Public Comment

Transcript (~13 min @ 1:48)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 1:16 Jeff McNaught: Suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law and the governor's March 15th, 2020 order imposing strict limitations on the number of people that may gather in 1 place. This meeting of the appropriations committee will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. We'll post an audio or video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Marlowe's website and on mmtv3.org.

▶ 1:50 Jeff McNaught: For folks joining us from home this evening, the first portion of our meeting is public comment, where anyone from the public can raise their digital hand and speak to any item on our agenda. I can already see that we have a fair amount of people in the attendee room. I'm not sure how many are from the administration as opposed to public commenters, but I do see a couple of digital hands. And I will just say at this time, if there is no objection, I will move by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objection, public comment is now open. Madam clerk, can we.

▶ 2:34 Speaker 1: Bring our 1st person into the room. We do Mr. bell. I'm going to unmute you.

▶ 2:37 Speaker 2: I can hear you. Can you hear me? Yes. Yes. Fantastic. Thank you. Counselors for taking my time. I'm here just to give public comment on the importance of. Melrose to create an inclusive playground again. My name is Chris. My wife, Sarah, and I have lived here at Melrose since 2008 and have 3 wonderful children. Our oldest daughter is almost 12 years old. is non-verbal has autism as well as other intellectual and physical disabilities playgrounds have been one of those of her favorite outings a place charlotte can enjoy being herself and participate in an activity with her siblings it's always been a challenge to find playgrounds that offer structures that she can access and enjoy safely beyond just the standard handicap accessible swing we are huge road trippers and are always seeking out new playgrounds it's incredible to see all the creative and sensory oriented elements that are now available i think it would be a huge asset to our community to have an inclusive playground that is access accessible to everyone regardless of their abilities or their age i also think a playground will just be another reason why the city of melrose is truly one community open to all

▶ 3:54 Speaker 3: i thank you for your time thank you mr bell mr bellum sorry um just looking in the

▶ 4:04 Jeff McNaught: Attendee room, Madam clerk, do we have anyone else who.

▶ 4:11 Speaker 1: I see another hand up Mr. McSweeney. I'm going to unmute you now.

▶ 4:15 Speaker 4: Yes, I can McSweeney 160 West Wyoming. I actually just wanted to also briefly comment on the inclusive playground idea. Which I think is is really, really a cool idea for Melrose. We have 2 young kids, we go all over the city to every different playground and it'd be really nice to have this be a destination playground. That's that's different for our kids and I know that will also draw other people in from outside Melrose. I just wanted to identify this as a really. Good opportunity to draw in a lot of expertise in the community. um into creating a really good plan um for the neighborhood and the playground when i think about that particular playground i first became aware of it in a traffic commission meeting um where there was a resident up there who was saying that there was no crosswalk on franklin street to get to that playground and i checked it out afterwards and there's actually there's no crosswalks um on at the intersection of warren and melrose right next to the playground there's literally no crosswalk to the playground and there's also no contiguous crosswalks on melrose street on either side of the playground to to get there and i started thinking about the recent wayfinding and creative placemaking initiative and i just think this would be a really cool area to draw in the work of that committee which the mayor put together to draw in the commission on disability which which the mayor um put together and really do you know like where i think about People talk about, you know, a rainbow crosswalks, things like that really inclusive. Celebratory place making, I want to plug this as an opportunity. To to establish that block and that. New playground as as a really inclusive destination. Through place making, and of course, you know, through. Accessibility elements and traffic, calming elements. We know that Franklin street is not particularly safe. I just went up there today. There's a speed. There's a speed feedback sign right there because people speed. So let's let's. I just want to encourage anyone who's involved in a decision making capacity to really cast a wide net and make this a very inclusive. Place within the context of of what place making is and what we've been doing as a city lately. So, thank you everybody. I appreciate the time.

▶ 7:01 Speaker 5: Thank you Mr. I do see other folks in the attendee room, madam clerk, but, um.

▶ 7:07 Jeff McNaught: I'm not sure if you're in the attendee room, and you would like to speak in public comment, please raise your digital hand.

▶ 7:34 Jeff McNaught: And if there's a counselor who sees somebody in the waiting room, who they know wants to speak, but may not.

▶ 7:42 Speaker 5: know how to do that um can you please advise or we're gonna we're gonna move on from public

▶ 7:49 Jeff McNaught: comment i just want to make sure that everybody gets a chance to speak who wants to and some of

▶ 7:56 Cory Thomas: these names don't look familiar to me council thomas thank you mr chairman i believe uh cammy ahern is here to speak on uh one of the orders uh tonight in public uh in the participation list would that be last name judge i'm sorry john can you judge that's correct

▶ 8:12 Speaker 6: Ms. Judge, can you hear us? Yes. Yes, I'm here. Hi.

▶ 8:15 Jeff McNaught: Hello. Hi, Ms. Judge. Thank you for being with us. We can hear you.

