City Council — 2019-08-19

City Council Regular Meeting

This meeting starts at 51:55 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Attendance

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

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE CITY COUNCIL BULLETIN● AUGUST 19, 2019 Council 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 Absent Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Present Michael P. Zwirko Alderman at Large Present

ORDER-2020-3 Utility Petition Petition of National Grid for Pole Relocation and Conduit Installation on Cerretani Way Passed as Amended

ORDER-2020-7 Appointment Appointment of Jennie Wengrovius, 585 Main St., #402, to the Commission on Women for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February. Assigned to Committee Health, Education & Welfare Committee

ORDER-2020-8 Bond Authorizing a Bond in the amount of Three Hundred, Seventy Five Thousand Dollars ($375,000) under the Sewer Enterprise Account through the MWRA Sewer System I/I Local Financial Assistance Program Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-9 Bond Authorizing a Bond under the Water Enterprise System through MWRA Local Water System Assistance Program bonds for FY2020 in the amount of One Million, Four Hundred Forty Thousand Dollars ($1,440,000) Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-10 Presentation City of Melrose Page 1 10/16/2019 12:24 PM Minutes City Council August 19, 2019 Presentation Regarding the City's Roll out of Its New Everbridge Emergency Notification System Assigned to Committee Protection and License Committee

ORDER-2020-11 Authorization Authorization to Execute Solid Waste Facility Operating Agreement by and between the City of Melrose and Waste Management of Massachusetts Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-12 Appropriation Appropriate the amount of $20,000.00 from account 29032-590000 (Library Fines Account) to account 016112-534200 (Lib Exp Books & Periodicals). Assigned to Committee Finance Committee

ORDER-2020-13 Appointment Appointment of Stacy Minchello as Director of the Council Aging, effective September 16, 2019. Assigned to Committee Health, Education & Welfare Committee

ORDER-2020-14 Appointment Appointment of Michael Powers, 991 Main Street, to the Conservation Commission as an Associate Member for a term to expire on the last day of February 2021. Assigned to Committee

ORDER-2020-15 Appointment Appointment of Melissa Riley, 119 West Wyoming Ave., Apt. 2, to the Conservation as an Associate Member for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2022. Assigned to Committee Public Service Committee

ORDER-2020-16 Appointment Appointment of Paul Moore, 35 Laurel Street, to the Conservation Commission for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2021 Assigned to Committee Public Service Committee

ORDER-2020-17 Appropriation City of Melrose Page 2 10/16/2019 12:24 PM Minutes City Council August 19, 2019 An Appropriation from Contract Stabilization (84042-590000) in the amount of $5,000 to City Solicitor, Salary and Wages. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-18 Appropriation An Appropriation from Contract Stabilization (84042-590000) in the amount of $61,138.14 to various accounts as set forth herein. This appropriation is to fund year one of the recently settled Local 272 Clerical Union Contract. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-19 Accepting Act of Legislature/Local Option Expanding the Senior Citizen Property Tax Work-Off Abatement Program by amending Melrose Revised Ordinances, Chapter 6, Section 6-1 as set forth herein Assigned to Committee Legal & Legislative Committee

ORDER-2020-20 Amending Revised Ordinances Amending Melrose Revised Ordinances Chapter 198-2 refuse receptacle(s) as set forth herein. Assigned to Committee Legal & Legislative Committee

ORDER-2020-21 Amending Revised Ordinances Amending Melrose Revised Ordinances Chapter 198 by adding Article VII – Sustainable Food Containers and Packaging; further add Section 198-13 “Use of Sustainable Food Containers and Packaging,” as set forth herein. Assigned to Committee Legal & Legislative Committee

ORDER-2020-22 Resolution A Resolution honoring John V. Scenna Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2019-82 Administrative Order AN ORDINANCE REGULATING THE REGISTRATION AND MAINTENANCE OF VACANT COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES IN THE CITY OF MELROSE Adopted

ORDER-2020-2 Grant City of Melrose Page 3 10/16/2019 12:24 PM Minutes City Council August 19, 2019 Acceptance of School Nursing Grant Passed

ORDER-2020-1 Grant Acceptance of 2 Youth Action Team Mini-grants Passed

ORDER-2020-5 License An application from Mourad Djiar requesting a New Livery License D/B/A ABCE Livery Passed

ORDER-2020-4 Presentation Request for update by city officials on matters related to June 20, 2019 Brazil Street sewer backup Placed on File City of Melrose Page 4 10/16/2019 12:24 PM

Transcript

▶ 52:35 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Yeah. Alderman Tramontozzi. Alderman Wright. Here. Alderman Zwirko. Here. President Lemmerman. Here. Ten present. Thank you. Please rise and join me in pledging 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. motion to open the floor for public comments all moved madam chair second we have a motion to open the floor for public comment made by alderman mortimer seconded by alderman forbes all in favor aye any opposed we are now in the public comment portion of our meeting and before we open that i should mention that this meeting is being recorded in accordance with the open meeting law it's broadcast live on mmtv can also be accessed on the mmtv website and the city of

▶ 53:31 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: melrose website we are now in the portion of the meeting where any member of the public can come forward to speak on any item on the full board agenda this evening there any any attendees wishing to speak this evening motion to close public comment second seeing none alderman Letter Garabedian it makes a motion to close public comment seconded by alderman Mortimer all in favor aye any opposed public comment is now closed the first item on our agenda is a public hearing but we have five minutes before we hit the time for that so we will move forward to communications from her honor the mayor and other city officials order 2 0 2 0 dash 7 appointment of Jenny when grovious 585 Main Street number 402 to

▶ 54:14 the Commission on women for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of February that order will go to the Health Education and Welfare Committee order 2 0 2 0 dash 8 authorizing a bond in the amount of three hundred seventy five thousand dollars under the sewer enterprise account through the MWR a a sewer system I&I local financial assistance program that will go to the committee on appropriations order two zero two zero dash nine authorizing a bond under the water enterprise system through MW are a local water system assistance program bonds for fiscal year 2020 in the amount of one million four hundred forty thousand dollars committee on appropriations order two zero two 0-10 presentation regarding the city's rollout of its new Everbridge emergency

▶ 55:05 notification system we'll go to the committee on protection and license order 2 0 2 0-11 authorization to execute solid waste facility operating agreement by and between the city of Melrose and waste management of Massachusetts go to the committee on appropriations order 2 0 2 0-12 appropriate the amount of $20,000 from account two nine zero three two dash five nine zero zero zero zero library fines account to account zero one six one one two dash five three four two zero zero library expense books and periodicals committee on finance order two zero two zero dash thirteen appointment of Stacy Minchello as director of the council on aging effective September 16th 2019 go to the committee on health education and welfare order 2 0 2 0 dash 14 appointment

▶ 56:03 of Michael powers 991 Main Street to the Conservation Commission as an associate member for a term to expire on the last day of February 2021 the committee on public service order 2 0 2 0 dash 15 appointment of Melissa Riley 1 1 9 West wyoming ave apartment 2 to the conservation commission as an associate member for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of february 2022 committee on public service order 2020-16 appointment of paul moore 35 laurel street to the conservation commission for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of february 2021 committee on public service Order 2020-17, an appropriation from contract stabilization, account 84042-590000, in the amount of $5,000 to city solicitor salary and wages.

▶ 57:00 Committee on Appropriations. Order 2020-18, an appropriation from contract stabilization account 84042-590000 in the amount of $61,138.14 to various accounts as set forth herein. This appropriation is to fund year one of the recently settled local 272 clerical union contract. Committee on Appropriations. We can move on to new business. New business. order 2 0 2 0 dash 19 expanding the senior citizen property tax work off abatement program by amending Melrose revised ordinances chapter 6 section 6 dash 1 as set forth here in committee on legal and legislative matters order 2 0 2 0 dash 20 amending Melrose revised ordinances chapter 1 9 8 dash 2 refuse receptacles as set forth here in also to the committee and legal and legislative

