. He's worked for an organization and a company that specializes in street sweeping. So it would seem to me that the gentleman does have the knowledge of the industry and knows the tricks of the trade. And if anybody can make it happen, Director Karens, I think he's been doing an excellent job since his appointment, Mr. President. It's been a pleasure to work with him. With that being said, I hope they can make a determination on his permanency as well.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion that this matter be sent to the Department of Public Works subcommittee for action. Seconded. Seconded by Councilor Langley-Grant.
[SPEAKER_03]: Name and address of the record. I am Nick Thomas, 29 Garfield Ave. I have a short story about the street sweeper. I was walking my dogs. I'm not going to name the street because there's only one fireman that lives on that street. But cop was there, and a tow truck was there. Tow truck picked up the car. Lady comes running out in a nightgown. Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. Come to find out her husband's a fireman. What the tow truck do? Picked it up and put it in his driveway. And drove away. It's who you know. It's who you know. I just wanted to bring that up, but streets weeping. Thank you, sir.
[Richard Caraviello]: On the motion?
[6YHU7Hws2SA_SPEAKER_18]: Hi, my name's Bob Lester, 24 Hamlin Ave. I wasn't gonna speak tonight, it's my first time here, but I called Mr. Marks, thank you Mr. Marks. I come from work all day, my car's towed. And the story he told you, it's pretty close, it was a lot better than that. What kills me is you people talk, I've been watching 15 years, what she says, we talk, we talk, we talk, nothing gets done here. You are in control, we're the taxpayers. We got three or four people, they're the pet of the mayor, I'll say it, I don't care. I just paid almost 200 bucks, Nothing's done. Nothing's done. You're talking about things. You're talking to each other. Nothing's done. I called him. He called me back right away. I called the police department. I asked him, what was the phone number of the tow company? Two tow companies. When I went there, you couldn't even get in the yard. OK? You couldn't get in the yard. I called the police station. Mr. Daugherty answered. The guy could not. Apologize enough. He said this is a disgrace the way they advertise this city. Know what she tells me when I call the mayor's office? How long you lived in this city? Well, I lived here 28 years and I pay $7,000 on the dump of the street they don't sweep that's all torn up. That's why I didn't want to come here, Mr. Marks. I don't want to get mad. I've never been here. I had never been here, but you know something? People had it, you guys don't get it. We got rubber snappers in here, up the mirror, they're the pet. It's not doing the job for the taxpayers. I had enough. And then I call her up, and she tells me I should know. I should know, I said, how many days are in the month? When's fall, oh, I should've known. Well, she says, well, there's a sign in Medford Square. I told her I probably couldn't see it, because there was probably so many papers stuck on it, you can't read it, garbage. That's the truth. So she said to me, well, I'll get back to you. Well, I called the police department. I said, listen, if my car, they tell me to move it off the street like he said, what do you think, I'm gonna leave it on the street, let him tow me home, 200 bucks, tow my car? You know? So she said, well, I'll get back to you. I called the police department, and they told me I was never in the system. Well, she swore up and down. So I said, how can I go about this? Well, you could try to contest a ticket. You gotta write a letter to the, Traffic commissioned. Why do I gotta write a letter? Why can't that go to the mayor's office? You people take care of it. Take it there. She's the power. She runs this place. She's the power. She runs it. You know, when everybody needed a vote, she was there. Where's the change, she said. I watched her in here. We got change, we got change. Like she said, Roy Grouchy should be fired. If I ever talk back to my boss, I'd be gone. He'd be gone, it's the truth. Don't say forget about it. He'd be gone. It's the real world out there. Go talk back to your boss. Bust people up. But you know something? This council blows them off, because they got pets in the mayor, it ain't gonna happen. That's what goes on. Listening to me nothing's gonna go from here tonight with the ticket nothing. I hope we got two new Councilors and I know I know I know I'm very good. Mr. Scarpelli stand-up guy, and I'm not banging none of this, but she said it get together get together not three votes You can change. It's just like the city every week you guys talk about the same thing. You must go home We must have saved our tax dollars you talk about the same thing. He's asked for the budget over and over and over and over Over and over and over. You guys talk about 15 years I've been watching. You talk about the same thing. And you guys can change it. All the potholes, this guy's house, the potholes, the potholes. You know something? Don't okay the gas company when they come in here. Tell them no, you're not getting the permits. But you okay it. You rubber stamp it, and that's what happens. That's why we get no results. You should be a disgrace. All you should be ashamed of yourself. You know, go to work, it's $200 out of my pocket. You can't, you don't know, nothing gets done, you know why? You gotta, you gotta kiss her, I don't wanna see it.
