[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. The 33rd regular meeting of the Medford City Council will come to order. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Camuso? Present. Councilor Caraviello? Present. Councilor Knight? Present. Vice-President Long and Kern? Councilor Marks? Present. Councilor Penta? Present. President Dello Russo?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Present. With seven members present, none absent, please rise to salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. On the motion of Councilor Knight for suspension of the rules. All those in favour? All those opposed? Councilor Knight, the purpose for your suspension.
[Adam Knight]: Motion to take subcommittee report. up before the council relative to the community garden commission appointment of the city council, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes, indeed. So this evening at 645, the Medford City Council met in committee of the whole to consider the candidate for the council's appointment to the new, newly ordained garden commission that's going to deal with the new victory garden or community garden on Winthrop Street. The council's Candidate is Frederick Lasky, and he met with a unanimous approval in our- I'm sorry. I'm sorry?
[Paul Camuso]: Whenever you're done, I'm sorry.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Okay.
[Paul Camuso]: So, Councilor Camuso, go ahead. Thank you, Mr. President. As we are all aware, we just met, and I joined my council colleague, Councilor Robert Penta, over the past three weeks. And we brought the name forward of Frederick Lasky as a member of the guiding commission to represent this honorable body. And I'm happy to say that it was a unanimous vote of the Medford City Council at the meeting, and I'd just like to make a motion to approve it. on behalf of Councilor Penta, myself and the Medford City Council. Thank you, Councilor Musso.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the motion of approved by Councilor Musso, did anybody need to speak on this? Councilor Penta?
[Robert Penta]: I think when we look around our community and we decide to have people serve on particular boards and commissions, it becomes very important that the people are involved within our community. And Fred Lasky most definitely is involved in our community. not only as a former school committee person, as a former Boy Scout leader, but also as years in government and also as years in working here within our community and participating in many, many functions. So I think it's what a nice, decent piece of honor to not only represent the fact that I would like to co-sponsor with Councilor Camuso, the appointment of Mr. Lasky. I just think it's, it's another good turn for our city as we move forward in a positive way. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Uh, thank you. Councilor, uh, Penta. So on the motion for approval by Councilors, uh, Camuso and Penta roll call, a roll call vote has been requested. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Camuso, Frederick Lasky, Councilor Caraviello, Councilor Knight, Frederick Lasky, Vice President Long and Kern, Frederick Lasky, Councilor Marksby,
[Fred Dello Russo]: Frederick Lasky. On the vote of seven for Frederick Lasky, the vote is unanimous and you are hereby appointed by the Medford City Council to represent us. For a period of three years, the date concluding Council night was 11-9-18, so congratulations.
[Adam Knight]: Motion to revert back to the regular order of business, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion to revert back to regular order of business, all those in favor? All those opposed? 15-728 offered by Councilor Marks. Be it resolved that the Metro City Council receive an update on the status of the two proposed raised crosswalks on Central Ave and Harvard Street. This was part of a raised crosswalk pilot program which included three raised crosswalks over which the Winthrop Street raised crosswalk was completed. A speed bump was placed on Central Ave several weeks back and area residents would like to know when the raised crosswalk will be installed. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And about a year ago at the urging of this council, the mayor implemented a pilot program for raised crosswalks. And the first initiative was three raised crosswalks, one located on Central Ave, Harvard Street and also Winthrop Street. Now, we all know the Winthrop Street Race Crosswalk has been in place for probably over a year now. And is it two years? Two years. It's been a while. And we are waiting for the Harvard Street Crosswalk. With all the work that's being done to the bridge, we were told that that would take a little longer. sometime back, a speed bump, one of those plastic speed bumps appeared on Central Ave. And it's been there for a number of months. I questioned it several months back and have received no response from the administration. But it's my hope that this is not taking the place of a raised crosswalk. We all know the difference between a raised crosswalk and a speed bump. And from the residents that have been calling me up in that neighborhood, They are concerned that that speed bump has been there for many months now, and they want to know when they're going to get their raised crosswalk. So I would ask that we receive a response back from the administration regarding what is the detailed plan on when this crosswalk will be initiated and how long it's going to take to implement this, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. Vice President Lundell-Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I just want to second the resolve. We voted, I believe, for the entire project, where the speed bump monies were included. And that was over two years ago. So I, too, would like to know what's going on with the residents, especially in the Central Ave area, were on top of this project. The whole park was redone. There were curb cuts put in. Handicap accessibility was upgraded in the area, and this raised crosswalk was supposed to be put in place. I know the Winthrop Street raised crosswalk does slow traffic down, so these are very beneficial in our community, especially where we get so many complaints about the speeding. So I, too, would like an answer on, you know, when this is going to be implemented, and really hope that the money we approved to go into these crosswalks hasn't been either used up a different way or diverted in the wrong direction. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. President.
[Richard Caraviello]: While we're on the topic of Central Avenue, two years ago, some work was done there, replacing them of a water pipe, going into a private store, not done by the city, but done by a private contractor at the expense of the landlord. And that trench has now sunk. And I know I've made a couple of calls to the city to have the contractor, whoever did that, go back and dig that out and refill it. Because that is now gone, that's a reverse speed bump now for the neighbors in that, over there. So if we could put that in that motion, I'd appreciate it, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: There's a trench on Salem Street, on Central Street. Central and Spring, right in the corner there. In the corner of Spring. It was not done by the city. It was done by a private contractor. Private contractors failed to fulfill their responsibilities on that. So if we can send that up to the engineer's office as an amendment. And a roll call has been requested on the motion of Councilor Marks. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll as amended.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice-President Malauulu-Kern? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Penta? Yes. President Dello Russo?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With a vote of seven in the affirmative, none in the negative, the motion passes. 15-729, offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that the city's new water monitoring program be discussed. Councilor Marks?
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President, and I'm happy to state that the city is finally rolling out a water monitoring program. Uh, this council has been talking about, uh, leak detection, water monitor monitoring, and also I and I inflow and infiltration for many years now. Uh, we also, uh, we're, uh, the, uh, body that pushed for the second meter, allowing people to, uh, uh, not be charged for a sewer cost when they're using water outdoors. And, um, this new program, which, is going into effect, I guess, shortly. It will be a way that residents can monitor their water usage and also track and receive alerts from the city and also on their own on any outages or leaks that are showing up on the system itself. And the reason why I brought this up, Mr. President, is that I'm hoping that we can get Ron Baker to come before this podium and give the residents a little tutorial on how this program works. It also mentions that residents will be required, in order to participate in this program, to set up an account with this Water Smart program. And I'm not sure how involved the program is to set up, but I would also ask that Ron who's in our water, Ron Baker, who's in our water department, be able to put together maybe some bullet points on how to walk people through setting up these particular accounts. It's a great program in order to, if you do have an internal leak in your home, and most people think that they're going to see water dripping from a ceiling if they have an internal leak, and that's not always the case. You can have a toilet bowl that's running. You can have a number of issues and not be alerted to them. But this report, this new program, will show you spikes in your water usage. It'll actually show you different periods of time so you can compare summer months to summer months from year to year and be able to really get a handle on your water usage. We, when we went to the new metering program back It has to be 10, 12 years ago now, maybe even a little longer. We were sold a bill of goods that the current system had the ability to monitor leaks throughout the community and send out alerts. For whatever reason, we never purchased, according to the Water and Sewer Department, we never purchased the program that made this capable in our community. And after reading an article in the transcript, I find it quite amazing that this program through a San Francisco-based company called Water Smart Software, the software itself is $12,628. And this council has probably been talking about this particular program and the need for residents for 10 years now. And, you know, come to find out it's a $12,000 program. It does accompany an additional $1.01 annual fee per account. So I assume that's per household that signs up to this, that will be the charge to the city. But the benefits by far outweigh any cost that's associated with this. In particular, that water and sewer is fast becoming an issue of concern in this community and at some point may exceed your taxes, your property taxes at the rate we're going. But I support this wholeheartedly. I would ask, Mr. President, that we invite him to a regular council meeting, Ron Baker, have him explain the program, let him detail the program, and how we can best send out a message to people in our community on how to sign up for it. Because it's not going to be — every resident is not going to just get this program. You're going to have to sign up and give detailed information on the number of people in your home and rooms and so forth, there's a lot involved in, I guess, setting this up. One other interesting fact, Mr. President, and something that I think is going to come up pretty shortly is that there's a deficit right now in the water side of the water and sewer. And we're looking at $1.2 million deficit in the city's water account. And right now, the Water and Sewer Commission, under the tutelage of Dominic Camara, are looking at many different options to try to account for this $1.2 million. And I, as one member of the council, would urge the Water and Sewer Commission to do what's rightfully beneficial to the ratepayers of this community, and that is to take the surplus money in the water and sewer enterprise account and offset this particular deficit. That money can only be spent for infrastructure projects by state statute and also offsetting rates. And I think this is an appropriate time to take the six-plus million dollars that's in that account, combined accounts, and offset the rate so the $1.2 million won't be borne by the water and sewer ratepayers, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much. The chair recognizes Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I too think it would be beneficial to get Ron Baker to come down. I also, with regards to the number of things that he's going to report to us with regard to this particular system, I'm also curious to find out what it entails for the city to man the system and monitor the system. So if we could just add that to have him come speak to us about, I would be interested in that. The 12,000 is something that, I had brought this up on the council floor a couple months ago, and at that time, I estimated about 20,000 for the Aqua Hawk system, so 12,000's an even better figure. Just wanted to ask, you know, how will we monitor this? Will we need another position in the water and sewer department? You know, how is that done, and how can we, I don't wanna just buy this system and it just be out there. We need somebody to monitor it and be able to call residents may have leaks and do something positive with it so that our residents don't get stuck with astronomical bills due to leaks that they didn't know about, whether they were on vacation or, you know, just could not hear the toilet running. We want to be able to use this to benefit our residents and not hear the awful stories that we hear with regards to $1,000 bills because of an unknown leak.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So as amended by Vice President Lungo-Koehn, Councilor Knight,
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much, and thank you, Councilor Marks. We share some of the same concerns relative to the deficit in the water side, and I'd like to amend the paper a little bit further to ask the Water and Sewer Commission to report back on the actual financial picture relative to the water and sewer revenue forecasts, as well as whether or not we've met conservation goals established through the tiered rating system, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I had a conversation with the commissioner of the, if I can just share, And, uh, I think they're waiting on a report or, uh, looking at some figures and it won't be long before they come and sit with us to report back on what's going on with that. Excellent. Thank you.
