Public Participation

Transcript (~7 min @ 12:13)

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

▶ 12:12 Speaker 2: alderman mortimer moves that we commence public participation the motion is seconded by alderman Boisselle on the motion all those in favor aye anyone opposed motion passes this is the portion where any member of the general public may come forward sit at the table in the center of the room identify themselves and declaim on any issue that is on our agenda good evening good evening sir my name is paul grover i live at 195 mobile street and i was here to discuss the uh situation with the sidewalk plowing and maybe a little bit beyond that and so i sort of to keep everything organized I typed it out as best I could, so I'm going to just start reading it, okay? That's fine. While I was watching the meeting chaired by Alderman John Tramontozzi two weeks back, Alderman Francis Wright proposed an ordinance change addressing sidewalk snow removal by property owners in the city of Meadows. He struck on a problem that has been an increasing problem year after year, with the safety of our citizens being put at risk. He mentioned people being struck while walking in the streets because of unclear sidewalks in areas other than Merrill's and feared it could happen here. But I remember a child being struck and hit by a hit-and-run driver on Washington Street sometime around the late 1970s, early 80s. I'm not sure if he survived. Some of the problems are residents vacationing during the winter months. snowbirds. These residents should work out a plan to have their sidewalks cleared in their absence and to notify the city as to who will be responsible for clearing their sidewalks while they are away. As for elderly residents who can't clear their sidewalks and have no one they can ask to help them, they They should be able to contact the City of Melrose for assistance, where a list of people could be maintained who would be available at a reasonable price to clear their sidewalks. Ill or disabled residents could also use this program when they need to. Residents who are elderly and are ill or disabled, who are of low income and have no one to help them and cannot afford to pay the aforementioned reasonable price to clear their sidewalks the city could set up a program where these residents could receive assistance this program could include students to receive credits and or residents to receive tax adjustments the same as other city programs this low income program would require proof of income and could have a donation system where the resident could give some amount to help defray the cost of this low-income service, similar to the donations asked for by the Meals on Wheels. I'm 74 years old, and I'm a Morales resident for 74 years. I'm a retired public works employee with 41 years of service to the city of Morales. I have seen a lot of mistakes made over the years, where the lack of equipment, or the lack of workers, and the lack of proper training of workers has led to safety issues, including injuries and property damage. During my years with the Public Works Department, I was fortunate to have senior employees who would show us rookies how to remove snow and how to plow safely to avoid injuries and property damage. I also learned how to properly operate all types of equipment, from street plows to sidewalk plows, street and sidewalk sanders, and front-end loaders. We were taught to do it the right way, because if you wanted to get overtime pay, you had better do it the right way or go home. This is also why I'm here tonight, to speak about what I have seen over the past few winters. It is either the lack of training, the lack of caring on how the job is done, or both.

▶ 16:47 Speaker 2: For instance, one snowfall last winter where so much salt was put down on most main roads that when cars would drive over the salt, a cloud of salt dust would rise up. I am sure people, especially on Main Street, can remember that one. The lack of training operators, whether contractors or city employees, to properly adjust the sanders to only apply enough salt as needed to clear the streets based on the size and type of the storm. I've had I have had rock salt spread as far as 18 feet from the curb line up my driveway this is a financial waste plus it causes damage to residents property as well as with the residents property as well with training and proper adjustment to these Sanders the salt would land on the street where it of lawns and not on the lawns and shrubs train operators with power angle plows on how to plow intersections so that high snow banks do not block the view of drivers and pedestrians the city should and the city also should invest in some equipment better designed to clear sidewalks

▶ 18:14 Speaker 2: snow plows only push the snow to the side only to have it fall back onto the sidewalk mr grover as a plow passes if i could stop you for just a second yeah uh i'm obligated to tell you that we're not supposed to discuss things that really aren't on our agenda this evening you want to stop right now no if you could wrap it up though we're really not here to discuss performance of road plowing and whatnot tonight and i appreciate your coming down i appreciate that um well at the very end of it i would like to thank the vote of alma for allowing this time to speak and i'd also like to thank alderman bird for all her services to the city of mallows and also her mother's service as well and thank you so much thank you mr grover okay i already signed in

▶ 19:09 Peter D. Mortimer: so i'm all set there motion to close public participation second yeah it does not appear

▶ 19:12 Speaker 2: that there's anyone else who's here to speak to us this evening alderman mortimer moves to conclude public participation the motion is seconded by alderman Boisselle on the motion all those in favor Aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Motion passes. I am compelled to point out that this meeting is being videotaped by Melrose Cable TV and will be rebroadcast in accordance with the provisions of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law.