[Clerk]: First regular meeting of the Medford City Council will now be called to order. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Please rise, salute the flag.
[SPEAKER_13]: 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.
[Clerk]: First order of business, the elections of the offices. Paper 16-001, election of the council president for 2016. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Clerk, I nominate for President. Second the nomination.
[Clerk]: Nomination by Councilor Caraviello for Frederick N. Dello Russo. Councilor Knight, second the motion. Any further nominations?
[Unidentified]: Move the approval.
[Clerk]: Councilor Knight moved that the nominations be closed. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Councilor Caraviello?
[Clerk]: Yes.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Councilor Dello Russo?
[Clerk]: Present.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: All seven for Frederick Dello Russo as you knew as your continued president for 2016, please come up.
[Clerk]: Raise your right hand, repeat after me.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I, Frederick N. DeLaRusso Jr., do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully and impartially, discharge and perform, all the duties, incumbent upon me, as President of the Medford City Council, according to the best of my ability, and understanding, agreeable to the rules and regulations, agreeable to the rules and regulations of the Constitution, of the Constitution, the laws of this Commonwealth, the laws of this Commonwealth, and the ordinances of the city of Medford, and the ordinances of the city of Medford. So help me God. So help me God. Thank you. Thank you all to my colleagues for supporting me in second year as your president. I look forward to working with all of you, to serving you, This two years will be for the Medford City Council in what I think could be the most consequential and influential years that the City Council has had in a generation. And we share in opportunities for doing good work to move the city forward and to build a brighter and better future for the next generation, for the people of Medford. So I look forward to working with all of you, and I have all of your, I'm glad to have your support, and I promise you all mine. Thank you.
[Clerk]: Second order of business, paper 16-002, election of the council vice president. Do we have any nominations? Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. Clerk, I move to nominate Breanna Lungo-Koehn as Vice President for the 2016 Medford City Council.
[Clerk]: Anybody second the motion?
[Richard Caraviello]: Second, Mr. President.
[Clerk]: Council Knight nominates Breanna Lungo-Koehn as Vice President, seconded by Councilor Caraviello. Any further nominations? Oh, wait a minute.
[Adam Knight]: Motion to close the nominations, Mr. President.
[Clerk]: Councilor Knight, oh, oh, oh, Councilor Knight, Councilor Knight, close, close out the nominations. All right, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
[Adam Knight]: Six in the affirmative for Breanna Lungo-Koehn, one present.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Congratulations.
[Clerk]: I, say your name.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I, Breanna Lungo-Koehn, do solemnly swear, do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully and impartially, that I will faithfully and impartially, discharge and perform, discharge and perform, all the duties, all the duties, coming upon me, coming upon me, as Vice President of the Medford City Council, as Vice President of the Medford City Council, according to the best of my ability, according to the best of my ability, in understanding, in understanding, agreeable to the rules and regulations, agreeable to the rules and regulations, of the Constitution, of the Constitution, the laws of this Commonwealth, the laws of this Commonwealth, in the ordinances of the city of Medford.
[Clerk]: So help me God.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. I too just want to say thank you to my colleagues for electing me vice president of the council. I appreciate it. I look forward to working with Freddie and hopefully this whole council working with the administration to make Medford a better place like we all made promises to do. And I look forward to the upcoming year. Thank you.
[Clerk]: Paper 16-003, election of the city messenger for 2016-2017. Do we have any nominations? Mr. Clerk, I nominate Larry Lepore. Second. Councilor Caraviello nominates Lawrence Lepore. Lawrence Lepore, I'm sorry. Seconded by Councilor Marks. Any further nominations? Councilor Knight, close the nominations. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll? Lawrence Lepore.
[hFAk--zIv7g_SPEAKER_20]: Congratulations.
[SPEAKER_13]: Please raise your right hand. I, Larry LaFleurie, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as city messenger. according to the best of my ability, in understanding, agreeable to the rules and regulations of the Constitution, the laws of the Commonwealth, and the ordinances of the city of Medford, so help me God. Thank you.
[Clerk]: we take a brief recess for a couple minutes as the chair will assume the meeting, okay?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Reading meeting will reconvene. 15-004 offered by Councilor Caraviello be resolved that the standing committee rules be adopted as the standing committee rules of the City Council insofar as they are applicable. On the motion of Councilor Caraviello for approval. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. 15-005. offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the City Council transfer all papers and committees or on the table from 2015 Council to the 2016 Council on motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. Motions, orders, and resolutions. 15-006 has been withdrawn by Councilor Knight. 15-010 offered by Councilor Caraviello. Be it resolved that the city council discuss the leaking Medford Public Library roof and potential damages to the books. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Um, Mr. President, you know, um, in light of last week's storm, um, our leaking roof at the public library, which has been leaking for some time now is, uh, obviously been getting worse. And, um, if he, if you've seen the pictures that are out there, you see there's barrels all over the place and, um, And I say that there's potential damage to a lot of the books, especially in the children's section. And we also have in our message from one of the members of the library, they went out and sought their own estimate for the roof. And it ranges somewhere from $5,000 to $600,000. And I would like our head of maintenance to give us a report on where we stand with fixing that roof and where we're going to go with it. It wasn't too long ago that Mayor McGlynn was able to find some funding for the library before, and I would hope that our new mayor can maybe find some funds from the reserve's account to get this roof repaired properly, Mr. President. So if we could ask the head of maintenance for a report, maybe to come next week to explain to us what his- The building commissioner? The building commissioner or the head of maintenance for the buildings on what his assessment of the roof situation is and where we're going with it. And also a motion to the mayor to maybe take some money out of the reserve funds to get this done on a quick basis.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. Before the next storm comes. So, on the motion of Councilor Caraviello, as amended by Councilor Caraviello, Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. Before I just comment on it, I know that we have the Assistant Director here and a couple librarians, I believe. If we could get an update, I had emailed with Assistant Director Kerr today, and there are some updates in addition, I think, to what Councilor Caraviello brought forward. So, if you could maybe enlighten us and explain to the public, because even when I would email people back and say it's being worked on. I think that's kind of not enough. You know, people want to make sure there's not just patches that are going to be done, that we are going to, you know, improve the roof so it doesn't happen again. So, okay.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Barbara Kerr]: Barbara Kerr, 35 Baker Place, Newton, Massachusetts. Obviously. Um, shall I start at the beginning or what? Do you have specific questions?
[Richard Caraviello]: No, I think, uh, uh, if you have some more news up to where,
[Barbara Kerr]: We had that, I sent you guys that report.
[Richard Caraviello]: I saw the report that you sent.
[Barbara Kerr]: I called that company in December just to see what kind of, what we could expect for the winter. The roof has been fairly good until the last three or four years and then fairly bad. So the building commissioner came out, they took care of the problem last week. So we are, we're dry at the moment, the drains are clear, they cleared the roof, they pumped out all of the water and took the ice off. We won't know what will happen until it rains again, but for the moment, we're okay. Tomorrow, Mr. Moki and a roofer are coming out to walk around and the roofer is gonna give him an estimate for patches to get us through the winter. And then I think in the spring, that report had three levels of repair, serious repair, and replacement. So after he gets us through the winter, then we'll discuss what happens in the future. So the roof is about, it was put in in the late 90s, It's been pretty good. They put it over skylights, so under some weird weather conditions, we would have leaks occasionally, but the last few years is the first time that we're having leaks really in the stack area, and the children's department, the first time was last year.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And I believe you had mentioned that 100 books were ruined. 100 books, yeah. 100 books were ruined.