[Robert Penta]: Uh, chair recognizes Councilor Penta this past March. I attended the, uh, water and soil commission when they first introduced this idea of having a monitoring system take place here within our community. And inclusive of that, there was a company, um, that was coming forward and made a presentation as it relates to addressing any and all leaks throughout the city. I'm not being a voluntary participant. Um, so the difference between that one and this one, um, is, is a little bit different. And as council max is alluded to, I think it would be great to have them come forward. So all the taxpayers and the rate payers would have a better understanding as to what's going on. As far as having the program, that's going to have the capacity and the ability to, to detect leaks. One of the things that was paramount in this whole program was that spike periods of time, either during the day or during the night, would be recorded here at City Hall. And as a result of that, whoever would be monitoring or whatever office would be handling this, they would be able to get a printout, they would be able to identify the time, and that would in turn be able to notify the ratepayer homeowner who would be having this particular problem. As Councilor Marks alluded to, there are astronomical bills that have been going out there. I've sat there where people have had $1,000, $2,000 bills because of a little bit of a leak. We were told, I believe, when we bought the system at that point in time that the software to be included was about approximately $100,000. That was inclusive of having a person in the system. So I don't know how much that broke itself down to the employee and to the software, but if we had that, we probably wouldn't be in the position now of talking about people who have these outrageous bills. But I don't think it's just a $12,000 system, since it's going to be voluntary. So I don't know how that's going to represent every single house in the community to ask people to be a participant. But I think what would be beneficial is to have them come down here, because they're going to tell you that the tier system that they're working off of right now hasn't worked apparently the way they thought it would work. First, it was the first 800 would get a certain rate. and then up to 1,200, then up to 1,200. Now it's the first thousand, and then after the first thousand cubic feet, and it goes on and on. So I think what the council and the rate payers really need to understand is looking at the volume of how much water is used by those people. Now when we talk about the conservation part of the program, you're also talking about what the EPA, through the federal government, is mandating as for the amount of per gallons per day, per individual, I think it's like 65. And if we look at that and multiply that, in each individual household, you'll have an idea of how much water should be used or is going to be used. That, in and of itself, will send out a tier amount. Right now, it's 800. I don't know what it's going to go to once the water commissioners sit down and talk about this. Now, to a lot of people, this might sound like, wow, this is way over their head. And it probably is, because if you think about it, when you're talking about cubic feet, and the cost per cubic feet, it is a lot to think about. But if we're talking about almost $7 million, if not more, that we have in the water and sewer enterprise surplus account, that money definitely should be used. There is nothing on the books that's demanding the exact use of that money. And more importantly, if, in fact, that money has to be taken out to offset whatever the increased cost is this year until they can figure out what the exact cost is going to be on the cubic feet, whatever the dollar amount might be, is it 800, 900, 1,000 cubic feet? then so be it. The ratepayers need to have this understood, but they need to come up and speak up about it. They should not have to pay one red cent in any increase in water and sewer bill, not one red cent. This city is sitting on their money, approximately $7.5 million. That's an awful lot of money. They haven't spent that money in a long period of time. So don't let anybody confuse you or fool you or make you think that you have to pay for it. City has that money. It's your money. let them pay for it out of the water and sewer account, let them figure out what the money, what the cubic feet cost needs to be, and you move on from that period. So, I thank you, Councilor Marks, for bringing that forward.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor Penta. So, on the motion of Councilor Marks, as amended by Councilor Long and Kern, all those in favor? Aye. Oh, I'm sorry, sir. You wish to speak on this matter, please state your name and address for the record.
[Robert Cappucci]: Welcome. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I'm Robert Cappucci, 71 Evans Street. On the matter of this monitoring system, I would hope that would also include all of the public buildings in this city because the rate payers are responsible for taking on that cost. In terms of what Councilor Penta just brought up, this body passed an amendment to a budget to keep the water rates the same. It was something to the tune of $618,000 that then got vetoed by Mayor McGlynn, but then the budget was still signed and that money still had to be accounted for, but then that all just disappeared when we went to this tiered system. So I would hope that this monitoring system is utilized by this building, high school, library, Chevalier. What we need to know, we need transparency, because if there's a water leak at the Chevalier and the ratepayers are having to incur this cost with, you know, other costs that are going to be going up in the next few years with the passing of the Community Preservation Act, you're putting a lot on the taxpayers of this city. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Mr. Capucci. And on the motion of Councilor Marks, yes.
[Michael Marks]: Just if I could, Mr. Capucci brings up a great point. And the fact that there are many city buildings now that don't have meters, and we can't tell you what the water consumption is because it's not being measured. And, you know, we're asking residents to measure their water consumption, but the city's not doing it. I think it's only appropriate that we ask these questions of Ron Baker and the administration why certain buildings in the city, certain own municipal buildings aren't needed. I think that's only appropriate that we get these answers and, you know, with the cost of water and sewer in this community, you're right. The fact that we all pay under our bill for the municipal buildings, I as one resident would like to know that The city's also conserving on their side, and the city's also monitoring their usage. And that goes with every park in the community that has water. That goes with the guiding clubs. We just created a new ordinance with the guiding clubs, and the water they're using right now is not needed. And that's something that needs to be looked at. And we have to have a precise accounting, whether it's the school buildings or any of the municipal buildings, on what we're using in this community in regards to water and sewer. We can no longer go by and say, well, you know, every rate payer is paying for it. Who cares? That can't be the mentality any longer as it existed for many years in this community, Mr. President. So that's a great point that Mr. Capucci brings up.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. So on the motion of Councilor Martz, As amended by vice-president London Kern, all those in favor? All those opposed? Carries. Chair recognizes Councilor Camuso for suspension of the rules. All those in favor? All those opposed? Councilor Camuso asked for suspension of the rules to take communications from the mayor out of order. 15-734, to the president and members of the Medford City Council, from Michael J. McGlynn, mayor, re-loan order. Additional DPW facility project funds Dear Mr. President and city councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body approve the following loan order. City of Medford, Massachusetts loan order, additional DPW facility projects funds be it ordered that the city appropriates $300,000 to pay additional costs of the DPW facility project, which project was previously approved by this council on October 9th, 2013. And that to meet this appreciate appropriation, the city treasurer with the approval of the mayor is authorized to borrow a set amount under and pursuant to chapter 44, section seven, three and seven, three a of the general laws of or pursuant to any other enabling authority and to issue bonds. or notes of the city, therefore, and further ordered that the city treasurer is authorized to file an application with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Municipal Finance Oversight Board to qualify under chapters 44A of the general laws, any and all bonds or notes of the city authorized by this vote or pursuant to any prior vote of the city and in connection therewith to provide such information and execute such documents as municipal finance oversight oversight board of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts may require very sincerely yours, Michael J. McGlynn, mayor and representing the office of the mayor on this matter is Anne Baker. Uh, the Anne Baker's position is the auditor of the city of Medford. Yes. Thank you for that reminder. Um, Councilor, do we want to allow Anne to speak for a moment to explain? I want to speak. Councilor Penta?
