City Council — 2018-10-01

City Council Regular Meeting

This meeting starts at 33:22 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 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 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● OCTOBER 1, 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 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 Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Absent Michael P. Zwirko President, Alderman at Large Present

ORDER-2019-17 Proclamation Proclamation of October 2018 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month

ORDER-2019-16 Acceptance Acceptance of Community Mitigation Funds, Encore Boston Harbor (Wynn) Casino Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2019-18 Calling Election Calling State Election -- Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018

ORDER-2019-12 Grant Acceptance of FY2018-2022 Traffic Enforcement and Equipment Grant from the Commonwealth of Mass., Executive Office of Public Safety and Security's Highway Safety Division to Fund #4023. Passed Board of Aldermen

ORDER-2019-10 Appointment City of Melrose Page 1 10/4/2018 11:35 AM Minutes Board of Aldermen October 1, 2018 Appointment of Karen Smolens, 10 Ravine Road, Melrose, to the Melrose Commission on Women for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2021. Passed

ORDER-2019-11 Appointment Appointment of Miles Selena Wentzell, 473 Lebanon St., Apt. 1, to the Melrose Commission on Women to fill the unexpired term of Elish Barker, said term to expire on the last day of February 2019. Passed

ORDER-2019-13 Appointment Appointment of Robin Peevey, 308 East Foster Street, to the Historic District Commission for a term to end on the last day of February 2019. Passed

ORDER-2019-14 Appointment Appointment of Kevin J. Erb, 16 Everett St., to the Historic District Commission for a three-year term; said term to end on the last day of February 2019. Passed City of Melrose Page 2 10/4/2018 11:35 AM

Transcript

▶ 34:08 Michael P. Zwirko: Alderman Wright. Alderman Zwirko. President Zwirko. Here. If everyone could now please stand and join me in pledging allegiance to the flag. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. MR. Mr. President, I make a motion to open the floor for public comment. MR. Second. Before we hear the motion that has been proffered, I would just like to state for the record that this meeting is being held in accordance with the open meeting law. It is being recorded, and it is being televised live on MMTV. It can also be watched after this meeting is concluded on MMTV as well as the link from our city website. We have a motion that is on the floor that has been made by Alderman Mortimer.

▶ 34:59 Michael P. Zwirko: It has been seconded by Alderman Vision. It is to open the floor for public comment. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? At this moment, anybody that is here before us this evening that would like to speak on any item that is before our agenda, you may feel free to do so. Motion to close the floor for public comment. Second. Mr. Mortimer, seeing no member of the public willing to speak at this time, moves to close the public comment portion of this meeting. It has been seconded by Alderman Boisselle. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Public comment is now closed. We move to communications from her honor, the mayor and other city officials. Order 2019-17, proclamation of October 2018 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

▶ 35:46 Michael P. Zwirko: Mr. President, I make a motion, I request for an immediate consideration. Alderman Mortimer seeks immediate consideration of the order. Is there an objection at this time? Seeing none. Mr. President, I make a motion to suspend the rules that we may hear from our mayor and other members of the Melrose Alliance Against Violence Second. for the presentation of this order. Thorp been a motion made by Alderman Mortimer to suspend the rules. It has been seconded by Alderman McMaster. All those in favor? Aye. any opposed motion the rules are now suspended would you like to come up before us at this time mayor inferno as well as members the Melrose Alliance against violence so the proclamation by said mayor could be read please feel

▶ 36:29 Gail Infurna: free we are under suspension good evening it's really an honor to be here once again and to be in this role as reading this and signing this as the mayor I know in the past I've always been here because I've been on the walking committee but it's a great pleasure to be here this evening a proclamation recognizing October 2018 as domestic violence awareness month and Melrose Alliance against violence as 23rd year anniversary whereas domestic violence is one of the most critical and far-reaching issues of our time affecting individuals of every age culture class gender race and religion and whereas according to the US Department of Justice domestic violence is the leading cause of injury in women between the ages of 15 and 44 every 21

▶ 37:57 Gail Infurna: days a woman is killed by domestic violence and more than 3 million children witness acts of domestic violence each year and whereas since Since last October, 10 people have died in Massachusetts as a result of domestic violence, all women. And whereas for the past 23 years, the Melrose Alliance Against Violence, in conjunction with the police department and the Melrose Public Schools, has taken important steps to reduce domestic violence in our communities through education, outreach, and support services, as well as programs to prevent violence, such as mentoring, peer leadership, and bullying prevention now therefore I Gail M Inferno mayor of the city of Melrose Massachusetts do hereby proclaim the month of October 2018 as domestic violence awareness month and further recognize

