Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2024-04-29
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
- Appropriation
- APPRO-2024-19 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account # 01-324001) in the amount of $327,210 to the IT Department (#155) for Capital projects.
- APPRO-2024-20 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account # 01-324001) in the amount of $11,332.50 to Memorial Hall (#693) for HVAC repairs.
- APPRO-2024-21 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account #01-324001) in the amount of $24,000 to the Police Department (#211) for costs associated with new recruits.
- APPRO-2024-22 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account # 01-324001) in the amount of $400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand Dollars) to Public Works Accounts (#402) as set forth herein and for Replacement of Melrose High School Skylights and Partial Roof Replacement at Franklin School
- APPRO-2024-23 : An Appropriation from Free Cash(account # 01-324001) in the amount of $250,000 (Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars) to Public Works Accounts (#402) as set forth herein and for Replacement of the Chiller at Lincoln Elementary School
- APPRO-2024-24 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account # 01-324001) in the amount of $100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Dollars) to Public Works Accounts ( #402) as set forth herein and for Roof Replacement and Localized Repairs to Milano Senior Center
- Appointments/Reappointments
- APPT-2024-27 : Reappointment of City Clerk for a three-year term commencing May 1, 2024.
- Grants
- GRANT-2024-15 : Acceptance of State Earmark for Milano Center Improvements in the amount of $12,500
- Orders
- ORDER-2024-28 : Requesting the Appropriation of $5,500,000.00 to pay costs for design and engineering of a new Melrose Highlands Fire Station and new Melrose Police Station.
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CALENDAR● APRIL 29, 2024 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:30 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Maya Jamaleddine Chair Present Ryan Williams Vice Chair Present 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
APPRO-2024-19 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account # 01-324001) in the amount of $327,210 to the IT Department (#155) for Capital projects. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2024-20 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account # 01-324001) in the amount of $11,332.50 to Memorial Hall (#693) for HVAC repairs. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2024-21 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account #01-324001) in the amount of $24,000 to the Police Department (#211) for costs associated with new recruits. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2024-22 Appropriation City of Melrose Page 1 4/30/2024 4:19 PM Minutes Appropriations & Oversight Committee April 29, 2024 An Appropriation from Free Cash (account # 01-324001) in the amount of $400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand Dollars) to Public Works Accounts (#402) as set forth herein and for Replacement of Melrose High School Skylights and Partial Roof Replacement at Franklin School Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2024-23 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash(account # 01-324001) in the amount of $250,000 (Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars) to Public Works Accounts (#402) as set forth herein and for Replacement of the Chiller at Lincoln Elementary School Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2024-24 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account # 01-324001) in the amount of $100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Dollars) to Public Works Accounts ( #402) as set forth herein and for Roof Replacement and Localized Repairs to Milano Senior Center Ought to Pass City Council
APPT-2024-27 Appointment/Reappointment Reappointment of City Clerk for a three-year term commencing May 1, 2024. Held in Committee City Council
GRANT-2024-15 Grant Acceptance of State Earmark for Milano Center Improvements in the amount of $12,500 Ought to Pass City Council
ORDER-2024-28 Bond Requesting the Appropriation of $5,500,000.00 to pay costs for design and engineering of a new Melrose Highlands Fire Station and new Melrose Police Station. Held in Committee City of Melrose Page 2 4/30/2024 4:19 PM
Transcript
▶ 9:49 Maya Jamaleddine: Good evening. The time is 7:30 PM on Monday April 29, uh, 2024. This is a meeting of the Appropriations and Oversight Committee. I am Maya Jamal, Dean pronouns, she and her the chair, and also joining me tonight, our Vice Chair Williams Councilor, Firo gpe, Hamilton Karam, Osky Romano Stewart, and, and President GL Lee Exofficio. This serves as notice of a quorum for the record in accordance with the open meeting law. This meeting is being recorded and broadcast live on MMTV. And, um, at this time I will, uh, motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objection, we are now open for public comment and this is the portion of the meeting where anyone can speak, um,
▶ 10:51 Maya Jamaleddine: on any item on our agenda for tonight. Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone online? Uh, Not at this time. Thank you. And if there is no objection, I'll motion to close public comment. And seeing none. We are now closed for public comment. Since we have members of the administration here tonight to speak on the items before us, I would like to entertain a motion by unanimous consent to suspend Rule 37 B before we proceed. And seeing no objection, we have, uh, rule 37 B is now, uh, suspended. Um, welcome. Hello, Madam Mayor. Welcome to our hello City Council. Um, we have first item on our agenda appropriation 2024 dash 19, and appropriation from pre-cash account number zero one dash 32 4 0 0 1 in the amount of,
▶ 12:07 Jen Grigoraitis: um, 327 210 to the IT department. Number 1 55 for capital projects. And we have, um, Mr. Uh, Monta. Montalto. Thank you. Did I say your name correctly? You did. Thank you. Thank you. And, uh, the mayor with us. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good evening everyone. Um, we are here tonight to talk about three IT projects that are encompassed in this order. And just before I turn it over to Deputy Director Montalto, who can really provide you with the technical expertise, um, just as sort of where we're at in the, in free cash as we've moved into the capital projects portion of the expenditures. So that's a lot of what you have before you tonight. And obviously I know in my time on the council, we've had many conversations about it.