▶ 57:57 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: matters order 2 0 2 0 dash 21 amending Melrose revised ordinances chapter 198 by adding article 7 sustainable food containers and packaging further add section 198 dash 13 use of sustainable food containers and packaging as set forth herein so we'll also go to the committee on legal and legislative matters order 2 0 2 0 dash 22 a resolution honoring John V Shana we'll go to the Committee on Appropriations. It is now 8 o'clock. We do have a public hearing scheduled at this time. Order 2020-3, Petition of National Grid for Pole Relocation and Conduit Installation on Saratani Way. Is there a motion to, I see that we have representatives from City Hall as well as from National Grid. Is there a motion to suspend the rules? So moved. Second. We have a motion to suspend the

▶ 1:21:20 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: thank you thank you thank you very much Thank You madam chair any further comments we have a motion motion to recommend for passage second a motion to recommend for passage made by alderman Mortimer as this is in the full board would you consider making that a motion for passage yes it's a motion for passage made by Alderman Mortimer seconded by Alderman Boycelle on discussion all in favor aye any opposed that order passes thank you very much for the information and for joining us this evening thank you thank you motion for recess of the full board meeting a motion for recess made by Alderman Mortimer seconded by Alderman Forbes on discussion Alderman Zwirko I withdraw any further discussion Alderman Lipper-Garabedian just on discussion I

▶ 1:22:16 Peter D. Mortimer: feel like we can get through these really quickly and then we won't have to come back to this again I think it'll take a few minutes we have four items left on our agenda under calendar coming from committee on discussion Alderman Wright you have 15 people here which is probably 14 more than we usually do I think out of respect to them rather than make keep them here an extra 15 minutes I'd like to move back to the committee meeting if we could any further discussion we have a motion made and seconded to reset on discussion I think I think I agree with Alderman Wright we should reconvene the committee meeting so we can let these people hear some of the disposition and I think the full board meeting the orders we have left may have more discussion than we may

▶ 3:04:09 any other matters for this committee this evening no hearing none motion to adjourn motion to adjourn by Alderman Forbes stay tuned for the continuation of the full board meeting in August 29 we call back to order the meeting of the full board of aldermen that was recessed earlier this evening and we return to agenda orders out of order we have no orders out of order this evening orders from committee are there any orders from committee this evening madam chair I would like to make a motion to remove order two zero one nine dash one one two from committee it's the order regarding plastic straws that we just had extensive discussion about and if if if there's a second and if the maker of the

▶ 3:06:13 Peter D. Mortimer: order is a is disagreeable with that that's fine I just didn't know I think we have had a lot of discussion but if the maker wants to let it hang to the next full board meeting I'm perfectly fine with that too we have a motion made by alderman Mortimer to remove order 2019-112 from committee which was discussed this evening is there a second second motion has been seconded on discussion if if the maker of the order objects I'll remove my motion and I'm sure the maker of the second will remove the second as well as the maker of the order my preference would be to hold it in committee I will I will draw my motion that we have a heard from the maker of the order of preference to keep this in committee until the next full board meeting as this was just discussed

▶ 3:07:11 Peter D. Mortimer: a couple of minutes ago is there a will to remove the second sure I'll remove my second and we've heard from the maker of the motion that he will remove as well so this will remain for now leaving us with no orders from committee this evening but also under the same uh thinking of uh efficiency i'd like to make a motion to remove order 2019-82 regarding the vacant property from committee that's been discussed extensively at previous committee meetings and here tonight and by the same token if the maker doesn't want it removed if there was a second to my order then i would draw my motion as well is there a second to remove that order from committee second second made by alderman Bewtra to Alderman Mortimer order on discussion I don't have a again

▶ 3:08:05 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: having not served on the board too long I defer to my veteran colleagues and whether it makes sense to remove this now or wait till the next full board meeting I assume well I threw the to the chair if we needed an additional further discussion after tonight's can we still we hold it at the full board level or will we do it have to be a motion in the in to that effect if we were to take a vote this evening up or down that would stand right I don't object but I also don't advocate for this it's I'd leave it to the good the thoughts of the my colleagues on discussion Alderman Mortimer do you have any more no if Well, if that's, I think, if I understand this correctly, Alderman Lipper-Garabedian, who I thank very much for bringing this order forward,

▶ 3:09:04 Peter D. Mortimer: wouldn't mind bringing it up to the full board as we discussed, that it can be before all the members of the board. But then, it seems the preference would be to have, not to have a motion to pass tonight, which we could do, but rather to have a motion to hold it in committee. as the maker of this great order I would support that 100% on discussion Alderman Forbes just a point of clarification so if all of these if all of these orders are coming out of committee and they're voted to be recommended before the full board and the full board is here tonight I don't understand why we would not want to act on all of these orders if they were being voted to be held in committee they would have been held in committee and then during the next roundtable

▶ 3:09:50 Scott M. Forbes: discussion we'd make the decision to send it to the full board but as a board we are here and it's commonplace that anything that is done in committee goes before the full board that very evening and it's decided upon that is common practice of this board in this room so unless we don't think that you know we need more time to discuss or to vote I voted on all my orders I know where I stand on them so I don't have any problem doing a roll call vote on any one of these items if the maker of the orders here tonight have something to say in in you know support of their decision I'll gladly understand and listen but I feel like that we have the job of doing business here and if if that is the case then we can vote on these orders tonight Thank You Alderman

▶ 3:10:36 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Forbes any further discussion I would say you know these these were discussed this evening I think it's it's situational of whether things when they're come up that quickly as they are non binding recommendations whether we keep them for some further consideration or further input and I think that generally is something that is deferred to either the maker of the order or the chair of the committee the motion has been made and so what we will do is we will leave it up to the will of the full board and call for a vote on the motion remove this from committee Alderman Wright thank you to Alderman Forbes point which I understand it's not unusual for members of this board to have items returned to committee and I think that's effectively what we're

▶ 3:11:24 Francis X. Wright Jr.: doing this evening now it may not be as eloquent as that but I think that's effectively what is being discussed here that certainly was the intent of the last item which was the the order that I put in so and that has been returned to committee and I believe that's what the intent is if I'm wrong that I'm wrong but I don't believe there's any any prohibition on items being returned to committee any more than they are thick be kept in committee thank you for the discussion on the motion to remove this order from committee all in favor aye any opposed oh I might need to see some hands on that one all in favor could you raise your hand please okay eyes have it this will be removed from committee is now before you this was just to recap this was the bacon

▶ 3:12:28 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: properties order 2019 dash I'm sorry could you repeat the number I don't have it in front of yes 2019 dash 8 2 8 2 which was discussed this evening in the legal and legislative committee it was recommended for passage this is a change in ordinance it will require two-thirds vote and it is a roll call vote Alderman Lipper-Garabedian thank you and thank you to the members of the committee for referring this out favorably I appreciate your support I did hear from one colleague who was interested in the just at the previous hearing alderman Forbes raised the question about a fee which I I've called a fee for a reason I don't consider it a fine it's a fee to recognize that when you have a vacant property it incurs costs on the city and that has

▶ 3:13:15 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: certainly happened with some of our long-term properties here and our long-term vacant properties here in town of the 40 or more municipalities in Melrose that have passed this ordinance I do have sort of a summary that I put together of how they've approached a fee of some kind so three do not impose a fee at all it looks like three had a fee of less than $100 a year eight had a fee of $100 one had a fee of $200 for had a fee of $250 one had a fee of $300 one which is Arlington which again is the model that I was basing this one on was $400 to municipalities have a fee of $500 and 13 do a graduated fee schedule so that it increases year-over-year most of them for those 13 are $500 to start

▶ 3:14:10 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: and go all the way up to $3,000 annually and there are a few that are starting at $250 and go up to $2,000 annually so I think that suggests that this one is somewhere in the middle just for a point of information for folks thinking about this particular part of the ordinance since we hadn't discussed it really at length yet and I think otherwise I've said what I've had to say about this ordinance and most people have had a chance to speak on it as well thank you I'll remember master Thank You madam president I'd like to thank all the Lipa Garabedian for filing this order I support the spirit of it but as I've communicated to Alderman Lipa Garabedian I tend to be Larry when it comes to regulating small businesses and the problem that that I have with the order

▶ 3:15:05 Shawn M. MacMaster: as it is currently written is the $400 fee or fine however we want to characterize that I would prefer to see an incentive based approach so something for instance in the form of let's say a $400 tax credit for businesses to try to achieve voluntary compliance I'm not putting that in the form of a motion because I don't think that that would that would pass but I do convey that at least to the maker of the order if it's something that she wanted to consider but as it stands now I cannot support the order as written thank you madam president thank you is there a motion motion to pass you have a motion for passage made by alderman Letter garabedian second seconded by alderman forbes any further discussion

▶ 3:15:56 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: on discussion in response to alderman masters um opinion you know opinion which i appreciate him sharing i would point out this is really not regulating small businesses it's regulating the owners of commercial property that have tenants who are small businesses and what we've heard from the small business community who has on the record are that they you know the people who wrote us we heard from a small business owner who supports this because her feeling is that commercial property owners need to be more active in tinniting their spaces because when they're vacant they're impacting her ability to remain successful as a vibrant small business right downtown thank you any further discussion is the motion to for passage as amended the motion is for passage as

▶ 3:16:43 Peter D. Mortimer: Okay. Alderman Mortimer. Thank you very much, President Lemmerman, and thank you very much. I would have been totally in line with Alderman Lipper-Garabedian motion if she wanted to lay this on the table as well, but I'm glad that she made a motion for passage. I think this is a very important ordinance. I'm very happy that she brought it forward. It's some excellent, excellent work to improve the quality of life and the quality of the aesthetics of our downtown area, which have suffered somewhat recently. So I'm very congratulatory and appreciative of the effort she's made on this, they're really excellent. It's something that we need to do. I was also happy to hear tonight at the meeting when we had the public hearing on the electrical box that will be put behind shards on Saratoni Way.

▶ 3:17:38 Peter D. Mortimer: That from now on, the DPW will be asking developers to make sure they have their utility ducks in a line before they begin. We're in a period of development where property in the northeast, in New England and in Massachusetts, eastern Massachusetts especially, is just going out of sight. Commercial property and residential property. developers get big eyes and they want to tear down everything and build everything there's another ordinance which will probably another orders will be coming up soon about a demolition delay I think we're going to revisit that at some point because sometimes I think developers looking at profit just say tear it down let's get going we'll we'll fill in the we'll fill in the

▶ 3:18:33 Peter D. Mortimer: blanks later let's let's go let's move and sometimes that works but a lot of times we've seen recently that it doesn't so I'm happy that this is a stopgap measure to keep Melrose aesthetically pleasing and I again thank all the Malibu Caribbean if that but maybe later with what was said that we'll start maybe to get our ducks in line before the bulldozer and the the bucket loader come in and start clearing down spaces that will straighten this out. But this is certainly a step in the right direction. Melrose has improved immensely over the last 20 years, the beauty of it. 20 years ago when I started as an alderman, probably a quarter of the storefronts downtown were open and vacant and unattractive.

▶ 3:19:21 Peter D. Mortimer: And that has changed, but now with this explosion in growth in eastern Massachusetts, have hit a little bit of a speed bump here and this this was a great fix by Alderman Lippa Garabedian to look around and see what we could do about it so I'm glad she made the motion for passage she's the maker of the order I would have respected and voted for a motion to lay it on the table as well but I'm certainly gonna vote for her motion for passage thank you any further discussion man park if you could call the roll alderman Bewtra yes alderman poizel yes alderman forbes yes alderman Letter garabedian yes alderman mcmaster no alderman medeiros no alderman mortimer yes alderman wright yes alderman work Oh yes president Lemmerman yes yes yes the most the order passes any

▶ 3:20:28 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: further orders from committee to move on to the calendar for order 2 0 2 0 dash 2 acceptance of school nursing grant with a recommend passage from finance motion for passage this comes to us from the Finance Committee with a recommendation for passage we have a motion for passage made by alderman seconded by Alderman Medeiros. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The order passes. Order 2020-1, acceptance of two youth action teen mini grants. This also comes to us from the Finance Committee with a recommendation for passage. Motion for passage. Motion for passage made by Alderman Bucha. Second. Seconded by Alderman Boisselle. in discussion all in favor aye aye any opposed the order passes order 2 0 2 0

▶ 3:21:28 Shawn M. MacMaster: dash 5 an application from Murad Dujar requesting a new livery license doing business as ABC e livery this order comes to us from the protection and license committee with a recommendation for passage passage we have a motion for passage made by alderman Medeiros second second by Alderman Boisselle on discussion Alderman McMaster thank you madam chair this comes out of the protection and license committee which I chair and I would just like to note for the record that per vice chair Mortimer request we did receive notice from the city clerk or the the certificate signed by sergeant Gawk at the police department which we actually did not have in our possession at the time of the protection and license committee so I just note that we do have

▶ 3:22:16 Shawn M. MacMaster: that for the record thank you any further discussion all in favor any opposed the order passes order two zero two zero dash four request for city but update by city officials on matters related to June 20 2019 Brazil Street sewer backup this comes from the Appropriations Committee with a recommendation to place on file Alderman faster madam president before I make a motion to place on file i would just move to attach mayor inferner's memo to the board of alderman dated august 14 2019 in which she notified this board that she will not retain an independent environmental specialist to inspect the brazil street homes affected by the june 20th 2019 sewer backup we have a motion made by alderman mcmaster to attach the mayor's recent

▶ 3:23:04 Scott M. Forbes: memo to the board seconded by alderman forbes all in favor any opposed that will be attached a motion to place on file madam president we have a motion a motion to place the order on file made by alderman mcmaster seconded by alderman medeiros on discussion alderman forbes thank you okay so during the special meeting of the board of alderman on july 18th mary inferno was stated or she was quoted to state the following our priority is always the well-being of the people of melrose and if we fall short it's not because of negligence or bad intentions but simply because we are human and sometimes we do not meet our own expectations so we learned a lot about what those expectations expectations were in the terms of the inspections that were performed on some of

▶ 3:23:54 Scott M. Forbes: the residents on brazil street we also learned the criteria deeming a home habitable for human occupancy are as follows you need to have a working on working water and sewer working electricity removal of all surfaces that can absorb moisture that surfaces that cannot absorb moisture were cleaned and sanitized and also to have a functional toilet we also learned that the city has no checks and balances on record to certify that any cleaning and sanitation work to remove raw sewage from a home has been performed within any required environmental regulation the health director was quoted during the 718 meeting saying that quote once the house has been cleaned and sanitized presumably there are no toxins and bacteria that's the whole purpose of cleaning and sanitizing

▶ 3:24:47 Scott M. Forbes: so there's no follow-up testing the accepted protocol used by the city is to assume the work has been done in an appropriate fashion and proceed to move on to the next item on the checklist and I want to emphasize this because there's some notable noticeable points that we should all be aware of regarding the habitability inspections from these properties on 9 Brazil Street according to the resident who I spoke to and confirmed again today the health inspectors walked through the home lasted less than a few minutes and she never left the living room the health director peeked into each one of the rooms she did not check for running water she did not check for electricity and she did not check for a functional toilet she actually didn't even go into

▶ 3:25:33 Scott M. Forbes: the bathroom so this was the house where the video was taking with sewage flowing up through the toilet that was on all the TV stations and the health director never even went into the bathroom to test it the resident from 9 Brazil Street, who spoke at public comment on the 8-1 Board of Aldermen meeting, said, quote, this is not a place that I want to be anymore. I don't think it's safe. I don't think it's happy. I don't want my daughter there at all. I don't want to be in my own house, and that's not a normal feeling to feel. On 12 Brazil Street, again, with a conversation from the resident, the health director did confirm there was running water in the, oh, the health director did not confirm it was running water and electricity in the home again

