City Council — 2018-08-20

City Council Regular Meeting

This meeting starts at 6:28 in a recording that covers several meetings.

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 present · Alderman at Large; Shawn M. MacMaster present · Ward 5 Alderman; Monica C. Medeiros absent · Alderman at Large; Peter D. Mortimer present · Ward 6 Alderman; John N. Tramontozzi present · Ward 1 Alderman; Francis X. Wright Jr. absent · Ward 3 Alderman; Michael P. Zwirko present · President, Alderman at Large

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BULLETIN● AUGUST 20, 2018 Aldermanic Chamber, Melrose City Hall Regular Meeting 7:45 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 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 Present Shawn M. MacMaster Ward 5 Alderman Present Monica C. Medeiros Alderman at Large Absent Peter D. Mortimer Ward 6 Alderman Present John N. Tramontozzi Ward 1 Alderman Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Absent Michael P. Zwirko President, Alderman at Large Present

ORDER-2019-3 Appropriation Transfer from account 29032-590000 (Library Fines Account) in the amount of $20,000.00; and Transfer to account 016112-534200 (Lib Exp Books & Periodicals) in the amount of $20,000.00 Assigned to Committee Finance Committee

ORDER-2019-6 Appointment Reappointment of Christopher R. Wilcock, 38 Bates Park Avenue, Beverly, to the Board of Assessors for a three-year term, said term to end on the last day of February, 2021. Assigned to Committee Finance Committee

ORDER-2019-5 Grant Acceptance of a Cyber Security Grant in the amount of $20,000. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2019-2 Calling Election Calling State Primary, Tuesday, the Fourth Day of September, 2018 Passed

ORDER-2019-4 Resolution City of Melrose Page 1 8/28/2018 12:50 PM Minutes Board of Aldermen August 20, 2018 A Resolution Reaffirming Current City of Melrose and Massachusetts Non- Discrimination Laws Prohibiting Discrimination in Places of Public Accommodation on the Basis of Gender Identity and Gender Expression Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2019-7 Resolution A Resolution in Support of United Steel workers District 4, Local #12012, Boston Gas Workers Union. Passed as Amended

ORDER-2019-1 License - Common Victualler Application of Rosineide Canestraro for a Common Victualler License: d/b/a Gabriella's Italian Pizzeria 517 Main Street Melrose, MA 02176 Passed City of Melrose Page 2 8/28/2018 12:50 PM

Transcript

▶ 6:16 Alderman Mortimer all in favor aye we are adjourned so state good evening everyone this is the meeting of the full Board of Aldermen today is Monday August 20th 2018 I want to welcome you all here this evening before we begin tonight Madam Clerk, could you please call the roll? Alderman Peter. Here. Alderman Coingell. Here. Alderman Forbes. Here. Alderman Lemmerman. Here. Alderman LaPrague-Ribbian. Here. Alderman McMaster. Here. Alderman Medeiros. Here. Alderman Chiantosi. Here. Alderman Wright. Here. Nine members here, constitutes a quorum. If everyone could join me in rise in citing the Pledge of Allegiance. 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

▶ 8:30 Michael P. Zwirko: all president i make a motion to open the floor for public comment second thank you before we do that i just wanted to state publicly that this meeting is being recorded in accordance with the massachusetts open meeting law it can be viewed online from the city's website as well as mmtv3.org and on your local access table channel we have a motion to open the floor for public comment that has been made by alderman mortimer seconded by alderman Boisselle all those in favor any opposed this is the portion of the meeting where anybody in the public may speak on any of the items that are before us this evening if anyone's wishes to speak on any of those orders if you please come sit down state your name and address and give us your comment good evening evening thank you

▶ 9:17 Thank you. Thank you. My name is Joseph Carter. I live at 25 North Avenue, and I am the Vice Chair of United Steelworkers Local 120-1204. I'm a voluntary union representative elected by the members of my local. My full-time job is with National Grid as a technician in the instrumentation and regulation department. Also here with me tonight are members of our local who not only service your gas system, but are your fellow Melrose residents as well. are some of the over 1,200 gas workers currently locked out of work by National Grid. The members of our local are highly trained, skilled, and have years of on-the-job experience. They provide a level of service to our community that is not driven by any other motivation