[Robert Penta]: Mr. President, this is the very first time that we've been getting this. We got nothing in our packet of explanation. So I'm going to utilize a rule 20 of our council rules, which basically says that any financial paper appearing on the council agenda for the first time shall be automatically laid on the table for one week when one such action is requested by any one councilor. So I'm going to move to the paper lay on the table and we have some explanation between now and next week. So on motion of the table by councilor.
[Unidentified]: Okay.
[Robert Penta]: It's automatic.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Which is undebatable. Uh, all those in favor.
[Robert Penta]: No, it's automatic. The rule says it's automatic. Anyone counts. It's totally on the table. Very good.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: So that's on the one item.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Go ahead. Um, through the chair, just in case, um,
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: We utilize that rule for all—I know we have four of these papers on for us before all four are possibly tabled. Can we get a detailed—because I have the same issue. I mean, we really aren't given any information of where this $300,000 is going to. Then we have one for $200,000, we have one for $350,000, and we—I think that might be it, but— There's only three.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: One was withdrawn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Three, okay. We have the three, and there's really no explanation for any of them. So if you could give us a detailed report on all three.
[Fred Dello Russo]: May I suggest that since Rule 20 has been invoked on the first motion that we not discuss that, Uh, because it's, uh, the rule has been evoked. Therefore we may not discuss it, but if you would on the matter of the carriage house and also on the, uh, just give us a brief synopsis before we introduce them for discussion.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: Mr. President, I'm going to say the same thing for 15 seven 36 as it relates to rule, um, 20.
[Robert Penta]: This is the first time that this is... We haven't introduced that for discussion. You just mentioned the carriage house. That's the next one in line. She just said it. You just got through talking about the first one, which is the city ads. Now we're talking about the carriage house. Did you not mention the carriage house?
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: I said carriage house. You said discuss them.
[Robert Penta]: Yeah.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I would just like to know more about the projects. I would like to know where this... Three quarters of a million dollars is going to, there's no detailed explanation. I'm just asking that it be put in writing to us so that we can make an educated decision.
[Robert Penta]: So 15, 735.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, through you, maybe you could communicate with the administration that anytime a loan audit comes before the council, We should be apprised of what they're actually going to spend the money on ahead of time, rather than hearing it the night of. It just doesn't make any sense at all.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So for the record, 17-735 to the members of the Medford City Council for a Michael J. McGlynn loan order, Carriage House, Brooks Estate Remodeling. Dear Mr. President.
[Robert Penta]: Mr. President, I will move at this point in time that rule 20 section four be invoked since it's appearing on the council for the first time and it takes one council to automatically lay it on the table.
[Fred Dello Russo]: That motion is undebatable. 715-735 is on the table. 15-736. To the President and members of the Medford City Council, from Michael J. McGlynn, Mayor, read loan order Winthrop Street- Mr. President. Councilor Penta.
[Robert Penta]: Likewise, taking rule order number 20, section 4, preparing for the first time this particular amount, this particular paper. I move that the paper lay on the table.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Penta, undebatable. Thank you, Ms. Baker. On the motion of a Councilor Knight to refer it back to the regular order of business. All those in favor, all those opposed 15 to seven 30 offered by Councilor Knight, be it resolved. The superintendent of schools and budget director provide the council with the cost estimate relative to the hiring of security guards in our public schools. Be it further resolved that the school department secure policies and protocols, uh, security policies and protocols be forwarded to the council Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. As a student in the Medford Public Schools, I was always very familiar with the security officers that we had at the high school, the security officers, the community resource officers that we had in our elementary and middle schools at the time, junior high schools. To date myself, Mr. President, everybody is aware of the incident where someone breached security protocols at one of our local schools and was able to steal $800 or so from some teachers Friday before the election. And with that being said, Mr. President, I think it's time that we take a long, hard look at restoring the actual school security guards to our public school buildings. Technology is great, and I certainly embrace technology, Mr. President. I certainly feel as though cameras are very important tools. However, they don't replace the good, old-fashioned work of a police presence or a security presence in our public schools, Mr. President. So I'd ask that my fellow colleagues on the Council support this resolution. getting a cost estimate from the superintendent of schools, as well as our budget director, and also having a copy of the security protocols forwarded to our attention for review. Mr. President, I feel as though, uh, as we prepare for the budget, this would be an important item for us to take a look at.
[Richard Caraviello]: So on the motion for pulled by council night council care of yellow. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, I thank council for bringing this forward. Um, last week I probably got a dozen phone calls myself from different parents, uh, along with, uh, my own family was concerned about, uh, what happened. Um, One of the things that the parents were mostly concerned about was the lack of a response from the school departments. So I think they need to come up with some kind of statement over what's going on there over the last week or so. But I'd also like to have a report on the cameras. In all the buildings, do we have cameras in every building? Are they working? I know we did appropriate some money for some cameras some time back. Have they been installed? What's the status of them?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. So as amended by Councilor Caraviello, that the school department further report back as to the status implementation and distribution of security cameras.
[Richard Caraviello]: And some type of a official statement over what happened other than what we heard on the news. And an official statement from the superintendent's office.
[Robert Penta]: Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Penta. One of the things that's very disturbing is the fact that somebody actually got into that building. How and why they got through locked doors, I don't know. That's number one. Number two, the six teachers that were involved that had their pocketbooks rifled during the course of the school day, you know, presents a very unsettling and uncomfortable situation. The unfortunate part about it, no police presence, no police were called. Superintendent's office, again, speaking of — let's just put it this way. Superintendent's office did not come forward. The argument was it was just before an election. They didn't want people to think that their schools weren't safe. You know, it's a scary situation. The incident actually took place. You can't deny it. You can't hide from it. You know, there was one candidate running for school committee, Chris Murphy, and that was one of the things he was pounding upon, the lack of school security and the need for school security. And you couldn't have it more prevalent now. And it's unfortunate that it was covered up before the election, when, in fact, it took place the week prior to the election. So, with that being said, it's an absolute concern not only for the teachers, but for the students, too. Could have been some nutcake could have gone into that building and done anything that they wanted to that could have harmed the teachers, the students, and the building in and of itself. And it's wrong. You just spent over $500,000 to hire five new administrators up at that school at $94,000 each this past year. I don't know what they're doing. But it certainly isn't doing to protect the school kids' safety. It has nothing to do with hiring new school teachers or buying supplies or looking even into a security system. It's wrong. You know, this school administration really needs to be looked at. And the new school committee coming in, I hope they do a good hard look at how these schools and how their budget is being processed. Because, you know, you can't keep going on with this and hiding and covering up everything that's going on. Thank you, Councilor Patu.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I, too, got the phone calls and a few emails from parents, and I think they were more concerned that they weren't notified about what went on than the actual incident. And I did speak to Diane Guarino, the principal at the school, and I communicated with Superintendent Belson afterwards. And some of the things, some of the changes they made are positive changes within the school, but it also raises concern, you know, with regards to being reactive rather than proactive. So one of my big I'm glad Council and I put this on the agenda because a resolve that I was going to do next week, I'll just bring it up now, is to make sure that the changes they made at the McGlynn School after this incident took place, that those changes are implemented at every single one of our elementary and middle schools and high school. We can't just make changes in the McGlynn School because it happened at the McGlynn. We have to make sure we make these changes. So I would request that the school committee look into And that all principals look into these changes made by the McGlynn Middle School and implement them throughout the system. We want to make sure every child, every teacher, every staff member is safe within every single school, not just, you know, the McGlynn. I know some of the changes, which I have an email where now all staff, subs, visitors must wear badges every day. So let's just make sure that is consistent throughout Medford. Kindergarten doors will be locked all day. K will return from recess through the main back door. Each teacher now has a key. In addition, the lunch monitors will be present at the entrance of the back door. Security guards will unlock the door for the visitors if the security guard is on break or away from the desk. The secretaries will buzz in visitors and they will sign in at the main office and be given a badge. And if a visitor enters the building and refuses to comply with the visitor protocol, an administrator will be called to assist. So I just really ask that the school committee look at these changes they're making, make sure they're made throughout the system, and really see if additional changes need to be made, whether that's security guards at every school or further changes need to be made beyond these five steps. We need to keep our children safe. And if a woman can get through the back door, through the lunch line, we have a problem that we need to make sure. We're lucky. It was unfortunate that money was stolen, but a child could be hurt. We have to make sure that that doesn't happen.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Madam Vice President. So is that amendment?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: That's an amendment that the school committee look into making these changes throughout our entire school system.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. Chair recognizes Councilor Camuso.
