Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2023-09-11
Attendance
Christopher Cinella ; Jack Eccles ; Mark Garipay ; Jen Grigoraitis ; Maya Jamaleddine ; Manjula Karamcheti ; Shawn M. MacMaster ; Leila Migliorelli ; John Obremski ; Robb Stewart ; Ryan Williams
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Comment
- Appropriation
- APPRO-2024-1 : An Appropriation from the Contract Stabilization Fund (#8404) to Library Budget (#611) to fund year 1 of the recently executed CBA in the amount of Forty-Four thousand, four hundred ten dollars ($44,410).
- APPRO-2024-2 : An Appropriation from the Contract Stabilization to the Parking Budget (#296) for the executed lease between the City of Melrose and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston in the amount of $5,000.
- Orders
- ORDER-2024-6 : Declaration of City - Owned Equipment/Vehicles Available for Disposition via Public Bid
- ORDER-2024-4 : Amending Melrose Revised Zoning Ordinance to create provisions for Brewery Use as set forth herein.
- Adjournent
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CALENDAR● SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:31 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Leila Migliorelli Chair Present Maya Jamaleddine Vice Chair Present Shawn M. MacMaster Absent Christopher Cinella Present Jack Eccles Present Mark Garipay Present Robb Stewart Absent Manjula Karamcheti Absent John Obremski Absent Ryan Williams Present Jen Grigoraitis President, Ex Oficio Present
APPRO-2024-1 Appropriation An Appropriation from the Contract Stabilization Fund (#8404) to Library Budget (#611) to fund year 1 of the recently executed CBA in the amount of Forty-Four thousand, four hundred ten dollars ($44,410). Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2024-2 Appropriation An Appropriation from the Contract Stabilization to the Parking Budget (#296) for the executed lease between the City of Melrose and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston in the amount of $5,000. Ought to Pass City Council
ORDER-2024-6 General Declaration of City - Owned Equipment/Vehicles Available for Disposition via Public Bid Ought to Pass City Council
ORDER-2024-4 Amending Revised Zoning Ordinances Amending Melrose Revised Zoning Ordinance to create provisions for Brewery Use as set forth herein. Ought to Pass City Council City of Melrose Page 1 9/12/2023 4:39 PM
Transcript
▶ 0:04 Leila Migliorelli: Good evening. The time is 7:31 PM on Monday, September 11th, 2023. This is a meeting of the Appropriations and Oversight Committee, and I am chairwoman Lila Meli. Also joining me tonight, our Vice Chair Aldine Councilor Ella Eccles Garey and Williams. This serves as a notice of a quorum. For the record, I need oh, and President Greg. Sorry. Um, in accordance to the open meeting lot, the meeting is being recorded and broadcast live on M M T V. Before we proceed with the rest of our agenda, I would like to ask that we take a moment of silence to honor those whose lives were lost on September 11th, and for the families who still mourn their loved ones. Thank you everyone. Now I will motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment.
▶ 1:11 Seeing no objection, we are now open for public comment. This is the portion of the meeting where anyone can speak on any item on our agenda tonight. Is there anyone here in the public wishing to speak? Good evening, Jamal Locklin, 39 Lincoln Street. I appreciate the opportunity to speak briefly about order 2024 dash four zoning for brewery use. I don't object to the concept of locally brewing and selling beer for onsite consumption. I agree that it could bring some new vibrancy to Melrose, but I do think that the food requirements and other appropriate regulations need to be an important part of framing that. And to be clear by food requirements, I mean the current regulation for restaurants that requires food to be ordered
▶ 2:07 prior to the second drink. The food requirements is important for two reasons. Physically, food slows the absorption of alcohol, but more importantly, the food requirement sends a message and reinforces a behavior at the point of onsite consumption that drinking alcohol as part of something else is more acceptable and less potentially harmful than drinking alcohol as an activity unto itself. And let's set aside the glamorization that comes with alcohol promotion. Without appropriate framing, including the food requirements, a brewery can be no different than a tavern. We have a city government that takes great pride in supporting organizations that combat domestic violence. At a high level,
▶ 2:57 I've seen statistics that alcohol isn't a factor in one half to two thirds of all domestic violence incidents. While we may discuss the precision of the statistics, I would hope that we could agree on the accuracy of the general conclusion and be aware of the devastating impact beyond domestic violence. We know that there are many other issues associated with alcohol abuse. It's a little ironic that tonight I saw signs on the city hall lawn promoting National Recovery month, which addresses both drug and alcohol addiction. Many people handle alcohol responsibly, but we need to remember that at many others struggle. It is important that brewery use be framed appropriately During the first appropriations meeting on this subject.
