Legal & Legislative Committee — 2025-01-13
Attendance
Cal Finocchiaro ; Mark Garipay ; Maya Jamaleddine ; Leila Migliorelli ; Devin Romanul ; Kimberly Vandiver
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Comment
- Minutes Approval
- Legislative Items
- Replace current City Ordinance Section 177-12 Snow and Ice Removal with revised ordinance language to address property owner responsibilities for snow and ice removal
- Informational Update to City Council related to City Code Enforcement
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE LEGAL & LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE CALENDAR● JANUARY 13, 2025 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:30 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 The public should take notice that the Melrose City Council may, on certain occasions, have a quorum in attendance due to standing committees of the City Council consisting of both voting and non-voting members. Members attending this duly posted meeting are participating and deliberating only in conjunction with the business of the standing committee. Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Maya Jamaleddine Chair Present Devin Romanul Vice Chair Present Cal Finocchiaro Present Mark Garipay Present Leila Migliorelli Ex Offico Member Present Kimberly Vandiver Present
(ID # 12279) Ordinance Replace current City Ordinance Section 177-12 Snow and Ice Removal with revised ordinance language to address property owner responsibilities for snow and ice removal Held in Committee Legal & Legislative Committee
(ID # 12338) Informational Informational Update to City Council related to City Code Enforcement Hold Legal & Legislative Committee City of Melrose Page 1 2/4/2025 12:17 PM
Transcript
▶ 21:25 Maya Jamaleddine: She and her, the chair and joining me are, uh, tonight are voting members, vice Chair Romanul councilors, RO gpe, van Dever, and President CLE Lee Exofficio for the non-boarding members, um, counselor Hamilton Kace of Brosky Williams and Stewart. This serves as notice of Quorum for the record and in accordance with the open meeting law. This meeting is being recorded and broadcast live on MMTV, uh, for the, um, public comment portion. Uh, now I will motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objection, public comment is now open. And this is the portion, uh, of the meeting where anyone from the public can come forward and speak on any item on the agenda for tonight.
▶ 22:24 Maya Jamaleddine: Seeing no one in, uh, person, uh, madame, do we have no, no one, uh, online and seeing no comments, um, uh, for public comments, uh, I will motion by unanimous consent to close public comment. Seeing no objection, public comment is now closed. And at this time, I will motion by unanimous consent to approve, um, the minutes, um, for The previous, um, committee meeting, Which Is, uh, November 25th, 2024. Seeing no objection minutes, uh, from, uh, November 25th, 2024, um, are approved. Uh, first item on our agenda is ID number 12 27 9, replace current city ordinance section seven, uh, 177 dash 12, snow and ice removal with revised ordinance to address property owner responsibilities for snow and ice removal.
▶ 23:40 Devin Romanul: This, um, ordinance is presented by Vice Chair Devin Romanul and Counselor Ryan Williams. I will, um, give, um, uh, counselor, um, Romano the time to present this ordinance. Thank you very much, chairman Jamine. Um, good evening, everybody. Appreciate the consideration. Um, I just wanted to say, uh, when I was conducting a listening tour at the start of my tenure last year, I'm speaking to a number of my constituents and one of the through lines that, uh, came up, one of the concerns that I heard repeatedly was around snow and ice removal, both by the city and on an individual level. And, um, upon further investigation, I was doing some research on some of the best practices and the status and surrounding communities.
