Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2021-04-12
Attendance
Christopher Cinella ; Jack Eccles ; Mark Garipay ; Jen Grigoraitis ; Maya Jamaleddine ; Shawn M. MacMaster ; Jeff McNaught ; Leila Migliorelli ; Robb Stewart ; Cory Thomas ; John N. Tramontozzi
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Comment
- Orders
- ORDER-2021-109 : An Appropriation from Free Cash, account number (01-324001), in the amount of $604,833 (Six Hundred four thousand, eight hundred thirty-three dollars) to various accounts as set forth herein.
- ORDER-2021-110 : An Appropriation from Free Cash, account number (01-324001), in the amount of $1,150,000 (One Million, One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars), to various stabilization accounts as set forth herein.
- ORDER-2021-111 : An Order Relative to Construction Site Noise during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE CALENDAR● APRIL 12, 2021 Web-based remote meeting Committee Meeting 7:30 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 Jeff McNaught Chair Present Jack Eccles Vice Chair Present John N. Tramontozzi Present Shawn M. MacMaster Present Mark Garipay Present Jen Grigoraitis Present Leila Migliorelli Present Robb Stewart Present Cory Thomas Present Maya Jamaleddine Present Christopher Cinella President, ex oficio Present Pursuant to Governor Baker's Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law and the Governor's order imposing strict limitation on the number of people that may gather in one place, this meeting of the Appropriation Committee will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. We will post an audio or video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Melrose website and on MMTV/mmtv3.org. The public can find online access instructions to view this meeting at www.cityofmelrose.org/remote-meetings
ORDER-2021-109 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash, account number (01-324001), in the amount of $604,833 (Six Hundred four thousand, eight hundred thirty-three dollars) to various accounts as set forth herein. Recommend Passage City Council
ORDER-2021-110 Appropriation City of Melrose Page 1 4/22/2021 9:12 AM Minutes Appropriations Committee April 12, 2021 An Appropriation from Free Cash, account number (01-324001), in the amount of $1,150,000 (One Million, One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars), to various stabilization accounts as set forth herein. Hold
ORDER-2021-111 General An Order Relative to Construction Site Noise during the COVID-19 Pandemic Recommend Passage City Council City of Melrose Page 2 4/22/2021 9:12 AM
Transcript
▶ 1:01:58 Jeff McNaught: p.m this is a meeting of the appropriations committee i am the chair of that committee counselor mcnaught and in lieu of a roll call attendance i will announce who is joining me this meeting and please note that the Appropriations Committee is comprised of all voting members, the full council. This evening we have with us Vice Chair Eccles, Councilor Tramontozzi, Councilor McMaster, Councilor Migliorelli, Councilor Garipay, Councilor Grigoraitis, Councilor Jamaleddine, Councilor Stewart, Councilor Thomas, and President Cinella. This provides notice of a quorum for the record. Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law and the Governor's March 15, 2020
▶ 1:02:46 Jeff McNaught: order imposing strict limitation on the number of people that may gather together in one place, this meeting of the Appropriations Committee will be conducted by a remote participation to the greatest extent possible. We will post an audio or video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Melrose website and on mmtv.3.org. How's my audio, folks? Is that working well tonight? Good. Like, thumbs up. For the folks at home, we are turning towards our portion of this meeting called Public Comment where anyone from the public can speak to any agenda on the Appropriations committee agenda this evening we are going to open public comment and then we are going to
▶ 1:03:38 Jeff McNaught: recess and go back to finish our legal and legislative meeting that way we can have a clean break and not keep folks waiting from the prior meeting so if there is no objection at this time i will move for a unanimous consent and open the floor for public comment seeing no objection we are open for public comment and at this time i will entertain a motion to recess motion to recess i'll entertain a second well uh motion to recess by councillor Garipay uh seconded by councillor tram and tozy uh madam clerk can you please call the role sure before i call that role can we just let the attendees know if they would like to speak a public comment they can do so now and then we can We can go back that. Okay. You want to continue on with public comment? Otherwise I'd have to hang out. Wait.
▶ 1:04:44 John N. Tramontozzi: Yeah, point of order if we, we opened up before for public comment, let's see if there's anybody in the public want to comment on anything and then we'll close public comment and then go back to legal and legislative. This could be a long public comment. All right. That's all right. Let's do it. Let's do what council chairman? I have people anybody in the waiting to publicly climate on anything that's on the appropriations committee agenda. Let them do it. Now. I don't want to do it that way. I'd rather finish up legal and ledge. So, um, yeah, let's call the roll. Okay. Chair. Yes, yes, vice chair. Yes. Councilor Tramontozzi? No. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis?
▶ 1:05:39 Paul Brodeur: Yes. Councilor Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Stewart? No. No. Councilor Thomas? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes, President Sinella. Yes, yes. Nine yes. Motion passes. We can head back over to legal and ledge Council Gregoritas. Thank you, Councilor McNaught, and we are back in legal and ledge. I know Mayor Broder, you were mid-sentence. I was saying something really awesome, I'm sure. I think the question was related to what possible economic spurs, economic activity there could be and who may benefit. Hopefully, I've covered that. In some respects, this is a question about vocation as much as anything else. The reason I say that it going off the symphony example, As you all know, when the symphony plays inside Memorial Hall,
▶ 2:35:23 to see if there are any digital hands raised. Perusing the list as we speak. Anyone would like to speak to items on the Appropriations Committee, please raise your hand. One more second. I don't see anyone. Okay, seeing no hands raised, what is the will of the committee? Do we want to wait a minute? We've been, we've been open in legal and legislation for a little while. There's a lot of people in this room that I'm seeing that that may want to speak. So, I'd like to take a Councilor Stewart. Yes, Mr. Chair. Could I make a suggestion that we take a five-minute recess? That way, if anybody stepped away or whatnot, that'll give them an opportunity to then come speak in public comment. I think that's a great idea. Council McMaster?
