ORDER-2021-111 : An Order Relative to Construction Site Noise during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Transcript (~19 min @ 3:22:10)

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

▶ 3:22:09 Speaker 3: We'll see you soon. Take care.

▶ 3:22:10 Speaker 7: Take care, guys.

▶ 3:22:12 Jeff McNaught: Next up, we have Order 2021-111, an order relative to the construction site noise during the COVID-19 pandemic. I will defer to Councilor McMaster.

▶ 3:22:35 Shawn M. MacMaster: Can you hear me, Mr. Chairman? Yes. Thank you. Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Councilor Thomas, for your partnership on this order. as we all know there's a lot of construction underway in the city with more on the horizon and for several reasons that's a good thing it creates affordable housing it brings new businesses to the city it beautifies neighborhoods and it expands our limited tax base but construction also brings with it a number of neighborhood challenges now i realize that any construction site will inevitably result in noise and other neighborhood disruptions having lived through the construction at jack flats and the washingtons which brought over 400 new residents to the lower washington street neighborhood i understand and i accept the very real and mostly undesirable short-term impacts that construction can have on neighborhoods in normal times these impacts will be par for the course but we're not in normal times for the last 13 months residents who live near construction sites have had to cope with trying to work from home and school their children remotely while listening to jackhammering, pounding, drilling, sawing, and other noise generated from tools and heavy equipment. Consulate Thomas and I have received hundreds of calls, texts, letters, and emails from our constituents on this. Although I'm tempted to share with you multiple examples, I think part of just one letter I received sums up what all of these residents are dealing with. If I may, Mr. Chairman, if I could read a brief excerpt of one such letter from a constituent on Lower Washington Street. This constituent writes, in addition to the noise pollution of every construction equipment, there are endless dumpsters being filled with metal and wood waste and the constant repositioning of trucks, jackhammers, and backhoes, and lots of yelling between workers. Sometimes this starts promptly at 7 a.m., other times a bit earlier. All of this while inconvenient is to be expected during construction. However, unlike normal times, the conditions in which we currently live are completely unexpected. Our whole lives and the lives of millions of others have been turned on their heads with the SARS COVID-19 global pandemic. We've been exceptionally fortunate to remain employed during this time, but we're forced to quickly shift to remote work. Our work days, which almost always include the weekends, are filled with simultaneous back-to-back Zoom calls. We've followed all the guidance of scientists since day one. We grocery shop only when absolutely necessary. We don't go to indoor restaurants. We wear masks no matter where we go. And we haven't seen our family and friends. Our apartment is lovely, but it is a one-bedroom home, not at all conducive to constant teleconferencing. Our bedroom is now a second office, and books sit stacked on the floor so that we have shelves to house extra pantry items and masks. We've sacrificed everything that's been asked of us. When you add to this the constant roar of construction six days a week, our quality of life has simply ceased to be anywhere near what it was pre-COVID. This has not just caused us to be uncomfortable, it has had detrimental effects on our health and well-being. Disrupted sleep and constant noise pollution have exasperated our anxiety and tension and hope is quickly dwindling. This is a letter I received from just one resident at Jack Flats. The order before you tonight is not a proposed ordinance. It's an emergency order that requires a simple majority vote. Its purpose is to ensure that developers of projects where acoustic monitoring has been imposed as a condition by the planning board are in compliance with the city's noise ordinance. All that this order does is require weekly reporting of noise data that is already being recorded by developers. That's it. Again, I think it's important to reiterate that these

