ORDER-2015-202 : Authorizing a Bond in the Amount of $400,000 for the Purchase of Real Property

Transcript (~10 min @ 1:11:02)

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▶ 1:11:03 Speaker 5: the vote please indicate by saying aye aye all those opposed to reconsidering the vote please indicate by saying aye aye okay it appears that the motion for reconsideration fails

▶ 1:11:23 Speaker 10: the order as amended passes order 2015-202 authorizing a bond in the amount of four hundred thousand dollars for the purchase of real property this order comes to the board from the

▶ 1:11:31 Speaker 5: appropriations committee with a recommendation for passage motion for passage mr president

▶ 1:11:46 Speaker 5: alderman mortimer moves for passage of the order second motion seconded by alderman inferna is their discussion relative to the motion please alderman mcintyre margolis thank you mr chairman

▶ 1:11:57 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: I'm sure that several of you have also heard, again, from members of the public who perhaps weren't aware of this vote or as aware of it prior to our last meeting. I did hear from a few people, as we have this evening, not in support of it. I also heard from several people who were in support of it. I also took an took advantage of some personal knowledge of people who served on the parking Commission to reach out to them and of course we had our staff here for the last meeting the lot in question even though the study indicated that we had adequate parking in Melrose that particular lot when you read the fine print said it was always at capacity and the parking commission was in favor of supporting this this order the people I spoke to on it anyways I think in a perfect world yes we would have been able to implement all the changes before doing this we have implemented a number of them we have gone to the three-hour parking which has been very very effective in many spots we are revamping the commercial permit parking and I think we have to realize that this is an opportunity that will not present itself again should that building which really only generates I believe President Kahn you indicated about five thousand dollars in revenue right now okay so but should that

▶ 1:13:35 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: property be taken off the tax rolls and sold and built as it could be with you know four stories and many residential commercial use mix we would be impacting that area even further not only in terms of its design but in terms of its impact on parking I also feel that my personal request which I continue to speak to the city planner about of trying to incorporate some smaller compact hybrid type car spaces and some more landscaping and some bike racks I think will hopefully get addressed in some of the site plan review so I know for many of us it was a difficult vote I am going to stand by my vote in supporting it and I hope that the financial aspects of it will play out to be less than the projection because we're doing so well with our bond rating that perhaps we have a lower rate when we go out and it really won't ultimately cost the city quite as much especially if we're able to get a few more spaces in there thank you alderman anybody else who wishes

▶ 1:14:51 Peter D. Mortimer: to speak on this order is all shake could you call the role please mr president excuse me may i speak i didn't i don't think you saw my hand i got it up no i'm sorry for the oversight alderman that's that's quite all right um i have not spoken on this order yet and i wasn't going to speak tonight if no one else did since there's already been a full and probably exhaustive that's exhaustive not exhausting discussion of this matter we had two full appropriations meetings with two hours of conversation so i'd just like to make the highlights since as chairman of the two meetings

▶ 1:15:34 Peter D. Mortimer: we had on it, I did not speak. Alderman Boisselle, who's always very thorough in his research, found that this price for the parking spots is well within the commercially acceptable. In fact, it was at the low end of the range for commercially acceptable spots. I'm a member

▶ 1:15:58 Peter D. Mortimer: of the Melrose YMCA board of directors and we are attempting and our accountants have done we're attempting to buy a lot at 8 central terrace right behind the Y and our accountants have done that research as well it's a lot we hope to tear the house down and turn into parking because the house is in decrepit condition probably not able to be rehabilitated much like this house on killam court this office building and kimball court

▶ 1:16:37 Peter D. Mortimer: so i think this is the right thing to do for that reason the point was made that in five or ten years parking might be obsolete some people had some ideas which i can't discount anything who knew 20 years ago that we'd be sending text messages and getting emails on our telephones but it was put forward that there might be cars that would just drop you off and then go park far away and then come back and get you when you're done with your business downtown and if that happens we'll be able to sell this lot back probably at a profit so I think this is a good idea as

▶ 1:17:14 Peter D. Mortimer: As part of the research on this, last Saturday morning, I just took some time to relax. My children had other activities in downtown Melrose. We had some errands to do, which my other child did. And my wife and I just sat in the parking lot in Dill's Court and watched from 11 to 12, 15, and there was no parking. And this is a Saturday morning in August. And cars were circling the lot, and they were waiting, and they were trying to cut each other off. And people were flashing their high beams to indicate that they had first claim to a spot that somebody was about to vacate. So it's a definite problem. It's a definite problem. We want to support our commercial business. I'm the alderman that represents downtown. So I represent some of the residents who are nearby who've spoken, but I also represent the businesses who pay their taxes and want to do business in Melrose. If there's available, free, close parking at Walgreens or Sub Villa or at Square One Mall down the road, people will go there. We need to help our business community. This price is within a commercially reasonable range.

▶ 1:18:47 Peter D. Mortimer: Sometimes you have to pay for what you need. It's an investment. It's an investment in our business community.

▶ 1:18:57 Peter D. Mortimer: And I see it with my own eyes that this is something that we should do. It's been thoroughly vetted. It's been analyzed from a financial and a fiscal position. It's found to be worthy. I think from a practical consideration, just a simple thing. There are studies, but the study was from 2012 and Melrose has changed. Melrose is changing quickly for the better, I might add. I'm sure we all saw that Melrose was listed in realtor.com and in the globe and on all kinds of internet websites as the hottest real estate market in America and the most desirable place to live in America, but having good parking is a part of that. We can change it. We can sell it back if it doesn't turn out to be a good deal. In the scheme of things, it's not a giant sum of money. I know some people don't like to hear that, but that's what we're here for, to vet financial expenditures that the mayor proposes and i think the mayor has proposed this wisely and in good faith and i think after this thorough vetting i think it's a move that we should as a board of aldermen and based on the appropriations committee meeting it looks like it's a meeting that we will push through as a board and appropriately so so that is why i just wanted to uh at least weigh in with a little more than just a yes vote uh since i did not get a chance to speak

▶ 1:20:34 Speaker 5: up to this point thank you mr president thank you all anyone anything else on this order

▶ 1:20:47 Speaker 6: associate could you call the roll please no yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes