Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2024-02-26
Attendance
Cal Finocchiaro ; Mark Garipay ; Ward Hamilton ; Maya Jamaleddine ; Manjula Karamcheti ; Leila Migliorelli ; John Obremski ; Devin Romanul ; Robb Stewart ; Kimberly Vandiver ; Ryan Williams
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Comment
- Appointments/Reappointments
- APPT-2024-17 : Appointment of Christopher Coughlin, 27 Summer Street, to the Zoning Board of Appeals to fill the unexpired term of Katherine Moore; said term to expire on the last day of February 2028.
- APPT-2024-18 : Appointment of David Roache, 8 Prescott Street, to the Zoning Board of Appeals to fill the unexpired term of Rita Mercado; said term to expire on the last day of February 2025.
- Grants
- GRANT-2024-7 : Acceptance of Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) in the Amount of $93,000 For Enhancements to the Gazebo area at Ell Pond Park
- GRANT-2024-8 : Requesting the Acceptance of a Grant in the Amount of $66,000 to fund the cost of crisis intervention and mental health first aid trainings for the Melrose Police Department
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CALENDAR● FEBRUARY 26, 2024 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:55 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Maya Jamaleddine Chair Present Ryan Williams Vice Chair Absent Mark Garipay Present Robb Stewart Present Manjula Karamcheti Present John Obremski Present Ward Hamilton Present Kimberly Vandiver Present Devin Romanul Present Cal Finocchiaro Present Leila Migliorelli President, Ex Oficio Present
APPT-2024-17 Appointment Appointment of Christopher Coughlin, 27 Summer Street, to the Zoning Board of Appeals to fill the unexpired term of Katherine Moore; said term to expire on the last day of February 2028. Ought to Pass City Council
APPT-2024-18 Appointment Appointment of David Roache, 8 Prescott Street, to the Zoning Board of Appeals to fill the unexpired term of Rita Mercado; said term to expire on the last day of February 2025. Held in Committee City Council
GRANT-2024-7 Grant Acceptance of Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) in the Amount of $93,000 For Enhancements to the Gazebo area at Ell Pond Park Ought to Pass City Council
GRANT-2024-8 Grant Requesting the Acceptance of a Grant in the Amount of $66,000 to fund the cost of crisis intervention and mental health first aid trainings for the Melrose Police Department Ought to Pass City Council City of Melrose Page 1 3/6/2024 10:19 AM
Transcript
▶ 26:44 Maya Jamaleddine: This meeting is adjourned. Alright, Good evening. The time is 7 55 on Monday, February 26th, 2024. This is a meeting of the Appropriation and Oversight Committee. I am Maya Jamal, Dean pronouns, she and her the chair. Also joining me tonight are Councilor Firo Gar Hamilton Chetty Reky, um, Romano Stewart and Ver and President GL Lee Exofficio. This serves, uh, notice of a quorum for the record in accordance with the open meeting law. This meeting is being recorded and broadcast live on MMTV. I will motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. And 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.
▶ 28:09 Maya Jamaleddine: Do We have anyone online? We, we have no attendees online. Okay. And, um, since we don't have anyone in, um, the Chamber or online to speak in public comment, uh, comment, I will, um, motion by unanimous consent to close, uh, the floor for public comment. Seeing no objection. Uh, objection. Um, the floor is now closed. Public comment is now closed. And, um, since we have members of the adminis, uh, administration to speak, uh, uh, before us today on items on the agenda, I will, um, suspend the rules. Uh, I will entertain a motion by unanim unanimous consent to suspend Rule 37 B. Before we proceed, Madam Chair, make a motion to suspend Rule 37 B. Second. Okay. We have a motion made by, um, Councillor Stewart,
▶ 29:07 Maya Jamaleddine: seconded by Councillor gpe. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. And we have, um, the rules is now suspended. If anyone, um, I would call the mayor. Good evening. Wonderful. Yes. Um, before I'll, uh, give you the floor, I'm just gonna read the first order, and we have appointment 2024 dash 17 appointment of Christopher Coughlin 27th Summer Street to the zoning board of appeals to fill the unexpired term of Catherine Moore. Set term to expire on the last day of February, 2028. And the floor is yours. Thank you, Madam Chair and thank you members of the committee. Um, I'm here tonight, um, to present Christopher Coughlin to serve on the zoning board of appeals. And I'm grateful for his willingness to do so.
