City Council — 2019-01-07

City Council Organizational 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 present · 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. late · Ward 3 Alderman; Michael P. Zwirko present · Alderman-at-Large

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BULLETIN● JANUARY 7, 2019 Aldermanic Chamber, Melrose City Hall Organizational 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 Present Peter D. Mortimer Ward 6 Alderman Present John N. Tramontozzi Ward 1 Alderman Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Late Michael P. Zwirko Alderman-at-Large Present

ORDER-2019-37 Election of the President Election of the President of the Board of Aldermen for the Year 2019 Elected

ORDER-2019-38 Rules of Order of the Melrose Board of Aldermen Adoption of the Rules of Order of the Board of Aldermen for the Year 2019 Passed as Amended

ORDER-2019-39 Acceptance Accepting Clause 22H of Section 5 of Chapter 59 of the General Laws, as amended by Section 15 of Chapter 218 of the Acts of 2018 Assigned to Committee Legal & Legislative Committee

ORDER-2019-40 Acceptance Acceptance of Section 3A of Chapter 64G as amended by Section 6 of Chapter 337 of the Acts of 2018 Assigned to Committee Legal & Legislative Committee

ORDER-2019-23 Utility Petition City of Melrose Page 1 1/17/2019 3:52 PM Minutes Board of Aldermen January 7, 2019 Petition of National Grid and Verizon New England to install one Pole in the municipal parking lot behind 419-429 Main St. and to install one JO pole on Grove St. in accordance with Plan # 26150795 Passed as Amended

ORDER-2019-35 Grant Acceptance of FY2019 Traffic Enforcement and Equipment Grant Passed Appropriations Committee City of Melrose Page 2 1/17/2019 3:52 PM

Transcript

▶ 0:08 Good evening. It's Monday, January 7th, and welcome to the organizational meeting of the Melrose Board of Aldermen for the year 2019. I'm the City Clerk, Amy Camosa, and I now call this meeting to order. Can the Clerk of Committees, Kristen Foote, please call the roll? Alderman Bewtra. Here. Here. Alderman Boisselle. Here. Here. Alderman Forbes. Here. Here. Alderman Lemmerman. Here. Here. Alderman Lipper-Garabedian. Here. Here. Alderman McMaster. Here. Here. Alderman Medeiros. Here. here here Alderman Mortimer here here Alderman Tramontozzi here here Alderman Wright Alderman Zwirko here here thanks for the necessary quorum can we please rise and salute the flag 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

▶ 1:07 Peter D. Mortimer: The board will now proceed to the business of electing a president for the year 2019. Madam Chair, before we proceed with that, I would like to make a motion to open the floor for public comment. We can do that after we elect a president and accept the rules for the year. I hate to start off on a note like this, but I think under the open meeting law, before we do any business, need to announce that it is available for future viewing just on for the example if there were somebody here who would like to say i think alderman y should be president i'm really in favor of alderman why i think we should open the floor for okay i did consult today to confirm the order with our city solicitor but we can do that um does anyone make a motion to con to open the

▶ 2:00 floor for public comment second this is the portion of our meeting where we uh can anyone from the public can come on discussion i'll just point out that that was not allowed at our last organizational meeting but that's all thank you okay motion to close public comment great um so now we'll proceed to the business of electing a president for the year 2019. at a caucus of the board held on december 7th 2018 jennifer lemmerman was unanimously nominated for the office um is there a motion now to formally open nomination so moved second um the motion to open nominations made by alderman mortimer second by alderman forbes um all in favor all in favor aye aye the floor is now open for nominations i make them mo i

▶ 3:02 I nominate Alderman Jennifer Lemmon for president. Second. A motion to nominate Jennifer Lemmon for president was made by Alderman Mortimer, seconded by Alderman Lipper-Garabedian. Are there any further nominations? Motion to close nominations. Second. Hearing, so the motion was made by Alderman Zwirko to close nominations, seconded by Alderman Mortimer. All in favor? Aye. Nominations are hereby closed. The election will be by a viva voce vote. Each member answering to his or her name announce their choice and the clerk will now call that role alderman Bewtra alderman jennifer lemmerman alderman lemmerman alderman Boisselle alderman lemmerman alderman lemmerman alderman forbes alderman jennifer lemmerman alderman lemmerman alderman lemmerman alderman lemmerman

