An Appropriation from Sewer Retained Earnings (account 6000-319000) to Sewer Equipment (account 604413-551002) for the down payment on a Vactor Truck.
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D. (ID # 2026-1251): An Appropriation from Sewer Retained Earnings (account 6000- 319000) to Sewer Equipment (account 604413-551002) for the down payment on a Vactor Truck. Elena Proakis-Ellis, DPW Director, explained that this will fund a $200,000 down payment on a new $610,000 Vactor truck to replace the current 11-year-old vehicle that requires costly repairs. The funding will be structured as a financing arrangement rather than lease-to-own, with annual payments of $90,000 over 5 years to maintain predictable sewer rates. Motion to Recommend made by President Freeman Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULTS: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] TO: City Council AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None V. DEPARTMENT BUDGET PRESENTATIONS A. Department Presenter Department of Elena Proakis-Ellis, Public Works DPW Director, Jim (DPW) Troup, Deputy Director 401 PW Admin & Engineer 402 PW Facilities 422 PW Highway 423 PW Snow 6 433 PW Sanitation 475 PW Parks & Forest 485 PW Automotive 491 Cemetery 441 Solid Waste Enterprise Fund #6300 411 Sewer Enterprise Fund #6000 451 Water Enterprise Fund #6100 Department 401 PW Admin & Engineer Elena Proakis-Ellis, DPW Director, presented the $30.5 million budget, highlighting key changes including restored positions from FY26, increased street sweeping costs due to higher bids, and new recurring capital items of $500,000 for building repairs and $25,000 for water meter replacements. Councilor Williams commented that it is difficult to tell what are truly recurring expenses versus free cash requests with a department showing expenses in both Capital Outlay and the operating budget. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Jamaleddine All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 402 PW Facilities Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Williams Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 422 PW Highway Councilor Kowal mentioned that traffic-calming is a massive issue for the city and thought $50,000 7 was too low to spend on this. The money will cover curb ramps, crosswalks and flashers, solar radar speed feedback signs, and pilot projects. Elena is comfortable with the $50,000 since so much of her capital needs are covered with the override. Councilor Karamcheti commented that traffic-calming is still a problem on Franklin Street due to the busier nature of the area as the city increases the apartment buildings there. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by President Freeman Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 423 PW Snow Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Jamaleddine Seconded by Councilor Kowal All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 433 PW Sanitation Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Williams Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 475 PW Parks & Forest Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Williams All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams 8 NAYS: None Department 485 PW Automotive Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Kowal Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 491 Cemetery Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Jamaleddine Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 441 Solid Waste Enterprise Fund #6300 Motion to Recommend made by Councilor Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Kowal All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 411 Sewer Enterprise Fund #6000 Motion to Recommend made by Councilor Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Karamcheti All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 451 Water Enterprise Fund #6100 9 Motion to Approve made by Councilor Williams Seconded by Councilor Karamcheti All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Motion for 5 Minute Recess made by Councilor Karamcheti at 10:25 PM Seconded by Councilor Park All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Meeting was reopened and back in session at 10:30 PM B. Department Presenter Information Tom Smulligan, Technology (IT) CIO/IT Director 155 Information Technology (IT) 930 Dept Equipment Planning & Lori Massa, Community Planning Director Development 175 Planning & Community Development Health Anthony Chui, Health & Human Services Director 511 Health 2659 Health Revolving Account 10 Inspection Al Talarico, Building Services Commissioner 241 Inspection Services 2658 Inspectional Services Revolving Account Department 155 Information Technology (IT) Tom Smulligan, CIO/IT Director, explained the focus on improving security, upgrading infrastructure, and reducing reliance on cloud fees, with specific attention to refreshing equipment for schools. Councilor Park inquired about capital outlay costs, and the CIO clarified that while current spending is high due to catch-up needs, future costs are expected to decrease as equipment cycles are managed more effectively. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Williams Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 930 Dept Equipment Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by President Freeman Seconded by Councilor Williams All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Motion to Move Department 175 to End of Budget Schedule made by President Freeman Seconded by Councilor Williams All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None 11 Department 511 Health Anthony Chui, Health and Human Services Director, presented the Health Department's budget, highlighting their regional partnerships and plans to strengthen animal control and add a floating school nurse position. Councilor Jamaleddine proposed adding a social worker or case manager to the city staff and Anthony said that he is looking into that. Currently the city works closely with the part-time social worker at the senior center. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Williams All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 2659 Health Revolving Account Motion to Recommend made by Councilor Williams Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 241 Inspection Services Al Talarico, Building Commissioner, discussed Inspectional Services Department activities, including permit issuance and inspections, and requested budget restorations for essential services. City code enforcement is a priority of the mayor, which would involve the Health Department more frequently than the Building Department to do the enforcement of the city codes. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Karamcheti All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 2658 Inspectional Services Revolving Account Motion to Approve made by Councilor Williams Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro 12 All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Department 175 Planning & Community Development Lori Massa, Planning Director, explained that the department's role is to protect and enhance the quality of life in Melrose. To accomplish this mission, OPCD provides long-range planning, manages select capital improvement projects, recommends and implements zoning amendments, creates GIS maps and spatial analysis, applies for and administers grants and community development programs, and implements special projects. They have a budget increase of 2.9% for step increases and COLA adjustments for salaries. Discussion occurred over how much of their workload is taken up by permitting. They had fewer zoning board cases because of their recent zoning re-codification, so that helped to reduce their workload a bit, but with other projects requiring personnel to be redirected, it is increasing again. Due to the number of free cash requests for studies, it was discussed if adding another general purpose planner to the staff would be a good idea. It would definitely help, but would be costly due to having to pay that person benefits. The recent override also helped to stabilize their department. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Kowal All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None Motion to Move Item ID# 2026-1202 to the top of the next list made by Councilor Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Williams All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Manjula Karamcheti, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver, Ryan Williams NAYS: None VI. APPROPRIATIONS FOR FY27
2026-1251 Sewer Retained Earnings Vactor Downpayment $150,000
Transcript
▶ 3:16:36 Kimberly Vandiver: Okay. So that item was out of order. We are now heading back to ID number 2026-1251, an appropriation from sewer retained earnings, account 6000-319000 to sewer equipment account 604413-551002 for the down payment on a Vactor truck.