▶ 10:10 than safety. We do not get paid by the foot or by the job. Over the last few years, National Grid has flooded the cities and towns with subcontractors to perform new and gas line replacement projects, and these contractors need oversight. We have members whose job title is gas contractor inspector, and their function is to monitor what these contractors are doing, inspect their work, and make sure they're following all the proper procedures. These inspectors are currently locked out of work by National Grid. There are also management employees who have a similar responsibility, but they are currently being used to replace us in the field for gas leak emergency calls. We've been monitoring the work that these replacement workers are doing, and to date

▶ 10:56 we have reported over 30 unsafe and what we believe to be hazardous conditions to the Department of Public Utilities. Along with written complaints, we have sent pictures and videos to support each one. Many of these issues arise due to the inexperience of people that National Grid is using to replace us while they have locked us out of work. People that have no hands-on experience, and even worse, people with no gas experience at all. The company has literally pulled people from office jobs, given them a bare minimum of training, a quick test, and sent them out onto the roads. Our people take their jobs very seriously. Natural gas is a volatile product, and it needs to be handled with utmost expertise

▶ 11:38 and care. We do not believe that it's in the best interest of public safety to allow these projects to occur while National Grid has their 1,200 highly skilled and experienced people locked out in not performing this work. We do not believe National Grid will be able to provide the proper oversight to make certain that these projects are being completed correctly and most importantly, that public safety is not compromised. We are asking all the cities and towns in the National Grid Operating Territory to implement a moratorium on new and replacement gas line projects until this lockout is over and our experienced employees are back on the job sites. Thus far, several cities and towns have passed these moratoriums. Braintree

▶ 12:22 Methuen, Haverhill, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Abington, Milton, Dracut, Weymouth, Lowell, Quincy, Merrimack, Everett, Cambridge, Arlington, and Stoneham have all passed such resolutions for the protection of their residents. There are also a number of cities and towns working towards passing resolutions of their own. Thank you for the opportunity to share our concerns. Thank you. Thank you. Any other members of the public wishing to speak at this time? Good evening, sir. Good evening. My name is Phil Powell. I reside at 16 Mystic Avenue, Melrose. I, like Joe, am a seasoned veteran of National Grid. I have 31 years on the job. Although I don't work in your cities and towns, I live here. My kids live here. My family lives here. I actually represent the Boston local.

▶ 13:30 I'm not going to go into everything that I'm not going to repeat everything Joe said he said it eloquently enough we have several cities and towns that are signed on to this moratorium I will highlight a couple of facts though number one for me to get qualified in my position it took a full two years working with another seasoned veteran in this particular case they're bringing subcontractors on for three or four days giving them hard hats and vests and telling them to go out and do our jobs. It's ridiculous. I will also point out a situation that happened three or four weeks ago. You might have saw it on the news in front of Beth Israel Hospital, where a high-pressure line was hit. Beth Israel was evacuated. They had people on

▶ 14:17 the sidewalk in stretches, hanging IVs. If our inspectors were on the jobs, it was a third-party excavation if our inspectors were on the job like they normally would be watching these third party excavators that wouldn't happen so i implore you guys when i'm working i protect the public working for national grid it's i really believe it's your responsibility to protect our families thank you thank you sir any other members of the public wishing to speak good evening good evening uh paul amato 66 warwick road um i would like you to uh vote tonight to uh cease national grids uh permits existing permits future permits until we're back to work thank you thank you sir evening great james mcquire 7th street as mr armado said i also would like to see you pass the moratorium