▶ 3:26:19 Scott M. Forbes: the resident said the health director never touched anything during the inspection the total time of the inspection lasted just a couple of minutes the health director did not confirm that all surfaces of the home were removed of contaminants the property was deemed habitable while there was still sewage in the vent system beneath the slab foundation and according to the resident Servpro was actually there during the directors walk-through inspection and had full knowledge that there was sewage that existed on this property and also knew the work that needed to be done to remove it. How does that get missed during the inspection process when both people are at the home at the same time? The health director did not test for a functioning

▶ 3:27:02 Scott M. Forbes: toilet. According to the resident, a toilet was in the bathroom but was not hooked up to receive water. So it was not functional during the time of inspection which would have been noticed if proper protocols were addressed the right way on the mcmaster questioned if the health director would feel safe and comfortable with her children or grandchildren living in the homes understanding that there was nothing more of visual inspection at which time the health inspector said yes now alderman mcmaster also correctly stated that servpro has personnel on staff that performs air quality testing mold determination surface swab testing and remediation a conversation with program director chris bork of servpro can certify this

▶ 3:27:46 Scott M. Forbes: however the city never considered to include this option as a part of their standard operating procedures when they deemed any of these homes habitable mary inferno said in her comments on 718 that brazil street was an extraordinary case which i do agree with her so if that is the case why did this why was the city satisfied using ordinary protocols for such extraordinary circumstances considering there is no standard on which to test or measure I think it would have been more mindful to conduct testing before the cleanup and after the cleanup baselining each property for pathogens and toxins prior to the work being done and then post cleanup testing this is the data that we were referring to during these discussions I thought this would have

▶ 3:28:30 Scott M. Forbes: been part of the standard operating procedures with something like this ever occurred to a home however we are doing no such testing and that is very concerning so again mayor inferno's quote was our priority is always the well-being of the people of melrose and if we fall short it's not because of negligence or bad intentions but simply because we're human and sometimes we do not meet our own expectations and after hearing this from these residents i don't think any of these expectations have been met thank you thank you further this question alderman Bewtra thank you um i think it's unfortunate that i feel like this is kind of ending in an impasse um and so i just wanted to make a suggestion um maybe to alderman mcmaster

▶ 3:29:16 Manisha Bewtra: and hopefully um mayor inferno if she's watching or will be following up with this tomorrow or later to maybe have the mayor administration officials alderman mcmaster and the residents and owners of the homes on brazil street come together to maybe with the help of a certified facilitator or conflict resolution specialist just because i think i understood on the one hand there aren't clear-cut environmental tests that that might result in a satisfactory answer for the residents but i also feel like i don't know everybody seems to still be kind of at odds with each other and and this just doesn't feel like a satisfactory conclusion so just wanted to state on the record that that would be my suggestion for a next step thank you for the discussion

▶ 3:30:17 Francis X. Wright Jr.: the motion has been made and seconded to place the order on file all in favor Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? This order will be placed on file. Wait. Excuse me. Oh, I'm sorry. Alderman Wright. I missed you. No, that's fine. On that item, just before you adjourn, I have a request of a point of personal privilege. Please. You know, I've been on this board for 14 years and for a long time, particularly post-2009, the Great Debut Session. This board worked closely with the other elected officials and the department heads to not only maintain the city and restore it but leapfrog forward and become one of the most desirable communities in the state if not the country and we did it by working together taking a let's have a win-win philosophy that's how I see it

▶ 3:31:11 Francis X. Wright Jr.: and I don't see that to be the way things are going on now there are discretionary decisions that are being made and I'm not saying I agree with them I'm just saying people have authority to make decisions and they make them and we can disagree but I think like Alderman Butcher just pointed out it's always nice to have a conversation I think it's certainly if you're going to challenge somebody on a discretionary decision and you're going to exercise a rule that I've never seen used in 14 years you should comply with with it and I don't think it has been because I didn't receive this but the rule says the sentence of the rule that was used says special meetings of the Board of Aldermen shall be held at the call of the president or at the call of