▶ 3:46 And then at the August 14th public hearing, several of you discussed or acknowledged social consequences associated with alcohol abuse. I appreciate that. During the public hearing, one of our city councils asked if the food requirement would apply. The August 28th letter from the planning board addresses several questions from the city council, but not that question. At this point, I do not think brewery use has been sufficiently defined for the city council, the elected body to approve it. We're not talking about a technical detail like the alcohol content of beer. We're talking about community values in fostering socially responsible behavior. This is a matter for the city council, the elected body.
▶ 4:36 Leila Migliorelli: I ask that you hold this in council until the Liquor Commission has drafted regulations that more specifically define the use prior to your making a decision regarding the appropriateness of zoning for the use. And thank you for your time. Thank you. Anyone else here wishing to speak? Is there anyone online? Uh, there are no attendees online at this time. Okay. Um, I just wanna note for the record that we've also received, the counsel has received around 20 emails or so for order 2024 dash four. Um, just wanna acknowledge that, that those are in the record in I QM two. If there's no objection, I'd like to close public comment. Seeing none, we are now closed for public comments. Since we have members of the administration here tonight to speak on the items
▶ 5:24 Leila Migliorelli: before us, I'd like to motion by unanimous consent to suspend rule 37 B before we proceed. Seeing no objection, the rule Rule 37 B is now suspended. First on our agenda tonight is appropriation 2024 dash one and appropriation from the contract stabilization fund 8 4 0 4 to library budget 6 1 1 to fund year one of the recently executed C B A in the amount of $44,410. Tonight we have Paulina Lata, director of HR here with us to speak on this order. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening council members. So, um, after three months of negotiating good faith with the library union, a ratification vote was taken by the 14 members of the library union. In early August, we executed three years successor agreement with, um,
▶ 6:15 Absec Council 93 local code 3 9 4 8. The agreement, uh, started July 3rd, 23 through June 28, 26. And order number 2024 dash one requested a council to, um, fund the economic items of the agreement for year one of the agreement in the amount of $44,410 Through The contract stabilization fund. I can go over the, what these economic items are 2% color for each year of the contract. One step, a step added to the salary schedule each year of the contract, which will be 2% higher than the the previous step. And the purpose of this is retention of senior staff as well as salary growth, increased longevity pay for years 10, 15, 20, and 25 to again, promote longevity in the department and achieve internal equity with other
▶ 7:17 unions. Increase week and night differential pay in order to be competitive with the labor market and help us with attracting and retaining employees for this more difficult to feel, uh, shifts weekend and night shifts. So these are the four, um, economic items of the contract. And I can kind of go over briefly. Uh, the non-economic items. Uh, we clarified pay for library closures, uh, due to emergencies. We amended and clarified the extra time overtime language for the purposes of pay and distribution of such time, uh, added juneteenth to the list of holidays, amended the professional development language to give the director greater flexibility with schedules for these type of meetings. We made updates with the sick leave section to reflect practices that are
▶ 8:19 Maya Jamaleddine: followed by other unions and non-union employees and just, uh, achieve greater clarification. We, uh, updated the long overdue update of the grievance procedures to reflect more, uh, effective and streamlined processes. And, uh, lastly, we amended the classification schedule for greater clarity and consistency of the positions and titles. So these are the kind of the non-economic items of the contract, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, Ms. Lata. Questions, uh, vice chair, Jamal, Dean. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Lara. Uh, how many, uh, position will be affected by this? Uh, 14. 14 total. And, uh, when would that be? I'm not sure if I missed it, but when would this exactly that be effective as
