Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2023-11-30

Appropriations and Oversight Committee Meeting

This meeting starts at 4:24 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Attendance

Christopher Cinella present; Jack Eccles absent; Mark Garipay present; Jen Grigoraitis present · President, Ex Oficio; Maya Jamaleddine absent · Vice Chair; Manjula Karamcheti present; Shawn M. MacMaster present; Leila Migliorelli present · Chair; John Obremski present; Robb Stewart absent; Ryan Williams present

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CALENDAR● NOVEMBER 30, 2023 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:26 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Leila Migliorelli Chair Present Maya Jamaleddine Vice Chair Absent Shawn M. MacMaster Present Christopher Cinella Present Jack Eccles Absent Mark Garipay Present Robb Stewart Absent Manjula Karamcheti Present John Obremski Present Ryan Williams Present Jen Grigoraitis President, Ex Oficio Present

ORDER-2024-13 Classification of Property Request that City Council hold a Public Hearing and subsequently determine the percentages of local tax levy to be borne by each class of real and personal property for Fiscal Year 2024. City Council

ORDER-2024-12 Accepting Act of Legislature/Local Option Requesting the adoption of the Specialized Energy Code as found in 225 CMR §§ 22 and 23, including Appendices RC and CC, as the minimum energy code for the City of Melrose effective July 1, 2024. Ought to Pass City Council

APPRO-2024-8 Appropriation An Appropriation from Mt. Hood Reserve Fund, account 8417- 590000, in the amount of $100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Dollars) to Mt. Hood Capital Improvement, account 620000- 529006 to do tree work. The current balance as of 11/2/23 is $392,299.82. Ought to Pass City Council City of Melrose Page 1 12/8/2023 1:23 PM

Transcript

▶ 4:31 Leila Migliorelli: November 30th, 2023. This is a Meeting of Appropriations and Oversight Committee. I am chairwoman Lila Meli. Also joining me tonight are councilors, Ella Repe, Karara Chetty McMaster, Reky Williams, and President Greg Exofficio. This serves as a notice of a quorum for the record in accordance with Open Meeting Law. This meeting is being recorded and broadcast live on MMTV. Um, now I'll motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objection, we're now open for public comment. This is a portion of the meeting where anyone can speak on any item on the Appropriations and Oversight Committee agenda tonight. Take two. Welcome. Again, I'm Ellen Katz, um, 70 70 Line Street.

▶ 5:20 And, um, I've, I'm a 20 year resident of Melrose, and I want to urge the council to support the specialized energy code that's coming up for you, um, this evening. Agenda item number two. Um, and I, I did send a, a letter this morning where I said, 29 communities in the state have adopted it. It's actually 30 communities. And it, and the whole point is that it's growing The number of of cities in town supporting this and accepting this is growing. Um, Wakefield adopted it, um, recently, Medford, Arlington, Watertown Newton. There's a whole host of communities. Um, we are, and we're facing a climate emergency. And, um, I just wanna encourage the council to really try to think long term. Um, the, this code will go, so there's a new stretch code

▶ 6:14 that came as stretch energy code that came into effect. This will go a little bit beyond it. Um, and it's gonna improve energy efficiency for new construction and, um, you know, help the residents of those buildings avoid expensive retrofits later on. So, um, you know, we just wanna encourage you to think long term. The, the other really important point is that by passing this code, the, um, the City of Millrose will then become eligible for a whole host of state grants that, um, the division of energy Resources is making available. And, um, as, as you may know, when we became a green community, which was when we adopted the original stretch code in 2010, um, Melrose was one of the first 34 communities to do this.

▶ 7:08 And we have, um, the city has gotten more than a million dollars in grants related to upgrading our buildings. Um, you know, Martha Grover has done an incredible job of making sure that the city takes full advantage of these resources. Um, and, you know, we've been able to just do a lot of badly needed improvements in our school buildings and other municipal buildings with the help of these grants. So this, by adopting this new code, it will then now make us eligible for this new program that will provide additional funding. So thank you for hearing me. Thank you. Is there anyone else here tonight to speak on any of the items on our agenda? Um, good evening, EV everyone. My name is Dylan Patel.

▶ 7:59 I live at 1 75 West Wyoming. Um, unlike Alan, I have not been a resident for 20 years. I have been a resident here for two months. Um, and I'm going to assume that my landlord is not watching this. Um, and I'm just going to say that I live in an apartment building that was built in the sixties. Um, it's all electric apart from a gas, uh, water heater. Um, if that were built to the standards of the specialized stretch code, it would be far more comfortable. It would actually be cheaper to run because of the efficiency requirements that are within both the stretch code, which is existing now, and the specialized stretch code. Um, on top of that, because it technically is classed as a mixed fuel building, would it,

▶ 8:46 would it have been built today? It would have required a, uh, solar PV to offset the emissions from that, uh, from the, from the gas water user. And so living in a modern apartment building that's built to specialize stretch code requirement is a lot cheaper to operate. It is healthier home to live in. It's much more affordable and it's more affordable to build as well because we are now getting a lot of financial support from mass Save from the Inflation Reduction Act. And in many cases, especially in a city like Morose, where, um, the availability of affordable housing is a concern for a lot of residents and for the council members here, adopting the specialized stretch code will actually

▶ 9:41 Leila Migliorelli: increase the amount of opportunities available because of the financial support from the, the state and from the federal government. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone online? We do. We have people online, but the public hearing is seven 30. Oh, okay. Um, alright, we'll go to the public hearing. Come back to public comment. Okay. So we have to open, um, a public hearing on the classification of property at seven 30. So we're a minute behind that. Um, so I will motion by Ann's consent to open the floor for the public hearing on the classification of property, which is order 2024 dash 13 on our agenda. Seeing no objection, we are now o open for the public hearing. This is a portion of the meeting where anyone in the public can make remarks about the annual

▶ 10:30 classification of property. Anyone here in the public or online? Uh, the hands that were raised for the public comment portion are now down, so I assume there's no one online for that. Okay. So if there's no objection, I will motion to close the public hearing. Seeing none. We are now closed for the public hearing and now we will resume public comment If you're here for. Okay. Uh, Ms. Murphy, I'm gonna unmute you now. Can you hear us? Hello? Yes. You're, you're live. You're live. Hi, thank you for taking my comment. Uh, my name is Susan Murphy at 24 Poplar Street, and I wanted to speak in support of adopting the specialized code. Um, we've already had some, some great comments from Ellen and the other new resident, um,

▶ 11:26 but it's something that's really important so that new residents, especially of these, um, multifamily housing that we've been seeing a lot of come in in Melrose, that we don't end up a few years down the road with these new residents having to make expensive retrofits to these buildings after sort of the developer is long gone when these things can be done so much more cheaply. Um, and with lots of financial support to get it done right in to start off with. Um, and it's also, Melrose has been a leader in energy efficiency and climate programs and it's really important to, for us to maintain that position and this is an important aspect of that. Thank you. Alright. All right. Anyone else online?