[Barbara Kerr]: We've been very fortunate in that we're good at it now, so that when the ceiling tiles begin to get wet, they bow. So we take them down and drain the water out. So unless they come down in the night and the water comes down in the night, we've been good at catching it before there was any damage. But this time we didn't. And we didn't once last year as well. And we're a little concerned. We are good at the ceiling tiles. But if one happened to fall and we didn't notice, a problem with people if someone's walking underneath it at the time. Hopefully the custodians are pro at spotting the wet ones.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. If I may, whether the patching is enough for the winter, I don't feel like patchwork at the library in the long term is going to be beneficial for the library. So I really hope the administration decides what we're going to do with the arts and the library and the Chevalier. create a plan, and if we are—whether or not we're going to build on top of the library, which has been discussed, that we permanently fix the problem in the spring, if that's what the administration decides. But I think a new roof is probably needed, especially in that section, and that's what should be done. Since the library—I think 10 emails have come in with concerned parents and concerned people who frequent the library, that that's just something that, you know, should not happen, and it should be immediately fixed. Since then, I've also got complaints about roof leaking at the high school, the Volk. I'm probably sure Councilor Marks will discuss the gym leaking. There's barrels out in the gym. So I think maybe if our administration would be amenable, we should evaluate all of our city built, the roofs of every single city and school building, just to make sure. You know, the Columbus School, I was complaining about that roof. last year and it wasn't until residents and the council and probably the school committee complained about it, that that was fixed. It took too long. And I think that's the problem. So if we have money to do other things in the city, hire new positions and things like that, I think we should have money to maintain our roofs.
[Fred Dello Russo]: It was amended by Councilor, Vice President Lungo-Koehn that an assessment be done of the maintenance and repair needs of all municipal buildings.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: The worse your roofs get, the worse public property gets damaged, the worse the building inside is going to get. And it just creates a chain reaction. And this council has spoken up a number of times about a maintenance budget. We should have a maintenance budget in the city and school side. And roofs should be the top priority.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Madam Vice President. Chair recognizes Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. And thank you, Ms. Clark, for such a thorough presentation. As we're all aware, the money bills come from the administration. And at Sunday's inaugural ceremony, Mayor Burke expressed such a desire to establish a five-year capital plan that I think, you know, timing's great. We're really striking when the iron's hot. I think that it's very important that those concerned with the maintenance needs at the library, be sure to attend Monday's meeting. Monday, the 11th at 7 p.m. at the Medford Arts Council, the Burke Transition Team's Cultural Affairs and Recreation Committee is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. And I don't think that there's anything more significant in terms of cultural affairs than our library, Mr. President. So I feel as though it will be very important for those residents out there that do have a concern and do have a desire to see more funding at our public library to participate in these meetings as well as they come forward. I certainly support a five-year capital plan. I certainly support a maintenance plan for our buildings, Mr. President. I think it's something that all of us behind this rail have been preaching for a number of months. With that being said, Mr. President, I just wanted to be sure that everybody was aware that the transition team will be meeting on Monday, a week from yesterday, at the Medford Heights Council Space at the Meadow Glen Mall to discuss issues like this and what we're gonna do moving forward. So I think it's a welcome breath of fresh air to have an opportunity to come to a meeting like this, a community meeting, Mr. President, and I'm looking forward to it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much, Councilor Neitzel. On the motion of approval on the resolution by Councilor Caraviello, as amended by Councilors Caraviello, and Lungo-Koehn share recognizes for the first time, Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you, President Dello Russo, and thank you, Ms. Kerr, for your report. When I got the report, I read over the report, and it is troubling to see some of the issues with the roof. And I definitely support fixing the roof, but I'd like to actually see if we can amend, actually, the original resolution. And what I'd like to see is, I would like to see a comprehensive review of the library, not only just the roof, but the entire building. I would like to see a report come to the council, a comprehensive review of everything, the structure of the building, which I'm sure it's safe and I'm sure it's sound. I'm not an engineer, but I'd like to see that. How old is the furnace? I mean, basically a whole review of the entire building. You know, I know we recently, we had the bathrooms fixed, I believe recently. But I think we should look at everything from the bathrooms to the elevator to the roof. We should look at the whole entire building. We have to think about the future, the future of this building. This building is, I think, at least 60 years old. We need to look at the future. This is a community asset. This is an important asset that we have. It's used by the youth. It's used by the seniors. It's used by everyone. And we really need to take a look at this. So I'd like to see if we can amend that to get a whole comprehensive review of the library structure.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. So as, uh, on the motion of Councilor Caraviello, as amended by Councilor, uh, Falco, uh, chair recognizes councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Barbara. I don't know. Um, I mean, in my four years on the council, I've gone to the mass municipal association show every year and every year they have the library building fund there. And I've asked every year if Medford has applied for funds for it. And I was told every year, no, I mean, um, is that, I don't know if that fund is still going to be available this year, but the show was good. But the master show is in a couple of weeks. I intend to attend there. And I said, if the library building fund is there. Is that the state? The state, yes. No, it was the state building for libraries. And every year when I go there, I go up to the booth there and I ask. And they said, we've never applied for funds.
[Barbara Kerr]: Oh, what do we do? I know we were not eligible for library commissioners construction funds until we submitted a strategic plan last year. So we are now, we are now, but I'm not sure if that's the same thing. I'm curious to see what that is. I'm not sure.
[Richard Caraviello]: It was a library building fund that was there and they, they gave money. They had money in grants for rebuilding and putting up new libraries.
[Barbara Kerr]: Well, that might be interesting. The one, as I understand it, if you want me to do the outline, the Board of Library Commissioners releases grant funding sporadically these days. It used to be every five years. The last time was 2010. They're anticipating 2020, which we would not be ready for for a number of reasons. If they did it in 2025 or 2030, we would be ready to apply. So I'm not sure if that's a separate thing.
[Richard Caraviello]: Yeah, well, I think the show was on the 20th or the 21st. of January at the Sheridan in Boston. I plan to attend again. And if they're there, I'm going to hopefully get some more literature and maybe we can help get some help in there.
[Barbara Kerr]: Because that's possibly a whole different source of funding. It's not something I'm aware of if it's a different thing. So hey, why not?
[Richard Caraviello]: And as Councilor Falco mentioned, we spent the money on the bathroom. I don't think the money was very well spent on the bathroom.
[Barbara Kerr]: We're going to do some better homes and gardens on it.
[Richard Caraviello]: I was in there last week. I don't know, I don't know where that money was spent that we, that was appropriate for it. That didn't look like, uh, that amount of money had spent. So we're going to try again when I go to the show next week, I'll see, I'll see what's there again.