▶ 3:26:42 Shawn M. MacMaster: are not normal times. In normal times, this order would not be necessary for two reasons. One, most residents and children would be at work or in school five days a week. And Two, concerns about excessive construction noise would be addressed by City Hall. What we know from these last 13 months is that the noise ordinance relative to construction noise hasn't been enforced at all. In my ward where a 141 unit apartment building is being built that has involved demolition and now the addition of a third floor to the existing structure, not a single compliance check despite countless complaints from residents have occurred. Not one. What Councilor Thomas and I learned in our conversations with the administration is that the City's noise ordinance falls under the purview of the Health Director and the Board of Health. I think all of us can certainly understand and appreciate that the time and effort of our local health officials over the last year have been devoted to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering what the Health Director and the Board of Health have had on their plate, What this order does is provide them with a labor list tool. To simply monitor compliance, the order would require that the noise data already being recorded by developers. Under construction management plans approved by the planning board is furnished weekly to city officials. In doing so, it will ensure that developers are adhering to the noise ordinance. That data is being reviewed by the city and that violations are being addressed. It would also make it clear to the public that we're not expecting developers to police themselves. Residents should expect, and they most certainly deserve compliance through monitoring and enforcement. They shouldn't have to cross their fingers and hope that rules are being followed. When the prospect exists that a law of any kind won't be enforced, whether it's a law governing construction or traffic safety, It's only a matter of time before that law will be broken, whether purposely or unknowingly. Neither Council of Thomas nor I are suggesting that the noise ordinance is being ignored at the construction sites in our respective wards. In fact, we both worked very well with our developers to resolve a number of construction related issues in the neighborhoods that we represent. But that doesn't change the fact that there has to be oversight and there has been zero oversight to date from the city. enforcement from city hall this order will serve as a stop gap measure i've talked a lot about what this order is so i think it's important to talk about what this order isn't this order doesn't include a fine instruction if data isn't submitted on time there is nothing punitive to it this order doesn't restrict development or constrain developers in any way if that was the intention counselor and thomas and i would have and could have taken a very different route we could have filed any number of amendments to existing ordinances for example we could have filed an amendment to reduce the permitted work hours at construction sites to eliminate saturdays as permitted work days or to lower decimal levels and although it's within our right to do any of those things as a city's legislative body we're not looking to take draconian measures here we think there's another way i believe this order accomplishes what has become a dire neighborhood problem in a way that balances the concerns of our residents without unduly hampering developers for all of these reasons i respectfully ask for your support and at this time mr chairman i'd yield to my co-sponsor counselor thomas

▶ 3:30:23 Speaker 3: thank you thank you council mcmaster council thomas thank you mr chairman thank you to

▶ 3:30:26 Cory Thomas: council mcmaster uh for all the conversations we've had um about this order um ward seven residents specifically those in the swains pond area have had two major construction developments over the last few years construction at regan's way and now patrick's place has brought different types of construction related noise to what has traditionally been a very quiet neighborhood the construction noise coupled with the pandemic and many residents working and learning remotely from home has generated dozens upon dozens of noise complaints in ward seven the development for both projects has admittedly done a good job with communicating work schedules and following the construction management plan for these projects at patrick's place blasting has been ongoing since fall of 2020. the developer and the blasting company have been in full compliance with the massachusetts blasting laws regulations and all blasts have been under the legal blast thresholds the mineral spite department has done an excellent job monitoring and reporting all blast level readings from this construction site now in its final stages of blasting the work will soon transition to construction of homes this order will help ensure the developer continues to follow the construction management plan in regards to levels of construction noise the residents of this quiet neighborhood have been incredibly patient during blasting we want them to know that the worst is behind them the construction noise levels like the one residents In board 5 on pleasant street are now experiencing will be under the legal limit of decibel levels. And that the results of construction noise readings will be reported to city. With the recent noise of health department director, Ruth, announcing her retirement and expect the transition to leadership in this position. It makes sense that from projects provided to see the new director should not help department. directed to not be expected to report while we're still in the pandemic. This order also is not just for wards five and seven, where major construction projects have taken place over the recent years. This order is for all of Melrose where other development projects are scheduled in the near future in different parts of the city. Based on the experiences residents in wards five and seven have had to deal with, taking a proactive approach to dealing with construction noise will benefit residents throughout our community. Lastly, this order is not one in perpetuity. It expires in December of this year, unless this council chooses to extend it. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you for your time.

▶ 3:33:02 Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilor Thomas.

▶ 3:33:05 Jeff McNaught: I don't believe we don't have anyone here from the administration to speak to this, do we? Council McMaster?