▶ 30:15 Jen Grigoraitis: Um, I'll certainly let him speak more about his experience, but he is an attorney and holds a real estate license and brings a wealth of knowledge about development and zoning, and also has a real passion for our community and helping to shape the future of it. I think as you all are well aware, the zoning board of appeals is another group of volunteers who spend a lot of time working on behalf of the city. So we really think thoughtfully and diligently about the appointments to this. And Mr. Coughlin has been in conversations with both the previous mayor and myself, um, going back almost a year about his willingness to serve in this capacity, which, as I think you all know, is incredibly time consuming.
▶ 30:51 Um, so I'm really grateful for his service and I'm excited to have him here tonight. Thank you. As far is yours. I appreciate the opportunity. Um, just elaborating a little bit on some of my background and experience. I am a lawyer, how, although, uh, land use zoning real estate isn't my practice area, which I think is actually beneficial here. There'd be no conflicts. Um, I did, as every law student is required to take property law. So I have a core fundamental understanding of, of some of the issues here. But more importantly, um, since my wife and I bought our first condo 15 years ago, uh, real estate's been kind of an obsession of mine. Um, so I am actively engaged in, uh, monitoring the,
▶ 31:36 i I look at all the listings. Um, we've bought and sold a couple properties within the city over the last, uh, 10 years. Um, I have a vested interest in, uh, what happens, what occurs in the community. We have owned a two family at one point, so I've been a landlord and appreciate how difficult the rental market can be here and the need for additional housing. Um, one of the toughest parts of owning that two family was, uh, receiving dozens of inquiries and people asking to rent the unit when it was vacant and having to say no to literally dozens of families, um, who were just dying for an opportunity to, to find reasonable housing. Um, I am aware and monitor, follow the, the, some of the issues
▶ 32:21 that present with the m btas, um, new initiatives. Uh, I just read today that there's another city that is in the process of attempting to challenge that rent them has added their name to the list. Um, so I do try and actively monitor and keep myself, uh, uh, educated about the issues that present. Um, I'm far from an expert, but I hope to be a quick study. Um, so I would welcome the opportunity and any questions that you might have for me. Thank you, Mr. Coughlin. Any, uh, one from my colleague would like to ask a question. Um, counselor Chedi, thank You. Thank you so much for being here and for offering your wealth of knowledge and experience to the zoning board of appeals. I'm a city counselor in Ward one, which happens to be, um,
▶ 33:12 Manjula Karamcheti: a neighborhood where there are a lot of proposed, um, sites for building, um, some general development, some 40 b um, proposals. And so one of the things that has come up is sort of the interaction between the zoning board of appeals and the community, or in this case, they're separate and yet there's public comment. So I guess just my question is, in terms of process, do you just have any thoughts on ways to have the community be involved in terms of hearing voices as you're making decisions on the zoning board? So, candidly, as a community member, um, I would love to see more, uh, educational material about, um, the process. I didn't learn about the M BTAS community initiative until a few months ago.
▶ 34:13 Um, and it was through indirect channels and was very intrigued by it because it obviously applies to not only our community, but the house that we live in. Mm-Hmm. Um, so in theory, our, the house that we live in would be eligible to be converted to a multifamily to satisfy the, the, uh, zoning initiatives there. Um, so, but I, again, also candidly am unaware of what the zoning board's role would be in, uh, moving to educate the community about it. Um, I think that if more community members had a little bit more information up front before a project was proposed in their neighborhood and might be helpful, um, because I think we all fight once we're in our own environment, um, there's a little resistance there to change.
▶ 35:01 And if they were a little bit more aware of the initiative and the benefits that it potentially provides, um, that it might head off some of the, I don't wanna say conflict, but, um, emphatic discussions that occur. Um, obviously I, I do, I try to avoid social media when I can, but it can be a useful tool for, to take the pulse of what's occurring. And you do see the back and forth online. People feel very strongly about like the, um, the project over by, uh, Greenwood Street, I think, or, or, uh, and there are emphatic parties on both sides. And I think some of that could be head off with a bit more education and a bit more discourse about it. Um, as things have moved online, it's a bit more difficult to do that.