[Paul Camuso]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I certainly agree with all the sentiments of all of my colleagues this evening. You know, this is very disturbing. As it was alluded to in prior comments, we're lucky that the only thing that happened was lassity of people's personal property and nothing more egregious. And just, it's very disturbing. You know, the parents are very concerned about this, and they very well should be. I think that they have to have some sort of round table. I know the chief of police and the police department is active in the schools, but you know what? We actually, several years ago, there was the STARS program. I'm not so sure if it's still out there. It's the school threat assessment response team, and it's made up of all the area police departments and NMLAC and some of the other SWAT teams in the area. But if we could just get an update too. It's unfortunate, but it's things, of this magnitude, when it happens, you sort of start thinking about other things that could possibly happen. The people that lived in the Watertown-Cambridge line never thought that there'd be a car chase in their neighborhood. involving homemade grenades and bombs. You know, and we just have to make sure that every precaution is taken when it comes to the safety of our students. So I just want to go on record in support of this. And this isn't something that should wait the 10 days for the mayor to get and then send off to the superintendent of schools. This is something that we should get right away. Also, if we could ask the chief of police for an update, because the surveillance video that they do have of the individual perpetrator, look like a pretty clear picture. So hopefully, with the public's help, if it hasn't been already, but with the public's help, they can identify and hold this person responsible, or persons responsible for this egregious behavior.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. So on that motion, as amended by main motion of Council Knight, as amended by Councilors Caraviello, Lungo-Koehn, and Camuso, Councilor Penta.
[Robert Penta]: One quick thought. I mean, if there's ever a time to bring both bodies together, this would be it. I would suggest a joint meeting between the school committee and the city council take place just because it took place at a school. Who's to say it can't take place in this building right here or any public works building anything. This is a huge wake up call. Do you realize the kid could have been kidnapped? Could have been hurt. We have no idea what the potential is, but it's obvious. It's unfortunate in this day and age we have to act like this. But if we have to act like this to protect what we have, and that's the kids and the teachers and the people who work around here, then we have a responsibility. That's what they're paying taxes for, believing and hoping that their children are being safe. I'm going to move, Mr. President, that a joint meeting take place between the school committee and the council as it relates to security in the school system. And maybe we can address our own public buildings at the same time. This is not going to go away.
[Fred Dello Russo]: And as amended by Councilor Penta, for the joint meeting of Medford City Council and School Committee. On this matter? On this matter.
[Joe Viglione]: Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record. Good evening, Council President. My name is Joe Villione, 59 Garfield Ave. Wasn't it a few weeks ago that a maintenance man who had left a school down in the Plymouth area started going in and doing this exact same thing, going through teachers' pocketbooks? so that it happened a few weeks ago. What I find very disturbing is that all the schools, not just Medford, all the schools out on high alert that like, wow, this is a maintenance man that had access to the place. So that kind of person can kind of slip in, go under the radar. You can see the school making an error there. This is far more egregious, as Paul Camuso said, egregious, because now you have just a person that wasn't a maintenance person coming in there. Now, my concern, obviously, The mayor wants the public access station there. I like to do public access. I bring in a bestselling author, Jennifer Weiner, bestselling author, Brad Meltzer. Are they gonna wanna go there when I do my show typically in the evening? It is, you know, schools now, it's like, we do need some kind of security measures in place for the public access station if it will be there at the high school. So I would like that added somehow because there are going to be people from the outside coming in, and we don't even know if they're members of the access station. It could be anyone from anywhere saying, well, I'll just act like I'm a member of the access station, and waltz in and do something damaging. And I don't want to be at risk. I'm a senior now. I don't want to be at risk.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. The motion of Councilor Knight is amended by Councilors Caraviello, Lungo-Koehn, Camuso, and Penta. Motion for approval by Councilor Knight. Roll call has been requested. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Camuso? Yes. Councilor Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Lungo-Koehn? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Penta? Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: President Del Russo? Yes. And the vote of seven in the affirmative, non-negative, the motion passes. 15-731 offered by Councilor Knight. Be resolved the cost associated with the biannual street sweeping program be forwarded to the council. Be it further resolved a breakdown of what portion is handled internally and what portion is handled by way of contracted service be included in the analysis? Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. The reason I bring this resolution forward is because I have concern as to whether or not we're getting the most bang for our buck in terms of our street sweeping. And is that Mr. Geer right there? I'll take the call. No, Mr. President, I bring this resolution forward because I have concern as to whether or not we're getting the most bang for our buck. So I'd like to see how much it is that we're actually spending on just the street sweeping the subcontracting and what we've done internally. And maybe we can expand from twice a year to three or four or five or six or God forbid twice a week.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, I'd like to, uh, amend council and its motion. If he doesn't mind, um, onto why are we screaming the streets when the leaves aren't down? Uh, I would think that we're going to net, I mean, uh, we've already started doing the, the leaves are still on the trees. I would think that these trucks are going to have to come by for one more time, but I've already started getting calls from people that, that they are, they're doing the streets and streets a day later, the streets look like they haven't even been done. I mean, is there a reason why we started this early? So as amended by, uh, I like that. I'd like to ask that the city, uh, do a second sweeping, um, after the leads are fully done.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. So as amended by Councilor Caraviello as to why now, as opposed to when the leaves have come down completely.
[Adam Knight]: I think it's also important to note that street sweeping, I think we've all gotten the calls, but street sweeping has started and it's going to continue for the next several days and started on Monday. And also one of the biggest requests that I've seen from members of the DPW is not to put your leaves in the street. Exactly.
[Paul Camuso]: Chair recognizes Councilor Camuso. Thank you, Mr. President. When you look at the way the street sweeping is done in this community, there is a more intelligent way that it could be done. First of all, people still think that this is five years ago when you can just put the big pile of leaves in front of your house and they used to just come down and pick it all up. Unfortunately, if we remember that the equipment repair over those years when we did that was significant. With that being said, You know, we have a bigger problem that we have to start thinking about, too. As Councilor Caraviello alluded to, the leaves are not even on the ground yet. What's going to happen is the streets are going to be swept. The leaves are going to fall down. The catch basins are going to get clogged. The streets are going to become a sheet of ice. We're going to have public safety issues. So hopefully the DPW, and they advertised the new commissioner's position the other day, Hopefully, we can get someone in there that can really tackle this, Mr. President, and tackle it quickly. Because on the heels of street sweeping, it's snow plowing again. And if you look back to last year's treacherous year, we're only asking for problems if we get half of the amount of snow that we got last year. One of the best pieces of equipment they own is that big snowblower that was purchased back in the 1970s or the 60s, I believe. I'm not even sure. But they had to take that out, get it up and running with Timmy McCarthy and the rest of the mechanics in the garage, and get that out there to widen the streets. Even the small side streets, you couldn't get a fire truck down. So I'm just thinking ahead here, where if we start getting the catch basins clogged and icing up, we're going to have some major problems on our hands. And this is late. Normally, the street sweeping is done even earlier than this. But unfortunately, Mother Nature and the The changing colors of the leaves happen later this year, which we do not have any control of. Last but not least, this city council pushed far in the past to get later leaf pickup, which we have. But unfortunately, the last leaf pickup is going to be picked up before all the leaves are down. So that's another whole thing that we're going to be dealing with moving forward. Maybe if we can look at waste management, see if they can send an additional pickup as well. after most of the leaves are down. So thank you for bringing this up, Councilor Knight.