▶ 3:33:15 Shawn M. MacMaster: I can answer that question, Mr. Chairman. Just as background of Councils are wondering, Councilor Thomas and I met with the administration to discuss our interest in filing this order 64 days ago. That was February 8th. That meeting occurred in City Hall in the Council Chamber. It was Councilor Thomas, Mr. Van Campen, our City Solicitor, and Mr. Johnson, Building Inspector. It was at that time we learned that the noise ordinance is under the purview of the Health Director and the Board of Health. As a result of that meeting and the conversation that we had, Mr. Van Campen and Mr. Johnson, we had indicated a willingness and a real desire on our part to elicit any feedback from the administration, which we did. Prior to filing the order, we drafted the order and sent it to Mr. Van Campen, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Gaffney, our Director of Planning and Development, and Ms. Clay, our Health Director. We asked that we be provided with any feedback at all, so that we could take that into account prior to filing the order. That e-mail was acknowledged in writing by Ms. Gaffey. It was also acknowledged by Mr. Van Campen. We had received no response, no feedback from the administration on this order, other than the conversations that we had initially on February 8th. I'll represent, as I know Councillor Thomas will, that at that meeting, the administration didn't take a position, nor did they express to us in that meeting any concerns that they had. Going back to your question, Councillor McNaught, about the administration and input that it may have on this, I would suggest that there's been ample time to provide that input. This is not something that just surfaced on February 8th when we met with the administration. This has been ongoing conversations with various members of the administration about the concerns. When I say concerns, we're talking hundreds of concerns from constituents that Councillor Thomas and I have been failing since the start of our respective projects. As Councillor Thomas said, These are concerns that other word counselors, and then to an extent councils at large, and maybe counselors at large have been dealing with this as well are going to continue to experience as we move forward with other projects that are before the planning board or that have already been approved. The other thing I think is important just to follow up on is, as Councilor Thomas said, this is not an order in perpetuity. This is an emergency order. We'll take a look at it if this Council passes the order in December to see where we are with COVID. I would suspect there are still going to be people working from home, but we're not looking to change or create an ordinance there. This is just an order. And I'd also represent, because I think it's important that Councilor Thomas and I have both had conversations with our respective developers about this order. In fact, I spoke with the developer just this Friday. As everyone knows, this meeting was put on the calendar Thursday. Friday I texted with the developer at the 99 Washington Street development to ensure in fairness to him that he had an opportunity one to know that this was happening. I'd also say that he knew it was going to be happening beforehand because similar to input being sought by the administration, I sought his input and And there wasn't any feedback other than initially what costs might look like for them. What I can tell you is that they are already paying for this data on a yearly basis to be collected and maintained. So the data exists, it's a matter of simply furnishing it to the city so that we are in a position to enforce something that we don't have the capacity right now to enforce because it falls under the health director. So I think those are just some important points to also make. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

▶ 3:37:34 Speaker 3: Thank you, Council McMaster and Councilor Thomas.

▶ 3:37:38 Cory Thomas: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I could add and follow up on what Council McMaster just said, we had sort of an emergency meeting at Memorial Hall. Myself, Mayor Broder, the Mayor's Chief of Staff, we met with actually Chief Kalina and Captain Gibson of the Mountain Spite Department. we met with the Malden Fire Chief, we met with Mayor Malden and two City Councilors that have bought this project in Swains Pond, two City Councils in Malden. It really reached a crescendo I guess in early January and after that meeting you know I started talking to Councilman McMaster and that's what we scheduled that meeting in February to talk to the administration. Hundreds of hundreds of emails from the blasting up in Ward 7 might be an understatement, and this is a way to hold the rules of the construction management plan. You know, hold the feet to the fire and really enforce what was written into the construction plans.

▶ 3:38:41 Speaker 3: So, again, thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Councilor Thomas, Councilor McMaster.

▶ 3:38:45 Shawn M. MacMaster: My apologies, Mr. Chairman. Councilor Thomas just made a good point that I forgot to make, and that is that we were very careful in crafting this to not step into what we see as the territory of the planning board. And just to be very clear is that this order is not mandating that future Construction management plans include acoustic monitoring that is at the sole discretion of the planning board to decide through the site plan review process. This is for those projects, which is the projects that are largest in scope that are most impactful to neighborhoods whereby the planning board has deemed it appropriate to mandate acoustic monitoring. It would only apply in those scenarios. So it's not any construction project. These are the construction projects where the planning board has mandated that through the site plan review process. And I think that's that's very important to take into account here. In addition to the fact that this is not an order as consulate Thomas said in perpetuity.

▶ 3:39:55 Jeff McNaught: Okay, so I think we're going to have to do is, I guess the way to operate this would be for other councils to ask through the chair questions of you and Councilor Thomas. So, I think I have that right. So, 1st up we have Councilor Tramontozzi.

▶ 3:40:12 John N. Tramontozzi: Well, thank you. I wasn't going to ask a question, but I was just going to make a comment that I appreciate Councilors McMaster and Thomas' work on this, a well-written Um, uh, order, and, um, that was going to make a motion to recommend.

▶ 3:40:32 Jeff McNaught: Okay, motion to recommend by Council Tram and Tuesday, seconded by Council on discussion. Seeing none, Madam clerk, will you please call the role?

▶ 3:40:44 Speaker 2: Chairman not yes. Vice chair Eccles. Yes. Councilor Tramontozzi? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes.

▶ 3:41:05 Speaker 2: Councilor Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Thomas? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine?

▶ 3:41:10 Speaker 2: Yes. President Sinello? Yes.

▶ 3:41:18 Speaker 3: 11 yes.

▶ 3:41:21 Jeff McNaught: Motion passes. That concludes our business for the evening.