▶ 35:50 Manjula Karamcheti: Obviously people don't tend to, don't seem to attend these types of meetings, even though they exist. Uh, but I don't, uh, suggest I have all the answers either. I I think it's just something that needs to be, um, considered, uh, as things change and evolve and, and consider ways to best kind of head those issues off before they build ahead of steam. Oh, thank you. I really appreciate that. My only other question is just, you know, on the zoning board of appeals, a lot of the work is to decide whether to permit something that generally isn't an, uh, an ordinance or an issue that we generally approve. Right? So it's sort of going through that process of whether things should be waived. And I'm just curious, big picture, sort of how,
▶ 36:37 what your approach is to making those kinds of difficult decisions. Anytime you're asking for an exception to what the rules are, um, there's gonna be resistance to it. And I think it's just, uh, you have to weigh the, what the circumstance is that's being proposed and kind of weigh the harms and decide based on the, the merits and the challenges that are put forth. So I don't think there's any, um, default answer to the question. I think you have to consider the positions of the party moving for the variance or, um, the exception to the rule. And those that don't want it to happen. And not everyone's gonna be happy all of the time, but you just strive to achieve the best possible outcome, uh, in after considering all the circumstances.
▶ 37:30 Kimberly Vandiver: Absolutely. Thank you so much. And I also recognize that the zoning board of appeals is a volunteer position that is intense and takes a lot of time. And so really appreciate you, uh, putting your hat in the ring for this position. Thank you. Very grateful. Thank you. Um, um, counselor, um, Vandiver, I thank you for, um, ed as counselor Karm Chetty said for stepping in up for this, um, big role, um, in the community. Um, my questions about the, um, recent housing production plan in Melrose, um, have, have, are you familiar with the entire plan? I reviewed it. I wouldn't say that I memorized it, uh, but I did get a chance to review it prior to conversation with the mayor a week or two ago. Yes.
▶ 38:19 Um, and having, having reviewed it, um, how do you feel about the, the overall vision laid out there and, and that direction? I think that as a human and a community member, um, as I stated earlier, the inclination for a lot of people, I think is to resist change. So to review that and, um, look at the data that supports the need for additional housing, uh, allows you to kind of consider the bigger picture and fight against your tendencies, the human tendency or urge to resist the change. So I think there's a lot of important issues raised in the plan and some excellent proposals on how to address them. Um, I like how it identifies particular areas. It very candidly and straightforwardly identifies particular areas that it,
▶ 39:07 Maya Jamaleddine: uh, could serve as opportunity to, um, satisfy the need for housing. Uh, and, um, kind of puts people on notice that, hey, these are the areas that we're looking at, this is what we've identified as as good targets. Um, and I think that with that as a base understanding or a base plan, uh, reviewing proposals that seek to accomplish those objectives, um, is it should be considered. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? My colleague? Um, I do have a question, and for that, I would like to suspend the role to be able to ask question as the chair. And, um, so I'm gonna make a motion, um, entertain motion to suspend the rule. Um, and I would like to ask you a question, uh, Madam chair. I'll make a motion
▶ 40:03 Maya Jamaleddine: to suspend Rule 21 C. Second, We have a motion to suspend the rule made by councilor uh, Stewart, and seconded by Councillor Chetty. Um, and, um, all in favor, aye. Aye. Any of opposed? Uh, thank you. Uh, so the rule is now suspended, and I would like to thank you first for stepping up and, and, um, uh, taking on this role. Uh, and also I, you know, I heard you mentioning about in this work, whenever there is any project development, there is, uh, always an agreement and disagreement, uh, from the public. And it's very hard to be able to, uh, please everyone and, uh, be able to get anonymous, uh, unanim, um, agreement on one, uh, project, or one, um, uh, you know, point of view, uh, which is a good thing, right?
▶ 41:00 Maya Jamaleddine: Um, but, uh, when working with, with the knowledge that you have and the experience that you have, um, it is different, uh, from how the public, uh, and, um, constituents are seeing it from their angle. Uh, so in this role that you are gonna hopefully be taking on, um, what would you suggest to make a step or propose, uh, to be able to educate the public and, um, help and fill that gap and help them see it from, um, your, uh, perspective and the perspective of an expert and the person who's making the decision? So, Monnet, I hope, answer your question a bit indirectly. Um, my approach with anything that I've done in life is to try to absorb as much information as I can first before I then formulate some sort of, uh, action plan.