[Barbara Kerr]: That might be different. That would be good.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Councilor Caraviello. Chair recognizes for the first time, Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. President. I think it's important that we've discussed this and try to find a way to add this to the amendment, but look into, um, uh, and I thinking outside the box and looking at, you know, when you're talking about a roof and you're talking about bathrooms, when we're talking about the library infrastructure, how bad or how good it is, I'd like to see with that report is to also investigate, you know, other facilities within our community and see if there's ways that we can, You know, use different buildings. I'll give an example. If we look right next door to Springstep and said, if there's square footage there to put both a library and an arts center and use that to bring everything here with the infrastructure strong and new and updated, and then look at the land that has the library and look to sell that land off to a developer, I think that's something that I'd like to you know, entertain as we go forward that when you're talking about big, big money, uh, and you talk about how, how we, we reinvested into the schools and we built the so-called new schools and how we moved forward with that thinking outside the box and, and really looking to bring a library to the 21st century. I think it's important.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Um, so thank you. Thank you. So as amended, uh, by councilor Scappelli that the, uh, review of the, uh, uh, buildings use, uh, also encompass, uh, additional land use and, uh, alternative land use, uh, for the, uh, library building itself. Uh, chair recognizes Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank councilor Caraviello for putting this on the agenda and for Barbara sending us the report that was commissioned by the public library, uh, to, uh, take a look at the roof. and the current condition and what needs to take place in order to bring that roof up to code. And to me, much of what has taken place over the last several years, from what I can gather from the report, is the report is not allowing proper drainage. And many of the drains up on the roof aren't in proper location to catch the water that's draining. The water's not draining to that location And much of it seems to me just a lack of just small maintenance. Someone would go up in the roof and take a broom and sweep the debris around the drains. I mean, I do that in my home on my gutters. And it's just basic maintenance. And I think a lot of the pooling that we see up on the roof from the pitches would be prevented just based on simple, simple maintenance that could be done. The report talked about standing water, which I think some of it could be accomplished through the re-sloping and pitching of some areas, the top roof and the lower roof. And it also talked about mortar around the windows and around the sunlights. And that's just basic maintenance, because if you have mortar, as we know, the last time the roof was replaced was in 1990. That's 25 years. that's what the report said, 1990. Um, so that's 25 years. And, um, you know, any, any roof, uh, although you would hope you'd get 25 to 30 years, especially in a commercial type setting, uh, you need to have that maintenance over time, which as we know, the public library over the last several years has been severely underfunded. And, uh, we're seeing that through lack of positions in the library, And maintenance, as we know throughout the whole system, we see our roof's been leaking here at City Hall for many years. I attended an event at the high school gymnasium cages, and there had to be 12 or 13 barrels set up strategically catching water from leaks in the ceiling. You know, you go into the police department, the evidence room has been leaking for years, Mr. President. The fire stations, we have many concerns. in our fire station. And this council is asked for because, you know, it's great to have Paul Moky, and we've discussed this with the building commissioner. He is the building commissioner. He's in charge of all the different heads down there, from code enforcement to plumbing to electrical inspectors. But he is not the building supervisor for all the public buildings. He's not the supervisor. And as was mentioned, I think Barbara mentioned it, that when there were leaks in the building over the last couple of years, no one ever thought to call Paul Mokey up because it's never been that way in the city. Paul doesn't go out and inspect our buildings. And this council has asked for a buildings and grounds manager for several years now. Someone that would be in charge of all the municipal buildings to make sure there's a maintenance budget in place, to make sure the small preventative items Like I said, someone to go up with a broom. That's doesn't take a lot. It's sweep around the drains, uh, you know, very basic things, but there's, there's no oversight. There's really a lack of oversight. And you would think the public library is in a different country from a city hall, from the fire stations to the police department. It's all like it's own little separate nations. And, uh, really until we get this all under one umbrella, uh, in my opinion, a buildings and grounds manager would accomplish. The public schools have a building and grounds manager. And I'm not saying they should or shouldn't have one, but they have someone that's in charge of overseeing the maintenance of all the buildings. And in my opinion, that's needed on the city side, Mr. President. We also talked about a long-term capital improvement plan. I know the public library recently, within the last six months, Barbara, put together a proposal on what the vision is for the public library over the long-term vision. And I, like many members behind this council, would like to see, uh, maybe the second floor expanded. Uh, I think, uh, in my opinion, from what I heard from, uh, people in the know in the community is the, the building is structurally sound. Um, and the footprint itself is probably workable. The second floor has room for expansion and, um, you know, I'd, I'd like to see work take place on the roof, but I'd like to see an overall picture as was mentioned by some of the members of the council. What's our vision? of the public library? Can we envision maybe a mixed use? Could we see maybe adding a little cafe in the public library where people can go and have a cup of coffee in Danish or something like that and also have use of the library or maybe involve more of a community space in the public library? I know we have a community space there now, but maybe enhance that. So these are the things I think, Mr. President, that we have to look at because If you look at each of the estimate ranges regarding repair, retrofit and replacement of the roof, and it breaks it down from the canopy, which is that exterior strip around the library to the high roof, which is the second level to the lower roof repair. If we were just going to look at repair to accomplish the leaks that we have right now, solve the leaks you're looking at about mid-range of the estimates, about $15,000. That's just to accomplish what we have for leaks. Now, if you wanted a retrofit and do more of a long-term fix, like some of the flashing on the roof, fix some of the mortar, some of the skylights that need to be replaced, and so forth, you're looking at, to retrofit, and this would be the canopy, the high roof, and the low roof, about $108,000. And then to do a total replacement, according to the estimates, And this is just the middle of the estimate. It's like Councilor Caraviello mentioned, it's closer to 600,000. So as you can see, there's a great disparity among what, you know, if the city just wants to accomplish a quick fix, 15,000, I'm sure we can find that in some account, or if they want to look at a long-term approach, which according to the report would extend, if we looked at the retrofit and replacement, you're looking at an extension of, a life in the roof for 30 years. So I think these are the things that we have to consider. Um, and also, uh, what, uh, we'd like to see, uh, I like, uh, councilor Scarpelli's idea, you know, thinking outside the box, I'll refresh it. Uh, because we've mentioned that building for a potential police department. We've mentioned it for a public library. We've mentioned it for an art center. And I agree with you. It's a stone throw from city hall. It's a beautiful facade. And I think we can work that building into whatever we need to do. And I think that's a great suggestion. And hopefully, with this new administration, we'll be able to experience some thinking outside the box. But I just want to make, Mr. President, a recommendation that, once again, this council go on record asking that a building grounds manager be hired to oversee all of our municipal buildings in the community, and that any long-term plan, I know in the Mayor Burke's inaugural, she mentioned in her speech a long-term capital improvement plan. I would hope the library, which I'm sure is included in that, also has a particular item for maintenance. And I think it was Councilor Penta for the last 10 years, he's talked about a lot of things, but one thing he did talk about which made a lot of sense was, in our budget process, to have at least 3 to 5 percent allocated for maintenance within the budget. And I know it's probably the first cost that you say, well, times are tough. We can do away with that particular maintenance cost. But it really pays itself tenfold when you keep after your property. Any of us that are property owners know that. And I think we're bearing the fruit of neglect for so many years now. what's taking place after neglect and lack of maintenance. So, I would offer those recommendations, Mr. President. Buildings Ground Manager, a long-term capital improvement plan issued by this city, and also a legitimate — I sat in the budget hearings with the former director of the library. And as you just mentioned, the library didn't have a problem with leaks for many years, but in the last four or five years, there were problems. And unless my hearing was bad during our budget deliberations, I have never once heard the director, with all due respect to the former director, mention anything about the concern of leaks in the public library. And that concerns me, because I'm sure someone that spends eight to 10 hours a day there, five days a week, would know better off what's going on in the building and the needs. So those are my comments, Mr. President. And if I could just comment on Councilor Caraviello, because it was my recommendation back three years ago to allocate $10,000 to, uh, towards the restrooms at the public library. I refer to them as prison bathrooms because in my opinion, when I went into the bathrooms, I've never been in prison, but I would assume they look like prison bathrooms. And, uh, indeed the city administration, uh, agreed with my comments. put $10,000 in the budget, and $10,000 worth of improvements were made to the women's and the men's restroom. And a new buzzer system was put in, a new system, which wasn't adequately working at the time. And I agree, it doesn't look like a lot was done, but many of the fixtures were changed in the bathrooms. The changing table was fixed in the women's room. And the concern of privacy because before you'd be buzzed in and someone could be in the woman's restroom, and there was a lot of issues around it. But there was something done. It wasn't up to my standard, but I have to say the administration did do something there, Mr. President, and a lot more is needed. Thank you.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Councilor Knox.
