City Council — 2018-04-23

City Council Regular Meeting

Attendance

Manisha Bewtra present · Alderman at Large; Robert A. Boisselle present · Ward 4 Alderman; Scott M. Forbes present · Ward 7 Alderman; Jennifer L. Lemmerman present · Ward 2 Alderman; Kate Lipper-Garabedian absent · Alderman at Large; Shawn M. MacMaster present · Ward 5 Alderman; Monica C. Medeiros present · Alderman at Large; Peter D. Mortimer present · Ward 6 Alderman; John N. Tramontozzi absent · Ward 1 Alderman; Francis X. Wright Jr. present · Ward 3 Alderman; Michael P. Zwirko present · President, Alderman at Large

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BULLETIN● APRIL 23, 2018 Aldermanic Chamber, Melrose City Hall Regular Meeting 7:45 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176

ORDER-2018-158 Opening Statement Regular Meeting of the Board of Aldermen to be held on Monday, April 23, 2018 at 7:45 P.M. In The Aldermanic Chamber, City Hall, Melrose, MA No Action Taken Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Manisha Bewtra Alderman at Large Present Robert A. Boisselle Ward 4 Alderman Present Scott M. Forbes Ward 7 Alderman Present Jennifer L. Lemmerman Ward 2 Alderman Present Kate Lipper-Garabedian Alderman at Large Absent Shawn M. MacMaster Ward 5 Alderman Present Monica C. Medeiros Alderman at Large Present Peter D. Mortimer Ward 6 Alderman Present John N. Tramontozzi Ward 1 Alderman Absent Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Present Michael P. Zwirko President, Alderman at Large Present

ORDER-2018-159 Appointment Appointment of Kristyn Bunce DeFilipp, 22 Lynn Fells Parkway, to the Melrose Commission on Women for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2021. Assigned to Committee Health, Education & Welfare Committee

ORDER-2018-160 Appointment Appointment of Rilda Kissel, 3 Cottage Street, Melrose to the Melrose Commission on Women for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2021. Assigned to Committee Health, Education & Welfare Committee

ORDER-2018-161 Authorization City of Melrose Page 1 5/23/2018 11:23 AM Minutes Board of Aldermen April 23, 2018 Approval of the proposed Municipal Aggregation Plan and authorization of the Mayor to execute and submit the plan to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities for review and approval. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2018-162 Grant Acceptance of the FY 18 Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Enforcement and Equipment Grant in the amount of $5,502.81 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of Public Safety and Security's Highway Safety Division; said funds to be deposited in Fund # 4005 Assigned to Committee Protection and License Committee

ORDER-2018-163 Donation Acceptance of Donate Life Melrose donation in the amount of $10,000.00. Said funds to be deposited in Fund #2892 Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2018-153 Utility Petition Petition of National Grid and Verizon New England, Inc to relocate one jointly owned pole on Prospect Street; relocate existing pole #3426 approximately 15 feet to the west, per customer request, near 26 Prospect Street, Melrose, MA in accordance with Plan marked : Prospect St, Work Request #25817223, dated 2/26/2018 Tabled

ORDER-2018-164 Resolution Resolution Supporting an Alcohol Advertisement-Free Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Passed as Amended

ORDER-2018-165 Resolution A Resolution honoring Mary-Rita O’Shea and her nearly 40 years of service to the City of Melrose. Placed on File

ORDER-2018-156 Appointment City of Melrose Page 2 5/23/2018 11:23 AM Minutes Board of Aldermen April 23, 2018 Appointment of Fire Capt. Ed Collina to Chief of the Melrose Fire Department, effective April 27, 2018 Passed

ORDER-2018-157 Appointment Reappointment of Mark J. Snider, 103 Boardman Ave., as Constable for a three- year term; said term to expire on the first Monday of April 2021 Passed City of Melrose Page 3 5/23/2018 11:23 AM

Transcript

▶ 0:02 Michael P. Zwirko: Good evening. This is the regularly scheduled Board of Aldermen meeting for the City of Melrose. Today is Monday, April 23rd, 2018. This meeting is being recorded pursuant to the open meeting laws and it can be viewed at mmtv.3.org online or on your public access cable channel. It's time to ask the Clerk to please call the roll. Alderman Butcher? Here. Alderman Boisselle? Here. Alderman Forbes? Here. Alderman Lemmerman? Here. Alderman Whitford-Garabedian, Alderman McMaster. Here. Here. Alderman Medeiros. Here. Here. Alderman Mortimer. Here. Here. Alderman Tramontozzi. Alderman Wright. Here. Here. President Zwirko. Here. Here. Now in presence. If we could now stand and join me in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

▶ 0:52 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all mr president i make a motion to open the floor for public participation second motion has been made by alderman mortimer for public comment that has been seconded by alderman forbes on discussion hearing none all in favor any opposed none floor is now open for public comment this is a portion of the meeting where the folks uh anyone in the gallery may come forward and speak to any item that is before us on the agenda this evening hi my name is jerry morose good evening um i'm here tonight simply to um speak in praise of mary rita roche um for so long she's held this office with grace and poise and um attention to