[Richard Caraviello]: I don't wanna be a black guy, I don't wanna do it, you know what I'm saying?
[6YHU7Hws2SA_SPEAKER_18]: Thank you. Good God, the second is, Mark Pender's white, I went through a draft, but he was white. He was white, you know why they shut him down, you know what I'm talking about? Because he was white, you didn't wanna hear it. and tabling, outside of tabling. That's all we do. The mayor's talking about this. People bring up stuff. Tabling, tabling, tabling. You should buy a table. You should buy a table right from here. She wants to put things on and tabling. Where's it go? To the table. Might as well throw it out that window. Put the table outside that window. This is a disgrace to the city.
[Richard Caraviello]: I don't think, there was nothing tabled tonight. On the motion of Councilor Marks that we said we send this boat so we send this to the Department of Public Works committee for a resolution all in favor Yeah, we can't help us take it I am so sorry for his ticket but
[Richard Caraviello]: Yeah. All right. So on the, on the motion council Councilor Marks seconded by councilor night. All in favor. Motion pass.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President. 16-459 offered by Councilor Marks. Be it resolved that the community preservation act exemption be discussed.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. I'll be real brief cause this has been discussed ad nauseum. Uh, but I just wanted to update residents cause I know council Longwood Kern brought this up and I brought it up shortly after. that we just received the correspondence from Ed O'Neill, the city assessor, regarding the community preservation exemptions. As we all know, the first $100,000, every resident exempt based on their assessed value, the first 100,000, and there's no need for taxpayers to file an exemption based on the 100,000. However, there is an exemption for moderate and low-income seniors and low-income homeowners. And to be considered for this exemption, taxpayers must file exemption forms with the assessor's office. And you can go on the city website and go into the department of the assessor's office and find the form itself. And that also has to be accompanied with the first two pages from your most recent tax return. And I just wanted to explain, Mr. President, for those residents who may be eligible for an exemption. It says if you believe you qualify for a low income or moderate to low income senior exemption and wish to avoid having the CPA surcharge appear on your 2017 first quarter bill, which comes out this July, so don't think 2017's a year off, that's this July, you must file for an exemption with the assessor's office no later than May 25th, 2016. Now, the city was gracious enough to have an informational meeting regarding this, scheduled for May 24th, the day before the last data file at the public library. So, not great timing, but needless to say, the city's having a meeting on that to discuss this. It says, those filing for exemptions after May 25th, 2016, will not have a final determination on their exemption until after the first quarter tax bills have been processed. And surcharges will appear on their first quarter bill. So you can still file up to April 3rd, 2017. So if you don't hit the May 25th deadline to get your application in, you have until April 3rd, 2017 to submit. However, you will get the first surcharge in your July 2017 bill. So there are an exemption, which I got from the assessor list. It says these are the two categories for income limits. Actually, just let me state the requirements for the CPA exemption. To qualify for the exemption for 2017, residential property owners must meet age and residency requirement. So you gotta be a senior and you have to own your own property. And income requirements based on 2015 income. And there are two categories of income limits. Over 60 years of age and under 60 years of age. And then it goes on to tell you the household size. So if you have just say three people in your household, you're over 60, your income cannot be any higher than $88,290. Or if you're under age 60 and three people in your family, it's $70,632. And you can ask these questions to the assessor when you call up. But this is very important, Mr. President, for those people that are eligible for an exemption, they rightfully do that. And it's required under state statute also. And I would urge people, if they feel that that they're eligible or even borderline to reach out to the city assessor at O'Neill at City Hall and ask the questions, Mr. President. Thank you for all that, Councilor Marks. That's great work.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I spoke with many seniors in regards to this, and one of the biggest problems the seniors are coming up with is that a lot of seniors have turned their property over to their children. Even though their children don't pay the property taxes, but because of the look back rule, they're not eligible for the exemption because they're in their kids' names and most of the children make over the amounts necessary for the exemption. So again, as I said, we see probably half a dozen calls from different seniors saying that. So again, that's been a problem for the seniors with this. Thank you, Councilor. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much, and Councilor Marks, I think you're right on point with your presentation. There is one thing that I did want to make clear, and it's if you are hit with a surcharge on May 25th, and your application is pending before the assessor's office, you will receive a refund from amounts already paid. It's not like you missed the deadline to file, so you're out of luck with the money. And, uh, the second item was that, um, any residential property owner who currently receives an abatement or a statutory exemption is automatically entitled to a proportional reduction in the CPC, uh, the CPA surcharge. So if, uh, you know, you get a reduction for being a disabled veteran, then you'd be able to get a proportional reduction on your CPA surcharge as well.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor chair recognizes vice president current. I apologize. I pressed one of the buttons that makes everything go blank.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I just want to reiterate the dates because—you were going so quickly—because I think it's very important that people who are interested in this—and we are getting the calls with regards to exemption. I was the one that—I was notified by a constituent who wanted to actually file an exemption form who didn't believe they had time to do so. So you can file up until May 25th. There will be an information night, but it's on May 24th. And again, like Councilmember said, not very helpful, but at least it's something. I want to make, you know, obviously we're announcing it today, but I want to make sure that, see if the paper will put that in, make sure people are aware of this meeting. It's something that a lot of people are interested in and need information so that they know how to do it, they know where to go. People, this has not hit the Council yet. People are not going to complain about this, besides the few that obviously have been outspoken at the council floor, until this hits us in July. Once January hits, we get some emails and phone calls, and we're going to get hit. So anybody that needs information on this surcharge on the July tax bill, please, if you follow the criteria, to file an exemption, please do so, and please go to this informational meeting so you're able to do so. Thank you.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Madam Vice President. Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli. Thank you, Mr. President. I know this is such an important issue and getting the word out. I know that, could this fall on the privy of reaching out to Mr. Evangelista and the PR at the school department, maybe to get the word out because I've reached out with a couple of concerns to get some information out to the public, and it was reported with great detail. So if we can maybe pass that along to her and the newspapers and Allison Goldner.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion of Councilor Marks that this matter be discussed and as amended by Councilor Scott Peli and Vice President Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. 16-460 offered by Councilor Caraviello be it resolved that the Medford City Council discuss why many of the meters installed by Republic Parking Do not accept coins but credit cards only.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I was in Haines Square last week, and there's a couple of meters there. And I didn't have any change, so I mean, I had to change my pocket. It didn't take change.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Why?
[Richard Caraviello]: I don't know. I thought the purpose of the meters was for convenience to put the change in. So if you wanted to run into the store, throw your quarter and come back out, that would be the deal. But the sign was saying cards only, cards only. So I did receive a call from the mayor's office saying that those particular meters were broken and now fixed. But that happened to be the case in other ones that I had worked also. And I know the parking's been an issue with this company. Like I say, I'm still waiting for the reports on the parking that we asked for in January. I know Alex has them, but I don't think any of us have actually received them formally. And I've also asked for a meeting with the company to discuss their practices and policies. I mean, this council himself is up to 10 tickets now that I've paid, and I get a ticket Saturday during the cleanup. I put my money in, I paid for my time, and in three minutes after they put the money in, I had a ticket. So I don't know if this council is being targeted, but I'm up to ten right now, and every time the ladies walk in there, they don't want to see my face. So again, Mr. President, if we can have a meeting with this company at some point, I'd appreciate it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I would love to do that. The city solicitor has advised us that they're looking at the contract, and because of some issues around the recent buyout, that we'd be wise to hold off on that matter for a while. And I take him ahead his word. I am, however, upset, as you are, that we haven't gotten those reports. Didn't we get something, but it wasn't complete? Alex got them. Alex got the reports. Did he forward them?
[Richard Caraviello]: And Alex did forward them to me, but I don't want the reports from Alex. No, I don't want them from him either. Who got something?
[Fred Dello Russo]: I think Alex should be the liaison to the council. The Louise Miller sent us, the clerk corrected me, the Louise Miller sent us something in January.
