Legal & Legislative Committee — 2021-03-22
Attendance
Christopher Cinella ; Jack Eccles ; Jen Grigoraitis ; Shawn M. MacMaster ; Leila Migliorelli ; John N. Tramontozzi
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Comment
- Orders
- ORDER-2021-97 : Amending Article VII, Section 198-20 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Melrose entitled “Sustainable Food Containers and Packaging”
- ORDER-2021-99 : Declaration of a Portion of City -Owned Land along Central Terrace as Surplus Property Available for Disposition via Lease Agreement
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE LEGAL & LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE CALENDAR● MARCH 22, 2021 Web-based remote meeting Committee Meeting 7:15 PM , Melrose, MA 02176 The public should take notice that the Melrose City Council may, on certain occasions, have a quorum in attendance due to standing committees of the City Council consisting of both voting and non-voting members. Members attending this duly posted meeting are participating and deliberating only in conjunction with the business of the standing committee. Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Jen Grigoraitis Chair Present Leila Migliorelli Vice Chair Present John N. Tramontozzi Voting Present Shawn M. MacMaster Voting Present Jack Eccles Voting Present 7:22 PM Christopher Cinella President, ex oficio Present The Legal and Legislative Committee is called to order by Chair Grigoraitis. This meeting is recorded and may be viewed on www.mmtv3.org
ORDER-2021-97 Amending Revised Ordinances Amending Article VII, Section 198-20 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Melrose entitled “Sustainable Food Containers and Packaging” Recommend Passage City Council
ORDER-2021-99 General Declaration of a Portion of City -Owned Land along Central Terrace as Surplus Property Available for Disposition via Lease Agreement Recommend Passage City Council City of Melrose Page 1 3/23/2021 2:37 PM
Transcript
▶ 14:39 Jen Grigoraitis: voting Member, Councilors Tramontozzi and McMaster, and President Cinella ex officio. Pursuant to Governor Baker's order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law and the Governor's order imposing strict limitations on the number of people that may gather in one place, this meeting of the Legal and Legislative Committee will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible we will post a comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the city of melrose website and on mmtv3.org at this time without objection i will open the floor for public comment for any Member of the public this is the ability to speak to any item on the legal
▶ 15:21 and legislative committee agenda if you wish to speak please raise your digital hand We do have a member. Mr. McSweeney, I'll unmute him now. Hi, everybody. Mr. McSweeney, 160 West Wyoming. I'm here on behalf of the Ped Bike Committee to comment on Order 2021-99, which is the disposition of the land behind Rising Eagle. Our committee wrote a letter, and I'll just speak briefly on it. We support this order very much. 1 of our 1 of our committee's main focus areas is to promote a pedestrian friendly downtown. If you talk to just about any 1 in Melrose, that's 1 of the best features of our city and it's a feature that we want to protect and promote and enhance. And, like any other dense mixed use downtown foot traffic is the lifeblood.
▶ 16:17 So, anything the city can do to encourage more foot traffic downtown is a good investment. Um, and we very much feel that this type of, um, proposal will do that. Um, further, you know, a thing we want to highlight is that, um. It encourages that foot traffic at the core, right? So, by creating by taking land, which right now exists as automobile parking. Um, and and putting it more towards a human centric use. um you're you're you're definitely encouraging more foot traffic downtown but you're also um you're also encouraging the parking to take place a little bit further out as opposed to like right next to the storefronts um which which creates a safer pedestrian environment and a more inviting pedestrian environment um you know the the the street
▶ 17:16 parking that we have and we have a lot of a lot of parking downtown um there's a cost to having it into into maintaining it and that cost is what it could be right and we're very happy to see um the administration choosing to reallocate um some of that really prime land right next to one of our biggest downtown restaurants um and turn that into land which can be used by by people um so we you know we encourage the administration and the council to continue to find ways um to create those downtown gathering spaces i think this is a great example of it the pedestrian of the pedestrianization of central terrace is a great example of it um and these these things are certainly you know more pressing
▶ 17:59 Jen Grigoraitis: during covid um when we need safe outdoor spaces but the great thing about um using that main street land for people is that um those benefits will last forever um and Hopefully, we see some of these things starting to happen more long term. That's exactly why our committee Member donated hundreds of hours last year to building the Main Street parklet and we're really excited to potentially have this patio join our downtown. So, thanks everybody. Appreciate it. Thank you Mr. McLean. Do we have anyone else wishing to speak in public comments? No one is raising their digital hand. Okay, without objection, then I will close public comment. Um. Our 1st order before us tonight is order 2021 dash 97, amending article 7 section 198 dash 20 of the revised ordinances of the city of Melrose entitled sustainable food containers and packaging.
