City Council — 2019-03-04

City Council Regular Meeting

This meeting starts at 27:50 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Also recorded: Melrose City Council March 4 2019 Pt 2

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. present · Ward 3 Alderman; Michael P. Zwirko present · Alderman at Large

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BULLETIN● MARCH 4, 2019 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 Present Peter D. Mortimer Ward 6 Alderman Present John N. Tramontozzi Ward 1 Alderman Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Present Michael P. Zwirko Alderman at Large Present

ORDER-2019-48 Utility Petition Petition of National Grid and Verizon New England, Inc to relocate 3 jointly owned poles on Howard & Green Streets-- poles 176-1,177, and 208 out of the center island of the intersection of Howard St and Green St per request of the city of Melrose. Work Request #27869322, dated 2/12/2019 Passed Board of Aldermen

ORDER-2019-51 Grant Accept a FY 19 Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Grant in the amount of $7,750.00 Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2019-53 Grant Accept a FY 19 State 911 Department Support and Incentive Grant in the amount of $56,187.00. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2019-56 Grant City of Melrose Page 1 4/2/2019 11:22 AM Minutes Board of Aldermen March 4, 2019 Accept a FY19 State 911 Department Training and EMD Regulatory Compliance Grant in the amount of $92,636.72 Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2019-58 Appointment Appointment of Eileen Lyle, 5 Angela Circle, to the Council on Aging for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2022. Assigned to Committee Health, Education & Welfare Committee

ORDER-2019-55 Appointment Reappointment of Dr. Francisco Brincheiro, 276 Upham St., to the Board of Health for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2022. Assigned to Committee Health, Education & Welfare Committee

ORDER-2019-54 Appointment Reappointment of Lee Phelan, 102 Clifford St., to the Board of Assessors for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February, 2022. Assigned to Committee Finance Committee

ORDER-2019-61 Appropriation An appropriation from Free Cash (01-324001), in the amount of $102,000.00 to various accounts as set forth here in. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2019-52 Appropriation An Appropriation from the Contract Stabilization Fund (84042- 590000) in the amount of $101,827.00 to the Police Salary & Wages and Overtime accounts(012111-511000 and 012111-513000) to fund year one of the new contract. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2019-59 Resolution City of Melrose Page 2 4/2/2019 11:22 AM Minutes Board of Aldermen March 4, 2019 A Resolution Supporting the 2nd Annual White Ribbon Day on Thursday, March 7th, 2019 Placed on File

ORDER-2019-60 License Application of Mohamed Nidali Oubella d/b/a Boston Limousine Ride for a livery license Assigned to Committee Protection and License Committee

ORDER-2019-62 Appointment Reappointment of Theodore Hunt, Jr., 241 Tremont St., Apt. 2, to the Board of Registrars of Voters for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of March 2022. Assigned to Committee Finance Committee

ORDER-2019-63 Appointment Reappointment of Eric Wildman, 105 Laurel St., to the Board of Registrars of Voters for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of March 2022. Assigned to Committee Finance Committee

ORDER-2019-50 Appointment Reappointment of Melissa Ripley as Assistant City Clerk for a one year term; said term ending on March 1, 2020. Passed Board of Aldermen City of Melrose Page 3 4/2/2019 11:22 AM

Transcript

▶ 33:22 which way thank you I call back to order the meeting of the full board of the morrow's board of aldermen we last left off and wrapping up the public hearing and so we will now move on to communications from her honor the mayor and other city officials order 2 0 1 9 dash 51 except the fiscal year 19 pedestrian and bicycle safety grant in the amount of seven thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars that order will be sent to the committee on appropriations order 2 0 9 2 0 1 9 dash 53 except a fiscal year 19 state 9 1 1 department support and incentive grant in the amount of fifty six thousand one hundred and eighty seven dollars that order will go to the committee on appropriations order two zero one nine dash fifty six except a fiscal year 19

▶ 35:00 state 9-1-1 department training and EMD regulatory compliance grant in the amount of ninety two thousand six hundred thirty six dollars and seventy two cents order will go to the committee on appropriations order two zero one 1019-58, appointment of Eileen Lyle, 5, Angela Circle, to the Council on Aging for a three-year term. Said term to expire on the last day of February 2022. That order will go to the Committee on Health, Education, and Welfare. Order 2019-55, reappointment of Dr. Francisco Branchero, 276 Upham Street, to the Board of Health for a three-year term. Said term to expire on the last day of February 2022. That order will go to the Committee on Health, Education, and Welfare as well.

▶ 35:43 order 2019-54 reappointment of lee phelan 102 clifford street to the board of assessors for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of february 2022. that order will go to the committee on finance order 2019-61 an appropriation from free cash account zero one dash three two four zero zero one in the amount of a hundred and two thousand dollars to various accounts as set forth herein i will go to the committee on appropriations order 2019-52 an appropriation from the contract stabilization fund account eight four zero four two dash five nine zero zero zero zero and the amount of one hundred and one thousand eight hundred and twenty seven dollars to the police salary and wages and overtime accounts zero one two one one one dash

▶ 36:35 Manisha Bewtra: five one one zero zero zero and zero one two one one one dash five one three zero zero zero to fund year one of the new contract we'll go to the committee on appropriations we can move on to new business order zero order two one two zero one nine dash fifty nine previously handled order two zero one nine dash sixty application of Mohammed Nadali Obella doing business as Boston limousine ride for a livery license orders out of order this evening yes I have two orders out of order from the finance for well ordered 2019 dash 62 reappointment of theodore hunt jr 241 trumont street apartment 2 to the board of registrar of voters for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of march 2022. that order will go to the committee on

▶ 37:37 Manisha Bewtra: finance that's a motion and i'll second the motion to take the order out of order thank you thank you um also i'm looking to take a vote on that just excuse me one second all in favor of taking order 2019-62 out of order aye aye any opposed that order will go to the committee on finance uh i'd also like to make a motion to take order 2019-63 out of order that would be the reappointment of eric wildman 105 laurel street to the board of register of voters for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of march 2022. second the motion a motion has been made by alderman Bewtra to take order 2019-63 out of order seconded by alderman mortimer all in favor any opposed that will go to the committee on finance do we have orders from committee i have

▶ 38:34 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: a motion to recommend order 2019-50 so we have a motion from alderman Bewtra to remove order 2019-50 reappointment of melissa rickley as city assistant as assistant city clerk for a one-year term said term to and said term ending on march 1st 2020 to remove that from the finance committee second it's been seconded by alderman mortimer all in favor aye the order is before us thank you uh i'd like to make a motion to recommend order 2019-50 reappointment of melissa ripley as assistant city clerk for a one-year term second the motion for passage we have a motion for passage made by Alderman Bewtra, seconded by Alderman Mortimer. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That order passes. Do we have any reports under Rule 53 this evening? We have no items from the calendar.

▶ 39:33 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Motion to adjourn, Madam President. I have a motion to adjourn made by Alderman Mortimer, seconded by Alderman Boisselle. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are adjourned.

▶ 27:26 favor any opposed so we will recess and we will come back together on this issue after the full board has a chance to meet form good evening the hour being 748 on March 4th 2019 I call to order this meeting of the full board of the Melrose board of aldermen miss Kamosa if you could call the roll Alderman Bewtra here Alderman Boisselle here Alderman Forbes here Alderman Lipper-Garabedian here Alderman McMaster here Alderman Medeiros here alderman Mortimer yeah alderman Tramontozzi yeah alderman Wright here alderman Zwirko here president Lemmerman here 11 present 11 present if you would rise and join me in saluting at the flag United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all

▶ 29:50 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Madam President I make a motion to open the floor for public comment. We have a motion to open the floor for public comment made by Alderman Mortimer. Is there a second? Seconded by Alderman Forbes. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? This is the portion of our meeting of the full board where any member of the public can come forward to speak on any item on our agenda. I would note that we do have a public hearing starting at 8 p.m. regarding a petition of National Grid and Verizon to move some polls if anyone is here to speak on any other item on the full board agenda please feel free to come forward hi my name is Mary Jovino I live in school street I am here I'm not an eloquent speaker so I'm here to let you

▶ 30:42 know that I stand to block the installation of a marijuana dispensary in downtown Melrose I was able to go around excuse I'm sorry to interrupt you that's in the Appropriations Committee right now it's not on our agenda we will be returning to that as soon as we adjourn no no worries it's confusing because we have several items on our public on something else no worries please stay and there will be an opportunity to speak soon sure motion to close public comment oh good evening good evening um my name is jerry morose um i just wanted to make a note that the your one of the orders 2019-61 i believe is a transfer money from free cash for various accounts um and a number of those happen have to do with the um override election in april