▶ 9:11 The contract is effective this fiscal year? So July 3rd, 2023, and it's for three year term. So it goes through, uh, fiscal year 26, which is June 28th, 2026. And we won't have any retract like, like, uh, any past, uh, dates. It's just gonna start from, it's just Going forward. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Councillor Gepe. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Uh, couple quick questions. On the 44,000 you're requesting, is that for the, um, payback to January 3rd, or is that what the impact on the budget for? So, Uh, yeah, go ahead. Yeah, I, um, so this is starting July 3rd, so payback through July 3rd and to cover the first year of the contract since when the budget was passed, it was only passed based on the known, uh,
▶ 10:09 economic items. Um, so none of the ones I listed were included in the budget. So this will cover the difference. So it's safe to say it'll be in the library budget next year. We should see 44,000 plus additional 2% next year, Right? Correct. Increase, Uh, I don't know if that's the exact number because we have employees going through step increases, so, but, um, this is for year one. Yeah. And what's the financial impact of adding new steps? I see we're adding new steps. So what's the financial impact, um, to o over the last contract that we'll see in? I can, um, I don't have this, um, number, but I, I'll provide it to you. Please do. Mm-hmm. Thank you Councilor Williams. Sure. Um, do you happen to know what's in that
▶ 11:05 Ryan Williams: stabilization fund at the moment in terms of balances? I think that's a question for Patrick LaRusso. Yeah, That's okay. I just wasn't sure if maybe you'd have the information off the top of your head. That would be a good thing for Patrick to put in these orders requesting money from the fund. Sure. Just so we can know that we're not bottoming it out, which I am pretty confident that we're not, but it's good to see it. Sure. We'll make sure he knows that. Yeah. Thank You. That's it for me. Thank you. Uh, anyone else for the first time? Vice Chair Aladin. Thank you. Um, one more question. Uh, how many, uh, employee would, uh, be left out of this increase, if there is any? Um, I'm not sure I understand.
▶ 11:49 Maya Jamaleddine: So we have 14 that would benefit from that increase, right? Yes. Do we have anyone that would not benefit from this increase? Who is employed at the library? 14 Are the union employees that are employed or union employees that are under this contract? Okay. How many are, how many employee are not union employee do we have at the library? Do we know? I, I, I can get that number for you. Well, we also have pages, kind of non benefit eligible employees. So I can I can get you that number of, yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. Okay. Thank you. Mm-hmm. President Greg. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for being here tonight. Um, I'm really pleased to see that we have an agreement with that is really not very retro at all. I'm happy that we were able to proactively come to an agreement.
▶ 12:41 I did wanna echo Councilor Williams' request that going forward to see the fund balance, because we've now done a couple, um, of adjustments without seeing the, the drawdown that's occurring. And then I wanted to make a motion to recommend for passage. Second, Motion to recommend made by President Greg Gita, seconded by Councilor Eccles. All in, uh, call the roll, please. Um, Vice chair Jamal. Dean? Yes. Councillor Sun? Yes. Councillor Eccles? Yes. Councillor Repe. Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. President gti? Yes. And Chair Elli? Yes. That's unanimous. Seven? Yes. Okay. This Order will brought to the full council on our next meeting with a recommendation for passage. Thank you. Thank you. Next up is appropriation 2024 dash two and appropriation from the
▶ 13:35 Leila Migliorelli: contract stabilization fund to the parking budget 2 9 6 for the executed lease between the city of Melrose and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston in the amount of $5,000. Don't believe we have anyone here to speak on this order tonight, but there was a memo sent, um, this afternoon that it is in the packet, um, from Catherine Armada. Um, so can give you a few seconds to read that if you haven't already. And, uh, if not, what is the will of the committee when you're ready. Mr. Rio? If I may? Yes. Uh, the memo is not in the packet yet. There's a systematic glitch that I'm working on with Granicus, um, to get that uploaded. Uh, but it's, it's has been distributed to city council. Okay. I can read it if people don't have it.