[Robert Penta]: Councilor Penta. One of the things I think you really need to look at is the unfortunate part that this administration has not been able to address. This is three years in a row we've been talking about this. And as a matter of fact, this has become more and more of an issue ever since we got these green barrels on waste management because it's changed the whole type of pickup that's being taking place here in this community. Had this administration had the foresight to recognize that it isn't twice a year the streets need to be swept. When you can go to our sister city of Somerville, they sweep every other week, odd, even, odd, even. They let the people know it's in their telephone bill. I strike that it's in their tax bill. They let them know ahead of time what the game plan is. I don't know. I would hope that the new administration comes in as understanding that these are serious problems that have an impact on the taxpayers here within our community. It's obvious that the present administration doesn't want to address it. The council has addressed it, and they've been right spot on with this thing. The unfortunate part about it is, whether it's a week earlier or a week late, that's not the issue. The fact of the matter is, what are you having up to that point in time? You can't turn around and say, well, we're going to give you an extra week of leaf pickup, but we're going to take away something else, because this is what we have with the contract. Contrary to what all the councillors know, the president administration re-upped the contract for another 10 years, two years ago. The council was never informed of it. So with that being said, as it relates to our rubbish pickup, you just got through building a new building for $14.5 million, and you still are only able to do the street sweeping twice a year. It makes no sense at all. Where is the program that should be out there that addresses matters such as this? They don't exist. You're still talking about it. You're still talking about the potential for the danger, as Councilor Camuso just alluded to. What if it rains, snows, or whatever it might be, the ice, the skidding? These are all potential things. And these are the things that should be talked about and discussed. This is what a good manager does. He brings his department heads in, be it a woman or a man, and they discuss these things that are going to have a definite impact. Right now, it's obvious that no discussion has taken place, and we're right back to where we were three years ago coming forward. And now, all you can hope for is you hope that it doesn't snow, and Mother Nature is going to just do its things, and the city is foolishly going out there right now. Well, the question should be, why do you have to go out there right now? If the city owns the Sweet Streeper and not knowing how much of that's an outside person, why don't we just wait until the leaves are down and then go out there? But that's too much of a thought process because I don't think it's going to exist in this building. I would hope that the new council and the new mayor has an understanding that these are issues, these are everyday, common sense, practical issues that should be addressed in a common sense manner.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. I think Councilor Penta just hit the nail on the head. Uh, we refer to this as a street, uh, sweeping program. We don't have a program in the city. We never had a program. Uh, residents will remember the days that, uh, they used to come around and put a paper, uh, on your tree or on your telephone pole saying there was going to be street sweeping that day or, uh, very shortly. Then they used to go by the police with the blow horns. and say, we're going to sweep your street today, this afternoon. This program, I shouldn't even refer to it as a program, has changed 20 different times. We've never had an established program. And what we're lacking right now is notification. They're using the reverse 911 system, but that's inadequate, to be quite frank with you. The administration uses an electronic billboard in the square, thinking that that's the notification. You have to drive through the square to find out when street sweeping starts. Then you get a phone call saying, check the city website and that'll tell you when we're gonna be in your neighborhood. I mean, it's just archaic the way things are run. And the voice mail I got the other day said, tagging and towing will take place if deemed necessary. Well, either you're going to tag and tow or you're not. If the car's in front of my house, who determines whether it's necessary that they're going to tag or tow? I mean, how do you run a program like that? And for many years, the sweepers would go around the trucks. So residents that wanted to have in front of their home swept, they pulled their car in the driveway, and the next schmuck parked in front of their house, And then the truck would go around, and your house would never get swept. And it's only twice a year. And then we receive, every year, a national award. We're Tree City USA. But the city refuses to clean up the leaves. Think about it. We only sweep twice a year, but we're Tree City USA. What a distinction. I mean, it really is crazy how this program is run. And it's par for the course with this administration. Honestly, nothing really has taken place over the last 28 years in regards to any type of semblance of a program, an organized program. I think if residents knew that they had a posting on their street through signage, you know, they do it in Cambridge, Somerville, Malden, Arlington. Proper signage. And I'm not talking about a piece of paper tacked on a tree. You have a metal pole with signage stating your street's going to be swept the third Tuesday of every month. And you can get creative and do odd and even side like they do in Cambridge to alleviate some of the congestion of taking all the cars off the road. There's a lot of things that could be done. But in this city, nothing is ever explored. And we put together this makeshift program where they send these sweepers out in a rush. And if they catch cars on your street, they'll just go by. And then if they tow, people get upset because there's a lack of notification, which I agree. Not everyone gets that reverse 911 call. And, you know, it just doesn't make any sense in a city this size. How do you operate a city this size with no coherent program that if residents are aware, they'll move their car, Mr. President? If residents know, this is what I have to do as a resident. I have to have my car off the street the third Tuesday of every month. That's my responsibility. It's posted on my street, it's on the city website, that's my responsibility. I get told, you know, shame on me. But to have a program where it's willy nilly, there's an electronic billboard in the square, you get a reverse 911 call about street sweeping, but you don't get one when they're robbing schools in the area on 911. It just doesn't make any sense, Mr. President. It really doesn't. And Councilor Lungo-Koehn brought up a couple of weeks ago the abuse of the 911, and I think we're seeing it right now. We're seeing advertisements for road races and everything else going on under the sun, you know, dedications and everything else, but not the proper use of 911, which is for emergency purposes to notify people in neighborhoods about what's going on in your neighborhood. concerns you may have for your children or your senior parents that are living in the city. Concerns like that, Mr. President. So, um, you know, I'm, I'm hoping like council appended that the new administration will see fit to implement a true street sweeping program that notifies residents that gets ultimately the idea of a street sweeping program is to sweep the streets. And if you have half your cars still left on your street, like Councilor Camuso said, those leaves are going to find their way into the catch basins. They're going to clog up the catch basins by which, Mr. President, that contract has been cut year after year. The private company we hire to clean out the catch basins, the mayor has been slashing that little by little because he doesn't want to hire them. And what we're going to see as a result in this community, what we're seeing throughout all our neighborhoods is an increase in flooding because of that, Mr. President. But that's leadership that's not working, Mr. President, and that's what we're stuck with right now.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Knight, as amended by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? All those opposed? The motion carries. On the motion of Councilor Camuso, to take the paper out of order. All those in favor? All those opposed? 15-737. To the Honorable President, to members of the Medford City Council, City Hall, Medford Mass, 02155, dear Mr. President and Councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that your Honorable Body approve for payment prior years bills from the Building Department totaling $2,006.74 in accordance with Chapter 4, Paragraph 64, due to office oversight. These bills from March and June of 2015 inadvertently went unpaid. The Building Commissioner is present to answer any questions you have. On the motion for approval by Councilor Camuso, Councilor, Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If we could have the Building Commissioner just come up and explain which bills these were, just so we can.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Good evening, Mr. President, Council Members. Before you tonight, there were two unpaid bills. and the amount of $190, and that was for work done on the rooftop units for the Council Chambers air conditioning. There was a couple of contacts that were worn. It was just basically worn out over the years. They had to be replaced and rewired, and that was done this past March. And the other bill, the second bill in the amount of $1,800, It was done this past June, and that was a circulator pump upstairs in the boiler room here. The circulator pump had to be replaced. So those were the two bills that are in front of you tonight.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Did the mayor say where we were getting the $2,000, what account it was coming from?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Yes, Councilor Long. Both these vendors, we currently have maintenance contracts with them. One is for the plumbing and one is for the heating and city hall maintenance. And the contracts we have with them are for the maintenance that they do every year. However, these two bills are not covered under the regular maintenance. They're outside the scope of that, the repairs on some of the equipment that broke down. So we will be paying this out of the city hall maintenance account.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: take fiscal year 2016 money out of the maintenance account to pay for this 2000 from 2015? Yes, correct. Thank you.