▶ 31:51 and with all the scare tactics that have been putting out there about senior citizens not being able to have their van if the override doesn't pass and the library is going to cut back hours and all these things you know i i think just what's on the this allocation from free cash is almost 35 000 to have the special election um and obviously we haven't scheduled we have to pay for it um but there's a lot of disingenuous comments being made from city officials about about the impact of the override and that we have no money and this whole override process as i said last fall could have been done much differently um i don't believe that it's really the appropriate mr morose i have to the override is not on our

▶ 32:45 agenda no no i know but i'm talking about the funds that are being used for an election that they need to ask you to stick to that that's what i'm okay so i just want to point out that there are i think thirty four thousand five hundred dollars in that allocation there and you know our free cash we have a lot of it every year and it gets put into a lot of different things And a lot of that money is spent without a whole lot of discussion from this board about why it's spent and whether we really had to spend it in advance. And I'd appreciate people more conscientious about looking at free cash as not being free, that it came from people, and it's important, and it's valuable, and it ought to be applied in good ways.

▶ 33:29 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Thank you. Thank you. Are there other members of the public wishing to speak? Motion to close. Closed public comment. Second. Madam President. we have a motion to close public comment made by alderman mortimer seconded by alderman Boisselle all in favor aye aye any opposed alderman Zwirko thank you madam president i i ask at this time to take an item out of order for the purposes of an immediate consideration that item is under new business it is order 2019-59 resolution supporting the second annual white ribbon day on thursday march 7th 2019. second the motion to change the order of business as we do have several audience members here for this resolution. Alderman Zwirko has asked that we take order number 2019-59 out of order to be addressed now. Its

▶ 34:23 motion has been seconded by Alderman Mortimer. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you for that. At this time now, Madam President, I ask for immediate consideration of order 2019-59. Is there any opposition to immediate consideration the order is before us at this time I asked to suspend the rules so that I may come before you to read the resolution of said order second the motion to suspend the rules we have a motion to spend the rules made by aldermen's work outside of my ultimate Mortimer all in favor any opposed we are now under suspension of rules please feel free to come forward at this time if there are members of the men for Maeve organization as well as Maeve if they could come up here and join me just like to read this resolution into the

▶ 35:39 Michael P. Zwirko: record whereas the white ribbon campaign was created by a group of Canadian men in 1991 on the second anniversary of one man's massacre of 14 women in Montreal and whereas March is also Women's History Month and to recognize March 8th as International Women's Day as well as participating in the international community throughout the United Nations Secretary General's campaign United to End Violence Against Women and every year on the first Thursday of March men Men across the world speak out to change societal attitudes and beliefs that perpetuate violence against women. Further, they pledge to be a partner in the efforts to reduce violence against women and promote safety and respect in all relationships and situations.

▶ 36:23 Michael P. Zwirko: And whereas, because most violent acts against women are committed by men, men both young and old play a vital role in helping to curb this horrible trend. By mobilizing this effort, men can become active bystanders and allies to women where violence is occurring or may occur. And whereas the White Ribbon Day campaign in Melrose offers a welcoming vehicle for men to take a public stand against violence against women and promote healthy masculinity, and whereas this Thursday, March 7, 2019, at 8 a.m., here in this Aldermanic Chamber, the men from MAVE Group who are associated with the Melrose Alliance Against Violence will hold a 30-minute ceremony marking the second annual White Ribbon Day in Melrose

▶ 37:02 Michael P. Zwirko: and pledge nonviolence, especially towards women, and therefore that we, the Melrose board of aldermen have approved approved this resolution to support the second white ribbon day in the city of melrose on thursday march 7th and further pledge their efforts towards seeking non-violent outcomes towards women just one quick statement before we conclude this year the white ribbon day is probably more important than ever as we've held it here in the greater boston area we have seen two recent well-covered events of women being abducted kidnapped and in one case murdered at the hands of men. Jazzy Correa was a mother of a two-year-old daughter who went out one night for dancing and never came home.