▶ 24:22 Devin Romanul: And what I found was that Melrose is a little bit of an outlier in that we don't actually have, uh, presently a residential requirement to do anything with your ice and snow in front of your sidewalk. I think in instances that's created some, some walking hazardous uh, conditions. Um, and currently the current ordinance as it states is it's a little bit, um, uh, stilted, but it basically says that if you have a building with an awning, you have to shovel. Um, we're really concerned about awnings, and if you have a commercial or industrial property, you have to shovel in front, but nothing for residential only that you can't throw snow from your property into the road. Um, so my reason for filing this is that, you know,
▶ 25:03 Devin Romanul: number one, I was hoping to bring us more in alignment with some surrounding communities to make sure there is a, you know, civic obligation to create safe walking, you know, biking, driving conditions in, in your community, um, and that property owners and, and folks living here, um, do their part. Uh, so then that way it, it becomes, uh, you know, for kids walking to school, folks biking, you don't have people walking on the road. You don't have people slipping and falling. Um, so, uh, that was my, my reasoning for filing. And I know that we've got a stack committee meeting tonight. So my anticipating my, I'm anticipating that we just start the conversation tonight and this will, will have an opportunity to ruminate
▶ 25:40 Devin Romanul: and, uh, consider, you know, how you feel, how your constituents feel. Um, but I was really hoping for just a, a, a thoughtful conversation in the coming weeks about ways we can create, uh, you know, a, a safer city, how we can create civic obligation around snow removal and, and also inform the public around what the DPW already does around, um, certain school properties, what that radius of removal already is, so we can have a better understanding of what residents can expect and, and when there are outliers. Um, and then I also know that we have a, a looming conversation on code enforcement, which is gonna connect to this certainly because we have a ton of code, code enforcement concerns in the city,
▶ 26:15 Devin Romanul: and make sure that we're, you know, um, uh, doing that in a sustainable, equitable, you know, predictable way for our residents. So anyway, um, I'm not precious about particular stipulations or, uh, particular language. I just really excited to have a, a genuine conversation with you all and, and hope we can get an outcome that we're all happy with. Awesome. Thank you so much. Um, I will open the floor for my colleagues if they have any questions and to start the conversation, the discussion, and then we can, um, get to the will of, um, the counselors. Um, uh, president Ali. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to, um, through the chair, thank Counselor Romano and Counselor Williams for filing this.
▶ 27:00 Leila Migliorelli: Um, to start the conversation. Um, I'd be particularly interested on hearing from my colleagues who are ward counselors, as I know that they're on the front lines of, um, neighbor neighbors and residents. Um, comments about, um, snow removal. I, I can just speak from my own personal experience in walking around. Um, and this, we've had two snowy events since, um, councilor Amman had filed this order and, um, you know, have noted that some of the sidewalks are impassable and difficult to walk on. And I think it's gonna be a matter of all of us working together to sort of balance the language, um, to help figure out what is something that is workable, feasible, um, to help protect our residents as they're walking around.
▶ 27:46 Kimberly Vandiver: Um, but then also ensuring that, um, enforcement and is equitable and, um, you know, particularly for our elderly population. So I just wanted to say, I just look forward to the, the conversation of the next coming weeks and hearing from people on it. Thank you. Thank you, madam President. Any other, um, comments or discussion from councilors? Um, councilor Van, Uh, I also, um, through the chair wanted to, to say that I appreciate the thoughtfulness that's gone into this. Um, so far I see that there is some consideration for elderly residents and, and people who may need some sort of exemption. Um, and I, I, I think the point is also well taken about, um, commun communicating out with the DPW does
▶ 28:34 Kimberly Vandiver: what the city already does, um, so that people have an expectation. I know there are some, um, some rhythms to it that may not be apparent to people in, in terms of clearing the major streets first and then clearing routes to school and clearing, um, you know, ordering, you know, working on hills before non hills. And so I think, I think if that information is out there for residents, that can also play a piece in, in, uh, in a better outcome for everyone and, and, uh, and everyone feeling in line with, with, uh, the system that we end up setting up. Thank you. Any other comments? Councilor gpe? Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, so, uh, you know, I have a number of questions and I'm glad, um, this is gonna go on.