▶ 15:41 i have family i have friends that live in the city it's dangerous work that we do and it would be greatly appreciated if you take that into consideration thank you thank you greetings guys good evening hard of hearing so i'm going to talk a little loud and i look at a lot of these pictures and i remember sonella ron alley and i've lived in milrose since 1963 and i've worked for boston gas since 1979. it's been a great job it's a hell of of a job I love my job love doing my job it's a little dicey now but like this fellow was telling me about there's a high-pressure main running from Malden through Melrose down Tremont Street Franklin Street a 60 pound gas main if they ever have a problem with that man it's gonna be a hurricane of a hurricane

▶ 16:46 problems and they used to have people that came they were nuts and bolts guys that came from the street like me that would make these repairs they don't have these guys on site anymore they have young college kids I'm not I have nothing against young college kids but they haven't spent the time in the trench doing these repairs with this technical equipment so like I said it it's a safety thing and I love Melrose it's Pleasantville I've been here since 1963 and I want to stay here and I want to keep my job and you guys will do the right thing thank you sir got it good evening my name is Gabe Markovits my family and I reside at 24 Mr. Place in Melrose and I support the moratorium for public safety thank you sir I like your hat thank you my name is

▶ 18:17 Bill Quinlan I also live in Melrose at 130 Penney Road I have two young kids and I also do the same job these gentlemen do and I'll tell you it scares me to know the guys that are working out there like was said nothing against them but they don't know what they're doing it takes years to get to know you even then you still always run into things that you can't account for and you have the other guys to fall back on they don't have that so before anything bad happens it'd be good to have it stopped thank you thank you anyone else this evening like to speak hi my name is Charles Tom quits I live at 8 Echo Street Melrose And they're 30 years, 35 year employee of a gas company, which is Boston Gas.

▶ 19:28 I really wish you would support this moratorium. Your experience and the experience these other gentlemen have, there's nothing that replaces experience in everything you do. You've seen all kinds of situations and all kinds of weather. We're not asking that Boston Gas doesn't do emergency work, but it has to be done right away. The contractors, they will do that. We're asking for moratorium on new work, on stuff that can be put off. It doesn't have to be done. You don't have to, if they have existing permits that can be closed or permits of work they're going to do in the future. I'd like you to support us on that and I think it's a real public safety issue for everybody in the house. Thank you.

▶ 20:07 Michael P. Zwirko: Thank you. Thank you sir. Motion to close public comment. Second. Are there any other folks that would wish to speak this evening? We have a motion on the floor that's been made by Alderman Boisselle to close public comment. been seconded by Alderman Mortimer all those in favor of said motion aye any opposed public part just excuse me public comment is now closed before we move on to the next item on the agenda I just did want to make one comment we have a guest here this evening from Senator Lewis's office it is his newest hire name is Emily she has joined us this evening thank you for coming welcome to Melrose we look forward to working with you next item on our agenda communications from her honor the mayor and other city officials order 2019 dash

▶ 21:12 three transfer from account to nine zero three dash five nine zero zero zero zero library fines account in the amount of twenty thousand dollars and transfer to account zero one six one one two dash five three four two zero zero library expense books and periodicals in the amount of twenty thousand dollars that That order will be sent to the Committee on Finance. Order 2019-6, reappointment of Christopher R. Wilcock, 38 Bates Park Avenue, Beverly, to the Board of Assessors for a three-year term, said term to end on the last day of February 2021. That order will also be sent to the Committee on Finance. Order 2019-5, acceptance of a cybersecurity grant in the amount of $20,000. Second order will be sent to the Committee on Appropriations.

▶ 22:04 Scott M. Forbes: New Business. Order 2019-2, calling State Primary Tuesday, the fourth day of September 2018. Alderman Forbes. Hi. I'd like to request immediate consideration on Order 2019-2. Alderman Forbes is seeking immediate consideration of Order 2019-2. Is there an objection? You have the floor. Thank you, Mr. President. is formality as these orders always come up during our election cycle and so I'm just gonna read real quick be it ordered that in accordance with Massachusetts general laws the city clerk is hereby authorized and directed to notify and warn the inhabitants of the city of Melrose as are qualified to vote in primaries to assemble at the polling places their respective wards as designated herein on Tuesday the fourth day of September 2018 from 7 a.m. to 8

