Replace current City Ordinance Section 177-12 Snow and Ice Removal with revised ordinance language to address property owner responsibilities for snow and ice removal

Transcript (~13 min @ 23:10)

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▶ 23:08 Maya Jamaleddine: Seeing no objection minutes, uh, from, uh, November 25th, 2024, um, are approved.

▶ 23:18 Maya Jamaleddine: Uh, first item on our agenda is ID number 12 27 9, replace current city ordinance section seven, uh, 177 dash 12, snow and ice removal with revised ordinance to address property owner responsibilities for snow and ice removal. This, um, ordinance is presented by Vice Chair Devin Romanul and Counselor Ryan Williams. I will, um, give, um, uh, counselor, um, Romanul the time to present this ordinance.

▶ 23:54 Devin Romanul: Thank you very much, chairman Jamine. Um, good evening, everybody. Appreciate the consideration. Um, I just wanted to say, uh, when I was conducting a listening tour at the start of my tenure last year, I'm speaking to a number of my constituents and one of the through lines that, uh, came up, one of the concerns that I heard repeatedly was around snow and ice removal, both by the city and on an individual level. And, um, upon further investigation, I was doing some research on some of the best practices and the status and surrounding communities. And what I found was that Melrose is a little bit of an outlier in that we don't actually have, uh, presently a residential requirement to do anything with your ice and snow in front of your sidewalk. I think in instances that's created some, some walking hazardous uh, conditions. Um, and currently the current ordinance as it states is it's a little bit, um, uh, stilted, but it basically says that if you have a building with an awning, you have to shovel. Um, we're really concerned about awnings, and if you have a commercial or industrial property, you have to shovel in front, but nothing for residential only that you can't throw snow from your property into the road. Um, so my reason for filing this is that, you know, number one, I was hoping to bring us more in alignment with some surrounding communities to make sure there is a, you know, civic obligation to create safe walking, you know, biking, driving conditions in, in your community, um, and that property owners and, and folks living here, um, do their part. Uh, so then that way it, it becomes, uh, you know, for kids walking to school, folks biking, you don't have people walking on the road. You don't have people slipping and falling. Um, so, uh, that was my, my reasoning for filing. And I know that we've got a stack committee meeting tonight. So my anticipating my, I'm anticipating that we just start the conversation tonight and this will, will have an opportunity to ruminate and, uh, consider, you know, how you feel, how your constituents feel. Um, but I was really hoping for just a, a, a thoughtful conversation in the coming weeks about ways we can create, uh, you know, a, a safer city, how we can create civic obligation around snow removal and, and also inform the public around what the DPW already does around, um, certain school properties, what that radius of removal already is, so we can have a better understanding of what residents can expect and, and when there are outliers. Um, and then I also know that we have a, a looming conversation on code enforcement, which is gonna connect to this certainly because we have a ton of code, code enforcement concerns in the city, and make sure that we're, you know, um, uh, doing that in a sustainable, equitable, you know, predictable way for our residents. So anyway, um, I'm not precious about particular stipulations or, uh, particular language. I just really excited to have a, a genuine conversation with you all and, and hope we can get an outcome that we're all happy with.

▶ 26:35 Maya Jamaleddine: Awesome. Thank you so much. Um, I will open the floor for my colleagues if they have any questions and to start the conversation, the discussion, and then we can, um, get to the will of, um, the counselors.

▶ 26:51 Maya Jamaleddine: Um, uh, president Ali.

▶ 26:53 Leila Migliorelli: Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to, um, through the chair, thank Counselor Romanul and Counselor Williams for filing this. Um, to start the conversation. Um, I'd be particularly interested on hearing from my colleagues who are ward counselors, as I know that they're on the front lines of, um, neighbor neighbors and residents. Um, comments about, um, snow removal. I, I can just speak from my own personal experience in walking around. Um, and this, we've had two snowy events since, um, councilor Amman had filed this order and, um, you know, have noted that some of the sidewalks are impassable and difficult to walk on. And I think it's gonna be a matter of all of us working together to sort of balance the language, um, to help figure out what is something that is workable, feasible, um, to help protect our residents as they're walking around. Um, but then also ensuring that, um, enforcement and is equitable and, um, you know, particularly for our elderly population. So I just wanted to say, I just look forward to the, the conversation of the next coming weeks and hearing from people on it. Thank you.

▶ 28:03 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you, madam President. Any other, um, comments or discussion from councilors? Um, councilor Van,

▶ 28:12 Kimberly Vandiver: Uh, I also, um, through the chair wanted to, to say that I appreciate the thoughtfulness that's gone into this. Um, so far I see that there is some consideration for elderly residents and, and people who may need some sort of exemption. Um, and I, I, I think the point is also well taken about, um, commun communicating out with the DPW does what the city already does, um, so that people have an expectation. I know there are some, um, some rhythms to it that may not be apparent to people in, in terms of clearing the major streets first and then clearing routes to school and clearing, um, you know, ordering, you know, working on hills before non hills. And so I think, I think if that information is out there for residents, that can also play a piece in, in, uh, in a better outcome for everyone and, and, uh, and everyone feeling in line with, with, uh, the system that we end up setting up.

▶ 29:10 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Any other comments? Councilor gpe?

▶ 29:16 Speaker 6: Thank you, Madam Chair.

