[Adam Hurtubise]: If you look closely, you'll notice that there are two images in the back of the book. There are the first one and the second one. The first one is really beautiful. The second one has a lot to do with the way that the book is set up.
[Unidentified]: And the third one has a lot to do with the way that the book is set up. And the third one has a lot to do with the way that the book is set up.
[Adam Hurtubise]: And the fifth one has a lot to do with the way that the book is set up. And the sixth one has a lot to do with the way that the book is set up. And the sixth one has a lot to do with the way that the book is set up. And the seventh one has a lot to do with the way that the book is set up. And the eighth one has a lot to do with the way that the book is Thank you very much. I'm. I don't know. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I was looking at it. It's huge. It's enormous. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Thank you very much. The YouTube broadcast has also started.
[Bears]: I thought everyone was saying I was the problem, and I thought you had the solution.
[Adam Hurtubise]: It also, it did not land as a criticism either, so stop worrying about it.
[Bears]: Eighth regular meeting Medford City Council April 2025 is called to order Mr. please call the roll Council Callahan.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Vice President Collins console is our own council lemon. Councilor Scarpelli is absent.
[Bears]: Councilor Tseng President Bears present six present one absent please rise to salute the flag. Announcements, accolades, remembrances, reports and records. Is there a motion to table Councilor Scarpelli's resolution until he's present? On the motion of Councilor Tseng to table 25-062 to the next regular meeting, seconded by Councilor Collins. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion passes. We have two papers under suspension. Is there a motion to take papers under suspension? On the motion of Councilor Tseng to take papers under suspension, seconded by Councilor Callahan. All those in favor? Opposed motion passes 25068 offered under suspension by Vice President Collins be it resolved that the Medford City Council congratulate Metro family network director Marie Cassidy on her retirement and extend our deepest gratitude for over 30 years of service to the community Councilor Collins.
[Collins]: Thank you, President Bears. Director Marie Cassidy is a woman in Medford who truly needs no introduction. I heard earlier this month that she was announcing her retirement. Never thought I'd see the day. It is hard to think of a person more dedicated and enthusiastic about a role in public service. I think many people in Medford, myself included, find her genuinely inspirational. person so just wanted to make sure this city council had a moment to publicly extend our gratitude to her for her years and years of tireless service on behalf of Medford families and children, and to wish her a very long and happy retirement. Thank you.
[Callahan]: Thank you. As someone with kids, I have to say that the Bedford Family Network is truly a gem. I think people don't realize the dearth of activities for families with young children. And, you know, everywhere else except for here in Medford. And it is truly an amazing institution and really shows such incredible leadership from Marie Cassidy. So just such appreciation for the work that she has done, the leadership she has shown, and the organization that she has built and the incredible value that she has provided to parents at a time in their lives, which can be quite tough. So thank you so much.
[Bears]: Thank you, Councilor Lazzaro.
[Lazzaro]: Thank you. I think I cut Councilor Tseng in line, but we'll get to you. I also echo Councilor Callahan's thoughts about being a parent in Medford and really appreciating the programming that came out of the Medford Family Network and thanks so much to Marie Cassidy. She's always an incredibly bubbly presence. She gets dressed up at the events. She is like always there, always has a huge smile on her face, always fills her tiny car up with boxes and boxes of crafts and, you know, things for the Valentine's Day thing about the like the park things and the teddy bear picnic and everything that you can possibly attend. But not only that, there's also things like during the pandemic when I there would be a call to help bring bags of groceries to somebody's house or donations somewhere that somebody needed help and the Medford Family Network was an intrinsic part of that. And Marie's dedication to that organization and making sure it was still an active part of the community during the pandemic was really critical. And she didn't let anybody forget about the young families in town. The Medford Family Network also has a lot of outreach for, you know, new parents, new to the to town but also to the country who are just like getting their sea legs under them and figuring out how to be a part of our community and, you know, how to be a parent in a new place is a really hard thing to figure out how to do so. I really appreciate all that she's given to our community and what a welcoming place she's made Medford feel for so many people. So, so much gratitude to Marie and best of luck in her next endeavors.
[Bears]: Thank you and you did not cut I'm stage managing Medford kids are going last on this one.
[Tseng]: Thank you. I might not be able to speak as a parent, but I can speak as someone who was a kid. And to speak to really, I think the wide range of programming that Medford Family Network has given Medford families throughout the years that so many people like me benefited from. And more than just programming, really building a community of Medford kids and Medford parents. who, you know, can get together help each other, build a build a community here in Medford and I'm so so grateful for that work. Director Cassidy is like a Medford celebrity, I feel like, with all of the you know the dozens of years that she's given to this job. has gotten to know so many of our residents so intimately, really knowing the happy things about Medford and the not so happy things and helping make sure that, you know, with the work, especially that you did during COVID, that we were able to help out the families that really needed help. And she's just a, you know, a bridge builder, a connector in that way. And we'll really miss having Dr. Cassidy do that service for our city. I will always really, I will always remember. the energy that she brings to all the events, seeing her at teddy bear picnics and fundraisers and just the regular MFN events, seeing her dressed up and the energy that she brings really brings the life to the party. So I want to thank Director Cassidy for all her work. I'm so grateful and congratulations on your retirement.
[Bears]: Thank you for saying yeah and I'll just add director Cassidy's 30 years, pretty much coincide with how long I've been in Medford, and I know a lot I didn't move here till I was four. Don't tell anyone. I know a lot of the young people who I grew up with built lifelong connections and their parents built lifelong connections in community through the MFN. And I know parents who are still involved in supporting the MFN whose kids are 30, 35 years old, because it's so valuable to them. So, you know, when I think of Maria, I think of words like joy and wonder and community, and most importantly, just an incredible laser focus on the kids in this community having really happy experiences and moments and building community together. And I don't think she'll ever really know how important the teddy bear picnic is. So with that, I'll just leave it there. Is there a motion? on the motion to approve by Councilor said seconded by seconded by Council is our all those in favor. Opposed motion passes 25069 offered under suspension by Councilor Callahan, whereas the Chevrolet theater is a historic thriving cultural center used by our residents which brings people together from all over greater Boston, be it resolved that the city council invite Cindy Watson from friends and friends of the Chevrolet to attend the public works and facilities meeting to inform our community about the state of the Chevrolet theater.
[Callahan]: Thank you. I do not want to play any favoritism for our public buildings. I love them all. We are in one now, but I will also say the Chevalier Theater is, of course, so much more than just a building. And, you know, what they bring to our city is truly wonderful in terms of events, as well as just, you know, economic vitality and what they bring to the square. So I'm very excited to have them come again this year. I think you know, they they have some requests in terms of the actual physical building. And I'm excited to hear what they look for, and what the city might be able to help them out with.
[Bears]: Thank you, Councilor Callahan. Any further discussion? Councilor Leming?
[Leming]: I look forward to this again, too. I'd also just like to thank Cindy for extending an invitation for all of us to attend the annual meeting of the Friends of the Chevalier. I had a wonderful time there this past year. I look forward to attending again this year. It's just nice to see folks come together in the community to support our local institutions. The only disappointment that I have is that I couldn't get tickets to see Ringo Starr or or weird Al Yankovic. But you know what? You know what? We all have to make sacrifices. So I look forward to I look forward to seeing this update.
[Bears]: The clerk's informing me that he did see Chris Kristofferson. On the motion of Councilor Callahan to refer to public works and facilities seconded by, seconded by Councilor Collins all those in favor. Opposed motion passes. Records records of the meeting of April 8th were passed to Councilor Collins. Councilor Collins, how did you find those records?
[Collins]: I apologize I motioned a table to our next regular meeting as I did not review them.
[Bears]: Okay.
[Collins]: The regular meeting. You were special meeting April 15th.
[Bears]: All right, on the motion to table to the next regular meeting, seconded by Councilor Callahan. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion passes. Records of the special meeting of April 15th were passed to Councilor Lazzaro. Councilor Lazzaro, how did you find those records?
[Lazzaro]: I found them in order and I motion to approve.
[Bears]: On the motion to approve by Councilor Lazzaro, seconded by? seconded by Councilor Tseng all those in favor. I report the committees is there a motion to join on the motion of Councilors saying to join the reports of committees seconded by seconded by Councilor Callahan all those in favor. All the any post motion passes. 25-048 offered by President Bears this is committee the whole April 8. This was on parking, the new parking director, also on the GLX parking zone, and a potential change the parking ordinance. Councilor Collins, is there anything you'd like to add. You can say no. That's our columns.
[Collins]: We referred out of committee the proposed ordinance change submitted by the parking department, and we reviewed the draft first annual surveillance reporting by the parking department, which they have resubmitted with a couple minor amendments. And so the council will review those again as part of the council paper on the topic next month.
[Bears]: Great. Could you forward me the ordinance for our next regular meeting agenda? Thank you. Councilor Collins planning and permitting committee April 9.
[Collins]: Thank you. At the Planning and Permitting Committee on April 9th, this was our 20-something meeting with the zoning consultant. At this meeting, we were going over in greater detail a draft of the zoning proposal for West Medford Square. This wasn't the first time we'd seen this map, but it was the first time we'd spent a whole meeting concentrating on it. We had a really lively discussion between councilors, city staff, the zoning consultant. There was a lot of public comment. It was a really great meeting and we took in lots of feedback. So this proposal will come back to the committee again before it is referred to the Community Development Board. Motion to approve.
[Bears]: Thank you. Councilor Leming, Resident Services and Public Engagement Committee, April 15th.
[Leming]: We approved a very nice budget survey.
[Bears]: Great. And we have community the whole April 16th. This was the CDBG public meeting discussing the CDBG proposals for community organizations. And we have a hearing on that in just two agenda items. So we will be taking action on that tonight. Is there a motion to approve the joint reports? On the motion of Councilor Tseng to approve, seconded by. Seconded by council Lazzaro, all those in favor. Opposed, motion passes. Hearings, 25036, petition to amend the special permit 282, Mystic Ave. I'm declaring this continued public hearing open. The petitioner has requested that we further continue this to our next regular meeting. With that, is there anyone who'd like to comment on this at this time in the public hearing? It will be continued to May 13th and there will be further opportunity to comment. Seeing none, I'm declaring the public hearing this temporarily closed to be continued. Is there a motion to continue? On the motion to continue the public hearing to May 13th by Councilor Tseng, seconded by? Seconded by Councilor Collins. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion passes. 25-060, submitted by the Office of Planning, Development and Sustainability, Community Development Block Grant Action Plan for Fiscal 26. Notice of a public hearing the Medford City Council will conduct a public hearing. Sorry about that. wrong sheet. Legal Notice City of Medford Community Development Block Grant Program five year consolidated plan program your 2025 annual action plan and citizen participation plan. Public hearing a public hearing will be held by the Medford City Council on Tuesday, April 29 2025 at 7pm the purpose of this public hearing will be to invite the general public and representatives of public service agencies to express comments regarding the city's five year consolidated plan and annual action plan, and on the city's housing and community development needs and development of proposed activities. The consolidated plan includes broad goals and objectives to address priority needs with resources available from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, including a five-year strategy for use of Community Development Block Grant CDBG funding for program years 2025 to 2029. The action plan contains the proposed use of CDBG funds for the program year, which extends from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, program year 2025. The hearing will also invite public comments regarding the city's updated CDBG Citizen Participation Plan, detailing opportunities for public participation, and the development of plans and reports related to its CDBG funding. The Office of Planning, Development and Sustainability will be requesting that the Medford City Council authorize Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, official representative of the City of Medford, to submit the Program Year 2025 to 2029 Consolidated Plan, the Program Year 2025 Annual Action Plan, application for funds and all other assurances and certifications to HUD, The city is applying for an estimated $1,384,050 in block grant funds for program year 2025. Funds are estimated in details on the increasing or decreasing of proposed activities and budget. Once HUD has notified, the city of its final allocation can be found within the draft annual action plan. If you need reasonable accommodation to attend or participate in this hearing, please contact Nicholas Karinje at email nkaringe at medford-ma.gov or by phone at 781 3 9 3 2 4 3 9. All right. Um, is there anything that Laurel you'd like to add? Uh, before we open the public hearing?