▶ 3:52 alderman Letter garabedian alderman alderman lemmerman alderman mcmaster alderman jennifer lemmerman Alderman lemmerman Alderman Medeiros Alderman Jennifer L Lemmerman Alderman lemmerman Alderman Mortimer Alderman Lemmerman Alderman Entãoze Alderman Jennifer Lemmerman Alderman Lemmerman Alderman Wright Alderman Lemmerman Alderman Lemmerman Alderman Dzeko when Hélder and Jennifer lemmerman 11 for lemmerman so I'll delicious antescent énergieni lemmerman levane so alderman lemmerman has been unanimously unanimously elected as president of the Board of Alderman for the fikutsu 2019 please escort the newly elected president to the rostrum where she can take the oath of office can you please raise your right hand and repeat after me i state your name i jennifer lemmerman

▶ 4:53 do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that i will bear truth faith and allegiance will bear true faith and allegiance to the commonwealth of massachusetts to the commonwealth of massachusetts and will support the constitution thereof and will support the constitution thereof so help me god So help me God. I, Jennifer Lemmerman, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me as President of the Board of Aldermen. According to the best of my abilities and understanding, agreeably to the rules and regulations of the Constitution, In laws of the Commonwealth. So help me God. I, Jennifer Lemmerman, do solemnly swear that I will support

▶ 5:48 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: the Constitution of the United States. So help me God. So help me God. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Just take a couple of moments if you all don't mind. I first want to say thank you to my colleagues on the Board of Aldermen for your support and your trust in me to take on this position. It really does mean the world to me. Thank you to the residents of Ward 2 for allowing me to represent you for the past five years, ultimately leading me to this opportunity. I also want to thank our City Clerk, Amy Camosa, and our Clerk of Committees, Kristen Foote. You both support the work of this Board in innumerable ways, and you make the work go smoothly. Thank you. And thank you to Mayor Inferna and all of the department heads and staff

▶ 6:42 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: for everything that you do to make Melrose the thriving community it is today. Finally, thank you to my family, the people who have always been my strongest supporter. Particularly thank you to my husband, who now has a two-year-old competing with him for the role of my biggest cheerleader, and who has taken the extra duties required of a parent whose partner has a job that functions almost exclusively on evenings and weekends and done it with nothing but smiles and support. I love you both. This year will be one of the most challenging years we have faced in recent history. As we begin the work of 2019, we do so in a city at a crossroads. The decision made this year, both by the board and by the voters, will dictate not just the

▶ 7:22 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: work of our local government, but the direction of our entire city for years to come. As we face those challenges, communication with constituents will be a top priority for me as president. Good decisions are best made in an environment of open, frank, and honest discussion. I will do all I can to make sure that the residents of Melrose know what we are doing, when we are doing it, and how they can be a part of it. We will navigate through both the difficulties and the progress that 2019 has in store with a commitment to transparency and a promise to lead. This year, we the aldermen and we the voters will face a number of decisions that will have the potential to change the fabric of our city.

▶ 8:02 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: From the potential introduction of recreational marijuana, to the ways that we will manage and protect our infrastructure our human capital and our natural resources to continuing the progress that this community has made thus far and making the financial investment necessary to do so related to the latter we will face two very different budgets that will make clear two very different futures i know that we will that none of us take this responsibility lightly and that we will be held to account for which version of morose we support as city leaders as the result will be ours to grapple with perhaps it's the quirk of a social worker to have a favorite sociologist but i do and dr brene brown said we can choose courage or we can choose

▶ 8:44 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: comfort but we can't have both not at the same time to subject ourselves to public study and scrutiny as elected officials takes courage and i have admired that courage in each of you i am sure this year will test that trait in all of us but we will rise to the challenge and do what is best for the city as we always have i'm proud to serve with you all and i look forward to partnering with you in the year ahead thank you now we will move on to the business of the evening first up we have order 2019-38 which is the adoption of the rules of order of the board of aldermen for the year 2019. do we have a motion um i make a motion that we open the floor for discussion uh on this order before a motion is made as the order is before us i'm not sure we need a motion for that um if you

