Legal & Legislative Committee — 2017-05-04
Attendance
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 ; Francis X. Wright Jr. ; Michael P. Zwirko
Agenda
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE LEGAL & LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE CALENDAR● MAY 4, 2017 Aldermanic Chamber, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:40 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 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 John N. Tramontozzi Chairman Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Vice Chairman Absent Peter D. Mortimer Ward 6 Alderman Present Scott M. Forbes Ward 7 Alderman Present Michael P. Zwirko Alderman at Large Present Donald L. Conn Jr. President/Ex-officio Member Present Gail M. Infurna Nonvoting Member Present Jennifer L. Lemmerman Nonvoting Member Present Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis Nonvoting Member Present Monica C. Medeiros Nonvoting Member Present
ORDER-2017-136 Amending Revised Ordinances Amending Melrose Revised Ordinances, Chapter 228 WATER AND SEWERS, Article II: Water - Section 228-15 B by inserting the sentence "The committee shall hold at least one meeting per year after 6:00 pm." as set forth herein. Rec as Amended by Substitution Board of Aldermen City of Melrose Page 1 Updated 5/5/2017 12:04 PM
Transcript
▶ 23:03 John N. Tramontozzi: This is the Legal and Legislative Committee, the City of Murrow's Board of Aldermen. I entertain them. Just for the record, this hearing, this committee meeting is being recorded. pursuant to the message Commonwealth of Massachusetts open meeting law. Motion to open the floor for public participation. Second. So we have a motion by Alderman Forbes, seconded by Alderman Zwirko, a motion to open the floor for public participation. Anybody in the public who wishes to come forward? We see a gentleman coming forward. Sit at the table, state your name, address, and proceed to speak. hi my name is Jerry Moroz I live on Mount Vernon Street 62 I'm here to comment about the order and I don't know if I have the number one to 2017 dash
▶ 23:59 136 thank you that Alderman Medeiros filed I applaud the intent of this order is to be able to have the public be able to attend meetings that are relevant for and i appreciate it very much um i'm sure you're going to get some feedback that you know for the the all the large number of city staff on the water and sewer committee that they're not going to be as happy about coming at night for a meeting and that's typically probably why they do them during the day all the time now um you know i think the obvious solution to that is probably to remove some of the city staff off of the water and sewer committee and and maybe have some of the members of the public on there and perhaps someone could propose an amendment to that effect
▶ 24:39 possibly one related thing that I I'd like to raise while you're looking at rules like this is I do try to attend a number of different meetings of the city and it's very common that not only sometimes they're at an odd time or a time of the day that there's a meeting people might like to attend and that aren't accessible that way but additionally to that is that well i want to say by good example the board of alderman meetings are always posted well in advance as to when the meeting date and time will be even if the agenda isn't there you know when there's going to be a meeting you can rely on it you can know to plan your calendar around that date and time you know the earlier the agenda would get up there even if it's revised later would be better so people would know what
▶ 25:29 the topics are i do see that a lot of meetings like the water and sewer committee meetings which i've tried to attend in a number of occasions um they're often posted you know two days and two hours before the meeting you know they beat the statutory time by a couple hours and and not even to know when the meeting's going to be and to have me constantly you know if you don't look at the calendar for two days you can miss a meeting so i'd appreciate it somehow in the process not only when the meeting is but that meetings are published well in advance number one and number two with water and sewer committee meeting i can probably count three or maybe four times in the last few years that there's been a meeting scheduled and i've either found out
▶ 26:12 when i get there that it wasn't happening or i found out the night before because somebody mentioned at a board of alderman meeting that the meeting wasn't happening the next morning and and although it may seem small and insignificant and in any individual time in fact i've overlooked every one of them in some level but in the aggregate it's another burden of the public against the public to have to go through to engage in the process in the city and so while you're looking at these meeting time issues the meeting you know certainly the access to the meeting is limited when the meetings aren't published and when you know when you do plan your calendar around a certain date and time so that you know that time of the day i'm going to be there at 10
▶ 26:56 o'clock in the morning for a meeting and then it doesn't happen and then the meeting happens a different time that now i don't have because i re-arranged my calendar that is an issue but again i i thank you for filing this order i think it's a it's a good step and i and i do wonder if you can't have some amendments that would allow more public on the committee to meet at night and and maybe less of the staff that aren't so needed on that committee as a policy setting body thank Thank you. Thank you. Any further members of the public who wish to come forward? Motion to close public participation, Mr. Chairman. Second. Thank you. Seeing none, we have a motion to close public participation by Alderman Forbes, seconded by Alderman Mortimer.
▶ 27:33 John N. Tramontozzi: All in favor? Aye. Opposing none, public participation is now closed. We have one order on the agenda and I'll read that. That's order 2017-136. Amending Melrose Revised Ordinances, Chapter 228, Water and Sewer, Article 2, Water, section 228-15. By inserting the sentence, the committee shall hold at least one meeting per year after 6 PM. I'll step forth herein. Motion to recommend for passage. There's a motion to recommend by Alderman Mortimer, seconded by. Second. Seconded by Alderman Forbes on discussion. Does anybody wish to be heard? Alderman Forbes. Yes, thank you Mr. Chairman. I agree with some of the comments, or most of the comments that Mr. Moreau said. Especially during rate setting purposes, it is hard for people from the public that work 9 to 5 to come in for a 3 o'clock meeting.
