City Council — 2025-01-06

City Council Regular Meeting

This meeting starts at 8:50 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Attendance

Cal Finocchiaro absent · Ward 6; Mark Garipay present · Ward 4; Ward Hamilton present · At-Large; Maya Jamaleddine present · At-Large; Manjula Karamcheti present · Ward 1; Leila Migliorelli present · At-Large; John Obremski absent · Ward 2; Devin Romanul present · Ward 7; Robb Stewart present · Ward 3; Kimberly Vandiver present · Ward 5; Ryan Williams present · At-Large

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE CITY COUNCIL BULLETIN● JANUARY 6, 2025 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Regular Meeting 7:45 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Cal Finocchiaro Ward 6 Absent Mark Garipay Ward 4 Present Ward Hamilton At-Large Present Maya Jamaleddine At-Large Present Manjula Karamcheti Ward 1 Present John Obremski Ward 2 Absent Devin Romanul Ward 7 Present Robb Stewart Ward 3 Present Kimberly Vandiver Ward 5 Present Ryan Williams At-Large Present Leila Migliorelli At-Large Present

(ID # 12338) Informational Informational Update to City Council related to City Code Enforcement Assign to Committee Legal & Legislative Committee

(ID # 12330) Appointment/Reappointment Reappointment of Lee Phalen, 102 Clifford Street, to the Board of Assessors for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February, 2028. Assign to Committee Boards & Commission

(ID # 12331) Appointment/Reappointment Appointment of Regina Gibbons, 358 Lebanon Street, to the Commission on Women Assign to Committee Boards & Commission

(ID # 12329) Administrative Order City of Melrose Page 1 1/9/2025 11:23 AM Minutes City Council January 6, 2025 Transfer of the land and building previously used for the Beebe School, located at 263 West Foster Street in Melrose, MA, to the care, custody and control of the Mayor to be used for general municipal purposes. Assigned to Committee Appropriations & Oversight Committee

(ID # 12327) Agreement of the City Renewal of the Inter-Municipal Veterans Service Agreement Among The City of Melrose, The Town of Wakefield and The Town Of Saugus Assigned to Committee Appropriations & Oversight Committee

(ID # 12342) Authorization Pursuant to M.G.L. chapter 41, section 19I, authorize the City Clerk to receive additional compensation for performing the services of Clerk of Committees. Assigned to Committ Finance Committee

(ID # 12328) Grant Acceptance of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Recycling Dividend Program Grant in the amount of $14,300 Assign to Committee Appropriations & Oversight Committee

(ID # 12332) License - Common Victualler Common Victualler Renewals for 2025 Assigned to commitee Protection and License Committee

(ID # 12334) License - Gasoline Storage Gasoline and Storage renewal licenses for 2024 Assigned to commitee Protection and License Committee

(ID # 12333) License - Second Hand Dealer Second Hand Class 2 Auto License Renewal for 2024 Assigned to commitee Protection and License Committee City of Melrose Page 2 1/9/2025 11:23 AM

Transcript

▶ 9:15 Madam Clerk, will you please call the role? Absolutely. Councilor Occhio. Councilor Garipay? Here. Councilor Hamilton? Here. Councilor Jamal Ledine. Here. Councilor Karen Chetty. Here. Brisky. Councilor Stewart? Here. Council Vve? Here. Council Williams? Here. President Mili. Here. Okay. That makes I'm also here. What's that? I'm sorry. Nobody cares. I'm here too. My, oh my gosh. I just want that, that's all. But not least. Um, council, the Ramon. Sorry I haven't been kicked out yet, have I? Okay. That makes a quorum. All right. At this time please rise. If you were able to join us in the Pledge of Allegiance, I pledge p To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

▶ 10:10 Leila Migliorelli: one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. For all. Thank you for giving me that unfettered view the Amen. Um, next up are the reading of the Minutes. At this time I will motion to approve without reading by unanimous consent. The minutes from December 16th, 2024. Seeing no objection, those minutes are now approved. Next up is public comment. I will motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objections, we are now open for public comment per rule 33 A of the Melrose City Council rules. This is the portion of the meeting where the public may speak on any item on tonight's agenda. Comments expressing any other viewpoints on other matters are also welcome.

▶ 10:58 Just a reminder that this is a public comment period and it's opportunity for the public to share comments. Counselors will not respond. The public has up to five minutes for comments. Um, thank you. Please state your name and town. Sure. Uh, my name is Henry Kesner. I am from proudly from Melrose, Massachusetts. Okay, Welcome. Hello, city counselors. My name is Henry Kesner, my family and I live on North High Street. We are proud Lincoln Lions and Abutters to the BB school property. Each of you received at least an email from me before the holiday break and I wanted to properly introduce myself along with our group of neighbors. Some are here and several who cannot make it. Uh, they said they send their regards.