[Robert Penta]: Chair recognizes Councilor Penta. Mr. Mulkey, look up in the ceiling. Sit there.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: I know.
[Robert Penta]: It's two and a half years. What's going on?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Well, we just, I just had a meeting this past week with Louise Miller on that. We have a report. done by Russo Bar that addresses this couple of issues in that Council. We have the roof parapet, roof repairs, which is also going to entail the cornice work up there, a new roof and repairs to the cupola. And part of that is the council ceiling repairs also. And right now we have a report from, um, Russo bar that details all the, um, the areas that need to be repaired. And when I met with Louise Miller last week, we are in the process of, uh, taking the next step, which would be to get a proposal from them to do the bid documents to go out to bid.
[Robert Penta]: I thought Mr. President, when Louise Miller was here a few weeks ago, she indicated that the bids are going out and they were, they were supposed to be doing now. So all you have right now is the scope of work that needs to be done?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: Yes, that's correct. We have a report on the scope of work that needs to be done. Correct.
[Robert Penta]: Do you have an estimate of that? What that scope is anticipated to be?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: The initial estimate we got was, uh, for $1.5 million for the roof, uh, the roof, parapet repairs in the council ceiling repairs.
[Robert Penta]: Can, can that be fixed without the roof?
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: That can be fixed. However, our concern with that is if we repair that now and we don't repair it, do a permanent fix on the leaks we have up there, which is tied in with all the damage that's been on to the Papert wall, that if we do repair it now, it's going to be subject to further damage from any leaks that are going to be occurring up there.
[Robert Penta]: So we're just saying that approximately 1.5, or whatever that number finally turns out to be, is going to be an expenditure going to be coming out this year, the 2016 budget, is that true, Ann? Was that where the money would have to come from? Or a bond or something?
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: There was no money appropriated in the 2016 budget. Not yet.
[Robert Penta]: Whatever that dollar amount is in excess of.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: More than likely, it would have to be a bond issue.
[Robert Penta]: Point of information, Councilor Knight.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: More than likely, it would have to be a bond issue. Point of information, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Did we not appropriate some money in the community improvement initiative that we passed last April for the parapet as part of the?
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: The CPA thing?
[Adam Knight]: The community improvement initiative?
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: I don't know what you're saying.
[Adam Knight]: The community improvement initiative?
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: I don't know what that's about.
[Adam Knight]: Yourself, Louise, came before the council for a bond of $1.4 million for various items, removable speed bumps, removable security cameras. Part of that, I believe, was the parapet included in that community improvement initiative.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: Oh, the free cash vote last December? I don't remember if there was anything in there for that.
[Robert Penta]: I think there was. No, it wasn't free cash. It was an improvement program, so to speak, with a multitude of issues, and that was one of them.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: And there was money appropriated for it?
[Robert Penta]: We did.
[Adam Knight]: We had a resurfacing of seven parks. It had the removable speed bumps. It had the security cameras. It had $300,000.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: I thought that was the free cash flow. It was $1.4 million, $1.3 million, $1.8 million.
[Adam Knight]: had the carriage house, 300,000 for stumps and sidewalk repairs that were related to water.
[L9vF4yM-fUc_SPEAKER_20]: Yeah. I don't recall if there was anything in there for that. I'd have to look at it and see if I don't remember anything.
[Robert Penta]: No, it couldn't be for free cash. Cause if that, we wouldn't even be discussing this. What we're talking about money that was allegedly put aside and that was that and the parapet was all part of it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I thought $1.4 million for the community was a bond.
[Robert Penta]: I'm pretty sure it was a bond. Move approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion of approval, uh, by Councilor Camuso seconded by Councilor, uh, Penter, uh, with this amount of money, uh, roll call is, uh, required. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Robert Penta]: Let the record reflect, uh, Paul, have I understood this correctly? This, $2,000 is going to come out of this 2016 maintenance account that you have here. Yes, that's correct.
[MjGBHu28DvM_SPEAKER_24]: This year's account, yes.
[Robert Penta]: Could the record please reflect that? It doesn't say it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I'm sorry. Could the record reflect? The record reflects the money is coming out of the 2016 budget account for maintenance of city buildings.
[Robert Penta]: No, it's the building department, not city council. Building department.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The building department.
[Robert Penta]: Building department maintenance account. For maintenance. Building department maintenance account.
[Clerk]: Right. I apologize. Councilor Camuso? Councilor Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Lungo-Koehn? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Penta? Yes. President Dello Russo?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With a vote of seven, the affirmative, none negative, the motion passes. Motion to take the papers in the hands of the clerk, Mr. President. The motion of Councilor Knight for papers in the hands of the clerk. For papers in the hands of the clerk. We have a vigilance license. Here we go. Oh, we do. I'm sorry. You have to refer it back. On the motion tonight, I refer it back to the regular order of business. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Petition for a common vigilance license, 15-732, by Robert Booley, president, 17 Everett Street, Medford, of Nourish and Delight, LLC, doing business as fruition at 472 High Street and Medford on file, business certificate number 207. Building Department, Fire Department, Police, Traffic Impact, Health Department, Treasurer, Letter of Compliance, Sales Tax ID, Workman's Compensation, and Application. Chair recognizes Councilor Kaff Yellow and the Licensing Commission.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President.
[SPEAKER_10]: If you'd like to explain what your new business is, we'd appreciate it. Sure. Thank you for having me here. The business, Fruition, it's going to be a vegan takeout catering business. I've been in the restaurant business for about 30 years now, and this will be my second restaurant, previously operated vegan restaurant in Somerville in Davis Square. We had that about five years, sold it. It's gonna be a lot smaller. It's a small space. Primarily, what I've been doing recently is personal chef work. going to people's houses and cooking for them, so I'm going to consolidate a lot of that into one kitchen, so I'll be able to increase the business. So there will be food available for customers to come in and purchase to go as well.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you. Mr. President, I find the papers in order, and I recommend approval. I'll have a motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? I will give it to the State of Medford and good luck in your business.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you very much. 15-733 petition by Mr. Joseph Villione, 59 Garfield Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts to address the council on a new rule to ensure free speech rights
[Joe Viglione]: for petitioners. I want to thank you, Council President, for being an honorable man. Please state your name and address for the record. Joseph Villione, 59 Garfield Ave, Medford, Mass. I want to thank you because this paper is about people being able to speak unimpeded without interruptions. When Thomas Jefferson crafted the Declaration of Independence, he pointed to certain unalienable rights, which is like inalienable, unalienable, same thing. unable to be taken away from or given away by the possessor. Freedom of religion the most inalienable of all human rights. Jefferson understood unalienable rights as fixed rights given to us by our creator rather than by government. The emphasis on our creator is crucial because it shows the rights are permanent just as the creator is permanent. I'm speaking directly to the citizens of Medford. The city council in 2015 and 2016 has to start listening. Citizens of Medford pay for this expensive city council, the cable TV which airs the council meetings, and we have a right, that inalienable right you've heard speak of in the Declaration of Independence. Since the TV station represents free speech, and since the issuing authority could not control the TV station during the election, he shut it down. The citizens are at a loss. Many fear voicing their opinion, which renders the city of Medford a place akin to Havana. To paraphrase the city solicitor, who likened the TV station to that place in Cuba. You know, when I see my old friend Pat Fiorello, God rest his soul, will come up here, and the nice old guy had, he had a lot of passion. He was sometimes interrupted. Dr. Stirella puts a lot of energy at his age into writing papers and bringing presentations only to have point of information and, oh, let's get the city clerk to give us those papers to impede the public that's paying an expensive city council. Now, I'm just asking right now that the council be more attentive to the citizens, even if we come up here week after week after week. That shows that we're concerned. That shows that we're volunteering our civic duty, our civic-mindedness. We're just trying to improve our community. That's all we're doing. So I really want to thank the Council President tonight for doing the right thing. I really appreciate it. And congratulations, Mr. De La Rosa, on your victory.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. On the motion of Councilor Knight to refer to the Committee on Roles, all those in favor? All those opposed? on the motion of council night to take papers in the hand of the clerk. All those in favor. All those opposed. Uh, we have, uh, uh, communicate was in everybody's packets, uh, uh, came back to us, uh, from, uh, Lauren dealer Ramsey, director of, uh, community development. It was, uh, item number 15 dash, uh, five 73 that came to us and was sent back to the, uh, uh, zoning amendments, uh, board. This is, uh, to the honorable, uh, president and members of the Medford city council from Lauren D Lorenzo director, October 28th, 2015 regarding the proposed zoning amendment to safe access to medical marijuana in the city of Medford recommendation to the city council from the community development board. The following, uh, following a duly advertised public hearing conducted on October 5th and October 7th, 2015, August 5th and October 7th, 2015. Yes, Councilor. So this came before us. We sent it back to the Zoning Board for their perusal and public hearings. Our approval of this will then allow it to go to a further public hearing, Mr. Clerk. in advertisement, uh, with the following, uh, amendments to the original paper that were made, uh, by the zoning board. Um, and these were some of these were, um, uh, technical, uh, amendments as you can see in the document. So our purpose tonight, uh, is to, uh, consider these, uh, additions that were made and then to, uh, send the paper out for public hearing again. To review this with ‑‑ okay. Very good.
