Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2025-04-14
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
- Minutes Approval
- Appropriation
- APPRO-2025-5 : An Appropriation from Mt. Hood Retained Earnings, account 620000-319000, in the amount of $330,000 (Three Hundred Thirty Thousand Dollars) to Mt. Hood Professional Services, account 620000-529000 to fulfill contract obligations.
- APPRO-2025-6 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $235,000 to the Parks Department #475 for playground equipment at the Hoover and Lincoln Schools
- APPRO-2025-7 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $455,000 to the IT Department #155 for replacement of teacher chromebooks, MVMMS projector replacements and PA system updates at the HS.
- APPRO-2025-8 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $34,847 to Essex Agricultural and Minuteman Technical High School for one additional student and a special education assessment.
- APPRO-2025-9 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $250,000 to fund the Snow and Ice Deficit (department #423)
- APPRO-2025-10 : An Appropriation in the amount of $269,865 to the school department for FY24 Medicaid reimbursement (account number #16204-490000).
- APPRO-2025-11 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (01-324001) in the amount of $48,000 to the schools (account 1350-490000) to fund the matching component of a federal grant.
- APPRO-2025-12 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $32,000 to the school department (#1905) for the iReady diagnostic.
- APPRO-2025-13 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $980,000 to the Fire Department (#221) for overtime costs ($905,000) and for equipment ($75,000)
- APPRO-2025-14 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $250,000 to DPW facilities (#402) for a feasibility study for projects at the Franklin School and Melrose High School.
- APPRO-2025-15 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $120,000 to DPW (#401) to fund the summer work program.
- APPRO-2025-16 : An Appropriation from Contract Stabilization (Fund # 8404) in the amount of $125,000 to the Police Department, salary and wages (#211).
- APPRO-2025-17 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $250,000 to the Special Education Reserve Fund (Fund #8408).
- APPRO-2025-18 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $750,000 to Capital Stabilization (Fund #8405).
- APPRO-2025-19 : An Appropriation from Free Cash in the amount of $100,000 to the Council on Aging (#541) for replacement of a van.
- Grants
- GRANT-2025-12 : Acceptance of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Planning 2.0 Grant in the amount of $100,000
- GRANT-2025-13 : Acceptance of a MassDOT Community Transit Grant for the Council on Aging
- Orders
- Authorize the Mayor enter into an Intermunicipal Agreement with the Cities of Chelsea and Everett to utilize MVP grant funding for the construction of tree filters in the Mystic River Watershed
- Requesting the City of Melrose withdraw from its current Veterans’ Services District, comprised of Saugus, Wakefield, and Melrose, at the end of Fiscal Year 25.
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CALENDAR● APRIL 14, 2025 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:31 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Maya Jamaleddine Vice Chair Absent Cal Finocchiaro Present Ward Hamilton Present Manjula Karamcheti Present John Obremski Present Devin Romanul Present Robb Stewart Present Kimberly Vandiver Present Ryan Williams Present Leila Migliorelli President, Ex Oficio Present Mark Garipay Chair Present
APPRO-2025-5 Appropriation An Appropriation from Mt. Hood Retained Earnings, account 620000-319000, in the amount of $330,000 (Three Hundred Thirty Thousand Dollars) to Mt. Hood Professional Services, account 620000-529000 to fulfill contract obligations. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-6 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $235,000 to the Parks Department #475 for playground equipment at the Hoover and Lincoln Schools Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-7 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $455,000 to the IT Department #155 for replacement of teacher chromebooks, MVMMS projector replacements and PA system updates at the HS. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-8 Appropriation City of Melrose Page 1 5/12/2025 12:10 PM Minutes Appropriations & Oversight Committee April 14, 2025 An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $34,847 to Essex Agricultural and Minuteman Technical High School for one additional student and a special education assessment. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-9 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $250,000 to fund the Snow and Ice Deficit (department #423) Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-10 Appropriation An Appropriation in the amount of $269,865 to the school department for FY24 Medicaid reimbursement (account number #16204-490000). Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-11 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (01-324001) in the amount of $48,000 to the schools (account 1350-490000) to fund the matching component of a federal grant. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-12 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $32,000 to the school department (#1905) for the iReady diagnostic. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-13 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $980,000 to the Fire Department (#221) for overtime costs ($905,000) and for equipment ($75,000) Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-14 Appropriation City of Melrose Page 2 5/12/2025 12:10 PM Minutes Appropriations & Oversight Committee April 14, 2025 An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $250,000 to DPW facilities (#402) for a feasibility study for projects at the Franklin School and Melrose High School. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-15 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $120,000 to DPW (#401) to fund the summer work program. Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-16 Appropriation An Appropriation from Contract Stabilization (Fund # 8404) in the amount of $125,000 to the Police Department, salary and wages (#211). Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-17 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $250,000 to the Special Education Reserve Fund (Fund #8408). Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-18 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $750,000 to Capital Stabilization (Fund #8405). Ought to Pass City Council
APPRO-2025-19 Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash in the amount of $100,000 to the Council on Aging (#541) for replacement of a van. Ought to Pass City Council
GRANT-2025-12 Acceptance of general law; decision; fund Acceptance of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Planning 2.0 Grant in the amount of $100,000 Ought to Pass City Council
GRANT-2025-13 Grant City of Melrose Page 3 5/12/2025 12:10 PM Minutes Appropriations & Oversight Committee April 14, 2025 Acceptance of a MassDOT Community Transit Grant for the Council on Aging Ought to Pass City Council
(ID # 12563) Authorization Authorize the Mayor enter into an Intermunicipal Agreement with the Cities of Chelsea and Everett to utilize MVP grant funding for the construction of tree filters in the Mystic River Watershed Ought to Pass City Council
(ID # 12579) Agreement of the City Requesting the City of Melrose withdraw from its current Veterans’ Services District, comprised of Saugus, Wakefield, and Melrose, at the end of Fiscal Year 25. Ought to Pass City Council City of Melrose Page 4 5/12/2025 12:10 PM
Transcript
▶ 37:21 Mark Garipay: Appropriations and Oversight Committee. I'm Mark Repe, the chair also joining me tonight, our recording In progress. Vice chair. Nope, sorry. Um, voting well. We're all voting members. Council Williams, council Machete, councilor Hamilton, council Romano Council Reky Council Ro Council Vandiver Council Stewart and President Mi Meley et officio. This serve as a notice of a quorum for the record in accordance with the open meeting law. This meeting is being recorded in broadcast live on MM MTV. Uh, I will motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objections, public comment is now open. This is the portion of the meeting where the public may speak to any item on the agenda.
▶ 38:13 Mark Garipay: Comments expressing any viewpoint on other matters are also welcome. If there's anyone in the gallery looking to speak tonight, please come forward seeing no one in the gallery looking to speak. Is there anyone online? There's not. Okay. No one on, uh, no one online. If there's no objection, I'll motion by unanimous consent to close the public comment portion of the meeting onto minutes. At this time, I'll motion by unanimous consent to approve without reading the minutes of the March 24th, 2025 appropriation and oversight meeting. Seeing no objections, these minutes are now approved. We are moving right along to the agenda. We have a lot of items on the agenda tonight for appropriations, um, for ease.