▶ 22:51 p.m. to cast their votes in the state primary for candidates of political parties which include all state municipal offices they're coming up for election and also senator in Congress so with that I request passage of this order second the motion for passage alderman Forbes moves that this order be passed and it is seconded by alderman Mortimer on further discussion all those in favor any opposed order passes order 2019-4 a resolution reaffirming current City of Melrose and Massachusetts non-discrimination laws prohibiting discrimination in places of public accommodation on the basis of gender identity and gender expression this order was filed by alderman at-large Manisha Butra will you be seeking immediate consideration of the order no

▶ 23:44 I will not thank you this order will be sent to the committee on appropriations order 2019-7 a resolution in support of United Steelworkers district for local Local 12003, Boston Gas Workers Union. This order was also, excuse me, this order was sponsored by Ward 7 Alderman Forbes. I understand he would like to seek immediate consideration. You have the floor, Alderman. Thank you, Mr. President. I guess what I'd like to do is just read the resolution. I have a couple of- Excuse me, Alderman Forbes, you will be- I'd like to seek immediate consideration on this order, yes, Mr. President. Will there be an objection? You may proceed. Excuse me, if I may, it's 12012. That's the local number. Thank you.

▶ 24:33 Scott M. Forbes: Let the record reflect that the local number is 10212. 12012, thank you. Thank you, proceed Alderman Foreman. Thank you. So the resolution here I would like to do is read the resolution as it stands, read a couple of letters from the city and also from our state legislatures and just a comment on my behalf as well. So this is a resolution in support of United Steelworkers District 4, Local 12012, Boston Gas Workers Union. Whereas National Grid serves numerous residential and commercial natural gas customers within the City of Melrose, and whereas United Steelworkers Local 12012, District 4, Boston Gas Workers Union represents the men and women who operate on gas lines and projects within the City

▶ 25:22 Scott M. Forbes: of Melrose. Whereas, many members of the Steelworkers Union reside and work in the City of Melrose. Whereas, the United Steelworkers Union Local 12012 have been bargaining in good faith to achieve a fair and equitable contract with competitive wages and benefits for its members. Whereas, since the lockout on June 25th, the strike has gravely affected union members and their families as they are now struggling without pay and without health care. Whereas the safety and well-being of National Grid customers and the general public is contingent upon high quality and well-trained employees performing services and line inspections on natural gas projects. And whereas a prolonged lockout of national gas workers raises safety concerns for

▶ 26:05 Scott M. Forbes: the general public in Melrose neighborhoods and strained service to National Grid customers. Now be it resolved that we, the members of the Board of Aldermen, urge National Grid to end the lockout of its gas workers so gas services line inspections and repairs may continue to be performed by qualified and properly trained union employees be it resolved that the city of Melrose provides heightened scrutiny safety inspections and monitoring on all national grid work being done during the lockout of national grids contract workers in that no new permits for gas contract construction projects be issued by this Board of Aldermen and be it further resolved on this day 20th day of August in the year 2018 a copy of this resolution be spread upon the records of

▶ 26:50 Scott M. Forbes: the Melrose Board of Aldermen if for me this resolution all comes down to public safety I don't think I could have said it any more eloquently than the people that spoke here in this room it is vital to have experienced people doing the work workers that are qualified certified and most important know our infrastructure in the community better than anybody else there are about 20 communities 20 surrounding communities as uh mr sincada has said that have already passed this resolution in its current written form i also have a letter here from the city of melrose that i'd like to read from john shenna the department of public works this was received this afternoon and we can make this part of the public record if that's okay

▶ 27:43 Scott M. Forbes: allman forbes thank you for reaching out thank you for your email i noticed this order on this evening's agenda i reviewed the resolution and it appears to be placing a moratorium on new construction in other words gas infrastructure projects requiring a grant of location approval from the board of aldermen this is the case i do not see this as a substantial roadblock on daily operations any resolution more significant will require additional review as i feel it may impact daily operation of the department capital projects and more importantly residents in the community requiring services from the natural gas provider i'd be happy more to discuss this further john shenna department of public works i also received a letter this afternoon from our state legislature

