PUBLIC COMMENT

Transcript (~23 min @ 0:54)

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

▶ 0:52 Mark Garipay: to adjourn, uh, not to adjourn. (laughs) (laughs) I want to. I want to right now. I will entertain a motion to open the floor for public comment. So moved. Um, we have a motion to move. Second moved. We have a motion to open the floor for public comment by Council Williams, seconded by Council Vandiver. Um, on discussion, Madam Clerk, will you call the roll please?

▶ 1:12 Speaker 1: Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Y- yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Councilor Karamchandy? Councilor Obremski? Yes. Councilor Romanul?

▶ 1:27 Speaker 1: Uh, we could not hear him. Okay.

▶ 1:30 Speaker 2: Yes. Mute. You're on mute, I think. I'm mute. Sorry about that, guys. My fault. Still on mute. Still on mute. Yeah, I don't think he's

▶ 1:37 Speaker 1: in. He's unmuted, but he's- He's unmuted. I think it's our tech.

▶ 1:40 Speaker 3: I'm muted. Should I- Volume, maybe? ... continue? Volume meter. Yep. Can see it.

▶ 1:45 Speaker 1: This is the volume on mine, but I'm... No. Where he can see us, but not like s-

▶ 1:52 Speaker 1: So the volume is...

▶ 1:57 Speaker 1: I'm supposed to be muted.

▶ 2:01 Speaker 3: I can hear you, but he can't hear me.

▶ 2:03 Speaker 1: He can't hear anybody. So I just-

▶ 2:06 Cal Finocchiaro: He said, "I can't hear anybody. I can..."

▶ 2:09 Speaker 3: Hear him from the computer though.

▶ 2:11 Mark Garipay: Councilor Romanul, can you hear me?

▶ 2:14 Cal Finocchiaro: He can't hear us. He said...

▶ 2:19 Speaker 3: No. Does that work? There we go. We can hear you, yeah, from the computer speaker, right?

▶ 2:25 Ryan Williams: But the audience, can the audience hear him?

▶ 2:28 Mark Garipay: Should- Councilor Romanul, can you speak please?

▶ 2:31 Speaker 3: Yes. I can hear you loud and clear, but I don't think you can hear me. Oh, so he hears us, but we can't hear him. It's really soft from those speakers.

▶ 2:42 Speaker 2: You still, um...

▶ 2:45 Speaker 3: Can you... You just put me up to this, to one of the microphones. It's getting better. Yeah. It's get, going up.

▶ 2:51 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think-

▶ 2:52 Speaker 2: Test it one more time, Councilor Romanul.

▶ 2:54 Speaker 3: I think it's near the microphone. All right. Thank you for your flexibility today. I appreciate

▶ 3:01 Speaker 3: it. Say something again (echoes) . All right, I can, I can hear some feedback, but hopefully you can hear me now. That's pretty good. That's good.

▶ 3:17 Speaker 3: And for what it's worth, I'm a yes.

▶ 3:20 Speaker 2: Okay. You come forward. Come forward.

▶ 3:24 Speaker 1: Councilor Stewart.

▶ 3:29 Speaker 3: Councilor

▶ 3:33 Speaker 1: Vandiver?

▶ 3:35 Speaker 4: Here.

▶ 3:36 Speaker 3: She has to kill her mic. In the background. On her computer.

▶ 3:43 Speaker 1: MMTV is saying to shut the mic off. Councilor Williams? On her computer.

▶ 3:47 Speaker 3: Yes.

▶ 3:47 Speaker 1: Councilor Miglia- President Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Garipay?

▶ 3:54 Mark Garipay: Public comment is now open with, with... Just if you can give us one second. I'm gonna take a motion for recess for five minutes until we can figure this out, then we'll come back into public comment. So moved. I apologize- Second. ... for everyone that's here. We have a motion to recess by Councilor Williams, seconded by Council Vandiver. Um, Tania, can you take a roll call vote, please?

▶ 4:16 Speaker 5: Mm-hmm. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Council Obremski? Yes. Council Romanul?

▶ 4:26 Speaker 5: Council Stewart? Yes. Council Vandiver? Yes. Council Williams? Yes. Council Migliorelli? I mean, President Migliorelli? Uh, yes. Chair Garipay? Yes. Okay, motion passes.

▶ 4:38 Speaker 2: We are recessed. Are you ready?

▶ 4:44 Speaker 1: What's going on? Yes. (gavel bangs)

▶ 4:49 Mark Garipay: All right, we are back. I'm just gonna test it one more time. Councilor Romanul, can you hear us?

▶ 4:56 Speaker 3: I can hear you loud and clear. Can you hear me?