[Adam Knight]: Chair recognizes Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much. And I apologize for interrupting my coughing fit there, Councilor Caraviello. I know several weeks back we did request, by way of resolution, a meeting with the mayor to discuss all things parking, the successes of the program, the failures of the program, pros and cons of what we're doing and where we're going in the future, Mr. President. I'd like an update from the administration on whether or not we're still going to have that meeting. I don't think it's a problem having a meeting, regardless of who the entity is that's doing the third-party work. And I don't think that will have any impact on any type of negotiations that the legal department's having with him, Mr. President. With that being said, I'd like to amend the paper to request an update from the administration on the meeting request that we had made previously.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello as amended by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. 16-461 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council request the Department of Public Works increase the amount of cleanups in the West Medford Municipal Parking Lot. Syringes are being picked up. on a regular basis by surrounding businesses and neighbors. This is serious, councilor.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I put this on there because Friday I received a call from one of the business owners there who went around and Friday morning picked up 12 syringes. Says he picks them up on a regular basis. I did receive a call this afternoon from Steve Tenaglia and said the syringes really are the duty of the Board of Health to be picked up. But obviously if these syringes are being are all over the parking lot, there's something going on in the parking lot there that the police should be looking into. But the store owners told me every morning they go out there, it's liquor bottles and syringes all over that western parking lot. So if we could ask the chief to increase some enforcement there, and also have the Board of Health look into this matter also, Mr. President. Again, it's a very serious matter.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello, as amended by Councilor Caraviello to alert not only the DPW but the police chief to increase patrols and also to inform the acting director of public health. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Thank you, Constantin Caprio, for bringing this forward. I'd like to further amend the paper, Mr. President, requesting that we get the schedule for the bottom line and swimming maintenance at all the bottom lines. And I'd also like to further amend the paper requesting that a hotline be developed for individuals that do find syringes in their neighborhood at the bottom line, so on and so forth, so that they can call in, whatever that may be, so that we can begin to track this data and collect this data so that we can see if there are cluster problems in certain areas of the city.
[Fred Dello Russo]: That's correct. And there are also regulations on how those types of shops are handled. So as amended by Councilor Knight, on the motion for approval, all in, amended by Councilor Caraviello. On the motion approved by Councilor Caraviello, I second it. All those in favor? Thank you, Mr. President. The motion carries. Thank you. Offered by Councilor Marks, I skipped over this by accident and I apologize, 16-458. We've resolved that the city administration provide residents with an update on when the street paving will be done on Ross, Hamlin, Sherman, and any other street in the area where the road was dug up to replace gas lines. I'm aware of that problem, councilor. And it went on the same way, I think two years ago or in my neighborhood, with the number of streets that were year-and-a-half long projects. And it's a shame.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Yes, I received a call from several residents that were promised that the streets after the gas line replacement done on Ross, Hamlin, Sherman, and a few of the other surrounding streets, that it was supposed to be last year that this was going to be replaced. They're wondering now we're five months into this year, and there's no sign of any street replacement after the road was dug up. So I would just ask that we get a response back on behalf of the residents when that work will be done and that it be done at the least inconvenient time on behalf of the residents of that area.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. Motion approved by Councilor Marks.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, thank you very much. I certainly appreciate Councilor Marks' resolution on this topic. I've gotten recent calls from some of the former presidents. These presidents were fortunate enough to have their street put back. However, their street was not put back in of the City of Medford standards, Mr. President, and I believe the culprits were at the National Grid or was recently at the WRA. So I'd like to amend the paper to request that the City Engineer report back on the status of this report as it stands.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion to approve by Councilor Marks and as amended by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Motion of Councilor Marks to take papers under suspension and in the hand of the clerk. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Offered by Councilor Caraviello, 16-M, Councilor Knight, 16-463, be it resolved that the Medford City Council commend and congratulate Karen Rose and Louise Miller for their dedicated service to the City of Medford. We wish them good luck in their future endeavors, as they will be surely missed here in City Hall. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I just want to wish these two wonderful individuals the best on wherever they may. I know we know where Louise is going, but we don't know where Karen's going. I mean, Karen wore many hats for the city and did an outstanding job for the residents of the city and along with Louise Miller. These are two dedicated employees that are leaving our employee and going on to somewhere else. So again, I wish them the best and wherever they happen to go in their new jobs. Very good.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight? Mr. President, I think Councilor Caraviello covered all the bases. I just want to congratulate you on your decision to authorize the market. But so be it. And as far as the sproes and the water health, I've had a great time. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Michael Marks]: And I, too, want to thank Karen Rose. She's been with this community a number of years. And as Councilor Caraviello stated, she was there when the mayor asked her back some years ago to take over the senior program across the street. And that department, I don't know if anyone realizes, but that department back some 20 years ago was a two-person department. And Karen grew it into a legitimate Board of Health with, I believe, 12 employees. And their networking and information that they provide not only to the Board of Health and residents of this community, but also assist, behind the scenes, the police department on a number of issues. And Karen has done yeoman's work. in creating a department that I think we all can be proud of. And she's going to be sorely missed. She's a wealth of information. And regarding Louise Miller, I mean, you know, what can you say about someone that's been here four years that, in my opinion, has gained the trust of this council, was someone that was open and spoke frankly about the financial issues in the community, and was willing to discuss items and get answers. And, you know, she is also someone that, is going to be sorely missed from procurement, to budget, to personnel. She, for a period of time, I think it was probably a six-month period, ran City Hall. A very capable woman, and she is sorely going to be missed. And I wish her well, Mr. President, in her new life with the MWRA, and I wish her much success.