▶ 39:03 Mark Garipay: I'm gonna take items out of order as we go along, as we have speakers up here. So they're not gonna be coming up and down from the table. Um, just, uh, wanna let the committee know in advance. So the first appropriation is ID 1, 2, 4, 3 2. And appropriation from Mount Hood retained earnings account 6 2 0 0 0 dash 3 1 9 0 0 in the amount of 330,000 to Mount Hood Professional Services account 6 2 0 0 0 0 5 2 9 0 0 0 to fulfill contract obligations. Um, Rob Carillo, the floor is yours. Thank you. Um, yeah, so we're looking at this money appropriated to pay Sagamore, um, the management company to take care of the course. Um, the contract states that they have to get paid monthly, and it's a fixed amount, so if the course is closed,
▶ 40:07 Mark Garipay: if bad weather, whatever it is, they're still covered for that. Um, and then there's the percentage cut that we owe them from last year or the beginning of this year. So, um, just trying to keep them happy. They're doing a great job and they're making a lot of money, so we wanna continue to get them paid and take care of 'em. But if you guys have any questions on that, I'm happy to help you out. Uh, thank you. Um, any questions from the council? What's the will of the committee? Mr. Chair? I'll make a motion to recommend to the full council. Second, we have a motion to recommend order or id. 1, 2, 4. Three two by Councilor Stewart, seconded by Councilor Nuro on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. I'm sorry. Roll call. Vote.
▶ 40:59 Mark Garipay: Okay. So Councilor Jamine on here. Councillor Fanucchi. Yes. Councillor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Rum Chetty? Yes. Councilor Reky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Gar? Yes. Motion passes. Alright, that will be, uh, sent to the full counsel. Thank you. Recommendation for passage. Next up is ID 1, 2, 5, 7, 3. And appropriation from free cash account 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 235,000 to the parks Department. Number 4 75 for playground equipment at the Hoover and Lincoln Schools. Yeah, so I can give the backstory on both those. So the conversations for the Lincoln started between the principal and Joan Bell about a year ago.
▶ 41:47 Um, that was kind of next in the list for the playground to get repaired. Uh, my first week in this position, one of the staircases broke, and so there's a piece of plywood at the top of where that staircase was. I was just scrambling my first week to try to find out who installed that. Um, the company that installed it, I think it was what we estimated was 1992, where that whole structure was installed. I think the company shut down in the late nineties. No companies would repair that staircase, um, just for liability reasons. And the city's kind in the same boat. We can't just throw up wooden steps or anything like that. The staircase that broke was the a DA, uh, access point. So right now there's no a DA access point to that structure.
▶ 42:29 Um, there are students at that school with disabilities that would need that to get on the structure. Um, the rest of the structure's kind of wearing down rust paint, chipping. Um, it's, I went to the Lincoln and I think 2000 was my first year and I thought it was old then. So it's definitely done its job. Um, so that's that one. Um, the Hoover, the Hoover has kind of three structures. There's a climbing structure in the middle, a structure for six to 12 year olds, and a structure for two to five year olds. The two to 5-year-old structures, um, I couldn't find the exact install date. It was before 2000. Um, the climbing handles like the handrails are all like wobbling, ready to come down. All the rubber around it's kind of showing rust.
▶ 43:16 Ryan Williams: Um, so it's, it's definitely due. If that's not replaced, I'm probably gonna remove it after the school year and it's just gonna be mulch until we find a solution for it. But, um, kind of safety is a concern with, with both of 'em being older structures. And yes, if you guys have any questions on those, I'm happy to answer 'em. Okay. Um, counselor Williams first. Thank you. Um, do you know off chance how much money it costs to do the playgrounds at the Winthrop or the Horace Mann? Not off the top of my head. Okay. Um, having been a Hoover parent and a Lincoln parent, um, I'm aware of the condition of both playgrounds. The Lincoln playground is by far the worst of the two. And the Hoover Playground had some small
▶ 43:58 updates done by parents. Yes. Who paid for it, which is great. Um, have you talked to the principals at all about asking the local PTOs to contribute into these? Um, I did. So I met with the Lincoln principal. Um, other thing I forgot to mention, their recess has upwards of 160 kids out there once, and I think it's the only school without swings. I'm not a hundred percent positive on that, but yes, I kind of sat down with her and she gave me like a checklist. So the designs and quotes we got were based off of what she felt the needs were for the school. Um, the PTL mentioned helping out with fundraisers for, I know they wanna do like a sensory board and some other items there. Um, but they, they are willing
▶ 44:37 to fundraise and help with this. It's just a matter of kind of what's appropriated for it, if any. Yeah, of Course. Do you think 330,000, I'm sorry, not 330,000 No, I'm on the wrong item. Two thirty, two hundred and thirty $5,000. Is this enough to rehab both of these playgrounds? Um, yes. I think the, the quotes I got for the Lincoln were between 150 and 180. So three quotes, um, based off what company we would go with. Um, probably in that range, the kind of the market for it is pick and choose. So it's not like I can say, I can say 150,000 project 180, um, just meeting all the requirements that the principal asked for. Kind of the higher end of that makes most sense, especially with being a 30-year-old playground with, with issues.
▶ 45:23 Kimberly Vandiver: Um, and then the Hoover one, it's, I think it's more of a kind of emergency repair. That one's going. It's not as much customization into it just based off the dollar amount and the quote. Um, and it's a smaller structure, so it's not a full playground. It's one structure being replaced. Yeah. Fantastic. So that one's kind of in that 45 to 60 inch. Yeah. Alright, Thank you. Yep. Um, can everyone just raise their hands? Everyone did it once and got me all. Alright. Um, council of Vanover. Thank you. Um, uh, the Lincoln, so there's the, the broken structure and is the current, um, thinking to, to redo their, their the kind of standalone drums and other pieces around the playground is a complete redo of the playground.
▶ 46:04 There's the painted map and how, how extensive is the project? Um, It's full thing. We're probably gonna, the quotes called for expansion of the mulched area. Um, so it cut out a few feet on the side, closer of the school and the side closer to the basketball court. Um, planning on doing the whole thing over if, if appropriated some of the sensory items we talked about, like the drums, there's like the spinning wheels, like the tic-tac toe boards. Those could stay there if we wanted to keep 'em there. Um, I believe those were installed in 2005, so they're in pretty good shape for being 20 years old. If that's something that the principal and the PTO wants to keep, we can certainly accommodate that.
▶ 46:38 But the companies that came out and gave us quotes said they could keep those there if we wanted. Okay. And, and there's the second playground on the other side of the Lincoln that's not included, right? Is it just the, The first side? No, that one's newer. I'm not sure the exact date of that, but that one's newer. Um, that's more of like the taught, like the two to five. So the Hoover has them side by side. The Lincoln has it in the front. Um, but that one, yeah, that one's more up to date. It's just the, the back one for the kind of first through fifth graders, that large recess with over 150, 160 kids. So Great. Uh, I live walking distance from that playground, so I'm excited to hear, hear the details.
▶ 47:13 Devin Romanul: Thank you. Counsel Stewart? Uh, Mr. Chairman, my, my question was answered. Thank you. Okay, councilor Romanul. Um, thanks so much. I really, uh, really appreciate your efforts and I know that a lot of folks in my neighborhood have articulated, um, a desire to see the Hoover Playgrounds, uh, upgraded. So super excited about that. You already answered my question on the financial split. Um, how much for each school, and I just wanted to ask a clarification. Uh, what percentage of the Hoover equipment would you say is being replaced or refurbished versus staying as is? Um, so are you familiar with the layout of it right now? Yeah, so it's the structure further back. So it's the swings closest to like the street
▶ 47:51 Manjula Karamcheti: and then there's the, uh, five to 12-year-old structure. Then there's like, kind of like, uh, figure eight climbing structure. It's the one past that. Gotcha. So it's the two to five year-old structure. Great. Thank you very much. Councilor. Common chatty. Hi. Thanks so much for being here. Um, I'm not as familiar with the elementary schools and the playgrounds, so I'm just curious, um, with the sort of emergency repairs and the, uh, the work that will be done with this appropriation for free cash is, are the playgrounds sort like equitable across the schools? Like similar in terms of what's available regardless of what school a kid goes to? Um, I think the other ones are all more updated. Short answer. Um, the Hoover
▶ 48:38 and the Lincoln are definitely the two oldest outta the schools. Um, I think this will kind of level that playing field for all the schools having up-to-date structures. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Any other councilors with questions? What's the will of the committee? Uh, motion To recommend to the full council? I'll second. Second. Motion to recommend, uh, to the full council by Councilor Williams. Seconded by Council Romano on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the role? Yes. Council fro? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor Reky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Mayor Garey? Yes. Motion passes.
▶ 49:26 Mark Garipay: Okay. Thank You. Thank you. See you in a couple of weeks. Sounds good. Next up ID 1, 2, 5, 7 4 on appropriation from free cash account zero one dash 3 24 0 1 in the amount of 455,000 to the IT department. Number 1 55 for replacement of teacher Chromebooks, M-V-M-M-S projector replacements and PA system updates at the high school. Mr. S Mulligan floor is yours. Members of the council, thank you for having me tonight. I know you all have a long night, so I'll make this very quick. Um, the items you have in front of you tonight, they are a continuation of the work that we've been doing for the last year and a half. Trying to upgrade our infrastructure and support systems throughout the district in schools, um,
▶ 50:17 so that we can, you know, move forward and be ready in the future and not have to kind of be fixing things all the time. Um, and hopefully by doing all that, we can continue to offer quality services and experiences to all staff and, uh, school members. So with that, um, you all have the items in front of you, so if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer 'em for you. Any questions from the council? I'll make a motion to recommend. Second, we, we have a motion to recommend by Councilor McNaught, seconded by Councilor Romanul on discussion. Council ro? Yes. Um, yeah. Thank you so much for coming, being here tonight, the PA system, can you just talk about a little bit about that? Is that in the middle school or
▶ 51:04 Is that, that is in the high school. In the high school. Okay. Um, so that system that's currently there right now for the just, uh, announcements and being in room communications that's been there since the early nineties. Mm-hmm. Um, it is a massive clunk of metal, um, in it's over the past several years, been failing in more and more in interesting ways. Um, and the companies that support those types of systems are few and far between now, so they're getting more and more expensive. We're talking almost a thousand dollars just to have a company come out and look at it for a couple hours. Um, so what the goal here is to get that system upgraded so it can, um, the newer systems can tie in with the existing speakers and what, what we already have.
▶ 51:44 Um, but by replacing the behind the scenes aspect of it, it gives us a lot of flexibility in the future for what we wanna put in those buildings. But also we're hoping to use that as a stepping off point to do similar upgrades across all the elementaries that have equally as old, if not older systems, um, and get the entire district tied together so that if central administration is aware of something, they could send out a broadcast across the entire district. Um, and it also can tie in with public safety so they can be clued in right away. Yeah. Clearly it's a safety issue. So would you say the majority of the, uh, budget, the 455,000 is going towards the PA system? Is that Actually no. It is a surprisingly
▶ 52:24 small amount. Um, so that's about 35 ish thousand. Okay. Um, because we're going from an old massive analog system with multiple power amplifiers and connectors. It's like everything else was all digital now. So it's a much smaller, more compact system. Mm-hmm. Um, just one analog component that ties into the old speaker. So it's upfront to like get it in so we can start billing and expanding the future. It's relatively cheap. Okay. So it's the Chromebooks that are bringing that, uh, amount up or, uh, The Chromebooks and the projectors? Honestly, it, it's close to a 50 50 split between the two. Okay. All right. Thank you. Mm-hmm. President, me. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, uh, Mr. Moliga for being here.
▶ 53:07 Leila Migliorelli: Just a question on timing. So if we were, you know, uh, recommend at this meeting, um, full of council vote, um, in a couple of week or Yeah, no. In a couple weeks, um, do you, is that enough to, like, will you be able to place the order? Are you fairly confident that all this stuff is like, you're able to order and get in at a reasonable Time? So that, that has been the fun part with all of this. Um, usually when we put out quotes, you know, we sit around for a little bit and this was very rushed, not in a negligent sort of way, but with the evolving world that we're currently in. Mm-hmm. Uh, the price today is not necessarily the price tomorrow. So everyone, all the vendors have been very
▶ 53:48 cagey about giving quotes and saying, you know, we usually get a quote for like 90 days, six months, something like that. They're saying it's a month hard stop at the end of the month, we have to reissue. So we actually have to call and say, Hey, we need an updated quote April 1st right now Okay. To cover us. So as it stands right now, yes. Um, but otherwise we're just gonna have to work within what we can do, you know. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Uh, counselor comm. Um, since we are in discussion, I just wanna mention to my fellow counselors, my son does the morning announcements on the PO system at the high school and it needs some updating. So, um, thank you for putting this forward. Sure. Council Stewart? Thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you Mr.
▶ 54:35 Robb Stewart: Mul s Mulgan for, uh, coming forward. It, it, it kind of follows along, um, what President Elli was asking. Uh, how many Chromebooks are we targeting right now? Uh, so this is about 300. 300? Mm-hmm. Right. And when did you get that quote? Because I'm, I'm just thinking about the, the impact of tariff. That quote was updated April 1st. April 1st. Okay. So, um, does that, does that compensate for the, the tariff Situation? Situation that right now is, that is the current price? It's not. Okay. It's good for a month. Yeah. Yep. Okay. So we gotta get this done. Okay. All right. As it stands now, I think as of today, right. Still wouldn't hold a pattern. Our brave new world. Right. Okay. Thank, thank you. Thank you Mr.
▶ 55:20 Mark Garipay: Okay. Anyone else wanna speak? We have a motion on the floor. Madam Clerk, can you please call the role? Yes. Councilor Occhio? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor Abramsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Council Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Melissa? Yes. Chair Garipay? Yes. Motion passes. Okay. That'll be recommended to the full council. Thank you. Thank very much. Enjoy the night. Um, next, uh, next up I'd like to take order 1, 2, 5, 8, 5 out of order. Um, chief White only has one thing in front of us tonight. So with, um, if I'll entertain a motion for that, Mr. Chairman. Um, make a motion to take one. Um, ID number 1, 2 8 5 8 5 out of order? I'll second.
▶ 56:09 Mark Garipay: A motion to take out order by Council Stewart. Seconded by councilor on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Uh, chief White, the floor is yours. Good evening, folks. We here seeking $980,000, um, to offset our overtime costs for the rest of the year and for se 75,000 that will be for gear, um, placing 15 sets of turnout gear that will expire next year. And to replace our inflatable boat. It's roughly about four to $5,000. Um, that's it For the record. I'm sorry, I should have read the order id. 1, 2, 5, 8, 5. And appropriation from pre-cash account. 1 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 980,000 to the fire department. Number 2, 2, 1. For overtime costs 905,000. And for equipment 75,000. Sorry about that. Councils.
▶ 57:06 Um, any questions? What's the will of the committee? A motion to recommend. Second Motion to recommend by council fro seconded by Councilor Stewart on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the role Councilor fro? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty. Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver. Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President? Me. Yes. Chair Gar? Yes. Motion Passes. This will be recommended to the full counsel. Thank you, chief. Thank you, council. Thank you Ms. Goldman. Um, next up is 2 5, 8, 1. Yeah. 1, 2, 5, 8, 1, which is appropriation from free cash account 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 250,000 to fund snow and ice deficit.