▶ 9:42 Peter D. Mortimer: would like to kick it off make a motion uh to amend we have a motion to amend by alderman mortimer how would you like to amend um i need a second please second sure yeah there's a second all in favor should we have the amendment before we all take make a yeah yeah okay so there's a second and the And the amendment I would like to make is that on Rule 29, it's still listed, although I think it's going to be corrected that it's public comment rather than public participation. Yes, thank you. And there is, just on discussion, the Alderman did receive an updated version, so it is appropriate in the email today, and it is appropriate that we would amend to include that for this order. So we have a motion made by Alderman Mortimer to amend as read to change public participation

▶ 10:34 Monica C. Medeiros: to public comment in our rules, which is actually an amendment that was made earlier last year officially and we need to do so within the rules we adopt this evening. Is that a correct characterization, Alderman Mortimer? Yes, it is, Madam Chair. Thank you. Madam President, thank you very much. Thank you. And this has been seconded by Alderman Boycelle. Any further discussion on this amendment? Alderman Medeiros. Since I don't think that the document was included in our agenda, if the maker of the order wouldn't mind an amendment to say that we would move to adopt the rules of order of the Melrose Board of Aldermen as it last revised April 2nd, 2018, with the amendment just mentioned, just to kind of formalize that as.

▶ 11:23 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Please. I'll second that further amendment. I'll second that further amendment. A further amendment would not be in order until we voted on the amendment on the floor. Would you like to either alter your amendment or withdraw? I'll alter my amendment to encompass the comments made by Alderman Medeiros. Thank you. Is there a second on the alter? Second. Seconded by Alderman Boisselle. Any further discussion? All in favor of the amendment? Aye. opposed opposed motion to uh adopt the rules of order of the ball the board of alderman as amended we have a motion to adopt the rules of order of the board of alderman for the year 2019 as amended second seconded by alderman medeiros all in favor aye aye any opposed we adopt the rules as amended

▶ 12:19 for the year 2019. thank you we have already done public comment for the evening so we will move on to communications from her honor the mayor and other city officials none seeing none we will move on to new business order 2019-39 accepting clause 22h of section 5 of chapter 59 of the general laws as amended by section 15 of chapter 218 of the acts of 2018. that order will go to to the Committee on Legal and Legislative Matters. Order 2019-40, acceptance of Section 3A of Chapter 64G as amended by Section 6 of Chapter 337 of the Acts of 2018. That order will also go to the Committee on Legal and Legislative Matters. Do we have any orders out of order? We do not. Orders from committee? There are none.

▶ 13:17 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: We have none, but I will take this opportunity to announce the committee assignments for 2019 each alderman received a printout of these assignments and i will read them for the record the appropriations committee which is a committee of the whole will be chaired by alderman Letter garabedian with vice chair alderman Boisselle the finance committee will be chaired by alderman Bewtra with vice chair alderman medeiros members alderman forbes wright and zwergo the health education and welfare committee will be chaired by alderman mortimer with vice chair alderman Letter garibedian and members alderman Boisselle mcmaster and Tramontozzi committee on legal and legislative matters will be chaired by alderman wright with vice chair alderman butra and committee members alderman forbes medeiros

▶ 14:07 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: and zwergo the protection and license committee will be chaired by alderman mcmaster with vice chair alderman mortimer and committee members alderman Boisselle Letter garabedian and Tramontozzi the committee on public service will be chaired by alderman Zwirko with vice chair alderman forbes and members alderman Bewtra medeiros and wright the committee on public works will be chaired by alderman Tramontozzi with vice chair alderman Boisselle and committee members alderman Letter garabedian mcmaster and mortimer in addition aldermen serve roles on several commissions committees and as Aldermanic reps and liaisons those will primarily be staying the same as they were last year with a couple of small changes not small

▶ 14:54 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: changes Alderman Forbes will take the Aldermanic rep position on the Public Safety Building Commission the seat that he previously held on the water and sewer rate committee will be held by Alderman Bewtra and finally the board liaison to the school committee will be held by alderman medeiros all the others will remain the same that they were in 2018. thank you moving on to reports under rule 53 from any of those committees or boards alderman boycelle i have a report from the traffic commission on their meeting of december 19th uh the new the business that was occurred at that particular time there There were four agenda items. The first one was a request by residents to add weekly restrictions on