▶ 2:36:33 Jeff McNaught: Mr. Chair, one suggestion, if you'd be willing to do so, is perhaps to list the names of the orders when we come back from recess, just so it's clear to anyone who has been waiting, Uh, what business will be taken up at this particular meeting. Thank you. It's a great idea. Great idea. Council McMaster. Thank you. And for anyone who is listening and coming back in our audience, it looks like we're going to move towards a 5 minute recess here in a moment. Um, but just to give you a preview, we are discussing 2 free cash orders and a noise ordinance order at this time. I'll entertain the motion to recess. I'll make that motion to recess. Second. Good, Chair. Motion to recess made by Councilor Stewart,
▶ 2:37:18 seconded by Vice Chair Eccles. Madam Chair, can you please call the roll? Chair McNaught? Yes. Vice Chair Eccles? Yes. Councilor Tramontozzi? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes. Councilor Migliorelli. Yes. Councilor Stewart. Yes. Councilor Thomas. Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine. Yes. President Sinella. Yes. 11 yes. Motion passes. It is 938. We will be back at 943. Thank you, everyone. Coming back now, as everyone enters the room, I'll just say out loud to anyone who may be watching, if you would like to speak in public comment, please raise your digital hand. Counselor McMaster's suggestion, what I'm going to do is just read out the orders. Maybe there's some folks at home who will hear them and decide that they want to speak.
▶ 2:42:35 Jeff McNaught: uh tonight we have ordered 2021-109 it's an appropriation from free cash account oh i don't i don't need to redo the account numbers but it's in the amount of six hundred and four thousand eight hundred and thirty three dollars to various accounts within the city another appropriations order from free cash in the amount of one million one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to various accounts stabilization accounts within the city there's also a construction site noise ordinance being proposed during the coven 19 pandemic so i'm still not seeing any hands raised madam clerk nor do i motion to close public comment motion to close public comment by councillor Stewart, seconded by President Cinella. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Chair
▶ 2:43:43 Jeff McNaught: McNaught? Yes. Vice Chair Eccles? Yes. Councilor Tramontozzi? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes. Councilor Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Yes. Councillor Thomas? Yes. Councillor Jamaleddine? President Sinella? Yes. One last time, Councillor Jamaleddine? Ten yes. The motion passes. Public comment is now closed and now we're at the portion of our meeting where I will move for unanimous consent to suspend the rules if there is no objection so that we can hear from some folks from the city administration seeing no objection um the rules are now suspended and we can bring in um whoever is here from the city to speak on the two free cash orders
▶ 2:44:54 bring in mr del russo and there are various members of the administration mr del ruso can Can you hear us? Yes, I can. Yes, I can. Okay. We can hear you. We just can't see you. Let me know who you want me to bring in. 1st. Okay, here I come. Who should I start? Um, I guess through the chair, um, if you'd like, we can walk through the stabilization fund request initially. And then seek to, um. Address the, um, other diversified, um. Department's request, or we can just do with the opposite and have each department that is here this evening, for example, speak to the council. Maybe that might be the best way, so they don't, they wouldn't have to, um. Perhaps, um, listen to the other material on the stabilization funds.
▶ 2:45:57 Jeff McNaught: And they can be expedite them through the process here if that's the will of the council. So, the, the stabilization funds are up 1st or 2nd rather. Correct you'd rather do you want to get those out of the way 1st. I can do that unless again, I, unless some of the people that I, I would, I believe are waiting in the background would like to have an opportunity to speak given the hour. And maybe then just myself wrap up with the stabilization funds that would work better. Yeah, that's the order that we're in is what I'm saying. Perfect. So I'll read the, the 1st order is order 2021 dash 109 and appropriation from free cash account number 0, 1, 3, 2, 4, 0, 0, 1. In the amount of 604,833 dollars to various accounts set forth here in.
▶ 2:46:53 So, okay, and that would be. um the medicaid the first number i'll start with would be medicaid reimbursement at 75 000 that's a school department um request and i believe leah secure may be here this evening to speak to that this year's hi leah good evening hi mr corey how are you thank you for being here um the floor is yours thank you so this is our yearly medicaid transfer um this is the um the money that goes to some of our neediest kids in the district this goes right to the special ed um right to the special ed children and we fund um it like we do every year does anyone have any questions mr de la rosa did you want to yes if i may and again by the way it's set up under municipal finance law is the money that we're speaking to this evening comes in to the city's general fund
▶ 2:48:01 and it's designed that way and then it gets appropriated to the school department by design it's not a it's not an um it's not set up such that it will go directly to the school department it has to go through pre-cash and then it has to be appropriated by the city council thank you thank you mr core does anyone have any questions i see no hands if you want to Move on to the next piece in this order. Certainly. Okay. I believe. The next on list would be the 400,000 dollars for the department equipment generator. I believe. Elena is here this evening. To speak to the that request for the, um. Generator, please. as per ourselves welcome i believe you're on mute okay is that better yes okay i was i switched to the wrong microphone um so the the generator the proposals for a generator
▶ 2:49:26 for city hall um a lot of you may have heard about this item previously we the city has applied Countless times for grant funding for this item unsuccessfully. Essentially, it does not meet the qualifications for the majority of. Um, the grant opportunities that are out there from FEMA and from the state. Um, but we have identified the need for a generator at city hall to be. Our greatest vulnerability in the city, both through our hazard mitigation plan and our, uh, municipal vulnerability preparedness. Process, um. The request is for 400,000 dollars, which covers the. Um, the installation purchase and installation and any ancillary work to install a generator for city hall. Um, and also the, the consultant that we've hired to do the.