▶ 38:51 Gail Infurna: the ideals vision and accomplishments of the Melrose Alliance against violence on its 23rd year of year anniversary dated the first day of October 2018 and on a personal note I really want thank Rebecca and her board of directors and all her crew that she has working with her I know the goal is to stand up here someday and say zero but we're at 10 this year so I thank you for all that you have done for our community thank you thank you so sadly since this proclamation was written some of you may have heard that there was one more death from domestic violence just one week ago from right now last Monday Shana Warner of Marshfield was killed in her car by her estranged husband so we will be honoring Shana along with the other

▶ 39:45 ten victims of the candlelight vigil I want to thank Mayor Inferno and all of you members of the Board of Aldermen for your steadfast support of Maeve over the years it's truly appreciated as you can see tonight I'm joined by members of our board of directors members of our student action board and members of our staff and I know in these challenging times it gives me a lot of hope to see the young people who are involved and who are so enthusiastic and committed so I'm so glad that they are here with us tonight our 23rd annual walk and candlelight vigil is Sunday October 28th at 4 o'clock in the afternoon starting an ending at the middle school we would love to have you and everyone at home

▶ 40:32 watching participate it's a family-friendly event with music a community art project face painting and refreshments at the end and you can find more information on our website MAV org our theme this year is words have power words have the power to hurt but they also have the power to heal and last spring we sponsored a poster contest on this theme and I would like to introduce Leanne Cassavoy our outreach coordinator to tell you a little bit about that and invite up some other additional guests tonight I am actually very pleased to introduce you to our two winners of our poster contest who are here with some members of their families we have sixth grader Addie Hickey who last year as a fifth grader at the Hoover school school was the winner in the elementary age

▶ 41:26 category of our poster contest and Faith Yurek who is now in ninth grade at the high school and last year was an eighth grader at Melrose middle school yep you can couple come on up and they're gonna come up and show you their posters which are now hanging in most of the schools in Melrose and several places around the community so we'd love it if you give them a round of applause so I just want to say that we are more committed than ever to continuing our work to prevent violence in the schools and community and to promote equity for all and we hope to see all of you at the walk so thank you again thank you mr. president I make a motion to place the order on file there has been a motion made by

▶ 42:53 Michael P. Zwirko: alderman Mortimer to place this order on file has been seconded by alderman Bewtra all those in favor to place the order on file any opposed that motion passes the order is placed on file at this time before we continue with any business can we just have a brief moment of recess so the folks can leave the chamber motion for recess second been a motion for recess seconded all those in favor aye we are now in recess evening we're back in order thank you for that you we still in section 3 of communications from her honor the mayor and other city officials we are now at item 2 order 2 0 1 9-16 acceptance of Community Mitigation Funds Encore Boston Harbor Wind Casino. This order will be sent to the Committee on Appropriations. We move now to new business. Order 2019-18

▶ 43:51 Scott M. Forbes: calling state election Tuesday November 6 2018. Alderman Forbes. Yes thank you Mr. President. I'd like to request immediate consideration on order number 2019-18. Alderman Forbes is seeking immediate consideration of said order will there be an objection at this time hearing none alderman Forbes thank you net this time mr. president like to make a motion to suspend the rules so I could read the order second the motion to suspend the rules alderman Forbes seeks to suspend the rules motion made by alderman Forbes seconded by alderman Mortimer all those in favor aye any opposed the rules are suspended you may read the order alderman Forbes thank you sir I know in our packets we have a four-page order I'm gonna read just the the beginning of it calling the state

▶ 44:33 Scott M. Forbes: election for Tuesday November 6 2018 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 the state elections to assemble at the polling places in their respective wards as designated herein on Tuesday the sixth day of November 2018 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to cast their votes in the state elections for the candidates of political parties for the various offices congressional and state offices and ballot questions that's motion I'd like to make a motion to pass second the motion for passage it's been a motion made to for passage made by alderman Forbes it has been seconded by alderman Mortimer for order 2 0 1 9

▶ 45:18 dash 1 8 on discussion Alderman Medeiros thank you I fully support this order I'm we voting for its passage I'm just wondering you know we see we have the city clerk in place if they'll be early voting this year and if perhaps she might be able to fill us in on that we are under suspension if the clerk would like to either you can answer from the bench or stand before us the question to you is on early voting yes so there will be early voting beginning October 22nd through November 2nd early voting will take place at City Hall we'll have one evening open on Thursday October 24th I believe and Saturday October 27th we'll be putting notices in the paper beginning this week and notices on the website this week thank you thank you very at that time anyone can come in and