▶ 12:56 Jen Grigoraitis: It is a, um, portion of the city whose obligations has grown enormously over the past 10 years. I think many of you are well aware that prior to the pandemic we were a three to one, um, for devices in schools. And then almost immediately switched to one-to-one plus providing every city employee with a laptop. So the amount of hardware that's being managed and then all of the necessary infrastructure to keep that functioning and secure continues to grow as do the cost related to that. I know you sense the theme in my speeches. Um, so we're here tonight to talk about the three projects that we're hoping to accomplish this summer that will hopefully improve the city and school's IT infrastructure. I will turn it over.
▶ 13:35 Hi everyone. My name's Joe Montalto, deputy IT Director. Um, I have know some of you password resets and getting emails on your phone for the rest of you. It was really nice to meet everybody. Um, make this quick, 'cause I see the agenda's pretty long. Uh, the IT department would formally like to request an appropriation from free cash for the amount of $327,210. This amount will cover three separate projects. First project being a switch refresh project at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School. The second project being we're very excited about is doing a wireless upgrade for the city, for the district. And third project will be the install installation of external security cameras at the high school.
▶ 14:15 Robb Stewart: Thank you for your support and consideration on these items right now. I'll answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. Anyone from my colleague would like to have to ask questions. Um, Councillor Stewart. Thank you Madam Chair. And thank you Mr. Anta for being here. And Madam Mayor. Um, so when you do this work, is there any outsourcing the work or is it all gonna be insourced? Uh, some of the work will be outsourced, um, through our state, uh, state contract, uh, vendors. Uh, these vendors have all been vetted by the state and we have worked with them in the past. Okay, great. And, uh, no issues on overrun on any of these? Uh, fairly straightforward in terms of the work that you're gonna do?
▶ 15:06 Robb Stewart: Absolutely. Very straightforward and everything will be completed under budget. Probably a right on budget actually. Okay. And I'm gonna bring it up 'cause I bring it up every time. Uh, so what, where do we stand outside of the Capital project for cybersecurity and how does that relate to some of the work that you're doing here? Great Question. Particularly for the wireless upgrade, that's a concern. Great question. So for cybersecurity, while it's not included in any of these capital projects, it is definitely on our agenda right now. We are leveraging with, um, cybersecurity training with RUM and Forster. It's our, which is our insurance provider. Um, through them we are coming up with a plan
▶ 15:48 Jen Grigoraitis: to not only have the entire city enroll in a training, but we also we're gonna roll it out to school. Me, uh, school committee, our school members and staff in the fall. Okay. And is it, is it, um, limited to training on the cybersecurity front right now? Right Now it is limited to training. Okay. Any future plans for being a little more comprehensive in that area? I think it's something we always wanna be more comprehensive about. Obviously we need to flesh out the funding to deliver that. Um, I do know that we have several members of the department who are going to the State's conference put on by the state IT department on cybersecurity. So we're trying to plug into the, and leverage those resources
▶ 16:27 Robb Stewart: to help us figure out where to go next. Right. If there's any, any state money that we could try to capture to Mm-Hmm. Help with that. It's, um, particularly when we have, uh, an upgrade on networks and, and so forth. I mean, that's, that's where sometimes the risk can pro get. Right. So any, alright. Thank you. Thank you both. Thank you. Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you. Anyone else? Councilor Vandiver. Thank you Madam Chair and thank you Mayor. Mr. Montalto. Uh, I, I was just curious, I saw in the school's budget book that they were talking about security cameras at some of the other schools. And I was curious, as a general matter, does that funding come through the schools? Does it come through? It does it depend on the project?
▶ 17:10 Um, in the past, historically, it has all come through the city through free cash. Um, we have just finished upgrading the security cameras at three elementary schools. And this would be to, uh, excuse me, to align the high school security cameras with everybody else in the district. So high school right now is the only one that doesn't have security cameras external. Um, and we're looking to get that all unified. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? I have question. Councilor gpe? Uh, thank you Madam Chair. I was just making a motion to recommend for passage. Second. Okay. We have a motion, uh, to recommend made by Councilor Repe. Seconded by Councillor Ro. Um, Mr. Clerk, Vice Chair Williams?
▶ 18:01 Maya Jamaleddine: Yes. Councillor Repe? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Chetty? Yes. Councillor Brem. Yes. Councillor Hamilton? Yes. Councillor Vandiver. Yes. Councillor Romanul. Yes. Councillor Nicaro. Yes. President Elli? Yes. And Chair Jamine? Yes. That's unanimous. Thank you. Um, next we have on our agenda and appropriation from free cash. Account number zero one dash 32 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 11,332 and 50, um, to Memorial Hall. Uh, number 693 for hvac, um, repairs. And we have also Mayor. And, um, Mrs. Uh, golden. Thank you. You wanna go? So? Sure. Um, so this appropriation request, uh, for $11,000, uh, or 11,332 is, um, to recoup funds. Uh, there was an lightning strike in the summer of 2023
▶ 19:11 that impacted Memorial Hall, um, and the HVAC unit. And so we had to conduct an emergency repair. Um, so we proceeded with the repair and, um, as the mayor previously stated, we, we had a priority list of going through, uh, free cash. And so we're just here to address this tonight. Um, Memorial Hall has kind of made it to this point in their budget, but they will need these funds to, uh, complete the year. Thank you. Any question from my colleagues? Councilor Kerra? So the Work has been done? Yes. Okay. And They're just looking to close the budget. Okay. Yes. Any other question? Okay, Council. And shall I'll make a motion to recommend to the full council? Second. Second. We have a motion, uh, to, uh, recommend made
▶ 20:07 Maya Jamaleddine: by Councillor Stewart. Seconded by Councillor Gpe. Mr. Clerk Vice Chair Williams? Yes. Councillor Gar Gpe? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Chetty? Yes. Councilor Reky. Yes. Councillor Hamilton? Yes. Councillor Vandiver? Yes. Councillor Romanul? Yes. Councillor for Naro? Yes. Uh, president Elli? Yes. And Chair Jamine? Yes. Ez. Thank you. Thank you. Um, next on our agenda, we have also with, uh, the Mayor and Mrs. Golden and appropriation number 2024 dash 21 appropriation from free cash account number zero one dash 32 4 0 1 in the amount of 24,000 to the police department. Number two 11 for costs associated with new recruits. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, so this is related to three police recruits
▶ 21:08 Jen Grigoraitis: that we currently have in the academy. They've been enrolled since February. And we'll hopefully transition out of that into field training in August. I am going to pass around for each of you a hard copy that's a line by line breakout of the costs. And Mr. Clerk, please feel free to add this to the record. And then the, uh, so this is for all of the equipment associated with being in the academy. The costs for the tuition was covered out of the current fiscal year's training budget in the police department. Any question? I guess I'll give a couple of seconds for everyone to go over those numbers if they need to. But Councilor Vandiver, Um, thank you Chair. Madam Chair. Uh, I was just curious if this wasn't anticipated
▶ 22:07 Jen Grigoraitis: or what the reason was that, that this isn't coming out of the existing budget. So this is historically how the city has paid for these costs. Um, and I, I know, um, chief Fowler will talk more during his budget presentation about sort of what it looks like timing, li timing wise, when we are looking to bring on new officers, um, it's typically a nine to 12 month process. So we often transfer over fiscal years. So we have just given how tightly we budget, usually left costs like this until we absolutely have to incur them. Mm-Hmm. Thank you. Councilor Ra? Yes. Sorry. I just wanna make a motion to recommend. Second, We have a motion to re recommend made by Councilor Fina Chira, seconded by Councilor Garipay on discussion.
▶ 23:00 Maya Jamaleddine: Okay. Vice Chair Williams? Yes. Councilor Repe. Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Chetty? Yes. Councillor Reky. Yes. Councillor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor er? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor for naca? Yes. President Elli? Yes. And Chair Jamal? Yes. Unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you Mrs. Uh, gold. And now we have appropriation 2024 dash 22. Um, and appropriation from free Cash account number zero one, uh, 324 0 0 1 in the amount of, uh, 400, uh, thousand, uh, four, $400,000 to Public Works account number, uh, 4 0 2 set forth and for replacement of Maryrose High School skylights and partial roof replacement at Franklin Street, at Franklin School. I'm sorry. Um, we have a director, uh,
▶ 24:07 Ellis, and we don't have Mr. Troop with us. No, he's not gonna be here tonight. Yeah. Um, so this project is, um, it's two critical projects right now that, uh, one at the high school where the skylights have been, we had one that actively fell in recently. Um, and the other is over room 26 at the Franklin School. There's a small roof section that requires replacement because that room has been compromised year after year from roof leaks. Um, we had requested free cash, I think it was, it was either last year or the year before for two different, um, projects. One was the evaluation of the roofs at the high school, the Franklin and the Ripley, uh, along with some design work. And then the other was to supplement work
▶ 24:58 at the high school roof. So the design work was 150,000 and the supplemental money for the high school roof was an extra a hundred thousand. Our plan initially was to combine that money with 415,000 of leftover money from an old high school roof bond that's still been sitting unspent. Um, and originally we were gonna try to tackle the learning commons roof and a portion of the, the portion of the Franklin roof. Uh, once we got into design, the architects identified for us that the skylights were in much more dire need than the learning commons roof. They also told us the learning commons roof was gonna be a $3 million project, which there was no way we could fund. Um, so we turned our attention to the skylights.
▶ 25:42 So we were actually in the midst of the design phase of the skylights when that one skylight fell in. So fortunately, we are well on our way to having the project designed and bid. Currently it's out to bid, it's a combination of the full skylight replacement. There's five different skylight units at the high school. So it's replacement of all of those window systems. And then it's replacement of the small roof at the Franklin. And then our long-term plan is that the, um, the remainder of the Franklin roof and the learning commons roof will be future MSBA accelerated repair projects where the state covers half the cost and we have to cover the other half of the cost. But the, since those are two very big ticket items, um,
▶ 26:23 that's our plan for the long term. So what we're proposing now is to take the 415,000 from the old bond, the 250,000. We've already spent a good chunk of it on the design, but we have a little bit left over. And then an additional 400,000 will complete the whole package to be able to construct both the Franklin and the, the small roof of the Franklin and the skylight replacement. Thank you questions, councilor? Um, just to clarify, and I don't know if other people know the skylights are in the main hallway of the high school. Okay. There are skylights right in the entryway too. Okay. And then it, it's five different sections. So the ones, I think the ones that, the one that fell in is over the main hallway.
▶ 27:08 But I think when you're up on the third floor there, there's a whole Yeah. Stretch of them. So it includes every skylight in the school would, will be replaced. Okay. And this does not include the, what's the, what's going on in the gymnasium? That's a completely, No, that's separate and that actually we, um, we're in the process of designing that as well. Okay, Great. Um, councilor Gpe. Thank you Madam Chair. Um, couple questions. When you said we had someone do an inspection of the, um, skylights, how long ago was that? Uh, let's see. I just had it up here. I just had the report up a minute Ago. Well, we got the report in the fall sometime Last fall. This past fall? Yeah, probably, um, probably November timeframe when they completed the report.