[Laurel Siegel]: No. I mean, I think that the hearing notice pretty much covers that we're seeking approval of those three plans to cover our five year consolidated plan next year's annual action plan and the updated citizen participation plan One thing as noted in that hearing notice, we have not yet received final notification from HUD of the amount of our funding for next year. So the plans approved would be subject to our adjustment as detailed in the annual action plan once we have that final figure.
[Bears]: Great. I'm going to open the public hearing unless Councilor Collins, do you have a question for Laurel? I'm going to open the public hearing to anyone who'd like to speak in favor, opposition or otherwise has comment on the city's action plan, consolidated plan and any other CDBG related matter. Public hearing is open. You can raise your hand on Zoom or come to the podium if you have a comment on the CDBG action plan. And Laurel, I'm assuming that the Office of Planning Development Sustainability is in support.
[Sabrina Hewitt]: Yes, we are.
[Bears]: Great, thank you. Just gonna give it a second. Seeing no hands on Zoom and no one in person, I'm declaring the public hearing closed. Councilor Collins.
[Collins]: Thank you, President Bears and thank you Laurel for being here again for folks who weren't at the committee of the whole on the CDBG block grant funding a couple weeks ago. That was on April 16, I heard from Laurel with an overview of the annual action plan the consolidated plan. the updated citizen participation plan. We also heard from all prospective funding applicants, which is something that we do every year and speaking as one Councilor, it's always a joy to hear from these direct service providers who are using this federal grant funding to do really good work in our community. It's never glamorous stuff. It's just the stuff that residents really need and very grateful to them for assisting our public sector in getting residents recreation and food and access. and things like that that everybody should have access to. So with that being said, eager to approve this, I would make the following motion to approve the city's five-year consolidated plan for HUD funding, annual action plan for CDBG program year 2025, and updated citizen participation plan with the funding amounts outlined in the consolidated plan and the annual action plan being subject to final adjustment as set forth in the draft annual action plan once HUD has notified the city of its annual allocation of CDBG funding for program year 2025.
[Bears]: Can you submit that motion to the clerk? Thank you. A motion of Councilor Collins, seconded by Councilor Tseng. Any further discussion? I'm seeing Councilor Tseng.
[Tseng]: Thank you. I also wanted to thank Laurel, thank everyone who's worked on this, and all the projects that we're funding for submitting their proposals. These, you know, for a lot of Medford residents, these projects are part of their everyday lives, part of the ways that they get to their grocery stores, the way that they put food on their dinner plate at night. So I think it's really important that we fund this, that we pass this. I know that something new in what we're seeing tonight is the vacant storefront initiatives, as well as generally the business development initiatives as well. So money to continue the vacant storefront district program to also create the second round of the project pop-up and computer program. I was just curious, Laurel, if, I usually ask this question for the projects. I was wondering if you could speak to how we're measuring that success, like the effectivity of those programs.
[Laurel Siegel]: If you're speaking as to the vacant storefront program, that program is eligible to both what are referred to as micro enterprises, which are businesses with 5 or few employees, or a small business, which is above 5 employees. So far, we've provided 1 grant and those grants for small businesses are subject to hiring at least 1 or low or moderate income resident to a new position. And the micro enterprises, they're qualified based on their own income. And so it's an opportunity to elevate somebody with a low or moderate income household who's looking to establish a business. Similarly for the pop-up program, that will be eligible to Medford residents operating a micro enterprise. So again, it's an opportunity to elevate a small business operated by a low or moderate income resident, and hopefully establish more retail in Medford, which we know is lacking in some of our squares.
[Tseng]: Is the, can I just ask a follow up, is the goal to help the micro enterprises move into storefronts of their own going forward? Is there, I know this, this is a great program in itself. I'm just thinking about, have we thought about bridging that gap between when, you know, their time at the incubator ends and kind of their next step?
[Laurel Siegel]: Certainly. So this program is being done in conjunction with a consultant called UpNext, and they've done this program in a number of other communities. And the entire package includes quite a bit of technical assistance and support to the micro enterprises to help them to basically launch their business. So it's a short term opportunity to have a physical space, but also to equip them with the tools to continue on and hopefully have a successful business in the future.
[Tseng]: Thank you so much. Thank you.
[Bears]: We'll go to Councilor Lazzaro.
[Lazzaro]: Thank you. I really appreciate how much information is in the packet on these organizations that we're potentially helping to fund with the CDBG funds here. I was not able to attend the Committee of the Whole, so I was reviewing the minutes. Something that really jumped out at me is how many of these organizations work to feed Medford residents. there's a lot of income disparity in Medford, and sometimes it can be hard to recognize how many of our residents need help with this kind of thing, and these organizations are doing that work. The West Medford Community Center is feeding our older residents, the Mystic Valley, YMCA, Medford Community Market. Somebody said, I was reading the minutes, said that 40% of Medford households experience some degree of hunger, which I found staggering. Medford Council on Aging feeds our seniors every day, every weekday. Housing Families is helping with like legal aid, but this is, I mean, obviously Housing Families is like a homelessness prevention and mitigation organization. This is, these are organizations that are helping our most vulnerable residents. And I'm really grateful for the work that's being done and appreciative for all of these groups coming out and helping our residents so much. And there's so much that we still need to do. and I'm also grateful for the federal department that funds CDBG and it's safe right now. So that's great. And hopefully it continues to be funded. And I appreciate Laurel for coming out and doing this for us. Thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you. On the motion of Councilor Collins, seconded by Councilor Tseng, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Council Kelly. Vice President Collins. That's a little Zorro. That's a Leming. Councilor Scarpelli is absent, Councilor Tseng, President Bears, yes, 60 affirmative one absent.
[Bears]: The motion passes Councilor Collins if you could take the chair.
[Collins]: Paper 25-063, offered by President Bears, resolution to request mitigation of sound and light impacts of new West Medford commuter rail platform. Be it resolved by the Medford City Council that we request that Keolis and the MBTA reduce the light levels and sound levels at the newly installed platform at the West Medford commuter rail station, especially at non-peak travel times. President Bears.
[Bears]: Thank you, Madam Chair. Resolution is relatively self-explanatory. I know we have some residents here tonight. Also notice I'm taller than Kit. But we were all surprised, I think it's fair to say, pretty much everyone on the city side of things and local residents by the relatively quick construction, installation and operation of a new platform at West Medford commuter rail station. I will say that it's a long time coming to provide accessibility for all residents to the commuter rail at the West Medford stop. But I certainly didn't receive any communication about it before it was put in place. And what we're seeing is that there are negative impacts on the surrounding residents from loud sounds on the announcement system and very bright lights at times when there are not even trains running, nevermind. You know, it's not just peak hours it's happening. These reported to be happening all night sometimes. We have constant communication issues with Keolis and the MBTA as well as DCR and MassDOT and MWRA and all the other state agencies who have infrastructure in the city of Medford, but are not particularly responsive to residents or local government. So, we have some, I know there's some residents present who live close by to the new platform, who are facing negative impacts, and I would move that we submit this resolution to kill us and the MBTA, as well as the mayor and director Blake, so that they can use it. in any of their own communications with the relevant parties to push them to act to improve the conditions of the platform. Thank you.
[Collins]: Thank you, President Bears.
[Lazzaro]: We'll go to Councilor Lazzaro. Thank you. Um, I would just like to say that it was. I was pleasantly surprised to see the ADA improvements being made to the West Medford commuter rail station. That being said, I knew that it was happening because. a friend of a friend who I took a basket weaving class with happened to mention to me that she did ADA improvements with the MBTA and they were going to be doing West Medford and I was like oh that's so weird because I'm a city councilor and I don't know anything about that and that's an insane way to learn about a thing. So there probably should have been some kind of mechanism where anybody in the city of Medford would have been notified about something like that, especially the people that live directly across the street who may have some kind of impact on their day-to-day lives. That station doesn't have any kind of wall. There's no trees in between the station and the people that live on that street. There's a lot of houses, multi-family, single-family, right on that street that the train station is on. And I think it's The least we can ask is that they turn off the announcements in the middle of the night, the lights be turned down. The safety measures are important. I just think, you know, people who are in the neighborhood should be able to talk about it. I think other departments have done a lot of MassDOT is doing a lot of outreach about like changing one of the intersections in Medford and doing you know 25% planning meeting before they even think about the possibility of changing the roadway and the fact that this just happened is very frustrating. I don't think this sort of thing would happen in a town like Wellesley, or even in a town like Arlington necessarily. This sort of frustration, as President Bears mentioned, does happen a lot. I just got an email that MassDOT decided not to lower the speed limit per our request on most of the roadways that they I have to send it around to the council still, but decided not to lower the speed limit to 25 on most of the roadways that they control in Medford for various reasons. So even when we do try to do something to protect our residents from literal death, sometimes they just won't do it. So we do have a lot of work to do to increase our communication with the state agencies that control the transportation mechanisms in our town. I think that we have a right to request things that make the lives of our residents better and healthier. And having comfortable, adequate sleep is a pillar of that. So I look forward to submitting this to the MBTA. And if we could even make I mean, make it even more powerful, I would be in favor of that. But this is this is also good. Thank you.
[Collins]: Thank you, Councilor. Going to Councilor Tseng.
[Tseng]: Thank you. I'll be brief because I think President Bears and Councilor Lazzaro have covered what I think. Something that comes up again and again here on the City Council is the unresponsiveness of the State Department, KEOLAS, the MBTA when it comes to a lot of our requests. That's not to say they're never responsive, but there certainly is a gap there. And even though I think there's a lot of work for us to do communicating with them, I think there's a lot of work on their end as well to communicate with us about projects. It seems like a lot of what did happen, you know, I think the community is happy that we have ADA improvements at the station, but you know, if they had told us beforehand what was coming in and told the community beforehand, the neighbors and residents there, a lot of this, you know, kerfuffle could have been mitigated. It seems like an easy step for the state to have taken on that they chose not to take. And so we're stuck in this situation. I do want to especially applaud President Bears and Council is our for their hard work on this issue because I know they've been working very hard on this. I think when we do see that responsiveness from the state, it's when we speak together as the City Council. And so I am very grateful for this resolution tonight, because I think if we are going to get anywhere, this has to be a part of it.
[Collins]: Thank you, Councilor Tseng. Is there any further comment from Councilors on this paper? Seeing none, we'll go to public participation. You can raise your hand on Zoom or line up in the hallway by the microphone, and I will switch between the podium and on Zoom. Every participant should be prepared to say their name and address for the record, and then you'll have three minutes to express yourself. Thank you. We'll go to the podium first. So name and address for the record, please. And you'll have three minutes.