▶ 4:58 Mark Garipay: No. Okay, so no. Uh, so unfortunately, you're, uh, we're gonna-

▶ 5:02 Speaker 1: Say it again, please.

▶ 5:05 Speaker 3: Sorry for the hold up. I appreciate your flexibility here, but I can just sit...

▶ 5:10 Mark Garipay: Um, Councilor Romanul, unfortunately, um, we can't hear you loud enough on this end, so, um, we're not gonna be able to continue as a remote participant. So you're more than welcome to stay, stay on. Um, feel free to, if you have some questions, to email any of the other councilors that they can ask them for you. I think that's the best we can do at this moment. So we are open for public comment. Uh, if someone would like to speak regarding the order tonight, I welcome you. You

▶ 5:41 Speaker 3: just did. Oh, you already did that?

▶ 5:43 Speaker 2: Oh, I didn't hear it. Sorry. Um,

▶ 5:46 Mark Garipay: please come forward and, uh, give your name and, uh, where you live, and

▶ 5:53 Speaker 2: we will hear.

▶ 6:10 Speaker 4: If it's okay for the, uh, Council if the two of us constituents, uh, would like to present together, if that's okay?

▶ 6:16 Speaker 1: Sure.

▶ 6:20 Speaker 3: have

▶ 6:28 Mark Garipay: to say sure, I think that's There is a five-minute limit per, uh, per-

▶ 6:32 Speaker 2: ... um, presentation.

▶ 6:34 Speaker 4: My name is Martha Flores-Evencheck, and I reside on Granite Street in Melrose. I am a mother to a four-year-old boy and a ton, ten-month-old girl.

▶ 6:45 Speaker 5: My name is Billie Blome. I reside on Ashland Street and I have a three-month-old and a two-year-old and a four-year-old.

▶ 6:53 Speaker 4: We are here to provide some feedback and suggested space enhancements for the children's section at the Melrose Public Library. We're excited that the community has voted to provide additional program funding and support to the library with the most recent override, and that the mayor has allocated $10,000 for program support as well as $25,315 to restore Sunday library hours. With this renewed funding and focus on improvement, we felt that it was prudent to discuss gaps that we are currently noticing and ways to ensure that the Melrose Public Library is meeting the goals described in their strategic plan of fiscal year 2021 to 2026. We believe that the space can be transformed into an inspiring atmosphere for children between the ages of zero and five, and hope that we can provide some feedback based on our research and our experience. Currently, approximately 7% of the total Melrose population is under the age of five, per the most recent census data. For our library review, we visited and spoke to children's librarians from 14 neighboring libraries including, um, the M- North of Boston Library Exchange, which is our, our Noble Network, Merrimack Valley Library Consortium, and the Minuteman Library Network. During our time at these various libraries, we noted that many of these locations are, have engaging child spaces. They have multiple child-appropriate items for educational play, they have STEM kits, they have other interactive learning materials. Additionally, many of these locations provided literature for children in several different languages. They had donation bins to allow community members to directly support other community members in need, and oftentimes these are children. They also have murals and art installations that help perform, provide a platform for artists and can be enjoyed by all.

▶ 8:54 Speaker 5: As we know, children between the ages of zero and five learn best in an environment that supports their learning in regards to play associated with curiosity, problem-solving, creativity, and socialization. It is also the key age range to get children invested and engaged into reading, in reading, which further supports their development and progress as they age. Our library should strive to be the community hub that it was de- designed to be, and we believe that further investment in our early childhood population is crucial. We have provided some of the hard copies of a presentation showing what other neighboring libraries have to offer in comparison to what is currently available at the Melrose Public Library. We would appreciate support from the Melrose Public Library, this Council, and the town to advocate and ensure that the Melrose Public Library develops into a welcoming community space for young children and caregivers alike. We are excited to see that the library is asking for input about this currently, with a survey that was posted on Tuesday, and that some, this override budget could be utilized to support improving, uh, support improved programming. However, if the budget cannot support the current children's space, then consideration should be made to involve the community resources that are already available. Please support our youngest community members. Thank you.

▶ 10:15 Speaker 2: Thank you very much.

▶ 10:21 Mark Garipay: Anyone else looking to speak in the gallery?

▶ 10:25 Speaker 2: Please come forward.