▶ 14:28 Leila Migliorelli: Yes. Motion to recommend. Second. Motion to recommend made by Councillor Sunnel, seconded by Vice Chair Jamine. On discussion. Seeing none, Mr. Clerk, Vice chair. Jamal? Yes. Councillor Ella? Yes. Councillor Eccles? Yes. Councillor gpe? Yes. Councillor Williams. Present? Yeah. Can you vote present? Yeah. Oh, okay. Present. Uh, president ti Yes. And chair Ly? Yes. That's, uh, six. Yes. Yes. Motion carries. It passes. Recommended to the full council, um, with recommendation for passage. Okay. Next up. Order 2024 dash six, declaration of city owned equipment vehicles available for disposition via public bid. Tonight we have Jim Troop, assistant Director of D P W here with us to speak on this order.
▶ 15:34 Good evening. Thank you. Um, in front of you is a memo, uh, per the ordinance requesting authorization to put for public bid surplus vehicles. Uh, the D P W has worked closely with Chief Failure and Chief Kalina to identify surplus equipment and vehicles that are no longer in service, that in order to properly dispose, it needs to go through public bid, receive your authorization, and then the proceeds of that bid will go into the general fund. Should be noted that no request has been made to appropriate those monies for any particular purchase, so that those proceeds will go to the general fund. So we respectfully ask for your authorization to publicly bid this equipment that's in front of you on this list. Seven vehicles from D P W,
▶ 16:23 Jen Grigoraitis: two vehicles from the police, two vehicles from, uh, fire plus some various equipment that is no longer of service to each of those departments. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Troop Questions? President Greg. Thank You, Madam Chair. Thank you Mr. Troop for being here tonight. Um, just two questions. I think it's really important for the public to understand that government can't just get rid of stuff that we have to go through a whole process. Um, do you have an estimate of what you, you know, reasonably conservatively think could be the fair market value of what we're putting out to bid? Yeah. It's, it's hard to say, uh, exactly what the current value is just because of the current condition of the
▶ 17:02 particular vehicles. Okay. But there are thresholds that we have to, uh, make sure that we give this to you under a certain threshold. I believe it's $10,000. We could just publicly bid it without your authorization. So we're gonna safely assume that it's over $10,000. But the current condition of the vehicles, it's very difficult to say what we're gonna get in a public bid. And for things for which you, we receive no public bids. What happens? They'll be, they'll be disposed of, we'll set, we'll put it to a scrap yard or, uh, we have that at our discretion and we'll try to get the best possible return on those vehicles and or equipment. Okay. Thank you. No further questions. Councillor Repe. Mr. Troop,
▶ 17:42 How you doing? Uh, quick question. The school department van, is that my favorite van? I, I used to see every day at the load dock. I used to email you. Going back to the number of emails we've shared, those two vehicles are also gonna be included in the public bid. Okay. As noted in the memo, the school department has already authorized us to include that as part of the public bid. Correct. Thank you. Anyone else? On discussion? Seeing none. What is the will of the committee? Motion to recommend? Second. Motion to recommend made by Councillor Repe. Seconded by Councillor Eccles. Anyone on discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Clerk, Vice Chair Jamal Dean? Yes. Councillor Sun? Yes. Councillor Eccles? Yes. Councillor Repe? Yes.