[Libby Brown]: Hi. I'll bring my neighbors with me. I'm Libby Brown. I live at 1 Usher Road in Medford. So we are a direct abutters to the station. So thank you very much for bringing us up tonight. I want to start by saying I applaud the MBTA for working to provide more equitable access to public transportation. But I hope that goes without saying that we are glad there are improvements being made but as a designer I know that the first thing you do at the outset of a project is engage your stakeholders and incorporate their feedback when it is cost effective to do so, and in a way that builds, builds trust within the community you're working and this was a massive failure. with respect to talking to the community, outreach with the Butters. There was absolutely no outreach to us, and there was no public website talking about the work. We've made multiple requests to the MBTA to ask what's going on. We see work. And to reference what Councilor Lazzaro mentioned, in projects in Wellesley, Winchester with upgrades to their accessibility, there are websites that talk about the work. and Medford was ignored and multiple requests for information were unanswered. So we find ourselves with really distressing light and noise pollution that affects sleep, enjoyment of our outdoor spaces, it's blinding lights into our rooms. I hear throughout my house echoing announcements literally all night, every five minutes, the announcements go. and the lights are blinding all night. I left, we have photos in case anyone would like to see them, and I should let my neighbors speak too, but this is affecting more than just our houses on Usher Road and Playstead. This is happening, I'm sure, on Johnson as well on the other side of the tracks. Thank you.
[Collins]: Thank you so much. Yeah. Name and address, please.
[Adam Santino]: Adam Satino, OneUsher as well. Thank you. Yeah, she mentioned every five minutes, but that was this weekend, and that was a 30-second message that was going 24 hours a day. It was on at 2 a.m. It was on at 5.30 a.m. Most of the time, it is every one or two minutes, there are messages. I had lunch outside today. Obviously, it was nice out. And every one to two minutes, it was visitmbta.com. or some welcome to West Medford, random messages that are not needed for accessibility. Again, we're happy that it's accessible. We use the commuter rail to commute to work. And that's all good. But at the same time, it's making a real negative impact on and it's frankly devalued the values of our properties as well in what they've done.
[Emily Sparer-Fine]: Thanks, Emily spare fine 37 place dead road. I echo what my neighbors have said and we were speaking on behalf of so many of our fellow neighbors, the Again, we really do applaud the accessibility improvements. Those were a long time coming and needed. It's the way that they happen, the lack of communication with neighbors, the lack of engaging with community members that has been really upsetting and it happened overnight. And subsequently, the announcements that have been going on all night, all day, again, Seemingly unnecessary information welcoming folks to West Medford at 3am waking us up in the middle of the night unnecessary noise and light pollution thinking about the environmental impacts as well should be noted that the incredibly bright lights. Are really distressing and. The other thing that I will mention that it seems to be in the last few weeks, there have been periods of fewer announcements and then periods of more announcements. So clearly they can adjust the volume and the frequency, and more permanent solution is really needed. And we are really grateful to everybody here for your support on this issue. So thank you so much in helping us elevate this issue for all of us.
[Adam Santino]: Yeah, and just for context, we've provided a lot of information to all of you on what's in their own specs of what they say. For the lighting, they recommend 5 to 10 foot candles for ramps and platforms. I bought a light meter. It's 35 to 50 foot candles is the average. So it's obviously there's way too many lights. I was out there today. There's four speakers on each platform. There's a speaker every five feet. That's way more than necessary to hear any of these announcements on there. To Emily's point, they did go down for a while, and we could barely hear them, and they were much less frequent. But then they come back, and it's like, is this going to be a constant battle of back and forth? So we need some sort of guarantee that there's going to be a permanent fix for this, and also a resolution of what the lights are. I would actually recommend if we could get them to turn the announcements off until they do sit down with us and have a discussion on what the appropriate volume is and what they're going to do about the lighting mitigation, if that's possible.
[Collins]: Thank you so much.
[Adam Santino]: Thank you.
[Collins]: I appreciate your testimony for putting this on the record. I'll go back to President Thares and then back to the podium. Okay, great.
[Sabrina Hewitt]: I just want to kind of add to what they were saying. I'm sorry, I do have to ask your address. I 315 boss now in Madrid. Yeah. Um, but anyways, my name is Sabrina here. And I use the T a lot. I'm disabled. So I do appreciate the ADA improvements. And I do. We do walk late at night. And so I do appreciate the lights, but they're, even for me, it's like, they're way too bright. And the last train is like 1230 or one or something like that. There's no reason for another train. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. There's no train, no reason for the announcements to go after the last train is gone. Shut them off. And then turn the lights dimmer. I know you don't want to drive graffiti and such, but turn the lights dimmer. You don't want people getting assaulted, turn the lights dimmer. Oh my God, you could light up a stadium with these lights. It's insane. So I just wanted to add on top of what they were saying, as a non-resident of that area, I do appreciate the ADA, but I don't appreciate how bright it is. Because if I had a migraine issue, So that's it. Just wanted to add on.
[Collins]: Thank you so much for your comments. All right, we got one more hand on Zoom. Jen, name and address for the record, please.
[Jennifer Yanko]: Okay, I think we've got it. Jennifer Yanko, 16 Monument Street in West Medford, and I use the commuter rail a lot too, and I was pleased to see the accessible platforms, but I certainly support the council in pushing for a more reasonable situation as regards the lights and the announcements and involving the community. This brings me to a related issue, which is the T stop and bus stops at the Medford Tufts Green Line station. This has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time. The bus stop, if you're arriving on the Green line. The bus stop for the 94 and the 80 is not visible. It's that far away. And there's no signage to tell you where it is. If you have any problem walking, you won't get there. If you manage to get there, you will have to surmount a concrete barrier to get on the bus. And in the other direction, when you're coming from West Medford to the train station, Again, the bus stop is so far away from the train station, you can barely see where it is. And then you have to cross the street and walk to the train station. So if we're trying to get people to use public transportation, this is definitely not going to encourage people, especially people that have baby carriages, problems walking, walkers. that you just can't do it. So I just wanted to add that when you're addressing the MBTA and Keolis that this is a really important issue in addition to what's going on in the West Medford train station. So thank you very much.
[Collins]: Great, thank you, Jennifer. I'll go back to President Bears and then Councilor Leming.
[Bears]: Thank you, Chair Collins. Thank you to the local residents who came out tonight and who have been emailing Keolis and the city and collecting all this information and buying light meters and doing all of the work that I think, you know, really should be on Keolis as our privatized commuter rail operator, making a profit off of our public infrastructure to do. That's an aside that I will now stop but You know, we have had constant issues. Like, I hear the desire for a guarantee. I want a guarantee. We all want a guarantee. We spent six months with your neighbors on the other side, on the Bower Street side with the rail ties issue when they were re-putting the new rail ties in and like off-gassing. And it's just a horrible situation. That was horrible too. And it's like, we're back here right again with Keolis and the T both. Um, you know, we kept on them for that. We're going to keep on them for this. It really sucks. That's really mostly what I'm saying. It's just, it really sucks. And we're going to keep on them, but I don't know, um, how fast they're going to move on it. I think the suggestion of like, let's shut this off until we get it. Right. But the most, most frustrating part for me of what you were saying is just the change. Like you can't even expect, or you, you had a change, like things got better and then they got worse again. And that's kind of the, You know, I'm sure it's not intentional or whatever, but it's a gaslighting right like you're now not secure in your own home about like what to expect from day to day, week to week. I am hopeful that we can try to communicate with them more immediately to just at least go back to the conditions that were a little bit better and then actually engage with you. But I, you know, mostly I'm kind of just being bad news, Zack, and just saying it's really tough to engage with them. And we've had a lot of problems with Keolis along the line for a while. So we're here, we're going to keep fighting. And it's really frustrating so many just so many problems coming out of them. So thank you for advocating on behalf of your neighbors and being here tonight, and for all the information you've given us to try to help. And to Jen's point around Medford-Tufts, I do believe we're getting a redesign of that section of Boston Avenue because of the Tufts Dormitory project that's going to get rid of the the concrete, the strange curb, not curb thing that blocks access to cars and buses. So that's still, it's going to be some time, but I think the Medford Tufts issue is going to get somewhat worked out, at least in terms of access. I'm not sure about the bus stop placement. And just wanted to put that information out there. Thank you.
[Collins]: Great, thank you. Go to Councilor Leming.
[Leming]: I was just gonna echo Council President Bears's sentiments and saying that thanking the residents for coming out here and advocating. on behalf of this clear case of noise and light pollution. I remember during the campaign when I was going around knocking doors, I spoke to a fellow on Circus Street, who's like right next to the commuter rail line, and he was talking about noise pollution, just keeping him up all the time. And I think the solution to that would have been installing a sound barrier, which could have been you know, very pricey but I hope that they'll be able to do that but I mean this case especially after looking at your photos just it just seems very addressable like turn down the noise at three in the morning and uh you know don't have don't don't have uh the lights as bright as they are at that time period and I think that's that's what's particularly frustrating to me is that this just doesn't seem like one of those problems that takes like a lot of money to solve it just really takes and a position of authority actually listening to you and acceding to these very reasonable requests. So I hope that we are able to get something out of this. Yeah, this seems absurd.
[Collins]: Thank you, Councilor Leming, Councilor Lazzaro.
[Lazzaro]: Thank you. I just wanted to offer a slightly less doom and gloom perspective, if that's possible. I do think we can fix this. This feels very fixable to me. It feels like a switch. genuinely, like, I don't think the MBTA has genuinely like any reason to make this continue happening at all. So if it's a matter of like, I feel passionately about turning it off. And I think the majority of the council does. We can achieve this, I feel strongly. So I think it'll be okay. I think it's okay. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. If it doesn't happen soon enough, please email us again. We got you.
[Collins]: Thank you, Councilor Lazzaro and my fellow colleagues. And thank you again to the constituents who have been spending I'm sure hours and hours of your time that you really shouldn't have to not only not sleeping at night, but also advocating to kill us in the MBTA to make this very simple fix it is. Like very, very obvious that there's no reason to have such bright lights and such loud noise on when the train is not even. running and I share your total frustration that it is so hard to get such a simple thing rectified. So I'm sorry for what you're going through. Thank you for involving us. We will continue to advocate with you. It's nice when a seemingly simple problem comes our way, but it's frustrating when it's not as quick to fix as it should be. So please keep us informed. Thank you for being here. So go back to President Bears.
[Bears]: I just wanted to thank Councilor Lazzaro for her first term energy, and I hope it is always our all terms energy eventually. Point taken.
[Collins]: Was very refreshing. Also had the benefit of derailing me from the anti-keyless, anti-privatization rant that I was preparing in my head. Nobody needs that. Not today. Some other time. On the motion of President Bears to approve and submit to Keolis and the MBTA and the city administration, seconded by Councilor Lazzaro. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. Thank you.
[Bears]: Communications from the Mayor, 25061. Submitted by Mayor Marianne Legault-Kern. Request for food truck permits for trolley dogs, May through July at Hormel Stadium. Dear President Bears and members of the City Council, on behalf of the below entity, I respectfully submit to the Medford City Council the following request for a food truck permit in the City of Medford. In addition to City Council approval, vendors are required to adhere to Health Department food and safety requirements. Business name, trolley dogs. dates and time 510 25 516 25 6725 621 25 and 7 625 4pm to 7pm location Hormel Stadium 90 Lucas Street, Massachusetts, and event. uh, ultimate Frisbee, uh, Boston glory games about the event, ultimate Frisbee association, tournaments and games for players and spectators. Thank you for your kind attention to this matter. Sincerely bringing the live up here in mayor. Do we have any discussion by members of the council? And we also representative of Boston glory here, seeing no immediate questions from members of the council. We'll go to Peter from Boston glory, Peter.
