Health, Education & Welfare Committee — 2016-03-10
Attendance
Robert A. Boisselle ; Donald L. Conn Jr. ; Scott M. Forbes ; Gail Infurna ; Jennifer L. Lemmerman ; Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis ; Monica C. Medeiros ; Peter D. Mortimer ; John N. Tramontozzi ; Michael P. Zwirko
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Participation
- Orders
- ORDER-2016-115 : Authorization to Accept a Grant in the amount of $8,000.00 from the Massachusetts Associates of Health Boards in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and to Execute an Agreement with the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards/Massachusetts Department of Public Health
- ORDER-2016-118 : Donation from the Connor Trust Fund in the amount of $85,000 to fund a Feasibility Study for Renovations to the Melrose Public Library; said funds to be deposited into Fund No. 2886
- ORDER-2016-107 : Reappointment of Francisco Brincheiro, 276 Upham St., to the Board of Health for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2019.
- ORDER-2016-108 : Reappointment of Susan Worrall, 251 Upham St., to the Council on Aging for a three-year term, said term to expire on the last day of February 2019
- ORDER-2016-113 : Reappointment of Edward W. Waystack, III, 50 Glen Street, to serve as a Trustee of the Melrose Public Library for a three-year term, said term to expire the last day of February, 2019.
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE COMMITTEE CALENDAR● MARCH 10, 2016 Aldermanic Chamber Committee Meeting 7:30 PM The public should take notice that the Melrose Board of Aldermen may, on certain occasions, have a quorum in attendance due to standing committees of the Board of Aldermen consisting of both voting and non-voting members. Members attending this duly posted meeting are participating and deliberating only in conjunction with the business of the standing committee. Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Jennifer L. Lemmerman Chairman Present Robert A. Boisselle Vice Chairman Present Monica C. Medeiros Alderman at Large Present Gail M. Infurna Ward 5 Alderman Present Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis Alderman at Large Present Donald L. Conn Jr. President/Ex-Officio Member Present Scott M. Forbes Nonvoting Member Present Peter D. Mortimer Nonvoting Member Present John N. Tramontozzi Nonvoting Member Present Michael P. Zwirko Nonvoting Member Present In Attendance: City Planner Denise Gaffey, Library Director Linda C. W. Gardener
ORDER-2016-115 Grant Authorization to Accept a Grant in the amount of $8,000.00 from the Massachusetts Associates of Health Boards in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and to Execute an Agreement with the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards/Massachusetts Department of Public Health Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen
ORDER-2016-118 Donation Donation from the Connor Trust Fund in the amount of $85,000 to fund a Feasibility Study for Renovations to the Melrose Public Library; said funds to be deposited into Fund No. 2886 Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen
ORDER-2016-107 Appointment Reappointment of Francisco Brincheiro, 276 Upham St., to the Board of Health for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2019. Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen City of Melrose Page 1 Updated 3/16/2016 6:00 PM Minutes Health, Education & Welfare Committee March 10, 2016
ORDER-2016-108 Appointment Reappointment of Susan Worrall, 251 Upham St., to the Council on Aging for a three-year term, said term to expire on the last day of February 2019 Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen
ORDER-2016-113 Appointment Reappointment of Edward W. Waystack, III, 50 Glen Street, to serve as a Trustee of the Melrose Public Library for a three-year term, said term to expire the last day of February, 2019. Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen City of Melrose Page 2 Updated 3/16/2016 6:00 PM
Transcript
▶ 0:00 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Just no food. Good evening. The hour being 7.30. The Committee on Health, Education, and Welfare is called to order. I am the chair, Jennifer Lemmerman. We're joined tonight by Vice Chair Robert Boisselle. We also have committee members present, Ward 5, Alderman Gail Infurna, Alderman at Large, Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis. We have President Don Kahn also with us this evening. evening we have non-voting members alderman forbes alderman mortimer alderman tram and toesy and alderman's worko this meeting is being recorded and can be accessed on mmtv as well as on the city website is there a motion to open to public participation second we have a motion to open public participation by alderman Boisselle seconded by alderman inferna all in favor all right any
▶ 0:52 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: opposed we are now uh have the part of the meeting where any members of the public who would like to speak on any order before this committee can come forward are there any members of the public who would like to speak so you can then motion to close public participation second we have a motion to close public participation by alderman inferno second by alderman Boisselle all in favor aye aye any opposed public participation is now closed the first item on our agenda this evening is order number 2016-115 authorization authorization to accept a grant in the amount of eight thousand dollars from the massachusetts associates of health boards in partnership with the massachusetts department of public health and to execute an agreement with the massachusetts association of
▶ 1:34 Denise Gaffey: health boards massachusetts department of public health motion to suspend the rule so that we could hear from denise gaffey we have a motion to suspend the rules by alderman inferna seconded by Alderman Boisselle all in favor aye any opposed we are under suspension of the rules we have Ms. Gaffey to speak with us tonight thank you for being here oh you're welcome good evening I'm happy to be here I believe you have in front of you a copy of the award letter that we received for this grant award in the amount of eight thousand dollars and we saw an opportunity to apply for for a grant through the department of public health for healthy aging and healthy planning activities, and given where we are with our master planning process, it seemed
▶ 2:17 Denise Gaffey: like a great opportunity to expand the scope of our master plan to include considerations of healthy planning and healthy aging. In particular, it would allow us to do some very specific focus groups with our senior center population, our senior population, I should say. And so essentially this will augment the funding that we have and the services that we have through MAPC for our master plan effort. So we are in the midst of that right now. I know many of you have been actively involved in our process and are aware that we recently had a public forum that was very well attended and we got some great feedback. still on track to try to to progress with our master plan for completion this summer and this
▶ 3:09 Gail Infurna: funding will just help us make sure we're hearing from a broad range of voices and incorporate that that healthy element whether it be through zoning or other types of initiatives into our plan thank you motion to recommend the motion to recommend second seconded by alderman MacMaster margolis is Is there any discussion on the order? Alderman Inferna. Thank you very much. Thank you, Denise, for coming before us this evening. I was just looking at the letter regarding the grant, and there are, I believe, maybe, is this thing always goes too fast, maybe eight criteria, things to agree with, and are you in agreement with all those things that, you know, have to make a decision? Absolutely. Yeah, good, thank you very much.
