Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2021-05-06
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
- Public Hearing
- ORDER-2021-96 : Amending Melrose Revised Zoning Ordinance to create Incentive Zoning Provisions and related Zoning Map and Parking Regulation Amendments as set forth herein.
- Orders
- ORDER-2021-116 : An Appropriation from the Special Education Fund account number 84082-590000 in the amount of $499,953 to the School Department account number 0111-490000.
- ORDER-2021-117 : FRIENDS Of The Milano Center Social Services Coordinator Donation
- ORDER-2021-115 : An Appropriation from Free Cash, account 01-324001, in the amount of $14,650 to City Clerk Salary & Wages, account number 011611-511000, for staff changes during Fiscal Year 2021.
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE CALENDAR● MAY 6, 2021 Web-based remote meeting Committee Meeting 7:00 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 City Council 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 MMTV/ mmtv3.org. The public can find online access instructions to view this meeting at www.cityofmelrose.org/remote-meetings
ORDER-2021-96 Amending Revised Zoning Ordinances Amending Melrose Revised Zoning Ordinance to create Incentive Zoning Provisions and related Zoning Map and Parking Regulation Amendments as set forth herein. Hold
ORDER-2021-116 Appropriation An Appropriation from the Special Education Fund account number 84082- 590000 in the amount of $499,953 to the School Department account number 0111-490000. Recommend Passage City Council
ORDER-2021-117 Donation City of Melrose Page 1 5/10/2021 5:11 PM Minutes Appropriations Committee May 6, 2021 FRIENDS Of The Milano Center Social Services Coordinator Donation Recommend Passage City Council
ORDER-2021-115 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash, account 01-324001, in the amount of $14,650 to City Clerk Salary & Wages, account number 011611-511000, for staff changes during Fiscal Year 2021. Recommend Passage City Council City of Melrose Page 2 5/10/2021 5:11 PM
Transcript
▶ 0:02 Jeff McNaught: That's truthfully why I don't wear a tie anymore. I just started recording, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Madam Clerk. I'm going to give it another minute here so people get into the room. 7.01, I think we'll get rolling. Good evening. The time is 7.01 p.m. This is a meeting of the Appropriations Committee. 7.01 p.m., by the way, on May 6, 2021. This is a meeting of the appropriations committee. I am counselor, not chair of this committee. Um. It is a meeting of the full body and every member of the city council is a voting member of the appropriations committee in lieu of a roll call attendance. Um. Joining me this evening are the following council members vice chair. Councilor Tramontozzi, Councilor McMaster,
▶ 1:47 Jeff McNaught: Councilor Grigoraitis, Councilor Jamaleddine, Councilor Garipay, Councilor Stewart, Councilor Thomas, and President Cinella. And that provides a notice of quorum for the record. Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12th, 2020 orders, suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law and the governor's March 15th, 2020 order imposing strict limitations on the number of people that may gather in 1 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 members website.
▶ 2:43 Jeff McNaught: And on TV, 3, or. I'll also note that we have council of it's also now present. So, all all members are present for the folks at home is the portion of the meeting where we turn to public comment where any member. The public may come and speak to any items on our agenda this evening and only to items on the agenda. Um, and at this time, if there's no objection, I'll move for unanimous consent to open public comment. Seeing no objection hearing no objection. We are open for public comment. Madam Clerk, do we have anyone in the public who wishes to speak? If you are on with us and you'd like to speak, please raise your digital hand. And the clerk will bring you into the room, so to speak. We have Madam Inferno. Can you hear us?
▶ 3:46 Gail Infurna: Yes, yeah, can you hear me? Yes. Great. Thank you. Good evening. And, uh, thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening in regards to order 2021-96, the incentive zoning proposed amendment. As a member of the affordable housing task force many years ago, and now a member of the Melrose affordable housing corporation, I am in support of this proposed amendment. I was also actively involved as a committee member for our city's master plans in both 2004 and 2017. these proposed changes in zoning will confirm the city's commitment to affordable housing as stated in the master plan. This incentive zoning amendment will allow an increase in density in the business zones B-A-1 and B-A-2. As noted in the language of this amendment with increased housing production comes an opportunity for an increase in affordable units.
▶ 4:47 Gail Infurna: This is an important amendment as BA 1 and BA 2 are in the smart growth districts. Making any affordable units desirable for our community. I applaud and thank the planning board in the office of planning and development for the work on this zoning change. It is the right thing to do as it will benefit our community in many ways as stated in the order. I also want to thank the city council members for their concerns regarding affordable housing. This proposed amendment will help address some of your concerns. I believe that this proposed amendment is for the greater good of our community and I ask that you support order 2 0, 2, 1 dash 96. Thank you. Thank you, uh, former man, Mr. Bennett. Mr. right. Can you hear me? I can hear you. Yes. Can you hear me? Excellent. Uh, good evening counselors and chairman.