[Peter Collery]: How are you? I'm fantastic. And don't need to take any of your time. If, if possible, we'd just love to, get these permits approved and have our Frisbee games.
[Bears]: Fantastic. Yes. And if there's anything else you want to add about the, the ultimate Frisbee association and what you guys do, we're happy to lend you our platform for this minute or two.
[Peter Collery]: Uh, only thing I'll say is that we have six times a year. We play at Horned Owl. We have a ton of fun and I would encourage everybody to come out. It's, it's a great thing for kids and we have a beer garden, so it's not so bad for adults. And, uh, We'd really like to see you. And it's an amazing sport played by world-class athletes. So hopefully some of you will be able to come and see us. And thank you for the opportunity.
[Bears]: Awesome. Thank you so much. I'm going to Councilor Callaghan.
[Callahan]: Thank you. I have to say, I have attended one of the Boston Glory games at Hartmell Stadium with my kid, and it was amazing to see all these kids like racing back and forth down the edge of the field with these gigantic flags going by. And of course, the Frisbee was also good. I enjoyed it very much, and I highly recommend it to everybody.
[Bears]: Fantastic. All right. And the clerk enjoys it as well. He tells me some things when we're standing up here. I'm never sure if he wants me to say it or not, but in this case, I know that he enjoys Frisbee. Any further discussion by members of the council? Any further comments by Peter or any members of the public on this matter? Seeing none, on the motion to approve by Councilor Khan, seconded by Councilor Tseng. All those in favor? Opposed? The motion passes. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Thank you all very much. 25064 submitted by Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. Appropriation of free cash and rescission of loan order. One second here. Going through all these food permits. There we go. Dear President Bears and members of the City Council regarding free cash appropriation and loan order rescission on school HVAC infrastructure and roof bonds I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body appropriate $5 million and zero cents of free cash for the purpose of replacing boilers and cooling systems with new condensing boilers and heat pumps including associated automated controls and structural and architectural work electrical work and weatherization at the McGlynn School and Andrews School, and the acquisition and installation of solar panels and a new roof or roof repairs at the McGlynn School, including the cost of planning, design, architecture, and engineering services, and all other costs incidental and related thereto. And rescind the $5,000,000.00 cent loan order under Resolution 24510, which was approved in the third reading at the City Council's January 14, 2025 meeting and closed as an original copy of the loan order. This appropriation of free cash will allow the city to reduce the amount to be permanently borrowed in the future to save an estimated $300,000 per year in the FY 27 budget, and for the term of the loan, the total project cost of $30,775,000 without a free cash appropriation would add to the city budget an estimated $1.834 million per year for 30 years. Thank you for your kind attention to this matter. Respectfully submitted, Brian Olingo, current mayor. Just gonna say two things before we move on. This, number one, We do have eligible for third reading the loan order for the rest of this tonight, so maybe we take that up right after this so that we can have the discussions together and we don't have to come back and provide the context again. The other thing I want to say is, when we were talking about a question six in. last November. This is exactly the reason why question six was on the ballot. You can see that a project of this guy size about $30 million, which is what the new fire station was about expected to cost has an impact of 1.834 million on the city's annual operating budget. So that is, you know, That is what we lost with the loss of that. The city budget, as we discussed earlier at our committee of the whole meeting, continues to be very tight. If the overrides hadn't passed, we would have been talking about drastic and significant cuts across the school system and our city departments. And with the projects needed in our schools, the city budget, as it currently stands, is facing a nearly $2 million annual impact from a project of this size and scale. You know, we're going to talk about the specifics here, but that's the larger context of the essentially continuing tight budgets and significant needs of our community when it comes to capital improvements. With that, just talking specifically about using free cash instead of the loan order to save an estimated $300,000 per year in debt repayments. Is there anything you'd like to add, Director Dickinson, and we also have Superintendent Cushing and Brenda Pike as well, and maybe some folks from the design team, I'm not sure. Oh, there you go.
[Bob Dickinson]: There you go. I'm on. It's fairly straightforward. If we use some free cash here, we can The, the, the way that this project is working is that we had, we had to have $5 million, one way or the other, before the end of the fiscal year so that we could actually purchase pre-purchase the equipment necessary for the HVAC system because there's a lead time to that. It's going to be installed this summer. We put together this loan with the idea that we would do a short-term loan for the five million dollars in order to get the equipment funded before the end of the year. This would allow us to not actually get that loan we cover the $5 million we need before the end of the year with the fiscal 2024 free cash. That means we're not looking at a debt payment It gets a little weedy. Everything I say gets a little weedy, doesn't it? If we borrowed $5 million, we're looking at about 4% interest rate on a one-year short-term note. So that's $200,000 that would be in our fiscal 2026 budget. If we cover this with free cash, we don't have to put that into our fiscal 2026 budget, which would be nice. Then, this summer, I'm already working with the treasurer and the contractors to figure out when exactly we would need to do the short-term note for the entire amount of the loan order that you're doing the third reading for today, probably mid-August. Then that would be a short-term note for a year by the time August of 2020. six rolls around, we would know exactly how much the project actually had cost, and we would go out and get a long-term note for that amount. It would be a 30-year note. At 25,775, we're looking at right now they're looking at about four and a quarter percent so that's 1.5 million dollars added to our debt service budget for fiscal 2027. It's a lot it takes up the piece of the pie that debt takes up is expanding so after going through this a lot this is really I think the best way we could fund this project.
[Bears]: Thank you, Director Dickinson. I'll go to Councilor Callahan.
[Callahan]: Thank you. Let me know if I'm reading this correctly, that the one that we approved before, which is for a loan for $5 million with the estimated total project to be an additional $20 million, so $25 million total. And then in this one, it says the $5 million still, but that the total project cost instead of being $25 million looks like $30,775,000. And because it looks more detailed, perhaps there has already been some planning or a little bit better estimation. Is that just the, am I correct in that that is an increase in the guesstimate on the total project cost or am I being that wrong or?
[Bears]: We do have the superintendent and Brenda if you want to. We had a presentation when we did the loan order on April 8th. that the total project cost was $30,775,000. Is it just an updated number from what originally it was? There were some factors that went into it that Peter and Brenda, Bob, obviously, if you want to go first, but there. That's fine.
[Callahan]: That's basically all I wanted to know, was this is a sort of updated project cost?
[Bob Dickinson]: If we want to get into the breakdown of the project costs, I would defer to Brenda Pike for that. Just checking in that I'm understanding that correctly. The total amount would be If this is approved and the third reading is approved, the total amount would be $5 million in free cash, $25,775 in borrowing.
[Bears]: Great. Do we want to do a Peter and Brenda?
[Callahan]: If they feel that what you said is accurate, that's all I was asking was like, this is like an updated amount from that original one that we've passed back in.
[Bears]: December yeah I think if you wanted to speak to it really quickly Brenda thank you when you came to us in early April there had been some escalations that required the total I'll let you speak to it. Go ahead.
[Brenda Pike]: Yeah, absolutely. And the majority of that increase is actually in some projections for things that we actually don't know right now, but we're holding in contingency. So for instance, the effect of tariffs on the project, that's still very uncertain. And the potential for second shift work in order to meet our schedule if there are any delays. And then there's also has been a slight increase in cost for the ADA requirements for the project.
[Callahan]: Thank you.
[Bears]: Great, thank you. Any further questions for Director Dickinson? Seeing none, and just so I understand, oh, you want to go, Councilor Collins? No. I just had one question. So just so I understand the mechanics of it, we approved the loan order, which allowed the spending to start on procuring supplies for that $5 million pre.
[Unidentified]: Right.
[Bears]: There's not going to be any delay or pause in the project by moving from the loan order to the free cash is essentially what my question is.
[Bob Dickinson]: No. Great. All right.
[Bears]: Seeing no further questions from the council, is there a motion on the floor? Vice President Collins.
[Collins]: Thank you, and thank you for being here, Bob, and thank you, Brenda, on Zoom for being present to answer the council's questions. I think that the introduction to why this paper is before us kind of speaks for itself. It makes a lot of, it makes, to me, all the sense in the world that we're funding this project and we've been talking about it for many months, and I know that the team kind of preparing the project has been talking about it for a lot longer than that. Thank you again to PDS staff and Peter Cushing, and given that I'm sure that we'll talk a lot more about free cash this budget season. I think that this is an unambiguously good way to spend this pot of $5 million. It will it will relieve a lot of pressure on our FY26 or FY27 budget and budgets going forward to not have that further increase our debt service payments. We are, I think, fortunate to be able to spend free cash on this very worthy and necessary project. And I'm glad that it will have beneficial effects on our future operating budgets as well, because we all know how we continue to be hard pressed to use those dollars elsewhere in our operating budgets. So I would motion to approve.
[Bears]: for first reading a motion to this is an appropriation for cash. It's not doesn't require multiple readings. So it's a motion to approve the request for appropriation from the mayor and the rescission of the loan order by Vice President Collins, seconded by Council Zorro. Any further discussion on that motion by members of the council? Seeing none, is there any discussion on the motion by members of the public? I see one person here in the chamber. If there's anyone on Zoom who'd like to speak, please raise your hand and we'll go to you next, but we'll start at the podium. Name and address for the record. And you'll have three minutes plus as much time as it takes to get the timer.
[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening Nick Giurleo, 40 Robinson Road. So for the members of the public who might not be following, Mayor's asking that money be appropriated from our free cash fund, essentially over budgeted money to pay for HVAC and roof work at the McGlynn and Andrews. Mayor's asking for $5 million to do that. Another item on the agenda tonight, there's another letter from her asking for almost $200,000 for security upgrades across the public schools also coming from the free cash fund. The second letter says that the balance of free cash at our disposal is over $27.5 million. And it says in that first letter that if we don't make this appropriation using our free cash, an additional almost $2 million per year would be added to the city budget for the next 30 years. That quote on our current free cash balance is even more than what the latest data available on the Department of Revenue's website indicates Medford has in certified free cash. We heard repeatedly during the override campaign arguments against the use of free cash to help meet our school's financial needs. We were told it wasn't a feasible substitute for raising taxes. I find it ironic that now we're almost half a year out from that election that we're proposing to do exactly what was said we cannot do, and that is using free cash to meet school funding needs. So I acknowledge there's a little bit of nuance to the arguments. Some said it was possible to use free cash, but not for long-term needs, and that's fair enough. But when we look at things like what is being proposed here, so infrastructure improvements that are intended to last in the long-term, it's hard for me to grasp how this wouldn't be an appropriation of free cash for long term school needs, which again we were told we could not do. That is all I have to say thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you. Yeah, I think. you know, to the point, and I was gonna bring this up as we moved through this, the distinction that we were making, or at least that I was making, was not between long-term and short-term needs, it was between recurring expenses and one-time expenses. And, you know, where free cash is a fund that happens because either the city raises more money than it expected, or spends less money than expected, or in some years, maybe both, It's not reliable recurring revenue, so it shouldn't ever be used to fund recurring expenses that need to be funded on an ongoing basis. And what we're talking about here, and with the paper that the commenter mentioned, are one-time capital expenses. And that's what reserve funds should be used for. Not things like the best teachers contract that the city's ever seen that was funded by the new recurring revenue from the question seven and eight override. Do we have any further discussion by members of the public on the appropriation of free cash for the HVAC program at the Andrews and see none. We have the motion from Vice President Collins, seconded by Councilor Lazzaro to approve the appropriation Mr. Please call the roll.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Vice President Collins, Councilor Lazzaro, Councilor Leming, Councilor Scarpelli is absent, Councilor Tseng? President Bears?, President Bears.
