GRANT-2023-13 : Acceptance of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Municipal Assistance Coordinator Host Grant

Transcript (~7 min @ 1:54:18)

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▶ 1:54:16 Leila Migliorelli: That will be brought to the full council with recommendation for passage. Next is Grant 20 dash 2023 dash 13 Acceptance of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, municipal Assistance Coordinator. Host Grant?

▶ 1:54:31 Speaker 11: Yes. Uh, in partnership with the, uh, department of, uh, environmental Protection, uh, they have a position called the Municipal Assistance Coordinator, where the City of Melrose has access to this person as really a conduit between the city and d e p. They help with identifying grants, uh, waistbands, anything that has to do with, uh, the assistance with our solid waste and recycling stream. D e P contacted the city of Melrose because they were in need of a host community, really a place for that person to sit. And with this grant, it is a fully reimbursable grant. It is not an additional position for the Department of Public Works. It is a contracted position. We'll be paying this person as a contractor fully reimbursable by D E P and the benefit to the city, not only in dollars and cents of a $10,000 stipend for hosting this person and giving that person a place to sit. We gain the access, direct access, uh, to not only the Municipal Assistance coordinator, but also to DEP and everything that comes with that base of knowledge, uh, the inside and outside of, uh, the sustainability community. And we think that this is a tremendous opportunity and a worthy investment for the person that we have in place as our environmental coordinator. And, uh, feel as if this is really a no-brainer to host this position and to have this type of access at zero costs and with a benefit of a $10,000 stipend that we can supplement our, uh, and our, uh, sanitation department budget. So we respectfully ask you consideration acceptance of the grant.

▶ 1:56:13 Speaker 4: Thank you. Questions, counselor Stewart?

▶ 1:56:15 Robb Stewart: Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. This sounds a very interesting, I'm exciting. Um, what do you anticipate this person will be focused on within the constraints of, of Melrose Sanitation?

▶ 1:56:29 Speaker 11: Yeah, so I, I mean, I think that they're gonna be focused on every aspect of the sanitation specific to Melrose. It's gonna be, uh, very similar to the, uh, things that are important to every community within the, within the Commonwealth. Whether it's diversion, whether it's, uh, waistbands, whether it's available grants, uh, you know, we, we just came through a contract, uh, uh, workshop. So anything that involves a sustainability, this person is really D p's uh, point of contact to get that information out to the cities. So to have that person sitting right with us and to have, like I said, a person who is interested in, uh, you know, melrose's vested stake in that, I think that it's just a, a valuable partnership to, to entertain right now.

▶ 1:57:15 Robb Stewart: Great. And, and who would they be working with slash four?

▶ 1:57:20 Speaker 11: So they, they work for dep. They are a D E P employee. How they get paid is obviously through this reimbursable grant and we're paying them as a contractor. Uh, so they would be sitting in, uh, at the D B W City Yard. We're establishing a place for them to sit right now and then working out all the particulars for, uh, to, to host their equipment and allow them to work, uh, out of the D P W City yard. So, uh, they would be working for the D E P and be located at, at the city yard. Mm-hmm.

▶ 1:57:50 Robb Stewart: Okay. The LA and the last question, the expected outcomes of this individual, like I assume they're here for finite term, so,

▶ 1:57:59 Speaker 11: Yeah. So, uh,

▶ 1:58:00 Speaker 6: What's a deliverable? You know? Yeah.

▶ 1:58:02 Speaker 11: So the deliverable here is, again, I think what we get out of this is just the direct access, uh, the deliverables. Really a lot of that comes from what we, uh, look to gain out of the access to that position. So, uh, all of the resources that are available through d e p, we would have to go and get anyways. Now I believe that we have kind of an inside track and maybe something that we might not have considered before we have that person to help and identify those sources of, of, uh, of opportunities.

▶ 1:58:33 Robb Stewart: Great. Great. Sounds exciting. Thank you Madam Chair.

▶ 1:58:36 Speaker 4: Councilor Garipay?

▶ 1:58:37 Speaker 3: Yes. Uh, thank you. Um,

▶ 1:58:41 Mark Garipay: it's a D E P hire. We're not involved in any of the hiring. They're just gonna send Okay. Correct. Um,

▶ 1:58:46 Speaker 1: The position's already filled. Okay. The, the employee was sitting, I believe in Beverly for the last eight years or something, but they, um, reorganized their town hall or wherever she had been sitting and they didn't have a spot for her anymore. Okay.

▶ 1:59:00 Mark Garipay: And how many communities do they work with? I

▶ 1:59:02 Speaker 1: Believe it's 30,

▶ 1:59:04 Speaker 11: Correct. Okay. Yeah. I believe that we're region two and there are approximately 30 communities.

▶ 1:59:11 Mark Garipay: And, um, how long is this grant, um, been going on? Is this, is this an, I mean No, it's, I mean, it was, this person's already employed, right? So Correct. Have we, I guess two questions. Have we taken advantage of this before with them and, uh, for, for, um, and what, um, I guess have we taken advantage of the, of their, uh, of this before? So

▶ 1:59:35 Speaker 1: They have this impression, they have one coordinator per region, and that coordinator sits wherever they can find a, a host community for them. So because this woman has had a host community for the last several years, we've never had the opportunity to take advantage. Now suddenly she doesn't have a community to go to. And, uh, our environmental coordinator saw a big benefit. She knows her and has interacted at several dep led, um, seminars and such, and feels that, that this person is a great resource when she has questions about, you know, waste diversion DEP grants. So now rather than having to call her and track her down, she'll be sitting at a desk right next to her. Um, typically they're only in the office a couple days a week, so she's not gonna be there 40 hours sitting at D P W. She's also gonna be out in other communities assisting them with various things. But when Alison has a question about a grant application, she's working on, this DEP employee is now gonna be sitting right next to her to serve as a resource.

▶ 2:00:42 Mark Garipay: Sounds like this position's gonna be a benefit to the D P W. Um, it's a three year, it's a three year, uh, grant with an additional three years I read. Did they ever extend it beyond that or did they move to a different host community or,

▶ 2:00:58 Speaker 11: Yeah, they would go through the same application process. So, uh, I'm sure that, uh, in six years we'll probably be applying for this again. Okay.

▶ 2:01:07 Speaker 3: Great. Thank you.

▶ 2:01:12 Speaker 4: Anyone else? What is the will of the committee? Motion

▶ 2:01:14 Speaker 1: To recommend? Second.

▶ 2:01:15 Leila Migliorelli: Second, Uh, motion to recommend made by President Greg Greg seconded by Counselor Carm Shady. Anyone on discussion? Mr. Clerk, will you please call the roll

▶ 2:01:25 Speaker 3: Vice chair Aldine? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Council sin? Yes. Council Eccles? Yes. Council Gepe? Yes. Council Stewart? Yes. Council Carcetti? Yes. President Greggo? Yes. And Chair Elli? Yes. That's nine. Yes. Unanim That motion, um,