▶ 2:50:22 Design has identified that we should be able to also accommodate, um, some backup power solution for memorial hall as part of this same. Project, which is a real win, because that's identified as a, as a shelter location for the city. And just real quick, I know I discussed this with the council when we had the design funds appropriated, but just to remind everybody city hall houses, all of the communication systems, phones, Internet. For the police station, the fire stations. city hall itself as well as the majority of the school buildings so it's the communications hub from which all of those other buildings are run and so when power goes out at city hall other than 9-1-1 capabilities all of those other buildings lose their phone and
▶ 2:51:14 internet service as well so that just speaks to the critical nature of this infrastructure thank you miss prodicus ellis i don't see any hands yet we may be just waiting until we go through each piece of the order mr deliver says so yes please the next i believe the fire chief is here to speak to his request for a motor vehicle repairs as well as additional services professional services chief please Good evening, everybody. Yes, thank you. I'm requesting the amount of $40,000 for vehicle repair. Most of it will be preventive maintenance to get me through to preventive maintenance for the remaining pieces of equipment that I have. Engine 4 failed its pump test last October, and i've chosen not to have it repaired uh because we're waiting on the replacement pumper
▶ 2:52:24 which was due this month but has been backed up now two months at the factory due to covet a covert outbreak at the factory so the forty thousand dollars will get us through the remainder of the fiscal year for uh two preventive maintenance um uh scheduled preventer maintenance is on the remaining pieces as well as a ladder getting our ladder one certified in the anticipated repairs i would go with that after after the testing process the second part for the professional services i'm looking to get a membership to a software Basically, it's called Lexapro and the Fire Rescue Academy, they've joined services. What this will allow the department to do is train online to meet critical training
▶ 2:53:27 components for OSHA as well as meeting some of our ISO training requirements. All the training meets the standard for IFSTA, it's the international – let me write down there for that. I think it's – I don't want to misquote it. Don't worry about it, Chief. Okay. Well, it's international fire regulations. They write a lot of books, fire company officers and firefighters and all the different techniques. So this software will also allow us to be able to track it and be on demand with our reporting of our training. So that's all I have right now. Thank you. Thank you, Chief. Thank you. Thank you. And again, to the Chair, Mr. Wilcock is here this evening to discuss request for funding for building permitting slash gis account for the remainder of this fiscal year 2021.
▶ 2:54:42 hi um this uh request is based off of uh kind of the fee structure for our permitting system uh it's a percentage of the permits so when we have a large permit sometimes that goes over what we have budgeted so the good news is we have more revenues but bad news is this fund is about sixteen thousand dollars short for this year so uh my request is to to fund it so that we can pay the vendor throughout the end of the fiscal year thank you mr wilcock okay then the next if i may uh treasurer collector uh catherine armada has a request for professional services including software um which you would like to request this evening of the council catherine please Good evening. I'm not sure if you can see me. My request is for a total of $41,000 to fund the purchase and installation of the MUNIS cash management module.
▶ 2:55:46 module this is necessary to significantly improve the cash management processes and practices that we currently have and provide more near-time information on the city's cash position it's broken down into two components the first is 21 000 for the module itself and the second is um a quote of not more than twenty thousand dollars for the services of the consulting fees um for the training and the installation of the module thank you miss armada and through the chair the last but not least on the um parliamentary request is additional funds for essex agricultural um if i may read into the record we've been advised um that as of 1 11 2021 two additional students attending essex north shore agricultural and technical school district
▶ 2:56:53 moved to melrose the chapter 74 non-resident tuition and transportation costs for the students effective 1-1-2021 will be $20,833. It was originally budgeted for two students under Cindy Taymor's guidance who saw an increase another two after that and now this these two before the council tonight so there'll be a total of six students this year attending relative to Melrose. Again, this is a request for the funding which we're required to put before the board for those students. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. DeLaRusso, and that checks off everything in the first order. I believe I saw Councilor Garipay hand before. Did I miss anyone else? Okay, Vice Chair Eccles, you're up next. Anyone else? Raise your hand. Councilor Garipay, go ahead.
▶ 2:57:52 Mark Garipay: Thank you. I got a question for Ms. Prawakis-Ellis if she's still with us. She is. Her screen is off. I think she's coming back on. Still here. Thank you for being here so late. Quick question on the generator. On the capital improvement plan, the quote that we had on that was back from 2019. There's a little bit more than what we have here. Is this just because of the size of the expenditure? Is this is this a pretty accurate number or do we think it'll be more? I think that's pretty accurate. So the reason why the number was more in the capital improvement plan was that that included the design, which the council approved 105,004 out of free cash last year. So that's been deducted from the cost at this time. So.
▶ 2:58:55 Jack Eccles: So, what remains is about 400,000, and we do have the design engineer on board and they did submit, um, an updated cost estimate, which is is just below 400,000. so I think we're still right in the right range. The total total cost of the generators just right around 500. 1000 and all in what we did last year. Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Council. Vice chair. I don't I don't have a question. I just thought it was worth calling out that the city hall generator is 1 of the. Items that was in group a on the capital improvement plan and. By my back of the napkin count, that means that we've. Checked off about 7 of the 11 on there. And most of the ones that are, you know, sub 1Million dollars.