▶ 29:24 Mark Garipay: We have a, we're gonna have, um, a discussion. Uh, as you know, this has been brought up over the years a number of times, um, with, uh, more or less, um, let's say no action or voted down. I think the last time it was placed on file. Um, but, uh, through the cheer, just a couple of mine, just thinking right now is like, when does this, when would this take effect? Is it, is it based on inches? Is it based on like a dusting? Um, because then it goes into, if, if an elderly person does hire a outside contractor to come in, typically they don't show up unless it's three or four inches. Um, you know, and we talk about enforcement. Um, we gotta, we gotta look at how are we handling, we know we do the schools,
▶ 30:12 Mark Garipay: but there's other, other areas of the community that are not, um, on the property owned by the city, that's not on the, necessarily the sidewalk plow route. So there's a lot of, um, a lot of things that, for me, in order to, to, to support this, so to speak as it is now. I'm glad we're gonna have this conversation, so maybe I'll be able to get there. But, um, but, uh, we can talk over the next offline or whatever and, and, and tell you my, my concerns, but I appreciate the, I appreciate the, um, the way this is getting put forth, and, and we're gonna have, we're gonna have a discussion on it. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Kimchi, I am a non-voting member, so just wanna make sure that other counselors
▶ 30:57 Manjula Karamcheti: who are on the committee have an opportunity first. So my hand just raised, but I wanna make sure to wait. That's okay. Go ahead. Okay. Um, well first I wanna say Councilor Romanul and Councilor Williams. I also really appreciate you putting this together and really appreciate sort of your introduction to this and that you're looking for like conversation and information and for this to be an actual process. Um, 'cause I think for me, in like the big picture of this, of course, I support snow and ice REM removal and the civic engagement of all members of our community to make sure that our streets and our sidewalks are safe and clear. And I think it is in the details of who and how and when, that I have some questions about,
▶ 31:45 Manjula Karamcheti: particularly thinking about our populations that are perhaps more marginalized, um, that perhaps don't have access, don't have time or working jobs where the, the timelines of things make it a little more difficult. And I, I will share the quickest anecdote. So I was at my parents on Saturday in Chump Sword, which is a similar and different community than Melrose. But given the way the snow happened, we were there to celebrate my dad's 85th birthday, and somebody had already come to do their sidewalks and their driveway, but the, by the time we arrived, the sidewalks were kind of covered again, and it was a safety issue for them to leave their house. But it was also, if there were fines, like it's potential
▶ 32:35 Manjula Karamcheti: that my parents would've been one of those fines. So just kind of, I share that just as a what's on my mind in terms of making sure our streets, our sidewalks are safe for pedestrians, but also that we're really thinking about how people are impacted, um, and how we might educate the community. I know in my neighborhood in Ward one, if there is someone who is unable to do their sidewalks, neighbors generally take care of it. And so just thinking about all the different layers of how we approach this, um, with the same goal in mind. So just wanted to say that, and again, really appreciate you putting this forward, and I'm excited for the conversation and how we can all work together to figure out
▶ 33:18 what really makes sense for the city. Councilor Ro I was basically have very similar, uh, sentiments. I think that this is a good start. I do have some comments. I don't actually have to get to it tonight, but, um, I just, overall, I wanna make sure that this is going to, um, help our community and not put a burden on them, um, and make sure it's just, it's laid out right? So we're, um, protecting people and making sure they're safe on the sidewalks versus, um, you know, making people feel like they're gonna be fine all the time. So, um, and I'm, I'm not saying that that's what you're going for, but, um, just wanna make sure we, we balance it. So, but thank you for putting it together's a start. Thank you.