▶ 19:01 Jen Grigoraitis: Do we have anyone from the administration we do? So, in anticipation of that, I'll entertain a motion to suspend the rules. Motion to suspend the rules. Second? So we have a motion to suspend the rules made by Councilor Tramontozzi, seconded by Vice Chair Migliorelli. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll. Chair Grigoraitis? Yes. Yeah, Vice Chair Migliorelli? Yes. Yeah. Councilor Tramontozzi? Yes. Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. President Sunnela? Yes. Five yes. 5, yes, so the motion carries the rules are now suspended. Bring in the city solicitor, Mr. van camping. Hello city solicitor. Can you hear us? I can't hear you. Can you hear me? Yes, see you. Yeah. Can you hear me? Okay. Madam chair Member of the committee, thank you very much for for giving me this opportunity to appear for you this evening.
▶ 20:14 This is a sort of a housekeeping measure. One of the things that we have realized. During the ongoing 19 global pandemic. Is that it has severely impacted our ability. To raise awareness and educate our businesses about the polystyrene ban. That was passed some time ago now, as, you know, Madam chair, you sponsored. 1, extension of this ordinance back in May of 20. Unfortunately, even with the passage of time, the administration with zero waste has not had the ability, frankly, to make enough businesses aware of this ordinance and raise enough awareness of its provisions. We're here this evening requesting an additional extension of the effective date of this ordinance into 2022. I will say, I think we're all hopefully in agreement on this point,
▶ 21:11 that it does appear that 22 will be a much better year than 20 and certainly the first part of 21 have been as far as our ability to interact with businesses and raise awareness. And the hope is also that because of the financial strain that many of these businesses have been under, that imposing this new requirement on them at this point in time just simply didn't make sense for them or for the community. So I ask for the committee's favorable actions, Madam chair on this request. Thank you. Mr. and camping. Are there any questions from the voting Member of the committee? Hey, are there any questions from our non voting Member in attendance? What is the will of the committee to recommend for passage?
▶ 22:00 Jen Grigoraitis: We have I just not to cut you off. I just realized I think somebody tinkered with my. Virtual Member notice, so I have corrected that. Excellent lovely to see the background of city hall instead. Okay. So we have a motion to recommend made by counselor. Seconded by counselor. McMaster, is there any discussion seeing none? Madam clerk? Can you please call the roll? Chair Grigoraitis yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Eccles? Yes. President Sinella? Yes. 6 yes. 6 yes, so the motion carries and just for the record, we are now joined by voting member Councilor Eccles and non-voting member Councilor Jamala Deen. I would also entertain a motion. We did receive some correspondence related to this order from, I believe, Zero Waste Motors. I would entertain a motion to add that to the record.
▶ 23:06 Jen Grigoraitis: Add that to the record, we have a motion to add correspondence to the record by vice chair, seconded by counselor Eccles. Is there any discussion? Please call the role. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes, president. Yes. 6, yes, 6, yes, so the motion carries. Thank you. Moving on to our next order of the evening, which I believe Mr. van camp. And you're also joining us for is order 2021 dash 99 declaration of a portion of city owned land along central terrorists. A surplus property available for disposition via lease agreement. Mr. yours. Yes, thank you. Madam chair this the order before you tonight seeks to declare approximately a 1500 square foot.