▶ 58:24 Department number 4, 2 3. We have Mr. Troop and, um, Mr. Salina Pro Public Works, director and assistant director. Thank you, uh, appreciate the chance of being here tonight and for this consideration. Uh, this is an annual housekeeping order to fund the deficit that we, uh, realize in snow and ice. Uh, this year, uh, the snow and ice deficit is $250,000. A lot of factors went into that, including few storms, but several sand salt events to treat the roads cost to maintain our vehicles and our equipment has gone up. And the fact that we do most of this now in-house, uh, we realize, uh, an overage in the, uh, overtime line item. Uh, we did save money on our contractors this year, which was, uh, fantastic,
▶ 59:18 Robb Stewart: and which is minimizing, uh, the request tonight. Uh, happy to answer any questions, but it's a fairly straightforward and, uh, annual request that we have, uh, facing you. Thank you. Any questions? Council Stewart? Thank You, Mr. Chair. Thank you both for being here this evening, and it's great to hear that. Um, we had a, a low impact. This is one of the lowest numbers that we've seen, uh, I think since I've been on council. So congratulations for managing that. And, uh, let's take advantage of, uh, the little extra money that we're gonna have. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Anyone else? So we'll Will of the committee, Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to recommend. Second, Make a motion to, a motion
▶ 1:00:04 Mark Garipay: to recommend by Council Stewart. Seconded by Council Vandiver on discussion. Ms. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll when you get second? Yes. Councilor Ro? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Rum Chetty? Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Gar Pay? Yes. Motion passes. Okay, thank you. Next up, uh, I'm gonna make, make a motion to take a number of orders out of order, um, while we have, um, DPW with us right now. Um, 1, 2, 5, order one, two. And I will read 'em as we go. Go through 'em. Order. 1, 2, 5, 8, 6. 1, 2, 5, 8, 7. 1, 2, 5, 8, 3. 1, 2, 5, 8, 4. 1, 2, 5, 8, 2. 1, 2, 5, 8, 8. And one, two. Five. Seven. Five.
▶ 1:01:04 Mark Garipay: Council Stewart? Yes. Uh, Mr. Chair, may I'll make a motion to take items. 1, 2, 5, 8, 6. 1, 2, 5, 8, 7. 1, 2, 5, 8, 3. 1, 2, 5, 8, 4, 1, 2, 5, 8, 2, 1, 2, 5, 8, 8. And 1, 2, 5, 7, 5. Out of order. Second. We have a motion to take those orders out of order by counsel Stewart, seconded by Council Ro, uh, on discussion. All in favor A. Aye. Opposed? These orders will be taken out of order. So next up we have ID 1, 2, 5, 8, 6 in appropriation from free cash account zero one dash 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 250,000 to DPW facilities number 4 0 2 for a feasibility study for projects at Franklin School and Melrose High School. Thank you. Um, so this is the next step in the, um, statement of interest process
▶ 1:02:05 for the MSBA accelerated repair projects. Um, as you might recall, we applied, uh, we've submitted a statement of interest for the Learning Commons roof and for the Franklin Envelope project that encompasses the remaining windows, the remaining doors, some masonry, and the remaining roof. Um, the first step in that process, if we get the, uh, MSBA approval is within 90 days, we have to have the money secured for the studies. Um, and that's a pretty quick turnaround. So we wanted to have the money in place so that we can, um, move into that design, uh, study phase right away. Um, so the request is for 250,000 and it's not divided between the two projects. It's possible one project could get approved and the other might not.
▶ 1:02:54 Robb Stewart: Um, I would envision that if we have any leftover from the 250,000, it would roll right into the project implementation because we'll be back at some point, hopefully if these get approved for a, um, a request for the construction funding for the city's portion. Any questions? Council Stewart? Thank you Mr. Chair. So is this as assess this assessment is required for us to have, okay. Yes. And 'cause it just seems like a lot of money for an assessment. Um, can you give us just kind of a, a perspective on what's driving the cost? Sure. Yeah. So it's really, it's really like a preliminary design report. Um, so the, with the MSBA process, they assign you a design engineer, and then they, um, and then you go out to bid with that design engineer.
▶ 1:03:54 And with the Hoover and the Horseman, they assigned us two different design engineers, even though those roofs were done at the same time. Um, actually I take that back. We had one design engineer, two different contractors, one the bids. So we were working with two different contractors. Um, so the preliminary design phase goes through all of the building investigations. It'll be a new consultant. It won't be the one, it won't most likely be Gale Architects who did the original evaluation. They'll do all the roof evaluations, they'll do hazardous materials assessments. They will, um, do preliminary design cost estimates. So all the things that would go into that first phase of design that happens in this, they call it I think,
▶ 1:04:35 a schematic design report. Um, the reason they do that is because you really don't have a good handle on the actual costs, the actual construction costs until you get into that level of detail on the roofs and on the other components, um, of the project. So it's really to make sure that you have a really solid construction estimate before you go out to bid, before you're asked to secure the bonds or whatnot. For the construction, it's, they want you to go through that phase. Okay. And, and you said there is a possibility that we will not go up to the 250 and that money can then be applied to the actual construction? Right. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Any, uh, anyone else?
▶ 1:05:24 Mark Garipay: What's the, what's the role? I'll make the Motion to recommend second Motion to recommend, uh, by council ti seconded by council ro under on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the role? Yes. Councilor Ro? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor Bruski? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Meley? Yes. Here, Garbe? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, next up ID 1 2 5 87 appropriation for free cash account zero one dash 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 120,000 to DDPW number 4 0 1 to fund summer work program. Once again, thank you. And again, thank you for consideration of this.
▶ 1:06:20 Historically, the Department of Public Works has employed, uh, local students, both high school and college, uh, in the public works to perform various tasks in the parks, cemeteries, our buildings. Um, this, uh, order in front of you for consideration will fund approximately 20 positions for the 10 weeks in the summertime. We've already started, uh, taking applications. I think we have more this year than we've ever had already, and it's only been out there publicized for, for approximately a week. So it's a vital, vital and critical component for what we do over the course of the summer and gives, uh, these students an opportunity to have some sort of a tangible input into the product that we try to deliver,
▶ 1:07:02 Manjula Karamcheti: especially over the course of the summer. So thank you very much for this consideration. Councilor McNaught, You actually answered my question with the, the how about how many, uh, youth do you employ? Um, and so I just wanted to make a comment. I know many young people who have participated in this program and have had extremely valuable experiences. Um, so I was actually very excited to see this, um, for free cash because I think our youth don't always have so many opportunities to have that real world experience, um, and to have on the job training and just really appreciate it. I couldn't agree with you more. Anyone else? I'll make a motion to recommend. Second Motion to recommend by Council Chetty.
▶ 1:07:51 Mark Garipay: Seconded by council fro on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the role Councilor Fro? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Council Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor Bruski? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Council Vander? Yes. Council Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Gar Garipay? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank You. Uh, I think we'll be seeing you Mr. Ellis. A little later. You'll actually be seeing Mr. Trip and Mr. Coy. Okay. Yes. Um, next up, um, ID 1 2, 5 8 3 an appropriation of free cash. Zero account, zero one dash 3 2 4 0 1 in the amount of 48,000 to the schools account. 1 3 5 dash 3 5 0 dash 4 9 0. To fund the matching component of a federal grant we have Mr. Kelly
▶ 1:08:55 and Superintendent DeLeT. Welcome. Thank you for having us. And I'll turn it over to our finance director, Ken Kelly. Thanks so much. Thanks for having us here tonight. Um, appreciate your consideration of these requests. So for, uh, this request, we did apply last spring for a, um, federal Department of Justice Cops School Violence Prevention Program grant, um, uh, to upgrade some of our radios, um, at our schools that actually would allow us now to connect directly to, um, Melrose's Public Safety, to expedite any, um, any communication that would need to happen, um, during any kind of an emergency. Um, and so, um, the grant comes with a required matching contribution from the city. So that's what this request is for.