▶ 2:02 Michael P. Zwirko: detail that has been wonderful as far as i've been interacting with her thank you very much thank you sir any other members of the public wish to come forward motion to close public participation second there's been a motion to close public comment by Alderman Mortimer has been seconded by Alderman Boyce-Hell on discussion all in favor aye any opposed hearing none public comment is now closed Alderman Lemmerman Thank You mr. president I have before me the mean the minutes from the following meetings March 19th 2018 and April 2nd 2018 and I make a motion that we accept them without reading second a motion alderman lemon moves to accept the meetings that she described without reading there's been seconded by alderman boys L on discussion none all

▶ 2:54 in favor aye opposed passes now we move to communications from her honor the mayor and other city officials 2018-159 appointment of Kristen Bunn Steve Philip 22 Linfels Parkway to the Melrose Commission on women for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of February 2021 that order will be sent to the Committee on Health Education and Welfare order 2018-160 appointment of Rilda Kissel 3 Cottage Street Melrose to the Melrose Commission on women for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of february 2021. that order will also be sent to the committee on health education and welfare order 2018-161 approval of the proposed municipal aggregation plan and authorization of the mayor to execute and submit the plan

▶ 3:48 to the massachusetts department of public utilities for review and approval that order will be sent to the committee on appropriations order 2018-162 acceptance of the fiscal year 18 pedestrian and bicycle safety enforcement and equipment grant in the amount of five thousand five hundred and two dollars and eighty one cents from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of Public Safety and Securities Highway Safety Division said funds to be deposited in fund number four zero zero five that order will be sent to the Committee on protection and license order 2018 dash 163 acceptance of donate life Melrose donation in the amount of ten thousand dollars said funds to be deposited in fund number two eight nine

▶ 4:31 two that order will be sent to the committee on appropriations next we move to tabled orders order 2018 dash one five three petition of National Grid and Verizon New England Inc to relocate one jointly owned pole on Prospect Street we locate existing pole number three four two six approximately 15 feet to the per customer request near 26 Prospect Street Melrose Mass in accordance with plan marked Prospect Street work request number two five eight one seven two two three dated to 26 2018 yes motion to remove from table to schedule a public hearing second the motion all the members all moves to remove this item from the tables in the hopes that we can schedule a public hearing it has been seconded by alderman Mortimer on discussion the butter is a national grid

▶ 5:31 Francis X. Wright Jr.: of agreed to a public hearing on Monday May 21st at 8 p.m. in this chamber so we have set the date by Alderman Boisselle for May 21st 2018 at 8 p.m. second the motion Alderman Wright I spoke with the city clerk earlier today and she said that the list of abutters has been increased I don't have the details of the abutters I understand the list has been increased but my concern is that what this is is is a house was torn down a new house is being constructed there was a telephone pole utility pole in front of that house what they're proposing to do is to move that pole to the end of that lot alongside the abutting properties driveway I just want to make sure that the people who live in the house whose driveway will abut the pole should it be

▶ 6:34 Francis X. Wright Jr.: moved a well aware and available to come to see that evening if it's a matter of concern to them so I thought I made this clear in the past but I haven't I'll make it clear now I want to make sure that particular butter or butters who live in the adjoining property who will face this pole at the edge of their driveway are given direct notice from either the utilities or the city because I think it's potentially going to be a big change for them getting in and out of their driveway depending on what types of vehicles they drive and traffic they might face anyone else on discussion all those in favor for putting the date set forth as May 5th 2018 at 8 p.m. motion made by Alderman Boisselle aye aye aye in favor any opposed one opposed motion to place back on a

▶ 7:34 Michael P. Zwirko: table alderman Boisselle moves to place this back on the table for these public hearing which is set for May 21st I have a motion for reconsideration be on the prevailing side out I'm gonna change my vote if the ward alderman is uh is opposed to it out of respect to the ward alderman for that thing so I'll make a motion for reconsideration second there's been a motion made by the alderman mortimer to reconsider the previous vote on the setting the date of the public hearing that has been seconded by alderman lemmerman all those in favor of the motion to reconsider please state aye aye aye we have a show of hands and opposed opposed show of hands the opposed carries thank you so uh once again

▶ 8:26 Michael P. Zwirko: we have a motion was made that uh to place this back on the uh table for the date step forth um that was made by alderman Boisselle we have a second to put that back on the table second by alderman mortimer on further discussion of this anyone all in favor up alderman wright i would like to make sure i understand or at least that my fellow alderman understand whether they're voting in support of the utility request or are they otherwise voting this is to set the date i just want to make sure everyone understands what they're voting that's that's my request and everyone very very well understand we can follow up the clerk to make sure that the abutters as you mentioned are all those in favor to place this back on the table aye any opposed the orders been placed