[Adam Knight]: Chair recognizes Councilor Knight. Thank you very much, Mr. President, and thank you, Councilor Knox, because I think that that pretty much sums up the issue. relatively well from start to finish, soup to nuts. Um, I think that, um, you know, we're, we're looking at a building here that certainly needs a preventative maintenance plan. We have a number of city buildings that need that. Um, and as I sit here and I listened to, uh, the discussion about this issue, uh, I think back to, uh, recent weeks when we were at the library, many of us for a dedication of the reading room to the late Richard Lee and in attorney Romney's address. Um, he said something that really stood out to me and this discussion really makes me think of it, Mr. President, it was that out of all the public buildings that we have in the city of Medford, the library is really the only one that people go to voluntarily. You got to figure. You come to City Hall to pay a tax bill. You go to the police department to I don't know what. But ultimately, the library is a building where people go for recreational purposes. And I think that the value of a strong public library has been minimized. And I think that we're on the right track right now, Mr. President, to really put together a strong plan. However, it has to be a partnership. It has to be a plan that the administration is going to buy into as well. So I certainly think that you know, it's a breath of fresh air to see this council come together and come up with some great solutions and great ideas as to how we'd like to see this move forward. But ultimately, if it's a money bill, it's going to come from the administration. So we need to work cooperatively with them, Mr. President. So with that being said, I just really wanted to reflect a little bit on the fact that, you know, a public library is really the only building that people come into voluntarily in the city and they do it because it's a great place to bring your family. It's a great place to, relax, unwind, have some peace, some quiet, and trust me, I need a lot more of that lately than I have in the past, Mr. President, with the new baby in the house. So I'm very fortunate to live across the street from the library. But with that being said, Mr. President, I move for approval on the paper. The President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. On the motion of approval on the paper of Councilor Caraviello, as amended by Councilors Caraviello, Lungo-Koehn, Falco, Scarpelli, and Marks. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. You know, Councilor Scarpelli brought up Springsteep when I proposed that the city buy it some years ago, it was $2.1 million. Now I understand it's close to $5 million for the building. So again, I think if we, if we had jumped on it, then it would have been a steal.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. Thank you. Counsel Caraviello. So on the motion of approval, we have a number of citizens wish to speak. Ms. Curt, do you wish to continue? No, I just want to thank you all very much for your good work, your diligence and your advocacy.
[Barbara Kerr]: Thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening, please state your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_12]: Sarah Beardsley, 38 Warren Street in Medford. I just wanted to correct a statement by Councilor Knight. The Arts, Recreation and Culture meeting which is taking place on the 11th is at the Medford Arts Center. Medford Arts Council is a totally different group. And just for the record too, we're having another meeting also on the 20th of this month. Um, unfortunately that will be our last meeting there. Uh, because Medford Arts Center has to look for a new home. Um, and we're closing on the 31st.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So thank you. Thank you very much. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Sednick]: My name is Samantha Sednik. My address is 47 West Wyoming Avenue in Melrose, and I'm your children's librarian. And I just wanted to address the books that were lost. So when the initial emails were kind of going and being posted, we did state that we lost a little over 100 books during the current leak. The Children's Room, as Barbara mentioned, hasn't had a lot of leaks up until quite recently. Last year, we did lose an entire shelf of reference books, which were a lot more expensive. But the silver lining to this is that people of Medford really, truly love their library. And I posted a wish list online, and within a day, all 100 books had been privately donated back to the library, and our collection has been restored. So in terms of thinking outside of the box or looking forward to the future of the library, the citizens of Medford would like you to do that. Um, and, and had been very, very supportive of us and we, we appreciate it. So thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Sam. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Melanie Raelin]: Hi, I'm Melanie railing. I'm at 20 Stanley Avenue in Medford. Obviously. So I just wanted to pretty much reiterate Councilor Marx's comments in particular What's our vision for the future of I think you said what's our vision of the public library? And really the question is what is the future of our library? You know, as Councilor Lungo-Kearns said, you know, just patches is just a temporary solution for something that it really is the heart of our city. Right now, we know, I don't know if you guys are aware, the Medford Mackey, for example, is losing its art space. The maker space is currently looking for a home and the library is offering to be a temporary host for the Mackey Makerspace. It hosts Medford Family Network programs that are essential and were part, I mean, as Councilor Knight speaks about his young child, I mean, it helped me learn how to become a really great parent. And the accessibility of the library being walkable is really important to think about as we look at providing services for the residents in the community. Having stuff at the mall or far away at other places doesn't really serve our community the way we need it to, and the library really is in this amazing place. We talk about wanting to activate the waterfront, the library is right there. We talk about wanting to bring in a playground, bring in green space. Let's look at examples such as Winchester, which has a gorgeous outside as well as inside, an amazing programming space. You know, yes, Cambridge might have the most beautiful library, and maybe that's not what we're looking at, but we can look at real examples like the Fox Library. You know, there's so much talk about a cafe. What about a store where we create, sell, use items and then create income for the library so that we can continue to offer these programs and technologies? And other examples, the Somerville Libraries, they're actually going to be redoing a lot of those in the next couple of years and are seeking community input. But they are a big public space for baby-wearing meetings, for business meetings, group meetings. As one of the co-founders of the Medford Community Coalition, we're always struggling with a place to meet so that we can have our, we have 1,250 followers now, and many of them are supporters of the library. And in fact, Councilor Lungo-Koehn said that There were 10 families who expressed their concern, but really there are hundreds of families who are behind this library, as evidenced by the May and June meetings of the budget. And we do also encourage you, as you speak about this now, not to forget the library when it comes to the budget again in May and June. It's very clear that The bare minimum of $251,000 is not cutting it. It's just getting us at the base mark. And finally, there's talks about Springstep, and we love this idea. Councilor Scarpielli, that's so wonderful to think out of the box. Springstep is smaller than the current library space. I mean, that's something really important to think about. It's also angled, and as our children's librarian pointed out to me, it can't support the weight of the books. Also, the library is deeded to be a library space that land, so maybe we should be thinking more about moving things out temporarily and rebuilding that whole building. Of course, that's a lot of money, but we have to think about where our priorities are. So it's wonderful to hear you all talk about these assessments and also the fact that there is a five-year plan. Thanks to Mayor Muccini-Burke. And that is a big reason why many of these grants, these library building grants, haven't been accessible to us because we were not part of and there was no five-year plan. So to answer that question, now that there is this plan, it's not just the library moving forward, it's really everyone. So things to think about. Let's think about our future and let's really build something that really represents the amazing community that Medford is. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Jeanne Martin]: Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And you people are putting me out of work now. You guys are taking my job from me. You're all saying what I would have said. So thank you very much for that. My job here is done. For now. For now, on this one. And I want to thank you for all supporting the library. I'm a fan of the library. I also just want to point out a couple of little things. As I was talking to the assistant director, which kind of already knew, There are certain areas that don't even have plugs because they were designed to have books along that wall. So you're absolutely right, Mr. Falco. When you have that assessment, you need to do the bottom two. It needs to be retrofitted for all kinds of cabling and internet and all of that. It needs to be seen as a whole package. The other thing I'd like to say is when you conceive the library, wherever you put it, whether it's the Springs, apparently not. It needs to be in conjunction with the Chevalier Theatre, with the TV3, wherever the TV3 goes, which I would like to see in the Square someplace. And it needs to also be seen with the business community, and I always think of you, because you know how to talk to all those people. So anyway, It needs to be seen as a bigger plan. The whole square needs to be conceived in one big thing and not to just say, let's do this to the library. Because, you know, especially with the Chevalier, because it's all liberal arts, it's all artsy. So I think that they need to be married. And I know that certain people get territorial. I don't mean this in a bad way. People do. The Chevalier people may not like, you know, what the library is proposing or the library people don't. Well, you know, let's all get together on this, and let's come up with the, let's not be territorial, let's not get defensive, and let's just move forward on that and come together on those things and build them all with the same concept in mind. So that's all I got to say, and thank you for doing my job for me.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Jean. Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Joe Viglione]: Good evening. Joe Villione, 59 Garfield Ave. Congratulations to all the new Councilors. and to the past councilors, through the chair, to the mayor, and to Ms. Kerr at the library. The synergy between the library, public access, and the Chevalier, as Jean Martin just stated, it's a softball coming at us at five miles an hour. You can pluck it out of the air, it's so simple. And when we hear Councilor Caraviello talk about the leaky ceiling, we have money. And that money is public access money. And I have been waiting 12 long years to get the show that I do, which is on so many stations in so many municipalities, on the air in Medford, a show that helps and benefits the community. Now, the history of Medford belongs at the library. And as I said, when I was a member of TV3 in the 1990s, We should be taking the great Tony Bova show, the hockey, the baseball, the football, the cooking, my grandmother's cooking show. All these shows should be at the library in beautiful slimline DVD cases for the public to take out or they can go online. But the upstairs at the library, if we loan them some money, we have the money. This new city council knows we have the money. It is in the public access reservoir. that the mayor has. And I know that this mayor is proactive with public access. She was one of our staunchest allies, along with Michael Marks, Breanna Lungo-Koehn, and Robert M. Penta. Stephanie Burke was one of our strongest allies when it came to public access TV. This is the opportunity to show the community that we're going to start immediately. Let's make an agreement with the library. Let's get some of that money. Let's get it up and running. Let's fix that second floor. Let's make it a place that attracts people, because I will leave you with this thought. I'm often at, I was at the Reading Library just now, and I'm usually at the Winchester Library or Burlington Library, gorgeous buildings. Gorgeous. The new Reading Library is going to be stunning, and we're in a temporary zone right now because I'm a member of Reading Cable as well. And the Cable and the libraries, they all work well together. We must move Medford forward. We must be partners in progress. It's not just a slogan. Let's do it. This is how we do it. Let's do it right away. I will be at those meetings. I will be at those cultural meetings. This is very important to me, not for me, but for the city. Because, come on, I'm an old man. How much time do I have left? I'm doing this for the city. I'm not a young man like Mr. Falco or Mr. Scarpelli. I'm an old man. Help me out before I die. Give me my access station.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening, please state your name and address.
[John Sardone]: My name is John Sardone, council president, members of the council. I'm here tonight to offer my hand to the community and beyond the community, the city of Medford for the celebration of life fundraiser for Mr. Joseph Fruzzo, who was struck up in Dracut Mass, May 3rd of this year, of last year. He was struck from behind and left in the road for dead. As a wife and three young children, we are having a fundraiser, on February 5th, 50-50 raffle. Contact person is going to be Mike Leconte, 781-866-0370. I've been to a lot of establishments, restaurants that can donate food, gift cards, whatever they can give to us so we can have more money to be raised for this young gentleman. He was accomplished by trade. He's never going to work again. He's been in the rehab for the last nine months. Okay. We don't know where they're going to send them for the next rehab. His kids are the inspirations for this young gentleman. It's when he 42 years old, February 5th is his birthday. Okay. So we're having the fundraiser on the house from seven to 11. We're selling tickets, $20 a person. If anybody wants to donate other, other monies besides the tickets, we're going to accept it. I thank you for your time and your generosity. Thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, John. Thank you for your good work in that matter. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.
[May Marquebreuck]: May market rec 16 Glenwood have Bedford. Good evening and congratulations to the new members of the council and uh, president and vice president. Um, I think what we've been talking about here tonight is not new news. The library has been in difficulty for quite some time. It's an example of what we have here in the city. We have very, very dedicated people who are right here in the council tonight, members who are staff of the library, just hoping that the building that they're working in wouldn't fall on their head. Now, this is disgraceful. We have some idea of how much it's going to cost to fix the roof at the library. Anybody who's living in this city and is paying any attention, as Councilor Mark said, we have a lot of leaky roofs around here. We have mold. We have all kinds of distasteful conditions. And I know that money is difficult to come by to fix these things. This is only the second day of a new day of a new administration. However, it is important to talk about these things because they're very serious. And I've just mentioned this. Maybe I shouldn't, but we all know that there is a considerable amount of free cash somewhere in this building. And perhaps it's time to think about using some of it for these very serious problems. The other thing I would like to mention, and it's a very small item, however, it does bother me a little bit. At the time, we were talking about the lack of certification for the library. which, of course, was over a period of a number of years. And as a longtime resident here of Medford, I think it was very unfortunate to have that happen. But at that time, I happened to find out that there is a group of trustees connected with the library. I do not know who these people are. I believe they are five members. And it would be very interesting to learn. Does anybody, Mr. President, do you know what the responsibilities are of the trustees of the library? Or does any Councilor here know? Well, I guess we need a little education. Including myself. So it's a very small item, however. We have people in the city that are being paid to do a job. Nobody even knows what that job is. But they're picking up a paycheck. So maybe the council should find out exactly what the responsibilities are of these trustees. And if we're really not getting our money's worth, maybe something should be done about it. Thank you very much.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Meg.