▶ 1:09:39 Ryan Williams: And I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about that. Any questions from the council? Council, uh, Williams? Yeah. Thanks. I don't have a question, but, um, one of the things that we've asked for is that when you have a grant that in the public record, the grant proposal is listed or some other indication of what the grant is for. And in this, it just says to fund a grant. Right. So I think, um, if you could, if, if we could append something to the record, uh, not now, but in, you know, um, when it hits the full council, that just provides a little more description for people who don't watch the meetings. Certainly. Understood. Yes. We have a I have a synopsis. I can certainly submit to the record for sure. No problem.
▶ 1:10:14 Mark Garipay: Yes. Cool. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? What's the, uh, will the committee, I'll make a motion to recommend Second motion to recommend made by council Kevin Chetty, seconded by Councilor Romanul on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the role? Yes. Councilor Occhio? Yes. Counselor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Council Vandiver? Yes. Council Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Repe? Yes. Motion passes. I will be recommended to the full counsel. Next up is ID. 1 2 5 8 4 appropriation from free cash account zero one dash 3 24 1 in the amount of 32,000 to the school department. Number 9 1 9 0 5 for the i-Ready Diagnostics.
▶ 1:11:12 Thank you. So, um, the diagnostic is used to, um, primarily through K through eight to, um, assess literacy and math skills. Teachers use this information three times a year in data meetings, um, to look for, um, tier two supports small group instruction to help students that, um, this helps them identify focus areas where students might be experiencing challenges. This is typically part of our teaching and learning budget. That was one of the departments that was, um, uh, pretty, uh, big impact to that department with our current financial challenges. And this would allow that money to go to other curriculum needs. Um, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about that. Any questions from the Council? Council Williams Motion
▶ 1:11:57 Mark Garipay: To recommend to the full counsel. Second. Motion to recommend to the full council by Council Williams. Seconded by Council Romano. Uh, on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the role Councilor Ro? Yes. Mr. Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Chetty? Yes. Councilor Brosky. Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Repe? Yes. Motion passes. Okay. Next up we have ID 1 2 5 82 and appropriation in the amount of $269,865 to the school department for FY 24 Medicaid reimbursement. Account number 1 6 2 0 4 9. Thank you for consideration for this. This. So, um, the school system, uh, school system predominantly through special education, um,
▶ 1:12:58 does provide therapeutic services that are, um, qualified for reimbursement under the State's Medicaid program. Uh, that money is typically received by the city, and then we annually request that as an appropriation, um, uh, through consideration through the council. And, um, this is also something you we use as one of our, uh, budgeted offsets for the, um, the budget, the, the annual operating budget. Any questions from the council? Council Vanderberg make a motion to recommend. Second, we have a motion to recommend by Council Vanderberg seconded by Councilor Williams on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Councillor Ro? Yes. Councillor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Chetty? Yes. Councillor Bruski. Yes.
▶ 1:13:51 Mark Garipay: Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver. Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Mayor? Yes. Motion passes That will be recommended to the full counsel. Thank you Superintendent, Mr. Kelly for being here. Thank you, Counsel. Thank you very much for your consideration. Thank you. Thank you. Have a great night. Next up we have ID 1, 2, 5, 8, 8, and appropriation from contract stabilization fund number 8 4 0 4 in the amount of 125,000 to the police, police department. Salary and wages Number 2 1 1. We have city solicitor Phillips and CFO Gold. Thank you for having us here tonight. Um, we are looking to appropriate 125,000 from the cap, uh, contract stabilization fund, uh, for the settlement
▶ 1:14:49 of the fiscal 2025, uh, patrol contract as well as the superior contract. Um, this retro payment covers 49 members of, um, both the Patrol and Superior Union. And so, um, just as far as the balance, the current, um, balance in the contract stabilization fund is $661,513,000. And if this is approved, it would be 5 36, uh, five 13. Any any questions from the council? I make a motion to recommend. Second. Second. A motion to recommend by council ti seconded by council, uh, Stewart on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the role? Yes. Councilor Occhio? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor Brem? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vanderberg? Yes. Williams? Yes. President Bigley?
▶ 1:16:05 Mark Garipay: Yes. Chair oppe? Yes. Motion passes. Okay. That'll be recommended. Um, next up ID 1, 2, 5, 8, 8. And appropriation from contract stabilization fund number 8 4 0 4. And the amount of 125,000? Nope. Did that, did that. I'm catching up. Sorry. Twice as much. Id, 1, 2, 5. Seven. Five. I was wondering where the, uh, city solicitor was going. Wow. Going all the way back. ID 1 2 5 7 5. An appropriation for free cash account. 1 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of $34,847 to Essex Agricultural and Minuteman Technical High School for one additional student in a, in special Education assessment. Sue? So for this, for Essic Agricultural, um, the appropriation re requested is $7,347. Um, and that's just a difference in what we projected as far
▶ 1:17:11 as the programs. And, um, we were assessed as special education assessment. And then the second part of that, after we sent down the fiscal 2025 budget last year, we were notified that a student had been accepted to Minuteman, um, in Lexington. And so that tuition is 27,500. Okay. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Councilor Ro, Uh, make a motion to recommend. Second, we have a motion to recommend by Councilor Ro, second by Councilor on discussion. Um, councilor Hamilton. Sorry. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Golden. Yep. Um, do you know offhand how many students we have at Essex? Aggie, and how many we have at Minuteman Tech, by chance? Yes. So, Essex Agricultural, um, we have eight and Minute Man is the one student.
▶ 1:18:07 Mark Garipay: Thank you. Thank you. Nothing else? Anyone, uh, anyone else looking to ask questions? CNN Madam Clerk, can you please call the role Councilor Ro? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vanderberg? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Garipay? Yes. Motion passes. This will be recommended to the full counsel. Next up is ID 1, 2, 5, 8, 9. And appropriation from free cash account 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 250,000 to the special education reserve fund. Fund number 8 4 0 8. With, um, free cash, we try to always invest back in ourselves and put money in the stabilization fund. So the certified free cash was about $5.9 million,
▶ 1:19:07 so the goal would be to put roughly 20% of that in stabilization funds. So we looked at the different, um, stabilization reserve funds and tried to identify which ones make most sense for next year, just based on, um, kind of what's going on right now. So the current balance, um, of the special education fund is 7 6 6 8 0 3. And if this is approved, it would bring it to 1 million 16 8 0 3. Any questions? Council, Fanucchi? Yeah, I just have a quick question. Thank you. Um, what is this? Would this money be used towards? Um, specifically? So typically we've taken this, if there's unforeseen special education costs, if there's midyear move-ins or, um, kids that require transportation midyear.