▶ 28:12 Mark Garipay: And then we went into the design phase. So they've been working on the, the final design for, um, several months And prior. The reason why I'm asking, I mean, we were very lucky. Mm-Hmm. This happened probably 15 minutes before the final bell. Mm-Hmm. How often were those inspected prior by the facilities department? Is there, is there an ongoing, um, There Inspection of, of the roof of the skylights? There hasn't. There's, we're up on the roofs of all the buildings all the time just because of the age and the leaks. Um, in terms of specifically inspecting the skylights, we would look at them whenever they were leaking, but not, you know, there wasn't like a routine inspection. I was told though by our facilities manager that it wasn't,
▶ 28:58 that the type of glass that they are is not, you know, when it falls, it doesn't shatter in a dangerous manner. I guess the principle is supposedly like picking it up with his hands. I don't know if it's a plexiglass that shatters into pieces that don't have like shards, but, um, you know, we were certainly lucky that nobody was standing under it, but I don't think it would've necessarily been as dramatic as what I pictured when I heard about, you know, glass shattering. Um, that's what I was told secondhand. And I, I think to your point, councilor Repe, that's why we wanted to fund replacement of all of them, not just the one that could have been really bad. Clearly there, there's a problem there. Mm-Hmm.
▶ 29:37 And just, um, who's gonna manage it? It says it's gonna be managed internally. Will this be completed before school starts? Yes. So we have, uh, Gail Architects, they're on board as the design engineer and also as the, um, they'll be the construction inspector, um, supplemented by our own, uh, staff who will also be overseeing the project. And sub bids will be open, I think next week. And then general contractor bids will be open a couple weeks later. And so we should have a contractor on board very soon. And we've been told that, that the lead times should be doable for completion this summer. Will we make sure this penalties in the contract? If not, 'cause this could really cause cause We, we will have, we do have liquidated damages
▶ 30:23 and that's standard in all our contracts. But I will say that if it is literally impossible to get the materials in time, it's hard to penalize the contractor for that if they get behind schedule because they don't order them in time or they don't construct them in time. That's a bit of a different situation, but I don't know that we'd penalize for lead times. And when you talked about the previous bond on the unspent bond, how old is that bond? It predates me from eight years ago, but, um, I believe it was from when the learning commons was built and it was high school. It was specifically high school money. So it had to be used in the high school. Yeah. That's why we were originally looking
▶ 31:05 at learning Commons roof. We were trying to tie it that closely, but where the skylights were a higher priority and the learning commons roof was so much more expensive. Uh, Catherine Armada said it was acceptable within whatever the language was of the original bond order for to spend it on this. Do we have any other bonds out there that unspent? Not that I know of. No, not that I know of. I wish we did. Yeah, no, I mean, it was a good fine. Yeah. I actually asked that question just recently. 'cause when I, when we first started talking about this money, probably three years ago, there were a couple of other very small bonds that hadn't been spent. But I believe those have all been spent on school projects since then.
▶ 31:39 Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Sorry. Anyone else? I also look for Kiara. Sorry, I I was start talking before you tell me two. Um, so this will not cover the Learning Commons roof. The learning Commons roof is the $3 million project. So that one will have to be okay. MSBA accelerator repair where the state pays for half of it, unless we wanna find 3 million for that. But I think it's, it's best suited to that MSBA program. It's leaking. Is it? There's no, like, it's not caving in or anything like that. There's No, it's not caving in or anything, but next time you're in the Learning Commons, if you look up at the, at the drop ceiling, there's a lot of stained tiles and it's, you know, it's sad to see
▶ 32:19 Maya Jamaleddine: that in a built in a room that's so new. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. And any other questions? Comment? Okay. What is the will of the committee? Madam Chair? I'll make a motion to Recommend to the full council. Second, we have, uh, a motion to recommend made by Councilor Stewart. Second by Councillor Repe. Mr. Clerk Vice Chair Williams? Yes. Councilor Repe? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Chetty? Yes. Councilor Brosky? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councillor Vandiver. Yes. Councillor Romanul? Yes. Councillor Finocchiaro. Yes. President Mag? Yes. And Chair Jamal? Yes. And Ms. va. Thank you. Um, this motion passes and now we have appropriation 2024 dash 23 and appropriation from pre-Cash. Um, account number zero one dash 32 4 0 0 1
▶ 33:23 in the amount of 250,000 um, dollars to Public Works account number, uh, 402 as four three and four replacement of the chiller at Lincoln Elementary School. Yes. So this is another critical need, um, from the facilities division. This is the air conditioning unit at the Lincoln School. So when the Lincoln School was designed, it was designed with, um, the, the actual design intent as a cost cutting measure was to have a chiller that had the capacity to chill a third of the school at a time. And it just rotates through. It can, it can get to every space that the network gets to every space in the school, but it only has the capacity for 60 tons and it's 170 ton full capacity building. Um, the chiller failed a few months ago.