▶ 41:55 Um, and what I do, what my day job, uh, requires me to do is litigation. And I have found that the most useful tool when trying to, um, address situations that are contentious is to listen to the parties. And if someone feels as though they've been listened to, even if you don't agree with what they're saying, that is a huge first step. So, having, being limited in my experience right now as I sit here today, I think it would be a bit, um, presumptuous for me to offer you an answer to your question. Uh, what I would ask is, if you were kind enough to afford me the opportunity to, um, to gain some experience in the position, and we had a subsequent conversation, I wouldn't be shy about making suggestions in the future,
▶ 42:53 Maya Jamaleddine: uh, but I would wanna learn a little more first. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. It's, it's, I appreciate everything that you will be bringing to this role, and I'm sure you will have a lot to offer. I, uh, am more of hoping to, to have, uh, some kind of education for the public to help them see it from, you know, the experts ex, um, uh, perspective and understand so we can help, uh, fill that gap. So thank you so much for, um, uh, taking on this, uh, rule. Um, what is the will of the committee motion To recommend? Second, We have a motion to recommend made by, um, councilor Che, seconded by counselor, uh, Finn Chiro. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This motion passes. We will, uh,
▶ 43:47 Maya Jamaleddine: it will be recommended to the full council. Um, you don't need to attend, but you are welcome, uh, to join us. And thank you, uh, again. Thank you very much. Thank You. Okay. Uh, next we have, uh, appointment 2024 dash 18 appointment of David Rouch, uh, eight, uh, pre, uh, Prescott three, uh, to the zoning board of appeals to fill the unexpired term of Frita, uh, Mercado, uh, set term to expire on the last day of February, 2025. Do we have, Thank you, Madam Chair. We, um, you may have seen Lauren stepping out. What, um, there has been a last minute scheduling conflict. So, Mr. Roach wasn't able to be here tonight. Um, for those of you that have, you know, ardently followed the zoning board of appeals.
▶ 44:38 Maya Jamaleddine: He previously served in this role and then actually stepped off when they added another child to their family, and is now looking to come back on. So depending on the will of the council, we can either, um, reschedule or have you all move forward tonight. I believe the materials he provided are, um, in your packet. Thank you. I just wanna apologize for misspelling the name. It's, uh, David Roach. Um, what is the will of the committee, Um, make a motion to recommend I'd Second, We have a motion to recommend made by Councilor Fero, seconded by, uh, counselor Vandiver on, um, discussion. Um, I guess I would say that I would be interested in, given that this is someone who has served before and had to step down
▶ 45:31 Maya Jamaleddine: and is wanting to come back, I think I'd be interested in having the candidate come and just have a conversation. Um, it is not a must have, but I think if possible to reschedule, I would be interested, um, if it isn't a pain point for anyone, Counselor, um, see What mad chair. I agree with, uh, councilor ti, Um, with, um, point of board Raising My hand, the mayor. Um, I was actually wondering if we can have, um, the, um, candidate, Mr. Uh, Roach to, uh, join us either in the next, um, uh, appropriation oversight or, uh, during the, uh, city council meeting, um, of, if this is, There's a motion on the floor to recommend. Okay. So we have a motion, uh, on the floor, either we wanted to withdraw to make another motion.
▶ 46:40 Maya Jamaleddine: Um, um, counselor Ro, would you like to withdraw your motion so we can make, uh, I will withdraw the motion. Okay. So we have a motion. Just one second. I, I see all the, so, um, um, we have, uh, this motion, what withdrew by, um, councilor Ro. And, um, I'll, I'll withdraw my second. I, I think, uh, based on the letter, I, I feel like that was pretty complete, but I'm happy to also hear from him Again. Okay. So this motion is withdrew. Um, councilor Stewart. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, Madam Chair, I'll make a motion to, uh, hold this in, in committee. Okay. So we have a motion to hold this in committee Second And seconded, uh, uh, made by councilor uh, Stewart, seconded by, uh, Councillor Che.