[Bears]: Yes, affirmative, one absent, the motion passes. Vice Chair Leming, Councilor Leming,
[Leming]: Motion to- This is vice chair or something, we all- I don't remember. Planning and permitting committee, vice chair that. But no, motion to suspend the rules and take 25-050 off the table.
[Bears]: On the motion to take paper 25050 off the table by Councilor Leming, seconded by Councilor Tseng. All those in favor? Aye. All those in favor? All opposed motion passes to 5050 loan order 25 million 775,000 school HVAC infrastructure and roof bonds supplemental in city council April 8 2025 approved for first reading advertised April 18 2025 Boston Herald in city council April 29 2025 eligible for third reading. This is the loan order we just talked about. Is there a motion on the floor? Motion to approve. On the motion to approve for third reading by Councilor Leming, seconded by Councilor Lazzaro. Is there any further discussion? Oh, by Vice President Collins. Is there any further discussion? Seeing no discussion by Councilors, we will go to discussion by members of the public. You can either come to the podium or raise your hand on Zoom. I do see Mr. Castagnetti, Mr. Castagnetti, I will request you to unmute and you will have three minutes. Name and address for the record, please.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Hello, Councilor, am I on?
[Bears]: You are on, yes. And this is about the HVAC loan order.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Yes, I have my hand up for the previous one, but this all ties in. I wanna say the previous speaker that spoke, Nick, he made some good points. Like before we couldn't use the free cash and now we can. I still think he made some great points there. And also, if I'm understanding this properly, we're going to spend $30 million for capital improvements for the two schools. Two schools, yes. Yes. That seems like an eye-popping number. I'm sure the two new schools when they were new in the year 2000, didn't cost $30 million to build both of them, you know, combined. I guess I'm in, I'm back in the times, but this is a huge number. I wish us luck. Thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. Castagnetti. Definitely agree that it's a significant number and a major impact on the city budget. I can point you towards the, I think this is our fourth meeting between a regular meeting and city council committee the whole maybe our fifth meeting where we've heard from Assistant Superintendent Cushing and Planner Brenda Pike and the team working on this about why this project is necessary and what they've done, which is extensive work to mitigate the cost and be cost conscious for our residents. So, you know, there's a lot of stuff in the record, meeting recordings, meeting minutes and documentation on the school's website and on the council's website that I just want to point residents towards to better understand the project more than what we've talked about tonight.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: It's just it's an incredibly big number, you know, just for capital improvements. And as a matter of fact, I believe when Michael McGlynn was mayor, he got the state to give us that land by the Andrews and McGlynn. And I believe we had like half a dozen new schools built back then. And I don't think it cost us one dime because we sold the old schools at that time. So this is like very, very, very huge number. I'm concerned. Thank you for listening. Thank you.
[Bears]: I'll go to Councilor Leming and then Councilor Callahan. Councilor Leming.
[Leming]: Well, Council President Bearst, I feel like this might not have been adequately explained before, but free cash is used for one-time expenses and the overrides were for ongoing expenses like salaries. So I know that You know, we here have not made that point sufficiently clear in the past, but the purpose of the overrides was to pay salaries, whereas this free cash is used for a one-time capital expense. So that's the distinction. And again, I understand that you may have not explained that just now, but I feel the need to say that myself.
[Bears]: Thank you, Councilor Callahan.
[Callahan]: Thanks. I appreciate the, you know, noticing that this is a big number. And I will say that when I was going over this item with some of my volunteers that helped me to go through what's on the city council agenda. We all noticed that this was a big number and one of my volunteers actually did a little bit of research and looked at what other cities have paid for you know, things like replacing roofs on schools, things like HVAC systems on schools, things like, you know, replacing air conditioning or whatever it might be. And while there was a fair-sized range, this number did not stand out as unusual. It was not on the high end. It was not on the low end. It kind of sat in the middle of what other school districts do spend for this kind of repair. So I think that's a, it's a perfectly reasonable question to answer, or to ask, and, and I, you know, we did ask and we looked around and least got sort of that sort of lay person's understanding of yes, this is what it generally costs in Massachusetts to do this kind of work. Um, and then the thing that I would like to say about free cash, um, and I echo other city councilors' statements that, um, you know, the Massachusetts state has, um, it has resources for city councilors to understand how to properly use, uh, their money, and it does say that it really No city should be using free cash or stabilization funds for operating budget. And so this is why we had overrides was to increase our operating budget that we can spend, as people are saying, on ongoing expenses that we have to budget for every year and that if that If the amount of money ran out, we would be in deep trouble. So that's the reasoning why it is not just people sitting in the city council that think that it is the state that thinks that it is the credit agencies that think that if you spend all of your free cash if you don't have free cash the end of each year. then if your amount of free cash gets too low, then your credit rating goes down. So it is really important that we do these things correctly. But what I'm also excited about with free cash is I'm really happy that we are spending $5 million of our free cash on this project. And I really want to know from the administration, and I know that there's discussions happening between city councilors and city council leadership and the administration, but I am very excited to hear what the plans are for spending the amount of our free cash and capital stabilization funds that is above the recommended amount that we maintain in those funds. Because I do think we have more than the recommended amount that you need to maintain. And we obviously have capital projects. Just this one capital project would wipe out all of free cash if we use free cash for this project. Our roads have tens of millions of dollars of road debt. We have many, many capital projects that need money. So we do not have more free cash. than projects, and I am excited to understand better what the priorities are that the administration has for how to spend the free cash that we have that we could be spending in the near future that will still maintain a healthy level of free cash and stabilization funds. Thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you. Yeah. And we are, um, I'm hoping we will have that be part of our meetings on the 20th or the 21st, at least a primer. And just to add to that, I think the fiscal 23 to fiscal 28 CIP, the capital improvement plan or investment plan, or can I remember exactly what it is? I think that had a over a hundred million dollars just in over those five years. So, you know, and I'm adding to your point, uh, We could spend all free cash on this project or 30 million in that CIP and we'd still need to come up with the other 70 million through borrowing or some other means so it really just again speaks to the scope and scale of the capital need, nevermind the operating need which we're also talking about. Councilor Collins.
[Collins]: Thank you, President Bears, and I appreciate the way that Councilor Callahan frames this discussion I think all of that is really well put I appreciate the. I think every time that we talk about free cash, it is really important and valuable to state what it is, because the term is so imperfect to what it is. And I appreciate the context that with all of these financial decisions, it is not just seven people and city staff making a decision, but rather making decisions against a backdrop of a lot of state, regional, and federal best practice. Another thing that I don't want to get lost in the sauce now that this project has gotten to the point where we're talking about it in the terms of bottom lines and loan orders is for folks who are not at the committees of the whole that started that started in December or the meetings, since then. The work that we're talking about funding is work that will allow our elementary, in the case of the current paper and and middle schools and the previous one to have functioning HVAC and roofs that do not leak so what we're talking about we're talking about $25 million, and it is a lot of money. Absolutely, if that feels like an eye popping number that makes sense because that's a really really big number in the context especially of individual lives and small businesses and individual households in the context of a city as Councilor Gallagher pointed out. It is still a big number and we're allowed to react to it as a big number but that is also what things cost. And I think that as we're talking about it as a large and intimidating number to be committing. We should also be talking about like, wow, if there's $30 million worth of updates that our schools need, then like the only thing worse than seeing $30 million go out the door is to not spend that money, because that's stuff that students really need and teachers really need. And it's going to make our schools a much better learning environment, which is the whole point of communities having schools. So I think that this is, a really good use, I think it's really good when we can use a relative fraction of our amount of free cash to open the door to a project that it would be completely insensible to fund entirely through free cash and that can open the door to a project that it then makes more sense to complete with borrowing and I'm really looking forward to developing a clearer picture of the spending and appropriation plan for the rest of our free cash in collaboration with the city administration. I think that is critical context for our budget season this year, and we'll continue to work on that. But I think that I, for myself as one councilor constituent, I'm thinking of this as a very good example of how we can use free cash to our community's best advantage. Thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you. Yeah, and I think, you know, just to be brief, Certainly whoever came up with the term free cash didn't expect it would be interpreted the way that I think most people interpret it. But this may be another way of getting at the point that Councilor Leming, Councilor Callahan and Councilor Collins and every person on this council has tried to make at various points, which is free cash is cash that is, it is a reserve. It's a reserve fund, and it is free for us to use when we have an unexpected expense or an emergency, compared to our city budget, which is not free for us to use because it is tied up in being used for all of the things that the city does all year, all month, every month, all year, day in and day out. Um, and whether that further elucidates the idea that you know the difference between the operating budget and a one time expense or a recurring expense and an emergency expense and, um, you know, that's the difference. Fundamentally, it is a reserve fund that the city has built up over time to address emergencies and one time needs. And, you know, to the point that was made, right? Yes, 30 million is a lot of money, but it would cost a lot more than that to build a new school. The new K-8 complex is in the 100 to 200 million, the new high school, 300 to 500 million, which is something the city is looking at. And, you know, just to round it out, there is a plan here. This is the plan to have a healthy middle school and K-8 complex at the Andrews and McGlynn, for a long time, and Brenda and Peter and the team and Bob have worked, and everyone else have worked really hard on that. We are applying for state funding for both a new high school and for similar projects at the Brooks, Roberts, and Missittuck Elementary Schools to keep those buildings healthy and teaching students for decades to come. And again, that's just the schools. Hundreds of millions of dollars. I'm gonna go to assistant superintendent. One second. Oh, yeah, go ahead.
[Peter Cushing]: Thank you. Council President beers. And I want to thank every member of this council as well as councilors got probably even though he's not here tonight for the 7 0 vote that was done last time around. Um, the fact is that I have a very good feeling about the 3 statements of interest based on initial conversations with state agencies. We'll find out where that goes in September or October. But you all make a very good point that these dollars are being directly spent to improve both the working and learning conditions of our staff and students. We have spent considerable effort and have received ARPA funds from the mayor for several projects. for these one-time expenses, such as replacing leaking skylights at the McGlynn or replacing exterior door locks. Many people think of these schools, unfortunately, as if it is still 2001 or 2003 when their doors opened. The reality is that these schools are midlife, these five buildings housing six schools are midlife and require considerable care to make sure that they will last another 25 years or longer to continue serving the students and families of Medford. They are more than schools, they are really community centers and I can't stress that enough that they are used frequently for many purposes. I again cannot thank enough the school committee and the capital planning subcommittee who has really prioritized this type of looking into what is needed for our schools to continue to be successful. And again, thanking this committee and the administration for both utilizing free cash and bond service to really support the repairs that are necessary. These are not like these are not wish list items. These are must haves. And again, I know I've said it about four times in this little speech here that was unplanned, but thank you for your support of the staff and students of Medford. It is critical for their success in learning and delivering learning.
[Bears]: Thank you, Superintendent. We have a motion from Vice President Collins.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Councilor Leming to approve with a second.
[Bears]: Councilor Leming to approve with a second by Vice President Collins. Do we have any further comment by members of the public? There is a hand on Zoom, but that person's already spoken. So if anyone who hasn't spoken yet would like to speak, I'll take you first. Seeing none, we'll go back to Mr. Castagnetti. Andy, you're gonna have one more minute.
