ORDER-2021-75 : Appointment of Beth Delahaij to the Planning Board to fulfill the unexpired term of Michael Cassavoy. Said term to expire on the last day of February 2023.

Transcript (~13 min @ 3:06)

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▶ 3:01 Mark Garipay: uh it's order 20 21-75 the appointment of beth de la de la hay to the planning board to fulfill the unexpired term of michael cassavoy said term to expire on the last day of february 2023. At this time, I will entertain a motion to suspend the rules so we can hear from the administration, I'm assuming the mayor, and the potential candidate. Motion to suspend the rules? Second.

▶ 3:37 Mark Garipay: A motion to suspend the rules was made by Councilor Sinella, seconded by Councilor Grigoraitis. The rules are now suspended. Before we include um uh bring in uh maya broder if we can just for the record um consular vice chair stewart is not with us for the record um i'll call the roll let's call the roll please yes vice chair stewart

▶ 4:09 Speaker 2: here counselor mcnaught here council of Grigoraitis here counselor thomas here president yes just to

▶ 4:22 Mark Garipay: confirm that was the spin in the rules that is correct sorry i jumped ahead um is uh may have

▶ 4:33 Speaker 3: brought it with us in in canada yes bringing them in now thank you good evening all it is a pleasure

▶ 4:39 Paul Brodeur: to be back before you uh chair garapate it's good to see you taking on this leadership responsibility congratulations on your on your first uh your first chair meeting that's exciting stuff up great to see you too I I want to I do want to take a moment to thank Mr. Cassavoy for his his years of service on the planning board as you all know the planning board in Melrose has an exceptional reputation for thoughtfulness thoroughness and for careful carefully guiding development in the city. And that's why I am delighted to offer for your consideration Beth Delahaye. I'm sure you've all had a chance to review her resume. It's not often folks that we get folks with more than one master's degree. So this is kind of an exciting time for me, but The background is truly amazing with, you know, a master's level planning degree, but also an extensive career in energy and environmental work with an eye towards conservation and efficiency. probably begs the question of, you know, why not perhaps a different area? A, for a couple of reasons, because folks want to get away from the day job sometimes and do something a little bit different. But also there's not, you know, in modern planning and development and thought around these things, there is no skill that you want to overlook. So we have, you know, we have lawyers, architects planning and you know energy and environmental considerations are a very important part of the work of the Planning Board as I couldn't be more delighted to offer this outstanding candidate for your consideration Thank

▶ 6:47 Mark Garipay: You mr. mayor mr. Delahaye do you have any would you like to talk a little bit

▶ 6:57 Speaker 4: about your candidacy yeah thanks so much Thank You mayor Broder for the the warm welcome and introduction I really appreciate it and and good evening everybody members of the committee I thought to just tell you a little bit about myself first my family and I have been in Melrose for about six years now we chose to settle here because you know I'm preaching to the choir here but all of the things that make Melrose a really great and special city to raise a family and just the welcoming people, the location, the public transportation, the walkability. Those things really appeal to planners, by the way. Very exciting for a planner. The access to green space. Having lived in different cities and towns myself, I grew up in New Jersey and have spent a lot of time in Cambridge and outside Philadelphia, I can really appreciate the really rare combination of characteristics that make Melrose special. And I think also having lived in a variety of contexts, if you will, as a child growing up in the suburbs, a poor graduate student in a tiny apartment, a young professional in a slightly better apartment in the city um and then renting in the suburbs and and now finally owning a home um i think i can identify with the concerns of of a wide range of citizens

▶ 8:38 Speaker 4: um uh other details my kids attend the roosevelt two kids they play little league they having a great time doing MDLA loving it so as for why the planning board since

▶ 8:56 Speaker 4: moving in and finally getting settled which is you know a task with a fifteen-month-old and a four-year-old I am I knew I wanted to give back to the community in some way and I I took my time thinking about what was what was right way and and you know letting the stars align um but i think the planning board is really a good mixture of things that play to my interests and strengths and and just the way i like to think about things um you know sustainability and climate were what drove me to attend grad school in environmental policy and planning and um you know i think that sustainability in all of its forms economic and social and environmental have become just it's more and more obvious all the time how important all that is so um you know my knowledge and planning and sustainability came not only from grad school but i've worked since then at least a dozen years in energy efficiency and uh you know both in massachusetts rhode island and new york i've worked in the the energy efficiency programs and so I have a good understanding of buildings and structures and technologies and also the practical aspects of making those decisions to upgrade structures and the considerations there. I've also recently been involved in programs to promote electric transportation which I know that the city has been very supportive of and I think that's some of the most exciting stuff that's happening right now um so that's really it you know in closing i'm just eager and and care about making the city you know an even better place to live and helping it make smart and sustainable choices um so that's all i had to say thank you for the opportunity