▶ 29:20 Mark Garipay: Um, so, uh, you know, I have a number of questions and I'm glad, um, this is gonna go on. We have a, we're gonna have, um, a discussion. Uh, as you know, this has been brought up over the years a number of times, um, with, uh, more or less, um, let's say no action or voted down. I think the last time it was placed on file. Um, but, uh, through the cheer, just a couple of mine, just thinking right now is like, when does this, when would this take effect? Is it, is it based on inches? Is it based on like a dusting? Um, because then it goes into, if, if an elderly person does hire a outside contractor to come in, typically they don't show up unless it's three or four inches. Um, you know, and we talk about enforcement. Um, we gotta, we gotta look at how are we handling, we know we do the schools, but there's other, other areas of the community that are not, um, on the property owned by the city, that's not on the, necessarily the sidewalk plow route. So there's a lot of, um, a lot of things that, for me, in order to, to, to

▶ 30:28 Mark Garipay: support this, so to speak as it is now. I'm glad we're gonna have this conversation, so maybe I'll be able to get there. But, um, but, uh, we can talk over the next offline or whatever and, and, and tell you my, my concerns, but I appreciate the, I appreciate the, um, the way this is getting put forth, and, and we're gonna have, we're gonna have a discussion on it.

▶ 30:50 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Kimchi,

▶ 30:53 Manjula Karamcheti: I am a non-voting member, so just wanna make sure that other counselors who are on the committee have an opportunity first. So my hand just raised, but I wanna make sure to wait.

▶ 31:02 Speaker 2: That's okay. Go ahead. Okay.

▶ 31:03 Manjula Karamcheti: Um, well first I wanna say Councilor Romanul and Councilor Williams. I also really appreciate you putting this together and really appreciate sort of your introduction to this and that you're looking for like conversation and information and for this to be an actual process. Um, 'cause I think for me, in like the big picture of this, of course, I support snow and ice REM removal and the civic engagement of all members of our community to make sure that our streets and our sidewalks are safe and clear. And I think it is in the details of who and how and when, that I have some questions about, particularly thinking about our populations that are perhaps more marginalized, um, that perhaps don't have access, don't have time or working jobs where the, the timelines of things make it a little more difficult. And I, I will share the quickest anecdote. So I was at my parents on Saturday in Chump Sword, which is a similar and different community than Melrose. But given the way the snow happened, we were there to celebrate my dad's 85th birthday, and somebody had already come to do their sidewalks and their driveway, but the, by the time we arrived, the sidewalks were kind of covered again, and it was a safety issue for them to leave their house. But it was also, if there were fines, like it's potential that my parents would've been one of those fines. So just kind of, I share that just as a what's on my mind in terms of making sure our streets, our sidewalks are safe for pedestrians, but also that we're really thinking about how people are impacted, um, and how we might educate the community. I know in my neighborhood in Ward one, if there is someone who is unable to do their sidewalks, neighbors generally take care of it. And so just thinking about all the different layers of how we approach this, um, with the same goal in mind. So just wanted to say that, and again, really appreciate you putting this forward, and I'm excited for the conversation and how we can all work together to figure out what really makes sense for the city.

▶ 33:21 Maya Jamaleddine: Councilor Ro

▶ 33:23 Speaker 4: I was basically have very similar, uh, sentiments. I think that this is a good start. I do have some comments. I don't actually have to get to it tonight, but, um, I just, overall, I wanna make sure that this is going to, um, help our community and not put a burden on them, um, and make sure it's just, it's laid out right? So we're, um, protecting people and making sure they're safe on the sidewalks versus, um, you know, making people feel like they're gonna be fine all the time. So, um, and I'm, I'm not saying that that's what you're going for, but, um, just wanna make sure we, we balance it. So, but thank you for putting it together's a start. Thank you.

▶ 34:02 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Councilor Ro, councilor Van Devin.

▶ 34:05 Kimberly Vandiver: Uh, given the discussion, uh, I'd like to motion to hold committee for further discussion.

▶ 34:11 Speaker 5: Second.

▶ 34:12 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. We have a motion, uh, made by council ver uh, seconded, uh, uh, by, uh, president Mcle on discussion. I would like to share that, you know, since this, uh, order had been proposed, ordinance had proposed, and I received a few calls from, uh, constituents and, um, you know, constituents may receive it differently based on their identity, based on their lived experiences, uh, and see it from different perspective. I do appreciate the way that this ordinance have been presented in a way, giving the opportunity for to hear, uh, from constituents and not rushing that order and give it time to discuss it and explore options that could be, could serve, um, the different populations in Melrose and explore, um, um, collaboration and partnership with different departments, whether DPW or, um, uh, the senior center or, um, other departments. So I do appreciate that, and I hope I do invite constituents to reach out and share their personal experiences and their thoughts, uh, so that we would be able to get to the right decision by the end of this or, uh, discussion. Thank you so much. If there is no other comments, uh, in discussion, Councillor Stewart?

▶ 35:34 Robb Stewart: Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, yeah, Madam Chair, just quickly, um, most people made the similar point that I wanted to make, but, uh, the two main concerns that I think we do need to get on the table and understand is equity and enforcement. Um, and I think those were brought up directly or indirectly by a number of the, the counselors, but, uh, I, I think we need to explore and come to, I think, uh, a common understanding of what that is. Thank you, madam.

▶ 36:01 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Mad thank you. Um, since we're, uh, we have, um, a decision to hold it, uh, in committee, um, all in favor, Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This order will be held in committee, uh, next on our agenda ID number 12 33 8, informational update to city council related to city code enforcement.