▶ 9:47 Francis X. Wright Jr.: back on the table for a hearing set on May 21st 2018 at 8 p.m. move on to new business order 2018 dash 164 resolution supporting an alcohol advertisement free Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is there a media consideration for this order for media consideration media consideration has been sought by alderman Rita is there an objection to that hearing none may proceed alderman Rita if I may this is as the orders title says a resolution supporting an alcohol advertisement free ban banned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation authority the order reads as follows whereas a large number of students in Massachusetts rely upon the MBTA to commute to and from school and other activities and whereas in 2009 alcohol advertisements on the MBTA subway cars

▶ 10:42 Francis X. Wright Jr.: promoted alcohol to 54.1 percent of the student passengers in Boston on an average daily weekday and whereas early exposure to alcohol advertisement contributes to positive attitudes and perceptions about alcohol use and youth and predicts future intentions to drink and likelihood of underage drinking and whereas the restrictions under current MBTA advertising guidelines have the potential to increase higher risk youth exposure to alcohol advertising and whereas banning alcohol advertisement would be a highly effective method to reduce youth drinking resulting in 7609 fewer deaths and 16.4 percent drop in alcohol related life years lost and whereas the healthy choice should not be the difficult choice should not

▶ 11:34 Francis X. Wright Jr.: be this difficult choice for massachusetts youth be it resolved that we the mayor and members of this board of aldermen support guidelines that prohibit alcohol advertising on mbta property reducing the number of underage youth exposed to alcohol across the state and decreasing the financial burden placed on the commonwealth's residency created by youth alcohol abuse i would just like to add that a few of us were around back in 2009 when the mbta in the middle of the night effectively came along and posted billboards at cedar parks train station and not long after those went up alcohol advertisements went on them at the time representative broder was a member of this board and he initiated and i worked along

▶ 12:30 Francis X. Wright Jr.: with him he is an at-large alderman and myself as the ward alderman to challenge that and we got the mayor on board and the law department on board and we challenged them in court and it went all the way to the supreme judicial court and the supreme judicial court found that the revenue raising from advertising was a core function of the mbta which i don't see to this day but and therefore they could advertise at these train stations and at that point we asked them to voluntarily remove the alcohol advertising which they did to their much to their credit but now it appears that they want to perhaps take a step back on this so I'd like to see I'll send a message to them saying we prefer to keep things as they are because that route

▶ 13:33 Francis X. Wright Jr.: through Cedar Park and and who's to say if advertising won't come along at Wyoming and and Franklin Street as well and those Highlands but right now where they have advertising that's a route taken by many of the students who go to the middle school in the high school from Ward three and they walk along and travel down that route over those tracks and down Tremont Street to the school so I would like to see us keep it as is if they're going to have advertising it not include alcohol second the motion for passage Alderman Wright not only read the resolution but also moved that this be recommended for passage it was seconded by Alderman Mortimer on further discussion any other alderman Manisha

▶ 14:32 Manisha Bewtra: ultimate future Thank You chairman president I'm sorry so my question is on the second to last whereas where it says banning alcohol advertisement would be a highly effective method to reduce youth drinking resulting in seven thousand six hundred and nine fewer deaths and a sixteen point four percent drop in alcohol related life years lost to me this reads as though the advertisement itself will reduce will result in fewer I mean that specific number of fewer deaths and life years lost which seems pretty speculative to claim and my and I my I suspect that what was intended is that youth drinking is the cause or of that number of deaths and life years lost so my suggestion would be could we changed the wording to say after drinking comma to which results in X

▶ 15:35 Manisha Bewtra: number of deaths annually and sixteen point four percent percent drop in alcohol life your related life years lost annually something to that effect that would make it more clear that that's what was intended in my understanding that correctly well at this point there is a motion on the floor so in order to amend you would need to make a motion to amend well it would the motion on the floor would have to be withdrawn could you just read read what the proposed change that you had was it just the insertion of a comma no um I will reread what I'm proposing is that what you're asking yes please whereas banning alcohol advertisement would be a highly effective method to reduce youth drinking which results in seven thousand six hundred and nine

▶ 16:36 Manisha Bewtra: fewer deaths annually sorry I don't know if that actually makes it more clear the way I just said it which results in seven thousand six hundred and nine fewer deaths annually annually and a sixteen point four percent drop in alcohol related life years lost annually and then the rest has is so just in changing resulting to maybe which is known to result in seven thousand six hundred and nine fewer deaths and a blah blah blah and then annually right before the Senate semi-colon thank you Alderman Dutra any other Alderman on discussion Alderman Medeiros thank you you know I think certainly I support the sentiment of this resolution I I see where Alderman Bewtra is coming from and it it does sort of I guess maybe to the maker of the order just