▶ 24:14 Parcel of city owned land, which is directly in the rear of the rising equal restaurant. In our downtown business district, and just by way of background. Um, 1 of the things that the administration has been working on both sort of Pre cobit and it has been exacerbated as. We have been dealing with cobit now for the last 12 months. Is the need for not just temporary outdoor dining opportunities in the city of Mars, but for permanent dining outdoor dining opportunities in the city of Melrose. And what we have done is we have identified. This parcel, and I provided the Member of the committee, I believe with a, with a map that shows the parcel and then I had our chief assessor do sort of an overlay.
▶ 24:59 To show you what portion of the parcel the city would be seeking to declare surplus for outdoor dining purposes. And so what we have. I tried to do in this context is identify a parcel. Uh, that is, um, is contiguous to our downtown and this 1 is directly behind the rising eagle. Property well, simultaneously not taking parking away from. Our downtown areas that you'll note on 1 of the layouts that I was able to provide. Uh, to the committee that the area we've identified, which is highlighted, it's 1588.7 square feet. Of land, the only thing that would be displaced in that context is a dumpster. The parking that directly abuts that parcel. Would remain, so there's no elimination of parking in order to effectuate this type of.
▶ 25:58 A transaction, so having said that, I also want to just explain to the committee. That as a municipality, we simply can't give away real estate. We can't enter into lease agreements or sell real estate. without going through a very rigid procurement process. And so under chapter 30B of the general laws, specifically section 16, there is a very clearly defined process that the city has to follow to do this. This is the first step in that process. Declaring the parcel surplus basically begins that process. The next step would be to have the value of this real estate determined. And we would use our chief assessor to determine the value of the real estate. Once that valuation process is complete,
▶ 26:46 the city would then issue an RFP. That RFP would be advertised in local newspapers for a period, I believe of 14 days. At that point, parties interested in responding to provide outdoor seating or outdoor dining opportunities here would have the ability to respond. And we would basically under the law be obligated To to provide a lease or enter a lease with the most responsible party offering the greatest value to the community. So, that's sort of the 30 B process that we would be required to follow. Currently, we're anticipating. At least the administration's goal would be for a lease term somewhere between 5 and 10 years. So, we consider it somewhat of a long term lease arrangement. 5 to 10 years that obviously would be subject to.
▶ 27:43 Some level of negotiation. With any responded, but that's sort of the ultimate goal right now is about a 5 to 10 year lease. And again, I just want to stress that when the city issues, the RFP, the request for proposals. The, the restriction will be that a party asked to provide. Outdoor dining for the city. It can't be additional parking or anything. So, if you, the City Council vote to declare this parcel surplus, it would be declared surplus within the limited confines of it being an outdoor dining space. So, happy to answer any questions that Member may have. Thank you Mr. VanCamp and Councilor Tramontozzi. Yes, I thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. Van Kampen. A couple of questions.
▶ 28:38 John N. Tramontozzi: You said right now that parcel only contains a dumpster and whose dumpster is it? That dumpster basically sits on private land that I believe it belongs to Rising Eagle, But I, it may it may be on some of the public land there to counselor. Okay. Verify that. All right. It's not a problem. But, um. Is there is there a reason why this possible was never used for parking? Is it an awkward shape? Or is it a, if you know, is it was parking never considered an option for that possible? You know, I don't know the answer to that, but I will say that if you, if you go out to the site and you and you and you walk the site. It's, it's, it looks like a loading area to me. From the, from the naked eye, I'm not exactly sure how it came about that way, but it's simply.
▶ 29:42 Leila Migliorelli: Is not currently used for, you know, customer parking. Republic. All right. So, um. Yeah, I don't think I suspect that 1 would not even consider didn't probably know it was city property the way it was. Situated back there and. I'm not really cared for in any particular way, but. All right, thank you. That's all I had. Thank you. Thank you. Counselor vice chairman. Thank you, Madam chair. Thank you. Mr. I think this is a great idea. It's a great use of this sort of dead space behind the rising eagle building. I'm just curious now that you propose this. Was there any discussion about the parcel that's right next to it that sort of behind the other building that also looks kind of like a dead area. I don't know if there's I mean, sometimes I see people parking there, but it's also kind of the same situation of a.