▶ 5:49 I've already written to you twice on the subject of order 2021 dash 96. so I will keep my remarks brief now focusing not on the content of this zoning change, but on the public process or lack thereof that has brought us to this point. This order results from the deliberations of the planning board in consultation with the office of planning and community development. It is a very complex document, which I have read many times over and each reading provokes new questions about its implications and motivations. I am not alone in my confusion, the historical commission, the energy commission, and the zero waste commission have all publicly sought inclusion in this process and have been rebuffed. If 1 commission had complained, you might have been able to dismiss it as a case of sour grapes.
▶ 6:33 But when at least 3 city commissions acting independently, and without coordination, all have claimed exclusion from the public process, then there was something wrong with the process itself. Moreover, the proposed boundary changes of this order directly challenged the authority of the Historic District Commission, yet another City Commission that was at no point consulted in this process. Councillors, I would contend that no matter your opinion of the substantive content of this order, that the process that has brought us to this point was not conducted with the spirit of democratic openness and inclusion. This is not what transparent governance looks like. I know that some may respond that anyone on these boards could have attended the planning board meetings and offered comments on this order over the past few months. But frankly.
▶ 7:23 It is altogether too much of a burden to ask members of boards and commissions to attend to the business of every other board and commission. The staff of the, who are paid to do this work full time should have planned for inclusion and consultation from the beginning and sought out the input of directly affected commissions. I will close with this. Over the next few months, the OPCD will present to this council the results of their housing production plan study and ask for you to vote first to approve the plan and then in turn to vote to implement each of its provisions. That plan will result from the workings of an ad hoc committee that is not subject to the open meetings law and whose deliberations have been opaque up to this point.
▶ 8:04 In other words, the process will be even less democratic and less open than the one we are seeing tonight. please take this opportunity to correct course and send this order back to the planning board where it can be reassessed through a truly inclusive and public process that can be modeled as we move forward together to adopt the housing production plan and make other major decisions about the future of our beloved city thank you thank you mr bennett do we have any other digital hands raised madam clerk and i do not say any additional at this time let's see i'm looking at the attendees in the room most look as though they're probably here for other we have one mr hamilton can you hear us yes can you hear me yes yes okay great um i don't know
▶ 9:13 Ward Hamilton: can you can you see me on video or is that not important uh we just we just need to be able to hear you mr hamilton that's great because i'm in the driveway uh i got home i'm i'm grilling someone someone wasn't as concerned about this as i was so uh um let me uh if you would be kind enough to allow me to uh make a statement which is uh it's it's it's it's a document that i sent to the appropriations committee about an hour hour and a half ago and it reads as follows chairman mcnaught the melrose historical commission was established by the then board of aldermen under massachusetts general law chapter 40 for the protection of the historical architectural in architect archaeological assets of the city of
▶ 10:08 Ward Hamilton: melrose the melrose historical commission serves as an advisory body on matters affecting those assets to officers departments boards commissions committees and other agencies of the city the purpose of order 2021-96 amending melrose revised zoning ordinance to create incentive zoning provisions and related zoning map and parking regulation amendments is to encourage development As the enclosed images illustrate, this zone overlaps a portion of the local historic district presently under the watch of the Historic District Commission. This order seeks to incentivize development within an MGL 40C local historic district. Because the affected parcels are already developed, that means there are buildings there,
▶ 11:04 Ward Hamilton: redevelopment will necessitate demolition nine contributing buildings that help divide define the streetscape of our downtown historic district will be threatened checking the agendas of the historic district commission for the past nine months this topic does not appear to have ever been discussed the historical commission which is charged with protecting the historical architectural and archaeological resources of the city has not been consulted the historical commission's duty does not end at the borders of the local historic district have the historical architectural and archaeological resources of the city been taken into consideration by those presenting order 2021-96 if so how if not why not how should the historical commission fulfill its
▶ 12:07 Ward Hamilton: mission and protect the historical architectural and archaeological assets of the city without a demolition review ordinance has the historic district commission been consulted about the introduction of incentivized zoning within the local historic district if so how if not why not why haven't the historical commission in the historic district commission been involved in the process are there any other committees or commissions that should be included in the process it is unfortunate that these concerns have been relocated to public comment As the rules prevent a dialogue from occurring during public comment, it is my earnest hope that you will ask those presenting Order 20-21-96 these questions.