▶ 17:42 Monica C. Medeiros: wondering where that that figure comes from the seven thousand six hundred and fewer deaths and 16.4 percent drop in alcohol related life years lost motion to suspend the rules that we may hear from our director of health Ruth clay who's here in the chambers with us there is a motion currently on the floor excuse me I would draw that motion it was out of order thank you mr. president although point of order isn't a motion to suspend always in order through the president Alderman Medeiros yes that's a question through the president to the maker of the order where did the figures come from Alderman Wright would you care to respond to Alderman Medeiros Thank You mr. president I would prefer to

▶ 18:31 Francis X. Wright Jr.: allow the health director to come forward and then you know my figures came from information I received through the health department and I would like to defer to Ruth clay mr. president with we've got a motion to suspend the rules I think as alderman Mortimer points out it's it carries throughout the meeting yeah I think that's an interceding motion on a point of order all right thank you the chair grants the motion for suspension of the rules that has been made by alderman Mortimer it's been seconded by alderman Rita all in favor suspending the rules hi any opposed hearing none the rules are suspended with the health director please come up to the table and shed some light on the statistics for us please please please so I'm gonna do this without my glasses

▶ 19:31 so I wanted to introduce Liz Parsons she's our regional substance prevention coordinator and specifically works on underage drinking so I understand where you're coming from this this is language that is being requested to be adopted across all of the MT MBTA communities it's not you know something we specifically wrote but the answer to your question is that it's actually from a study from the American Journal of studies on alcohol thank you American Journeys studies on alcohol in 2006 and actually it's cited in really really really small print did you guys get this or did you only got that oh no wonder okay so I can make a copy of this for you which was the original request for the proclamation and our resolution and at the bottom there's about eight foot

▶ 20:37 notes with studies footnoted that wasn't included obviously in your resolution but we can give those to you so if you wanted to look at the research that came up with the numbers so is the question about where the numbers thank you yes no So is it saying that reducing or banning alcohol advertisement has been proven to result in this many fewer deaths? Yes. Reducing exposure of alcohol ads to youth has been shown to reduce the use of alcohol among youth. Which then, when they do statistically, they come out with how many of the percentage translates into bodies. Thank you. Thank you. Was there another question you had, Alderman DeRose? Alderman Butcher for the second time. Thank you. So with this, so this 7,609 fewer deaths,

▶ 21:37 Manisha Bewtra: is that annually and is that nationwide? Annually in the United States. OK. Sort of to my earlier point, I just feel like the language just needs some slight modifications, because it implies to me that MBTA advertisement, there's like cause and effect. And so I think just a slight change in the language maybe to suggest, my screen keeps turning off, rather than resulting in saying which is known to cause. Well, it does say banning alcohol advertisement. It doesn't say on the T, it just says banning alcohol advertisement in general reduces the risk. I guess my issue is that the risk and the actual cause of death is not, I mean, I understand that the risk is increased by exposure to advertisement,

▶ 22:38 Manisha Bewtra: but it just seems like there's a disconnect to me that not all of those deaths are caused by increased advertisement. And then also there's the sort of like absence of units in terms of annually, as well as like contextualizing as this being a well we should have given you the study that went along with it which I think would have answered your questions but I don't have that printed out here with the study my issue is with adopting a resolution with this language as is which just feels like it's missing that information like it feels like it should stand on its own and right now that sentence to me does not stand on its own mr. president Alderman Wright I'm a bottom line kind guy all right bottom line is i don't want to see alcohol advertising at cedar park again okay so

▶ 23:34 Francis X. Wright Jr.: if it'll make people happy and it'll make me happy let's just change it to whereas banning alcohol advertisement would be a highly effective method to reduce youth drinking period we don't need statistics if there's people going to question those statistics i just don't want to see fifth graders walking past budweiser advertising or amsdale light that was there you know 10 years ago so um i'm fine with moving i will withdraw the the my motion and if the second is withdrawn we can amend it my goal tonight is to send a message to the t that we would highly prefer that we maintain the status quo keep the alcohol advertising out of Cedar Park and off the route that traveled by our school children so I ultimate ultimate

▶ 24:33 Michael P. Zwirko: right withdraws his motion and in seeking to do so we would need alderman Mortimer excuse me to withdraw his second I will withdraw my second to clear the way for alderman Rita to make that simplifying amendment which I think should get us to the bottom line thank you Alderman Mortimer so Alderman Wright moves to amend the resolution on the right the second the last whereas to read going going forward read whereas banning alcohol advertisement would be a highly effective method to reduce youth drinking semicolon and and I will second that motion to amend on for the discussion of the amendment hearing none all in favor of the motion to amend aye opposed none Alderman Wright I will move for passage of the resolution second for passage of the resolution as amended

▶ 25:32 Peter D. Mortimer: Alderman Wright makes a motion for passage for the resolution as amended seconded by Alderman Mortimer further discussion Alderman Mortimer I agree with Alderman Wright I like this resolution I was here back in the day when Representative Broda was a alderman at large, and the same thing was going on. The T needs money, the service they provide. We have to fight with them every year to keep our three stations in Melrose open, even though we give them boatloads of money. Not satisfied with how they run their ship, but the way to get more money for their poorly performing operation is not to shove advertising, alcohol advertising, in the face of our kids. It's bad enough. Even regular advertising is a blight on the community.