▶ 47:33 Maya Jamaleddine: All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This order would be, um, hold in committee. Uh, thank you Madam Mayor. Thank I appreciate your with us. Uh, next we have Grant, uh, 2024 dash seven, uh, acceptance of grant from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and just, uh, recreation DCR in the amount of 93,000 for enhancements to the gazebo area at El Pond Park. Uh, we have, um, uh, this is L and um, Chu. Hi. Um, we have been awarded a grant from the DCR and Amark grant for $93,000 for the, uh, for the restoration enhancement and improvements of the Alpine gazebo. Um, the discussions that were, that we've had on what the money is being spent on, we have done a, um, scope of work for the restoration of the gazebo.
▶ 48:40 Um, and we have, um, a low beta on that. So that's in place, um, that leaves us roughly $50,000, $43,000. Actually, um, for the rest of the enhancements, some of the work that we've been talking about is we're definitely upgrading the electrical. We're actually gonna try to add some more electrical, maybe, um, some Victorian lighting down the pathways to kind of lighten it up down there. Um, we're talking about putting a, um, fountain, a possible fountain in the pond. We're gonna do some benches, um, around update some of the benches that are around the, the pond itself, um, and portable staging so that we can hold some more city events, larger city events than what's on, um, the gazebo area right now.
▶ 49:27 So like a 12 by eight, um, portable stage, um, and then landscaping. So that's the scope of work for the money to be spent. If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer. Thank you. Uh, any question from the council? Council Stewart? Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you both for being here this evening. Uh, just to confirm, the $93,000 will contain the full scope of, uh, the project that you're talking about. There's no additional monies that you'll anticipate. Correct. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Anyone else? Okay. What is the will of the committee Motion To recommend Saga? We have a motion to recommend made by Councilor Chedi. It's a seconded by Councilor Gepe.
▶ 50:18 Maya Jamaleddine: Uh, we have roll call for this order. No Money that way on Cityside can be. Okay. So, um, I guess, um, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This, uh, motion, uh, carries. Thank you both. We have another grant, um, now Grant 2024 dash eight requesting the acceptance of a grant in the amount of 66, uh, thousand to fund the cost of crisis intervention and mental health First aid trainings for the, uh, Meadows Police Department. Um, good evening, chief Holier. Good evening, everybody. And, uh, welcome and congratulations to the new councilors. Looking forward to working with all of you. Um, so I'll be brief. Um, this is a $66,000, uh, grant awarded, uh, by the Department of Mental Health. It's a non-matching grant.
▶ 51:16 Doesn't require any, uh, city money to be matched. And I will, I find it easier probably to just read the description of the two different types of training that we will be sending our offices to. And the first is a 40 hour, um, crisis Intervention Team training. Um, and this description is taken right directly from Metro Boston Crisis Intervention Team Training and Technical Assistance Center. So CIT training is what it's known as. It's 40 hour course. It's comprised around five key themes, increased understanding of behavioral health, effective communication and engagement skills, verbal and tactical deescalation, navigating community resources and risk assessment tools. Offices who have completed this training will learn
▶ 52:00 to understand common signs and symptoms of mental illness and recognize them in crisis situations. And they're also equipped with the knowledge and skills to guess to guide best practices when responding to individuals impacted by psychiatric illness. Developmental disorders in co-occurring substance abuse, substance use disorders. Additionally, CIT training is tactically sound police training related to officer and public safety is always paramount. And officers who have attended this training have shared how they utilize these skills learned CIT training on the job daily. So this 40 hour courses designed for patrol officers who, uh, who have regular interactions with the community members experiencing a crisis.