[Barbara Kerr]: Should I restate who I am?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Please do.
[Barbara Kerr]: Barbara Kerr, 35 Baker Place, Newton Lower Falls. I can tell you a little bit about the trustees, if that would help. According to Matt, there is a section in the Massachusetts General Laws, which I can send all of you tomorrow, if you'd like. They have fiduciary responsibility over the library, and they are responsible for hiring the library director. Those are their two main responsibilities. There are a whole bunch of other things, too. But there are set legal responsibilities that they do have. So I would be happy to send that to you if you would like me to. Is that all right?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: A statement?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Go ahead, Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I was just going to ask if they got a statement. I know that was a question.
[Adam Knight]: They do. Mr. President, I have right here document produced by the administration December 17, 2015, outlining all of our boards and commissions that are under the authority of the administration, Mr. President, as well as the members and the terms that they hold. We have five members appointed to a three-year term on the board of library trustees. There are three $600 annual stipends, one $900 stipend for the chair and one $700 stipend for the vice chair, Mr. President. That addresses any of those questions.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much. We're going to call a vote now. You want to speak? Come along. On the motion for approval on the resolution of Councilor Caraviello. Motion of approval was from Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Caraviello, as amended by Councilors Caraviello, Lungo-Koehn, Falco, Scarpelli, and Marks. All those in favor? All those opposed? Roll call vote, Mr. President. Roll call vote has been requested, Mr. Clerk, if you would kindly call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Lungo-Koehn. Yes. Council Marks. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Del Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With a vote of seven, the affirmative, none, the negative. The motion passes. 16-011 offered by Councilor Caraviello be resolved at the Medford City Council. Look into the possibility of temporary parking on Main Street during the Craddock Bridge construction after the bus stop has moved to its new location. Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I don't know if people have noticed, but the temporary bridge is up and going now, and they're starting to work on the old bridge. At the beginning of the road there, the road is quite open and wide there, and I was with, the other night, I was having dinner with our state representative Donato, and we were discussing how possibly we could put some parking spaces, maybe half a dozen parking spaces in front of there. that part of Main Street during the construction time, seeing that there's nothing there. And when I talked to Representative Denial this morning, he had explained to me that he had spoken to the construction people and the people from the DOT, and they think that is a very good possibility to do that. And I would think that the businesses that are affected the most could benefit from maybe those extra half a dozen parking spaces over there during this construction time. So I don't know if this goes to the Traffic Commission or we do that on our own, but I think it would be a good gesture to do that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Perhaps we send it to the administration to make a decision and disseminate it to the appropriate department. Always an advocate for business. Thank you. Chair recognizes Vice President Longo-Curran.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. Also, with that, if we can look into, as I drove by, looks like there's Jersey barriers from the auto school all the way down to the section into the square. So anybody that wants to frequent say, you know, Carol's restaurant or ERA Realty has to walk, you know, all the way around. If that could just be looked at to see if it's possible to maybe make a gap in one of the barriers, possible temporary crosswalk. I'm not sure if that's, you know, feasible, but if they can look into that possibility, um, there was a, section in the Island that was, you know, clear of, you know, shrubs so that people could cross the road in a safe manner. So if that could be looked into as well.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. As amended by vice president Logan current. Thank you. Madam vice president chair recognizes council night.
[Adam Knight]: Um, Mr. President, in looking at the resolution, uh, be a result of the city council, look into the possibility of a temporary parking on main street during the credit bridge reconstruction. I certainly have no problem with that, but, um, as councilor Caraviello, initiated and cited as you did as well, would it be appropriate for the traffic commission to review this, the administration to review this, or the city council's subcommittee on transportation, Mr. President? I think that by taking a two-fold approach, we'll be much more successful in actually accomplishing the objective, Mr. President. So I think that it would make sense if we are going to, in fact, send a paper to the administration to look into it, that we also hold a transportation subcommittee meeting and have the administration come before us and explain to us the reasoning why they feel as though this is a bad idea, whether or not there are public safety issues that surround it, what the traffic commission's position is on it as well, Mr. President. It's going to be very important as to whether or not this really happens. So I think that, you know, as we look at the end result and how to get to the solution, I think that it would make more sense, Mr. President, for us to send a correspondence to the administration, but also hold a subcommittee meeting where the individuals that are in a position to set this policy will be able to appear before us and explain to us why it is or is not a good idea. Very good. So, uh, we'll do this.
[Richard Caraviello]: We will, if you could, uh, yes. Uh, I, I, I agree with council and I'd only be, uh, for one point is because I'm, I'm really not happy about where they're anticipating moving the bus stop to, which is for what I understand under the bridge. And I don't think that's a probably a place to move that bus stop. I think it should be, possibly on Riverside Avenue, maybe turn River Street for a short time into one way going the opposite way.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I was under the impression that it was going to stay where it was, but I may be mistaken. In any event, if we- Yeah, let's have an update on that from the administration.
[Richard Caraviello]: According to the representative, it was going to be moved further down.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And we're also going to send this to the administration. And also the, uh, chair, uh, pro tempore of the, uh, transportation committee will call a meeting, uh, for that since we can't send the paper to places at once. Thank you. So there's a, uh, an amendment that the, uh, chair call the subcommittee meetings on that. Uh, and, uh, we have a gentleman at the podium. who will shed light on this matter, and we invite you to state your name and address for the record.
[Maury Carroll]: I'm Maury Carroll, 31 Richard Street, Medford.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. Carroll.
[Maury Carroll]: This all came about that I have some friends that have done a lot of construction in similar situations that is going on right now down there. They brought it to my attention that in projects in the past, that this has been an occurrence that has happened as being allowed to have some sort of parking in the construction area when construction isn't going on. At that time, we talked to Rick, and Paul was there, and we brought it to this point. But there's a lot of other things going on down there. As Brianna mentioned that they've got all those Jersey barriers right now blocking us off completely. I'm a retail business. I depend on traffic flow. I'm not a professional business that has, you know, one appointment an hour that is somehow some way you're gonna make it. The people are deterred from any access whatsoever or difficult access. They're not going to come. You know, already we're shutting down for lunch as of this week. We're not going to, the sidewalks are closed. There's no way for people to get there. And so I decided that as a Friday, we will just shut down for lunch. You have companies showing up as of last night, nine o'clock. They're not supposed to do work before 10 o'clock. They're out there right in front of the place, blocking us, shutting us down. No police detail. They stretched the bus stops so far that people missed the buses, because their trucks were blocking people waiting for the buses. And it's a little bit like the Wild Wild West going on down there right now. Somewhere along the line, someone has to grab the horns of this thing and get it back under control, because right now it's a runaway train. Paul Donato has set up a meeting with me with some of the powers to be tomorrow night. That's all fine and good. We've met, we've talked, we had meetings before this construction even started. They were going to be the best things since sliced bread. And the lack of communication and just steamrolling the project. Whatever they want to do, they do. And we need help. I'll tell you right now, we need help.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Point of information.
[George Scarpelli]: Mr. President, I know when we were here as guests, they mentioned something about an email. Have they done that?