▶ 11:06 Mark Garipay: to speak thank you very much do any uh counselors have any questions or comments at this time for

▶ 11:17 Mark Garipay: the candidate seeing uh seeing no questions or comments uh what's the uh what's the will of the

▶ 11:25 Cory Thomas: uh committee here i think council mcnaught has a question i think i just lost everyone

▶ 11:37 Speaker 2: kristen the only one i could see is me i can see everyone councillor mcnaught had a comment

▶ 11:42 Jeff McNaught: i was just going to say uh thank you miss delahaye for volunteering for this position especially describing the busy life uh that you lead um it's um not easy i'm sure with a 15 month old and a four-year-old to do the work that you're already doing full-time and and to step into into this role and i think that your educational background and your professional background are a huge asset uh to our planning board so thank you thank you for your volunteering to serve thank you

▶ 12:14 Mark Garipay: thank you uh councilman McNaught sorry for missing you uh councilor Grigoraitis

▶ 12:21 Jen Grigoraitis: thank you chairman Garipay i just wanted to say miss delahaye thank you so much for your willingness to lend your time and your expertise to your community it's always wonderful when we have residents step up um i think there is no harder job in this community than the planning board because it is so critical to mapping out the future of this city that we all love and i just wanted to say how much i appreciate your lens on sustainability um i think that's critical as we think about how we move melrose forward whether that's people who are looking to sustain their you know having grown up here and wanting to continue to be here or people who have raised their family here and still want to be here for their golden years i think we have some challenges ahead of us and i'm really excited to have someone with your talents on the planning board to help us address those so thank you for stepping up and i look forward to supporting

▶ 13:19 Cory Thomas: your appointment. Thank you. Councilor Thomas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Delahaye, welcome. Mayor Broder, welcome. Your resume speaks for itself. In your statement to the council, you touched on a lot of things, sustainability, our green space. How will you promote growth in Melrose while also maintaining our green space? Melrose is a nice secluded area. As you know, we're surrounded by woods you know in the fells way how would you handle uh you know the the mix

▶ 13:54 Speaker 4: between growth and preservation wow that's a great question um you know having having i admit it looked at the zoning map and sort of browse through that there's not there's not that much land left in melrose i'm sure you're all aware of that um so there are you know uh physical limits to what can be done. But I think smart redevelopment of, you know, properties that maybe are coming up for sale or resale, you know, coming from the efficiency

▶ 14:31 Speaker 4: side of the energy business, I think that kind of reuse of structures and, you know, maybe gut rehab and finding the best possible use for the structures and the sites that exist is

▶ 14:58 Cory Thomas: probably a key to the strategy there. Thank you so much for your answer and for volunteering your time for the community. Best of luck. I look forward to approving your appointment.

▶ 15:17 Mark Garipay: Thank you. Any other councils? Seeing no other councillors wishing to ask any questions or comment. What is the will of the committee? Motion to recommend. Second. We have a motion

▶ 15:28 Mark Garipay: to recommend order 2021-75 by Councilor Grigoraitis, seconded by Councilor McNaught. Ms. Fook,

▶ 15:44 Speaker 2: can you please call the roll? Chair Garthay? Yes. Vice Chair Stewart? Yes. Councilor McNaught? Yes. Council Gregorius?

▶ 15:51 Speaker 4: Yes.

▶ 15:51 Speaker 2: Councilor Thomas? Yes. President Cinella? Yes. Six yes. Thank you.

▶ 15:58 Mark Garipay: Ms. Delahaye, your appointment is now recommended for passage to the full council. You do not have to attend that meeting. I'm not sure when the next, if it's going to be on the next city council agenda, but you do not have to attend. Best of luck to you, and thank you for your service. and at this time i'll take it you're welcome at this time i'll take uh