▶ 46:14 Michael P. Zwirko: cast their ballot here at City Hall it works like you're voting in a regular polling day at that time thank you for that madam clerk and just to reiterate rate there will be early opportunity to vote in this election that is scheduled for November 6th of 2018 more details forthcoming in various media outlets as well as I would imagine the mayor's blog Alderman Medeiros do you have further questions and people still if they have a legitimate reason that they need to be away sickness or that they're away from the city they can vote absentee as well thank you thank you on further discussion Alderman Mortimer guys of informational we open that gate and I think it's a good idea when's the last date of registered vote please I believe it's October 17th that's my

▶ 47:01 Michael P. Zwirko: understanding as well I just wanted to get it out there for the public October 17th is the last date of register to vote ladies and gentlemen thank you thank you Alderman Mortimer any further discussion seeing none there is a motion before us to recommend this for passage all those in favor aye any opposed motion passes the order passes we now move to orders out of order there aren't any we now move to orders from committee order 2 0 1 9 dash 1 2 acceptance of fiscal year 2018 dash 2 0 2 2 traffic enforcement and equipment grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Securities Highway Safety Division to fund number 4 0 2 3 alderman Forbes I'm Thank You

▶ 47:49 Michael P. Zwirko: mr. president like to take order number two zero one nine dash one two from committee second the motion to take the order from committee alderman Forbes moves to move said order from committee it has been seconded by alderman Mortimer on discussion none all in favor aye any opposed the orders before you motion for passage second it's been a motion for passage on same order two zero one nine dash ten made by alderman Forbes second by alderman Mortimer all those in favor aye any opposed it's 12 it was two zero one nine dash twelve right oh you're I apologize let me strike that thank you Alderman Butcher for that point of order this is order two zero one nine dash twelve I read the wrong number when I recited the motion to be recommend for passage however it's

▶ 48:37 Michael P. Zwirko: if the vote stays the same and it carries the next order is two zero one 9-10 the one that I incorrectly stated before this is the appointment of Karen Smolin apologies so we'll go back before I move on at this time I will need a roll call vote because there is an appropriations of forty six hundred dollars in that motion so at this time I'd ask madam clerk for the order of two zero one nine dash twelve to be read for the roll call vote Alderman Bewtra. Yes. Alderman Boisselle. Yes. Alderman Forbes. Yes. Alderman Lemmerman. Yes. Alderman McMaster. Yes. Alderman Medeiros. Yes. Alderman Mortimer. Yes. Alderman Tramontozzi. Yes. President Duerco. Yes. Nine votes in favor, zero opposed. That order passes, requires eight. Order 2019-10, appointment of Karen Smolens of

▶ 49:30 Michael P. Zwirko: 10 Ravine Road, Melrose to the Melrose Commission on Women for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of february 2021. a motion to remove this order from committee mr president alderman mortimer moves to remove this order from committee it has been seconded by alderman Tramontozzi on discussion mr president this order was uh given a recommendation for passage just a little while ago at the health education and welfare committee and it's before us now all those in favor of moving this from committee aye aye any opposed orders before you motion for passage mr president it's been a motion for passage made by alderman mortimer on the same order it has been seconded by alderman traymond tozy on discussion all those in favor aye aye

▶ 50:16 Michael P. Zwirko: any opposed that order passes order 2019-11 appointment of miles selena wenzel 4073 lebanon street apartment one to the motors commission on women to fill the unexpired term of alish barker said term to expire on the last day of february 2019. motion to remove this order from committee mr president second alderman Mortimer removes to remove this order from committee it has been seconded by alderman lemmerman similarly this order was recommended for passage at the health education and welfare committee a little while earlier this evening thank you any further discussion on the motion before you to remove from committee seeing none all those in favor aye any opposed motions before you motion for passage

▶ 51:04 Michael P. Zwirko: mr. president second when a motion for passage made by alderman Mortimer it has been seconded by alderman Forbes discussion all those in favor of the motion for passage. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Order 2019-13 appointment of Robin Peavy 308 East Foster Street to the Historic District Commission for a term to end on the last day of February 2019. Motion to remove this order from committee. Second. Thorp been a motion made by Alderman Mortimer to remove this order from committee. It has been seconded by Alderman Lemmerman. the aforementioned procedure occurred once again earlier this evening on further discussion of the motion that is before you hearing none all those in favor to move the order 2 0 1 9 dash 1 3 from committee opposed hearing none the

▶ 51:55 Michael P. Zwirko: orders before you motion for passage mr. president second alderman Mortimer moves for passage of the order 2 0 1 9 dash 1 3 it has been seconded by alderman Trey Montozzi all those in favor of order for passage aye any opposed that order passes final order in this section is now order two zero one nine dash one four appointment of Kevin J herbs 16 Everett Street to the historic district commission for a three-year term said term to end on the last day of February 2019 motion to remove this order from committee mr. president second it's been a motion made by alderman Mortimer to remove this order from the committee it has been seconded by alderman lemmerman the previously described procedure occurred earlier this evening mr.