▶ 13:06 Thank you in advance for your consideration. Respectfully submitted, Ward Hamilton, Chairman, Melrose Historical Commission. Thank you, Mr. Hamilton. I believe we have, we got an email from Mr. O'Loughlin. Jim O'Loughlin would like to speak. Mr. O'Loughlin, can you hear us? Yes. Can you hear me? Yes. Great. Thank you. Hey, I appreciate the opportunity to address the committee tonight. I have a few specific comments on the proposed revisions to our zoning ordinances, but first I'd like to briefly discuss public participation. In the context of the related public hearing last week. Which was sparsely attended at best and in the context of the enhanced liquor sales advisory group. That was assembled to help develop public policy.
▶ 14:02 Operated for about 4 to 6 months as I understand it. And even city counselors didn't know who was on that advisory group. In the year or so leading up to the pandemic. The following 2 zoning related issues came up before the city. There were many, but these 2 that I'd like to speak about 1 was a proposal to lift the ban on overnight parking. The alderman or chamber was standing room only. For that public meeting, people were out in the hallway. And if I recall correctly, this meeting was at 6 PM, so some people had to leave work early to attend, but they did. They attended in mass the other. or the other zoning issue I'd like to briefly discuss was the proposed marijuana zoning regulations.
▶ 14:47 This was a little like the current zoning proposal in that it was initially not well publicized, but at the end of the day, there were several very well attended meetings where the regular citizen had opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions. Importantly, based on that citizen input in part, the final zoning ordinance was very, very different from that initially proposed by the planning board. And I'll say that again. Based in part on that citizen input, the final zoning ordinance was very, very different from that initially proposed by the planning board. How do we get back to that level of broad-based civic engagement and participation? I understand and support the reason for the current venue,
▶ 15:37 Jeff McNaught: but I think it's fair to say that it favors some demographics and can be intimidating or impossible for others. Moreover, sometimes one can get the impression that decisions with broad implications are being formed by relatively small groups of people, as opposed to meeting a statutory requirement and checking a box. Mr. Laughlin, I'm just gonna stop you for a second, but what we're supposed to be speaking to is the incentive zoning ordinance. I understand your concerns specifically about public participation, but that is not, and it may not ever be, there may never be a right time to present an argument for that within a committee meeting, but that's not something that's on the agenda tonight.
▶ 16:31 All right, well, I do have specific comments on the zoning regulation and- Yeah, could you could you keep it tailored to that? But I'll tell you something. The previous speakers also spoke about this public participation components in the lack thereof. Right now, and that's why I let you go on a little bit, but I think we have to stick to what's on the agenda. All right, thank you. I will, um, I'll find another way to get this information out. Uh, specific to the proposal. I read this zoning proposal and I thought it was thoughtful and had merit. And I appreciate all the work that went into it and a lot of volunteer work went into this too. I also recognize that there are many that there are many dimensions and many competing priorities when it comes to this topic.
▶ 17:15 But I do have a few comments for consideration. I like some information on Pre pandemic commuter rail usage. The master plan indicated declining usage and anecdotally. Pre pandemic, I've typically only seen a dozen or so people get on rush hour trains at Cedar Park and at Wyoming. I can't speak to the Highlands, but I'm not seeing the commuter rail being a significant car and traffic avoidance mechanism. Is there data available? I agree with the comments from last week that green building technology be considered a prerequisite and not a community benefit. My phrasing when I read the proposal was green building technology and community benefits are not to be provided. I'd like to see tangible benefits that help offset the impacts of these large developments to butters into others.