▶ 2:59:48 John N. Tramontozzi: Thank you, Vice Chair Eccles. Thank you, Mr. DellaRusso for helping us do that. Councilor Tramontozzi, I believe you had your hand up. No? Yeah. Thank you, Councilor Eccles and Councilor Garipay, addressed the issue of the generator. As the representative of the Council on the Capital Improvement Committee, I can confirm that, in fact, this was one of if not the top request of the need for the city but uh certainly up in the higher range so uh this is uh you know it is a lot of money but it is uh what was recognized to be a necessary requirement that the city expends so thank you thank you for addressing that thank you council chairman tozy do i have any other hands up i don't i don't see any so uh
▶ 3:00:44 Jeff McNaught: what is the will of the committee on this order motion to recommend for passage second motion to recommend for passage by council Garipay seconded by vice chair eccles on discussion seeing none madam clerk will you please call the role chair mcnaught yes vice chair eccles Yes. Council of Tramontozzi? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes. Councilor Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Thomas? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. President Cinella? Yes. Levin, yes. The motion passes. Thank you all for being here tonight. Whoever is jumping off, we appreciate you hanging with us. It's been a long one. We're getting there. Next up, we have Order 2021-110, an appropriation from Free Cash,
▶ 3:01:56 account number 01324001 in the amount of $1,150,000 to various stabilization accounts as set forth herein. Mr. De La Russa, the floor is yours again, sir. I believe you're on mute, sir. Sorry. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I would ask respectfully if the council does have the stabilization fund balance summary in front of them it may be easier to follow by fund there's list eight of them and the amount that is currently in the balance the request this evening and what would be in the fund in the event that the board approved that particular line item thank you this again is an annual event and I consider it internal housekeeping for the city's finances much like we have housekeeping at the end of the year for departments in
▶ 3:02:55 general. This is really the core of what the city stands on and lives by and makes a representation to the outside financial institutions what our priorities are. I will say at the out front that I want to make it clear that that this year's free cash appropriation of over $5 million includes a $1 million one-time payment on waste management. A one year, $1 million one-time payment that will not be repeated over the next cycle. And what we've asked, we went through and we did measure the different funds and I will be pleased to speak to each one and why that particular dollar number has been requested. And I do wanna point out again that the total amount that we're looking for is less than half
▶ 3:04:00 Leila Migliorelli: of what we looked for a year ago, which is 2.5 when the pandemic hit. So we brought this down to under 25% of the total free cash available to the city. And I believe that that's a measured and a prudent move to make at this time. So, to the chair, if you'd like to go 1 by 1, or would you rather the council ask questions, whatever you'd like to do. I think we can probably go to, I've seen a lot of hands up, so I think we'll go right to questions and we'll start with Councillor Migliorelli. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Mr delivery. So, um, I. My thought for tonight is that these are stabilization account transfers, and they're not something that's immediate need. You know, the items we just voted on are things that we either have to do or really need to do in order to keep the city safe and running effectively.
▶ 3:05:04 Leila Migliorelli: Um, this, as Mr. just mentioned this while this request is less than. Half of what we was put into the stabilization accounts last year, it's still bringing up the balance quite a bit. Um, and last year, I think the emphasis was on trying to keep. The city, you know, on sound financial footing as we were just at the brink of the pandemic and not knowing what direction would be going in. After that, now, we're finding ourselves in a different situation, trying to kind of move into the recovery mode and there may be items that come up between now and the end of the fiscal year that we may want to consider. So, I'd like to put a motion on the table to hold these in committee as I think there's still a lot left in play and and wait until later on this fiscal year.
▶ 3:05:56 Jeff McNaught: So, we have a motion on the table from council to hold this in committee, seconded by Councilor McMaster. We still did have Councilor Grigoraitis in queue. And did I miss anyone else? Councilor Garipay is in queue. Anyone else? Councilor Eccles? Okay, Councilor Grigoraitis, go ahead. Are we going to, Chair McNaught, are we going to, we have a motion that's been made and seconded before, so are we going to Have discussion on that motion, or I'm happy to see my time, given that there's a motion that's been made and seconded. Yeah, we can, we can have discussion on the motion. That's fine. Council McMaster. Thank you, Mr. chairman and in addition to the, I think very valid points that constantly make the rally made. I think it's.
▶ 3:07:01 Shawn M. MacMaster: Also important for us to realize as with last year is when an order comes down like this, it has 8 stabilization funds within the order, which leaves us 1 of 2 options either vote to support it. Or vote to oppose it and last year, if you recall, I had made a motion to divide the order because I didn't want to be put in a position nor do I think any of us should be putting in a position of having to vote it up or down. So, the reason, you know, in addition to what constantly indicated in her remarks that I think we should look to hold this is that. I'm really not comfortable tonight, considering the hour of making a motion to divide the order and having 8 separate votes. I think that's something we could potentially do moving forward. I am mindful. Mr.
▶ 3:07:50 Mark Garipay: Chairman that there are other there are going to be other free cash orders coming before us. But I'm just not very comfortable making that motion tonight to divide the order, considering it's 10 o'clock and we still have another matter on the agenda before us. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Thank you Council McMaster. Council Garipay, I had you in queue before. Did you want to speak now on discussion? Yeah, I mean, I was just gonna, I was gonna say I'm okay with moving forward with this tonight. I mean. You know, we, the stabilization accounts, we all, we need to continue to invest in the community. I think it's a prudent thing to do with the financial situation we're in. We have money. Last year, we weren't know where the unknowns were. I mean, we have not lost any revenue. We have revenue coming in. So I understand that the thought process is we don't know where we're going to be.