▶ 3:56 Denise Gaffey: Thank you. also just want to mention we were joined as well by alderman medeiros who is a member of the committee any other questions or comments alderman thank you i just wondered um if this would help you sort of reach out to um i know you said the senior center but like reach out to others sort of like um health care providers or the hospital to collaborate on um healthy senior living that kind of thing yeah we were just talking about that this morning we had um our monthly master plan committee meeting and we were talking about various ways that we could do some outreach and we thought some targeted interviews um would be a great way to do that and i think um and not just not just in this healthy uh you know aging uh category but for some other categories as well
▶ 4:43 Monica C. Medeiros: but um absolutely i think that would we'll be able to do and sort of collaborating with the board of health and the mass and motion grant and all that sort of thing too exactly great good thank you thank you for pursuing it any final comments thanks I know I had been at one of the I think the open space meeting and there have been some discussion about you know maybe it might be nice to have benches or things along walking routes so that there were places say maybe for somebody who might need to take a break is that the kind of thing that we might see in come out of this so we might see consider we might see recommendations for for ideas that we could add to our you know site plan review for example if we're reviewing a
▶ 5:31 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: project and making sure there are amenities for for you know all populations but certainly amenities that foster sort of healthy living so that could be an example for sure thanks thank you thank you okay we have a motion made and seconded for to recommend for passage all in favor any opposed okay this motion this order will be recommended for passage at the next full board meeting you know the drill you won't have to be back for that okay thank you very much I think we're asking you to stay for the next order anyway probably so I'm just gonna make some room sure the next order on our agenda is order number 2016 that's 118 it's a donation from the Connor trust fund in amount of $85,000 to fund a feasibility study for renovations to the public
▶ 6:19 Denise Gaffey: Melrose Public Library said funds to be deposited into fund number 2886 thank you very much for also joining us partner from the library and we're still under suspension of rules would you like to give a opening statement on the well I'll start off just I've been working with Linda for several months now to sort of help with the effort to in pursuit of eventually a grant through the library Board of Trustees and and as part of that effort we are we are putting together a feasibility study that's sort of the first step in applying for the grant application and this funding would be the Melrose Board of Trustees have have voted to allocate this funding from their donation account to fund the architect and the project manager for this effort and it's
▶ 7:16 Denise Gaffey: a very this is a very finite process in the sense that we are hiring them to to complete a feasibility study and preliminary schematic drawings just in support of a grant application and then the grant application is due about January 1st I think of 2017 and from there we will you know we'll wait to whether we get a grant award and where we fall on the list and I think they'll obviously need to be some discussions in the future about about you know funding for for a project but right now we're really kind of this is really just an opportunity to sort of step back and see what the needs are and I know Linda can certainly speak better to that than I can but we we need this we need the funding to hire the professionals to help us put together that to that piece
▶ 8:05 sure when we did our last long-range plan for the library we got a lot of feedback not so much about the building but a lot of feedback about services that people are wanting whether it be through programming through increased quiet spaces through technology and what we found when we really looked at it was that we have a building that had its last partial renovation over 20 years ago and the addition that we have which was the previous major work done on the library was in 1963 so the the building itself is starting to not be flexible enough to allow us to provide the services that the community is wanting so we started to look into what our opportunities were as Denise mentioned there is a grant opportunity that's coming up and the mayor and the Board of
▶ 9:14 Trustees agreed that it's a good time to look at what our options are and do a feasibility study and see in this preliminary stage what they what they have to say about where our opportunities lie and an advantage of this grant process is that the trustees are funding this phase and should we ultimately receive a grant those funds we count eventually towards local funding responsibilities president Khan so what what is this funding the entire feasibility study or yes the entire study okay so only library trust funds have been going to be used for the feasibility study no city general funds that's correct in the feasibility study is there going to be a cost analysis in other words they're going to come up with suggestions and so forth but is
▶ 10:22 Robert A. Boisselle: there going to be a cost associated with that suggestion yeah and what is the I mean you know you mentioned services quiet space and technology so you're not looking to build out where they're upward at this point or is that part of the feasibility study to possible recommendation I mean it's a beautiful building the way you can see it now I hate to see a three-story building and that property also but is that the option that the that's open for them to talk about they will be presenting us us with any of what they think are the best options to meet our needs it should be noted that the library is on a National Historic Register so anything that was proposed would have to fit into I mean Are these the only guidelines you're giving them, services, quiet spaces and technology,