[Fred Dello Russo]: I don't know if we have. I haven't received an update on that. Has anybody, any of the Councilors? That's telling. if they haven't with this issue?
[Maury Carroll]: I'm supposed to be on the email and I got a forward to me from other people and I questioned the project manager on behalf of DOT. He said, you're there. I checked my junk. I checked the vice mayor, nothing there. I believe they put them out every, either every two or three weeks, they put them out George. When they have their, when they have their meetings, they have their progress report meetings either every two or three weeks where they meet with OCD supposedly, they meet with DPW. We've never been informed or privy to any of these meetings up to this point.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. I don't know if it was a few weeks ago when we did have them before us answering questions. So they did say they're going to send every two or three weeks. Maybe I haven't received anything either.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And I think it's- The clerk said we got something. Yes.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: We did. Maybe if you could forward it to the whole council, that would be good. Also, when they did give the email, I was notifying department heads within City Hall, make sure you email Dan from DOT to get on an email list. I think that tells you what you need to know. We need to have a department head, and it seems like the shuffle game is being played because there's really no specific department that controls DOT, but somebody within City Hall, whether that's OCD or building or, DPW, somebody needs to get involved with this situation so there is a contact within City Hall that can help the businesses, help the people that traverse our sidewalks, help what's going on down there. To put Jersey barriers and block off business is not helpful to the community. I mean, to close down a business seems really absurd to me and it's sad that you know, the council had to have DOT here and then notify department heads to, hey, why don't you email them so you can get updates. DOT should be, get people from City Hall involved, and if not, we need to do it ourselves. We need to have somebody in City Hall get involved and figure out what the concerns and questions are and get some, you know, resolve to our issues. It's unbelievable.
[Maury Carroll]: There's the lack of signage in direction for people down there. It's, it's really unbelievable. There is no direction for people to go in. They park certain places. They don't know where the crosswalks are. They don't know what's open, what isn't, you know, it is just, it's a serious problem.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I know, you know, and I think Something that's been clear, if I just may, from the chair, speak briefly. Something that's been made clear to the new administration and part of some of the transition talks is a need for communication and a need for a point person on projects and issues like you're facing, Laurie. Because you shouldn't be put through this. And no one should. And we support you. I know you always have, and I appreciate you. And we'll continue to move on this. Yep. So on the motion for approval by Councilor Gabriello.
[Maury Carroll]: Thank you very much. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. Petitions, presentations, and similar matters. 16-007, petition for common vigilance license by Solomon Andreas, 129 Harvard Street, number two, Medford Mass, for Solomon and Jonathan Incorporated, doing business as, Route 28 Smoke Shop at 133 4th Street, Medford, Mass. On file, business certificate number 243. Reports from building, fire, police, traffic, health department treasurer, letter of compliance, state tax ID, workman's comp, and application. Councilor Caraviello, Chair of Licensing, how do you find these, Chair Pro Tempore?
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I reviewed the papers and I find them in order. A quick question for you, sir. Are you going to maintain the same business hours as the other owners? And you're still going to have the cigar shop in the back there? Yes. Mr. President, I found the papers in order and recommend approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. On the motion for approval by Councilor Caffiello, Councilor Marks, a neighbour.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Are you going to be selling convenience items in the store? You're going to have bread, milk and
[SPEAKER_03]: We have milk and bread, yes.
[Michael Marks]: What else are you going to be selling?
[SPEAKER_03]: Dry food, like candies, water, something like that.
[SPEAKER_02]: So what percentage of your store is the smoke shop? I say one-third of. One-third. One-third is the smoke shop? One-fourth. One-fourth.
[Michael Marks]: One-quarter?
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes.
[Michael Marks]: So three-quarters consists of convenience items, newspapers, all — The reason why I ask, Mr. President, that store, in the last several years, has changed hands a number of times. The person you're taking over for, I believe, took over maybe a year ago. It wasn't too long ago, Mr. President, and for a period of time, I know they fixed the sidewalk in front, and that was a blight to the whole neighborhood and a safety concern, too. And I know there's been some graffiti on the side of the building. So if you could do whatever you can to make sure the fourth street side, if there's any graffiti in the wall, that that be taken care of immediately. But I wish you well.
[SPEAKER_03]: Appreciate it, thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli. Just a question, that's an existing smoke shop? It is. Okay. All those in favour? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. Motion to suspend the rules by Councilor Knight. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carries. Councilor? Motion is in the hand of the Clerk. Councilor Scarpelli, offered by Councilor Scarpelli under suspension, be it resolved. Thank you, congratulations. It was approved. Good luck, do well. Offered by Councilor Scarpelli, be it resolved that we ask the director of the Department of Public Works to update the council when Christmas tree pickup is scheduled to be posted. Chair recognizes Councilor Scarpelli. If I can, thank you, Mr. President.
[George Scarpelli]: Just the question that I'm reaching out to my I had a few phone calls from a few constituents and asking if there is a Christmas tree pickup in the community and when and where, and if it'll be posted and where it will be posted so they can put their Christmas trees out on the sidewalk. Is it next week? Okay, just so if we know.
[Unidentified]: Next week's pickup?
[George Scarpelli]: Yes. So if maybe- Regular trash pickup?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes.
[George Scarpelli]: Do you know where they post that? If we could ask where they can post it, if they can.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: maybe Captain Clemente could give us an informational call on that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: That we meant that Captain Clemente saved the day by giving an informational call.
[Richard Caraviello]: I didn't recommend that. I myself have gotten a few dozen calls, people have asked me. I mean, that's one of the things. It was posted on the webpage, I didn't even look. I think it was on the newspaper. I believe that's one of the issues, is the webpages. Yeah, the webpages were questionable. But maybe if Captain Clemente could maybe let the people know about the Christmas tree disposal.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Excellent. So on the motion of Councilors, get Pelly as amended. All those in favor. All those opposed. Motion carries offered by Councilor Marks. Be resolved that moment of silence be held for Metro resident. Then you mean no Martin Yeti on his recent passing. Uh, Councilor.
[Michael Marks]: Uh, thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Martin Eddie, uh, was a long time method resident. He was the founder and president of Montanetti Enterprises, which was a masonry company at two different locations. And from what I understand, it's the largest non-union masonry company in Massachusetts. And Mr. Benamino was a terrific family man, many grandkids and grandchildren. his sons and daughters standouts in the community, and he will be sorely missed, Mr. President. And on behalf of this council, I want to wish his family well, Mr. President, with their grieving.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor, for those sentiments. Please rise, if you could, for a moment of silence.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, do we have more under suspension?
[Fred Dello Russo]: We have nothing else under suspension.
[Michael Marks]: I just have one announcement, if I could.
[Fred Dello Russo]: We'd be delighted.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I just got news today. I'm a member of — I actually sit on the board for the Friends of Chevalier, and they were selected recently as a recipient as a nonprofit organization for Whole Foods 5% Day. And Whole Foods reaches out to nonprofits within the community and selects uh, recipients on behalf of their, uh, community involvement, the nonprofits and, uh, what improvements they make to the local community and the quality of life. And I'm proud to say the friends of Chevalier were recently selected. So Wednesday, January 13th, if you could hold off doing some shopping, if you go on Wednesday, January 13th, 5% of your proceeds, uh, will go towards, um, uh, the friends of Chevalier. And as we know, uh, they are instrumental in helping, uh, Chevalier auditorium, uh, maintain its integrity, um, and, uh, allow that to be a first class, uh, performance, uh, uh, opportunity for residents of this community. And, um, I just want to urge any Medford residents, Wednesday, January 13th, Whole Foods go out and spend a lot of money in Whole Foods. Why are you looking at me?