▶ 11:43 Uh, thanks to all of you who have engaged thus far in person over coffee, uh, attending our neighborhood gatherings, talking on the phone, these small simple acts as our elected officials go a long way and we do not soon forget it. So really thank you. Today you are, you also should have received an email from Elizabeth Cowell. Elizabeth is here. She's our recently appointed representative to the Public Safety Committee and lives in the Phineas Sprague homestead. A historic home directly to the left of the BB on West Foster. It's a beautiful old home. Please pay homage if you wish. Elizabeth has, uh, was added to the committee in late November after repeated asks to have someone, anyone from our neighborhood involved, excuse me.

▶ 12:30 Until that point, representation from our part of Melrose was neglected and there continues to be apprehension to fully involve our voice. As emphasized in the memo, initial work on the site has begun. Final decisions are due in February, uh, designs, sorry. Final designs are due in February and we have been presented with as one architect put it a baked cake. Meanwhile, the majority of Mel Rosens across all wards remain completely unaware of what is underway. This has only enhanced our frustrations and concerns from Melrose and eroded our trust despite being excluded from the process. We are approaching this from a place of compromise and a desire to work together towards a solution. We also see this unique project as an opportunity

▶ 13:16 to set Melrose apart. The memo captures the key areas of interest from our point of view. Principle among them are concerns regarding the size and therefore budget of the plans and its downstream impact on other phases of the public safety project. With this, let today mark a new era of process with this project. The process that is rooted in inclusion and engagement and lays a foundation for what we see as a partnership ahead in front of the council is a vote to accept the BB school's town property and the decision to appropriate funds to its po potential future as a police station. With this I leave you, all of you with a single word legacy. As Melrose citizens, we see this as an opportunity

▶ 14:00 for Melrose to do something special with a unique circumstance. There is no other town in Massachusetts that has a police station situated in a dense residential neighborhood and juxtaposed to a historic estate. Meanwhile, what has been proposed to date is a very large state-of-the-art police fortress of the for the future replacing what was one of our last remaining assets for education. In a town where we are desperate to improve all aspects of education for our children, the optics are not great and will get worse. Furthermore, the shift in focus from building a station that meets the well-deserving needs of our police force to a super structure that contemplates more policing and more crime is just bewildering to us

▶ 14:43 and raises so many more questions and raises greater concerns. Why so big? It is not what we voted for. Maybe this is the most important question to bring to the com to bring to committee in closing. I shared the word, that word again legacy. What do you want the front page headline to read when considering your legacy for Melrose? Is it Melrose Open state-of-the-art, large, largest per capita in the Commonwealth Police Station while schools and fire stations are left wanting or Melrose successfully harmonizes public safety with historic charm of their neighborhoods. A lesson imbalance in community collaboration. There're probably others. I just went with those two for now. Thank you for reflecting on these points

▶ 15:32 and hearing us as you take this forward to committee. We appreciate your care and collaboration in this process and look forward to partnering with you on what could be something very special for Melrose. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to speak? Is there anyone online? Madam Clerk? There is not. Okay with that. I will motion by unanimous consent to close public comment. Seeing no objections, we are now closed for public comment. Um, the mayor is not here this evening, so we do not have any communications. Um, next up is new business filing by the Honorable Mayor. Information items ID number 1, 2 3, 3 8. Informational update to city council related to the city code enforcement. This

▶ 16:20 Will go to legal and legislative. Next is appointments and reappointments ID number one. 2 3 3 0 reappointment of Lee Fallon 1 0 2 Clifford Street to the board of Assessors for a three year term. Said term to expire on the last day of February, 2028. This will go to the Boards and Commissions. Committee ID Number 1, 2, 3, 3, 1. Appointment of Regina Gibbons. 3 5 8 Lebanon Street to the commission on Woman. This will go to the Boards and Commissions. Next upper orders. Okay, orders ID number one. 2, 3, 2 9. Transfer of the land and building previously used for the BB school located at 2 63 West Foster Street in Melrose, mass to the care, custody and control of the mayor to be used for general municipal purposes.

▶ 17:20 Municipal go to appropriations and oversight ID Number one. 2 3 2 7. Renewal of the Inter Municipal Veterans Services Agreement among the city of Belrose, the town of Wakefield and the town of Sau. August. This will go to appropriations and oversight. Next are filings by the members of the Honorable Counsel. Id. Number 1, 2, 3, 4 2 Pursuant to M to Mass General Law, chapter 41, section I 9 1 91. Authorize the city clerk to receive additional compensation for performing the services of Clerk of Committees sponsored by at large Lila Melli. This will go to finance. Next are grants. Grants ID number 1 2 3 2 8. Acceptance of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Recycling Dividend Program Grant And the amount of 14,300.

▶ 18:15 This will go to appropriations and oversight Licenses ID number 1, 2, 3. Three. Two Common Vic renewals for 2025. This will go to protection and license ID Number 1, 2 3, 3, 4. Gasoline and storage Renewal licenses for 2024. This will go to protection and license ID Number 1, 2 3, 3 3. Secondhand class two. Auto license renewal for 2024. This will go to protection license. Um, we have no unfinished business expires. Is there anything to report under Rule 53? Seeing no reports, I will motion by unanimous consent to adjourn. Seeing no objection, we are now adjourned. Thank you.

City Council — 2025-01-06

Attendance

Agenda

Minutes

Transcript

Original documents