▶ 37:40 Michael P. Zwirko: Olivia Ambrose left the local pub one evening enjoying drinks with friends and was abducted for nearly three days. Luckily, she survived but suffered unimaginable trauma nonetheless. Women are not prey. They are our friends. They are our mothers. They are our sisters. They are our daughters, our mentors, and our community leaders. Because violence against women is more often than not caused by men, it is important to seek the men in our community to stand up and reject it, to pledge against it, and to seek a better outcome for women in our lives. Men should act as active bystanders when witnessing acts or potential acts of violence towards women. Efforts like these by Maeve and the men behind me are key to this commitment as one community

▶ 38:24 Michael P. Zwirko: open to all without fear or violence towards anyone. those here in the audience and to those watching at home we would love your attendance at this event on Thursday March 7th at 8 a.m. here in this chamber the event will last no longer than half an hour thank you very much at this time too we have a flag Joe we will be raising this flag at the ceremony concluding the ceremony on Thursday and I would just like to take a brief moment so that we could stand in front of you take a picture of the flag but I do appreciate the time granted by this board as well as the members of the public this evening thank you thank you madam president thank you at this time madam president I'd like to make a move to place this order on file second the

▶ 50:19 Monica C. Medeiros: we do have representatives from the we have the city engineer here with us as well I'm sure there be questions regarding the movement of the polls as it relates to the city side of things as well we could bring her forward do we have questions from the committee thank you and in particular I if miss Paracas Ellis could come I want to start by saying a couple of things so this area and although I'm an alderman at large right now I'm was previously the ward alderman for this area for six years and it's an area in which I often received calls of concern especially during times of snow and that there was no place to put the snow I often received calls with concern about not having adequate parking in the area and that there wasn't enough spaces and

▶ 51:22 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: frankly there aren't any public spaces in that area Alderman Medeiros I apologize I do need to reiterate what I've been saying which is that the roundabout is not before us we the design of this project is not what we voting on there have been several meetings in the process my understanding is the engineer's office is still working on things like perhaps on parking space that continues and I would encourage any aldermen who have a concern with that to reach out to that office we're discussing the polls this evening that's right we are discussing the polls this evening in order to make this change from an existing green space that has a veteran memorial in the middle of it and change that to be a roundabout we have to do a number of

▶ 52:07 Monica C. Medeiros: things and including moving four poles including taking away the green space and including taking away as of the last traffic Commission meeting it was nine parking spaces that you know I think this is a severe change to the area I know that the resident who had come forward previously when this order was introduced to us as well as tonight had an alternate plan design which I don't believe has been looked at it has been and I know there are concerns about moving these poles and the you know this is you know the the goal of this whole project is to include increase pedestrian safety and access and so some these poles that are kind of in existence already do make it tight to get by could you speak to the the changes in terms of how much width will

▶ 53:10 be there on the sidewalk once we move these poles sure so as noted the the impetus for this project was complete streets so everything's being done with complete streets with accessibility with ability to cross the street safely and navigate around on foot or on a bike safely all of those considerations have been made so the proposed locations in an attempt to make the dots more visible on the aerial that I put together they they look like they may encroach on the sidewalk but that's not the case initially I just had a tiny little dot that was more to scale and I was told that you couldn't see them so I made them bigger but they are in fact in the grass strip what is the current grass strip completely off the sidewalk in all three locations the the locations we've

▶ 54:02 selected because the veterans memorial will be moving from the center to the the large green spaces to the north of the proposed roundabout we we wanted to get the poles well we have several considerations one is the poles have to able to move before we start the project so their ultimate location can't be what is currently in the middle of the street so that was one driving factor and then secondly we met for about an hour out in the field with national grid the poles need to be able to support the wires that are there structurally without needing to add more poles to keep those poles from falling so these locations allowed all the existing wires to still hold up the poles in their new locations

▶ 54:51 without having to add guy poles or guy wires or anything structural and then the third consideration was we didn't want to impact um directly within the area that was going to become the new war memorial or any really negative impacts right in front of somebody's house like right in the center we always try to not put the poles you know right in front of somebody's front door or we try to put them you know approximately at the edges of property lines so in this case we're proposing the two on the north side will be in the grass strip that's existing and the house that's behind that is set fairly far back from the street and we are to the side of their front walk we're not right in front of their front walk and then the one that's moving over to the corner near Haverhill

▶ 55:41 Monica C. Medeiros: place it will be basically on the street corner and again not right in front of somebody's home thank you thank you and while I recognize this is an order to move polls I have to say I I really am concerned with this design and the lack of spaces and the removal of the green space and the drainage in this area this is the only vote that this Board of Aldermen will have as far as I'm aware in regard to this project I know there is a traffic Commission meeting coming I I will not be supporting this order tonight in the hopes that perhaps you might consider taking this back up again at the Traffic Commission next week and considering a different proposal that might increase some of the green space and not decrease so much of the loss of parking.