▶ 18:09 I'd like to see quality of life benefits, like repaired sidewalks, trees and traffic controls that are more imaginative than the posting of ugly traffic signs. I'd also like to see an enhanced requirement for incorporating affordable housing. That would be a meaningful benefit to me. Counselor McMaster last week raised the question, has there been stakeholder outreach? And I think he mentioned, for example, the zero waste committee. I'd like to expand on that. Has there been specific outreach to those who will be impacted? A butter is being exposed to construction, noise and congestion, lots of trees. Just the imposing presence of a neighboring 5 story building. cut through traffic not everyone in this city lives on a quiet side street
▶ 18:57 how much specific outreach has there been to those who will be impacted one of the proposed actions is to shift zoning in a portion of the downtown near grove street from ba1 to ba2 this will allow for the construction of a five-story comp a five-story complex is right next to right across a street from st mary school and mary foley park that area is also is already very congested during pickup time is the distraction of that type of large construction appropriate so close to a school and should we be boxing in what little open space we have with a five-story building another of the proposed actions is to shift zoning in the vicinity of emerson lebanon in maine to be a one to allow for the construction of four-story buildings i get that a one-story
▶ 19:49 commercial storefront is not going to carry the mortgage in today's economy but i'm not sure where you would put all the cars from just a three-story building at the former caruso location alone there are also single-family homes in that area are we going to be seeing more teardowns we need to take a hard look at each of these areas where incentive-based development is proposed and carefully consider the impacts to abutters and to those who will be affected. Let me be clear, my concerns are not about bringing more people to Melrose. I fully support the proposed construction across the street from City Hall with the 25% affordability components. We should have been at 15% minimum years ago. My concerns are around traffic, the loss of trees, the loss of open space,
▶ 20:39 especially single lots in already developed areas that help break things up and provide a diversion in other quality of life impacts that have not been well acknowledged or well mitigated for too long like i said before zoning is an issue with many dimensions and many competing interests this is a thoughtful proposal with merit but i hope the council takes its time with this solicit solicits input from a broad spectrum of constituents and carefully considers that input And I will just 2nd, Mr Bennett's concerns about the, um. Metropolitan area planning councils, housing developments. Plan and the need for public input on that. And I would ask this committee, I sent my comments and to carefully consider all my comments on public participation and have the courage to bring that up as a topic. Thank you.
▶ 21:33 Jeff McNaught: thank you mr olaf and can i just get you to state your uh name your address for the record sure uh general larkland 39 lincoln street melrose and thank you thank you for taking the time to make your your comments tonight we'll certainly look at those um the comments that you sent us as well and uh madam clerk i don't see any other digital hands raised that's correct At this time, knowing that we've had some correspondence related to Order 2021-96, I'll entertain a motion to attach those emails to the record. So moved. Second. Second. Motion to attach all correspondence related to Order 2021-96 made by by Councilor McMaster, seconded by President Cinella. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?
▶ 22:33 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 Cinella? Yes. Levin, yes. Motion passes. Council McMaster? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At this time, I would ask that the letter that I sent to your attention on May 3 in CC, the City Clerk and members of the City Council related to the public caring be attached to the order second uh motion by council mcmaster to have his letter sent to the city council related to order 2021-96 and seconded by council Garipay madam clerk will you please call the role that was to be attached
▶ 23:41 Shawn M. MacMaster: to the record if i didn't say that thank you chair mcnaught yes vice chair eccles yes council of Tramontozzi? Yes. Councillor McMaster? Yes. Councillor Garipay? Yes. Councillor Gargaritas? Yes. Councillor Migliorelli? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Thomas? Yes. Councillor Jamaleddine? Yes. President Zanella? Yes. Levin, yes. Councillor McMaster? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Through you, I I would just ask that the city clerk notify the office of planning and community development that public comment began tonight at 7 o'clock and took us through 722 PM so that the 22 minutes of public comment will be considered in the 21 day report. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Madam clerk. Thank you. Council McMaster. Madam clerk no roll call. Just noting that so noted.
▶ 24:44 Jeff McNaught: thank you at this time seeing no more digital hands raised and if there's no objection I will move for unanimous consent to close public comment seeing no objection public comment is now closed I just want to kind of take a moment to review where we are I've said to look at the calendar actually to realize that we left off on Monday night if that's not correct somebody please tell me I'm wrong as we know the days kind of gel together now in the current world we live in but when we left off on Monday night we did not close a public hearing that was related to all of the comments that we've heard thus far this evening related to which I'll now announces the the public hearing doesn't to be voted to be opened it's still open that is order 2021-96 amending melrose revised zoning
▶ 25:45 Jeff McNaught: ordinance to create incentive zoning provisions and related zoning map and parking regulation amendments as set forth herein that is what was being discussed monday night that is what's back on for public hearing right now. If there is anyone in our audience who would like to speak at public hearing, I know that may sound odd, if you would like to speak to the same order, you may. We would just ask that you don't speak and say the same remarks. If there's something new that you've thought of since we went through public comment, please feel free to speak again. Um, but otherwise, um, if there's any new people, we would like to hear, um, new people to speak to that order. We would like to hear from you.
▶ 26:33 I don't think I see any new digital hands raised. Madam clerk. I do not see any new digital hands just going to make one chat inquiry. Okay. And I see one repeat hand if that's what you're okay, I do not see anything new. Okay. Uh, president, I saw your. Yeah, at this time, I would motion a motion to close the public hearing. 2nd, 2nd, we have a motion to close the public hearing made by President. Seconded by Council. Madam clerk, you please call the role chair. Yes. Vice chair. Yes. Council. 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.