▶ 12:15 There is another, uh, participant. Okay. Hello, can you hear me? Yes. You're, you're live. Hi, uh, my name's Craig Foley. I'm a local real estate agent. Uh, I'd like to just share a real estate perspective with this. Not only from the work that I've done in Melrose. I've lived here since 2001. Um, but also at National Association of Realtors, uh, which I'm fortunate to have, uh, uh, been involved with volunteer leadership at, at our trade organization for, for over a decade. Um, I, I'd like to address the affordability issue. Um, when we think about affordability, you know, we're, we're dealing with this crisis here in Massachusetts. There's no question about it. Prices are very, very high.

▶ 13:06 Interest rates are high, but when we look at affordability across the board, you know, the way a mortgage originator looks at it is from principal interest, taxes and insurance, PITI and insurance. I'm seeing this in my capacity for volunteer leadership at at NAUR nationally, that insurance costs are going through the roof in states like California, Louisiana, Florida. We're very fortunate that we haven't seen that kind of aggressive movement here in this state. Uh, but there's no question that climate change is making an impact on the real estate industry is a real clear and present threat to our industry. It's a threat to affordability. And if we can lower operating costs, particularly for young buyers at this price point,

▶ 13:55 it's critically important. So, I, I'm in full support of, um, of the council accepting, uh, the motion to, to advance the specialized energy code. Uh, from my perspective, it's critical. Uh, very proud to be a merose uh, resident. We've been a real leader in this space. Uh, certainly new construction in Merose isn't gonna solve the climate problem, but our leadership is critically important. And, uh, and, and I, um, I, i, uh, hope that, uh, the appropriations committee will accept this amendment this evening. Thank you very much. Thank you. Alright. Anyone else online That's, No, no other hands are raised at this moment, so. All right. Um, I will motion by unanimous consent to close public comment.

▶ 14:45 Leila Migliorelli: Seeing no objection, we're now closed for public comment. Since we have members of the administration here tonight to speak on the items before us, I'd like to motion by unanimous consent to suspend rule 37 B before we proceed. Seeing no objection, rule 37 B is now suspended. First on our agenda tonight is order 2024 dash 13. Request the city council hold a public hearing and subsequently determine the percentages of local tax levy to be born by each class of real and personal property for fiscal year 2024. Tonight we have Sarah McClellan, chief Assessor here with us. Thank you. I did. Okay. Okay. Good evening, chair re and members of the appropriations committee. I'm Sarah McClellan, chief Assessor

▶ 15:53 and Chair of the Board of Assessors. I'm presenting information tonight for the property tax classification hearing for fiscal year 2024. Before I begin, I just wanna recognize the staff in the assessing office who have done an excellent job this year, providing great service to our residents and taxpayers. Our assistant assessor, Tina, who has recently promoted to the position from head clerk, the head clerk role, and Tristan, who has departed to pursue other opportunities. I also wanna thank our GIS manager, Jane, and our senior volunteer at Brenda for their contributions in our department. This presentation is posted with the agenda packet this evening, and it's also accessible on the City of Melrose's website,

▶ 16:33 the assessor's page under the heading fiscal year 2024 Property tax classification hearing. So the purpose of this hearing and subsequent vote by the city council is to allocate the tax levy among the five classes of property. The classes are residential, open space, commercial, industrial, and personal property. For these purposes, residential and open space are grouped together and refer to as ro commercial, industrial, and personal property are referred to as the CIP classes. Personal property is defined as all tangible items that are not firmly attached to land or buildings and are not considered part of the real estate. All personal property is taxable at the local level in Massachusetts unless it is exempt.

▶ 17:21 An example of an exemption is household items in a primary residence. So basically when we're talking about personal property, it's most commonly referring to business personal property. So after the classification hearing, the city council must vote on the following items, the selection of a residential factor or tax shift, and whether to grant an open space discount. There are two other classification, um, policy decisions that are at the option of the mayor. And the mayor has not put forth these options for fiscal 24, but I'll outline them briefly. Um, at the end of my presentation, the residential factor governs the percentage of the tax levy to be paid by the residential properties in the city.

▶ 18:07 The difference will be shifted to the commercial, industrial, and personal property classes. The Department of Revenue each year determines that minimum, the minimum residential factor for each community, which is the maximum shift allowed in the tax levy based on the community's history and assessed value breakdown by class. So before discussing the residential factor and this tax shift, It's important to review the senior circuit breaker exemption program, which went into effect from Melrose starting last fiscal year. This legislation allows the board of assessors to qualify older adult applicants for tax relief by a state income tax credit referred to as the circuit breaker credit qualified applicants receive a

▶ 18:56 property tax exemption equal to 150% of their state circuit breaker income tax credit. The total amount of this exempted value is to be allocated within the tax levy or shifted to the non-eligible residential taxpayers this year. Um, the board of assessors received 142 circuit breaker exemption applications. Um, of those 120 exemptions were granted by the board. Uh, reasons for application denials included ownership of other significant assets, uh, not receiving the circuit breaker credit on state income tax and lack of ownership interest in the property. The cost of the program this year is $202,692, which is born only by the residential class. Uh, it this adds 3 cents to the residential tax rate,

▶ 19:47 which is 3 cents per a thousand dollars of value, or about $24 to the average single family tax bill. So the total amount that can be raised in taxes remains the same. Whether or not there is a tax shift, the shift does not raise more revenue. It simply changes the allocation of the tax burden among the classes of taxpayers. For fiscal 24, adopting a factor of one would result in a residential tax rate of 10 33 per thousand dollars of property value. A adopting a factor of less than one to as low as the minimum residential factor results in an increasingly greater tax burden shift from the residential class to the commercial, industrial and personal property classes. The Department of Res revenue has determined

▶ 20:34 that the minimum residential factor for, for Melrose, for fiscal 24 is 0.9 6 0 1 1 3 or a CIP shift. The max shift of 1.75 with the senior circuit breaker exemption in place, Melrose no longer has an option of having a single rate as the cost of funding the exemption has shifted only into the residential class. So this slide, next slide is showing the, uh, percentage of the levee class before any shift. Um, you can see here that 95% of the property value in Melrose is residential. You also see, uh, a breakdown in the number of parcels by property type and that the total taxable value in Melrose is now at about $7.4 billion. So this slide, the next slide is, um, shows how we arrive at the tax late rate for the community

▶ 21:33 for this fiscal year. So on the left side is a form that shows the total values in Melrose by property type. Again, you can see the total taxable valuation of about 7.4 billion at the bottom. We start with the fiscal 23 levee limit. We add 2.5% as allowed through mass law prop two point a half. We add new growth, which has been certified by the Department of Revenue for this year. We subtract any amended growth from the previous year, and then add the fiscal 24 debt service payment and arrive at the maximum allowable levy of 76,595,006 $60. We take that number, divide it by the fiscal year 2024, total taxable value in the city to arrive at the single tax rate of 10 $10 30 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value

▶ 22:28 for the residential rate. We add the 3 cents for the cost of the circuit breaker exemption to the single rate to get the 10 33 if there's no further shift. And as a note, the debt exclusion that is showing here is from the bond that was issued in 2005 for the construction of the middle school, the final year of the payments for this debt exclusion. That debt exclusion here is 2029. The next slide, Um, shows the breakdown of new growth over the past five years. Last year, um, we had a large increase in new growth due to completion of utilities projects in the city. Um, this year our total certified growth is at $772,733. Um, 24% of this growth number is from nine utilities and telecommunications personal property accounts.