▶ 26:23 Peter D. Mortimer: But you check out any ghetto in the United States, any slum, and one of the things they have across, and they're all at eye level, too. They're not up at the height of the clock or the height of these windows. They put them at the top of these windows. They put it all right at eye level, cigarette ads and alcohol ads. And it's in every ghetto that you go to, and there's all kinds of problems because of it. The studies bear it out, but all you have to do is live in America to realize what's going on. And this isn't a way for them to increase their revenue. They need to work on cutting the cost from the inside. So I agree with what Alderman Wright said, and I appreciate him bringing this forward.

▶ 27:03 Peter D. Mortimer: We fought this battle. We do the same thing every year with the lottery, too. They keep trying to sneak in the lotto games on us and hope we're not looking. They send us a letter, and it's like one of those time-life magazines. You can have the first one free, but if you don't send them, call them and say, I'm canceling, the lottery pulls the same nonsense with us every year. So I'm four square in favor of this thing. Thank you very much. Thank you, Alderman Mortimer. Any further discussion? Any aldermen? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Resolution passes as amended. next order order 2018 dash 165 a resolution honoring Mary Rita O'Shea and her nearly 40 years of service to the city of Melrose mr. president like to

▶ 27:50 Michael P. Zwirko: request immediate consideration on this order media consideration on the order aforementioned order made by alderman Forbes and is there an objection hearing none mr. president like to suspend the rules in order for you to read the resolution and for miss O'Shea to approach the podium Thank You Alderman Forbes we're still in suspension rules from earlier but I'm glad to take this time to read the resolution thank you sir to our great outgoing city clerk Mary Rita O'Shea I would just before I'd read this this was technically it was offered by the president but really everybody here participated in this resolution it's we are missing two members this evening and they spoke to and they both wish they could be here for this um so this is really a recognition from the entire

▶ 28:35 Michael P. Zwirko: board too yes a request that you invite the city clerk up to the podium sure marita please so here we go whereas mary rita o'shea has served the city of meadows in various capacities since 1968 she will be retiring on april 30th 2018 as the city clerk the board of aldermen congratulates Mary Rita O'Shea for her years of dedicated service to the city of Melrose and whereas Mary Rita O'Shea is a dedicated and loving wife to her husband and veteran Daniel Francis O'Shea with whom she helped raise their son Daniel Francis O'Shea jr. whereas Mary Rita O'Shea is a lifelong resident of Melrose born at the Melrose Hospital the youngest of six sisters and an identical twin to Donna Shea having attended schools in Melrose starting first in

▶ 29:27 Michael P. Zwirko: kindergarten at the Lincoln School and then from first through twelfth grade at at St. Mary's of the Annunciation School. Whereas Mary Rita O'Shea began skiing at the age of 12, it quickly became her favorite recreational activity. She would later become a member of the Melrose Hickory Hawk Ski Club in North Conway, New Hampshire, and spent many weekends skiing and staying at the train station bunkhouse. Whereas Mary Rita, a devoted Catholic and practitioner of her faith, has volunteered her time to teach CCD at St. Mary's Parish to generations of our children in the community whereas in her professional life mary rita's career path began at the massachusetts institute of technology electronics research laboratory seeking a higher

▶ 30:05 Michael P. Zwirko: purpose to give back to her community she began her storied career in city hall first working as a secretary to the mayor thomas f sullivan in 1968 and continuing until 1984 under mayor james milano in 1984 mary rita was elected as the clerk of committees to the board of aldermen and served in this capacity for the next two and a half years at that time she left for 11 years to raise her son danny mary rita returned to city hall in 1997 as assistant city clerk mary rita would rise to become our city clerk in 2001 and has held that position ever since whereas mary rita endeavored upon numerous projects during her nearly 40 years of service to the city of melrose some of her noteworthy accomplishments including recodifying the melrose city ordinances both in

▶ 30:47 Michael P. Zwirko: 2002 and 2017 becoming one of the first communities in the commonwealth to use the mass laser electronic birth program and the electronic marriage program and implementing new software for processing birth records and electronic death registry registration system whereas the melrose board of aldermen shows its appreciation for her institutional knowledge both inside and outside of the aldermanic chamber as well as her and her family's dedication to a multitude of melrose civic organizations and therefore be it resolved we the members of the Board of Aldermen wholeheartedly thank Mary Rita O'Shea for her professionalism and her friendship over the next four decades and therefore be it further resolved