▶ 1:20:02 So this fund would be used to address those things. Okay. Um, and then I think there's the overarching concern, um, with the federal government and just changes with, uh, special education. Yeah. Well, we know special education is very expensive. The everything, um, revolving. So Thank you Counsel Stewart. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, do you have any forecast to draw down on what this is gonna be next year? Um, we don't right now. Um, have for fiscal 26, you mean? Correct. Yes. No, we don't have an estimate of, um, what could potentially be drawn down. Okay. What, what's, what do you typically see like, year on year? Um, we've had as much as a half million dollars. Yeah. Um, taken out in a given year.
▶ 1:20:51 Jen Grigoraitis: Um, I don't think we took anything last year from it. Um, and we, we put money away. Um, and fiscal 25 is not over yet, so you never know, but, Right. No, I just wanna be sure that we got enough in there. Okay. Yes. Thank you. And the, the federal allocation to Melrose Public Schools for special education is about $1.2 million. So should we see a decrease or an elimination of that funding as has been discussed? Um, you know, we wanna recognize that we would need, we certainly can't fill all of that, but wanna be as prepared as Possible. Right. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Welcome. I'll make a motion to recommend second motion to recommend by Councilor Kim Chatty, seconded by Councilor Romanul on discussion.
▶ 1:21:38 Do you wanna say one more thing? Um, I think it's really important that we put money away for stabilization funds, especially something like special education where we have to stay in compliance. So, um, I think this is a smart move. That's all. Anyone on discussion? Anyone else? Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Councill Noro? Yes. Council Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councillor Bruski? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Council Williams? Yes. Present mere Yes. Chair Ape? Yes. Motion Passes. I'll be recommended to the full counsel. Next up is ID 1 2 5, 9 1 in appropriation of free cash account 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 750,000 to Capital stabilization Fund.
▶ 1:22:28 Jen Grigoraitis: 8 4 0 5. Thank you Chair. So this, um, as Ms. Golden had mentioned, we, you know, wanna be sure to be put a portion of our free cash into stabilization accounts. The two we wanted to prioritize in our first, um, round of request to you all were the special ed that we just talked about in capital stabilization. As you are all well aware, there is no capital maintenance line in any part of the city budget. So we rely on this fund when we are outside of the free cash window for any unanticipated costs. I know you most recently had a request to fix, um, a circuit breaker at the middle school, so that account balance hovers in the several hundred thousand Five hundred seventy eight seven hundred and fifty $4.
▶ 1:23:08 Jen Grigoraitis: Yeah. And as you heard from Mr. S Mulligan, we are seeing escalation in costs and unpredictability in providing quotes around all items given the climate around tariffs. So we wanna be prepared that once we, you know, are done with free cash in June of this year, that we are really in a funding de, you know, desert until free cash comes back next year. And as you are all well aware, we anticipate less free cash next year because we budgeted a higher amount of local seats last year to help close last year's budget gap. So we really wanna be prepared because obviously when there are critical capital needs, we can't just let everything sit. I am a ray of sunshine, as you can tell. Any questions from the council? Motion
▶ 1:23:51 Mark Garipay: To recommend? Second, Uh, motion to Recommend by council. Uh, cache seconded by Councilor Williams on discussion. I have one quick question. What I, what was the total balance? If this, if this goes through, what's the total balance gonna be? If this Passes? It will be 1,328,754. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Uh, anyone else on discussion? Mme. Clark, can you please call the role? Yes. Councilor Op Piero? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor Reky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Ley? Yes. Chair Gareg? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Uh, that will be recommended. Next up we have ID 1 2 5 9 2, which is an appropriation
▶ 1:24:52 of free cash in the amount of a hundred thousand to Counsel on Aging. Um, number 5 41 for replacement of a van. Good evening, counselors. Thanks for having me. Um, This will sound familiar to you because I was here, uh, just a few, uh, weeks ago talking about, um, transportation. But I'll just remind you that, um, in fiscal 24, the Council on Aging provided 1,718 rides to Melrose residents. Um, just over a third of those going to medical destinations. Uh, and then an additional 180 passengers going on our day trip programs to local theaters, sports venues, museums, et cetera. Um, which is a big piece of the, uh, social aspect of our, our older adults. Um, so the motion before, or the, the request
▶ 1:25:46 Robb Stewart: before you is for, um, a free craft, free cash request to, uh, assist a purchase of a new van to replace an aging one in our fleet. Okay. Thank you. Um, council Stewart? Thank You Mr. Chair. And thank you Ms. Brown for responding to me earlier today. I appreciate your, your note. Um, Mr. Chair, I, I had asked, um, Ms. Brown what, uh, the situation was because when she came before us earlier, she said that the request was going to, um, the matching was gonna be 30 to 80, but she did clarify based on some further research, and this is for the council and through the chair, that, um, in order to get a new van that'll accommodate the needs, uh, appropriate for the amount of people that take advantage
▶ 1:26:36 of these programs, uh, she did need to increase the request and I do support it. So I just wanted to share that with the committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Council Stewart, anyone else? What's the will of the committee? Mr. Chair? I'll make a motion to recommend the full council. Second Motion to recommend by Council of Stewart. Seconded by Council Ro on discussion. Councilor Vandiver. Thank you. Um, uh, on that topic, um, and with that information, um, could you clarify what the total cost of the van will be, including Melrose's contribution and the grant? Sure. So, um, we have an, a state earmark grant in the amount of $50,000, um, to put towards this cause. Um, I have several quotes for different vans,
▶ 1:27:25 ranging from 71,000 up to 187,000. So depending on, um, what's allocated, um, we'll just kind of designate what we can purchase. The higher, uh, the higher quotes, um, are, uh, new, new models versus the lower quotes, which are used models. Um, the higher quotes also have, um, they call it a low floor model. So, um, the vans we have right now, um, anybody who's accessing the van has to climb three stairs to get up. Um, so that can pose mobility issues for some folks. Um, they do have the, um, handicap lift, which is, uh, automatic, maybe hydraulic lift. Um, I recognize the vulnerability of the lack of services in our area to to provide, you know, uh, repairs to that kind of, um, equipment. So the, uh, the higher, um, quoted vehicles, um,
▶ 1:28:27 they have manual, um, uh, wheelchair ramps as opposed to the automatic lifts. Um, so it's a little bit, um, safer for repair costs. Um, and it also, again, has that low floor model that allows more people to access the vehicle. Thank you. Anyone else on discussion? Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Yes. Councilor Occhio? Yes. So, Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor Reky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vanderberg? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. Present? Mc Elli? Yes. Chair Garipay? Yes. Motion passes. I will be recommended. Um, next on Grants. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion to take out of order, uh,
▶ 1:29:22 Mark Garipay: order number 1, 2 5 8 0. Uh, we have a motion to take out second order. 1, 2, 5, 8, 0. Um, acceptance of a mass. DOT. I'm sorry. All in favor? I Think it was seconded by Oh, sorry. Alright. Getting late. Seconded by Council Reky. Uh, council Ro, uh, discussion. All in favor a. Aye. Opposed? Alright. This is, uh, now in front of us. Uh, ID, 1, 2, 5, 8, 0 acceptance of Mass DOT Community Transit grant for the Council on Aging. Alright, Thank you counselors. Uh, this grant before you would be in the amount of $10,000, uh, split between fiscal years 26 and 27, um, the goal of this funding would be to provide, uh, an additional driver shift for our transportation schedule each week. Um, and we have been tracking unmet needs, um,
▶ 1:30:20 for the last year or two, um, to determine which days, uh, you know, would warrant an additional shift. Um, but this would help provide, um, more access to medical destination rides, um, as well as, uh, regular rides around town and to the center. Thank you. Um, any questions? Mr. Chair? I make a motion to recommend the full council second Motion to recommend by Council Stewart second, and by councilor, uh, commiss Kaney on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please take the role? Mm-hmm. Councilor Ro? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Rum Chetty? Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver. Yes. Williams? Yes. President mre? Yes. Chair gpe? Yes. Motion passes.