▶ 28:30 Scott M. Forbes: Prior to that, or a 3.30 meeting prior to that, they were at 9.30 in the morning. So it's definitely during rate setting purposes that people want to be able to get here after work. recommend that you know we would have one there and then also perhaps even one in the fall moving forward so we could talk about the capital improvement projects that have been made in the city and allow the public to come in and in and gain that information or voice their opinion uh things that we're doing that that they find favorable or perhaps things that we're doing that they may find unfavorable but it the order makes too much sense uh i i support it fully and and i yield thank you very good any further discussion alderman's workout thank you mr chairman i would
▶ 29:12 Michael P. Zwirko: also like to point out that i think this is some good issue spotting by alderman medeiros and i appreciate the work that you did on this order to add the language um as someone who works in downtown boston and i know other folks are commuters we are a bedroom community here i was actually hopeful that i was going to be able to make an amendment to increase the time from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. only to the benefit of folks who do have difficulty coming home maybe an extra hour would allow them maybe dinner with their families and they could attend the meeting a little bit later in the evening generally speaking for myself meetings that begin anytime before 630 are very difficult for me to get to here in the city of Melrose as I do work in downtown Boston
▶ 29:53 Peter D. Mortimer: so while I do appreciate the language and again the ability to spot this issue and be responsive to the public outcry I would just ask that we could amend this by one hour I do understand that there's a motion on the floor so I would respectfully ask my colleague to withdraw the motion if possible so I could make the amendment any further discussion all them in that morning I'm sorry you're right I I'm inclined to think just think about it for a second But I'm inclined to exceed to your request, Alderman's work, or just for the purpose of discussion. I was thinking, my comments were going to be that perhaps that six o'clock meeting that we were going to have could even be on a night when some of the people who work for the city and
▶ 30:48 Peter D. Mortimer: around the water commission could be on the same night when we're having a budget meeting for them. So it may fly in the face of your idea, which is a good one. And the purpose of this order, to give all due credit to Alderman Medeiros is excellent, that people can't come home. Alderman Forbes said it's a great way to increase the transparency and the participation of the public. I was looking for some middle ground where if we did have the 6 or 6.30, and then we were to start our meetings at 7.30, it might be something where the people who work for the city, if they're sticking around anyway, which a lot of them do on the nights when their department has to come before us for budget meetings or orders, transfers, or appropriation.
▶ 31:35 Peter D. Mortimer: They stay around in their office, they catch up on paperwork, and They then come in and discuss with us, but if they had the water and sewer commission meeting on that same night, it wouldn't mean that they had to go home and come all the way back. But that notwithstanding, I understand your point. It's a good one, and so for the purpose of the discussion, so we don't move forward, I will withdraw my motion. I think it was Alderman Forbes who- I withdraw my second. We seconded it, so we can proceed with, and you can make your motion for amendment, sir. Greatly appreciate that. So at this point, we have the original motion and the second have been withdrawn. Any further discussions? So there is a motion to amend
▶ 32:24 John N. Tramontozzi: that language to be the committee shall hold at least one meeting per year after 7 PM? Correct. All right, so change six to seven. Is there a second on that motion? I'll second that motion. I'll second it by Alderman Forbes. Further discussion? President Klein. People who work for the city and who are department heads know that part of their job responsibilities are to come to night meetings. Everybody knows it. Everybody who has to come to night meetings who's employed by the city understands that. They know it going in when they take the job. I do a lot of work in other municipalities and I go to a lot of night meetings. It's part of what you do. And meetings should be calculated to be held at times
▶ 33:11 Monica C. Medeiros: when members of the public can't attend. Thank you, President Clark, Alderman Medeiros, yes. Thank you, thank you, Chairman Tramontozzi. As I'm not a voting member of this committee, I appreciate the members who have brought this forward and I appreciate Alderman Search recommendation to change the time to seven. certainly definitely amenable to that 7 p.m. is a time that's much more accessible to me personally and and to many commuters and you know whether this moves forward with 7 p.m. or 6 p.m. the committee could still choose to meet after you know at 7 or later after 6 but I would certainly be happy to see that move forward and you know it brought this forward in an effort to I'd like to
▶ 34:00 Monica C. Medeiros: the committee have more than one meeting per year in the evening but at least um you know as there i have found it at sometimes attending water and sewer committee meetings during the day that does sometimes offer different people to be able to attend the meeting so i didn't want to flat out say it should always meet after 6 p.m thank you you're welcome very good any further have a discussion, so let's have a vote first on the amendment to change the hour from 6 to 7 PM. All in favor of that motion? Aye. Aye. On the committee, any opposed? Seeing none, so that motion is passed, and so now we have a motion to recommend as amended. Motion to recommend for passage as amended, Mr. Chairman. Second the motion.
▶ 34:50 John N. Tramontozzi: So we have a motion to recommend as amended for passage by Alderman Mortimer, seconded by Alderman Forbes. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Great, no. This order will be recommended to the full board, which will be when the full board meets next. So, thank you. Motion to adjourn. We have a motion to adjourn by Alderman Forbes, seconded by Alderman Mortimer. On the motion, all in favor? Aye. Opposing, none. We are adjourned. Thank you.