▶ 15:49 Robert A. Boisselle: Richardson Road from Marvin Road to Renwick Road and Renwick Road to the city limit to prevent long term commuter parking. There seems to be, was a problem concerning commuter car parking in the day, all day long, and what they've put now, they're going to be having one hour parking between 7 and 10 AM. and except for Saturdays and Sundays, and the order was passed to put in, to put in the parking restrictions in that particular area. Second item on the agenda was petition request made by several residents of Whittler Street and Baxter to make that intersection a four-way stop. Currently, it's a two-way on Whittler Street, and the petition was denied. There was a number of individuals who came forward in the testimony of the hearing

▶ 16:44 Robert A. Boisselle: that the stop sign itself is blocked by a tree and DPW will be trimming the area on both stop signs in that area and the four-way stop sign was failed through the commissioners and so forth. Also, they showed that the average speed on the streets was 20 miles per hour and the traffic study also showed also show there's an average about 300 cars a day at that point next item was the city request to make the west side of Benton Street from West Emerson to North Cedar Park and no parking any time and that was passed by the Commission at the meeting the last item on the agenda was a crosswalk across Lebanon Street between Grove Street and Park Street there were a number of residents that came forward to give testimony on the traffic everyone knows it's a second

▶ 17:48 Robert A. Boisselle: highway through Melrose besides Main Street so it is a pretty busy street and there's actually no crosswalks between Grove and Park Street so there are a number of streets that were indicated to be identified for crosswalks Beech Avenue Appleton Malvern and app and Appleton again but Malvin fell aside because it seems to be a very high accident rate over a five-year period there's been 77 crashes and 14 injuries occurring that particular site on Lebanon and Malvern area and the final two streets that came or that were selected were Beach and Appleton for crosswalks right now the concept is one of them will have we selected but there will be trying for two of them at that particular site the beach in Appleton if funding can be picked up to do the

▶ 18:50 Robert A. Boisselle: crosswalks it's an average about seven seven to ten thousand dollars to do crosswalks that's in case you have to put it the handicap access to the sidewalks and so forth so right now they're looking for funding but those two streets Beach and Appleton will were selected to have crosswalks depending on funding and that's the end of that particular session thank you thank you any further reports Alderman Lipper-Garabedian sure as outgoing liaison to the school committee I just wanted to flag that they are meeting tomorrow night their meeting is at 7 o'clock and for the purposes of our consideration one of the things that will be on the agenda is an initial conversation about the fiscal 20 budget so the superintendent has prepared her fiscal 20 budget message

▶ 19:39 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: it's available publicly on their agenda it's worth printing out and taking a look it includes a brief breakdown of budget a versus budget B depending on how conversations and the vote for the special election go in April so that'll be an initial conversation and then they'll continue to meet on that throughout the winter thank you thank you any further reports moving on to the calendar order 2019-23 petition of National Grid in Verizon New England to install one pole in the municipal parking lot behind 419 to 429 Main Street and to install one jail pole on Grove Street in accordance with plan number two six one five zero seven nine five this order was recommended for passage as amended by the Appropriations Committee motion for passage back

▶ 20:32 Michael P. Zwirko: president second we have a motion for passage made by alderman Mortimer and seconded by alderman Boycelle any discussion Alderman Zwirko thank you madam president I just wanted to state that in relation to this petition that the two unions involved in the recent lockout have come to an agreement with National Grid so we look forward to going back to normalcy with the orders that and permits when they come before us I just want to make that comment Thank You madam president you any further discussion all in favor any opposed the order passes or 2019-35 acceptance of fiscal year 2019 traffic enforcement and equipment grant. This order was recommended for passage by the Appropriations Committee. Motion for passage. Second. We have a motion for passage made

▶ 21:22 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: by Alderman Forbes, seconded by Alderman Boisselle. Any discussion? This is a roll call vote. Madam Clerk, if you could call the roll. Alderman Bewtra. Yes. Alderman Boisselle. Yes. Alderman Forbes. Yes. Alderman Lemmerman. Yes. Alderman Letter Garabedian. Yes. Alderman McMaster. Yes. Alderman Medeiros. Yes. Alderman Mortimer. Yes. Alderman Tramontozzi. Yes. Alderman Wright. Yes. Alderman Zwirko. Yes. 11 yes, the order passes. That concludes our agenda for the evening. Motion to adjourn, Madam President. Second. We have a motion to adjourn made, I believe, by Alderman Mortimer and seconded by Alderman Forbes. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are now adjourned. Thank you everyone.

City Council — 2019-01-07

Attendance

Agenda

Minutes

Transcript

Original documents