▶ 3:16:59 Speaker 9: Thank you. So this request is for 150,000 to be combined with 50,000 of existing capital money in the sewer fund to make a $200,000 down payment on a $610,000 Vactor truck to replace the one that we have. The lifespan on a Vactor is about 10 years. We've had the one that we have now for about 11 years. It has required costly repairs on the order of 25,000 plus for each repair in recent years. So it's reached the end of its useful life. This piece of equipment takes a beating. It is used for every time we have a sewer backup. It's also used for vacuum excavation when we're excavating in an area where we're around a lot of utilities, and we have to be careful. We use it to excavate soil. We use it to dig test pits as well when needed. So it's a piece of equipment that's in near daily use in our department. And the reason why we are requesting to do this as a lease to own, this is what we did, or just with payments, this is what we did the last time we bought the Vactor. And 11 years ago when we did this, a capital line item was added into the sewer budget. Right now, that line item sits at 80,000 per year. So that paid for the Vactor over the course of five years when we bought the last one. And then that line item was maintained in our sewer budget as capital, and we've used it to fund all the repairs that it's needed since then. So the nice thing is that that line item exists, where actually you'll see when we get to the sewer budget, we're proposing to up that line item to 90,000 because with the $200,000 down payment and then 90,000 a year over, I believe it must be five years, we reach the full payments to pay for the $610,000 truck, including interest. And so this is the recommendation of how to purchase this particular vehicle. Finance, oftentimes, finance department prefers to buy vehicles outright. But in this case, where it's tied to our sewer rates, by financing it over a period of years, it allows us to have a more predictable rate structure.
▶ 3:19:21 Kimberly Vandiver: Thank you. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Councilor Freeman.
▶ 3:19:25 Bradley Freeman: Yeah, I just want to say I was walking my dog the other night and came across a Vactor truck in my neighborhood preventing a sewage emergency. So I can think of nothing more appropriate and important than setting money to ensure this truck is operational. With that, I'll have a motion to recommend. Second.
▶ 3:19:40 Kimberly Vandiver: Okay, we have a motion to recommend from President Freeman, seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro. And on discussion, I have Councilor Williams.
▶ 3:19:48 Ryan Williams: Yeah. How does this interact with the clam digger thing? Like, do they work as a pair? Is it modular for the same vehicle? Are they different vehicles?
▶ 3:19:55 Speaker 9: So they're different vehicles. The clam thing is more geared toward drainage. Yeah. The clam shell is used to clean out catch basins. Right. And so that takes the material out- Mm ... and then you dump it into a dump truck. And you can do a higher volume with that.The companies that do it for us for the catch basin cleaning, they have a price for doing it with a Vactor and a price for doing it with a clamshell. It is much more expensive for them to do it with the Vactor. Mm. So presumably, it's just a slower and more extensive process to do it with the Vactor, or they would be charging us the same money. Sure. So the intention would be that the clamshell would be used for our routine catch basin cleaning. This is typically more focused on sewers, but we do use it to clean drains as well. And we can clean drain lines with the Vactor, as opposed to just-
▶ 3:20:47 Ryan Williams: Smaller diameter drain lines?
▶ 3:20:49 Speaker 9: Well, the clamshell can just go down into something and pull the material out, whereas the Vactor also has a hose that sprays water, and you drag the material back and then suck it up from... It's got a big sucker. Suck it up from there.
▶ 3:21:05 Speaker 7: Anybody else on discussion? Councilor Chen.
▶ 3:21:09 Jason Chen: Thanks. What makes this lease-to-own, as opposed to some of the other vehicles that we have that are somewhat specialized and also in this price range?
▶ 3:21:17 Speaker 9: So, it's mainly because it's supported by the sewer rates. And so if we were to have a one-time hit for a $610,000 vehicle on the sewer rates, you would see a spike in the rate for that particular year. And the finance department prefers to keep the rates sustainable and predictable, is what the MWI always says. So by financing this vehicle, we can have a predictable amount each year and not have to have a rate bump one year. Also, I will correct myself. I said lease to own, but that's how we bought the last vac truck. This one, I think, is just a straight-up- Yes ... purchase and financing. I believe that it's not a lease to own. It's a purchase with financing. Okay. I can't say I'm 100% sure on that.
▶ 3:22:09 Speaker 7: Any other comments or questions on discussion? Okay, so we'll have a vote.
▶ 3:22:13 Speaker 8: Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Karamcheti? Yes. Councilor Kohl? Yes. Councilor Abrumsky? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Chair Vandiver? Yes. All in favor?
▶ 3:22:32 Kimberly Vandiver: Great. So that'll be reported back with a positive recommendation.
▶ 3:22:35 Speaker 9: Thank you.
▶ 3:22:36 Kimberly Vandiver: Okay. Do we have anything else that anyone would like to take out of order, or shall we get into budget? Let's do it. Budget. Here we go. Okay. And okay, we'll get into budget. Sounds so exciting. I've been informed that we do need to take a break at the four-hour mark, so that MMTV can reset, because they can only capture four hours at once. So we have a little bit of time we can run still. It's like trust the machine. Let's go.