▶ 34:02 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Councilor Ro, councilor Van Devin. Uh, given the discussion, uh, I'd like to motion to hold committee for further discussion. Second. Thank you. We have a motion, uh, made by council ver uh, seconded, uh, uh, by, uh, president Mcle on discussion. I would like to share that, you know, since this, uh, order had been proposed, ordinance had proposed, and I received a few calls from, uh, constituents and, um, you know, constituents may receive it differently based on their identity, based on their lived experiences, uh, and see it from different perspective. I do appreciate the way that this ordinance have been presented in a way, giving the opportunity for to hear, uh, from constituents
▶ 34:50 Maya Jamaleddine: and not rushing that order and give it time to discuss it and explore options that could be, could serve, um, the different populations in Melrose and explore, um, um, collaboration and partnership with different departments, whether DPW or, um, uh, the senior center or, um, other departments. So I do appreciate that, and I hope I do invite constituents to reach out and share their personal experiences and their thoughts, uh, so that we would be able to get to the right decision by the end of this or, uh, discussion. Thank you so much. If there is no other comments, uh, in discussion, Councillor Stewart? Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, yeah, Madam Chair, just quickly, um, most people made the similar point
▶ 35:40 Maya Jamaleddine: that I wanted to make, but, uh, the two main concerns that I think we do need to get on the table and understand is equity and enforcement. Um, and I think those were brought up directly or indirectly by a number of the, the counselors, but, uh, I, I think we need to explore and come to, I think, uh, a common understanding of what that is. Thank you, madam. Thank you. Mad thank you. Um, since we're, uh, we have, um, a decision to hold it, uh, in committee, um, all in favor, Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This order will be held in committee, uh, next on our agenda ID number 12 33 8, informational update to city council related to city code enforcement. And, um, do we have anyone from, uh, we have
▶ 36:41 city solicitor and, um, and member of the, uh, administration, um, Ms. Kreek? Goodnight. Hi, good evening. Good evening. Um, nice to see you all again. So, um, we're here. Just, I think, um, the mayor wanted to provide just a general kind of overview and update regarding code enforcement of the city's ordinances. I think, um, some counselors around the tables, um, either get calls or questions from residents and then sort of ping it to the mayor's office. And so this was the start, I think, of getting, um, everyone on the same page with regards to, um, what departments can enforce what ordinances and what the capacity is, um, of the administration and of our staff to enforce, um, those ordinances,
▶ 37:30 whether it's, um, snow shoveling possibly, or, um, leaf blowers, animal concern, um, you know, yeah, concerns around animals. And so, um, what the mayor did was, um, in the summer kind of convened all of the departments that are, um, do have some enforcement authority, um, bestowed upon them per the city's ordinances to kind of understand, you know, their challenges, enforcing those ordinances. Um, decided that, you know, a good start would be for everyone to have the same, um, we, we call them ticket books, but citation books so that, um, every department head that's responsible for enforcing ordinances would be coming from the same touchpoint with a resident, um, that might be in violation of something.
▶ 38:17 Um, we've issued those and we're in the process of kind of working with those department heads to see if that's working to enforce the ordinances. Um, I know a lot of our staff do a lot of more proactive outreach when there's, um, concerns in around, um, people who are violating ordinances. But, um, yeah, so that's sort of the overview of the in info order. Thank you. Um, I can either open it for, um, uh, this ser ser, um, to share any thoughts and then we can open it for my colleagues with questions. Sure. Thank you Madam Chair. Um, I do have a memo that was submitted with this order. Um, so I'll just, I can briefly outline some of that if it would help the council. Um, so under, um, 20 1D, so 40 section 20 1D,
▶ 39:06 that's our local enforcement mechanism that we have in the city currently. So, uh, like Ms. M**k said, we have, um, ticket booklets that have, that have recently been issued to various enforcing agents, which are defined under the city ordinances that I've also cited in my memo. Um, so as you can see, it's various department heads. So that would be the mechanism for enforcement. Um, currently what that would entail would be to issue the ticket. Um, and I, I do wanna add, this is not the only mechanism for enforcement. Like Ms. Gimmick said, you don't have to jump to fine, it is in the discretion of the enforcing agent. Um, obviously the first time written warning, then they might jump to fine after that,