▶ 28:27 Scott M. Forbes: dated august 20th dear alderman forbes as the house and senate chairs of the joint committee of labor and workforce development we write in support of order 2019-7 as you correctly state in the resolution the lockout of national grid workers begin on june 25th and has continued with no site on end during this time locked out workers have gone without pay and access to health insurance in addition given the sensitive nature of natural gas installation and repair losing these highly trained professionals gives gives rise to serious safety concerns about work being performed during the lockout we urge national grid to end the lockout and for the parties to resolve their differences at the bargaining table to achieve a negotiated settlement that is fair

▶ 29:10 Scott M. Forbes: on both sides. Thank you for filing this resolution and for allowing us to offer our comments. Sincerely, Senator Jason Lewis, State Representative Paul Broder. Again, I couldn't have said it better than the men and women that are here in this room. I think that it makes sense in the best interest of everybody in the City of Melrose from a public safety standpoint. Thank you. Thank you, Alderman Forbes. You had mentioned that you would like to add a letter to the record. Could you make the move for that now? Yeah, I'd like to move to add both a letter from John Shannon, Director of Public Works, and also the joint letter from State Senator Jason Lewis and State Representative Paul Broder to the record.

▶ 29:51 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: Second the motion to make that amendment. Thank you, so Alderman Forbes moves to amend the order to attach the correspondence he referenced and that has been seconded by Alderman Mortimer. discussion all those in favor of the motion to amend any opposed the motion to amend the order is now before you any other members of the board willing to speak on this order at this time Alderman Lipper-Garabedian I wanted to just maybe through the president ask whether the sponsor would consider in the fifth whereas amending the word strike to be lockout my understanding is this is not a strike that in fact the employer has locked these workers out and so I would suggest that perhaps just as a friendly amendment we change that

▶ 30:44 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: word understood is that all you had at this time Thank You Alderman Lipper-Garabedian any other members wishing to speak at time alderman lemmerman thank you i want to thank the members of the union who came down to speak to us tonight and for expressing your concerns and giving us some of your experience that you've had during this time i also want to thank alderman forbes for bringing this forward i think it's very important order i also think as we heard several neighboring communities have done something similar and this is a great opportunity for us as a municipality to stand with our with our neighbors in support of these workers i did just want to to state that i had an opportunity to speak earlier with alderman wright who couldn't be here this evening but he did express his

▶ 31:32 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: support also for this resolution and during the course of our conversation uh we actually discussed something that i think is reflected in what we heard from the members of the public this evening um the members of the union in um in various ways which is which is basically that the city requires that the gas workers that do work here in the city have certain certifications and certain skills and proof of those skills in order for them to do the work here and we're now in a situation where there are workers who are doing work that are not necessarily put to that same level of scrutiny scrutiny excuse me which is a public safety issue we sort of discussed how that you know could be resolved with the city having a policy in place

▶ 32:17 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: perhaps to require that anyone doing work in this city on on the gas be held to the minimum standard that our workers who have been doing this for years and years and give us the comfort in knowing that they have the skills to do it I don't think that it actually in light of the letter from mr. Shana is appropriate to offer it as an amendment which we had considered because it sounds like we would need to really think through making sure that it did not significantly impact the residents and getting the services that they need but I do think it's worth having that discussion perhaps with DPW and with the city solicitor and hope we will do that going forward in implementing some sort of policy in the city that anyone doing this work particularly during this

▶ 33:02 Michael P. Zwirko: lockout has the skills and the experience and the certifications that these men and women have that have been doing the work in our city for four years and I wanted to also just convey that message from our colleague Alderman Wright as well thank you any other member wishing to speak on this at this time I believe there was a motion that was proffered by Alderman Lipper-Garabedian Alderman Forbes move to further amend the order with the language that Alderman Lipper-Garabedian no I'm fine with with changing the term from strike to lockout that's fine second that you move to further amend based on the language yes second the motion to further amend further men has been seconded by alderman Mortimer that that motion to further them in the order is