▶ 34:19 Um, and we've been back and forth with our engineers from imag who we had hired to do the, um, the school HVAC study. So they've been studying all the schools HVAC. Um, so luckily we had them on board and we were able to ask them to look in more detail at this issue. Um, what they recommended was that rather than just an in-kind replacement, well, first of all, so the, the unit is over 20 years old and it's at the end of its useful life. What failed was two of the four compressors in the unit. So my first question was, can't we just put new compressors in and get it going again? And they said, no, it's beyond its useful life. You could replace those and then the other two will fail and there's other motors
▶ 34:58 and other components that will fail. So there's no sort of quick and cheap solution. Um, the next thought was let's just replace it with another 60 ton unit, or maybe an 80 ton unit of the same style. And they said, well, you can do that, but your, you know, your long-term plan is to move toward electrification and it would be a real, um, miss to replace it with another fossil fuel, uh, chilling unit that only does chilling. So instead they've proposed that we replace it with a, I wanna make sure I get it right. It's a heat pump chiller. I guess the current wasn't one is an air cooled chiller. This is a heat pump chiller that will have the ability to do heating as well as cooling. Um, it will have a little bit more capacity than the current
▶ 35:48 one for the cooling, but it will also, it should also run more efficiently than the old unit. And, um, we are looking at whether some of the other air handlers can also be converted with these LEV kits to heat pumps. At the same time. That'll be a cost driven decision, but at a minimum, the, the chiller will be replaced with a heat pump chiller that can during sort of the swing seasons, the spring and the fall. We can use that to provide some degree of heating in addition to the cooling. And then it moves us toward our electrification goal. So this will be a fully electric unit. Um, so I know a little bit more about it, but I'll stop there so I don't bore anybody. And if you have any questions,
▶ 36:33 Ryan Williams: Thank you. And I have, uh, vice Chair Williams. Thank you. Um, you guys buried the lead a little bit. That doesn't say heat pump anywhere in here. That's fantastic news that you guys are moving to a big commercial heat pump for that space. With regard to this study of HVAC at the other schools, um, do all of the other elementary schools have some capacity for building wide cooling? So the issue is the electrical systems. Mm. In almost all cases at the older schools, they don't have the electrical capacity to add cooling. Um, we have report, we have draft reports from Imeg for every one of the school buildings now. And they did them all As every building has its own report, it's a lot of repetitive information.