▶ 18:31 Leila Migliorelli: Councillor Williams? Yes. President gti? Yes. And Chair Elli? Yes. That's seven? Yes. Alright. This order will be brought to the full council at our next meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Last on our agenda. Tonight is ordered 2024 dash four amending Melrose Revised or Zoning Ordinance to create provisions for Brewery Brewery use as set forth herein. Tonight we have Lori Masses, senior Planning Senior Planner in the Office of Planning and Community Development here with us to speak on this order, along with others, Al Mayor Broder. Hello. Good evening. Hello. Um, so we're here to provide an update on the brewery zoning, uh, and the planning board recommendation, um, to you based on the public hearing that occurred on, um,
▶ 19:30 August 14th, which was a joint public hearing, um, with your, um, committee. And so if you'd like, I can run through the recommendation, um, or answer questions. I think we can go to questions, unless anyone would like to hear the recommendation. Let's go with questions. It's trying to keep things moving if you haven't. Yes, go ahead, mayor. Quick point of clarification before I get into a much longer role, perhaps later, is that the, um, planning board, uh, reinforced or, or forwarded their original amendment with no amendments based on the testimony, correct? Correct. Yes. We did have one, uh, correction. There was a typo in the section number. So we've have a new draft with the August 28th date. Um,
▶ 20:25 but there are no substantial changes to the amendment. Um, so the, the planning board met on, um, August 28th to, you know, review the comments that were made during the public hearing and, um, provide responses to the, the issues that were discussed. Um, and we also, um, provided maps, which I have large versions here, if anyone wants, wants to take a look, uh, in detail at the, at the districts. And yeah, I'm happy to to discuss any of these. Sure. Yeah, you can, if you wanna go through it and then if you wanna display the maps, that's fine too. Sure. Yeah. Okay. Um, so the first, the first item was about anticipated revenues from this use, um, which is difficult to determine since we don't have the business here.
▶ 21:06 But we do expect revenues from meal meals tax, personal property tax levied on commercial commercial enterprises, and annual permitting and licensing fees. Um, the next was the impact on the Health and Human Services department and the police department. Uh, so Lauren Graham here, um, um, city's Director of Economic Recovery and Business Development checked in with a regional economic development, uh, directors in the area that have breweries. Um, and they didn't have any, um, comments to, you know, there weren't any increased burden on their health and police departments. Um, so that was important to note. And the city does have a substance substance abuse coordinator, um, who we would work with and work with a, a brewery business, um,
▶ 21:54 to address any issues of sub substance abuse that might arise, uh, in the city with this new established with a new establishment. Um, proximity to schools, uh, was a, a question that came up. So the state law does have, um, a regulation about proximity to schools, uh, and churches. And so we didn't repeat this regulation, and that is if there's a brewery that wants to establish within 500 feet, there's a process, um, that the licensing commission, um, has to go through so they have a public hearing to determine any detriment, um, that there would be to, uh, a church or a school within 500 feet of their brewery. Um, so food trucks was another item. Um, we have two permits in the city that would be needed. Um,
▶ 22:41 so the Board of Health has a permit and then also the D P W has a permit for occupying if the food truck was in the street, um, they need a permit for that. And we checked in with the health director. Um, there haven't been any problems with, um, rats or food waste for the existing food trucks that we have. The, uh, the size of breweries, um, came up as a question. So breweries would be likely, um, occupying existing, existing, uh, commercial spaces in the city. So they would be kind of limited, um, in size based on that. And then additionally, um, they would, they'd be limited to producing what the, their customers can consume. So they're not gonna be producing so much beer that they'd be wasting, um,
▶ 23:33 without the distribution piece, which is a separate use. Um, and, um, we, you know, more of an industrial use, which, um, would be, you know, in the industrial areas and then allowed by, um, special permit in some of our higher, um, intensity commercial zoning districts. Um, odors was another item that came up. Um, so best practice is to have vent stack through the roof of the establishment, and you can have filters in that to, to help with odors. Um, so the Liquor Licensing Commission would, um, would request that these me measures are put into place when they're permitting a brewery. Um, and similarly hours of operation would be, um, controlled by the, the liquor licensing, um, upon issuing a farmer's brewer's pouring permit. Um,
▶ 24:31 so I touched a little bit on the permitted locations, um, for breweries. So the, the general, um, intent of the zoning is to provide establishments that are providing an amenity for the community. So they're open door, you know, people are coming in. Um, they're not, um, meant to be just kind of industrial uses. So the, um, zoning districts where restaurants are currently allowed would also allow breweries by right as the zoning is written. Um, and then if there was distribution that moves it into more of an industrial use, even though they would still have to be kind of open to the public for onsite consumption. Um, so the breweries with distribution would be allowed by special permit in certain locations.