▶ 27:50 Shawn M. MacMaster: Levin? Yes. Okay, the motion passes or the public hearing is now closed is a better way of phrasing that council mcmaster yes mr chairman just a point of uh personal privilege i did want to note that we have 90 days from uh the um the closing of this public hearing to vote on this matter it's not required i think that's important to put on the record that we have to vote within 90 days if we don't vote what that means is if we choose to address this order at a later time we And we would have to have another public hearing and I would just say that I'll be looking to see that some of the concerns that have been raised by stakeholders are hopefully addressed. And some of those questions are answered in the twenty one day report. And if not, I would reserve my right to request public hearing again before the city council. Thank you. Mr chairman.
▶ 28:47 Jeff McNaught: Thank you. Council McMaster. Okay. Now we're going to move on to three other orders that we have on our agenda. And before we do that, I'll move for unanimous consent to suspend the rules so that we can speak to some folks outside of this body. and if there's no objection the rules will be suspended. Seeing no objection our rules are now suspended and the first order of business that we have is order 2021-116 an appropriation from the Special Education Fund account number eight four zero eight two dash five nine zero zero zero zero in the amount of four hundred and ninety nine thousand dollars four hundred ninety nine thousand nine hundred and fifty three dollars to the school department account number zero one one one dash four nine zero zero zero zero
▶ 29:52 Madam Clerk, I believe we have the Superintendent, Ms. Secor, here coming into the room. I'm the Business Manager and we have the City Auditor on reserve. Okay, thank you. And Superintendent Kuchenberger, the floor is yours when you're ready. Thank you so much, sir. I believe also School Committee Chairwoman Jen McAndrew is here as well. Is she coming? Did you want her to come into the room? Yes, I believe she has a few opening remarks and then we'll join in. To talk specifically about the request. Okay. Thank you. Madam clerk. Hi, everyone. It's great to see you. Thanks so much for having us tonight and for considering. This order before you, I'll be brief, so we can get right to the heart of the discussion. Um, this is my 1st time before, you know, as chair of the school committee and so on behalf of the committee.
▶ 31:15 Jennifer McAndrew: I just want to thank you all for your service to the city of this year, especially during such on such challenging times. I really appreciate all you've done. And in my mind, the request before you tonight really. illustrates the excellent fiscal management and planning of the city of Melrose because establishing this stabilization fund specifically for this very purpose for special education in Melrose in 2014 envisioned a scenario exactly like we are in during this fiscal year and I know the superintendent and business director C core will talk to you about the specifics and CFO De La Russo as well, but I just wanted to thank you for taking this up, for moving it forward so quickly and to really emphasize how critical it is to meet the needs
▶ 32:09 of our special education learners who not only have special needs but of course have special rights. So thank you all so much and I know we're prepared to answer any of your questions and discuss this matter. Thank you, Superintendent. Thank you, Ms. McAndrew. And thank you all again for having us here. You've all received the memo, I believe it's in your packet as well, but I'll just briefly outline why we're here and what the need is and then open it up to questions. So last year we budgeted in the FY20 and the FY21 budget approximately 2.9 million dollars for special education tuition and when we develop the special education budget we really look at sort of three buckets if you will um what are the known needs the students who are before us
▶ 33:02 what kind of specialized programs and placements might they require and what are the anticipated costs for that in the next fiscal year we also look at what i like to call the known unknowns so there might be meetings in progress or evaluations in progress where we have some of the information but not the final placement yet and we project and budget around those and And then the 3rd are the unknowns, you know, as public schools, any student who comes to our doorstep, we welcome with open arms and we figure out the programming and the financial resources needed in order to ensure that every child gets a free and appropriate education. Last year, superintendent. Kamoore and our director of finance, Leah Secor,
▶ 33:49 did the best at projecting what the known needs were. However, in the past few months, we have realized some of those unknown needs that were not on our horizon and we weren't able to necessarily project for. One of them is transportation costs. With COVID, things look really different in the way that we transport our students. We're fortunate in Melrose because most of our students are able to walk bike to school and they do but some of our students do require specialized transportation to get them to their programs either here in the district or in out of district placements and those costs have been higher than projected due to the limited seating social distancing on bus but also the extra cleaning protocols and we can talk more about those specific details