▶ 3:08:51 Mark Garipay: But we are in a better position now with what we know from the federal government, from the state government. And I'll ask Mr. De La Russo, the decisions are easier now to make, to invest in stabilization funds. These are easy decisions to make. The tough decisions are when we don't have a stabilization fund like we had in 2001, 2002, when we had to close Eastside Fire Station. We had to close the BB schools. We had to reduce the, the hours in the library. Those were tough decisions. This is an easier decision if we don't invest in stabilization, we're not asking for a 1Million dollars. I mean, I think the goal is 5% of the stabilization fund, the main stabilization fund. I think it's about 90Million dollars.
▶ 3:09:43 Mark Garipay: I mean, we're not even close to that right now even adding this. This is an easy decision, in my opinion, the top decision is when you have to make a decision, you have to close things. I hope we never have to use these funds, but we should gradually while we have the money. Build that up the other question I have regarding the contract stabilization. We have 4 contracts, I think it said in in the, um, in, in, in Mr. Delarosa's memo. So. I guess my question to this is how many, how many contracts have expired or are expired in? How long have they been expired? We are currently to the chair. We are the fire contractors is expired this year and we are in negotiations with fire. So there was, there's at least a potential 1 year retro there.
▶ 3:10:37 Going on to police superiors. patrolmen we're going to be negotiating now and the uh dpw the laborers i believe um so one of the um items i was trying to speak to would be the necessity mr chairman point of order there's a motion on the floor and respectfully to council garrett i know he has a question but we have to we have to vote on that motion before we can ask questions of Mr. Della Russa. Well, I'll entertain what Councilor Garipay said as discussion, because it was said more in the form of a comment than a question. So we can cut it there, but I'm going to keep the discussion open in case anybody else wants to speak on the motion. Well, I'll just finish up by saying I have not veered from the way I've gone
▶ 3:11:40 Jen Grigoraitis: and handle this position all for the last year since I've been a councilor. I think it's a prudent thing to do to invest in our long-term stability. Councilor Tramontozzi probably remembers when those tough decisions had to be made. They had tough decisions. This is an easier decision to be able to invest in the long-term future of the community. Thank you, Councilor Garrapate. Councilor Grigoraitis. Thank you, To chairman not on discussion of this motion before us, I think. I don't see a motion to hold as a failure to make a decision, I think, to counselor through the chair. If you're counting down, I think. There's this body has asked many times for an understanding of what the overarching vision is for the expenditure of free cash and for the.
▶ 3:12:29 Jen Grigoraitis: The plan for all of the additional revenue that's coming in and so I think we want to have more time to see what some of these anticipated additional free cash orders are that our investments in our community, which I believe is what residents would like to see. In addition to the external financial folks that we want to make sure are happy. So, I think emotions to hold is allowing us to get a more complete picture of where we see the financial picture of the city going forward. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Gerardus. Councilor Chamaluddin. Thank you, Chairman. I would like to echo Councilor Grigoraitis, I'm sorry, and Councilor Migliorelli for putting this order on hold. I feel that this is a wise decision, especially for
▶ 3:13:24 Jack Eccles: For our residents to make sure that we are taking the right decision. Taking our time to make the right decision. I'm sorry. It's very late and tomorrow. So it's been a long night for us. I am. I apologize. No, apology necessary. Council. Did I have you in queue? I wasn't here to ask a question. I have some questions about the, um, the stabilization fund, but just on discussion. I mean. As far as the urgency, I wouldn't see a problem. I can ask these questions anytime. So. So, my colleagues to to wait for a broader picture, I'm fine with that, especially. Given the hour and having 1 more thing on the agenda. Thank you. Vice chair. Anyone else counselor Stewart Thank you. Mr. chair. Um, I would.
▶ 3:14:24 Robb Stewart: Also echo counsel point of prudence and I do believe that it is quite important to have the financial stability. That being said, I am also comfortable. Holding this in committee for. A period of time only for the. Some of the requests that have come in via our constituents. And I would add a future date, recommend Mr chair that we do re. Think, and this is through the chair to the committee that we rethink. Whether we want to vote on this in the entirety, or if we do as per counselor, McMaster's suggestion. I'll split this into this the separate components of the order so that's that's what I wanted to share thank you Mr. Chair thank you Councilor Stewart Councilor Tramontozzi yes thank you Mr.
▶ 3:15:35 John N. Tramontozzi: Chairman I appreciate everybody's concerns about this I believe in that we know in the past we we ran into situations where the stabilization accounts needed to be authorized and funded. And so, like Councilor Garipay and Stewart before me, these stabilization funds are important to be funded. However, the other Councillors have made a legitimate point about some of these stabilization funds which are not uh immediately in need of funding and i would uh suggest to and i would agree to hold it in committee but i would suggest to mr delarusso uh that um he come back uh with us with them separated out so that um because otherwise we are i i think we're destined to um vote on these individually and i would suggest that maybe it would be prudent
▶ 3:16:38 John N. Tramontozzi: for Mr. De La Rosa and the administration to come before us with separate orders on each of the separate stabilization accounts. So that way we can have a better understanding what really truly should be funded and what should not require an emergency funding and the free cash should be better spent elsewhere. So that's just the comment that I have, and I appreciate the comments from all the counselors. Thank you. I'm going to let Mr. De La Rosa just. Thank you. I hear the comments and I appreciate it. As far as the breakup of the actual items, I would suggest I'd have to work with Kristen and see how that could be done mechanically. i think that would be actually a motion here right and to make it easy easier for the council
▶ 3:17:33 however i i will stress i i we've never used the word emergency here um i am not looking this is not an emergency in appropriation i will say that we have until the end of june to pass it be free cash overall and we did try to introduce what we're going to continue to introduce this This request is part of the free cash package. We still have over 3Million dollars after this. That we are working with for allocation purposes. This again is very strategic and I, I look forward to the chance to actually speak to the order. And discuss each 1 separately counselor. So that I think it can shine some light on to what is being requested and why. Because we have not addressed the wide this evening and I want that opportunity to do that.