▶ 56:35 We are looking at increasing the parking again in front of 160 Green Street. the engineers do think we can pick back up at least a couple of spaces if not more so we're in the final design we're trying to see how many more of those we can get back in and we did consider our alternative that we considered at the first public meeting was very similar to the gentleman who spoke alternative and that did get voted down because it just didn't have some of the benefits that this proposal had in terms of the accessibility for pedestrians and the um the way in which it slows the traffic um it was just not deemed to be as as good of a proposal and then i did also send his design to the um even after we had voted on this

▶ 57:23 in place of the one more similar to that i did send his design to our consulting engineers to take a look at it and they similarly felt that it was not it didn't meet all of our objectives whereas this does um so i i don't want anyone to think that we haven't considered it or that we didn't give it a serious consideration i spent at least an hour with the residents and so we're we're doing everything we can to try to satisfy everybody's interests thank you for doing that and i appreciate that anything that you can do to you know bring spaces back and especially some green space would be greatly appreciated thank you thank you thank you alderman Letter garabedian yes um i think i just have two questions thank you both so much for being here tonight

▶ 58:03 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: one of the public commenters mentioned an existing poll 176 are you familiar with that poll and his suggestion then it's so narrow that people are walking into the streets to to get around it where would that be where would that poll be I see there are a couple existing polls to remain but they're not listed yeah that's taken that one was proposed to stay as is but you know when we were out there I didn't notice that encroaching on the sidewalk but we will definitely take a look that wouldn't require a grant of location because it would just be probably a cut and kick if it was to move and if it is impeding the sidewalk and where this is a accessibility project I think it would be reasonable to have that pool moved at the same time if it's an issue okay

▶ 58:47 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: that's great I'm not quite sure on which side of the street it is it's on my aerial it's just the one that says existing pole to remain okay so that's almost that's close to the church I think yeah it's closer closer which is where the Melrose family room is I'm a member so that's very frequented by families with young children so I think it would be great to take a look so thank you for thinking to do that we also have attached to our order a memorandum that establishes some conditions for the project and I noted that you are planning to notify all residents who will be impacted 48 hours prior to any work beginning and what kind of impact will this work have will they have loss of electricity for a period of time or how does that work no

▶ 59:28 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: they set the new poles and then they move all the wires just transfer it yeah so no one should have any loss of service unless something goes wrong but typically we we haven't seen that nope so it'll just be more activity and yeah the road works in front of their house and and it might take a few weeks for all the different entities to come and move their wires some of these have fire alarm that the city needs to move streetlights that our contractor needs to move um comcast okay so how so maybe i'm sorry that brings me how long do you think this entire project will take and is it sort of every day someone will be there or was it sort of more sporadic if if the city has the control over it that we'd like we would like it all moved within

▶ 1:00:13 Robert A. Boisselle: a month because we need to get the roundabout built to to meet our complete street schedule to qualify for the next round of four hundred thousand dollars if we don't have everything completed by May 1st we lose our opportunity to apply again for funding okay thank you so much excuse me okay you have two three poles are any wires coming across the high across the roadway to itself in connection excuse me in connection the same wires that cross right now will still be crossing they'll just be crossing in slightly different places so how tall are these pole is going to be that's i mean that's quite a distance from the new poles to 177 into the other poles coming across the roundabout be a standard 45-foot pole so it's not going to be one of the

▶ 1:01:06 Robert A. Boisselle: new the new ones that are almost 55. no it should not be no should not be okay so is it isn't going to be any sort of dip in the wiring it's going to be a straight tighten on the wiring itself that is correct so the trucks are coming through the oversized trucks shouldn't touch these wires at all now are you attaching any other cables to this uh to this particular uh these poles like the the verizon comcast and others and that's a jointly owned pulse of verizon and i'm assuming comcast will be involved in it okay so the power line has a top top space and then they keep coming down that is correct yes will that be a problem for these other groups putting their wiring in well that's why we'll probably put a 45-foot pole that gives more space the real tall