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. Swann. Motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello, seconded by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. 16-466 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council send its condolences to the family of Whitefield Jeffers, who passed away last week at the age of 95. Mr. Jeffers was a World War II veteran and very active in the West Medford Community Center for many years. His presence in our community will be missed.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yes, Mr. President, please. Mr. Jeffers was, again, a World War II veteran, Staff Sergeant, 372nd Infantry Regiment. Many don't know, but Mr. Jeffers was also the second African-American firefighter in the fire department, where he served for 36 years. He was also president of the men's level at the Shiloh Baptist Church. And he was a huge volunteer at the West River Community Center. And again, Mr. Jeffers was a pillar of his community. And he's going to be missed, another person that will be missed in the community, a gentleman. Very good.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So if you would, please rise for a moment of silence. 16-462 offered by Councilor Scarpelli. Do you resolve that the administration provide the city council with an update on this summer's recreational programs and thoughts on the direction of the city full-time recreational plan? Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. President. I've been getting some phone calls and I know that this is my fellow colleagues, Councilor, Vice President Lungo, her forte. expertise, but I know she's been very busy with many different matters. So I know that people have called and asked about some questions and concerns about what our plan is for our summer programs as they're trying to plan this summer's activities and childcare and so on. So I did talk to, um, uh, chief of staff, uh, this morning, uh, happened to meet pass for meeting and, um, where's, um, There is a plan that will be coming out relatively shortly with approved booklet and what's happening with the summer recreation plan. The other piece is that I'd like to ask the administration for, if we can, the discussions or plan that was put together through the arts and recreations transition team and see where we're going with that. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the motion of approval by Councilor Scarpelli, seconded by Vice President Longo-Curran. All those in favor? All those opposed? Carries. 16-464, offered by Councilor Falco. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council congratulate the Medford Vocational Technical High School on being awarded the gold medal for their graphic arts program at the Massachusetts Skills USA competition. Wow.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I'll be really brief. I just want to congratulate Heidi Riccio and all of her staff and the teachers and the students up at the vocational school. They've been working very hard over the past few years to really just raise the vocational school up to the next level. They're doing a great job. They've really bolstered the programming. And I think this is a good sign of many things to come. So I just want to say congratulations to them.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you. The motion was approved by Councilor Falco, seconded by Vice President Leto Kern. All those in favor? All those opposed? 16-465 offered by Councilor Falco. Be resolved that the Medford City Council thank the Medford Community Coalition for organizing the Medford Square cleanup this past weekend. Mr. Councilor.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I just wanted to, uh, thank the Medford Community Coalition. We had a, uh, well, they had a, uh, organized a cleanup this weekend in Medford Square. They had probably about a total of 60 people that attended. And I was there and helped out. Councilor Caraviello was there for a while as well. And we cleaned up Bedford Square. We had to clean it up. The DPW was there as well. They helped out. And it was a successful event. And I just want to thank them for organizing it. So thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you to the community coalition. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. That was a motion for approval by Councilor Falwell, seconded by Councilor Marks. And the final paper before us tonight is offered by Councilor Marks. He resolved that the crosswalk at the corner of North street and Capon be painted and the pothole repaired in the interest of public safety. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. It appears that we're going to do a one crosswalk at a time in this community. So, uh, when residents send me an email or give me a phone call, I told them I'll put it on the agenda. This happens to be probably the third or fourth. And, um, You know, I had the opportunity to drive down Mass Avenue in Arlington the other day. And let me tell you, every intersection had pedestrian crossing neon signs at both ends of the street. They had the thermoplastic crosswalks very visible the whole length of the street. really. It just, you know, a beautiful presentation on what really should be done when we talk about safe streets and so forth and roads. And I just can't fathom why we can't get our crosswalks painted, Mr. President. But I am going to continue to offer them as residents reach out to me one at a time. And I give thank the DPW. They've been doing the requests that are on the council agenda. I just, We'd like to see them do the entire city, so we don't have to do them one at a time. But apparently, they have a lot on their plate. But Connor of North Street and Cape Street, Mr. President, I move approval of the crosswalk be painted.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. You know, at the widest place on Mass Ave, up close to Arlington Heights, where it's really broad, you can walk across that street safely without having to be worried. because of the way they do it there. So on the motion for approval by Councilor Marks, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carried. The records of last week, April 12th. No. The tabled records of the April 12th were passed to Vice President Long and Kern. Madam Vice President, how did you find those records? I reviewed the records and find them in order, move approval. On the motion for approval by Vice President Angelo Kern, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Mr. President? Yes, Mr. Councilor. Just if we could. Please.