[Andrew Castagnetti]: Thank you, Councilor Bears. I agree 100% with the people who mentioned we've got to keep the water out of the buildings. As a matter of fact, the McGlynn School has been leaking for many, many years. And it is not new, I'll agree with that. But maybe we should have used some free cash money many years ago to fix that roof, because we don't want the water coming in to condemn all these buildings in the city and then put it on our kids' charge cards, the $230 million each. not counting further inflation and tariffs, as you say. And second of all, in my opinion, free cash is money that was overcharged to us, the taxpayers. In reality, maybe they should give us back the money or at least half of it. Good night. Thank you.
[Bears]: On the motion, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Councilor Callahan. Vice President Collins console is our console living. I'll describe Kelly is absent. I'll just saying, President Bears.
[Bears]: Yes, it's the affirmative. One absent. The motion passes and the loaner is approved for third reading. 25 065 submitted by memory and I'll go current Community Preservation Committee appropriation request regarding affordable housing trust additional fiscal 25 funds, dear President Bears and members of the council on behalf of the CPC I request respectfully request and recommend your honorable body approve the following recommendation of the CPC. requesting the appropriation of $50,000 from the CPA General Reserve to the Medford Affordable Housing Trust Fund to provide additional funding to expand their fiscal 25 development awards budget. Project will be tracked in the Community Preservation Fund. The CPC recommendation letter is attached and incorporated. CPA manager Teresa DuPont and representatives from the Medford Affordable Housing Trust are in attendance. Thank you for your consideration. Respectfully submitted. Brianna Lago-Kern, Mayor. And I will go to Teresa DuPont.
[Theresa Dupont]: Good evening, Mr. President and Councilors. I'm here for you asking for your support on the recommendation of the Preservation Committee to appropriate $50,000 to the Affordable Housing Trust. I'm not sure if we still have Lisa Davidson in the room. I don't believe I see her on Zoom. But Lisa Davidson is our chairperson of the Affordable Housing Trust. So if she's not available, I can certainly speak to this award.
[Bears]: Not seeing Lisa, so if you wanna go ahead.
[Theresa Dupont]: Yes, my elevator pitch. So this $50,000 will be utilized quickly by the trust. They've already been approached by a few different housing developers eager to build here in Medford, which is an excellent sign. We'd love to see it. You may recall that the trust is still relatively young. They only had their first official meeting, I believe last August. So they've been working through the various, legal document tools needed for them to actually take action as a trust that includes their declaration of trust as well as their action plan. I believe the declaration of trust is official and their action plan is being finalized now. So that's just to give some backstory that to remind this council that the trust is still young. So the fact that we have awarded $250,000 Previously, you may remember a few months ago, this council helped support that award. They are now coming back saying, thank you very much for that $250,000. We are finding that the needs have increased beyond what our initial scope was. So this $50,000 will be utilized as they look to create their award program, similar to how the committee, we take applications, we vet them, and we vote upon them. So we ask for your support tonight in helping to continue fund their development actions here. Happy to answer any questions that we may have.
[Bears]: Thank you, Councilor Leming.
[Leming]: This is something that I support. Questions I had did relate to some of the, I do wish Lisa Davidson were still here to answer them, but I just wanted to ask if the Affordable Housing Trust had any plans to request any additional free cash appropriations to fund the affordable housing nexus studies, or if that's something that's sort of in the AHT's timeline or agendas in the near future?
[Theresa Dupont]: I don't know of any immediate plans to ask for a free cash appropriation. To explain to anybody who's following along, the nexus study will help us to identify and expand existing funding source that is through our linkage program. We currently do not have affordable housing as a linkage line item, if you will, as other municipalities have. So the nexus study is the egg that must come for the chicken, if you will, here. So I don't know of any immediate plans, but I do know that it's a vital piece that the trust is exploring actively.
[Leming]: Yeah, I understand that previously we received a recommendation to sell off land on McCormick, which didn't pass through this body. But I would still like to see some communications or recommendations from the AHT on ways to fund that nexus study. And it does seem like it would cost something like $80,000. So I don't think that that's a whole lot. to ask out a free cash for something this important. Again, I know that this is outside of your purview. I do wish Lisa were still on, but that's what's on my mind when regards to the HT these days. But for the paper that we're actually discussing, I do support it. So thank you. Thank you for your work on this. Thank you, Councilor Leming.
[Bears]: Any further discussion by members of the Council? Is there a motion? Motion approved by Councilor Lazzaro, seconded by Councilor, everyone, Councilor Leming. Is there any further discussion by members of the public? Seeing none, either in person or on Zoom, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Councilor Callahan? Vice President Collins? Yes. Councilor Lazzaro? Yes. Councilor Leming? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli is absent. Councilor Tseng? Yes. President Bears? Yes.
[Bears]: Yes, six in the affirmative, one absent. The motion passes. 25.066 submitted by Mayor Brianne Legault-Kern. Appropriation of free cash. Dear president, mayors and city councilors, I respectfully request and recommend that your honorable body approves the following free cash appropriations in the total amount of $229,766.01 on the following items. 198,000 for security upgrades at MPS buildings, which will be used to increase the total down payment made on a $1,843,038 $38.74 project, which will be paid over five years. I believe that also gets us some additional matching and grant funding or assist us on that in some way. And $31,766.01 for the following claim settlements, Bay State Insurance Company, Geico Safety Insurance, Geico Arbella Insurance, these are on behalf of Etrado, Dino Popolo, John Petroni, Salem Woldemariam, and Lauren Woldemariam, and Anthony Milano. Balance of free cash as of the writing of this letter is $27,606,069.12. Attorney Tom Lane from KP Law will be available to answer any questions on the claim. I see Tom is here with us on Zoom. Thank you for your kind attention to these matters. Respectfully submitted, Brianne Olingo, current mayor. Do we have any questions on The security system, we still have the assistant superintendent with us. Or do we have any questions on the claim settlements? We do have legal counsel, Tom Lane with us. Seeing none, I have a question for Dr. Cushing. Just if you could give us a little bit more info on the security upgrades project and how this free cash funding helps out with the down payment and all that.
[Peter Cushing]: Absolutely. So this project is approximately a $1.8 million investment in security systems across the Medford Public Schools. This will do a lot of things that I will broadly cover, but when it comes to safety and security devices, policies, procedures, deployments, that's generally something reserved for executive session of the school committee or a joint executive session if committees and councils would ever seek to have that. This will increase the camera coverage of our schools. This will allow for key fob slash electronic access to the schools. Right now, it is physical key. Thanks, as I mentioned earlier, to Madam Mayor's appropriation of ARPA funds, we're able to rekey all exterior doors to the Medford Public Schools and now have a very accurate and very controlled deployment of keys across the district. However, key fobs will allow us the opportunity to immediately remove access to any person who has access. It will also track who enters and leaves the buildings when using the key fobs. We will also be installing security vestibules. Every school has a vestibule, but we will be putting locking hardware on the interior doors of the schools so that when a person enters, they need a second pass through to enter the buildings. And at the quote-unquote new schools, which I just said don't like using that term, but for the building the future schools of 2001 and 2003, every exterior door will be alarmed so that if a door is propped open or somebody opens a door unauthorized, an alert will be sent and this will integrate with our radio systems. So this is a significant upgrade to our security systems for the safety of our staff and students. As I said, this is a $1.8 million project. Thanks to the override, we can fund the vast majority of this over the next five years, which was approved at last school committee meeting. But by receiving this additional funding from the mayor, we were able to put down a $500,000 down payment on this and then move forward with reasonable payments over the next five years of approximately $300,000 in order to pay off this system. We've negotiated through state contract and negotiated very hard with the providers to receive significant percentage points above and beyond state contract pricing, as well as additional hardware installed at no additional cost. It's really been a two-year project in the making and will significantly upgrade the safety and security of our staff and students. I cannot understate that. or overstate, I get those confused.
[Bears]: I think you stated it well. And no, and I really appreciate the detail. I know 198,000 seems like why are we doing it. But I know there's a lot more behind a lot of the work that goes on in the city, especially when it comes here and doesn't have all the context so want to thank you. Again, for this project, for the HVAC projects getting off the ground, and I can personally commit to you, the day after the new MHS debt exclusion passes, we'll start calling them the old schools. And then maybe they'll get the attention and understanding that they deserve. Or at least I'll call them that. I hope people will follow me on it. But thank you, Peter. It's really, you know, always great to have you with us.
[Peter Cushing]: Thank you, and it really goes without saying, and I just said it, but the support that this council and the school committee have made on behalf of the staff and students. It really should serve as a model for other communities for really supporting what needs to be done. And I also just want to thank the citizens of Medford for stepping up in November to really help deliver the things that are going to improve academic outcomes for our students.
[Bears]: Thank you, Dr. Cushing. All right. Any questions for Tom Lane from KP Law? I just had one, Tom, if you could just quickly go through, it looks like basically you were able to negotiate payments from the city that are less than what the insurance companies paid out to their clients. If you want to talk about that a little bit more, and I'll unmute you.
[Tom Lane]: Yes, I was able to negotiate. I've been doing this work for 40 years, and I've developed pretty good relationships with a lot of these attorneys. A lot of these subrogation cases, you deal with a lot of the same attorneys again and again. So I was able to work to negotiate them, and they all reduced what they were asking for by different amounts. they're reporting back to their, to the insurance companies. And it's a question whether the insurance company will take a burden in hand rather than continue to pursue the litigation. If we continue to pursue the litigation, the costs would go up dramatically. There would be discovery costs, trial costs, and frankly, all four of these, well, all four of the first, the Bay State Insurance Company, I don't know if it would reach 15,000, But the other four cases, that amount of the settlements would be eaten up in attorney's fees if the cases ever went close to trial. And they all appear to be, frankly, clear liability cases where I think three of them involved vehicles that were parked, vehicles that were struck. And again, the insurance company pays the money out. So I was able to work with the attorneys involved. And I feel confident that that's the lowest number that they would settle those cases for. because the agreement was settled for it now at that point. So, and I advise them that obviously the settlements could not be finalized until it was approved by the council. And that's what I'm here for tonight, so.
[Bears]: Right. Thank you. And, you know, if you can't speak to this I understand and we can. I'll set a question myself to the administration. I'm just wondering why we're paying these out of free cash and not out of the operating budget line for for settlements.
[Tom Lane]: I am not, I don't wanna, I don't have full knowledge of that, but my understanding is that the amount available for settlements is greatly reduced and in order to settle these cases now at this point, that's why the administration wanted to move forward with free cash at that point.
[Bears]: Great, we're gonna have a law department budget hearing in a week or two, so I'll bring it up then. But thank you for the answer, that's helpful to understand. Any further discussion by members of the council? Any discussion by members of the public, either in person or on Zoom? You can approach the podium in the chamber or raise your hand on Zoom. Seeing none, Vice President Collins.
[Collins]: Thank you, President Bears. I really appreciate the overview. from Superintendent Cushing. Thank you so much for that. It is, again, never to diminish the gravity of spending our precious shared resources, but I'm so glad that we have the opportunity to do that on hardware and software that will make our schools safer for our students and teachers. And it is great to hear that we were able to negotiate down the amount that we are paying out in these insurance claims. So thank you for that. And I would motion to approve.
[Bears]: On the motion of Vice President Collins to approve, seconded by Councilor Lazzaro. Seeing no further discussion, members of the Council, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Councilor Callahan. Vice President Collins. Councilor Lazzaro. Councilor Leming, Councilor Scarpelli is absent. Councilor Tseng, President Bears.