▶ 10:43 Speaker 2: Hello. (clears throat) Excuse me. Joe Palrine, 70 Howard Street. Ah, I love

▶ 10:49 Speaker 2: sitting at this table, seeing you guys. I only have two things I wanna talk about this evening. The first is my passion for Melrose High School and the students. Right now, the middle school gym

▶ 11:08 Speaker 3: is lacking in school spirit. I had sent

▶ 11:13 Speaker 2: an email to Mr. Kelly and Mr. Fogarty, oh, I don't know, three or four months ago, on an old picture I had found of the scoreboard. And it used to have the big M with the feather catches and then "Go Red Raiders." Well, with the initiative three or four years ago to clean that whole thing up and get rid of the feather catches, all it got was a coat of paint. And there's nothing saying who we are when you walk into the gym. There, it, it should be blazing. You know, Melrose Redhawks, there should be the logo painted across the scoreboard and then in additional places in the gym. Also, when you walk into the middle school gym, over the hall of fame, there used to be a

▶ 12:11 Speaker 3: humongous M...... painted on that wall. I- It had to be 10 feet tall.

▶ 12:16 Speaker 2: And when that initiative to change over, even though that M didn't have any feather catches or anything, that got painted over also. And then, whoever was leading the charge, either the money was a problem for a can of paint or whatever. So, I see that there's a lot of money now for the school infrastructure to improve things. And so, I'm just asking that we can look into and spruce up the gym- (coughs)

▶ 12:50 Speaker 3: ... to let the kids have some spirit.

▶ 12:52 Speaker 2: And then my last thing, just curious, that's all, is for the public

▶ 13:00 Speaker 2: works. It says, "Restore the DPW summer work program, $131,000." Summer's gone, and it won't be back till next year when we're in fis- the next fiscal budget. So, I'm just curious where this money's going to go and how would it be used. I just, there's not enough kids in Melrose to hire who would actually want to work to spend that

▶ 13:32 Speaker 2: money. So, good to see you guys. Happy holidays. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Pelrhine.

▶ 13:40 Mark Garipay: Um, anyone else looking to speak?

▶ 13:50 Speaker 4: Good evening. Good evening. Lisa Matey Berjeron from 63 Howard Street. Um, I was first and foremost here because I was so excited to see the Howard Street speed tables in the supplemental budget appropriation that's been proposed. I had completely given up hope. And to see that put back in there when, um, my neighbors and I, including Joe Pelrhine and others that are here tonight, have, um, witnessed accident after accident at our corner. Um, just wanted to express my appreciation and hope for support from the city councilors and the mayor in, um, seeing that project get executed. Because when the temporary speed tables were there, it was incredibly helpful. And for the months since then, the crossing guard has been asking me repeatedly every week when she sees me walking the dogs, "Have you heard anything? When will they bring it back?" So, um, please, uh, if you can- Recording in progress. ... support that, it would be much needed by the community. Um, then my second thing that I wanted to speak to was that I was a very big and vocal supporter of the override effort. And, um, when I saw the supplemental budget in the packet for the, um, meeting tonight, I was taken aback. Because although I probably should have expected that when the amount for the override was passed at the highest level, and it was also predicated on inflation increasing our needs over the next five years. And that was intentional, so we wouldn't have to go back to the community next year when inflation ex- exceeds 2.5%. However, what that has, um, resulted in is that there is a surplus this year. And it's not a surplus in the real sense that we can't find things that are necessary to spend that money on, but I think that the public needs to understand where that money, why that money is there, which I, I'm guessing is somewhat in part attributable to the fact that it, we've already are halfway through the, the fiscal year. Um, and how that list came to pass in terms of deferred maintenance items, things that are one-time items that will save us money in the long term. Um, but it's, there, there's values that are attributable to each one of those things that different people in the community may want to see. M's in the gym. Other people in the community want, may want to see professional development for the teachers. I'm not trying to debate any s- particular one of those items, but if I was taken aback as someone who was very supportive of the override, I think many other people too may feel like they need that information to come along with the process. And I think people probably also would like a little bit more input on how those items are, um, voted on. And I realize, I'm not sure the process tonight in terms of how all those things are going to be decided, but, um, just some feedback to the city councilors. If I had this reaction, I think there's others who will have that reaction too. And I would much rather it be discussed beforehand than after the fact, you know, in the bars later, or, or we, you know, a year from now. "Well, we had all that money, w- you know, why did we need to do this?" So, please take that into your consideration this evening and in the weeks to come. Thank you.

▶ 17:33 Speaker 2: Thank you.

▶ 17:38 Mark Garipay: Anyone else in the gallery? Mr. McSween?