▶ 52:43 Um, the second training that we're gonna send, uh, our offices to is Mental Health First Aid. That's a one day training. And this description is taken directly from MPTC, which is, um, where we would be sending our offices to. So, mental Health First Aid training is to train and prepare officers to recognize and respond to mental health challenges. And crisis offices will receive instruction on identifying mental health disorders and recognizing their symptoms, understanding the impact of mental health disorders, developing engagement plans, excuse me, in managing crisis situations. So, Madam Chair, so these two trainings, the whole department, eight to 10 offices will be trained in the 40 hour course,
▶ 53:24 14 supervisors in a 16 hour crisis inter entry course, and the whole department. And the One Day Mental Health First Aid, to me, it's very important. Uh, obviously it's grant, so it's a win-win for everybody. Uh, but mental health is, is huge. And not only policing, um, I'm sure there's probably everyone here can, has been touched by it. So the training is not only for the community, but for our police officers, which is very vital because I think they're gonna take something professionally and they're certainly gonna take something, uh, personally back with them, uh, to their own house, uh, themselves. So we're very excited and, uh, we're looking ready and we're ready to get going. We got, uh, registrations all signed up,
▶ 54:08 Robb Stewart: and there's plenty of courses to get this done in the next three, four months. Awesome. Uh, Councillor Stewart. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you Chief Fowler for being here this evening. This sounds, uh, very exciting. Uh, congratulations on winning this grant. I think it's a, a great, uh, forward step for the community. Um, how many officers will be going to the training? So the entire department, um, we right now are budgeted for 50, I believe we have 47 sworn actively working. So all 47 will go to Mental Health First Aid, approximately eight or nine will go to the 40 hour CIT training. And then I want to get all my supervisors in the 16 hour CIT training. Great. Great. And that includes, uh, non-English,
▶ 54:50 Manjula Karamcheti: non-English speaking officers, ones that can handle a situation where they may not be English involved. Um, I don't know. Okay. Uh, as far as the training, uh, I'm sorry, I may, I may have misunderstood You. It's gonna be in English, but what I'm saying is, do you have officers that have non-English speaking capability Oh, correct. That are gonna be going to this training, correct? Yes, sir. Great. Great. Thank you. You're welcome. Madam Chair. Welcome. Uh, counselor Che. And then I have Counselor Ram after. First I just wanted to say thank you for pursuing this grant in regards to crisis intervention and Mental Health First Aid. I think you and I have had conversations around a lot of calls that officers go on Sure.
▶ 55:33 Manjula Karamcheti: Actually involve mental health more than anything. So the proactiveness about bringing this to the department and getting everyone trained is important, and I appreciate it so much. And also that the Mental Health First Aid, uh, aligns obviously with some of the things the Health Department has been doing to bring, uh, mental Health First Aid to the community. So people getting the same training, I think makes a lot of sense since we, so we have the same language around how we, how we deal with mental health. I'm just wondering one about like the timeline for folks being trained. Yes. So you, you saw that it's good until the end of June that this fiscal year, but there, there, there's plenty of training.
▶ 56:17 We already have people signed up for it. Okay. I think we have 20 in the next Mental Health for aid class, which only leaves us, you know, we're already 50% already registered in this classes in April, may, and June for the Mental Health First Aid. The CIT training is a little, uh, not as, uh, common, but we've already looked into it and we will, we will get it as best as we can in that next three months. Part of that is, is, um, I, I wish I had done this earlier, quite frankly. Um, and there were some issues with the application process, so it got delayed to no fault of DMH. There was some issues on either and I getting the paperwork again, but we'll, we'll get it done. Great. And I guess just commentary, um, I used
▶ 56:56 Manjula Karamcheti: to be the Crisis Intervention coordinator for the Lexington Public Schools and worked very closely with the Lexington Police Department and went through the Mental Health First Aid training myself. I will never forget my A CT Act Care Tell. And so just in terms of the quality of the training, it's really good. And so, again, just really excited that our police department will, will get that training. So thank you. You're Welcome. Um, counselor Armano, Uh, thank you so much for coming down and Sure. Uh, congratulations on the grant. I'm, uh, incredibly appreciative of the pursuit of the, uh, money and, uh, and of the training. Um, I, I'm all for it. I'm really excited for it. I was wondering if you might be able to speak to
▶ 57:38 Devin Romanul: how this might be folded into longitudinal, um, you know, long-term training for the officers for new recruits. Um, you know, how this might be folded into sort of an ongoing, uh, support in this 'cause I, um, fully supportive and would love to see, you know, more of a Yeah, absolutely. And, and thank you. Um, the recruit aspect of it, um, they do a lot of this in, in, uh, recruit Academy training as part of the, uh, six months of training that they do. But certainly when they come out, we wanna expand on that and to follow up on that, this isn't just gonna be a one time, uh, training, especially if we can reapply in a timely fashion next year. Um, what I failed to mention too, those are the two trainings
▶ 58:18 that I had put down specifically on the grant. But the scope and the contract and all that stuff says if there's any other mental health training that I see the department sees that we think we may need, can be also utilized with that money, uh, pending DMH approval. So if I see a course that's not specifically CIT or Mental Health First Aid, we can get that all reimbursed back too with their Approval. That's Terrific. Yeah. So we're constantly, um, looking for training, and this is just one aspect of what my, our goals are, right. As far as training, but mental health between the hospital and, uh, daily calls and, and the schools. And I mean, it, it, our hats have changed over the years. Yeah. I think, you know that.