▶ 25:26 So the planning board would review the location and all of the, um, particulars about, you know, um, traffic and parking and all those things, um, in approving of a location. Um, and then in the industrial districts, I, as I mentioned, they have better access to, um, highways and, um, they would be allowed to have breweries with, with distribution in the industrial districts. Um, so, um, the planning board didn't recommend, uh, any changes to the amendment as it was proposed. Um, and we'd be happy to answer questions. Thank you. Um, in queue already, I have Councilor Ella and President gti start with Councillor Ella. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, just clarity around the food, um, aspect of it as of right now, as it stands, if they were to open up,
▶ 26:26 Jen Grigoraitis: we, we pass this and the Liquor Commission passes this and they open tomorrow, would they not be under the two drink? It would be correct. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. Okay. All right. That's all. I just kind of curious. I couldn't figured that it would be, um, so I'm, I'm in favor of this, this order. Um, you know, so it seems like a pretty good addition to the city and, um, yeah. President ti Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you all for being here tonight. That was really helpful, Ms. To have so many questions answered. Um, I just wanted a few follow up questions and clarification. You said that there was restriction around zoning as it relates to being near schools and churches. I'm assuming that's houses of worship, not just churches.
▶ 27:14 Jen Grigoraitis: It's not specific to a Correct. In our zoning that it would just be reflective of the So We, we actually did not put it into the zoning because it's a, it's a, a state Regulation. Okay. It's a state regulation. Okay. That's the statute. It's, it's built into Mass General. Okay. Right. Awesome. Thank you. So We didn't repeat it because oftentimes those change and there's a, a, you know, Right. Then already established, Um, protocol for it, so. Right. Okay. Thank you. Um, and then if, and maybe these are more questions for Ms. Grimm. Um, if you could just walk through what the ABC's best practices were for how to go about this process and they're the, the state regulatory body for alcohol. Sure.
▶ 27:51 Jen Grigoraitis: Consumption. Um, so as the council probably recalls, the first step was, um, accepting Mass general law, uh, chapter 1 38, around farmer brewer licensing, which I believe was back in May. Um, the next step is the zoning to just allow for this business use to exist before any work begins on establ establishing the licensing and the regulations around it. Um, and this was sort of the best practices of some of the other communities as well as in speaking with the executive director of the state A B C C, around, you know, our first question was how do we start, what, where do we start? Um, and that was sort of like the best roadmap laid out to us at that time. Thank you. And under chapter 1 38 of state laws is the social host law,
▶ 28:37 Jen Grigoraitis: which actually, if you are regulated, if you have an alcohol license, you run the risk of losing that license and paying substantial fines should someone be overserved in your establishment. So it's good to know that that is already in place across the state. And then I know you mentioned that, um, a possible location for a brewery would be an existing commercial space. Do you have an approximate number or percentage of how many of our existing commercial spaces are currently vacant? Um, I don't have that. I can get that for you though. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, Vice Chair, Jamal, Thank you. Um, thank you for the presentation and for answering most of our questions. Um, I wanna thank Ms.
