ORDER-2020-4 : Request for update by city officials on matters related to June 20, 2019 Brazil Street sewer backup

Transcript (~8 min @ 3:22:20)

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

▶ 3:22:17 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: that for the record thank you any further discussion all in favor any

▶ 3:22:25 Speaker 5: opposed the order passes order two zero two zero dash four request for city but update by city officials on matters related to June 20 2019 Brazil Street

▶ 3:22:34 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: sewer backup this comes from the Appropriations Committee with a recommendation to place on file Alderman faster madam president before I make a

▶ 3:22:39 Shawn M. MacMaster: motion to place on file i would just move to attach mayor inferner's memo to the board of alderman dated august 14 2019 in which she notified this board that she will not retain an independent environmental specialist to inspect the brazil street homes affected by the june 20th

▶ 3:22:59 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: 2019 sewer backup we have a motion made by alderman mcmaster to attach the mayor's recent memo to the board seconded by alderman forbes all in favor any opposed that will be attached

▶ 3:23:14 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: a motion to place on file madam president we have a motion a motion to place the order on file made by alderman mcmaster seconded by alderman medeiros on discussion alderman forbes thank you okay so

▶ 3:23:27 Scott M. Forbes: during the special meeting of the board of alderman on july 18th mary inferno was stated or she was quoted to state the following our priority is always the well-being of the people of melrose and if we fall short it's not because of negligence or bad intentions but simply because we are human and sometimes we do not meet our own expectations so we learned a lot about what those expectations expectations were in the terms of the inspections that were performed on some of the residents on brazil street we also learned the criteria deeming a home habitable for human occupancy are as follows you need to have a working on working water and sewer working electricity removal of all surfaces that can absorb moisture that surfaces that cannot absorb moisture were cleaned and sanitized and also to have a functional toilet we also learned that the city has no checks and balances on record to certify that any cleaning and sanitation work to remove raw sewage from a home has been performed within any required environmental regulation the health director was quoted during the 718 meeting saying that quote once the house has been cleaned and sanitized presumably there are no toxins and bacteria that's the whole purpose of cleaning and sanitizing so there's no follow-up testing the accepted protocol used by the city is to assume the work has been done in an appropriate fashion and proceed to move on to the next item on the checklist and I want to emphasize this because there's some notable noticeable points that we should all be aware of regarding the habitability inspections from these properties on 9 Brazil Street according to the resident who I spoke to and confirmed again today the health inspectors walked through the home lasted less than a few minutes and she never left the living room the health director peeked into each one of the rooms she did not check for running water she did not check for electricity and she did not check for a functional toilet she actually didn't even go into the bathroom so this was the house where the video was taking with sewage flowing up through the toilet that was on all the TV stations and the health director never even went into the bathroom to test it the resident from 9 Brazil Street, who spoke at public comment on the 8-1 Board of Aldermen meeting, said, quote, this is not a place that I want to be anymore. I don't think it's safe. I don't think it's happy. I don't want my daughter there at all. I don't want to be in my own house, and that's not a normal feeling to feel. On 12 Brazil Street, again, with a conversation from the resident, the health director did confirm there was running water in the, oh, the health director did not confirm it was running water and electricity in the home again the resident said the health director never touched anything during the inspection the total time of the inspection lasted just a couple of minutes the health director did not confirm that all surfaces of the home were removed of contaminants the property was deemed habitable while there was still sewage in the vent system beneath the slab foundation and according to the resident Servpro was actually there during the directors walk-through inspection and had full knowledge that there was sewage that existed on this property and also knew the work that needed to be done to remove it. How does that get missed during the inspection process when both people are at the home at the same time? The health director did not test for a functioning toilet. According to the resident, a toilet was in the bathroom but was not hooked up to receive water. So it was not functional during the time of inspection which would have been noticed if proper protocols were addressed the right way on the mcmaster questioned if the health director would feel safe and comfortable with her children or grandchildren living in the homes understanding that there was nothing more of visual inspection at which time the health inspector said yes now alderman mcmaster also correctly stated that servpro has personnel on staff that performs air quality testing mold determination surface swab testing and remediation a conversation with program director chris bork of servpro can certify this however the city never considered to include this option as a part of their standard operating procedures when they deemed any of these homes habitable mary inferno said in her comments on 718 that brazil street was an extraordinary case which i do agree with her so if that is the case why did this why was the city satisfied using ordinary protocols for such extraordinary circumstances considering there is no standard on which to test or measure I think it would have been more mindful to conduct testing before the cleanup and after the cleanup baselining each property for pathogens and toxins prior to the work being done and then post cleanup testing this is the data that we were referring to during these discussions I thought this would have been part of the standard operating procedures with something like this ever occurred to a home however we are doing no such testing and that is very concerning so again mayor inferno's quote was our priority is always the well-being of the people of melrose and if we fall short it's not because of negligence or bad intentions but simply because we're human and sometimes we do not meet our own expectations and after hearing this from these residents i don't think any of these expectations have been met thank you thank you further

▶ 3:28:59 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: this question alderman Bewtra thank you um i think it's unfortunate that i feel like this is kind of

▶ 3:29:12 Manisha Bewtra: ending in an impasse um and so i just wanted to make a suggestion um maybe to alderman mcmaster

▶ 3:29:19 Manisha Bewtra: and hopefully um mayor inferno if she's watching or will be following up with this tomorrow or later to maybe have the mayor administration officials alderman mcmaster and the residents and owners of the homes on brazil street come together to maybe with the help of a certified

▶ 3:29:44 Manisha Bewtra: facilitator or conflict resolution specialist just because i think i understood on the one hand

▶ 3:29:52 Speaker 9: there aren't clear-cut environmental tests that that might result in a satisfactory answer for

▶ 3:29:57 Manisha Bewtra: the residents but i also feel like i don't know everybody seems to still be kind of at odds with

▶ 3:30:05 Manisha Bewtra: each other and and this just doesn't feel like a satisfactory conclusion so just wanted to state on the record that that would be my suggestion for a next step thank you for the discussion

▶ 3:30:17 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: the motion has been made and seconded to place the order on file all in favor Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? This order will be placed on file. Wait. Excuse me. Oh, I'm sorry.

▶ 3:30:29 Francis X. Wright Jr.: Alderman Wright. I missed you. No, that's fine. On that item, just before you adjourn, I have a request of a point of personal privilege.