[Adam Knight]: Yes. Councilor Knight. I think it would also be very important that we invite a director of prevention and outreach now, newly hired, newly filled position. It falls right in our wheelhouse in terms of our substance abuse outreach coordinator. So I'd like to invite Penny as well. Very good.
[Fred Dello Russo]: So on the motion of council tonight that this paper be referred to committee of the whole, with all pertinent department heads in attendance. That would be the OCD director, director of public health, the director of prevention and outreach, as well as the city solicitor. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Papers in the hand of the clerk. We have five offered by Councilor Knight. Be it resolved that the City Council extend a happy birthday to the United States Marine Corps. Be it further resolved that the City Council adjourn with a moment of silence in memory of Veterans Day.
[Adam Knight]: Councilor Knight. Mr. President, I think the resolution speaks for itself. I have a number of good friends that have served in the United States Marine Corps. We're very happy about the USMC's birthday, and tomorrow is Veterans Day, and there will be a number of Veterans Day celebrations in the community. I'd like everybody to be aware at 11, 11 a.m. at the VFW Hall on Mystic Avenue, there will be a memorial service there, and all are welcome to attend. Very good. On the motion for approval by Councilor Knight, all those in favor?
[Fred Dello Russo]: carries, offered by Councilor Knight, be resolved that the crosswalk at 510 Riverside Avenue be painted in the interest of public safety. Councilor Marks. Yes. Did I say United or Marks? I'm sorry. It's all right. Councilor Marks, I apologize.
[Michael Marks]: I was saying, wow, he offered the same thing I did. That's great. Mr. President, that is the crosswalk that's the entrance to the stop and shop on Riverside Ave. It is poorly painted if it's been painted at all, and it's heavily traversed. And I was wondering maybe if the city clerk could check into it, but when we voted for the Panera drive-through, one of the contingencies on that was they were going to do the sidewalk over on their side of the street, which they're doing currently right now, and across the street, They were going to do the sidewalk and improve the two crosswalks. And I'm not sure, I thought that was part of the report. If you could check into that, but needless to say, the crosswalk at 510, I think it's 510, right? Yes. 510 Riverside Ave needs to be painted immediately.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Would you mind amending that, that the council also be updated on the status of, I think one of the conditions we asked for, was that a do not block the grid indication be painted on the street there as well so that gridlock not be created regarding the entrance and egress from the parking lots. So that's absolutely as amended by Councilor Marks, because it would be good for us to get an update on that as well while we're on that subject. So on the motion of Councilor Marks as amended by Councilor Marks, all those in favour? Motion carries. Offered by Councilor Knight. at this time, be it resolved that the Medford City Council invite Councilor-Elect Falco and Councilor-Elect Scarpelli to attend the remaining council meetings as guests of the chair. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Yes, Mr. President. When I was newly elected last term, I was very fortunate to be invited up by then Councilor-President Mayarco to sit in on the meetings and it was a very beneficial exercise. I was able to hit the ground running in January and I think it's only proper that we extend that same courtesy to our newly elected city councilors that are going to be taking office in January. Very good. I ask my colleagues to support the resolution.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Knight, all those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. Offered by Councilors Marks and Vice President Lungo-Koehn, be it resolved that the city allow free parking during the month of December. Yay. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. Everybody knows that this council has requested free 15-minute parking, free half-hour parking. I think free parking with enforcement And that really hasn't come to fruition. But a business owner reached out to the council recently and said, with the holiday season, the shopping season, people are busy getting their nails done, going to CVS, going to traverse our businesses, grab an ice cream. Why not give the people of Medford the ability to park for free? We can keep the enforcement aspect of it, somehow create a way that we can allow people to patronize our businesses for free during the December month. I think it's a great idea. It's not going as far as we want, which is the, you know, half hour, hour free parking to help, you know, the economy and business. But it is somewhere. It is good spirit for the holiday season, and I hope that's something the mayor will think about doing. I know that it can be done, and it can be worked in. You know, whether the city has to sacrifice a little income with regards to 15 minutes per quarter, then so be it. And I think it's a good resolve, and I hope my council colleagues can support that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yeah, I think I got an email on that, too, from a merchant in West Medford. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I think that's a great idea. I think the business owners and also anyone that patronizes the businesses within our five business districts would find that as a welcome to come and do some shopping. in particular to small businesses in our community, and I support this wholeheartedly.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. On the motion of approval by Councilor, Vice President Lungo-Koehn, as amended by Councilor Marks, Councilor Penta wishes to speak on this.
[Robert Penta]: Today I attended the Traffic Commission meeting, and this issue was brought up. As a result of bringing it up, there was a lady there from Park Medford, a lovely lady, and unfortunately she wasn't in the decision-making process. She would take it back. I did bring up The resolution that Councilor Marks introduced some months ago regarding the 15 minutes, which would came down to 15 minutes before and after. And again, there was no answer to that other than we're working on it. And I don't know how long they're going to work on it. I think the more you start to take away from Park Medford, the more they're going to push back because they're either going to tell you the City of Medford won't take its share of the 32% as compared to what they're supposed to be getting. The other part of that, which is now going to be very interesting, During this last campaign for mayor, the newly elected mayor indicated that she was going to have a senior program that would allow seniors to park for nothing. And if seniors were to park for nothing here in the city of Medford, that's another financial issue that Park Medford is going to have to take into consideration. And there was also the thought process of giving seniors $1,000 rebate on their real estate insurance. I mean, these are huge. financial impact issues here for the city of Medford to deal with. So I would hope that the new incoming council and those of you that are returning have a better understanding of what's going on because you're making a serious financial impact, not only on Park Medford, but you're making it also on the city of Medford's financial stability. And I think it's something that needs to be addressed seriously. If the city of Medford, in fact, wants to go to free parking in December, I don't know how you're going to do it because I don't know who's going to pay the price for that. I'm quite sure that if I were Park Medford, I would tell you, I'm not going to give you anything because you're telling me, you know, you want to have free parking. So what's their end of the bargain? It's not in the contract. So something's going to have to be mitigated for that. And I would hope this council goes back and reads the contract and looks at the areas in the contract that you are specifically obligated for and to. Same thing with them. I don't see any month. Sounds like a great idea. These are all nice for the purposes of having it, But it's a financial impact for both parties. City, Annisville Park, Medford City, it's great for the patrons. It's great for the business. And it'll actually serve a purpose, too. The purpose it'll serve is you really didn't need the kiosks, and you didn't need the meters. If you're going to allow these people to park for nothing, and you have a two-hour traffic enforcement time period, what a way to really see what's going on. But you won't see that happen, because it doesn't seem to be that. But I will tell you this. There is an impact that will be felt on both sides, and I don't know who's going to win on this one. Unfortunately, I don't think the taxpayer's going to win on this. It's a great idea, but somebody's going to have to pay for it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. Finally, offered by Councilor Penta, be it resolved that the matter of Medford Square bus stops and construction activity be discussed. Councilor Penta.