▶ 3:18:22 Mark Garipay: Thank you. Thank you. Mr. dollars. So do I have anyone else for the 1st time? Council care. Yeah, just 1, 1 other thing with. Council of Google writers, I agree with her that we have not seen a plan. For the free cash, which I think is a balance of 3 point. 3.3Million roughly left over, but I don't think. The administration, I think in the has been up front on his view of. Of stabilization and how he likes to use these accounts. So I don't, I think there has always been a plan. He's, you know, we've, we've heard it. We heard it in November. What, what, what the likes to do. We heard it again in, in, uh, in, I think it was January when he came before us on the on the fiscally, uh, see how we are fiscally with the community. See, we were at that point. So, I think the.
▶ 3:19:15 Leila Migliorelli: The vision regarding stabilization funds have always been there and they've been out out in front of us. With regards to the leftover money, I, I agree with council, Grigoraitis that it would be great to see more of a plan to see what they have have coming forward with that regarding the stabilization funds. I don't I mean, I think it's always been out there. Council really? Thank you. Mr. Chairman. I think this is really just an issue of timing and it's not sort of a. You know, issue of not taking the stabilization of the city seriously. I think that the vision that we're looking for is not a financial vision. Um, I think that that is definitely prudent to invest in stabilization accounts. It's proven to do all these things from a financial perspective, the vision that we're talking about is more of a vision for the city of.
▶ 3:20:13 Leila Migliorelli: What are the items that we need to move this city forward that are going to improve the lives of residents? And that that vision is not is not is enforced by financial decisions, but it's not the creator of the financial financial decisions. So, I just want to be clear about that, that it's not that stabilization needs to be put on the back burner until later, because it's not as wise to invest in the stabilization of the city. It's just, it's not. It's not part of the vision. So, we have three point three million, perhaps there's another request from another department that comes in. It just should be something that should be done at the end. I think instead of in the beginning, it just sets a tone for the.
▶ 3:20:51 For the overall budget discussions for the city. Thank you. Thank you counsel. Do I have anyone else? Okay, seeing none, Madam clerk, please call the role. Chairman, no, no. Vice chair Eccles. Yes. Council of Tram and Josie. Yes, yes. Counselor McMaster. Yes, Council of. Okay, Council of greater writers. Yes, Council of yes. Counselor Stewart. Yes. Yes. Councilor Thomas? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. President Sinella? Yes. Nine yes. Motion passes. This order will be held in committee. Ms. Delarosa, thank you for your patience tonight. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Bye-bye. We'll see you soon. Take care. Take care, guys. Next up, we have Order 2021-111, an order relative to the construction site noise during the COVID-19 pandemic.
▶ 3:22:23 Shawn M. MacMaster: I will defer to Councilor McMaster. Can you hear me, Mr. Chairman? Yes. Thank you. Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Councilor Thomas, for your partnership on this order. as we all know there's a lot of construction underway in the city with more on the horizon and for several reasons that's a good thing it creates affordable housing it brings new businesses to the city it beautifies neighborhoods and it expands our limited tax base but construction also brings with it a number of neighborhood challenges now i realize that any construction site will inevitably result in noise and other neighborhood disruptions having lived through the construction at jack flats and the washingtons which brought over 400 new residents
▶ 3:23:18 Shawn M. MacMaster: to the lower washington street neighborhood i understand and i accept the very real and mostly undesirable short-term impacts that construction can have on neighborhoods in normal times these impacts will be par for the course but we're not in normal times for the last 13 months residents who live near construction sites have had to cope with trying to work from home and school their children remotely while listening to jackhammering, pounding, drilling, sawing, and other noise generated from tools and heavy equipment. Consulate Thomas and I have received hundreds of calls, texts, letters, and emails from our constituents on this. Although I'm tempted to share with you multiple examples, I think part of just one letter I received sums up
▶ 3:24:05 Shawn M. MacMaster: what all of these residents are dealing with. If I may, Mr. Chairman, if I could read a brief excerpt of one such letter from a constituent on Lower Washington Street. This constituent writes, in addition to the noise pollution of every construction equipment, there are endless dumpsters being filled with metal and wood waste and the constant repositioning of trucks, jackhammers, and backhoes, and lots of yelling between workers. Sometimes this starts promptly at 7 a.m., other times a bit earlier. All of this while inconvenient is to be expected during construction. However, unlike normal times, the conditions in which we currently live are completely unexpected. Our whole lives and the lives of millions of others have been turned
▶ 3:24:52 Shawn M. MacMaster: on their heads with the SARS COVID-19 global pandemic. We've been exceptionally fortunate to remain employed during this time, but we're forced to quickly shift to remote work. Our work days, which almost always include the weekends, are filled with simultaneous back-to-back Zoom calls. We've followed all the guidance of scientists since day one. We grocery shop only when absolutely necessary. We don't go to indoor restaurants. We wear masks no matter where we go. And we haven't seen our family and friends. Our apartment is lovely, but it is a one-bedroom home, not at all conducive to constant teleconferencing. Our bedroom is now a second office, and books sit stacked on the floor so that we have shelves to house extra pantry items and masks.