▶ 37:18 So now we're working on having them aggregate it into one report that we can share with folks. Okay. Um, I didn't feel the format they gave it to us in is really appropriate to share with the community quite yet. So, um, but they are recommending both how do we, um, upgrade the systems to meet modern demands, and then also how do we electrify all the systems over the long term. Um, so there's a lot of detail in there and it comes down to electrical for most of them. Um, okay. Thank you. Okay. Any, um, vice Chair Williams? Are you all set? I'm done. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Um, Councillor Vandiver. Thank You. Um, just a quick question. As we're evaluating the HVAC systems at the schools, um,
▶ 38:10 are we, are we at or considering being at the highest level of Merv filters as far as air quality and things like that? Or where does that fit into the picture? Yeah, so we moved to the highest filters that we could during covid. Right at the beginning of covid, we actually swapped out in all of our HVC units. Um, but I think it's Merv 13 was the desired, uh, filter for covid. But in a lot of cases, the units can't function with that high of a filtration, you know, that sort of dense of a filter. So we were, I believe we were at elevens in most units at thirteens and sums, and maybe it was at nines, I wanna say, in others. So we did sort of, we upgraded to the maximum that every particular unit could handle,
▶ 38:56 Kimberly Vandiver: but some units just can't handle, um, that much resistance through the filter. Right. Um, and I, I, this has likely been considered, but, um, someone in the family is an HVAC technician. Um, and, uh, there are, there are some low flow filters as well that, um, that are able to support some, some systems that have a lot of resistance. I'm not sure if that's been looked at, but something to, to consider. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Um, any other question comes Vice Chair Williams. If No one else goes for the first time, I'd like to make a motion to recommend to the full board. Second, We have a motion, uh, to recommend made by Vice Chair Williams, seconded by Councilor Karen Shetty. And Mr. Clark
▶ 39:46 Maya Jamaleddine: Vice Chair Williams? Yes. Councillor Repe. Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Chetty? Yes. Councillor Reky. Yes. Councillor Hamilton? Yes. Councillor Vandiver. Yes. Councillor Romanul? Yes. Councilor naca? Yes. President GL Yes. And Chair Aldine? Yes. Here, Ms. Vote? Yes. Thank you. Um, next, uh, appropriation 2024 dash 24 and appropriation from free cash account number zero one dash 32 4 0 0 1 in the amount of $100,000 to Public Works account number, uh, 4 0 2 as set forth a hearing, uh, at for roof replacement and localized repairs to Milano Senior Center. So again, high need, um, sort of a a top priority project. Um, the Milano had originally submitted in conjunction with DPWA 300, do a $300,000 ask in the CIP process
▶ 40:50 that we did last year with the Collin Center to address the Milano roof exterior repairs and the interior repairs that related to the, uh, damage from the leaking roof. Um, while it would be fantastic to do the full $300,000 project, just looking across the whole city at all the needs that we had and the amount of free cash that we had, we thought it was prudent to put in this a hundred thousand dollars order that will get us a new roof. And then if we do the repairs in-house on the interior, it should pay for the materials needed to repair the, the damage on the inside. And then, um, we'll probably hit the sort of lowest hanging in fruit and, and most high needs rot on the outside of the building.
▶ 41:37 Um, there is more work to be done than this a hundred thousand, but we feel that with a hundred thousand we can get a whole new roof plus the most critical areas of rot and the interior repairs. Thank you. Any question from my colleagues? Councilor gpe? Yes. Uh, thank you. What, um, when you say whole new roof, what ripping it off, what are we doing under Yeah, looking at the underlayment, replacing anything that's rotten underneath, because surely with the amount of water that's come in, there's probably some, some rotting boards underneath. So it would be a, a complete roof replacement. Flashing Yeah. Snow and ice. Yeah. I know some of the worst areas are some of those seams, so I think flashings gonna be critical.
▶ 42:23 Mark Garipay: Yeah, I, because, um, the previous, uh, director, um, I, I did a tour with her and, um, talk, talking to, um, the facilities director. He said the only way to fix the leak is to make sure we do the flashing. I just wanna make sure we're spending this money with investing. We're gonna make sure that that's gonna get done. And, and this is the leak when you're going in the, when you're looking at the entrance kind of up to the left? Yeah. You and I had looked at it one day I ran into you when I was out there looking at it, that that's the most critical area, but we're replacing the entire roof. So there are two areas that have been the worst with leaking. There's that area and then there's another seam that's kind
▶ 43:01 of closer to the top of the roof. Um, but the good news is that the cost estimate we got, and we don't know for sure that they'll be our contractor, but the cost estimate, um, was from Ranch Roofing who did the roof repair that we had done recently. So we tried to see if we could just repair in those worst areas. And so they have a good handle. They've been up on the roof. They have a good handle of what the full project entails, and they gave us the cost estimate With, this has been 2022, I think is when that started leak. Is there a lot of damage in inside? There's damage in a couple of the rooms, um, for sure. But I think it's, it, you know, it's nothing that's beyond our capability to repair.
▶ 43:43 Its, you know, sheet rock and, and maybe some trim, but No mold or anything. We're good there. I guess we'll find out when we open it up, but, but we've been in those walls before, unfortunately, when we had a, a major water leak last year, two years ago. Um, and we didn't see damage mold or anything at that time, so. Great. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Any other questions? Councilor Fero? Uh, I'd just like to make a motion to Recommend. Second, we have a motion to recommend made by Councilor Chiro, seconded by Councillor Romanul. And Mr. Clerk, Vice Chair Williams? Yes. Councillor Repe? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Chetty? Yes. Councillor Reky. Yes. Councillor Hamilton? Yes. Councillor v Devar?