[Robert Penta]: Mr. President, some five weeks ago, I put a resolution on the council calendar as it relates to the bus stops in Medford Square, where they were going, and as a result of the Craddock Bridge construction. Now, I haven't heard anything. I thought you were going to do something about it as the chairperson of the council. I have received no letter, no correspondence from anybody as it relates to that. It doesn't make any sense at all. We just went through an uncomfortable situation in South Medford two weeks ago as it relates to bus stops over there that seemed to be a problematic situation. possibly they need to be removed or resolved to allow businesses to operate and have the residents in a better position and a more of a comfortable position between the two. Now we have this past Saturday evening, unbeknownst to anyone, they decided to come in and drop the bridge in Medford Square without letting any of the business folks know what's going on. I have no idea of what's going on here in this city as it relates to this kratik bridge. We have not been apprised. Last week, There was no notice to anybody. No notice to the police department, no notice to the Office of Community Development. If the mayor knew about it, well, good luck to him. The bottom line to this is you can't operate a city the way it's going. It just continuously gets worse and worse and worse. The biggest thing that's going to interrupt business development in Medford Square is taking place. Bus stops are not even being looked at or resolved. The MBTA, if you sent the letter out, Mr. Finn, I don't know, you said you did, if you sent the letter out and they haven't responded and there's been no follow-up, I don't know. I don't know who to blame on this one here right now because all I can tell you is the city council's been on top of this, on top of this on behalf of the business merchants. The chamber hasn't been notified, the council hasn't been notified, OCD hasn't been notified. Last week we talked about the rats as a result of the construction over here on the businesses on Riverside Avenue. Again, no discussion on that, nothing. Where's the mitigation to that? And that should have been a huge mitigation by the city of Medford with the contractor on those rats, because any time you disturb water and the foundation of the water is around it, you know you're going to be involved with that. And for them to turn around and say you can't get mitigation, that's BS in plain English. So, Mr. President, I'm asking you once again, immediately, through you, I don't know what the city clerk, I don't know what the letter, we never got a copy of it. I don't know why they're not responding to the city of Medford to come here to discuss the bus stops, because those bus stops in Medford Square need to be discussed and action needs to be taken immediately. And I believe, as the records will indicate, we ask them also to come and take a look at South Medford, because they have a similar problem in a different way. So we can do kill two birds with one stone. So I'm employing upon you, Mr. President, to call tomorrow morning and have them here within the next week, because this is making no sense at all. And it's unfair for a business person to lose money having their business be interrupted at 8, 9 o'clock at night. Main Street was shut off without notice. I understand that. But to have this done and no notification, That just tells you that there is no professionalism in this bridge, there is absolutely no communication, and there's no public awareness as it relates to the public safety part of it, public health and public safety. So, Mr. Finn, you said you sent the letter out. I never saw a copy of it. We're running five weeks now. I don't know what it takes to move these people, but I would appreciate it, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. Finn Well, get this resolved, and I'm going to call a committee of the whole for next week. Before next week's meeting, we're going to have a committee of the whole with the people from Shepard's Brooks.
[Robert Penta]: No, no, no. What? No. You want, you want the tea, not Sheppard Brooks. Well, we'll get the tea in. Yeah. Mr. Clark.
[Clerk]: No, we do have one community on, on the unfinished business, the table, which does request the MBTA.
[Robert Penta]: What's the date that you sent the letter out? No, this is table. This is still in here. No. The Medford city council voted almost four to five weeks ago to have the MBTA come to the city method for the purposes of coming to here. We didn't table anything. I believe the council voted seven to nothing.
[Clerk]: I think believe went to the committee with the transportation committee.
[Robert Penta]: No, no, no. This is the letter. I'm asking you the copy of the letter that you sent out from the council asking them to come.
[Clerk]: Let's, let's get them in. Let's get them in. But this is the table item that didn't, hasn't been ordered on you. No, it's not.
[Adam Knight]: Point of information, Councilor Knight. If I remember correctly, there was a lot of discussion about a lot of different bus stops, a lot of different issues that we needed to take care of with the mass DOT. And the vote that we took was to have a subcommittee on transportation meeting to actually identify what these issues are, and then we can present them to the members of the MassDOT. But until we get there, I don't think it's going to be a fruitful discussion. We can bring them in and say, move this bus stop and move that bus stop. Okay, now what? You know what I mean? We have a laundry list of things that need to be taken care of, including Councilor Caraviello's resolution from two weeks ago relative to the train tracks at West Medford and those ugly yellow things that are standing up in the middle. We had a lot of concerns about the bus stops in South Medford in front of Oasis. We had concerns about the bus stops in Medford Square. We had concerns about the Craddock Bridge project. We've had concerns about the maintenance and upkeep at the West Medford commuter rail station. So there are a number of issues surrounding the MBTA and DOT that we're looking for action on. And I think it would only make sense for us to put a list of something together, Mr. President.
[Robert Penta]: Point of correction. Point of correction. What Councilor Knight is alluding to is the resolution that was passed last week. I'm talking about the one that the council separately voted on five weeks ago and the letter was sent out relative to Medford Square and the bus stops.
[Adam Knight]: Everything else goes right to my point, Mr. President, but that's a separate issue. It's craziness that we're going to do.
[Robert Penta]: Do I have the floor? Thank you very much. It was a separate resolution five weeks ago. The council voted seven to nothing to have it go to the tee. For the lady to come here, the lady representative, to come here and discuss the bus stops in Medford Square, where it's going. Everything else that was talked about was brought up last week as an addendum. And if we notice it, the very last thing on it also included Medford Square, because we haven't had an answer. So I'm asking, Mr. Clerk, what's the copy? You have a copy of the letter that was sent out from five weeks ago. We'll get to the bottom of this, Mr. President. No, no, I want to know. I'd like to have a copy of the letter, because if the letter hasn't been sent out, we've got a problem here.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. Next week I will have a committee of the whole called committee of the whole next Tuesday for Shepard Brooks. We had asked for that. The council had asked for that. Um, and let's get them in here. Um, we're going to do when, uh, for next Tuesday, uh, to get the minute six o'clock to give us an update on what's going on there. And we're also going to ask that, uh, Louise Miller come to speak to us as well, and maybe she can give us some preliminary information on that bond request.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, would it make sense for us to maybe get an opinion from Mr. Moki as well as to what he feels is the status of the structure is down there? That would be very helpful.
[Robert Penta]: So we will also invite Mr. Moki. next week at six o'clock. What are we doing? You doing the committee of the whole also for the bus stops or not?
[Fred Dello Russo]: No. So when are we going to find out? We're going to talk to councilor, uh, Mr. Clark, we're going to find out what the status is of that letter and we'll get them invited as well. And we'll have that in the near term.
[Robert Penta]: If I remember correctly, two weeks ago when we had that, I asked you for an update and you turned to the clerk and you asked the clerk said you still haven't had a response back yet. That goes back to the first.
[Fred Dello Russo]: We'll get to the bottom of that. Thank you. So on the motion of Councilor Penta that we just read, all those in favour? There was the discussion of the traffic in Medford Square and the bridge in construction.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And the motion is to call the meeting?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. All those in favour? Aye. All those opposed? Offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that the property owners of the Fells Plaza across from Aldi remove the metal box container. Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, that Fells Plaza is notorious for, uh, these giant metal box containers, uh, for drop-offs. Uh, there's one now we were successful a while back moving a few, uh, near stop and shop, but, uh, there's one in front of the Aldi's that, uh, is a book. uh, depository. However, if you go out there at any given time, there's three computers, a mattress and a sofa sitting out there. Um, and, uh, the neighbors across the street, although they're on the other side of the Fellsway, uh, very upset the fact that they have to look at this trash out there. Um, and I would ask that we reach out to the property owner of that particular section of stores and ask that that, uh, box be removed immediately. Mr. President, uh, on behalf of the area neighbors.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. On the motion of Councilor Marks, all those in favor, all those motion carries the records of the October 27th meeting were passed to councilor Penta. Mr. Councilor, how did you find those records? And do you have a recommendation for them? Mr. Councilor on the motion of councilor Penza for approval of the records of the council meeting of October 27, 2015. All those in favor? All those opposed? The records are approved. On the motion of Councilor Knight to adjourn. All those in favor? All those opposed? Meeting adjourned.
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