[Bears]: Yes, affirmative one absent the motion passes. Thank you, Councilor and Dr. Fisher.
[Tom Lane]: Thank you.
[Bears]: All right. Two, five, zero, six, seven, Engineer Wartella. Can you tell us about the flood ordinance update? I can read more if you want, or I can just let you talk about it.
[Owen Wartella]: Is this on? All right, great. Hi. So I'm the floodplain manager for the city, and the National Flood Insurance Program is updating their bylaws with the state. For us to be in compliance, we need to update our ordinance. And so most of this is just upgrading the firm maps, which go into effect July 8th, and there's some definitions as well and some language, and that's the broad overview of it. Do you have any questions?
[Bears]: I'm just going to add that we have a letter for you from you in our packet. And this was reviewed by Attorney Jeffrey Blake from KP Law, and you are available to speak to our questions. So I will go to Councilor Callahan and Councilor Lazzaro.
[Callahan]: Hi. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having us. For waiting until this late hour, not as late as sometimes. So my only questions really are, just sort of how, is there any way in which these changes might affect our homeowners? Is there any way in which these changes might affect people's ability to get FEMA funds, their ability to get flood insurance? Like, is this simply just a totally routine update and that's it, or is there gonna be some changes that might affect?
[Owen Wartella]: The last time we did a revision was in 2010, it's now 2025, they've updated their, their maps in accordance with the new contours and how they image it. It does affect some property owners. it in both ways. Some are being removed from the flood zone, some are being added to the flood zone, and so that would affect, yes.
[Callahan]: Wonderful, and I guess the sort of overarching question is, this is a routine thing that they do every 10-15 years? From my understanding, yes.
[Owen Wartella]: This is my first one that they've done, but I've only been a floodplain manager for three years.
[Callahan]: Wonderful. Given the state of our national government, there was some question when looking at this about like, hmm, what is the meaning behind this change? But it sounds like this is just routine, updating the maps, updating language.
[Owen Wartella]: More accurate maps that depict what is actually there.
[Callahan]: Thank you so much.
[Bears]: So just to echo, we're still doing science on this one? Yes. Okay, just checking. Councilor Lazzaro.
[Lazzaro]: Thank you for being here. Thank you for doing this. I was wondering if there will be any kind of notification mechanism for homeowners whose situation may have shifted or if they will have to look at the maps themselves. I looked at the map today.
[Owen Wartella]: It's a little hard to... The viewer link I sent you, if you uncheck all the five, there's like six check marks. And if you uncheck the last five, you can see there's like a yellow and a purple. Yellow is being added to the floodplain, purple is being decreased from the floodplain. And if your parcel is in there, then you'll be- So it's easier to see. It's a little easier to see. Great. All the information's there when you, it's like as default, but it is there. So we could always front face that with probably on the engineering website. I was gonna wait until it goes into effect on July 8th and then probably share that information out. Yeah.
[Lazzaro]: That would be amazing. Just because what could happen is that people could save money on their insurance or may need to, maybe, or may need to buy more. Right. Thank you. Motion to approve.
[Bears]: And there's a motion to approve the first reading the ordinance amendments, and this is just ordinance amendments right. Okay, by councils are seconded by Councilor Callahan. I have a question or two. Almost done. The. Is this. I'm not 100% sure how this works. Is this about flooding, like from the river, or from a storm event or does it address like flooding from our antiquated infrastructure under our roads?
[Owen Wartella]: No, I believe what this is, so FEMA uses their firm maps, their flood insurance rate mapping. Those maps have been updated. The ordinance is in conjunction with those maps, and also there was a little bit of problematic language that the state ran into, so that was tweaked, and this is the result.
[Bears]: Okay. And basic, I guess, and you may not be hydrologist or exactly whatever expertise is needed to answer this question, but when you looked at it, is the situation getting worse? Is more of the city floodable? Is there a climate impact related to this?
[Owen Wartella]: From what I could tell, and I haven't done a whole analysis on this, but it looked more defined. That's what it looked like. It was following the natural contours of the land versus just arbitrarily following a contour that was depicted from 1986.
[Bears]: So it's more that the existing zones are better following topographical contours. Correct. All right. Seeing no further questions from members of the Council, are there any questions from members of the public or comments from members of the public, either in person or on zoom, you can come to the podium, or raise your hand on zoom. Seeing none, on the motion for approval for first reading, Mr. Clerk please call the roll.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Vice President Collins, Councilor Lazzaro, Councilor Leming, Councilor Scarpelli is absent, Councilor Tseng, President Bears.
[Bears]: Yes, 60 affirmative, one absent, the motion passes. Vice President Collins.
[Collins]: President Bears, I have a motion to take from the table and approve 25-045 and approve for third reading 25-053.
[Bears]: Five-three is not eligible to the next meeting.
[Collins]: That's right, sorry.
[Bears]: So on the motion, Vice President Collins to take paper 25045 from the table and approve. This is the replacement of the sign at the car wash. Is there a second on that motion? Seconded by Councilor Tseng. Is there any discussion on that motion? Seeing none on the motion, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Sure, no worries. Yep. Well, we haven't gotten there yet so I'll uncall the roll Councilor Callahan if you have discussion.
[Callahan]: Just for those listening, can we have like a one-sentence reminder of what it is that we are citing?
[Bears]: Yes, there is a sign that is a pre-existing sign that way too much legal work has gone into, in my opinion. I shouldn't editorialize. There's a sign at a new car wash. The car wash on Fulbright Street, which was once Minuteman Car Wash, was there for a very long time. it has a sign that is somewhat iconic on the highway. Minuteman car wash closed and they've been purchased by a new company that wants to build a new car wash there but they want to keep the sign they just want to change the name of the sign to their company instead of the old company. And there has been a dispute over how long the sign was inactive. And does it count as a pre-existing use? And apparently, I'm pretty sure this is the packet for it.
[Bob Dickinson]: I was wondering if it was unreasonable.
[Bears]: And the only thing that's changing is that the plastic that they put in front of the light bulb will have a new name on it.
[Callahan]: But am I correct that this was one that one councillor asked for us to get a legal opinion on?
[Bears]: Yep.
[Callahan]: And we got that legal opinion?
[Bears]: I am not sure whether or not we are in receipt of a legal opinion. But it is ultimately up to the council as the final authority on appeals of signed permit refusals by the building department. I haven't read a legal opinion. That's all. You can any further discussion members of the council.
[Adam Hurtubise]: All right.
[Bears]: Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Councilor Callahan. Vice President Collins. Councilor Councilor Scarpelli is absent. Councilor Tseng, President Bears.
[Bears]: Yes, it's in the affirmative, one absent, the motion passes, and the appeal of the refusal of their signed permit was successful. Mr. Clerk, if you could communicate that to the proponent, to Attorney Desmond, and to the building commissioner if necessary. All right, public participation. This is the section where we can hear from members of the public on any topic that they'd like to discuss with the council. Each person who likes to speak will have three minutes. And just as a point of note, the council cannot act in this meeting on anything we hear because if it was not on the agenda. And since we've disposed of everything that was on the agenda, that is true, but we could act at a future meeting if a councilor were to propose a resolution, or if some other discussion were to happen. But we hear from public participation, and if there is anyone who wants to participate outside of Zoom, they can email the city clerk at ahertovsetmedford-ma.gov. So if anyone would like to come to the podium or raise their hand on Zoom for public participation. Welcome. I would have welcomed you earlier, but I was sitting there.
[Sabrina Hewitt]: It's quite all right. Thank you all for hearing me out. Thank you.
[Bears]: If we just get your name and address.
[Sabrina Hewitt]: Oh yeah, right. Sabrina Hewitt, and 315 Boston Ave, MD. I've been losing my mind since November, obvious reasons, I think. One of the things that scared me is I'm a trans woman, and I'm living in this state, and it's probably the only state I feel safe in. I was reassured by the governor and by the senators that this was a safe place. That wasn't just for trans folk, it was also for minorities, for undocumented immigrants, et cetera. And yet, when it came the time he got in and he sent ICE on a rampage, 300, I wrote notes, 370 people deported one month ago. There's a law that says that Massachusetts court officers have no authority to arrest or hold individuals solely on the basis of federal civil immigration detainers, which is what all of these people have been taken on. I did a lot of research today. But yet, And I know you can't do anything about the governor and the state and making it sanctuary state, but we could maybe make Medford a sanctuary city. We had that woman who was a PhD taken from up the street from me where I live. I live right next to Tufts. And that woman, I found out it was Somerville. I did some research. It was, but they'd say, they said Tufts, so I assumed it was Medford. And that woman was taken and sent to, Yeah, Louisiana, with no hearing, no due process, and it keeps happening. And they took a four-year-old, not here, but in general, with cancer. It's getting out of control, and I need to feel safe again. He's coming at us, at trans people, and people of color, and just et cetera. And I need Massachusetts to feel safe, because nowhere else does. And I've been panicking, I've been freaking out. I was telling you earlier when we were talking a minute ago that If I see it on the streets, since they're taking somebody away, I'm gonna video it, I'm gonna put it on the socials, and I'm gonna call 911 because it's not legal. And I need to hear from, and I've already made all the calls, but speaking to him on the phone earlier, and he really helped, thank you. I found out you had a city council meeting tonight. I'm like, I can speak, I can be heard. I know you guys may not be able to do anything in particular, But if you could talk to the mayor, I've already left a message with the mayor, that I came out, that I spoke, that I, how much it means. And I have a lot of notes here, but I'm not gonna have time to go into them. But please do something. I'm freaking out. And a lot of us are.
[Bears]: Yeah, and I just want to say thank you for feeling like you could come down here and that you could have your voice heard. That is one of the one of the roles of this body. We've done a number of resolutions and had conversations where we've had residents who said, federal level isn't listening to me the state level isn't listening to me. I'm a resident here. Will you listen to me? And, you know, That I think has had a lot of value for people who come down and a lot of value for me personally. I'm gonna say a couple quick things. One is, in a couple weeks, we are passing an ordinance to enshrine in city law protections around gender-affirming care, reproductive health care. We had an ordinance in January championed by, I mean, I almost don't do, everyone else here is doing really hard work, and I just wanna thank my fellow councilors. an ordinance enshrining what was a administrative policy into city ordinance law about non-cooperation of our police department with federal immigration authorities around civil immigration detainers. We had a resolution at our last regular meeting in deep anger and opposition to the abduction of Ramesa Ozturk. And you, you are here, you are certainly not the first person who has come to this podium or raised their hand online and spoken since November about these issues. Many, many more people have sent emails or made phone calls or just posted online and I know there's a lot of people who are, I'm really scared right now and I'm one of them, sometimes more than I even think and You know, and I say all that to say that we're trying to do as much as we possibly can within the authority that we have to make Medford as safe as we can make it. And that there, as you said, what is the state going to do, what is the federal government going to do? Those are really hard things that we think about too. It's, you know, what happens when that bridge is crossed, right? And we say our city law says this one thing and they come in and they say, well, we don't care about what that is. And the danger that I fear in so many ways that there's a lot of road ahead of us here. So I just wanted to just say those things and lift up the work of my colleagues and also say that I personally have called on the mayor to take more action in news media and around not just making statements, making a statement around the abduction, but what are the way that we're gonna mobilize our community resources. So I just wanted to say all of that, and I have, it's lighting up the board, everyone wants to say something as well. So I will go to, I'm not sure who went first, so I'll go to Councilor Tseng first.