▶ 30:48 Like a dead space where you can't, I don't think publicly park, maybe it's used for employee parking, but just curious if that's a whole that whole strip could be developed. For outdoor dining. Yeah, I think and that's a very good question. I think we're certainly open to. Exploring as many spaces as we can for this type of a purpose. My, my recollection counselor of that space and I'm, I'm sorry, I'm looking at my other screen right now because that's where the map is. But my recollection of that space is that there's some weird topography there. I'm not sure it's actually a flat. I think there's some kind of a sidewalk or something there. So I'm not sure exactly if that would be conducive to.
▶ 31:29 uh the type of outdoor dining that we could accommodate behind the rising eagle building which is a much flatter space but it's a it's a very fair question for example uh the site next to the um soon to be santa fe burrito grill uh which is known as milano park uh there has been discussion about using that space for the same kind of purpose nothing has materialized up to this point uh but um this this particular parcel was identified as prime right now for this type of The, you know, the development, but the space next to it, I hear your question. I'd have to look at it a little more closely. I'm not sure. It's as easily able to be transformed into something like that. Great, so maybe it's something that could be considered in the future at least. Absolutely. Okay. Thank you.
▶ 32:19 Councilor McMaster, thank you Madam chair. Good evening. Mr. and thank you for being here. You had said that in considering the proposals that we'd be looking for the most responsible party with the greatest value for the community. Is there a particular set of factors that we are legally bound to look at? Is this an objective criteria or subjective criteria in that evaluation? Well, typically the way a rule for award under 30 B is made is that you establish certain criteria inside the RFP so that when you note when you advertise that RFP to the universe, if you will. Anyone interested in responding knows exactly what criteria the city for the awarding authority would be relying on and making its decision.
▶ 33:09 So, what we would be looking at in this context is. A party that wants to establish an outdoor dining component, we would obviously want to look at design. We would want to look at the type of. You know, the type of materials they would use. In in building something like this, we would want to look at. The the term that they would be interested in leasing the parcel from the city. Or we would look at obviously price what their financial offer would be to the community. So, there are a number of factors that would be taken into consideration counselor, but, you know, the municipality as the awarding authority does have some discretion. To to define the rule for the award. I hope that answers your question. It does. Would we be able to give preference legally to Miller's business owners to current owners?
▶ 34:08 Jen Grigoraitis: We, we probably, yeah, we could absolutely you could give preference to Melrose owner Melrose business owners. Melrose residents, you could certainly build that into any rule for award. Thank you. Thank you come to McMaster any other questions from the council. Okay, what is the will of this committee motion recommend. So, we have a motion to recommend made by vice chair secondly, seconded by counselor. McMaster. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, Madam clerk, can you please call the role? Chair? Grigoraitis? Yes, vice chair. Yes. Council. Yes, counselor McMaster. Yes. Councilor Eccles? Yes. President Cinella? Yes. 6 yes. 6 yes, and so the motion carries. Thank you, Mr. VanCampen for joining us tonight. Thank you, Madam Chair.
▶ 35:13 And that concludes the business under legal and ledge, so I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn? Second. We have a motion to adjourn made by Vice Chair Migliorelli, seconded by Councilor Tramontozzi. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Chair Grigoraitis? Yes. Vice-Chair Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Tramontozzi? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Eccles? Yes. President Cinella? Yes. 6 yes. 6 yes, we are adjourned. I pass the virtual gavel to you, Councilor McNaught. Thank you, Councilor Grigoraitis and once we have everybody's hollywood squares signs up we will begin appropriations give it one one more minute for council mcmaster he has the new puppy at home okay i think we'll get rolling