▶ 17:40 Speaker 3: Hi, everyone. I, too, enjoy this table. Um, Sid McSweeney. I'm here speaking on behalf of the Ped Bike Committee. A few comments, um, from us, obviously on the, um, appropriation tonight. The first, is from the committee, you know, thank you-... to everyone who advocated for the override. Um, our committee was heavily in favor. Um, we held events for it, we rallied for it, um, and we recognize that not only did the override result from the tremendous work of the campaign, but also from, you know, Mayor Grigoritis and her staff who have really been on, like, a two-year process to make this all as transparent as possible. But also to the Council, um, I think it was a huge deal that the Council presented such a united front on communicating to the city w- why this was needed. There are oftentimes many different opinions expressed around this table, as there should be, but when the community really needed it- needed it, you all, in our view, came together and made clear, unanimously, uh, why the community needs this. And we owe you a debt of gratitude for that. Um, our committee just wanted to highlight some of the items that we're really pleased to see funding restored for (clears throat) . The first is the parklet program. Um, we feel a certain type of way about the parklets, because, um, our committee, back in 2020, in coordination with a local architect named Emily Lambert, designed the parklets, and also, through volunteer hours, built it, uh, the- the first one. Um, we have such a wonderful downtown, um, but especially five years ago, six years ago, it was really lacking in public seating. And the parklet program, combined with the city's great work on Central Terrace, um, really gives us a nice base and a s- a nice foundation to start from. So, real- really pleased to see the parklets, um, returning downtown and we hope those can be made permanent going forwards. Um, we are also really pleased to see the Howard Street, um, traffic calming program being made permanent. Again, we would trace this back to 2020 COVID years, when our committee worked with the Planning Department and then Mayor Broder to apply for a Shared Streets and Spaces Grant. The city was really supportive of this idea of traffic calming, of neighborhood pilots that could get people out of their homes during COVID times and make their streets feel safer. I think that we've seen this program be really successful, um, and we're so thrilled to see one of these pilots, um, you know, come to fruition and- and be made permanent, so we're- we're over the moon about that. Um, DPW staffing restoration is a big one for us. We put that in all of our override support materials. We know that, uh, the city needs resources to help protect the walkability of Melrose. We need engineers, we need DPW staff, um, uh, we're- we're really heavily in favor of bolstering the levels of the Public Works Department, um, through the budget, and we're pleased to see that the mayor, um, is committed to that as well. And finally, trees. Uh, you know, we see a line item for an appropriation for trees. It's a really, really, really underrated component of a walkable city, is the amount of shade we have, um, and can offer our community, in addition to the obvious beautification benefits, um, we've been lacking in, uh, consistent funding for street trees forever, essentially, um, and we hope this is the start of a permanent line item in the budget. Um, one area where I'd say we're disappointed to see no mention of it, although maybe, um, it's gonna come back is the actual funding for the traffic calming pilot program, which, in our perspective, has been extremely popular with residents. Um, demand very much outpaces supply, um, that program did not appear this year. We understand it was eliminated because of the budget shortages, um, and so we would advocate for it to be restored in the future due to its popularity, and due to the fact that it's now paying dividends. Um, as the other speakers mentioned, the Howard Street, uh, Project directly arose from that traffic calming pilot program. So we know that this can be valuable for the city. Um, especially since so many of you understand that, uh, unsafe driver behavior is, like, the number one thing that gets complained about, I've heard it said around this table, possibly the number one public safety issue in the city that people really feel, um, in their- in their day-to-day. Um, we all know, we've heard it a million times before, that, um, the city's budget reflects its priorities, and again, the committee is really thankful, um, to the voters and to all the campaigners, um, and to all the city staff and the councilors who helped to restore some of, you know, what makes Melrose really special into the budget. Um, and we know that part of the reason the override succeeded is because of the effort all of you have done in making (sniffs) the city's finances really transparent. Um, anyone can come to any of the meetings and see where every last dollar goes, um, so let's- let's not forget that as we move forward. This wasn't just about priorities but it was about how you all have handled the last two years in really making sure the community understands how those dollars impact them. So, you know, going forward, let's not just count the number of trees we plant every year, let's measure the amount of shade we produce. Let's not just count the number of our RFBs we throw on the streets, let's count the number of safer crossings we enable. Let's not just count the road miles we pave, let's measure the, uh, trips we enable and make safer. Um, thank you all for your efforts, uh, and we can't wait to work alongside you all, uh, to continue to protect what makes this city special.

▶ 23:46 Speaker 2: Thank you.

▶ 23:50 Mark Garipay: Anyone else looking to speak in the gallery?

▶ 23:55 Mark Garipay: I see no one in the gallery, is there anyone online looking to speak?

▶ 23:58 Speaker 1: There's no one online.

▶ 23:59 Mark Garipay: Okay. Um, all right, we're changing ... Since Mr., uh, since Councilor Romanul not,