▶ 23:25 The new warehouse, um, on Broadway on 99, um, contributed to about 12.5% of that growth. So essentially, one third of the growth this year comes from 10 parcels, uh, real parcels and personal property accounts. Um, it's also important to note that con commercial industrial, personal property projects throughout the city add levy growth at a much faster rate than residential because they're added at the CIP rate, which at last year was 1812 compared to our residential tax rate of 10 42. So the residential growth was about 440,000. Um, and that was generated from about, from changes in about 300 parcels in the city. The next slide is, um, so each year the def assessors determine the full and fair cash value of all real

▶ 24:23 and personal property in the city. As of January 1st, the market values for fiscal year 24 are determined by arms length sales from calendar year 2022. So the average assessed value of a single family home for this fiscal year is $794,037, which is an 8.2 increase from last year's, um, average single family value. Um, but just to give a general overview of the market condition, which it's not apples to apples, the way that it breaks down, um, because of the housing stock stock on the market. But the average sale price of a single family home in 2022 was $913,930, which was up from $808,109 in 2021, which that was a year over year, 13% increase. So there were 214 single family sales in 2022 versus 251 in 2021.

▶ 25:24 So the sales volume was down a bit, but the prices were still continuing to increase. The next slide, sorry. Um, I have the slide, uh, fiscal year value change by property type. Yep. Okay. Here we see the increases for the year in total assessed value by property type. Um, the most significant value increases this year we're seeing in apartments in the industrial sector. Um, I just wanna note here that these numbers represent the total value for these property types in the city. So some of the changes market driven, um, and some of the changes is due to construction project completion. For example, in the industrial sector, the change is driven primarily from the new warehouse that was built on Route 99 as the apartment increase,

▶ 26:22 whereas the apartment increase was a combination of market driven increase and completion of the radio factory apartments and a sale of that property in 2022. No. Next slide. No. Okay. So on this side we have the assessed values by class over the last six years. The residential class was around 5 billion in 2019. And for fiscal year 2024, the value is now at 7 billion. And then on the right side of this side is a, just a graph of the CIP value over the six years. So the next slide is the, um, comparison of Melrose and some of its surrounding communities, um, for fiscal year 2023, average single family values, tax bills, and residential tax rates at that for a minute. And then this slide shows the residential to CIP percentage

▶ 27:31 of total value in Melrose versus its surrounding communities. And then the next slide is the historical le levy percentage paid by the residential in the CIP classes after the shift. So you can see that it's remained relatively steady over the last decade. Next slide. Yep. And then here we see this historical shift that has been chosen for the last 10 years. The average single family tax bill in the average impact year over year. Last year, a shift of 1.68 was chosen, which increased the average single family tax bill by 2.8% or $208 on the average single family, um, tax bill. Um, over the prior year. It's not listed here, but, um, at that shift, the average commercial bill would've increased 6%

▶ 28:39 or 775 from 2022 to 2023. So this slide demonstrates the effects of the shift. So we look at the tax rates applied to this average single family value and the average commercial value here, you see that with no shift or choosing a residential factor of one, the single family bill would increase by about $559, and the commercial bill in would decrease by 64% by about $5,229. Um, so with the max shift of 1.75, the average single family bill increases $196 and the commercial bill increases, um, $980 and 9.7%. And the median commercial value is, um, so we sometimes we look at the, um, median value as well. Um, but just to compare it, it wasn't real far off. Like the median commercial value of just commercial properties is 627,000.

▶ 29:51 So it's not super far off. And then next are the shift options, which I'm gonna move past these, but I will, we'll obviously come back to them. So this is the, the, um, the shift options. I com um, included the complete list on the next slide. But here I've listed only the range that the council has considered, um, and chosen from in the past, over the past years. Um, recent years. On the left and green, you see the residential rate, uh, the corresponding average single family tax bill. The dollar increase in the increase from last year on the right in blue is the corresponding CIP rate average commercial bill at that rate. And the dollar increase and the percent increase as a reminder, um,

▶ 30:42 the fiscal year 23 residential rate was 10 42. Um, and the commercial rate was 1812. Um, while we speak of the shift in discussion when voting, the council must choose the residential factor that corresponds to the chosen shift. It's important to note also that the final tax rates may change slightly when we submit to the Department of Revenue because of the rounding in that factor in the great numbers in the value. So the next is all the shift options. And then we go on to talk about the open space discount. So the open space discount is a required vote for the city council during property tax classification, but Melrose does not currently have any property that meets the state's definition for the class

▶ 31:34 for classification as open space. So I've included the definition, um, of open space here just for reference. And then there, there were those two other options available during property tax classification, which are the small commercial exemption in the residential exemption. Both of these are policy options of the mayor with the city council's approval. Um, Melrose has not historically adopted either of these exemptions, and the mayor has not opted to put them forth for adoptions for this fiscal year. Um, briefly, the small commercial exemption is an exemption of up to 10% of assessed value, which can be applied to commercial values that, that are one occupied as of January 1st by a business

▶ 32:15 with an average annual employment of no more than 10 during the previous calendar year. And two have a valuation of less, uh, than $1 million. So this exemption just further shifts the tax burden within the commercial class. It increases the tax rate for the CIP class and has been adopted by fewer than 20 communities in Massachusetts. The Office of Labor and Workforce Development provides the assessors with a list of businesses in Melrose and the number of employees they have for the year. Um, the, and that's how it's usually determined for eligibility. But, um, the consideration in the adoption of this exemption is that it works as a further shift, um, to be born by the majority of the ci.

▶ 32:59 I don't know how to respond to that. I'm sorry. Um, of the CIP segment, also, in order for a parcel to meet that criteria, if it contains more than one. So a real estate parcel, if it contains several businesses, each, each small business within that parcel have to meet the criteria in order for that one parcel to be eligible for the exemption. So it becomes confusing and difficult to administer. Um, the residential exemption is the, is the final consideration, um, exemption of up to 35% of the average assessed value of all residential parcels, which is applied only to residential parcels that are the PR principal residents of the taxpayer. It this exemption shifts the tax burden within the

▶ 33:47 residential class only. It increases the tax rate for the entire residential class and has been adopted by fewer than 20 communities in Massachusetts. And then the final slide is, um, just a list of, uh, classification hearing terms that we use in their definition just for reference. Um, and that concludes my print presentation. I'm, and then I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. Thank you. Um, just to clarify, so the, what we'll be voting on tonight is the residential factor in that, In in the open space. In the open Space. Okay. Just wanted to make sure that was clear for everyone. Um, questions. Councilor Repe. Thank you. Uh, Ms. McClellan, you've answered most of my questions

▶ 34:32 Mark Garipay: that we went over on the phone, so that's, uh, that's great. But, um, we do have, um, last year when, uh, you were in front of us, there was, um, the new growth. A lot of it was based on utility, a lot of utility work that was done. We've had additional utility work, but I believe it was, I can't remember if it was during the budget or during this hearing last year, it was mentioned that the, the utility companies were potentially looking to take that to court, whether they could, we could tax them on that. Is that still the case or could we still lose that in court and all that, that money get taken back off of that? So, um, several of the utility, the bigger utility companies had appeals, um, over

▶ 35:21 many, many communities in Massachusetts. So, um, but in Melrose over the summer, so one of the, uh, utility companies, EV Eversource had an appeal and they withdrew the appeal against Melrose in, um, July. So we have no pending, um, utility appeals at the A TB with util Yeah, currently. So we're out of the woods right now on, on that. Yes. Thank you. Um, on the industrial went up 33.2% and you mentioned that's mostly the warehouse on 99 that went in? Yes, because last year the industrial value was like 20 million. So some of it, some of that value increase was just because industrial space is still, um, warehouse space is still, um, increasing in value like it's, um, across everywhere. So as the market value for that space, um,

▶ 36:34 Mark Garipay: increases, then the market value in Melrose will will increase. So the value will increase, um, but also that one parcel was huge in growth. So, and, and we have such little amount of industrial space in Melrose as it was, so it, it contributed to a huge growth in that segment. Okay. And then, um, regarding the apartments on the value change property type, that went up 19%? Yes. Um, how many, what, what came online this year for new, new apartments and what else, what other factors go into figuring that value out at 19%? Sure. So, um, I think as we discussed even last year, um, they, they, we didn't get a full value from the, um, radio factory apartments last year. Like they weren't at the full value

▶ 37:33 because of construction completion. Was it mid-year from the previous year. But then also because, um, apartments and, um, Um, investment properties as such are valued using, you know, the income, um, approach to value. So we would look at rents. So they only had like a half year of rent at that point. So, um, they weren't fully valued last year. So that specific huge value had changed a lot. There was also a ch a sale of that property in 2022, which was significant. So, um, it adjusts. So it was part, partly like a market adjustment. And then also the fact that interest rates, you know, have been increasing. So, um, you know, it, it creates rents to go higher. Like, um, you know, just the way the market works

▶ 38:34 Mark Garipay: that people, people aren't maybe gonna buy a house, they're gonna rent a house, okay. Or rent an apartment or, or a home or, And then just curious and looking at the tax rates at different communities. And I, you know, I, looking at Melrose Redding in, in Wakefield, um, we we're all based on this, we're pretty comparable Mm-Hmm. Um, but I see that their taxes seem, seem, um, to be considerably more than what we have in Melrose is that because they've had multiple, multiple overrides over the years, um, in their tax. So for Wakefield, um, specifically, they, um, have double the, um, CIP value that we do. So they also end, end up, and it is related, they have double the, um, CI, so CIP value, and then they have double the growth.

▶ 39:38 So their growth that they're adding to their levy is double, which then compounds at two point a half percent each year. So, um, that's the main reason in Wakefield why they would have a higher levy than we do in a higher, um, tax bill, um, than with reading. I know that they have added a significant amount of debt in the past several years for, um, a library and they also did a school, so that increases the tax bill. Okay. Um, that's all the questions I have for now. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else? Councillor Gar pay for a second time, or? Yeah, I'll, I'll make a motion to, um, um, I'll throw it out there to put the, uh, residential factor, the shift at 1.72, which is 0.9617. It, um, is pretty much in line of what we, if you take

▶ 40:49 Mark Garipay: what we've done over the last 10 years, take the override out. It's average about a 3%, uh, change. This is 3.16. It's, um, comparable, somewhat comparable to what we did last year for the residential where we did 2 0 8 last year. I think it was on the residential. This is two, uh, 2 42, and I think that fits in well with the commercial, the commercial, um, increase also, um, comparable to what we did last year. Um, the increase last year, it'll be a little bit more on commercial, but the percentage is going down. Um, so I would make that motion that we do a residential shift of 0.9617 second. Okay. Motions on the table for a residential shift of 0.9617, uh, made by Councilor Repe, seconded

▶ 41:45 by Councillor Ella. On discussion. Seeing none, Mr. Clerk. Councillor McMaster? Yes. Councillor Sun. Yes. Councillor Repe. Yes. Councillor Chetty. Yes. Councillor Reky. Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. President Es Yes. And Chair Elli? Yes. That's unanimous. Alright, that motion passes. Um, next is the open space. Oh, sorry. East or No, don't leave. Yes. Okay. Sorry. Before you go anywhere, um, what is the will of the committee on that Councilor? Can I just ask one Question? Yes, go ahead. Did you say we've granted the, I'm sorry, I was looking at my paper. We've granted the open space, um, oh, discount. We Don't have open space, so it's just to not grant an open space discount. So the motion would be to, um, move forward with, um,

▶ 42:57 Leila Migliorelli: not granting an open space discount. Second. Okay. Motion to not grant an open space discount made by Councillor Repay. Seconded by Councillor Williams. On discussion. Seeing none, Mr. Clerk. Councillor McMaster? Yes. Councillor Sun? Yes. Councillor Repe. Yes. Councillor Chetty. Yes. Councillor Bruski. Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. President? Yes. And Chair Elli? Yes. That's unanimous. Alright. Thank you very much. And those will brought, be brought to the next full counsel for final vote. Um, next up is order 2024 dash 12. Requesting the adoption of the specialized energy code is found in 2 25, um, CMR 2 22 and 23, including appendices, RC and CC as the minimum energy code for the City of Melrose,

▶ 43:55 Paul Brodeur: effective July, 2024. July 1st, 2024. Tonight we have Mayor Broder, Martha Grover. Okay. Mayor Broder First and Cast. Okay. That's right. I, I'll try to be brief and just kind of frame it up for y'all, um, a little bit. Um, you all know that Melrose has a net 0, 20 50, uh, energy plan and it lays out a lot of goals and procedures. This, and it, it is, a lot of hard work went into that. And this is, I suggest you the, the blocking and tackling, the hard work, the granular work of advancing those goals. Um, you may all know today, particularly if you're a, if you're a climate non policy follower, that, um, the COP 28 meeting is today, that is, uh, unceremoniously means conference of the parties,

▶ 44:51 Paul Brodeur: which doesn't tell you much about what's going on. It is an annual meeting of the 200 or so countries, I believe the time the Paris Climate Accords to get together and try to make progress on this and that, um, the preliminary information out of there and previous information isn't too optimistic. So I just wanna, uh, I wanna frame it in that sense. Um, and so y'all, I think I know you get it 'cause I know you've, um, our energy, excuse me, our sustainability manager, Martha Grover, has made herself available to all of you, and some several of you have taken advantage of that. But here is what in part that the, um, what the Net zero plan says on page 11. I should have mailed this to y'all, but I didn't think of it till today.

▶ 45:39 Paul Brodeur: Um, how do we get there? The kind of the $64,000 question of, of Net 0 20 50? Well, to directly quote, we know that we need to make our buildings and vehicles the two major sources, sources of emissions in our community, much cleaner and more efficient. To reach our net zero zero goal, our community will need to work towards five, five core transitions. One of them being, making existing buildings super efficient and constructing new buildings to high efficiency standards, which will reduce emissions and make energy bills more affordable for everyone. Because the cheapest energy is the energy that you don't use. Um, further on in the report on pages 45 and 46, it notes adopt policies to mandate energy efficiency

▶ 46:26 Paul Brodeur: and renewable energy in new construction and main major renovations that, um, my colleagues is exactly what this is all about. And, um, what is the commitment that elected officials, um, we're asked to make in that plan? Um, consider how your decision, the decisions your board, committee, or legislative body will impact knowledge's net zero goal, advocate and vote to support policy or regulations that advance actions identified in the net zero plan. I would never suggest to you that the devil isn't in the details, but that is why we're doing this. That is why we've done several other initiatives that are not one-offs. They're part of a larger plan, which is always a reasonable consideration.

▶ 47:14 Paul Brodeur: Um, an incredible amount of work by people that are much smarter than me have gone into this. And, uh, uh, substantial number of communities in the Commonwealth have already adopted that. That doesn't necessarily make it right for us, but it does certainly suggest that this has been, uh, considered for a long time in many different forms and has moved forward in several our communities. With that, I will turn it over to the experts, Martha and team. I'm going to invite, um, Dylan Patel, who's in addition to being a new resident. He's also our green community's regional coordinator. And Dylan is new to the job, new to Melrose, but he's already made the rounds to many communities that have taken up, that have taken up the

▶ 48:12 specialized energy code. And so he's here as a resource representing DOER if you have any questions. And of course, Mar got here and I, speaking of our local expert, I just wanted to, um, before I get started, point out that I'm sure you've saw some of the letters, um, that Melrose is really fortunate to have a whole host of energy experts living right here, professionals who work in this field. Um, and when I put out the call this week just to have, ask them to weigh in, they did enforce. And, um, I was, I've just really appreciate their support. I appreciate their expertise, their knowledge. A lot of 'em know a whole lot more about this than I do. Um, and I hope that you appreciate their perspective as well.

▶ 49:00 And I, I also wanted to pro provide a little more context about where this, um, code fits into the big picture and what we're trying to do here in Melrose. The Mayors, um, kind of set it up for you. Um, about 61% of the greenhouse gas emissions, what we found when we created that plan are from buildings. Um, most of that, as you can imagine are from homes. Our focus, especially since we launched the net zero action plan, has been to focus on those existing buildings, focus on, on those homes, and encouraging and assisting homeowners to reduce emissions by first increasing energy efficiency, weatherization, insulation, second, converting their fossil fuel heating systems, hot water, um, stoves, dryers, et cetera, uh,

▶ 49:51 to electric equipment as they fail. And third, offsetting, um, their, their electric load with rooftop solar signing up for the Melrose Community Power Plan as a result. I mean, this is pretty amazing. I looked at these numbers today. Um, in the last two years, Melrose has really stepped up in a huge way. We have about 7,501 to four unit dwellings, homes and Melrose there. We have served with our partners 1700 home energy assessments, 600 weatherization projects in there, and about 400 heat pump installations since we started the heat pump, the Heat Smart Melrose campaign in 2020. I see installation trucks parked outside homes all the time, and of course, I pull over and take photos to post

▶ 50:40 and everything and embarrass my children in the back of the car. But, and the building energy code is one tool of many that are in our toolbox that provides an opportunity to encourage property owners to update or renovate their existing homes to increase the energy efficiency and disconnect from fossil fuels. What we're talking about here tonight is a new tool that we can opt into and adopt. It's called the Specialized Energy Code that applies to new buildings only. So it's just shaving off, you know, the few new buildings that, that are built in Melrose and ensures that they are future-proofed and don't add to our emissions. So to go to the first slide, just a brief energy code history. Um, Alan went over a lot of, kind of did the highlights

▶ 51:31 of my presentation, which is great. And so I'll try to get through this, um, briefly. But, uh, the energy code in 2009 is when the, the stretch code was introduced. Uh, it's more energy efficient than the base code Melrose adopted it in 2010 in order to become a green community. As you know, fast forward to 2021 and the base code has now met, met the stretch code, and the stretch code is really no longer a stretch code as of 2021, which is when the legislature said, all right, we're gonna take the stretch code out of the BBRS, assign it to D-O-E-D-O-E-R to update and make it in line with the state's climate goals, and then add a requirement to develop this specialized code for new construction only.

▶ 52:19 That, again, is in line with our climate goals. So in 2023, what was introduced at the beginning of this year was a major update to that stretch code. The residential went into effect on January 1st. The multifamily commercial went into effect on July 1st, and adoption was automatic for any green community of which there are 291 today. So the next slide kind of shows how the code is, is built and designed. There are three codes in place today. You've got the base energy code, which was also updated this year, add on to that amendments and changes where they add efficiency requirements through the stretch energy code that went into effect. And then there's this, there's the specialized energy code

▶ 53:07 that we're proposing go into effect in about seven months on July 1st, 2024, um, and make that the minimum energy code for the city of Melrose. Uh, this next slide shows 30 cities and towns, Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, Worcester, all the big ones, and some of our neighbors, as Alan pointed out, uh, Wakefield passed it about two weeks ago, uh, Medford and I've talked with Stoneham, Redding and Maul, and they all plan to probably put it forward in their town meetings or city council in early 2024. And I'm seeing new cities and new cities and towns are adopting it kind of at a weekly pace. What are we talking about in Melrose? What, what, what buildings does this really impact? Um, most new construction in Melrose is residential

▶ 54:05 and there's very little of it. There's just not a lot of space for new, new homes or new buildings to be built. So I, I went through the permits over the last, um, two years, found about 10 single family home, new, new single family home permits, one new two family and four multifamilies in the last two years. And one mixed use of those 10 single family homes, seven of them are Patrick's place. Um, side note, those are pretty big houses. There's a picture of one for, for Melrose, but they're all under 4,000 square feet, which is important as when we get to the next couple slides. So what is the special ed co specialized code? What's in it? Well, what stays the same is comparison to the updated stretch code

▶ 54:57 that's already been in place all year, is that the efficiency requirements are basically the same as, as in the stretch code. The ev ready requirements are the same. What's change, what changes are two main things. Number one, builders still have the option of building a new home with mixed fuel, say with fossil fuels, they can, they, they'll build, they can build a new home is all either all electric or what the, what DOER considers to be mixed fuel. Mixed fuels might be for, you know, natural gas for heating, hot water, um, dryers, cooking, et cetera. If a home is built with any net, any fossil fuels for any one of those end uses, what they're just simply requiring is that it be pre-wired

▶ 55:44 for electrification in the future and that there be a little solar pv on any available space. There's a minimum size requirement depending on the size of the house. And for homes that are over 4,000 square feet, they have to achieve her zero if it's built with fossil fuels with some solar pv. The other major change is to multi-family. So multi-family buildings over three stories. Instead of having a few options of different pathways they can take under the specialized code, they have one pathway, which is the passive house. And I'll share a little bit about what that is. So here it is presented in two charts. There's this chart is the residential, the other chart on the next slide is the commercial.

▶ 56:26 And in red is what changes under the specialized code. And most of the changes, as you can see on the left, are the building sizes and the types of buildings, the fuel type, the stretch code requirements, and then what changes or doesn't change under the specialized code, and then some additional requirements. So it's pretty consistent, as I said, for any, for all of the categories. Any built in any new construction built with mixed fuels has to be pre-wired for electrification and add a little solar. Um, and then there is also for the multi-family category here on the low-rise wrench residential. And on the next slide under commercial where it gets bigger than three stories, again, it's the passive house requirement, pre-wiring.