▶ 1:01:59 Peter D. Mortimer: ones utilities correct and those poles have been there for for a long time they're probably just 35 or even a 40-foot pole so you're going to give five extra feet right for that okay good thank Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Alderman Mortimer. Thank you very much, President Lemmerman. I'm concerned about this and your point that we are not here to discuss the pros and cons and the nuts and bolts of whether or not this project as a whole should go forward are well understood by this alderman. But I also appreciate the perspective of Alderman Medeiros when she said, we don't have a lot of power over this, but the one power we do have is that if we say no to these polls,

▶ 1:02:51 Peter D. Mortimer: it sends a clear message that maybe we don't want this project to destroy this guard and adopter site that's there. and it's a big conversation and again out of respect for your very appropriate direction I will not go into the nuts and bolts and pros and cons but this is the one power we have if we say no to these polls then that the the chain of dominoes is stopped the ripple in the ponds no longer spread out I have concerns about it so I'm inclined to vote against this I think we need to pump the brakes on this and take a look because this is a step in the direction to the completion of the project and and not to discuss the project but I think there needs to be a little bit more of a look a little bit of a pumping of the

▶ 1:03:48 Peter D. Mortimer: breaks take a pause let's look around before we destroy and adopt a site or change the character of the neighborhood and we haven't we've heard comments from people the public against it we haven't heard any people come in with comments in favor of the operation on these polls so my inclination is to vote against this at this time thank you very much thank you can you clarify this point you just made about complete streets again and if we were to vote in favor against how that might impact that funding so if we're not able to move these polls at this time if we were to wait I'm not sure how long even a couple weeks we're up against a very tight deadline right now so the next application round for Complete Streets is May 1st and we have to have all three

▶ 1:04:53 of our Complete Streets projects done and reimbursed in order to apply for the next round of Complete Streets funding so we would be potentially sacrificing the ability to apply for another four hundred thousand dollars in grant funding if we can't get this project done on the timeline that we had accounted for and and we spent a considerable amount of time in the fall working on getting buy-in for this project in fact when we went to the first public meeting we the city was as open to both options as as anyone we had no preference we heard the concerns and the opinions of the folks in the room and it was after that meeting where we decided that we thought the roundabout was the best option and then that's when we had Stantec take it to the next level

▶ 1:05:38 of doing this preliminary design so that we could present it to the traffic Commission for approval which was a second public meeting and it it received a good amount of support also at the traffic Commission meeting so there's been a lengthy public process the two residents who spoke tonight are the two residents who I've had a dialogue with since then other than that I have had nothing but positive comments with regard to this project and then with regards to and so those public forums our public hearings sounds like we're a butters notified and yes in both cases everybody received a hand-delivered notice okay I do recognize that where the resident at 150 Green Street said that she did not receive a notice I believe she's a property owner and has a

▶ 1:06:26 tenant so there are two two factors at play one the tenant might have taken it but two I will say that we're not always 100% when we distribute to a larger building you know we try to leave enough copies for everyone and hope that everybody gets one but unfortunately it doesn't always play out so I apologize if the folks at 150 Green Street did not receive the notice but I'm guessing it's a factor of the multi-unit building thank you those are all my questions for thank you the other alderman wishing to speak for the first time thank you my I had attended the the last traffic Commission meeting in which this was voted on my understanding at the end of that meeting I know there had been some

▶ 1:07:18 discussion about whether or not to separate this roundabout from the other work at elm street and clifford and howard um and the understanding that that that work could be considered of independently potentially in terms of our complete streets project we ended up considering the traffic independently in terms of construction so that we could advance one part first and then the other part separately but mass d.o.t still considers this all one project and until we've spent the funding that they've given us we we can't resubmit so we've spent some funding up at the intersection of Howard Nelson and Ruggles where we put in the rapid flashing beacon we spent obviously a good chunk at the Clifford Elm reconstruction but we still haven't

▶ 1:08:09 Monica C. Medeiros: spent all of it so if we were to submit to MassDOT just what we've done and say we're not going to do anything at this intersection I'm not sure one that they considered a complete project and two we would certainly be sacrificing that differential of the money we haven't spent yet and um what is the time frame to actually do this begin this work we want to begin as soon as the snow stops um at this time i i you know continue forward and i hope that this is discussed at the traffic commission meeting and perhaps something like thank you thank you madam president thank you for being here this evening um i'll try to be brief uh you said that a firm was hired to review the plans when it was decided by the city to