▶ 39:42 and then the fine can escalate up to $300. Currently we have it going up to one 50, um, for I think every violation in our ordinances. I think last time it was updated was 2009. Um, I will say, so once the ticket is issued, um, what would happen is they pay it within a certain time period that's labeled on the ticket under 20 1D. Um, if they failed to do that, you can have a clerk magistrate's hearing. Um, and at that point they decide whether they've failed to pay or not. If they have, then you have a show cause hearing. Um, then if they still haven't paid, they issue a criminal complaint, obviously. Usually the clerk ma magistrate likes to try to work it out between the city and the person before that
▶ 40:19 to get some fine paid in a number of days. But that is the current process. It's a little difficult for cities and towns, as you can imagine, a Massachusetts to collect fines that way. So a lot of cities and towns that have had trouble collecting fines have adopted 40 U, which is a, um, a statute that this council could accept, which would just give an additional ability to be able to collect fines. I don't think we have enough information at this point to determine that we've had a problem collecting fines. I think we kind of need to start, um, from the basics, um, give the tickets. I think that's what we're doing now, and see if there is a problem with that other piece, and then potentially bring it back to council
▶ 40:54 to see if 40 U makes sense, uh, to help with the collection. Okay. And we were talking about collection in the collection, uh, office is through that. So, um, the tickets would be filed with the city clerk's office. There's a mechanism under the statute. Every ticket right now that's issued should also be copied to my office, so I'm made aware It also goes to the clerk magistrate at the, at the district court. Um, but therefore, you know, sanitary code violations, uh, housing code violations. Mm-hmm. Um, snow and ice like we talked about, and then any other municipal ordinance, so noise violations, et cetera. Thank you. Any question from my colleagues? Councillor William? Are there any other voting members that I,
▶ 41:38 Ryan Williams: I raised my hand pretty quickly. That's Okay. Just wanna check. No problem. Go ahead. Okay. Um, so I read in the memo that you started, someone started the process of, um, doing something over the summer and you said you weren't sure where things were sta were stood at the moment. So I guess my, my question is, at what point can we expect to learn how many citations have been issued? How many of those have been successful, um, across all departments, including police? You know, are we, are we expecting some kind of report or a document that has like a chart that says, you know, here are the departments, here are the citations they issued, and here are the ones that have been collected over the course of a certain amount of time.
▶ 42:17 Is that the expectation with this? Or what are we, what are we doing? I, i, I would give that to the will of the committee if that's something you'd like, or if that's your expectation to, to receive that. We're happy to provide that. Um, if that's something that would be helpful, I, I'll just point out, um, which I said, and, um, solicitor Phillips echoed, what we won't capture is sort of the not, you know, the touch points in which these departments are all taking care of issues without having to issue somebody a fine and be, you know, have it totally, um, a penalty. I would, I would, um, suggest that people could record that, you know, in the same way that the police record written warnings when they
▶ 42:57 Ryan Williams: don't result in a ticket. Just because the only, um, thing it can do is make the department's efforts look more robust to, you know, I mean, certainly if the building inspector comes in here and says, I gave three fines out last year, it's a different thing from coming in and saying, I did a hundred visits. Um, and, you know, resulted in three fines tells a very different story. So I think it would be helpful to have that information. Sure. Second Councilor Vandiver, Uh, through the chair, I would, I would echo and I would love to see that type of information as well. I, as a ward counselor, I, I feel like, feel as though we have very little in our toolkit sometimes and, and we hear a lot, we hear some frustration with,
▶ 43:39 Mark Garipay: with people bringing an issue again and again and, and not seeing where that's going or, or how they could pursue it further. So I would, I would love to be able to better, um, you know, have, have a more robust process and, and, and, or give people more detail about what is being done and the broader picture. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor gpe. Um, thank you Madam Chair. I think I've might've looking at this might've answered my own question, but in the, uh, in the information you gave us, you, there are certain categories, parks, playground, cemetery, public works, who's responsible for, for, uh, giving out fines. Like for example, just take, take the cemetery, right? Um, they're only there a couple hours
▶ 44:29 Mark Garipay: a day dog. No dogs are allowed in the cemetery. Is it up to them to find, or is it, uh, who, I mean, do we have a, um, animal control officer that would, would be the second person that would go out on that? Or same, same with no dogs and say the athletic or the high school, you know, we see that a lot. Would it be the athletic department or is it just specific to these, to these categories? You know what I mean? Yes. Uh, so through the chair. So it is it the enforcing agents defined in, um, 1 21 of the city ordinances. So cemetery would be the superintendent, but off, off duty hours, like you mentioned, um, the police department is the enforcing agent for all city ordinances. So currently that's how it exists is off hours,