▶ 34:34 So, part of this request is specifically to transportation. That's that 132,000 that you see there. The other really relates to six different student placements. So, we had four students who unfortunately following hospitalization then required new or different out of district placements. And so our job is to respond to that. It's a team decision. It's not a singular decision. So parents are part of the team, along with many of the educators in the district and making those decisions. And we take each 1 of those decisions very seriously when we're making them. And then we had 2 additional students that were already requiring out of district placements move into Melrose. are some of the unknowns that we couldn't have projected in the past and so depending where
▶ 35:26 they're coming from whether it's in state or out of state that that fiscal responsibility hits our books so to speak at a different timing when they're coming to us from out of state we're responsible day one where if it's in in state there's a little bit more lead time for us to better plan for that so that's the general part of the request that you have before you and i'm happy to add um add to that or answer any specific questions that you may have thank you superintendent kuchenberger um and thank you miss mcandrew um first up we have counselor mcmaster thank you mr chairman thank you chair mcandrew superintendent and mr core for being here um whoever would be the most appropriate one to answer this i'll certainly
▶ 36:16 Shawn M. MacMaster: uh leave it up to you to decide my question is about the circuit breaker and i'm just wondering what the balance of the school circuit breaker account currently is so currently the balance and circuit breaker is um two thousand dollars i'm sorry mr corey i couldn't hear you i'm not sure if it's me or if uh can you hear me now okay perfect thank you so currently right now the circuit breaker account has eight hundred and two thousand dollars eight hundred and two thousand dollars correct okay um is any has any of that money been earmarked to use for uh the um matters that are before us tonight in which money is being requested to come out of the stabilization uh special ed stabilization fund so at this point we budget 575 000 for our fy 21
▶ 37:27 special education costs i did not earmark any circuit breaker at this point for any of these on this request so what is the um what is the plan for that that money especially since that is 300 000 higher than what is being requested tonight for special ed purposes so what we're doing with that extra not extra money but that more reimbursement that we will be receiving um we have four quarters that we received this payment for and we will be using that extra money to go towards these kiddos that we are requesting for you this evening and we have to pay for them in fy 22. so you're looking to carry over the 800 000 to fy 22's budget is that is that correct are you having audio issues yes okay is that better yeah much better much better
▶ 38:51 sorry about that all right so correct um so we earmark and budget for circuit breaker amounts into the school budget and we do not capture those funds until the end of June so that $575 in the account will go towards the current budget that's already earmarked and budgeted for in the previous year and then what we do with the rest of the money is we are budgeting an FY22 for these kiddos and we're taking the almost break breakage in the circuit breaker that we we have this year because we've experienced a increase in circuit breaker amounts we normally do not receive a high it's a 75 percent reimbursement this year and normally it hasn't been that high and we will be using that to fund these kiddos in fy 22 because
▶ 39:46 Shawn M. MacMaster: they become our obligation from now on thank you and just so the public understands is there a reason that that can't be used for this year as opposed to FY22? There's just budgeting. There's the reason why we budget for next year is because we're obligated to spend all the funds by a certain amount of time. And does the circuit breaker money have to be used for special ed purposes or can the school department use it for other purposes? It's only allowed for special ed purposes. And you talked about the quarterly payments. What quarter are we up to? Are we through quarter four right now? No, we've usually received quarter four at the end of June. And for costs that we would be looking to potentially reimburse from this year that
▶ 40:51 Shawn M. MacMaster: presumably would be submitted in the summer, do we have a sense of what that might look like in terms of what we'd be seeking for reimbursements for those costs incurred this year? So we are level funding the circuit breaker reimbursement. We do not know as of yet how much of a percentage we will be getting, but we do not have to submit that report. They're compiling all the information and it's due July 6th. Thank you. And then the reason I ask these questions is, I do recall the former superintendent coming before us last year, and I believe we voted as a council to take 450,000 dollars. So, a similar amount of money, similar time of year out of the special of stabilization fund, and I'm just worried that on the school side of the budget that this may be under budgeted.
▶ 41:49 Shawn M. MacMaster: And I'm concerned about next year, because of certainly the related impacts and I think we might be able to forecast and superintendent, you would have a better idea than me about what those costs might look like next year. And with that in mind, I'm wondering what that budget, the line item in the school budget for special that looks like for next year is a fire. And if so, by by how much. And I think Mr. core said it's level funded, but I just, I just want it to be clear. I'll take a stab at that 1st, Sean, if you don't mind, and I think it might be helpful if we think about circuit breaker over time in Melrose. So, if we look back to our circuit breaker allocation was about 554,000 dollars.