▶ 57:12 Some people have asked what does that actually mean? Um, it's the installation of sufficient electrical service space and wiring that allows for future conversion to an all electric building for all of those end uses I've mentioned before. So it means dedicated circuits and plugs located near the fossil fuel equipment for future future installation of electric equipment and DOER projects that, um, 200 amp service is generally sufficient for most loads. I think we can go to the next one. Passive house for multifamily. What is this? Passive house isn't new, it's not passive and it's not necessarily a house in every situation, but it's what it's called. It's a certification that features air type

▶ 58:05 building envelopes, high performance windows and doors, balanced ventilation and efficient min minimized heating and cooling. And the result of this high performance building standard for multifamily buildings is that the heating loads can be reduced by 90% or more compared to a typ typical building. And the overall energy demand can be reduced by 60% or more, resulting in much lower operating costs and significant indoor air quality in occupant comfort. It's, it's be really becoming the gold standard. And if you go to the next slide, you can, you can see how the uptake of passive house for multifamily is just going up exponentially. There are already 13,000 units in the pipeline with a third

▶ 58:51 of those categories categorized as low income housing. Uh, one of the questions I've gotten is, you know, will this cost more in general if you build your house with as all electric? Uh, DOER did some pretty deep analysis. They hired a consultant to take a look at, um, different models of, of houses, um, comparing and, and because they were concerned about this, this issue of, um, they wanted to understand what the cost implications would be of, um, the stretch code and specialized code requirements for both the builder and the home buyer. And the main takeaway from their analysis is that all electric homes are generally cheaper to build and more, more, more cost effective than building with, uh,

▶ 59:41 natural gas and cheaper to operate over time. The other, the other wind in the sail here is that you've got federal government, state government and the utilities that fun, that function behind mass save, incentivizing all of this, all electric high efficiency construction, um, and doling out pretty, pretty, um, uh, pretty good incentives that offset any additional cost, um, required to build, to build to these new codes. The other big, big one are, um, the federal tax credits that are, that are coming online for, um, a variety of building types. A question I got had to do within the next slide, Andrew, was would this, would the specialized code have any impact on our public, on our building projects,

▶ 1:00:38 municipal building projects and no impact? Of course, on the, on the public library project, it's already permitted already on, already under construction. And in fact, um, the library project as designed is all electric and is on target to meet the low energy use intensity score under the mass save zero pathway incentive program, which is again, is gonna mean that we're going to, um, we are supposed to find out this week what that incentive number is, um, to support what we're doing at the library. The public safety buildings, again, no impact. They were, they will be built as all electric in line with our net zero action plan and the energy efficiency requirements requirements are the same, whether it's the stretch code

▶ 1:01:23 or the specialized code for municipal buildings. And the same, same goes for new schools. And the nice thing is that the MSBA just announced this year that if a new school is built under the specialized code, they'll, they'll, um, we get the benefit of some additional funding. So there are lots of carrots out there for us to, um, adopt this code. The other thing to note, just in terms of over the next say seven years that a lot of these buildings may be built, the energy code is probably going to change two or three times. And these buildings will have to just keep adapting and being built to new codes as they, as they do develop. So why now? And what's in it for Melrose? As was already mentioned, the, the reason

▶ 1:02:06 that we're doing this now is that Green Communities just announced something called the Climate Leaders program. I call it Green Communities 2.0 and which creates new funding for Melrose because we are in what's called the Million Dollar Club and we've actually already been awarded $1.7 million from the Green Communities program. We are static at being awarded just a hundred thousand dollars, which in today's building upgrade construction space is not a lot of money. So it resets under the Green Community's 2.0 program. And if there are six new criteria that they've just announced, we already meet five of those six. This is the sixth criteria. So if we adopt this before July 1st, before July 1st, yes, 2024.

▶ 1:02:55 Um, we are then eligible to be, to be designated as a climate leader and then, um, um, have the opportunity to apply for some great grants. Side note that we have developed this year through a pilot program of building decarbonization roadmap for our schools. And we are in the process right now of getting several shovel ready projects. So when additional funding becomes available from the state, the feds, wherever we are going to be ready to go next year. The other carrot is that this is the tool we need to stop the fossil fuel hole for new construction so we can reach our 2050 climate goals. And, and acknowledging that new construction is really the low hanging fruit, the specialized code allow allows builders the option

▶ 1:03:44 Manjula Karamcheti: of fossil fuel for heating or appliances, but also through this pre-wiring requirement avoids future electrification retrofits for owners and future OCC occupants. And finally, like we're all trying to do, it encourages all electric buildings, which are cheaper to build and operate and healthier to live in. And we are here happy to answer any of your questions That you may have. Thank you. Questions from the council? Councilor Carm Shady? Um, I think, I hope what I have is a sim a pretty simple question just in terms of if the code is adopted. I'm wondering about some of the, um, projects that are sort of in process in terms of like in the planning department, planning board, zoning board. Will those projects need to comply by the code

▶ 1:04:43 Manjula Karamcheti: or they sort of get a pass? Depends, it Depends on the timing of their, of when they seek their building permits. So, and it depends on where they, they're All kind of in process now, where they are in the pop pipeline. I'm thinking of ward one in particular, we have about five, including 40 B housing. And I'm just wondering how this code may or may not impact some of those things that are already happening in, in the works. Yep. And we had an internal meeting, I did meet with Denise and Lori. They were not necessarily concerned about the ability of any of those projects to meet the specialized code. If it were to go into effect on July 1st, um, that, you know, the the and They would also comply

▶ 1:05:25 Or that they would have to comply? Yes. Okay. If they seek a building permit after July 1st. If, if we adopt this code, um, uh, you know, the difference here is that there's a seven month ramp up time with this updated stretch code that went into place. There was all of five days before that went into effect. So we discussed whether or not to propose this now or in a couple months, um, in January after the new council is seated and we, and after talking with Al and with Denise and Lori, it made more sense to give more time rather than less time for the, the inspectors and the, the developers to respond and to prepare. Thank you. So much. Appreciate it. Councilor Oppe. Uh, thank you. Thank you for being here.

▶ 1:06:10 Mark Garipay: Um, just want to confirm, 'cause I think there's some misconceptions out there regarding the stretch code we have now that that's in place. Um, talks about renovations over a thousand square feet has to comply, so that's already in place, so this will not affect that we're doing that Anyway. Nothing will change for additions and renovations. Um, okay. And then, um, My, when I was reading, um, the building inspector's letter and he said implementing the stretch code, which happened in January, has been a big, big, uh, lift for many building departments including theirs. And it requires additional, additional work that's been, in fact, since January and we're now we're going stretch code. I, I'll be honest with you, I was totally against this

▶ 1:07:09 Mark Garipay: until we talked, but I can get there on, on, on supporting this. I just, I'm concerned with the same question that Councilor JE said regarding all the new development. Um, we have buildings that are, that are been approved by the planning board that people are sitting on. And it's a lot of DA lot of different reasons. You know, it's, they're not ready to build interest rates are up, um, raw materials, everything, right? So I would like to see with the administration, if we pass this tonight in delay the implementation till January 1st, 2025, it sounds like we can still apply for grants, but it gives these developers, whether it's the Tremont Street that's in front of the Board of Appeals, we get Chipman Ave with 40 something units.