▶ 44:37 Maya Jamaleddine: Yes. Councillor Romanul. Yes. Councillor naca. Yes. President Elli? Yes. And Chair Jamal Dean? Yes. That's Unanim. Thank you. This motion also. Thank you. Motion passes. Um, thank you both. Next we have, um, appoint in appointment and Reappointments appointment 2024 dash 27 Reappointment of city clerk for a three year term, uh, commencing May 1st, 2024. Um, president Elli, Madam Chair, I'd like to make a motion to hold this and committee, um, until Clerk foot, uh, returns to from her vacation. Second. Sure. We have a motion to hold and committee made by, uh, president Elli, seconded by, um, counselor Karen. Um, all, um, in favor, just like any opposed. Okay. Um, this, um, order would be, um, held in committee.
▶ 45:47 Jen Grigoraitis: Next we have in grants, um, grant 2024 dash 15 acceptance of state earmark for Milano Center improvements in the amount of, uh, 12,500. Sit left. Welcome, um, Mrs. Brown and Madam Mayor. I will turn it over to Director Brown to talk a little bit about while she waits for a laptop to warm up. I will. Um, so I, I, as folks remember, this was an earmark that we received in a previous state budget. And this was one of the two earmarks for Melrose that was subject to the mid-year nine C cuts, um, that we had this year. So this was originally for double the amount, and we will be making up the difference with ARPA funds that the project can continue as planned. Turn over to you. Thank you counselors. Uh, so we are seeking
▶ 46:39 to approve the 12,500, uh, from the State Year Mark Grant, um, for some much needed safety and infrastructure, um, updates to the Milano Center parking lot. Um, so we're hoping, um, that these funds would cover, um, some repaving of some problem areas, um, as well as, uh, some more accessible curb cuts that would, uh, reduce the total walking distance for folks, um, using the sidewalk. Um, and encourage them to use the sidewalk, um, as well as some, um, markings on the, uh, driveway to encourage flow of traffic. Thank you. And turn it back to my colleagues. Any question? Councilor Chetty. I'm gonna make a motion to recommend. Second. Second. We have a motion to recommend made by Councillor Chetty,
▶ 47:41 Maya Jamaleddine: seconded by Councillor Ro. Uh, um, Mr. Clerk Vice Chair Williams? Yes. Councillor Repe? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Carcetti. Yes. Councillor Reky. Yes. Councillor Hamilton? Yes. Councillor Vandiver. Yes. Councillor Ryan. Yes. Councillor Finocchiaro. Yes. President Rei? Yes. And Chair Jamal? Yes. That's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, counsel. Thank you again. Um, next we have an orders order. 2024. 2024 dash 28 requesting the appropriation of, um, that's a big number. Uh, five. It's very reasonable. 5.5 million. Say that together all stated 500,000 to pay, uh, five five, 500,000 to pay costs for design and engineering of a new Merose Highlands Fire Station and new Merose Police Station.
▶ 48:51 Jen Grigoraitis: Madam Mayor. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, just, I, I know the language of the order is a little confusing. It, it has to mirror, um, the language that was submitted to Bond Council. This is the initial first request for, um, bonding related to the four public safety buildings that were approved in a dead exclusion in November. Um, as I had previously let you all know, scheduling is hard and I messed up calendars and, um, Ms. Gaffey is actually away attending a family event tonight. I think it's critical that she's here to answer questions. So I would, um, request a motion to hold this in. Committee. Motion to hold second. Great. Thank you. We have a motion to hold in committee made by Councilor Karen.
▶ 49:29 Maya Jamaleddine: She seconded by Councilor Mano. And all in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This, uh, order will be held in committee, uh, and we'll, we'll coordinate and when it will be rescheduled for. Um, Motion shall adjourn. Second, We have motion to adjourn made by Councillor gpe. Seconded by Vice Chair Williams. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, we're ajour. That's new.