▶ 31:25 that on this 23rd day of April in the year 2018 that this resolution signed by each of its members be spread upon the records of the city of Melrose and that a special copy be prepared and presented to Mary Rita O'Shea the city clerk thank you i just want to say that it's been an honor serving the board of aldermen and the people of mellows and i thank you all for the opportunity to serve and for serving the people of melrose and i don't know how this is happening i'm only 39 years old so how did all this happen but i want to say that i love working for the city of melrose and city hall has been my second home and i'm going to miss you all and thank you for the wonderful memories thank you we'll also note that on thursday at noon in this chamber there's a retirement party

▶ 32:38 Michael P. Zwirko: for mary rita o'shea from about 12 to 1 30 or 2 o'clock so anyone that could make it members of the public members of the board really appreciate your service mary rita thank you so much chair will entertain a motion to motion a place on file yes made by the board seconded by alderman lemmerman on discussion all in favor aye any opposed that order is placed on file there any orders out of order this evening any orders from committee any reports under rule 53 of subcommittees that alderman Boisselle I have a report from the traffic Commission which was held the last week of March and it had a number of agenda items that I'll go over and give you an idea of what's going on in this city with all the traffic first on

▶ 33:33 Robert A. Boisselle: the agenda was a review of data collected for requests to change the intersection of Dell Avenue and East Foster Street to a four-way stop sign instead of a two-way stop if you're traveling on Dale Street and going north on that you will have a stop sign at East Foster but there is a petition to request for a four-way stop sign and to do that there are certain requirements and they studied a number of vehicles that were up and down the street for three or four days and a number of vehicles did not meet or pass the test requirement also that one of the requirements is that the corner has to produce five accidents per year and on the average there were only nine accidents over a five year period. So two of these

▶ 34:22 Robert A. Boisselle: qualifications were not met and the petition was denied but a number of recommendations were made and one of the some of those were a possible of a warning sign on the East Foster Street side and tree trimming when when you go up go north on Dell Street and approach East Foster you'll see some of the bushes or trees are really pushed out and you can't see up so that was recommended for trimming by the DPW and to work around and possible put a warning sign up there to stop but slow down at that point the next item on the agenda came up discuss the traffic circulation at Highlands commuter rail stop nascent Drive Ashburton place in the steel house now this is all occurring at the Highlands Railroad Station and basically you have the

▶ 35:14 Robert A. Boisselle: Greenwood Street is the main problem when you approach Franklin Street from Greenwood Street you can't get out either way because there's so much traffic going up at specific times of the day basically these are early mornings late afternoons burn schools are you have the Wakefield school you have the other schools middle schools and high schools all getting getting out and people are traveling up and down what some of the people are doing they're taking shortcuts as you go down Greenwood Street there's what we call nascent nascent Drive and Ashburton place which you take a left brings you down to a Belmont Street which is parallel to the steel house and you're in the parking lot of the steel house and the mvta and it goes straight down to franklin street

▶ 36:11 Robert A. Boisselle: and you have it seems a lot of these people find it easier to get out into the traffic and go either north or east or west on franklin street uh there there was a table there was still a lot of data was missing there was talk of traffic or cars parked along franklin street at greenwood so the motion was tabled and and asked the commissioners to go out at different times of the day and to look at the situation and see what's really going on and the days that were the hours that we're particularly looking at is between seven and nine between 1 30 and three quarter three and between five and six or even 4 30 to 6 30 to get a so the commissioners can get a better idea on that so that was that motion was tabled the next item on the agenda was

▶ 37:08 Robert A. Boisselle: similar area the reduced traffic it was a request by the residents to reduce traffic or restrict buses on Woodland Avenue for the past six months in the Highland train station area National Grid has been working and from past experience of any projects going on in Melrose once you block main arteries people start looking for shortcuts and what they found that if you start at Franklin and go up Greenwood about a half a mile Willard Street you take a left on Willard Street and it takes you all around the construction up to upper part of Franklin Street so there's been shortcuts the buses have found an easier way to get through this instead of taking that tight curve that tight curve at greenwood

▶ 37:59 Robert A. Boisselle: they're taking the shortcut up woodland and getting up to franklin and then going in their specific directions that was well right now national grid is moving into the area of woodland street to do construction and add that area that particular petition was tabled for more data in the area uh before and after the construction of the national grid area so that will take care of that i think the biggest item on the agenda was the prohibition of heavy commercial vehicles truck signs and engine braking um being on a traffic commission you can learn a lot about the mechanics of the vehicles and the traffic patterns in here in melrose and so forth we had an open comment area for a number of individuals stepped forward