▶ 29:16 Maya Jamaleddine: Remick for taking the time and explaining everything for our previous call. I appreciate that. Um, when you mentioned about school, uh, is it all schools and, uh, including private schools as well? Uh, and probably daycares, or is it just specifically public schools? I think it's pre-K to 12 Both. So it wouldn't apply to a college of university or, um, We don't have university Students trade school or something like that, but it would apply to say charter school or a parochial school. So private school as well is included. Yep. Um, and, um, and daycares as well. I understand. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Councillor Williams. Thank you. Um, I wanted to go through, I wanted to ask you some questions about the way that these different
▶ 30:18 Ryan Williams: regulations interact with each other for the benefit of the public and for myself, just to confirm that I'm understanding this correctly. So the zoning regulations affect what uses a business can have in the city of Melrose. We did this thing with the bicycle maker that was like not an allowable use, and they had to get a special permit. So what we're suggesting here is that rather than make these folks go through the special permit process, we're just gonna give them by Right. The ability to open a brewery in Melrose, Depending on the zoning district, Depending on where they are. Yes. Right. And without distribution. Well, Mm-hmm. And I to add, so as of right now, in the absence of an allowance for a brewery,
▶ 30:58 Ryan Williams: it's forbidden as a use. Okay. So we have to create the definition and then define places where it can either be allowed by Right. Or allowed by special permit. And so the having it in the zoning as a start is essential to allowing it at all. And this is a way to guide businesses too, to show them this is what Melrose, this is where we think this kind of thing should go. Correct. Yeah. Um, isn't there only one industrial district? This is a slight aside, it's it's aggregate, right? Or there? Is there more than one? We have two. Oh, we have two. Where's the other one? I'd love to see the map. The Board. Yeah. This is, um, so this is the map with, um, with, with distribution. So we have the ia, um, zoning district, which is down by, um,
▶ 31:43 Ryan Williams: I see. And then we have one in the other corner. So that was never, that, that remained industrial. Even With an overlay district. With an overlay district. Yes. Okay. Interesting. Yeah. Okay. Very interesting. Right. And that far corner, that's essentially behind Mount Hood. Mm-hmm. The Gulf kind of behind the golf course. Yeah. That's where d n R painting is. That's where the garbage station is. Right. So nobody's building a, um, a brewery? Well, maybe, but probably not. Um, okay. So the zoning just says this is an allowable use for this business in these districts. Right. It doesn't address the food issue as Councillor Ella pointed out, that's in the existing Melrose code. And so this vote doesn't really affect that regulation,
▶ 32:28 Paul Brodeur: is that right? Correct. Correct. Yeah. That's Per pursuant to the separate licensing commissions jurisdiction. Right. So it's, and, and how many licenses do we have in the city? That's Kind of a complicated answer. Right. So we have three available for what's called consumption off the premises, basically. Yes. Beacon Hill, The, with the Beacon Hill and Buckaloo, and the third one has not been taken. Ah, right. Yeah. And in terms of the, um, the consumption premises on Premises market, yeah. Um, I would be guessing a little bit, I'm going to guess around 10. 'cause we have two different, um, versions of that, if you will. We have, uh, essentially a restaurant license that's not exactly what it's,
▶ 33:15 Ryan Williams: we have a restaurant license and we have essentially a club license, which covers, uh, Bellevue. Mm-hmm. V F W V F W, Elks and the Knights. Right. Okay. I don't think I'm missing that. Okay. Okay. Um, and, um, sorry, I just kinda lost my train of thought for a split second. It's been a long day. Um, so with the, um, with the public comment that we received, just to, I know we've said we've got a lot of letters. We got 25 letters on this. They're all the same 20. No, they weren't all the same. No, I don't mean No problem. We've all seen Letter campaigns, but yeah, this was, these were people that really believed, they really believed it. And there was just so many people from so many different places that were so
▶ 34:02 Ryan Williams: excited about this, were so ready to have it happen. So ready to see it in Melrose. And I apologize, Kyle, I meant they were all basically stating the same position. They were not at all. They were. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They were all, it was not a in support template Or a form Yes. In support. So the only real, the only real issues we heard raised were the odor, which we've been told that the liquor Commission should potentially request a filter of some kind. I think that would be a really good thing to do. Um, and, um, and food issue, which apparently is already under, it's already, it's already dealt with because it's already in the existing law. Um, so with that, I'm, I'm happy to support the order. Um,