▶ 8:19 Speaker 6: Oh, great. Thank you. Hi. So, my name is Kami Judge. I'm a lifelong resident of Melrose, Mass. And I attended Melrose High School, graduated in 1990. Thanks so much for letting me speak to you guys tonight about a project I'm very passionate about, the improvement of Lebanon softball field. This is the only dedicated softball field in the city. I grew up playing softball in Melrose as a young girl, and I have so many great memories of hours of a softball diamond with girls that became lifelong friends. My mom, Anna Hearn, started a league called Melrose Girls Softball back in the 80s, and we actually played at Heseltine Field. At Melrose High in the late 1980s, our varsity team, the softball team, practiced and played games at Lewis Monk's baseball field. This, as some of you may know, is not a regulation softball field with its dimensions and it has an elevated mound. We're in softball. We pitch from a flat circle. I remember thinking it was odd that they had girls playing softball on the baseball field, but, you know, years past, I was at a Mellor's softball crowd for a bit when my daughter, Emmy, who's a seventh grader at Maurer's middle school expressed interest in the sport. I signed a write-up with Maurer's Youth Softball and quickly became a volunteer coach and eventually a board member. My daughter, Emmy, loves softball. Many of her games, when she began to play five or six years ago, were played at Lebanon Field. I soon saw problems with the field. They were pretty obvious. Third base, after the most mild of rainstorms, would flood for days. Many games, the umpire would deem third base out of play for safety reasons. The infield had weeds that would stick to the girls' cleats and trip them. First baseline in the woods with bugs and mosquitoes. The dugouts are fenced but uncovered, so a risk from foul balls for injury. There's no stands for fans or family to sit. The day that I said, ooh, this is bad, it was 95-degree summer ball game, and the port-a-potty was placed right behind home plate instead of the outfield. And that is one of the few areas in the park you have a decent view of the field. But I brushed it off. I said, hey, I grew up playing high school field hockey on the old Cabbage Patch. And if any of you know that, it's right in front of the high school. And back then, there were rocks beside us and boulders. And the ball would take some, you know, treacherous hops. But honestly, some of my best Moro's High memories were made on that field, that not-so-great field with my field hockey teammates. And it was a real sandlot, but we had a great time. So I sort of at that time thought, oh, Lebanon's sort of like that. And I'm a big believer that great memories can be made on not the greatest of fields. But it wasn't until my daughter was about 10, she was playing softball for multiple teams, practicing constantly. We went to Lebanon on our own time so she could pitch. And on the pitcher's circle, it was like quicksand due to previous rain. And that rain wasn't recent. And I coached there, so I knew where the quick drive was. So I kept a rake in my car, and I did this to make it safe for her to practice. But that same night we had practiced, we went to my nephew's baseball game at Lewis Monk. When we got there, my daughter, Emmy, just started to laugh. She said, Mom, look at this field. It's amazing. These boys are so lucky. They have this beautiful field to play on. It's like a mini Fenway, and it has stands and a scoreboard and covered dugouts. I said, gee, how does this make you feel, Emmy? And she said, oh, I love softball so much, Mom. the weeds at Lebanon could be three feet tall and I'd still want to play. It's not the field, it's the sport that you love. And I thought, we'll shave it off to get out. But a few days later, we're at Conant watching another nephew's game. And this time she had a more serious look and said, mom, why do these boys get such nice fields? Why don't they have this awesome baseball field so we get this flooded out Lebanon? This is the second baseball field you've taken to me too that, you know, it's just a much better shape than what we play on. that can't be right, right, mom? And I told her I thought she had an excellent point and that it was not wrong in her observations. But I would write to the city as a board member and request they invest to make some improvements in the one dedicated softball field in the city. I wrote to Corey Thomas. From my first email, he supported my concerns that I brought up. And even during COVID, when no softball or baseball, sadly, was being played, he was constantly giving the updates on the efforts to improve Lebanon for the girls in Melrose. And I felt so supported by Corey, and I want to thank him for that. I also want to say a big thank you to my classmate Gappa, Mark Garipay, Mayor Broder, Peter Petrinonio, and Joan Bell. I know funds are limited and they have to be used judiciously, but I think we can all agree that this is a great investment in the girls of our city. And in closing, I think by improving Lebanon, there's a bigger and more important message that we're sending to the girls in our community, that they're valued, that their city wants what's best for them, and so they will feel inspired to put their best efforts forward. And I just want to thank everyone so much for all the time and work you've put into this project. I really, really appreciate it. Thank you, Ms. Judge. We really appreciate you

▶ 13:52 Speaker 5: you coming in and speaking tonight thank you do we have anyone else in queue madam clerk

▶ 13:58 Speaker 1: no one's raised their hand but i'm not sure if it's that they don't want to speak if they don't

▶ 14:04 Jeff McNaught: know how to um any counselors recognize anyone else that may want to speak that you know of that

▶ 14:17 Jeff McNaught: we're here to speak tonight i'm gonna guess by now that folks would have figured it out or phone someone so if there's no objection i will move by unanimous consent to close public comment