▶ 45:14 Mark Garipay: off regular business hours. It would be the police department would be the second option. Now, on school property where the school department's a separate, separate, um, department, we, we don't have any control over them. Would that be similar or would that, how would that be handled there? If there's a city ordinance relative to enforcement on school property, then police would, I don't know that we have a specific one related to that. I know there are. I think those would be more criminal. Yeah. Yeah. 'cause I know there are that They would have law Specific signs. No, no, No. Yes. Those fall under state law for, and I'm not, I'm just, that's what's coming to my head's not Yes. That would be police
▶ 45:45 Devin Romanul: generally. Yeah. So, okay. Thank you Vice chair, uh, Romano. Um, Thank you so much for, uh, putting this all together. Super helpful. Um, really excited to learn more about 40 DU and whether or not that's a, a lever that we want to, uh, take advantage of and, and whether or not it's appropriate. I'm, I'm curious if there are, I think there, there are a couple of things that come to mind. Are there other communities that have a reporting system for reporting code enforcement? Not to say, I'm opposed to getting emails from my constituents. Please email me early and often. Um, if there are things that come up in your neighborhoods, um, and, uh, or just say hello, but the, the, um, we get a lot of, you know, hey, there's,
▶ 46:31 Devin Romanul: you know, um, health code violation or, um, you know, something related to shoveling or something related to noise. And I often feel like work sort of in the scheme of telephone. And I'm wondering if there's something that we could look at other tools that other communities use where we say, okay, here's a, um, a really, uh, simple reporting mechanism that we can certainly be party to, but, um, that maybe is a little more constituent friendly. And it might help with capturing some data on what the departments are already doing. Um, I'm sure it's like a, a whole subterranean herculean effort that we are unaware of, or at least I'm unaware of. Um, and our city is unaware of. And I, I think that having some of that anecdotal and,
▶ 47:10 Devin Romanul: and quantitative quantitative data will be helpful. Either a number of tickets or warnings or visits. Um, and we can get a, not that we're trying to build a CompStat type of program here, um, or be overly prosecutorial, but I'd be, I'd be curious if there's something that we can point to and say like, let's put a tool online that like, helps people track that kind of thing. 'cause I, I think often people feel like they're kind of shouting into a void and they don't know when things are resolved and, um, you know, I just wanna be a thought partner on, on doing that. And, and then I think the other thing I wanted to, so sort of inquiry number one, the other inquiry is, is there some sort of, um, do we have any data to suggest
▶ 47:49 Devin Romanul: that we are, have tremendous under, we're we have a lack of capacity around code enforcement that we're, there's a set of behaviors that we feel like are, you know, deleterious to the community that are not getting addressed through code enforcement and there's something that we should be thinking about there. So I think those are Mikes worth. Two, two thoughts. Thank You. Thank you. Any other comments? Okay. What is the will of the committee Motion to place on file? We have a motion to place on file made by, um, president Mali. Second, seconded by Councilor Ro on discussion, seeing none. Oh, Van is there. If, if we do, um, vote to places on file, is there a time at which we could expect to revisit this
▶ 48:43 Maya Jamaleddine: and, and, and receive any of the data that we were discussing? Yes. My, um, from my experience and my understanding, we can bring it back. So if you feel that it is time for you to bring it for some reason, you can just, um, uh, propose to bring it back before us and then we can discuss it. Uh, president gl Madam chair, can I withdraw my motion to place on file? I think we would have to put it on hold in order to bring it back up. And here in here again. Um, to, so I will withdraw my motion with, I'll withdraw my second and I'll motion to place this order on. Hold on. Okay. So we have committee, Sorry. So, so just to explain for the public, in order for us to bring it back, we are gonna have to, uh,
▶ 49:32 Maya Jamaleddine: place it on hold, rather place it on file and present regularly. Place, place it on, uh, hold. Uh, so we have a motion, uh, made by President Melli to place it on file. And seconded by, uh, Councillor Fero on discussion. Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This, um, order is now placed on hold. Um, and now this conclude our, um, orders, uh, our agenda for tonight. If there is no objection, I would like to make a motion to adjourn. Seeing none this, um, uh, meeting is now a Jen. Thank you. Good evening, Lapping. The time is 7 8 0 5, sorry. The ti time is 8 0 8 0 5 on Monday, January 13th, 2025. This is the meeting in the Appropriations and Oversight Committee. I'm Mark Oppe, the chair.