▶ 1:09:00 Michael P. Zwirko: go forward with the roundabout view stantec are they an expert engineering firm absolutely so they they routinely draft projects of this nature yes and they understand transportation flows as well as uh issues with restructuring roadways accordingly definitely okay so this would be compliant with uh current standards yes it meets all the standards for turning radii and and it's considered a mini roundabout which is what they deem the most appropriate for a residential neighborhood it's not a rotary it's not a full-size roundabout it's basically as small as you can make it and still comply with all the regulations for allowing you know emergency vehicles and everything else to be able to get through the intersection thank

▶ 1:09:44 you and you did express interest in trying to I know we're just discussing polls but maybe enhance the project from stages here on out if possible yes as much as we can bring parking back in where we previously thought it would have to come out certainly as much green space as we can fit we do have some big green spaces that are going to result and I know that the mayor's office has been looking at I believe the memorial that's in the middle just reached a hundred year anniversary I think of the death of the gentleman who the memorial is for and I believe they're looking at doing a ceremony when it gets moved across the street to a location where pedestrians can now actually access it and go visit the plaque and the stone and do some sort of a dedication

▶ 1:10:28 Michael P. Zwirko: rededication for the hundred anniversary well thank you for that and I know in my experience working with not only the engineering division but also members of the traffic commission they take great care in the comments and the concerns that they received from the residents this is a project that went through a major vetting process and they're even still responsive after the fact I'm inclined to support this based on the work and the history that they've done and the integrity that they've shown and projects of this nature thank you thank you Alderman Lipper-Garabedian thank you madam president just one more piece to add to to second aldermen's work those points I'm also planning to support this

▶ 1:11:07 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: and this project also went through the complete streets working group so I'm a member of that as a Representatives for birth to five but I know there's an alderman Representatives there's a Representatives from the police a Representatives from the schools from the pet bike from your office I may be missing any other members mass in motion that's right the mayor's office so it's Representatives group that brings forward a bunch of different perspectives and and we then retained this firm to do a very careful study it sounds like the traffic Commission also has been involved so there have been multiple stages in the design of this and I'm very pleased that you're still receptive to additional considerations and I think I just look forward to seeing this

▶ 1:11:59 continue to improve before full implementation thank you one last thing you said you've been reviewing some of this material in the plans and you you were going to add how many new parking spaces it's since it's still in the final design phase with the engineers I don't know exactly how many but I know where they will be added which is right in front of 160 green so if you look at the map so the spaces that we're losing were basically the entire frontage of 160 and 150 green and then two spaces across the street um at a minimum i think we'll be able to add in a couple of the spaces back that are right in front of 160 just beyond the natural food store on the south side of green street on the south side of green street yes the parking we were losing

▶ 1:12:49 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: the parking in front of the natural food store was to remain and then it was the spaces after that in front of 160 green that's where they were going to start being eliminated but we should be able to add some of those back in we don't see so much of an issue with someone pulling over in parking on that approach to the roundabout it's that we really can't have people pulling in and out parking in the roundabout because that becomes a safety hazard okay thank you very much thank you any further comments okay well since we are all taking some leniencies this evening if i might take one moment as the ward alderman for this area and just mention that there has been a lengthy process as I mentioned around this the engineers office has been incredibly

▶ 1:13:28 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: responsive and willing to go out and stand on the street with residents and people who have been concerned this has gone through the complete streets project it's gone through multiple neighborhood meetings I have reiterated as have many the deep concern with parking as the engineer has mentioned this is being taken into consideration this is a dangerous intersection as it stands and the complete streets project goal is to change that there's some businesses in town particularly a grocery store where walkability is a little bit more moot because you have an armful of groceries you might need your car and it's important that people are able to do that and I respect the engineers office promise to look into that and we'll support this as well

▶ 1:14:11 Peter D. Mortimer: alderman Mortimer I am concerned with the points I made before but from the comments I've heard subsequently I do have an open mind and I can't change my mind and one of the major bulwarks in my contemplation of any issue is what the ward alderman says and it's your ward and you made your comment so I'm inclined to reconsider my previous position thank you thank you what is the will of the committee motion recommend second the motion to recommend made by Alderman Swirko second by Alderman Letter-Garrett Bedian on discussion all in favor aye any opposed opposed one opposed it passes we have a motion to adjourn or recess so that we may return to the Appropriations Committee meeting second we have a motion made by Alderman Mortimer second by Alderman Boisselle all in

City Council — 2019-03-04

Attendance

Agenda

Minutes

Transcript

Original documents