▶ 1:08:00 Mark Garipay: You get Greenwood, you get Caruso's, all these buildings that they'll have six months to kind of go back to the drawing board if they can't get their building permits pulled by July 1st. So I'm willing to support this if we can just give them another six months. I think we owe them, they've, they've invested into this community and I think that, um, I'm tired of looking at dilapidated properties around they're, they're ugly around town and we need to spur this construction, but I don't want to, I don't want to hinder it. So if we were to amend this order to take effect January 1st, 2025, would, would the administration support that? Would you be, I'm Gonna let the representative from the administration

▶ 1:08:44 respond to that, that Question. Um, you know, I, this, um, is a question that I, I haven't raised with the mayor directly, but I, you know, I think we're all sensitive to the impacts to those projects that are in progress. You know, obviously the whole point of this is that the new construction be moving forward towards our climate goals, but in these, um, in these timeframes that are tight and certainly, um, with respect to interest rates and some of the facts on the ground, um, there, there may be some, um, extenuating circumstances that certainly might justify consideration of, of a delayed implementation. I will say, I think the goal would be for those projects to be compliant with this, uh,

▶ 1:09:30 Paul Brodeur: updated specialized code. I, I think the idea is not, um, to create more time for people to file plans that are less energy efficient than they might otherwise be. Yeah, I would, um, I just think that we need to do everything we can to, to try to help and push these, uh, developments along. So, So it's upstairs working on something, uh, that seems perfectly reasonable to me. Again, I would defer to the experts that know about the money flow and the potential of any grants being in jeopardy. But the point is well taken that these, that we obviously want it to be successful. Um, Martha's probably already spoken about the training opportunities and the way this gets off the ground, both with our folks

▶ 1:10:15 Mark Garipay: and with the, the development community. Um, uh, unless someone tells me, oh my God, we can't, because there'll be serious financial implications, I think that's fine. And I think it also gives the building, the building department an additional six months. I think they're still trying, in my conversations with the building inspector, they're still trying to understand the stretch code goals and it gives them a little bit more time. So, I mean, I would, I would make, make a motion that, that we changed the effective date on the order in front of us from July 1st, 2024 to January 1st, 2025. And I'd be more than happy to, to support this order Motion on the table. I chair I'd, I'd be willing to entertain seconding that.

▶ 1:11:05 Shawn M. MacMaster: But I did have a question before if Const Garey was either willing to hold that motion or withdraw Until motion. Okay. Um, alright. Councilor Gar paid, do you have any other questions at the moment? No. Okay. Councillor McMaster and then Councilor Williams is in Queue. Thank you Madam Chair. I did have one follow-up question. Um, as it relates to the, the permits. So as I understand it, Ms. Corbert, from what you said is that if a permit is pulled and approved after that July date, the developer would, would have to comply. What about permits that have been pulled before that haven't been granted? Um, but because the developer is seeking variances before the, the Board of Appeals, so it's been,

▶ 1:11:45 Shawn M. MacMaster: it's been sought but hasn't been granted, um, where would they fall within? So As I understand you're talking about, say, a special permit that's been granted by the planning board, but that's different from a building permit. No, I'm talking about building permit. So if a building permit is, is, is sought beforehand and the building inspector says, I'm not granting it because you need to seek a variance before the Board of Appeals, what would happen in that scenario? I, I, I would defer to DOER to, um, contradict me. But my understanding is that it's the date of the filing of the building permit that determines the compliance. So if somebody files the, you know, if someone has their plans ready to go in advance

▶ 1:12:27 of July 1st, 2024 under the current, uh, suggested, uh, effective date, um, if they filed the Bur building permit before that, then they would just be subject to the stretch code. If they filed the bur building permit afterwards, then it would be the specialized code. But again, that is my understanding. Um, I don't have a, I cannot cite a source for that, but perhaps, uh, DOER can clarify That, that would be helpful to know if we don't know tonight. Um, um, unfortunately I do not have that answer tonight. Okay. If, if you can provide that information, that would be helpful. Thank you's all I have, Um, councilor Williamson Councilor Garey for a second time. Thank you. Have we heard from any developers

▶ 1:13:10 that they have concerns about the specialized code? I, I did reach out to the developer of the 360 Main and, and part of the, part of one of the issues here that, that Councillor Garipay has mentioned is after speaking to the building our building commissioner, there, there have been some pain points with the stretch code that was released this year. Part of it was the, the short note notification, the five days notice before the residential component went into effect. And, um, the slow, um, uptake in training of inspectors and just, uh, of the building community. And so Matt had a little concern about the ability of the training, whether it's effective so far and whether we know enough and whether inspectors

▶ 1:14:02 and builders know enough to, um, to build to these new codes. It seemed like most of his concerns had to do with the stretch code, less so with the specialized code. 'cause specialized code doesn't really change much as regarding some of the concerns about the installation requirements, et cetera. The other thing I can note is that, um, I did also when reaching out to our neighbors to find out their timing of adopting the code Mauldin's building inspector, um, is happens to sit on the technical technical review committee, uh, for the specialized code. And he's also recommending that Malden hold off on adopting the specialized code until July 1st, or January 1st, 2025. Just knowing that some things still need

▶ 1:14:50 to be worked out in terms of the administration of applying that code. So, um, I think it's, it's a transition period. Right. And we're, we're still learning. There are, you know, there are about maybe 16 communities that it's already gone into effect or another 12 that will go into effect on January 1st. There are, there are no communities where it's currently in effect. The first batch of communities will be in effect in January 1st, 2025. Yep. Which is roughly half of them and, um, roughly about 1415. Okay. Alright. Yeah, so that's the sense I got is that six months is, isn't gonna make or break, um, anything and give the communities, the inspectors, the builders, et cetera, more time to adjust.

▶ 1:15:37 Jen Grigoraitis: Um, e either one I think is Okay. Thank you President Greg. Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you for this presentation and for all of your work on bringing this before us. Um, you answered my question about the timelines for the other communities. I just wanna acknowledge that I don't think any of these developers work in a silo. So if you're building in Melrose, you're probably building in Medford and Cambridge and at some point the, the difference becomes, I think, more confusing rather than less. Um, but it's, it seems like they're all going with January of 2025. Some of the early adopters, their, their specialized code goes into effect this January. This, okay. 'cause they adopted it the beginning of this year. They were,

▶ 1:16:19 Jen Grigoraitis: So January 1st out of the 2024. Okay. So I wanted to clarify. But then there's a third tranche of communities, those of us who are doing it, this, you know, doing, having these conversations this fall that are looking at July 1st, first of 24 or January 1st of 25 as the start date. Okay. And I know you're not the planning board, so, or the inspection services department, but I, to the counter, I think to Councilor Rae's question is, are we anticipating that some of these projects, many of which were very divisive in this community and I feel like we would be holding them to a lesser standard of, um, building under the current code. Are we anticipating a rush to pull permits before this is implemented?