▶ 3:32:05 Francis X. Wright Jr.: any four or more members comma by written notice delivered in hand or placed at the residence of each member of which contains a listing of the items acted upon I didn't receive that notice and I'm not we all make mistakes it was a mistake and I certainly hope nobody points at any support staff that was a state law our charter is state law cannot be changed by a rule of this board or an ordinance it's state law if it wasn't complied with it falls on the people who exercised it and it was a mistake everyone makes mistakes so let's instead of going to our corners and coming out fighting I would rather see us all work together and sometimes you win sometimes you lose but at the end of the day you shake hands and you keep moving forward and I don't think that's

▶ 3:33:05 Monica C. Medeiros: what's going on in the city right now I'm disappointed thank you thank you motion to adjourn we still have reports under rule 53 left on our agenda this evening are there any reports from committees or boards thank you this is another point of personal privilege I just would point out because we we did take a point as a liaison to the school oh excuse me I'm sorry I thought you were asking this item this is I just wanted to give a very brief brief update given the hour and given the anticipated stuff but I think it's worth watching perhaps the last school committee meeting had representative Broder and state state senator Jason Lewis before the school committee to talk about charter school and chapter 70 and different education funding formulas it

▶ 3:34:07 Monica C. Medeiros: was quite a discussion and I think it was worth watching as well as if you happen to look at the IQ m2 meeting portal the last minute last meeting all the different schools have put forth their site plans from the site committee and so that each school's site committee has their their plan on the website and they're quite in-depth and a lot of information so that's something that certainly if you have students that are in those schools you might want to read them you might want to read them just to get some information about what's going on and I know people put a lot of hard work into that so it's worth taking a look at and just a note that August 28th Wednesday will be the first day of school in the Melrose public schools so we wish all the students and teachers

▶ 3:34:55 Scott M. Forbes: and staff a good year thanks thank you additional reports Alderman Forbes thank you all right so this is a this is an update of the Public Safety Building committee given the length of time it's a lapse here I think it's appropriate just to let this board and the general public know where we are right now there hasn't been a meeting of the public safety building committee since June of 2018 shortly after that meeting chief O'Brien who served as co-chair of that committee resigned from that committee and when asked about his decision chief O'Brien said that he did not appear did not appear that any immediate end in sight in terms of making any progress and stated that there are operational decisions that were being made by the city that should be done within the

▶ 3:35:38 Scott M. Forbes: departments and there has not been a meeting since I understand that the concern of public safety buildings are something that the general public has asked for for quite a long time in January I spoke to President Lemmerman and requested to be on this committee I said I would forfeit all opportunities to chair any other committees for the chance to be part of the decision-making process that would take care of our fire police and EMTs for the next hundred years the fact that not a single committee meeting has been held has been disappointing there's a real window of opportunity to make some genuine progress here with our public safety buildings but we failed in that regard enclosing us feel like the community needs to understand that this cannot be

▶ 3:36:22 Shawn M. MacMaster: kicked down the road it's been kicked down the road way too long when it comes to providing fire police and EMTs with facilities that would allow them to perform their jobs efficiently and I urge that this becomes part of the community conversation moving forward with anybody that's seeking public office in November to make that their number one priority thank you thank you further Alderman McMaster when a personal privilege if we're done with reports I believe we are is that correct just very briefly I just wanted to respond to at least offer some clarity to the point raised by my colleague Alderman Wright he referenced section 2 5 excuse me 2 6 exercise of power quorum and rules under the city charter I would just note for the record I think it's

▶ 3:37:14 Shawn M. MacMaster: important to state that the Charter review process in 2017 did make an amendment to that and of that section we have under subsection C to special meetings of the Board of Aldermen be held at the call of the president or at the call of four or more members by written notice delivered in hand or via electronic mail or by a first-class mail to each member so it gives the the option of how that is to be communicated I'm not I'm not doubting that Alderman Wright didn't receive it but there were nine members of the board present that evening so I thought it was important to at least state that publicly tonight Thank you Madam President. Thank you. This completes our agenda. Motion to adjourn. Second. A motion to adjourn made by Alderman Zuberko, seconded by Alderman Boisselle. All in favor?

▶ 3:38:04 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Aye. Any opposed? We are now adjourned.

City Council — 2019-08-19

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