[Michael Marks]: It's a follow up from a couple of weeks ago. I offered a resolution asking that Representative Donato give us an update on the home rule charter petition.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes.
[Michael Marks]: And we did receive something in the packet. If I could just, it's not that long from Representative Donato, who I appreciate dated April 28th. It says, dear Mr. Finn and honorable members of the city council, this is in response to the resolution of April 12th, 2016 that I received on April 27th, 2016. I am enclosing a copy of Bill 4277 that was referred to the Committee on Election Laws on April 19th, and on April 21st, the Senate concurred. I have requested the chairman of the Committee on Election Laws have a hearing on this bill as soon as possible. In the meantime, if I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. And I would just ask that maybe we, as a council, send a letter to the chairman of the Committee on Election Laws. I believe that's a joint committee. I don't know if Councilman Knight remembers. So this must be the House committee, then, if the Senate concurred. a letter from the City Council asking the House Chairman of Election Laws to establish a public hearing on it, and also that, you know, they already know we're in support, but show that the Medford City Council's in support, Mr. President. Because I think we need also, as well as our state delegation, to make sure this gets shepherded through the process.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I can't think of a better advocate for this process than the Assistant Majority Leader. Paul J. Donato. But at your request, Mr. Clerk, if you would kindly send a letter requesting action on this on behalf of the City Council.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, for the reasons stated multiple times before, it has to be recorded in opposition on this matter. Thank you, Councilor Knight. And I am in too.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval, all those in favor? All those in opposition? Aye. Aye.
[Michael Marks]: You want to call a roll call vote? Is that what you're looking for?
[Fred Dello Russo]: I think the chair is in doubt. The roll call vote has been requested. And what do we, can you just? The councillor has asked that a letter be sent on behalf of the city council to both the chairman of the house election rules committee and election laws committee and also the Senate election laws committee to, um, uh, let the council, uh, to indicate the council's interest in this matter and task public hearings in both those committee.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On that motion. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello. Councilor Falco. Councilor Knight. No. Vice-president O'Connor. Yes. Councilor Marksley. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes.
[Clerk]: No.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The vote of four in the affirmative, two in the negative, one absent. The motion passes.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Before we adjourn.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yep.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Please. Because I wasn't able, I was trying to work this morning. Um, was there a meeting and if maybe we could get an update just so, or is there a committee? Oh, we're going to do it next week if it's fine.
[Fred Dello Russo]: There'll be a committee report forthcoming on that. We'll let that show the proper committee procedure, the records of the meeting of April 26, 2016 will pass to Councilor Knight. Mr. Councilor, how do you find those?
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, quickly on a side note, we had item 16-438 filed relative to Clematis Road and some construction debris that was left at the site after the road was closed. I'd like to thank the administration for taking the appropriate and proper steps to get them out there to get the equipment removed. They actually came back and resurfaced the street as well. So they did an excellent job. I'd like to thank the administration for their efforts, and I'd like to thank the contractor, Dallas Sandra Corporation, for getting out there in such a prompt and quick matter after we told them to get out there and do it. But with that being said, Mr. President, I've reviewed the minutes. I've also spoken with my colleagues that have had a number of items on the agenda that evening, and there didn't seem to be any items that were out of order, so I'd move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The motion for approval of those records by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? All those opposed? on the motion of Councilor Falco that we adjourn. All those in favor? All those opposed? Meeting adjourned. Thank you, America.
|
total time: 21.33 minutes total words: 1581  |
total time: 3.02 minutes total words: 341  |
total time: 27.53 minutes total words: 1427  |
total time: 30.18 minutes total words: 1140  |
|
total time: 13.62 minutes total words: 1429  |
total time: 7.46 minutes total words: 653  |
total time: 10.19 minutes total words: 904  |
total time: 2.52 minutes total words: 202  |