▶ 1:17:01 Because I think from a perspective of the benefits to our residents, I would like to see these larger projects built in the most energy efficient Way possible. Are you seeing a rush to, so we are seeing a rush to permit in advance of these codes. So for the early adopters of, uh, the specialized stretch codes, so the towns which have either put in place a January 1st, 2024 or a July 1st, 2024, um, effective date, um, we've seen no evidence of, um, builders pulling their permits from these towns, or at least no one has told us of, of this phenomenon. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for the first time? Councilor Gepe? So when I was talking to the building commissioner last week, and maybe I misunderstood, is it takes effect when

▶ 1:17:58 Mark Garipay: they actually pull the building permit and everything's been approved through the, the zoning and board of appeals and they actually are gonna start demolition or whatever, that's when the actual permit permit's done. Right. Um, so, um, I'll move, uh, forward with that motion to change the, uh, effective date from July 1st, 2024 to January 1st, 2025. Second, Some motion to amend the order to make it effective. July, uh, January 1st, 2025, uh, made by Councillor Repe, seconded by Councillor McMaster on discussion Counselor Carrum Shady, Just in the name of transparency, I'm still trying to process and I'm a little, I don't think I understand the answer yet in terms of things, buildings that have been

▶ 1:18:54 Manjula Karamcheti: presented to the planning board conversations and special waivers that have gone to the zoning board on different projects, they would with a July, 2024 need to make sure that their projects were up to this new code If, if they were seeking their building permit after, after that date. After that date. Yeah. I'm still confused on like, so the ones that are currently in process, and again, I'm specifically for four Ward one, we have about four or five Yep. That are, things have been filed, but they haven't been approved yet. Right. And I would want for those two, I think to, um, councilor Gita's point want them to be as efficient as possible for the residents. And I'm just trying to understand if they would

▶ 1:19:58 or wouldn't given where they are in the process right Now. And I'm not, I'm not weighing in on one thing or or another just presenting what, what I'm hearing. Yeah. But keep in mind that that e if it's the specialized code or the stretch code that they're building to, it's pretty stringent. And the passive house is already one of their op, one of their pathway options under the current stretch code for a multifamily building. And I, I'm not sure how much passive house varies from the other two options. So passive house is a fairly stringent standard of building, but it is in existence in, uh, several, uh, projects around the state. Um, but it is, um, a step up from the current, uh, oh. Ms. Grover is correct that, um, it is one of the options,

▶ 1:20:50 Leila Migliorelli: but it is a, um, more stringent, um, installation requirement than is typical for, um, multi-family houses. And that then that exists for the other two pathways under the stretch code. That Is correct. It is an option under the stretch code Right. As well. Um, counselor, are you all set with your I think so. Okay. I just to ask or maybe re-ask counselor Caram Judy's question. If the projects that are in place right now have not filed a building permit and then don't file one before July 1st, then they're not subject to this code if we were to pass it by July 1st, or same thing goes for January 1st, as long as no one has pulled a building permit, they're not, they would not be subject to this code.

▶ 1:21:42 Correct. Lemme try to clarify. Um, at the time that a, a comprehensive permit, or a special permit is granted, um, the developer usually has a certain timeframe with which to, within which to exercise that permit to begin whatever they're going to be doing. Mm-Hmm. Um, the critical moment in terms of the stretch or the specialized code is when they pull the building permit. Right? So an applicant can be before the zoning board of appeals or the planning board for several months, um, have their plans, their elevations, their landscape plans, their drainage plans, everything before the city and seek variances and approvals, get those variances and approvals. But then it's up to them to decide when they pull the permit.

▶ 1:22:31 So there, the, the idea would be that we're setting, uh, a bright line. It's either July 1st or January 1st, after which if they pull the permit after that date, they are subject to the specialized energy code. And in that instance, what we discussed is that if this, if this passes tonight, then the planning staff would make a point of letting all of those developers of those existing projects know that there is a seven month ramp up period. And to expect that if their permit comes in after July 1st, it would Have to comply with The specialized code. Thank you. So the motion on the table is amending the order to January 1st, 2025. Um, seconded by, made by Councillor Repe. Seconded by Councillor McMaster on

▶ 1:23:19 Jen Grigoraitis: discussion President Greg. Thank you Madam Chair. Um, I also just wanted to highlight how much I appreciate the plan around training for developers that you've put in this and partnered with, um, the inspection services department on. And I, I very much hear the capacity issues of that department and think that's a, an important but separate conversation to this. I do really feel like, personally, I would rather see this bright line about what it is we expect from developers as it relates to where we want our residents to live, to be set sooner rather than later. So my preference is for July, um, just as we move toward this motion. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else on discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Clerk

▶ 1:24:06 Councillor McMaster? Yes. Councillor Ella? Yes. Councillor Repe? Yes. Councillor Chetty? Uh, No. Councillor Reky? Yes. Councillor Williams? No. President Gure? No. Five? Yes. A three No. Motion fails. And me, oh, I'm sorry. Um, No. Okay. So it's uh, four yes. And four nos. Uh, motion fails. Oh yes. And four nos. No. Okay. Motion fails when it's tied. All right. Councilor Williams. I'll make a motion to recommend the order as originally presented to the full Counsel. Second. Motion to recommend the order as originally presented to the full counsel made by Councilor Williams. Seconded by Councillor Ella. On discussion. Seeing none, Mr. Clerk Councillor McMaster? Yes. Councillor Ella? Yes. Councillor Oppe? No.

▶ 1:25:29 Leila Migliorelli: Councillor Chetty. Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councillor Williams. Yes. President Greg? Yes. And Chair Elli? Yes. That's 1 0 7. Yes. Motion passes. Alright. Thank you very much. This, uh, count, this order will be brought to the next full council meeting with a recommendation for passage. Thank you. Thank You very much. Thank you. Thank You. Next up we have appropriation 2024 dash eight and appropriation from Mount Hood Reserve fund account 8 4 1 7 5 9 0 0 0 0 in the amount of $100,000 to Mount Hood Capital improvement account 6 2 0 0 0 0 dash 5 2 9 0 0 6 To do tree work. The current balance as of 11 2 23 is $392,299 and 82 cents. Tonight we have, um, superintendent Joan Bell here with us. Um, I'm here tonight to ask

▶ 1:26:35 to move a hundred thousand dollars from the Mount Hood Reserve Fund into the budget to do some capital improvement projects on tree work. Um, the management company is responsible for the day-to-day tree work. Um, this is more of a capital improvement to really go in and get rid of a lot of, um, dead trees that have kind of become safety issues. We're gonna open up some fairways and greens that the golfers are really excited about. Um, just overgrown trees that have kind of come in, come into play. Um, so that's what the money is for. Thank you. Questions, councilor Sella. Just make a Mo motion to recommend the full board. Second motion recommend made by Councilor Sunnel, seconded by Councillor Carrum Shady.

▶ 1:27:17 Leila Migliorelli: On discussion. Seeing none, Mr. Clerk Councillor McMaster? Yes. Councillor Ella? Yes. Councillor Gpe. Yes. Councillor Chetty? Yes. Councillor b Brisky? Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. President Greg? Yes. Chair Melli? Yes. That's the unanim of seat? Yes. Great. Thank you. Comes to next full council meeting with a recommendation for passage. We'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So Moved. Motion to Adjourn, made by Councillor Williams. Seconded by Councillor Ella. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Being opposed? We are now adjourned.

Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2023-11-30

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