[George Scarpelli]: One can't help but do it there.
[Michael Marks]: I figured I'd get my biggest bang. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Awesome. Thank you. On the motion of council, I'd like to resort back to the regular order of business. All those in favor? All those opposed? 15-008, uh, 16-008, excuse me, petition by Joseph Viglione, 59 Garfield Avenue, Medford, Mass., to discuss each member of the transition team of the new administration. With regret, I must inform you, Mr. Viglione, that I again find this paper out of order. It's not in the purview of the city council. This was ruled out of order in substance last week. And I'm sorry if you have questions for the members of the transition team. It's an advisory committee put together by the administration, and so it's not under our purview. with all due respects, rule this matter as a matter of procedure, out of order.
[Joe Viglione]: The chair has been challenged on this matter.
[Fred Dello Russo]: by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Mr. Clerk.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, before you call.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes.
[Michael Marks]: I, you know, the city of Malden has a great part of their council agenda. We have public participation, which is under the rules and regulations of our city agenda. And the city of Malden does something pretty unique. And I'm just throwing out as a potential suggestion. They have prior to their regularly scheduled City Council meetings, a public forum meeting where every elected official on the council shows up. And it's a public forum where residents get up, talk on any and every subject they want. There's really, they have a time limit, but it's, from what I've been told, it's not really adhered to. And it's just a great way of listening to, as we know what's going on tonight, there's a big meeting on constituent services and how do we best improve constituent services in the community. And much of that is to allow open public forums and debate and discussion. And, you know, maybe this particular meeting, Mr. President, which I appreciate your role as council president, has to be run in a way that we do the people's business and move on from issue to issue. It can't be bogged down with the daily business of hearing things. But maybe a forum like that, even if we did it once a month, to have a meeting prior to our meeting, that's open to the public and they can come up and address the council on anything. They don't have to attend. Cause right now to be on public participation, you got to contact the city clerk. You have to write out what your intent is, what you'd like to speak on. And maybe if we hold a forum like that, you know, talk about opening up the lines of communication between city government and the public. That may be an option, Mr. President. And I think maybe residents, uh, You know, there's no two, we don't have to turn the TV on. Some people don't like to get up to the podium because they don't want to be on TV and they don't, uh, afraid of speaking in front of a lot of people. And so this might be a great suggestion, uh, Mr. President. And, uh, maybe when we review our council rules, uh, we can review that also.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Without a doubt. Thank you. Councilman. The chair has been challenged. Mr. Clerk, uh, if you would call the role, a yes vote upholds the chair's ruling.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes.
[Clerk]: Councilor Falco? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Long and Kern? No. Councilor Miles? No. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Dello Russo?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With a vote of five in the affirmative, two in the negative, the chair is upheld. See you in court. 16-009, petition by Joseph Figlioni, 59 Garfield Avenue, Medford, Mass. No confidence vote on Frederick Dello Russo as president for A, not adhering to the First Amendment, B, calling paper out of order before citizen speaks. C, failing to have address given at council.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If I may.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Council President, I would just like to ask our city solicitor for an opinion, just because when you look it up, a motion of no confidence, I thought it had to be proposed by a member of the Medford City Council.
[Richard Caraviello]: You are correct. I did talk to the solicitor today.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So if we could just get a written opinion. I know I'm one that would like the public to be able to speak, but when it has to do with a no confidence vote, that's very serious. I believe we've only had that happen one other time in my 14 years. So I really would like to get an opinion from the solicitor.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So is this a motion to table?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, it is.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the motion of Councilor Langley-Curran to table this matter until the- And under that motion to postpone this matter indefinitely by Councilor Knight. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Records. We are all done with those matters, sir.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Are you done for the entire meeting? We are. Okay. Cause it says on the back page, public participation. I didn't hear you announce that. Are we allowed to speak at the end of the meeting before it ends? It says public participation before you check on your records.
[Fred Dello Russo]: There's a process by which one participates by petitioning the current clerk to speak on a matter. Okay.
[Michael Marks]: So I move suspension of the rules, Mr. President, to allow the gentleman to speak.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Marks moves suspension of the rules on your behalf that you might be allowed to speak on a matter.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Thank you, Councilor Dello Russo. Thank you, Councilor. Um, Andrew Castagnetti, Cushion Street, 02155. I simply wanted to please allow me to congratulate you, the reelected city councilors, especially the two new city councilors, JC Falco jr. And GA Scarpelli. And also kudos, the new first ever elected female Mrs. Mayor Stephanie Muccini Burke and Mr. Finn and Mr. LaPore. Let us all work together and make this a good 2016 and a great new year and make Medford greater again. Of course, I have my agenda from last Christmas, and I'd like to give everybody a heads up six months in advance before the budget meeting and before the real estate tax rate is set 12 months from today. Hopefully, Santa Claus will be good to us this December. and finally give our middle-class homeowners some real estate tax relief if they live in their house as an owner-occupied dweller. As you know, the best time to prepare for this is at budget time in June. Then we will be ready, able, and hopefully willing to adopt the full 20 percent owner-occupied real estate tax exemption under Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 56, Section 5C. I can repeat that if you want to write this down six months in advance. It's Massachusetts MGL, Chapter 56, Section 5C. Thank you for your attention, and I wish us all a healthy Good New Year's.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you for your help. Congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Castagnetti. The records. of the December 22nd, 2015 meeting were passed to Councilor Lungo-Koehn. Madam Vice President, how do you find those records? On the motion for approval by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Motion to adjourn.
[Michael Marks]: Yes. Uh, and, uh, the clerk at Finn was nice enough to forward, uh, recently, uh, uh, correspondence from, uh, governor Baker regarding a number of potential amendments, uh, to mass general law that would impact local cities and towns. And there had to be 40, 50 pages of potential amendments. And I just happened to go through some. Some I agreed with. Some I think need more discussion. Some I didn't agree with. But I think it's appropriate that this body, at some point — these have not been enacted, but maybe as a body we should look at some of these and see which ones we would like to pursue and push forward, because there are many valid issues in there regarding election law, regarding the Treasurer-Collector's Office, regarding the city charter and the operation of how cities work and run. And it may be worthwhile that we have a committee of the whole meeting or a subcommittee. I'm amenable to anything. But I think it's worthwhile because a lot of emphasis was put in it by the governor and his staff and based on countless recommendations from this entire commonwealth on how to streamline and improve city government. And I think it would be worthwhile, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So we will work on that. And we will give ourselves all a chance to look at those regulations. And then we'll call the Committee of the Whole and maybe discuss it broadly. And then there, decide on how we want to, once we've had a chance to look at everything, perhaps decide how to move further from there. So on the motion for adjournment, by Councilor. All those in favor? All those opposed? Meeting is adjourned. Thank you all.
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