▶ 1:31:16 Mark Garipay: That will be recommended. Next up we have ID 1, 2, 5, 6 2 Acceptance of the municipal chair. Gpe. I, sorry, I had a question. Um, are we going to consider approval of a grant before we consider whether to enter into the agreement that the grant is gonna fund? Is that right? Or should we do 1, 2, 5, 6, 3 outta order? Are they two separate? Two separate. Oh, okay. Thanks. That was my question. Sorry. Nevermind. Um, thank you Councilor Williams. Um, one, two, uh, ID, 1 2, 5 6 2. Acceptance of the municipal vulnerability Preparedness Planning 2.0 grant in the amount of a hundred thousand dollars. Um, good evening. Good evening Council. I'm Jay Coy, deputy City Engineer. Um, so as an MVP community
▶ 1:32:05 that has received prior MVP funding, we are required to enter into this MVP 2.0 program, um, which is a $100,000 grant split over two years. Um, the way the grant works is the first 50,000, um, will be used to convene a community team, um, revisit our resiliency priorities. Um, and then for the second $50,000, it's to implement a seed project. Um, we don't have any ideas what we're going to be doing yet for the seed projects, but some examples are, um, improving wetland buffers, creating cooling spaces like tree plantings, pop-up parks, um, shade structures, splash pads, things like that. Um, or other, um, examples are, uh, conversion of impervious areas to community green space. Um, there's no financial impact
▶ 1:32:53 or cash match to the city, um, other than just city time, um, creating this project. Thank you. Any questions? Council Vandiver? Just a comment that I, I really appreciate that we're being forward thinking and continuing in that type of work. Mm-hmm. Thank you. I'll make a motion, but go ahead. No, please go ahead. Make a motion to recommend. I will second the motion and speak on discussion. Have a motion to recommend by Council of Danver, second by Councilor Williams on discussion. Councilor Williams. Thank You. Floor is yours. Um, okay. I just wanna make sure that I understand this. 'cause we've had MMVP grants before. Yes. Um, do you recall what those MVP grants paid for? So the one that Melrose won individually, um, was a design
▶ 1:33:39 of the city hall parking lot. Correct. Flood, um, impact. Um, we have since tried to obtain funding to actually construct it, um, and have not been successful. Yes. I parked in one of the flooded spots today. Yes. It's a good remain. Um, there have been three others that we've been, that we've done as, um, with other communities, but, so not Melrose specific MVP grants, but that was the, the parking lot was the one that we won individually. Yeah. Yeah. So the first $50,000 is gonna be a planning process. Do you envision there being public participation As part of this? Yes. Absolutely. Um, and, uh, what do you think that would look like? Yeah, and I, I mentioned that there's a community team
▶ 1:34:21 and to my knowledge, someone on that team has to be a resident, um, that's not, uh, an employee. Okay. Yep. And what is the seed project? So that is the implementation of the design. I see. Um, so the 50,000 is to build, Come up with An idea, install whatever that we come up with for that design. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Absolutely. Any other questions? We, uh, can we take a roll call? Madam Clerk? Yes. Councillor Ero? Yes. Council Hamilton? Yes. Council. Karen Chetty? Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Council Stewart? Yes. Council Vander? Yes. Council Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Garipay? Yes. Motion passes. Alright, On two orders. Next up we have ID 1, 2, 5, 6 3 authorize the mayor
▶ 1:35:19 Mark Garipay: to, to enter into a inter municipal agreement with cities of Chelsea and Everett to utilize MVP grant funding for the construction of tree filters in the Mystic R River R River Watershed. Um, yeah, so about a year ago, um, Melrose, Chelsea and Everett, um, received some MVP funding in order to, um, design, um, study and look for places to implement tree filters, which are above grade. You wouldn't really know what they are. They just look like a a, a tree planted in the, um, next to the sidewalk. But what they are is underground, they, um, receive, treat and infiltrate runoff from a catch basin. Um, so it reduces the amount of storm water going to, um, our waterways like El Pond and such. Um, and it also cleans up the water as well
▶ 1:36:08 because, um, it helps remove pollutants. Um, two locations have been, I identified in Melrose, um, just at the intersection of Vinton and Oris. Um, and, uh, Everett is the lead on this project. So they're going to going to be the ones taking care of the bid documents, the construction. Um, so there's again, no, um, financial impact or cash match from Melrose that's required. Um, just some city time that we've already put in and, um, maybe some construction oversight while they, um, or definitely some construction oversight while they in install them, um, as long as they continue to move forward in Melrose. So the Interm municipal agreement is to allow, um, Everett to take the lead on this while they're doing work
▶ 1:36:53 in in our city. Thank you. Council Williams, Did you say the intersection of Vinton and Aus? Yes. So that's where Vinton turns into Aus, correct? Yeah. So one, they're both technically on Aris. Um, one is in front of the house at 2 98 Vinton and the other one is at four Aris. Okay. And why would you say these locations were chosen? So, a multitude of things. So Melrose is actually really hard to find these kind of, um, places because we either want kind of flat areas that are next to catch basins mm-hmm. That also don't have utilities going through the sidewalk. Um, and because there's houses virtually at every intersection, there's usually water, sewer, gas going through these. Um, so it's really hard to find locations.
▶ 1:37:42 Um, these two, the one at 2 98 is really good. Location for OS might be a little tight, but we should be able to make it work. Are you envisioning taking some right of way and closing this intersection to create These tree bubbles? Not at all. Or where, where does it go? No. So you're not gonna notice after it's built, it's gonna look exactly like it does now, minus a tree in the grass strip. Um, basically the sidewalk and behind the sidewalk is dug up. The soil material is put underneath, a tree is planted and the sidewalk is, is put right back where it is. It's all happens underground from the catch basin to underneath the sidewalk. A new pipe is connected into the catch basin. So that water, once it goes into the catch basin goes, flows
▶ 1:38:24 Kimberly Vandiver: to this first flows to the tree filter first, um, underground. Hmm. Council Vandiver and then council. Thank you. Um, I might make a recommendation that even though nobody needs to notice that anything changed, I think this is a really, um, forward, forward thinking type of project. And, and it might be something that is really, um, that there'd be some benefit of advertising mm-hmm. To the community that it's been done and where it is. Sure. Absolutely. Council, I'm just curious, when a project like this starts and finishes about how long does it take For construction? Yeah. Um, I'm going to assume each one of these are, would be built in less than a day. Okay. Um, so like two days and then,
▶ 1:39:12 and then the, the concrete pouring. So it's short. They, they can definitely build each one in in less than a day. Yeah. They're pretty, it's a pretty quick turnaround. And the concrete pouring for the sidewalk would happen right at that time? It should, depending on when they build it, it should happen fairly quickly after. Um, I don't see why it wouldn't. Um, so they'll, they'll do the, the digging, replace the sidewalk all within a couple few days of each other, Uh, and folks in the area will be notified in, in advance. Absolutely. Yes. Okay. Yep. Thank you Romano. Thank you so much. Uh, what an exciting project. I wanted to ask if there was any way to measure, um, measure the impact of these installations
▶ 1:39:56 and, uh, if it's something that we're looking to expand in the future. Mm-hmm. Um, so as far as depends on what impact you're trying to measure. Um, one impact that we are measuring is the reduction in phosphorus, um, to our waterways. Um, all of these green infrastructures do have calculations that we run. Um, and coming soon with the new EPA regulation, there's going to be a huge requirement of phosphorus reduction and it's a lot. Um, so we're trying to take advantage of as much as we can, um, especially when it doesn't cost us anything so Great. Um, yeah, so it is measurable for sure. Um, the amount of water is also measurable that, um, can be, um, reduced to our waterways as well. Um, they don't have a huge flood
▶ 1:40:42 Mark Garipay: mitigation just because it's green infrastructure does not really, it's more treatment. Um, it is measurable, but it's small for volume anyways. Great. Mm-hmm. Thank you very much. Thank you. Um, I just had one quick question mm-hmm. If that's okay. Yeah. Um, I know it's public property where we're putting it. Do the, are the residents involved? Are they on the tree list? Do they want one? And we, um, how, how did I know? I know we pick it, but As far as the tree list, I don't, I don't know. Um, to be honest, they could be, um, they were picked because they don't have any trees and they're open. Um, and would be a good location for a tree. So that was also another reason we looked into it. Um, we actually, when we were doing our planting,
▶ 1:41:26 our tree planting this time around, we were looking for locations that would work and we weren't going to plant a tree and do it at the same time as this, but none of the locations actually lined up with the requirements we were looking for. And are the residents aware that it's gonna be going there? Not yet. No. Okay. Okay. Any, um, anything else, any other questions? I'll make a motion to recommend Second Motion to recommend by Council Williams. Seconded by Council Romano. Ramal. Sorry. That's okay. I'll get it by the end of the meeting. Uh, on discussion. Mad clerk, can you please call the roll Counselor Ro? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Counselor Rum Chetty. Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romeo? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes.