▶ 11:22 Robert A. Boisselle: or are you looking for space at this point to have the children on one side and the reading class on the other side? And are you looking for reorganization or manipulation of the bookshelves, or are you thinking of doing away with books and going with electronics? we're not doing away with books but we are looking for more flexibility and the we're asking them and in fact if we are going to apply for this grant we are required by the grant stipulations to ask them to look at the building top to bottom and really assess what would bring us forward through at least the next 20 years it's about we don't have to do it again thank you very much thank you thank you I'm just curious says probably miss Gaffey on this one if the
▶ 12:26 Monica C. Medeiros: city has ever considered sort of swapping out buildings or you know is that something that would ever be considered in such a feasibility study or would it just look at this property well as a matter of fact on the grant funding agency requires as part of the study that you do look you do an alternatives analysis so we will even though we don't think ultimately we would end up in a different location in a different building we we do need to study that so we will be doing that that will be part of the process and I just wanted to say to you and we all enjoy the library for many amenities that it includes and staff as well and just also point out like how valuable there's meeting space at the library and how valuable that is to the community which
▶ 13:11 Denise Gaffey: is kind of lacking in this free community meeting space so I I do hope that that is included and remains in whatever the new design schematic might possibly end up being yeah it certainly will be thank you thank you any other comments from members of the committee first thank you chairman so I just had a quick question with feasibility all the men boys all kind of alluded to this but will parking also be discussed yep parking is another and another very important factor to the grant funding agency so they we have to take into consideration what our optimal parking arrangement is based on our population and other factors like in proximity to transit and you know downtown and things of that nature so yes I appreciate that and also um I just wanted to mention
▶ 14:04 Michael P. Zwirko: that it is a carnegie library so that's something that uh where i grew up in western massachusetts we had a carnegie library as well so i know that it's you noted earlier that it's on the register in the historical register so hopefully uh you know the integrity will be kept of the building and i'm grateful that i live in a community now that also has a carnegie library so i just want to make that comment great any other questions or comments motion recommend second the motion to recommend from alderman MacMaster margola seconded by alderman inferna all those in favor aye any opposed okay that will be recommended to the full board for passage thank you thank you next up on our agenda we have order number 2016
▶ 14:46 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: dash 1 0 7 the reappointment of Francisco Bruncero 276 Upham Street to the Board of Health for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of February 2019 motion to recommend by Alderman Boisselle seconded by Alderman Inferna, all those in favor? Any discussion? All in favor? We do have a discussion. We have Alderman Mortimer. Just the point of information, well it's not really because I'm not asking a question. But just for the record, Dr. Branchero now lives on Geneva Street. So whoever's in charge of the Board of Health might want to notify them for his proper address. Thank you very much. We will get that changed. Any other discussion? All those in favor of the motion to recommend for passage? Aye.
▶ 15:36 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Any opposed? That will be recommended to the full board at our next meeting. The next order on our agenda, number four, is order number 2016-108, reappointment of Susan Worrell, 251 Upham Street, to the Council on Aging for a three-year term, said term to expire on the last day of February 2019. Motion to recommend. We have a motion to recommend by Alderman Boisselle. Second. seconded by alderman inferna any discussion all those in favor aye aye any opposed this will be recommended as well to the full board the final item on our agenda tonight is order number 2016-113 the reappointment of edward w waystack the third at 50 glen street to serve as a trustee of the melrose public library for a three-year term said term to expire the last day of february 2019.
▶ 16:27 Gail Infurna: motion to recommend we have a motion to recommend by alderman seconded by alderman MacMaster margolis is there any discussion on the order all those in favor aye aye any opposed this also will be recommended to the full board for passage do we have a motion to adjourn motion adjourned by alderman second by alderman Boisselle all in favor aye aye any opposed we are adjourned be at the At the hour of 746, public works will now commence. I'm Chairman Inferna, and voting members present this evening are Alderman Medeiros, Alderman McAteer-Margolis, Alderman Lemmerman, and Alderman Boisselle. And present also as non-voting members, we have President Kahn here this evening, and President Alderman Forbes, Alderman Mortimer, Alderman Tramontozzi, and Alderman Zwirko.