▶ 34:39 Mark Garipay: I'm excited for the brewery to, to get underway. And thank you all for coming out and giving us a great presentation. Councilor Repe. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, just a quick question on the, the procedure. Best practices. Um, this is the first time we're doing it, right? So we've talked to other communities. Is it typical to change the ordinance prior to conversations with the Liquor Commission, um, on some of those regulations, or it's a separate legal body, right? So I mean, what have you seen out there with other communities? Have you, as you've done this research understood. I'll start and then she will cover with actual facts. No, I'm, I'm mostly joking. So, um, it's hard to say precisely only because every community's a little bit different
▶ 35:31 Paul Brodeur: in that, um, not every community say has a specific liquor commission. So the, the legislative body in some place, it's pretty uncommon these days, is also the licensing authority for alcohol licenses. Uh, as a general proposition, the zoning happens first, but there, um, for some places that I guess I would say were a little bit, um, more used to, let's say this kind of activity, it was a little bit of an easier lift because they already have, um, a prep, uh, a more robust set of touch, um, set of opportunities in terms of consuming alcohol on the premises. So I'm not sure there is a single best practice, but it's typical that the, um, you know, kinda the big picture legislative piece goes first,
▶ 36:26 Paul Brodeur: then the regs that tend to be thought of as, uh, the fine tuning or the, or the detail work, if that makes any sense. In fact, I, I, I think y'all know this, but just as a reminder, uh, licensing regulation in Massachusetts should be understood as a two-part process. Meaning no matter what we do, if the A, B C C, if the state says this particular, any particular applicant for a license doesn't fit their practices and their regulatory regime, um, then that license will not be issued regardless of what the city licensing authority thinks is the right thing to do. So it's that, it's, you almost get two bites of the apple in that sense. Did that answer your question or do you want me to add Yeah, my 2 cents. That's
▶ 37:18 Mark Garipay: Fine. I mean, I, uh, I, I support this order. Um, I think we've taken baby steps over the last 50, 60 years on, on expanding alcohol in, in, uh, Melrose. And I think the Liquor Commission overall has done a, has done a, a good job, um, taking these baby steps, so to speak. Right. We didn't have liquor stores until 10, probably 10 years ago. And, and, and they've controlled that pretty well. Um, so I, I'm gonna support this. Uh, I think, um, I need to have some faith in, in, in the Liquor commission and how they're gonna do it, and I'm gonna voice my concerns regarding, um, I still have, uh, concerns about the, um, food trucks, but that's, that's not just there. It's across, across the community. So, um, thank you
▶ 38:08 Jack Eccles: Councillor Eccles. Thank you. Um, I appreciate you all taking the time to answer the questions from the public hearing. Um, I think we're making good progress in another baby step in what I think will be kind of an improvement on our economic landscape. And additionally, I think that there, for anyone who does have further concerns, I think there is a public process with the Liquor Commission where the regulations will actually be drafted. Um, so that's, that's another opportunity to kind of voice Any questions there? Um, at this time, I would make a motion to recommend passage Mo Motion recommend, made by Councillor Eccles, seconded by Councillor Williams on discussion Councillor Repe. Just one quick thing. Uh,
▶ 38:53 Paul Brodeur: when this does go for debate in front of the Liquor Commission, if we can, I know a lot of times their meetings are just really one day liquor licenses, but this is kind of a change. So if we can 10, you know, something, a meeting like this should be maybe after work and not 10 in the morning, just so the general public can, can weigh in. No, That's a great point. And we have, um, spoken to the commission about that as they, you know, as that consideration starts, that, to your point, this isn't kind of a, a one-off, there's a little bit of a bigger change that will affect practice down the road. Um, and I also certainly, um, we want to hear from folk as, as we did tonight. There's a lot of support for this. The devil's always in the details,
▶ 39:37 Leila Migliorelli: but your point is well taken. Thank you. Thank you. Um, and thank you all for being here. I have no further questions, um, myself, but I appreciate the time and effort and the, uh, visual aids, uh, that we recommended from last meeting. So, um, that being said, Mr. Clark, will you call Roll vice chair Jamal? Yes. Councillor Ella? Yes. Councillor Eccles? Yes. Counselor Repe? Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. President G? Yes. And Chair Elli? Yes. That's seven. Yes. Right. This order will be brought to the full council at our next meeting, which is September 21st with a recommendation for passage. Thank you all for being here tonight. Thank You for your time and consideration as always. All right. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved.
▶ 40:30 Leila Migliorelli: Second Motion to adjourn made by Councillor Sella. Seconded by Councillor Eccles. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are now adjourned.