▶ 1:42:18 Councilor Vanderberg? Yes. Council Williams? Yes. Present Elli? Yes. Chair Gar Pay? Yes. Motion passes. All will be recommended. Thank you. Thank You. Okay, I think the last stop is order 1, 2, 5 7 9. Requesting the city of Melrose to withdraw from its current Veteran Service District Services district comprised of SGAs Wakefield in Melrose at the end of fiscal 2025. Good evening. So, uh, tonight this order before you, uh, as just mentioned, is a request, uh, for council to vote to withdraw from the current Veteran Services District. Um, this is a district that city council, then the board of Alderman voted to, um, create in, I believe it was around 2012, um, under state law Chapter one 15.
▶ 1:43:06 Section 10, two towns in a city are authorized to form a district to share these services. Um, so for the past, you know, since 2012, we've had one, um, director that has gone to each community. Uh, each one has had their own VSOI believe. Um, and then each community has had their own admin. Um, Wakefield's unbeknownst to us, decided to withdraw from this district in March of this year, March 24th, 2025, which I believe the mayor addressed in her memo to council attached to this order. Uh, given that, um, the mayor's, um, uh, looked at the department and would like to restructure it by state law, we're only required to have one full-time VSO. Um, so the restructuring would be combining the three
▶ 1:43:46 positions, uh, that currently exist into one full-time veteran services agent that only serves the city of Melrose. So that I, I expect would be coming before you with the budget. Um, but for tonight, because of state law, um, because council created it by vote, we had, we're asking council to, um, uh, allow us to, uh, remove ourselves from the district, um, as I mentioned. And it has, the final vote has to be taken 60 days before the close of the fiscal year, which is why it's coming at this time. Amen. Any questions from the council? Council? Uh, Um, thank you so much. I was wondering if, if we had any reasoning from the town of Wakefield as to the withdrawal and if there's any lessons learned for us in terms of
▶ 1:44:30 Jen Grigoraitis: how we address things just within the city of Melrose. Um, so I would encourage you to watch the recording of the town council meeting where they discussed and voted on their decision to withdraw from the district. So I would certainly, I don't wanna speak for Wakefield. Um, I think, you know, the agreement which has been in place for obviously over 10 years, um, you know, that involved the sharing of staff. Those, um, salary and benefits of the director were split amongst the three communities. Um, and then each had a part-time VSO and a part-time admin. Um, I think there can be real benefits to cost savings. There can also be real challenges in managing staff across three different communities, especially one
▶ 1:45:06 Robb Stewart: with the city structure and two with the town structure of government where there's different reporting, um, and different hierarchies. So I think, you know, sometimes things work and they worked for a while and then sometimes they don't. But I can't speak to why Wakefield chose to withdraw. Of course. Council Stewart, Thank you Mr. Chair. Mad mayor. It sort of leads to the question of, um, is it easier to manage with two communities? Uh, and did we talk to Stoneham about s potentially doing, uh, sharing across the two communities versus the three? So we did reach out. It s SGA is the third community, SGAs, sorry. Um, and I did reach out to them to let them know obviously there's a financial impact
▶ 1:45:47 Jen Grigoraitis: where a third of the co the benefit costs were being carried by Wakefield. So both in order to be in a two person community and maintain the same staffing level, both Melrose and um, SGAs would need to increase the amount of money that's going toward the district, which for us is really not feasible at this time. I have not heard back from SGAs regarding their interest in continuing in the district or anything else. They have not responded. Understood. And, uh, if we withdraw, um, what is going to be the increase or decrease on our side? So there will be a budgetary decrease. So right now we have the equivalent of two FTEs one full-time, but that salary is shared across the district and then two part-time staff.
▶ 1:46:25 Jen Grigoraitis: And we will go down to one benefited FTE position to be in compliance with state law. And what's the difference, like funding wise? Funding Wise? Um, I don't have the exact dollar amount and maybe I do, if I can figure out Carrie's spreadsheet, um, I think it will save us about $58,000. But please don't directly quote me on that. Okay. But there is a veary space. It's fairly significant though. Okay. Yep. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank You. Um, any other questions? Council Vandiver Make a motion to Recommend second Motion to recommend. Second recommend by Council Vandiver, second by Council o Williams. Um, on, on discussion, um, I just had one, one question. Um, I, I watched, I watched the meeting.
▶ 1:47:15 Mark Garipay: It was kind of eye-opening. Um, if we, if we did just do another community, um, not saying that it's right, do we still have to keep three positions based on the way, the way, way the, um, believe we would, the district is comprised. Do we still have to keep the three positions? I believe we would, yes. Okay. Yeah. Um, and will the full-time position now, we had a third and then two part-time. Um, yeah. Can we handle, can one person handle all the claims and everything? Because some of the stuff's time sensitive and with, you know, unfortunately deaths and, um, so we feel confident that we'll be able to handle the, the needs of the veterans? I think so. I mean, 'cause right now the full-time
▶ 1:47:59 Jen Grigoraitis: director, the intention is that that person was splitting their time. One third, one third, one third. So we typically only had, and then the other two positions were part-time. So most days we had one person in the office. Occasionally there was two depending on schedules, but I think we'll be able to handle it in our claims. Um, as you'll see, when the budget comes down, have been trending downward. As our veteran population gets older. Um, we are seeing, you know, smaller amount of monetary claims under Chapter one 15. Thank you. Uh, anyone else on discussion? Madam Clerk, can you please call the role? Yes. Councilor Ro? Yes. Council Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Chetty? Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes.
▶ 1:48:39 Mark Garipay: Councilor Stewart? Yes. Council Vanderberg? Yes. Council Williams? Yes. President Ley? Yes. Mayor? Yes. Motion passes That will be recommended for passage. That concludes our agenda Tonight. Make a motion or I'll accept a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn that. Motion to adjourn by com. Uh, councilor McNaught seconded by Council Vandiver on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Opposed for adjourned.