▶ 42:38 And then in FY20, it was about 550 again. In FY21, our allocation is about a million dollars. And when you think about Circuit Breaker, you're always kind of a year behind, if that makes sense, because you get the payment from the previous year the following year. And so the strategy that Ms. Secor was talking about is really making sure you have that money in hand and you know what that allocation is so that you can budget properly forward um so that's kind of just think about that so we were like 554 550 and then doubled in fy 21. that is not a coincidence that directly coincides with former superintendent tamor coming before you and meeting almost a half a million dollars of additional funding outside of what was budgeted in the fy20 budget because
▶ 43:27 because those were unanticipated costs, right? So we wanna utilize the special ed reserve account for the stabilization fund for those unpredictable unknown costs that we incurred throughout the fiscal year during that current fiscal year and then utilize our stabilization account, or I'm sorry, our circuit breaker funds to then prepare for the next year so we're not constantly coming back and asking for this each time. So that's kind of the strategy that is at play here. And it's really complicated, but it really is trying to make sure that we're maximizing our resources to its full potential and avoiding what you just said, those kind of every year having these underfunded tuition accounts.
▶ 44:14 So that's where that strategy again comes into play of really asking ourselves when we're developing the budget, what are our known needs? What are kind of the unknown knowns that are on the fence still in progress or that we're anticipating and then how do we prepare for you know the move-ins and the unknowns um and so in fy19 in the city of melrose we budgeted about 1.6 million 1.7 million in special ed tuitions in fy20 we budgeted 2.8 million knowing that things were changing and and I did review the past memos and saw what was before you. And then this year we budgeted 2.9. So again, trying to use that known, unknown, knowns, no unknowns formula to calculate. And FY22, we're budgeting 3.4, 3.8 million.
▶ 45:08 So we have compensated. We're looking at, you know, when we look at our, especially our out of district tuitions, cause those are, you know, sometimes very costly programs. We might have some programs that cost upwards of $250,000, many that hover around 100,000. And if it's a collaborative tuition, it's usually around like $50,000, just to kind of give you the sense. And out of the 4,000 students enrolled in the Melrose Public Schools, we have a very proportionate number of out-of-district placements. Of course, we don't want any, but there's some cases where that is the right and best placement for students. And so we have about 54 known placements at this time. And so every year if students age out
▶ 45:54 or if students graduate, some roll off the books and then we try to project and predict for what might be coming down the pike or giving ourselves a little bit of a buffer for move-ins. We never wanna budget dollar for dollar. So one of the things you'll see in our FY22 refinements is that we've added $150,000 to our 22 budget request to kind of compensate for those tuition increases and two new students that we just received not long ago. So we're thinking about that. It's a very volatile budget and that's why having the stabilization account is a great resource for us. And then we're able to strategically use Circuit Breaker next year. So as our costs go up, hopefully our Circuit Breaker reimbursement
▶ 46:40 Shawn M. MacMaster: will go up as well. So, then that way we can offset that increase to the local taxpayer. Thank you and I just have 1 more question that was about the transportation fee. I saw the negative delta and I'm just wondering for the 132,000 dollars, which this would cover. You mentioned social distancing and disinfecting and those types of things just so the public has a sense. One hundred and thirty three thousand dollars sounds like a lot of money. So can you just talk a little bit more about what that actually provides in terms of actual service? So, special education. Transportation provides that necessary transportation for those kiddos. We have a fleet ourselves. We have our own line of buses, but we also are little bands, but we also have out of.
▶ 47:50 We have other vendors, third party vendors that work with us and do the other transportation that is too far away or, um. Just something that we can't manage within house and the costs have been. Been going up, we have fewer children on the buses that are allowed. Um, I think at 1 point in the beginning of coded when we 1st came by, um, we were allowed to have 1 child per man. Due to social distancing, and unfortunately, we usually have upwards of 2 or 3 children in a van. So this, the costs have gone up because it's a per child. Expenditure and due to disinfecting and cleaning and it further rose the cost. Thank you all for 1 thing I would just add to that if I could is that Leah mentioned our own drivers.
▶ 48:48 that is the most cost-efficient way for us to transport our students. But with COVID and individuals' own, you know, health and safety needs, we haven't been able to fully staff our transportation department. We've been trying to recruit all year. And so, when we're not able to staff with our own employees, then we have to contract out for those services as well. So, that's added to the cost this year. Thank you for answering my questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, thank you. And next I have Councilor Garipay following him at Council McGlarelli. Is there anyone I missed who wants to be in queue? Okay, Councilor Garipay. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for being here and Dr. Kuchenberg, thank you for your detailed memo
▶ 49:33 Mark Garipay: that we received. My question is also regarding the transportation in the $132,336. Um, is there any indication that will that that will be reimbursable through the, um. The covert relief or the, um, or the American rescue plan. Um, is there any indication that that will be reimbursable similar to revolving accounts? Unfortunately, um, the special education transportation is not an option under the covet accounts. Okay, thank you. It's all my questions. Thank you. Council. Thank you Mr. Chairman and thank you Dr. Kuchenberger and Chairwoman McAndrew and Ms. Secor for being here tonight. Thank you for the thoughtful proposal. And of course, all of your hard work this past year. It's, it's. Been so much, and you've gone through and dealt with so many challenges. So I applaud you for your, your professionalism and and open communication throughout.