▶ 38:56 Robert A. Boisselle: talked about heavy trucks the amount of heavy trucks coming through the area on upham street the speed seems also we put up a new sign on the east and west side portions of upham street put a 25 mile per hour and it shows your speed and so forth it seems that after going eastward after they hit the catholic church the incarnation church becomes a racetrack vehicles going east really head up towards saugus and there's also been other speeding issues and really it's turning out to be an enforcement aspects and the chief who's on the uh and some of the police officers are on commission we're going to this coming spring increase enforcement activity on upham street to see if they can curtail the speeding activity but the prohibition of heavy commercial

▶ 39:53 Robert A. Boisselle: vehicles the individuals on the street are saying it's become a truck highway so it's trying a study was done a 24-hour study the total number of vehicles in that 24 hours was registered at 17,000 715 vehicles that was this in my impression was amazing but walking on Upham Street on Sunday the traffic is there I mean just within a minute I counted 20 vehicles just passed me while I was walking but the Concept was 97% of that 17,715 vehicles were either passenger vehicles or small commercial vehicles. 454 were actually heavy vehicles of trucks, 16 wheelers and 18 wheelers and so forth, represents about 3% of the vehicles. The Chamber of Commerce was presented at this presentation And they represented the business views because these are food and service trucks that are coming in to supply these stores in the downtown area or along Main Street from Wakefield all the way down to the Malden Line.

▶ 41:17 Robert A. Boisselle: and the benefits businesses benefits from these trucks and so constantly supplying them with the necessary needs of the community and the community really needs this life of different types of stores that we have and these people really need those vehicles and there was a effort to buy the chamber to talk to the stores to to talk to them to educate the drivers to either cut down on their speed find another way into the community but there was also plans to reroute these particular vehicles to different ways on different highways individuals on Howard Street were worried because the traffic will be redirected towards them also to reroute vehicles through other communities you have to be more of a regional traffic planning aspects of it so that was called

▶ 42:20 Robert A. Boisselle: so that was the placing of the signs of truck routes and so forth was not there the majority was not there and it failed the petition failed to do anything but research was still going on and to help out the community to monitor more enforcement on Upham Street at that point. We also have engine braking. Many of you who've had standard vehicles and put it into second gear to slow down your vehicle, you do that with an 18 wheeler and that makes a lot of noise and it becomes a noise problem especially when you're coming down Upham Street towards Lebanon and towards the Main Street area so there was more of a noise to it's sort of a noise notice that should be given and the heavy loads of engine but usually they had bigger trucks are the ones involved with the

▶ 43:18 Robert A. Boisselle: injured engine braking because if you use the brakes too much the brakes themselves could fail and you could really have the DAP disaster so by downshifting and using the brakes easier you save it in possible of a future accident in that area so they're going to be looking at more of a noise ordinance to cover that and that's going to be reviewed and that should be discussed at the next meeting which will be sometime in June we also discussed the four illuminated speed signs similar to what we have on Upham Street. Three streets that have been identified were West Emerson, Grove Street, and Sylvan Street and these will be evaluated in the coming months for the possible placement of illuminating signs at that point. And most of the traffic

▶ 44:19 Robert A. Boisselle: that you're seeing on Upham Street usually is occurring between 630 and 930 in the morning and between 4 o'clock and 630 in the evening and sporadically during the day, especially on Saturdays and so forth. People are listening to traffic reports. Route 1 is backed up. They move over to 93. 93 is backed up. They move over to Route 1. If both of them are backed up, they move down to downtown Boston and 8 o'clock in the morning trying to get through Melrose from West Wyoming to Porter Street, you're crawling at a really slow speed. So that's why the buses are late trying to get you to Oak Grove and so forth. And that completes my review of the Traffic Commission for the month of March. Thank you, that all the boys all appreciate that.

▶ 45:15 Scott M. Forbes: Any other Alderman? Alderman Forbes. Thank you, Mr. President. Water and Sewer Committee met last week. Basically tomorrow night at 7 o'clock we're going to be presented with a bunch of rate options and models. Because the collective bargaining agreement was recently settled, now we can have real numbers being inserted into the models and get actual data. Been waiting on that for a while. We were presented historical data from fiscal year 2012 to fiscal year 2018, basically showing our water and sewer rate information to kind of figure out, kind of show us how we got to where we are right now. There are plans for upcoming work schedules and projects for the I&I program that will be presented

▶ 46:01 Scott M. Forbes: to the Water and Sewer Committee later on this year. We're hoping to get a schedule of work so we could submit those to the MWRA for the grant program it's 75% grant 25% is an interest-free loan from the city city engineer showed us the interactive spreadsheet that was originally used by the consultants so now we have the capability to forecast properly given seasons of either high or low water use we can kind of plug some numbers in and be able to forecast out which I think is is important for moving forward to get good data and be able to try to stay ahead of the curve but again tomorrow night 7 o'clock in the upstairs conference room we should have a few model options being presented to us and I'll report accordingly thank you sir Thank You alderman Forbes any other