▶ 52:36 Michael P. Zwirko: president any further discussion on the motion all those in favor to remove this order from committee please say aye aye any opposed none the order is before you motion for passage mr. president Thorp been a motion for passage made by alderman Mortimer it has been seconded by alderman McMaster on discussion all those in favor of the motion aye aye any opposed that order passes we now rule excuse me we now move to item seven which is reports under rule 53 alderman voyzel i will be talking about the traffic commission of the meeting of september 26 2018 the minutes for the june and the august meeting uh were approved and they are listed on the traffic commission's website at this time you can look at them for for for past reference this was an interesting meeting i mean half of this

▶ 53:38 Robert A. Boisselle: board showed up for for their constituents for this particular session and it was about attended by about 55 to 58 constituents and individuals who are sitting in the audience and it was quite an evening first item on the agenda which is probably unique for Melrose another uniqueness is the reconstruction of the traffic pattern of at Howard Street and Green Street intersection and Howard Street and Clifford Street and Elm section intersections Thorp been all in that particular area Thorp a great deal of reorganization going on and the creation of a roundabout this is basically a new name for a rotary it's very compact very unique and it's was quite a particular subject for that evening the funding is probably 60% there and the other 40% will probably

▶ 54:42 Robert A. Boisselle: come from the city depending on the projects and what when funds become available but the Clifford and Elm Street is being redesigned Howard Green Street a roundabout has is also going to have a truck skirt and if people who are aware of that particular area wonders how would how can you have a rotary in this particular area but the way this particular it looks like a archery target you have the yellow in the center and the outer rings is a skirt you might say where trucks can go into to make that turn so it was quite a interesting they actually had a movie from the Amherst and Northampton area where you have the roundabout in an operation and this particular area of Green Street and Howard Street is very unfriendly to pedestrians and traffic seems to move

▶ 55:38 Robert A. Boisselle: very quickly through the area with this new roundabout the vehicles are going to be slowed down the roads are narrow to to a particular point of view there will be some loss of a parking spaces about six to eight but it will be safer for the pedestrians and Thorp going to be a lot of landscaping that's going to be done in that particular area the traffic study there was was some discussion concerning the traffic study which was taken in mid-august and if you listen to the residents Thorp very little traffic that occurs there come September 1st when the school is open for the middle it becomes a thruway for the middle school the Franklin school the Roosevelt schools and traffic is backed up from Main Street almost to the Fells way depending on

▶ 56:29 Robert A. Boisselle: which way you're going so they're going to be doing a new study sometime this month to take into accommodation that the new traffic that's there number of residences showed up for it some were there were some against the roundabouts but the majority weren't there because of the public safety and the traffic islands that were going to be created for the pedestrians to get through the area so the funding part of its coming from the street fund this is a grant that's coming from the state and the city funding will be discussed in this room probably sometime in the future and the vote was approved for the concept to continue on with the project also for no stop signs one way Thorp going to be

▶ 57:22 Robert A. Boisselle: to change on one way on clifford street at this point items number two and three are going to be taken together because this was brought forward by our alderman big masters concerning his ward in the little sprouts area at 40 washington streets with all the development in the area Thorp a lot of children in the area going to that particular uh activity and they were looking for a crosswalk and a safety zone a safety zone a traffic safety zone and that was approved and they're going to right now from 25 street 20 from brazil street is 25 miles to malden that's going to be changed that's going to be the new traffic zone that traffic speed is not going to be down to almost 20 miles at this point frankly the housing in the area 37

▶ 58:16 Robert A. Boisselle: children across the street from the Little Sprouts attend this particular group at 40 Washington Street, and Thorp 85 children total. The fourth request was to make an intersection at Cottage Street and Hurd Street a three-way stop. was having some discussion but the it was not sorry I have to turn the wrong page this was denied by the Commission it was opposed by a number of residents in that particular area residents for number five residents requested to add a stop sign at the bottom of Day Street as it enters Albion Street this was passed there will be a stop sign on day Street there was a city request to remove the first parking space from the corner of Greenwood Street on Franklin Street for