▶ 33:48 Michael P. Zwirko: now before you all those in favor aye any opposed that being said motion to pass a resolution second the most second emotion for passage alderman Forbes moves to for passage of this order that has been seconded by alderman Mortimer any further discussion before we take the vote seeing none I would list like before we take the vote to say something on this myself I wanted to thank Alderman Forbes for bringing this forward and for working with me over the past couple of days on the resolution I think that this is not only prudent but it's right down the middle of the plate of where we should be in supporting our union brothers and sisters with this public safety aside union ranks have been decimated over the years and union workers are not only skilled to do the

▶ 34:31 Michael P. Zwirko: work that they do but they also enter into these agreements after they've agreed to them with their employers and they sat at the table for two years trying to further agree and yet they showed up to work one day and they were locked out that's just wrong it's unconscionable puts them and their families in financial hardship there was a great story on NPR last week ran for about eight minutes it was very well done that really moved me to want to do something here I'm really happy that Alderman Forbes did so if we don't stand up for our unions now when do we with that said the motion to further amend order for passage is before you all those in favor aye aye any opposed the order passes move now to orders from committee oh do i have to motion a place on file um well it's for is that

▶ 35:19 John N. Tramontozzi: the order has been passed resolution so okay that is a dispositive motion thank you orders from committee mr president alderman yeah thank you um i have um ordered 2019-1 it's the application of rosinda castanaro for carmen victor license dba gabriella's italian pizzeria 517 main street melrose mass i moved to melrose you're welcome thank you thank you melrose i moved to remove this from committee second the motion to remove the order from committee alderman Tramontozzi moves to take order 2 0 1 9 dash 1 from the protection and license committee it has been seconded by alderman Mortimer all those in favor aye any opposed hearing none the order is before you I asked for a passage of order 2019 dash

▶ 36:10 Michael P. Zwirko: one second the motion for passage alderman Tremont ozi moves for passage of the order 2 0 1 9 dash 1 that has been seconded by alderman Mortimer all those in favor of passage any opposed that order also passes we now move to reports, which is Rule 53. At this time, if there is any member who has either served on a committee since the last time we met or has an upcoming meeting that they would like to discuss, you may do so at this time. Alderman Boisselle. Well, there's a special traffic commission this coming Wednesday, August 22nd at 530 in the Aldermanic Chamber, and it's going to be quite an interesting meeting, the business that they're requesting, is from the Melrose School Department to make

▶ 36:56 Robert A. Boisselle: parking regulation changes along the northbound lane of Tremont Street from the Linsfield Parkway to Union Street from Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. to allow for student parking. The second agenda item, again from the Melrose School Department, is a request to make Albion Street, a one-way in the north direction and or do not enter from Melrose Street Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. There's also going to be discussions concerning the elimination of the traffic signals on Warwick Road at Perkins Street and also the addition of two mid-block crosswalks on Warwick Road, one between Perkins Street and the Linsfields Parkway. in the other between Perkins and Benton Street so again that meetings at 530 in

▶ 37:54 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: this chamber coming this Wednesday August 22nd Thank You Alderman Boisselle any other members have Alderman Lipper-Garabedian sure just a quick update from the school committee's meeting on July 31st the superintendent discussed some of the waitlist that still exists at some of the elementary schools I mentioned that there was a flood of registrations in the last few days leading up to that meeting and at that point in time the kindergarten class was just short of three hundred and forty students and first day of school will be a week from Wednesday. Any other members of the board have to report on anything? Moving now to the calendar. No items on the calendar. Motion to adjourn Mr. President. Second. There's been a

▶ 38:37 Michael P. Zwirko: motion to adjourn made by Alderman Mortimer. There's been a second by Alderman Boisselle. Before we entertain that motion I just would like to say the next time we meet will be after the school year had started so I wish all those incoming especially the class of 2031 a great school year all those on the motion to adjourn in favor aye any opposed none we are adjourned thank you

City Council — 2018-08-20

Attendance

Agenda

Minutes

Transcript

Original documents