▶ 50:37 So, um, I, I thank you for this proposal. It seems like this is well thought out and it is a good utilization of a fund that is specifically dedicated to supporting our special education needs in the city. So, with that being said, I'd like to motion for passage. Okay, we have a, uh, motion for passage made by council, make it early seconded by council rigoritis. Yeah, that would be a motion to recommend. Because we're in appropriation, so just a minor. Thank you. Um. Is there any any further discussion? Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Chair McNaught? Yes. Vice Chair Eccles? Yes. Councilor Tramontozzi? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes.
▶ 51:44 Councilor Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Thomas? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. President Cinella? Yes. Levin, yes. Motion passes. Thank you all for being here and presenting. Thank you all. Next, we have Order 2021-117, Friends of the Milano Center, Social Services Coordinator Donation. And I believe we have Ms. Minchello here with us. So she's in on a phone, so her video will not be an option. Okay. Ms. Minchello, can you hear us? Yes, I can. Good evening. Good evening. Laura, it's yours. Thank you. Chairman and Councils, I just want to thank you for having the opportunity tonight. I've been fortunate enough to receive a donation in the amount of $31,000 from the Friends of the
▶ 52:53 Milano Center with the specific intent to fund a part-time social worker on a very specific schedule, which is 100% for fiscal year 22, 50% for 23, and then 0% for 24. I'll tell you that bringing a social worker on board for my team and the department and the city as a whole is a long time awaited, a great critical need before the pandemic even started. So then during the pandemic, the need expanded. But the hopes for that position is to have a social service specialist on staff that can be the benefits and referral person for anyone in the City of Melrose and also finally make the COA like the general resource hub. So we would have the no wrong door policy. I thank you for your consideration. I'm prepared
▶ 53:58 to answer any questions thank you miss minchella do we have anyone in queue anyone have any questions for miss minchella seeing oh council mcmaster thank you i'm just wondering are we on the city side of the budget assuming um uh health care and retirement costs or is that is that covered in the funding um so it'll be a city employee city health benefits uh city retirement, the total cost is included in the entire donation. So it'll be a one-time lump sum July 1st donation of $31,000 under the premise that the City will soon be hiring in the full position and everything that goes with it. Thank you. And I just want to recognize Councillor John Muldean for all of her advocacy over the last couple of years to ensure that
▶ 55:00 Shawn M. MacMaster: that there is a social worker that is able to provide some important work, not just to our older adults, but also to other vulnerable residents. I know it's also important to Councilor Migliorelli, so I appreciate their advocacy. And Ms. Minchella, while I have you, I did want to just thank you for all of your work. You've helped, as you know, a number of Ward 5 residents who have referred to you to get their COVID Vaccination, so I really appreciate the hands on work that you've done in that regard. And I think you're taking the console on aging to it to a different level than we've seen in the city. And that that's all because of your dedication and the vision that you have. So, thank you.
▶ 55:46 Thank you counsel. Does anyone else have any questions for Miss and chill? Council greatest Thank you. Chairman. I'll just make a motion to recommend for passage. Motion to recommend for passage made by Councilor Grigoraitis, seconded by Councilor Garipay. On discussion. Madam Clerk, will 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 Cinella? Yes. Levin, yes. Motion passes. Ms. Minchiello, always a pleasure. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Good night everyone. Next we have Order 2021-115
▶ 56:53 Jeff McNaught: and appropriation from free cash account zero one dash three two four zero zero one in the amount of fourteen thousand six hundred and fifty dollars to city clerk salary and wages account number zero one one six one one dash five one one zero zero zero for staff changes during the fiscal year 2021 We don't have anyone here to speak on this, but I would ask if there's any discussion and if not, what is the. Well, I have a 2nd. Motion for passage made by President, seconded by Council. On discussion seeing none. Madam clerk, will you please call the roll? Chair McNaught? Yes. Vice chair Eccles. Yes, Councilor Treyman Tosi. Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes.
▶ 58:05 Councilor Migliorelli? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Thomas? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. President Cinella? Yes. Eleven yes. Motion passes that concludes our business for the evening. Motion to adjourn made by Councilor Thomas. Seconded by Vice Chair Eccles. Madam Clerk, will 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. We are adjourned. Good night. Thank you everyone.