▶ 58:57 Maya Jamaleddine: So it takes up, um, a significant portion of our job where 20 years ago it didn't. Great. Well, thank you so much and let us know how we can support you in that, in that goal. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else, um, who would like to ask any question? Okay. I do also have questions. So I would like, if there is no objection, I would, uh, entertain motion, um, uh, with unanimous consent, uh, to suspend the rule to be able to ask a question. Uh, seeing no And chair point of order. I think we're, we still have, uh, under suspension for Rule 21 C, so I think you're okay. Okay. So seeing, um, no objection, I'm, I'm gonna, um, ask the question. Thank you so much, um, counselor Stewart. Um, and thank you for being with us.
▶ 59:47 Maya Jamaleddine: I also wanted to, uh, name, um, you know, um, how much we've seen, um, you focusing on securing, um, every grant or every opportunity, uh, to provide those trainings for, um, merose police officers. And, um, that is something that, uh, we appreciate, I appreciate personally. And, um, it's, um, you know, it's greatly, um, it's, you know, noticed and acknowledged. Uh, so thank you so much for that. Um, I do agree with you on how the mental health crisis has been impacting almost every single person, um, um, in our communities. And how important is those trainings are? Um, do you, um, have any idea of how many trainings our, um, um, uh, police officers, um, you know, will be able to, to take this year?
▶ 1:00:44 Or you, it's just as it comes? Um, we, I'm not sure if I, I, I heard you, I may have misheard you, but, uh, so as far as other training, is that what you're asking? Any Yes. Like a year, what are you, um, envisioning that you would hope, uh, to see your department or your, the police officers take? Understood, Understood. Um, yes. So obviously we, this training and then we do, we, as you may know, we do, um, upwards of 56 hours, uh, mandatory training, uh, that comes down from the MPTC that we have to do. But the, the good thing now in today's day and age, obviously with social media and MPTC, which is the Municipal Police Training Committee, very, very proactive and very, um, forward thinking about training
▶ 1:01:34 and also with getting the message out. So, I mean, we get emails weekly of new trainings that are there. Most of them, fortunately, are free. The only thing that would cost us would be backfill of overtime, which is that happens Mm-Hmm. Uh, but the Commonwealth puts on a ton of free training for police officers. So between myself and Lieutenant Barr is in charge of training and any other officers, even the patrol officers who don't have rank will often email me if I miss something or I email the lieutenant, can I go to this training? Do we have the funding? Et cetera, et cetera. So, um, there's nothing specific right now in my head that we're looking for, but there's other people doing that as well, which is great.
▶ 1:02:11 Maya Jamaleddine: And they're just throwing it all at us and we try to pick and choose what we think fits for, for Merose especially. Yeah. And as much as it is important to train our officers to be able to, you know, face those, um, mental health challenges with, uh, the people that they serve, but also I just don't wanna dismiss how, um, the burnout and the pressure that, um, our, uh, policy officers also get from dealing with these things. So I'm not sure if there is any kind of training or support that they are receiving or any grant that we can secure to support, to be able to provide that support for our police officers. And I hope I we will be able to see that coming as well, um, if you know, if possible.
▶ 1:02:55 Maya Jamaleddine: Yep. Absolutely. But I'm sure, I, I trust that you will, um, uh, secure every grant and every penny to, to get all those trainings to our police officers. So thank you so much for everything that you are doing. Um, and now I would like to ask my colleagues, what's the will of the committee Motion to recommend? We have a motion to recommend made by Councilor Che, seconded by Councilor Pen Chiro. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This motion carries. It will be, uh, sent to the full council and, um, thank you so much again. Okay. I appreciate it. Thank you. Okay. And I will entertain Uh, a motion to adjourn. Madam Chair. I'll make a motion to adjourn. Second, We have motion made by counselor Sue, I seconded
▶ 1:03:55 Maya Jamaleddine: by Counselor Chetty. Um, uh, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, we are agenda.