City Council — 2020-03-09

City Council Regular Meeting

This meeting starts at 13:10 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Attendance

Christopher Cinella present · At-Large; Jack Eccles present · At-Large; Mark Garipay present · Ward 4; Jen Grigoraitis present · President, ex oficio; Maya Jamaleddine present · At-Large; Kate Lipper-Garabedian present · At-Large; Shawn M. MacMaster present · Ward 5; Jeff McNaught present · Ward 2; Leila Migliorelli present · At-Large; Robb Stewart present · Ward 3; Cory Thomas present · Ward 7; John N. Tramontozzi present · Ward 1

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE CITY COUNCIL BULLETIN● MARCH 9, 2020 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Regular Meeting 7:45 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Maya Jamaleddine At-Large Present Jen Grigoraitis President, ex oficio Present John N. Tramontozzi Ward 1 Present Jeff McNaught Ward 2 Present Robb Stewart Ward 3 Present Mark Garipay Ward 4 Present Shawn M. MacMaster Ward 5 Present Cory Thomas Ward 7 Present Kate Lipper-Garabedian At-Large Present Jack Eccles At-Large Present Christopher Cinella At-Large Present Leila Migliorelli At-Large Present

ORDER-2020-69 Bond Authorizing a Bond in the Amount of $2,311,205 for building repairs to Memorial Hall. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-70 Appropriation An Appropriation in the amount of $1,308,925 from Free cash (account 01-324001) and $250,000 from Capital Stabilization (account 84052- 590000) to various capital accounts as set forth herein. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-71 Appropriation An Appropriation in the amount of $100,160 from Free Cash (account 01- 324001) to various accounts as set forth herein. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-72 Appointment Appointment of Elena Proakis Ellis to serve as Director of Public Works, effective March 30, 2020. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-73 Grant City of Melrose Page 1 3/11/2020 2:45 PM Minutes City Council March 9, 2020 Acceptance of the 2020 Senior SAFE grant in the amount of $2,552.00 for the Fire Department. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-74 Grant Acceptance of a Seventy Thousand Dollar Grant from the Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development Mass Marketing Partnerships/Office of Travel & Tourism Program for Wayfinding and Creative Placemaking Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-75 Bond Authorizing a Bond in the Amount of $1,425,471 to pay costs of purchasing and equipping an aerial ladder truck for the use of the Fire Department. Assigned to Committee Appropriations Committee

ORDER-2020-76 Bond Authorizing a Bond in the Amount of $1,450,000 to replace the Department of Public Works' Salt Shed. Assigned to Committee

ORDER-2020-68 License Application of Said Tazgui D/B/A Limo Connect, for a Livery Service License (1 vehicle) at 70 East Wyoming #1, Melrose, MA Passed City of Melrose Page 2 3/11/2020 2:45 PM

Transcript

▶ 13:29 Jen Grigoraitis: here councillor Stewart here councillor Thomas here councillor Ciamantosi here president Grigoraitis here 11 present we have 11 members of of the council present and there being the necessary quorum the council will proceed 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 okay we'll now move into the public comment portion wherein any member of the public wishing to speak regarding any item on tonight's agenda should come forth sign their name and address and state the same for the record can i entertain a motion for open public to open public comment motion to open

▶ 14:19 public comment second we have a motion to open public comment by councillor senella seconded by councillor mcnaught all in favor aye any opposed the motion carries do we have any members of the public wishing to come forward hi everybody finn mcsweeney 160 west wyoming avenue i'm here tonight to speak on order 2020-72 which is the appointment of Ms. Paracas-Ellis to serve as the DPW director effective March 30th. I'm just here to read a statement from the officers of the Melrose Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee. The officers of the PBC are happy to endorse the mayor's recommendation of Elena Paracas-Ellis for director of public works. Ms. Paracas-Ellis Ellis has been the committee's number one partner in advancing Safe Streets

▶ 15:17 improvements for the people of Melrose she is an incredibly resourceful and solutions oriented engineer and will be a pragmatic disciplined and effective leader for the department Ms. Paracas Ellis has already strengthened Melrose Public Works processes and projects as liaison to the committee she has shared information about planned street repair paving and utility projects and solicited input on ways to complement these routine but important public works efforts with strategies to make the streets and sidewalks safer for people walking biking and driving in Melrose she is proactively engaged with the committee on state complete streets grant proposals and continues to seek out expertise and input on these submissions from the committee. The PBC

▶ 16:11 looks forward to Ms. Paracas-Ellis' leadership. We share Mayor Broder's vision of Melrose as a model city for safe streets and look forward to Ms. Paracas-Ellis' continued voice in that process. We encourage the administration to empower her to make the changes she sees fit to ensure Melrose continues to a vital and vibrant part with the greater boston community and to meet the department's fiscal infrastructural and operational challenges head-on and proactively thank you congrats maya do we have any other members of the public wishing to speak tonight seeing none i would entertain a motion to close public comment motion to close public comment second give a motion to close public comment by councillor senella seconded by councillor

▶ 17:01 Paul Brodeur: McLeorelli all in favor any opposed the motion carries my understanding that you have asked that the mayor join us tonight to provide an update on the coronavirus so I'd like to make a motion to suspend the rules we have a motion to suspend the rules by we have a motion to send the rules by councillor Sinella seconded by councillor Stewart all in favor any opposed mayor Broder thank you for being here thank you all very much for let me take the time I want to say a quick congratulations to counselor Jamala Dean you look great sitting there congratulations long and happy career with us here in the city so I'm gonna I want to talk a little bit about the coronavirus and in covert 19 recognizing

▶ 17:53 Paul Brodeur: that something you already all know that it is a rapidly changing situation and something that the city is going to end the state and the country are gonna have to adapt to on the fly. I just want folks to know that the city, the major department heads, the school department, and myself are meeting now every day to survey recent developments. We take for our information the best sources we think we can find, mostly the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC, and the State Department of Public Health. We use the most current information they provide to us then make the best decisions that we can based on that information again recognizing that that is very likely to change over time to the extent that we can make information available the the

▶ 18:44 Paul Brodeur: superintendent and i both intend to use both the mayor's blog and connect ed as the uh as a source you can essentially count on regularly we're in the process of building a website that we hope will have many of the sources that we refer to on the web, like CDC and DPH, so that folks can understand where we're coming from. One thing that I want folks to understand, I think is really important, is there might be times where we do something differently, or we make a decision that is different than another community might do, or that you might hear about a private workplace or some other organization doing. That does not mean, quite frankly, that either side or either position is right or wrong.

▶ 19:33 Paul Brodeur: We are very much trying to tailor our decisions to our community and our information based on, you know, the way our schools are structured, the way our businesses are structured, the fact that there is a hospital in the district. All those things go into the think, and all those people, as you might imagine, need to be brought into the loop, and we're doing that consistently. You should also know that the federal government just had a press conference that was really wrapping up as I was on my way here. It sounds like there should be some good information coming out today or tomorrow, the way it was described at the press conference was that it'll essentially be presenting a lot of things that will be relevant to every resident of the United States in three buckets, in terms

▶ 20:17 Paul Brodeur: of home life, school life, and in the workplace. And I suspect we'll be hearing more about that and that too will change over time. I do want to remind people that while information will change and be updated, y'all got to keep in mind that there are certain common sense things that work all the time, that work before this and will work after that in terms of things like washing your hands, coughing into your shoulder, not show if you feel like you are symptomatic or think you may have been exposed to someone who is symptomatic that should inform your judgment check in with work before you go check in with your medical professional before you go to their office to seek guidance from them because if you just show up you may

▶ 21:03 Paul Brodeur: be doing more harm than good and the last thing I guess I'd say is I think of this and I hope you do too as a community problem and that it means we all need to be professional respectful of the facts empathetic and compassionate about the way we're going to deal with this because it will hit different people differently we're aware of that and doing our best to react to it as best we can and be proactive about it and we certainly welcome your partnership and your leadership as we address this thank you all for listening madam president thank you very much thank you mayor broder we appreciate that and i know on the council we will push out your updates and alerts through our social media to ensure that we're reaching as many members of the public as we can um i wanted to take one more

▶ 21:47 Jen Grigoraitis: moment while the rules are suspended to acknowledge state representative elect libra garabedian who's here with us tonight while it's exciting that we're able to welcome a new counselor that's obviously because we have a counselor moving on to the state house so i wanted to thank her for her service to this body and i know that she is going to bring her tenacity and dedication to beacon hill on our behalf and she'll be sworn in by the speaker of the house on march 18th at 11 30 downtown in boston for anyone who wants to be there and if you'd like to come up and say something there's some orange in it. Thank you. They're beautiful. Thank you. Thank you very much, President Grigoraitis, and it's nice to see you all here. When I was driving over here tonight,

▶ 22:33 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: Monday night, which I've been doing every Monday or most Mondays or Thursdays for the last two and a half years, it was sort of bittersweet, and then I realized how fortunate it is to feel like something's bittersweet. What that means is I've really appreciated and enjoyed what I've been doing over the last you know two plus years including with all of you here and with your predecessors and speaking of them it was often directly behind first alderman Forbes then counselor Forbes and then president Forbes who is my neighbor just down the block so we were often in tandem driving over here together I loved the work that we've done together the relationships that I've built with each of you individually and then the collective

▶ 23:10 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: spirit of the council I think that we play such an important role in instilling faith in the governance of the community as a body I've seen how eager you all have been in your new roles to really engage in the deliberation of the policies that are coming before us and feel really confident in the work you're going to continue to do it's certainly not criticism to be critical it's just an important part of the process and I think we play an important role in carefully vetting the proposals from the mayor's administration as well as each other's suggestions and I've been thrilled to get to play a part in that with you all and also with those who came before. I've also really enjoyed getting to work with the Mayor Broder

▶ 23:50 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: administration and the Mayor Infern administration before that and to be supported and learn from our clerk and our clerk of committees who do such a great job keeping us on track. It's also though bittersweet because I'm very excited about what's next and the ability to continue to get to work with you all as the state representative. As President Grigoraitis mentioned I would be happy to see any and all of you next Wednesday at the State House 1130 March 18th so I look forward to building on the work that we've done here together taking the lessons that I've learned and the conversations we've had as we think about ways in which the state can be a good partner to Melrose and I can be an advocate for you there except on days when we're competing against each other

▶ 24:35 in chili cook-offs and trivia challenges I intend to be a strong partner so thank all very much for the chance to get to work with you and i look forward to continuing to work with you moving forward so thanks congratulations thank you both for being here tonight we will move on in our agenda to communications from his honor the mayor and other city officials order 2020-69 authorizing a bond in the amount of 2 million 311 205 dollars for building repairs to memorial hall this will be referred to the Appropriations Committee order 2020 70 appropriation the amount of 1 million 308 nine hundred twenty five dollars from free cash to from free cash account zero one dash three two four zero zero one and two hundred fifty thousand dollars from capital stabilization

▶ 26:12 account eight four zero five two dash five nine zero zero zero zero to various capital accounts as set forth herein this will be sent to the Appropriations committee order 2020-71 an appropriation in the amount of 100 160 from free cash account zero one dash three two four zero zero one two various accounts as set forth herein this will be sent to the appropriation committee order 2020-72 appointment of elena prowakis ellis to serve as director of public works effective march 30th 2020. this will be sent to the appropriations committee order 2020-73 acceptance of the 2020 senior safe grant in the amount of 2 552 dollars for the fire department this will be sent to the appropriations committee order 2020-74

▶ 27:05 acceptance of a 70 000 grant from the executive office of housing and economic development mass marketing partnerships office of travel and tourism program for wayfinding and creative placemaking this will be sent to the appropriations committee order 2020-75 authorizing a bond in the amount of one million four hundred twenty five thousand four hundred seventy one dollars to pay costs of purchasing and equipping an aerial ladder truck for the use of the fire department this order will be sent to the appropriations committee in order 2020-76 authorizing a bond in the amount of 1 million 450 000 to replace the department of public works salt shed this order will be sent to the appropriations committee do we have any new business we do not do we have any

▶ 27:54 Jen Grigoraitis: orders out of order we do not do we have any orders from committee councillor stewart did you want to recommend an order come up from committee yes i'd like to recommend uh uh order 2020-68 for passage we have a motion to pull it up from committee do we have a second for pulling this order up from committee second so we have a motion to pull order 2020-68 up from committee with a motion by councillor Stewart seconded by councillor Cinella all in favor the motion is before you so motion to pass for 2028 2020-68 do we have a second so we have a motion to approve order 2020-68 by councillor Stewart approved by councillor Migliorelli all in favor aye any opposed the order passes do we have any reports under rule 53 councillor McMaster thank you madam president just

▶ 28:58 Shawn M. MacMaster: a final reminder especially for members of the public who perhaps haven't tuned in to the last few meetings at the Chili Chowder Fest will be held on March 22nd. That's a Sunday at the Lieutenant Norman Prince VFW Post on Main Street. It's at 12 o'clock in the afternoon. Members of the public can contact the Veterans Services Office at 781-665-0405 to register. They can register to participate in the event, which goes to support our middle school students who the Veterans Advisory Board takes down to Washington, D.C. each year. This year's trip will be in May, so this will help to support their efforts. And members of the public can participate not only by entering into the competition with the chili recipe, but chowder or macaroni and cheese.

▶ 29:52 Jen Grigoraitis: So questions specifically about the event can be directed to Veterans Services. thank you madam president thank you for the reminder any other reports under rule 53 hearing none do we have anything for the calendar you're not okay at this time I'll entertain a motion to adjourn we have a motion to adjourn by councillor Cinella seconded by councillor McNaught all in favor this meeting is adjourned

City Council — 2020-03-09

Attendance

Agenda

Minutes

Transcript

Original documents