▶ 3:25:36 Shawn M. MacMaster: We've sacrificed everything that's been asked of us. When you add to this the constant roar of construction six days a week, our quality of life has simply ceased to be anywhere near what it was pre-COVID. This has not just caused us to be uncomfortable, it has had detrimental effects on our health and well-being. Disrupted sleep and constant noise pollution have exasperated our anxiety and tension and hope is quickly dwindling. This is a letter I received from just one resident at Jack Flats. The order before you tonight is not a proposed ordinance. It's an emergency order that requires a simple majority vote. Its purpose is to ensure that developers of projects where acoustic monitoring has been imposed
▶ 3:26:23 Shawn M. MacMaster: as a condition by the planning board are in compliance with the city's noise ordinance. All that this order does is require weekly reporting of noise data that is already being recorded by developers. That's it. Again, I think it's important to reiterate that these are not normal times. In normal times, this order would not be necessary for two reasons. One, most residents and children would be at work or in school five days a week. And Two, concerns about excessive construction noise would be addressed by City Hall. What we know from these last 13 months is that the noise ordinance relative to construction noise hasn't been enforced at all. In my ward where a 141 unit apartment building is being built that has involved demolition
▶ 3:27:10 Shawn M. MacMaster: and now the addition of a third floor to the existing structure, not a single compliance check despite countless complaints from residents have occurred. Not one. What Councilor Thomas and I learned in our conversations with the administration is that the City's noise ordinance falls under the purview of the Health Director and the Board of Health. I think all of us can certainly understand and appreciate that the time and effort of our local health officials over the last year have been devoted to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering what the Health Director and the Board of Health have had on their plate, What this order does is provide them with a labor list tool. To simply monitor compliance, the order would require that the noise data already being recorded by developers.
▶ 3:27:58 Shawn M. MacMaster: Under construction management plans approved by the planning board is furnished weekly to city officials. In doing so, it will ensure that developers are adhering to the noise ordinance. That data is being reviewed by the city and that violations are being addressed. It would also make it clear to the public that we're not expecting developers to police themselves. Residents should expect, and they most certainly deserve compliance through monitoring and enforcement. They shouldn't have to cross their fingers and hope that rules are being followed. When the prospect exists that a law of any kind won't be enforced, whether it's a law governing construction or traffic safety, It's only a matter of time before that law will be broken, whether purposely or unknowingly.
▶ 3:28:45 Shawn M. MacMaster: Neither Council of Thomas nor I are suggesting that the noise ordinance is being ignored at the construction sites in our respective wards. In fact, we both worked very well with our developers to resolve a number of construction related issues in the neighborhoods that we represent. But that doesn't change the fact that there has to be oversight and there has been zero oversight to date from the city. enforcement from city hall this order will serve as a stop gap measure i've talked a lot about what this order is so i think it's important to talk about what this order isn't this order doesn't include a fine instruction if data isn't submitted on time there is nothing punitive to it this order doesn't restrict development or constrain developers in
▶ 3:29:32 Shawn M. MacMaster: any way if that was the intention counselor and thomas and i would have and could have taken a very different route we could have filed any number of amendments to existing ordinances for example we could have filed an amendment to reduce the permitted work hours at construction sites to eliminate saturdays as permitted work days or to lower decimal levels and although it's within our right to do any of those things as a city's legislative body we're not looking to take draconian measures here we think there's another way i believe this order accomplishes what has become a dire neighborhood problem in a way that balances the concerns of our residents without unduly hampering developers for all of these reasons i respectfully ask for your support
▶ 3:30:18 Cory Thomas: and at this time mr chairman i'd yield to my co-sponsor counselor thomas thank you thank you council mcmaster council thomas thank you mr chairman thank you to council mcmaster uh for all the conversations we've had um about this order um ward seven residents specifically those in the swains pond area have had two major construction developments over the last few years construction at regan's way and now patrick's place has brought different types of construction related noise to what has traditionally been a very quiet neighborhood the construction noise coupled with the pandemic and many residents working and learning remotely from home has generated dozens upon dozens of noise complaints in ward seven the development
▶ 3:31:01 Cory Thomas: for both projects has admittedly done a good job with communicating work schedules and following the construction management plan for these projects at patrick's place blasting has been ongoing since fall of 2020. the developer and the blasting company have been in full compliance with the massachusetts blasting laws regulations and all blasts have been under the legal blast thresholds the mineral spite department has done an excellent job monitoring and reporting all blast level readings from this construction site now in its final stages of blasting the work will soon transition to construction of homes this order will help ensure the developer continues to follow the construction management plan in regards to levels of construction noise the
▶ 3:31:42 Cory Thomas: residents of this quiet neighborhood have been incredibly patient during blasting we want them to know that the worst is behind them the construction noise levels like the one residents In board 5 on pleasant street are now experiencing will be under the legal limit of decibel levels. And that the results of construction noise readings will be reported to city. With the recent noise of health department director, Ruth, announcing her retirement and expect the transition to leadership in this position. It makes sense that from projects provided to see the new director should not help department. directed to not be expected to report while we're still in the pandemic. This order also is not just for wards five and seven,
▶ 3:32:27 Cory Thomas: where major construction projects have taken place over the recent years. This order is for all of Melrose where other development projects are scheduled in the near future in different parts of the city. Based on the experiences residents in wards five and seven have had to deal with, taking a proactive approach to dealing with construction noise will benefit residents throughout our community. Lastly, this order is not one in perpetuity. It expires in December of this year, unless this council chooses to extend it. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Councilor Thomas. I don't believe we don't have anyone here from the administration to speak to this, do we? Council McMaster?