▶ 59:19 Robert A. Boisselle: safety reasons and that was approved and the use it's but basically the first parking space that's there the seventh and final one is request by residents to make Warwick Road a one-way from Perkins Street to the Linfels Parkway or a do not enter there was I was really surprised there was a traffic study of almost 3,000 cars a day traveling this particular route and that was really outstanding there was a number of individuals who were against this particular project of making it a one-way and the Commission finally made a decision to deny the request for a one-way from Perkins to Linfels Parkway or do not enter sign was also included in that the next traffic Commission meeting is tentatively scheduled now for December 19th and the agenda will be on

▶ 1:00:17 Manisha Bewtra: coming up within the next November at that point and that's the end of the traffic Commission report Thank You alderman boys all for that brief update at this time are there any other members of the alderman Bewtra another report so on September 25th I attended the regional collaboration meeting for our Melrose natural hazard mitigation plan the city is working with CDM Smith to conduct this this planning effort it's following a effort through a state grant called the municipal vulnerability program in which a number of community members and city staff got together in June to discuss citywide vulnerability and this meeting was focused on natural hazards including flooding severe weather fire earthquake invasive species and really looking at local and regional

▶ 1:01:23 Manisha Bewtra: impacts we talked about emergency response evacuation plans special considerations for vulnerable populations such as seniors chronically ill disabled people non-english-speaking people low-income we thought about pets how to involve faith-based organizations thinking about our transportation infrastructure residential and commercial properties fire and police stations City Hall Memorial Hall emergency shelters school and childcare facilities Melrose-Wakefield Hospital pharmacies gas infrastructure electrical and power infrastructure fuel sources food sources electricity and communications infrastructure sewer pump stations water and sewer pipelines and storm water drain drainage infrastructure and what we did was we

▶ 1:02:23 Manisha Bewtra: looked through we were given a matrix sort of just to help us brainstorm of all these different areas to consider to see if things were missing and where we may add detail certainly if anyone here or any members of the public would like to weigh in feel free to email me and I'll make sure that that gets in the right hands with our city engineer the folks who attended the meeting included city Sydney our a city engineer DPW director office of planning community development director representatives from Melrose Police Department area fire departments including Saugus and Stoneham a representative from Verizon from the MBTA our state representative and several others were invited as well MEMA, our state emergency management agency, has just completed a statewide hazard mitigation

▶ 1:03:33 Manisha Bewtra: plan, so that's going to be complementing this effort, and this natural hazards mitigation plan is going to include considerations for climate change. Also underway, or shortly to be underway, is a comprehensive emergency management plan that the city will be undertaking one of the questions that we um that came up that i asked actually was um you know just following with the gas explosions that happened in the merrimack valley those weren't natural hazards and wouldn't be covered by this plan but are there going to be plans for us to discuss those other things and i was really pleased to um learn that we are going to be undertaking a comprehensive emergency management plan following this effort our city engineer also reminded folks that we have what is called a code

▶ 1:04:28 Manisha Bewtra: red system which is a community notification enrollment system which we realize Thorp a lot of opportunities for communicating to the public resources that already exist and a lot of what we talked about is not only how to address the hazards but how to get the word out so that Thorp a clear clear messaging but also that you know folks know what to do in the event of the need to evacuate particularly natural hazards being not events that are likely to just affect us here within our city boundaries but may have a more regional impact Thorp no Thorp no public Thorp no public comment at this time Thorp no public Thorp Thorp no public comment at this time thank you you may continue alderman Dutra thank you the code red system is a

▶ 1:05:24 Manisha Bewtra: notification system which if you go to Melrose police net you are welcome to sign up again this came up during the conversation and I think the city will be getting the word out to folks that that exists as well but I looked it up myself and that is where you can find it you can click on if you go to Melrose police net click on the words code red it'll take you to a separate site and yeah it was a really good discussion again getting a lot of information on the table CDM Smith is going to take all that call it down make some sense out of of it and then come back to the city with additional next steps this is following a there was a an initial vulnerability assessment findings report that has already been published which this is kind of taking those findings

▶ 1:06:26 Michael P. Zwirko: and then turning them into the action plan thank you for that update ultimate and looking forward to forthcoming updates should there be any to the those that you referenced so thank you for your service on that committee I would also note at this time that alderman Lipper Garabedian is unable to attend this evening she is under the weather she did have an update to provide she will provide that update at our next regularly regularly scheduled full board meeting which is scheduled for October 15th are there any other aldermen here that wish to provide a report on any committees or commissions of which they serve seeing none we now move to adjourn motion of adjourn second has been a motion to adjourn made by alderman Mortimer has been seconded by alderman

▶ 1:07:07 Michael P. Zwirko: Forbes all those in favor aye any opposed for Alderman is adjourned

City Council — 2018-10-01

Attendance

Agenda

Minutes

Transcript

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