[Tseng]: I just want to thank you for being brave enough to come up here. I know that, you know, this is a time when a lot of folks are scared to speak in public, fearful of the retribution that could happen to them, fearful that they're putting their names out there for a threat, you know, and I really appreciate you coming here, and coming here is an act of bravery, particularly when you're being targeted by the federal administration. I've spoken to this before, so I'll be a little brief, but I feel fearful, too, because of who I am and the work that I'm doing and my parents, their status in this country, a country that they've called home for 30 years, over 30 years. a country in which they've lived more of their life than anywhere else. And I'm fearful because of what I do that it's gonna impact them as well. And that's why I think this council has been really on the forefront of thinking about productive and innovative ways that we can defend our residents. So I think Zach spoke to basically all of the, almost all of the things that we've passed, but you know, That non cooperation cooperation deal with ice, you know, we can't completely stop certain groups from operating in the city, but we can do what we can to protect our residents and that is. you know, that's a huge safeguard for our residents. Because I hate to, I would hate to imagine what would happen if we didn't have that enshrined in our city policy, in our laws, if we didn't have that non-cooperation policy in the first place and what it means for our residents. I think the only thing that was left off was we also passed a resolution calling on the mayor to launch a Know Your Rights campaign in the city. Um, and, you know, we suggested we were proactive and suggesting how that could go out to our residents where we could leave. the messages, the cards. I think as President Bears has alluded to, I think we're bumping into a little bit of a barrier when it comes to the mayor's office with issues like this. So I would really encourage residents who feel strongly about this to reach out to the mayor to let them to keep up the pressure, really, to let the mayor know that, you know, it's not, that some things are greater than a political kind of play, right? Like, I understand that the mayor's thinking about it in a very certain way. I think her values are in the right place. But I think the approach is where we differ. I think there's value in reaching out to the mayor and saying that, you know, a lot of this funding is going to go away anyways. That even communities that haven't passed these laws are being targeted. Communities that haven't done these things are being targeted as well. It's not just Medford. And It does make a difference when we do those things, when we codify those laws, when we do your Know Your Rights campaign. And really, the gain is much more than the risk. And I think there are ways to do these campaigns, too, without putting people at risk. But it requires those who can step up to step up. And a lot of the people who have been traditionally at the forefront of these fights are the ones being targeted. And so I think it becomes incumbent upon the rest of the city, particularly from the city government perspective to step up. So that was that was a lot. Uh huh. I know the councilors want to say more and don't want to take up too much time.
[Bears]: Thank you.
[Tseng]: I'm gonna go Councilor Leming.
[Leming]: Thank you. So just to repeat what other folks have said, you said we should make this into a sanctuary city. We did a week before Trump took office. We just called it a welcoming city ordinance. It's the same thing. So with regards to the mayor's response, I think there's sort of the two sides to this, which clearly I'm on one side, but is that I think that she doesn't want to be too public or out there about this because everybody's afraid of losing federal funding. I know that during Trump's first term, he attempted to revoke federal funding from sanctuary cities and it just got caught up in courts and ultimately failed. I'm not nearly as concerned about that. And I also just think that when you have, you know, federal government that's clearly turning into an autocracy, intimidation is a big part of it. And it is important to stand up and just show that You're not afraid. I know that's easier said for that's easier for some people to say than others. So I don't think that it's necessarily wise for every single person to speak out on it. But for those of us who are in a position where we can speak out on this and, you know, put our voices out there to let us know that, let everybody know that that's not okay. It's important to do that and not be intimidated. And for those folks who feel like they might be more targets, they might be more of a target for this sort of a thing. There are a lot of political organizing groups that are happening right now as a result of this. Ice watches are a thing that are forming around the community at the moment. So just people who are tracking the movements of ice officers. I was I got a little bit of attention from the news personally because I'm the Secretary of the Democratic City Committee and we recently voted to approve 8,000 Know Your Rights red cards that we're currently in the early stages of trying to distribute out to nonprofits, churches, folks who have access to these sorts of communities. So, you know, I'm willing to appear on the news to show like what my opinions are as a local elected official because I don't think that I'm. quite at the same risk of being deported personally. Um, and it is, you know, it's important to do that. And, you know, I received an unpleasant message from a right-wing nut job after I was publicly saying that I wanted to distribute these cards. It's, it's important to understand these people are paper tigers. Most of the time, you don't need to be scared of them. Okay. It's important to, um, You know, it's important to be outspoken to show to show that you're not intimidated by what's happening and to organize against that. We are trying to do what we can at this level to stop that. My colleagues I know are involved in other efforts themselves around this, including resolutions that have been passed through these chambers. So, so yeah, but I'd just like to thank you for coming out here to speak tonight and Yeah, I think it's a very brave move on your part. So thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. Lemang. Council Vice President Collins.
[Collins]: Thank you. Thank you, President Bears and thank you to my colleagues for their words in response to this prompt so far and thank you so much for being here and speaking up. I, this has been said before but I don't think it should go unmentioned that in it It's not irrational, you know, in these times, depending on who you are and how you present and have a reasonable degree of thoughtfulness about how out there you put yourself and your convictions and to put your testimony on the record. So really, thank you. And I think for an advocate, such as yourself or somebody in your position, it probably goes without saying, but it shouldn't, which is that when you stand up for yourself and your own identity, you're standing up for everybody, you're standing up for everybody within marginalized identities. So thank you for doing that for the residents of Medford and for continuing to hold leaders to account for doing the same. I think We're in such a unfortunately interesting period right now where it seems to me that a lot of the conversation, the central point for a lot of conversations is like, what are you going to do about it? Which is the right question to be asking, because we all have to be doing as much as we possibly can. And it's unfortunate that the thing that we have to be doing is working to resist a government whose goals are actually to make Americans less safe and less healthy and less well, with worse futures and less safety and less happiness. That's a shame. That's a shonda. And it is thrusting in, I'm not a historian, but it feels to me like kind of an unprecedented time when we are at these various levels of government trying to negotiate what we can enforce and what we can ask of each other. And for myself, as a person with a microphone and a title, it feels very shameful and insufficient to say there is a limit that we can observe to official action. And in some ways, I think that goes without saying. Like, I found out about the ICE presence, the reported ICE presence in South Medford earlier this week, where I live, through Reddit. Because they just come in. Because they just come in. And they don't want us to know. They just come in, and they try to take people. And there's no, obviously, Obviously, there's no collaboration with local or state or regional forms of government because that's not the goal. The goal is not to collaborate. The goal is to displace people and divide communities and to make us enemies to one another, which is a completely false and inhumane pretense. All that to say, I think that like we can all envision responses that would help, that would stack on top of all what we're trying to do. For example, I think it would be really great if the Medford Police Department and other local police departments in communities all over the nation felt more loyalty to their residents than they do to an antagonistic federal government. I think it would be ideal if we didn't have to create this pseudo public service hotline For example, the Luce hotline and other ice watches would be ideal if we didn't have to create a grassroots pseudo public service mechanism. And if people could instead call the police and say, hey, there are people kidnapping my neighbors. I don't think that people in Medford feel that they can do that. And I have not received, I've not seen an indication that that is something that our public safety officials are willing to do. I think that people should be able to call 911 and say, hey, ICE is here and we don't know that they have a warrant and please come protect us. And that is what we should be asking our police to do. What we'll continue to, and this council has to continue to call on the mayor's administration and the police department under her jurisdiction to do more and to have more loyalty to our residents and our neighbors than we do to a federal government, which we know is going to antagonize communities like ours, no matter what we do. But in the meantime, I think it is also rational and needed for You know, and this is the part where I feel a little bad because I want the whole answer to be stuff within our control, but I don't think that it is I don't think I don't think that's that that's realistic. And that's, that's where I get very heartened to see people in our community who do not have official roles nonetheless. Taking creative measures to keep each other safe by joining those ice watches by. taking part in getting trained on the Luce hotline and being a part of that mechanism for keeping each other safe. And I should be clear, like other Councilors have been, I think that the limits to how aggressive our local forces have been in being vocal and assertive and just doing, you know, leaving it all on the field, doing everything we could possibly think of to combat ICE in our communities. I don't think it is in any way attributable to people not caring or being okay with what's going on. I'm not going to speculate about convictions or motives, but these people are members of our community too, and I don't think that's it. I think it's the intimidation machine. and a fear of making things worse because of retaliation. I just wanna make that clear. I don't wanna point the finger at anybody. I think that that's part of the goal of this is for us to be pointing our fingers at each other and that's not what we should be doing. We need to be welcoming each other into extremely resilient local systems of public safety. So to that, I think we need to continue to call upon the mayor's administration, including the NPD and all of our public safety infrastructure to say, let's stand up taller together and if you do that we will have your backs. And at the same time, I've seen wonderful examples in other communities of ways that these resistance methods that are getting distributed throughout the communities like If we could have, you know, a house with a megaphone and some noisemakers on every block, you know, where we train people so that there's like a house with a megaphone and noisemakers on every block. So if you know what to look for, and if you do, again, I'm not trying to be inflammatory for the sake of being inflammatory, it's just we know this is what's going on. And what we need is a siren that goes off whenever ICE is there trying to kidnap people. And that would be great if that could be Medford police. But if it's not, it has to be the residents. And then ideally, our official public safety capacity can be a part of that too. So I'm sorry if I've gone on a little bit long. I find it very fraught and challenging, the question of As your representatives, I feel the responsibility that we should be able to fix this all on our own. And we can't, and we'll keep trying, but we have to enthusiastically collaborate with each other to resist this for as long as it takes. Thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you, Vice President Collins, Councilor Lazzaro.
[Lazzaro]: Thank you. Thanks for coming out. As everybody mentioned, we were working on it. Another thing I wanted to say is that I've received a few communications from residents very similar to yourself, who have been saying, you know, like, I wish we could do more together. I wish there were more people who would wanna work with me on this. And these are just sort of lay people or people that I know in the community. And every person I say the same thing to, I'm like, there are other people like you, you guys should talk to each other and you can organize together. And I would love to get your contact information after this because I can try to put something together with people that are corresponding with me. And to echo what everybody says, We are very aware we have limited resources, but the mayor's office has more that could potentially be done. But also the strategy here that is working is trying to get people to be afraid and then do nothing. And some of the departments in the city are taking that and going in that direction. And I think our body is not going in that direction, which is still doesn't mean it's not very scary. It just means that we're resisting that impulse. I would also say that it seems like the communities that are resisting the administration's push to inaction, are getting to the administration. There were some executive orders that came out today where the president would like to crack down on sanctuary cities. I think that's because it's really bothering him that there are sanctuary cities. I think that means that it means that that level of resistance, local resistance is effective and that it means you keep doing it. You don't stop doing something because it's having an effect. You don't pull back. when the thing that you're doing is achieving your goal. You keep resisting, you continue to show up, you continue to say no, you continue to protect people. Our job on city council, and I say this in a lot of different, about a lot of different issues, is to protect our residents first and foremost. So it's very clear to me that if there is somebody who's coming to try to do something that is the opposite of protecting our residents. Our role is to continue to protect them. So however we can do that, we're gonna continue to do that. So thank you for voicing your opinion and coming to the meeting. If I can grab your email, that'd be great. Thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you. Is there anyone else who'd like to speak in public participation? Seeing none, is there a motion on the floor? On the motion to adjourn by Councilor Lazzaro, seconded by Councilor Leming. All those in favour? Opposed? Motion passes and the meeting is adjourned. Thank you.
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