▶ 3:33:15 Shawn M. MacMaster: I can answer that question, Mr. Chairman. Just as background of Councils are wondering, Councilor Thomas and I met with the administration to discuss our interest in filing this order 64 days ago. That was February 8th. That meeting occurred in City Hall in the Council Chamber. It was Councilor Thomas, Mr. Van Campen, our City Solicitor, and Mr. Johnson, Building Inspector. It was at that time we learned that the noise ordinance is under the purview of the Health Director and the Board of Health. As a result of that meeting and the conversation that we had, Mr. Van Campen and Mr. Johnson, we had indicated a willingness and a real desire on our part to elicit any feedback from the administration, which we did.
▶ 3:34:07 Shawn M. MacMaster: Prior to filing the order, we drafted the order and sent it to Mr. Van Campen, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Gaffney, our Director of Planning and Development, and Ms. Clay, our Health Director. We asked that we be provided with any feedback at all, so that we could take that into account prior to filing the order. That e-mail was acknowledged in writing by Ms. Gaffey. It was also acknowledged by Mr. Van Campen. We had received no response, no feedback from the administration on this order, other than the conversations that we had initially on February 8th. I'll represent, as I know Councillor Thomas will, that at that meeting, the administration didn't take a position, nor did they express to us in that meeting any concerns that they had.
▶ 3:35:03 Shawn M. MacMaster: Going back to your question, Councillor McNaught, about the administration and input that it may have on this, I would suggest that there's been ample time to provide that input. This is not something that just surfaced on February 8th when we met with the administration. This has been ongoing conversations with various members of the administration about the concerns. When I say concerns, we're talking hundreds of concerns from constituents that Councillor Thomas and I have been failing since the start of our respective projects. As Councillor Thomas said, These are concerns that other word counselors, and then to an extent councils at large, and maybe counselors at large have been dealing with this as well are going to continue to experience as we move forward with other projects that are before the planning board or that have already been approved.
▶ 3:35:59 Shawn M. MacMaster: The other thing I think is important just to follow up on is, as Councilor Thomas said, this is not an order in perpetuity. This is an emergency order. We'll take a look at it if this Council passes the order in December to see where we are with COVID. I would suspect there are still going to be people working from home, but we're not looking to change or create an ordinance there. This is just an order. And I'd also represent, because I think it's important that Councilor Thomas and I have both had conversations with our respective developers about this order. In fact, I spoke with the developer just this Friday. As everyone knows, this meeting was put on the calendar Thursday. Friday I texted with the developer at the 99
▶ 3:36:43 Shawn M. MacMaster: Washington Street development to ensure in fairness to him that he had an opportunity one to know that this was happening. I'd also say that he knew it was going to be happening beforehand because similar to input being sought by the administration, I sought his input and And there wasn't any feedback other than initially what costs might look like for them. What I can tell you is that they are already paying for this data on a yearly basis to be collected and maintained. So the data exists, it's a matter of simply furnishing it to the city so that we are in a position to enforce something that we don't have the capacity right now to enforce because it falls under the health director. So I think those are just some important points to also make. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 3:37:34 Cory Thomas: Thank you, Council McMaster and Councilor Thomas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I could add and follow up on what Council McMaster just said, we had sort of an emergency meeting at Memorial Hall. Myself, Mayor Broder, the Mayor's Chief of Staff, we met with actually Chief Kalina and Captain Gibson of the Mountain Spite Department. we met with the Malden Fire Chief, we met with Mayor Malden and two City Councilors that have bought this project in Swains Pond, two City Councils in Malden. It really reached a crescendo I guess in early January and after that meeting you know I started talking to Councilman McMaster and that's what we scheduled that meeting in February to talk to the administration.
▶ 3:38:19 Shawn M. MacMaster: Hundreds of hundreds of emails from the blasting up in Ward 7 might be an understatement, and this is a way to hold the rules of the construction management plan. You know, hold the feet to the fire and really enforce what was written into the construction plans. So, again, thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Councilor Thomas, Councilor McMaster. My apologies, Mr. Chairman. Councilor Thomas just made a good point that I forgot to make, and that is that we were very careful in crafting this to not step into what we see as the territory of the planning board. And just to be very clear is that this order is not mandating that future Construction management plans include acoustic monitoring that is at the sole discretion of the planning board to decide through the site plan review process.
▶ 3:39:16 Shawn M. MacMaster: This is for those projects, which is the projects that are largest in scope that are most impactful to neighborhoods whereby the planning board has deemed it appropriate to mandate acoustic monitoring. It would only apply in those scenarios. So it's not any construction project. These are the construction projects where the planning board has mandated that through the site plan review process. And I think that's that's very important to take into account here. In addition to the fact that this is not an order as consulate Thomas said in perpetuity. Okay, so I think we're going to have to do is, I guess the way to operate this would be for other councils to ask through the chair questions of you and Councilor Thomas. So, I think I have that right. So, 1st up we have Councilor Tramontozzi.
▶ 3:40:12 Well, thank you. I wasn't going to ask a question, but I was just going to make a comment that I appreciate Councilors McMaster and Thomas' work on this, a well-written Um, uh, order, and, um, that was going to make a motion to recommend. Okay, motion to recommend by Council Tram and Tuesday, seconded by Council on discussion. Seeing none, Madam clerk, will you please call the role? Chairman not yes. Vice chair Eccles. Yes. Councilor Tramontozzi? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes. Councilor Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Thomas? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. President Sinello? Yes. 11 yes. Motion passes. That concludes our business for the evening.
▶ 3:41:24 Can everybody jump at once? Motion to adjourn. Second. Motion to adjourn by Council Chairman Tosi, seconded by Council Grigoraitis. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Chair McNaught? Yes. Yes, yes. Councilor Tramontozzi? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes, yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes. Councilor Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Thomas? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. President Cinella? Yes. 11 yes. We are adjourned. Get some z's.