Public Comment

Transcript (~8 min @ 16:01)

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

▶ 15:43 Leila Migliorelli: Good evening. The time is 7:33 PM on Thursday, August 31st, 2023. This is a meeting of the Appropriations and Oversight Committee. I am chairwoman Lila Elli. Also, joining me tonight are counselors, Ella Eccles, GEPE, McMaster, Reky, Stewart, and Williams. This serves as a notice of a quorum for the record in accordance with Open Meeting Law. This meeting is being recorded and broadcast live on M M T V. Now I will motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objection, we are now open for public comment. This is the portion of the meeting where anyone can speak on any item on our agenda tonight. Um, just please go ahead and you can approach the table, um, with any comments.

▶ 16:34 Leila Migliorelli: Alright. No one here in person to All right.

▶ 16:39 Speaker 4: Anyone online?

▶ 16:41 Speaker 1: There are no participants online at this time.

▶ 16:43 Leila Migliorelli: Okay. And we did have a letter, um, or an email from a resident, uh, wishing their letter to be read aloud.

▶ 16:52 Speaker 1: Dear Chairperson Elli and distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Corey Thomas, and I'm a lifelong resident, uh, citizen of Melrose. I have been very fortunate to live and work in this wonderful community. I've also had the privilege to know so many of Melrose civil servants in the police department and the Melrose Fire Department. So many of our civil servants live in Melrose and have chosen to raise their fam families in Melrose. Our civil servants are our neighbors. Our friends, their children attend school with our children, and they coach our sons and daughters in youth sports. For all our civil servants have done for our community, our city has turned its backs on the basic needs of our civil servants. They deserve better, and they need new public safety buildings to call the conditions of the police station on West Foster Street and Fire Headquarters. Deplorable would be an understatement. Full disclosure, I was a member of the Public Safety Building Committee for six months before I was forced to resign from that committee. During that time, I had the opportunity to view Melrose Fire Headquarters and the Melrose Police Station. In the current condition of Melrose, public Safety buildings are appalling. Our civil servants are going above and beyond in their day-to-day jobs of protecting our community. Despite their buildings working against them, the building conditions are a detriment to their jobs. The buildings are woefully outdated in all techno technological areas. The living and locker rooms spaces lack any semblance of diversity. And our female fighters currently have to change beyond a, behind a temporary wall with little to no privacy Fire headquarters, and especially the Melrose Police Station are no in no way compliant with AM American With Disabilities Act. I'm employed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, executive Office of Health and Human Services as a logistics manager. Part of my duties include ensuring state buildings are a d a compliant. In my professional opinion, our two main public safety buildings are two of the biggest violators of the Americans With Disabilities Act I've ever seen. Having three open and and fully functioning fire stations in Melrose is, is of utmost importance. Studies have been done in years past, speaking to the need of such densely populated city needing three fire stations. I will share my own experience as to the benefits of having three operational fire stations. On the evening of June 7th, 2022, I was coaching baseball at more field in Melrose, something I had done in Melrose, a thousand ti times previously. But this was no ordinary night. And in the span of a few mo moments, my life changed drastically. And I realistically almost, and realistically almost ended halfway through this baseball game. I began having difficulty with my balance and speech. I didn't know it, but these were the first signs I was having a hemorrhagic hemorrhagic stroke. One of the ways to identify if someone's having a stroke is the acronym. B fast time was at the essence, and I was unaware for a, for a few scary moments. I was losing control of my body. Nobody knew what was going on with me, just that things were not normal and not okay. Luckily, I was at a crowded baseball field with many friends and neighbors. Andrea gpe, an off-duty nurse in the stands, noticed my behavior and quickly called 9 1 1. Andrea then came down to the field and told me I was having a stroke. And that 9 1 1 had been called less than 15 minutes, had passed before my first signs of stroke appeared. Melrose Rescue Rescue had already arrived at Morrell Field and longtime friend and Melrose firefighter, Lieutenant Jay Mar. Marla quickly came to my aid and loaded me into the ambulance, rushing me to the Melrose Wakefield Hospital. The quick thinking of Ms. Repe and the Swift response to the Melrose Fire definitely had a positive effect on my long-term quality of life. And as scary as it is to think about it, they most likely saved my life. I am forever grateful to those who helped me that June night and the weeks and months to follow. And I will never forget the wonderful care I received from the Swift Acting Melrose Fire Department. As a community, we owe new public safety buildings to those brave and, uh, brave men and women who ensure our safety day in and day out. Respectfully. Cory Thomas Melrose, mass.

▶ 21:22 Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Overcoming, uh, yes, Pablo Common's. Still open?

▶ 21:26 Speaker 2: I was a little slow getting outta my chair. Sorry. Um,

▶ 21:31 Speaker 2: good evening, members of the City Council. Um, my name is Chris Sullivan and live at, uh, 49 East Wyoming Avenue. I'm here to speak in support of this appropriations bill. I think that our city core services of police and fire are essential for, um, the protection of our property, and more importantly, for ourselves and our family. The three different buildings that are at least currently under consideration should be renovated, um, or if necessary replaced. I would say the one closest to us here at the Central Fire Station. I would like to see, uh, renovated if possible, because it's an historic structure. I'm not a contractor. I don't know what it's gonna cost in terms of demolition versus renovation, but I'd like to take that into consideration, and maybe that's a discussion for another night. I did want to close with this. Um, is that when I first came here to Melrose, about 25 years ago, I was with my wife, and it was Christmas, one of our first ones. And my children were, uh, one years old and three years old, and we were in our house. We went to sleep, and it was about three in the morning. We got woken up and there was smoke. And our, our fire alarms went off, and the Melrose Police and Fire Department came and they took us outside. It was, uh, sub-zero temperatures were outside in the sidewalk. And the care which they, they took particularly with my two, uh, children, was pretty phenomenal. Um, and I was sitting back in, in the backseat of, of the cruiser with, um, my children. And by the way, I just wanna say for the record, it's the only time I've been in the backseat of a cruiser, Mr. McMaster McMaster's here, and I think he's a former police that's want officer. Wanted to make that clear. But, um, all kidding aside, it was, it was a pretty, it was a shock. Um, and luckily the fire was in the basement. It was small, it completely tko oed, um, our oil burner, minimal, uh, smoke damage. So we were lucky. But, um, you know, I really, uh, appreciated what the, uh, police and fire department did. Um, I don't even know if those officers are still even around now, 25 years from now. But, um, I'm, I'm certainly grateful to 'em, their professionalism, their efficiency, putting that fire out on top of it quickly. So I think we should do everything we could to, uh, support them. Thank you.

▶ 23:52 Speaker 4: Thank you. Anyone else?

▶ 23:59 Leila Migliorelli: Okay. I will motion, um, by unanimous consent to close public comment. If there's no objection now, uh, public comment is now closed. Since we have members of the administration here tonight to speak on the items before us, I'd like to motion by unanimous consent topen suspend Rule 37 B before we proceed. Seeing no objection, rule 37 B is now suspended. First on our agenda tonight is appropriation 2024 dash three and appropriation from Capital Stabilization Fund 8 4 0 5 to D P W Parks Department 4, 7 5 in the amount of $36,795 to replace the existing fence at Fred Greenfield. Um, tonight we have Joan Bell here to, uh, speak on this order and answer any questions from the committee. Thank you.