▶ 46:49 Scott M. Forbes: alderman William to report on subcommittees that they're members of we'll move to the calendar order 2018 dash 156 appointment of fire captain ed kalina to chief of the Melrose fire department effective April 27th 2018 this came from the Appropriations Committee with a motion for passage second motion for passage is made by alderman lemmerman it's been seconded by alderman Mortimer on discussion alderman Forbes Thank You mr. president it has been a lot of turnover in this city over the past several months as new members of our school committee and members of our board of aldermen went through their election cycles we've seen a resignation and an appointment for the office of the mayor we've hired a new veteran service officer hired a new

▶ 47:39 Scott M. Forbes: alderman for Ward five it's sitting right here to my right and we're also tonight discussing the appointment of a new fire chief transparency and accountability are the two things we need to remind ourselves as we go through these transitions this administration and this board needs to make every effort to ensure that we get things right in terms of the process paramount we have to measure twice before we cut which brings us to the order before us I will not be supporting the appointment of Captain Kalina as fire chief for the Melrose Fire Department I'm not voting against the person I'm voting against the process I feel this administration did not make every effort to ensure we got things right during the selection process I

▶ 48:24 Scott M. Forbes: have concerns that none of the candidates were asked a single question by anybody with firefighting experience why didn't we do that whether we talk about an internal hire or an external hire if it's an internal promotion the process needs to be the same it needs to be uniform and in our last search for a fire chief six years ago there was a selection committee we brought in former chiefs people that have lived the job people that know the job asking those tough questions that only they know how to ask I can't answer those I can't ask those questions on a firefighting experience the Human Resources Department cannot ask those questions they don't have firefighting experience so for me it makes perfect sense to bring in the people that do have those years of

▶ 49:11 Scott M. Forbes: training to ask those critical questions operational questions tactical questions putting people in scenarios and see how they respond now we did that the last last time but we didn't do it this time around and I don't understand why I have concerns that the firefighters union requested to be a part of the interview process in an observation capacity only not to ask questions not to make comments just to observe and that request was denied why deny such a request you must have union representation during the interview process because it's the only way to ensure that each interview was done in the same fashion again accountability and transparency making sure that the length of each interview was consistent

▶ 50:00 Scott M. Forbes: that the line of questioning was con was the same there was equal amount of time given to each candidate to respond and so on and so on a union presence allows everyone to know that each candidate was given the same chance as their peers that's what it's all about and again we did this six years ago with chief leary who was an internal hire but we chose not to do so this time around why am i saying all this look the fire chief for the city of melrose is a top five position in the city it's a critical hire it's a generational hire and this administration has a responsibility to perform all of its due diligence during the selection process to be accountable and to be transparent and you know what if we simply followed the standard and

▶ 50:44 Scott M. Forbes: in the model that was put forth in 2012, I wouldn't be having this conversation tonight. So again, I'm not voting against the person, I'm voting against the process. I think we need to be better than this. And if any of these candidates were being considered tonight, I would be voting the same way. So thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Alderman Forbes. Any other aldermen on discussion? Alderman Wright. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate Alderman Forbes comments. However, I intend to support this appointment for a couple of reasons. One, the appointment of department heads is an executive function under our charter. It is a mayoral responsibility, just as confirmation of those appointments belongs to this board.

▶ 51:39 Francis X. Wright Jr.: um i have talked to the mayor she came before us she explained to us that she consulted with chief larry and chief o'brien um she's not the mayor who was upstairs in the mayoral seat in 2012 she has a right to establish her own process like it or not all that said I know Ed Kalina I've known him for many many years I've known him through his position on the fire department that's the only way I know and I've always known him to be a very good firefighter a leader in that department and I respect them so going forward today tonight I should say, I intend to support Ed Kalina for firefighter. That is our choice, up or down on Ed Kalina. We don't have a say in whether it should have been Ed Kalina or anyone else.

▶ 52:46 As Alderman Forbes noted, he wouldn't support anyone tonight. But what we are called to do under our charter is to vote up or down on Captain Kalina, Not to consider who else was part of the process, but strictly whether or not we believe that Captain Kaliner is an appropriate candidate for chief, as selected by the mayor, the executive of this city. Thank you. Thank you, Alderman Wright. Any other aldermen wishing to speak on this? motion on the floor made by alderman lemmerman to motion for passage of this order at this time i ask for all those in favor aye any opposed opposed one opposed the order passes next order order 2018-157 reappointment of mark j schneider 103 boardman ave as constable for a three-year

▶ 53:47 Michael P. Zwirko: term said term to expire on the first Monday of April 2021 this order came from the protection and license committee with the recommendation for passage motion for passage second it's been a motion for passage made by alderman lemmerman it's been seconded by alderman Boisselle on discussion hearing none all in favor aye any opposed none that order also passes at this moment we have no orders left before us motion to adjourn second a motion to adjourn made by Alderman Forbes and seconded by Alderman Mortimer. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are adjourned.

City Council — 2018-04-23

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