Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2025-06-02
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
- Department Budget Presentations
- Appropriation Request for FY26
- APPRO-2025-49 : Fiscal 2026 Mt. Hood Enterprise Budget in the amount of $2,219,559.
- APPRO-2025-50 : Fiscal Year 2026 Operating Budget in the amount of $107,575,802.
- Ordinances
- Reauthorization of the City of Melrose Revolving Fund Table for Fiscal 2026.
- ORDNC-2025-4 : Zoning Amendment Floodplain Overlay District
- ORDNC-2025-5 : Zoning Amendment regarding Marijuana Buffer Zone Measurements
- Appropriation Request for FY25
- APPRO-2025-42 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $60,000 to Human Resources (#152) to fund the employee separation incentive.
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CALENDAR● JUNE 2, 2025 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:00 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Maya Jamaleddine Vice Chair Late 7:03 PM Cal Finocchiaro Absent 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
(ID # 12666) Enterprise Fund Fiscal 2026 Mt. Hood Enterprise Budget in the amount of $2,219,559. Ought to Pass City Council
(ID # 12678) Operating Budgets (City, School, Regional School) Fiscal Year 2026 Operating Budget in the amount of $107,575,802. Hold Appropriations & Oversight Committee
(ID # 12675) Revolving Fund/Reauthorization Reauthorization of the City of Melrose Revolving Fund Table for Fiscal 2026. Hold Appropriations & Oversight Committee
(ID # 12577) Amending Revised Zoning Ordinances Zoning Amendment Floodplain Overlay District Ought to Pass City Council
(ID # 12578) Amending Revised Zoning Ordinances City of Melrose Page 1 6/13/2025 12:04 PM Minutes Appropriations & Oversight Committee June 2, 2025 Zoning Amendment regarding Marijuana Buffer Zone Measurements Ought to Pass City Council
(ID # 12723) Appropriation An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $60,000 to Human Resources (#152) to fund the employee separation incentive. Ought to Pass City Council City of Melrose Page 2 6/13/2025 12:04 PM
Transcript
▶ 0:01 Mark Garipay: Good morning Later. Good evening. It is 7 0 2 on, um, progress Monday, June 2nd. This is the meeting of the Appropriation and Oversight Committee and Mark a, the chair. Also joining me tonight are Councilors Cache, councilor Williams, counselor Hamilton, councilor Romanul, counselor Reky, councilor Vandiver, councilor Stewart, and President Mili. This serves as a notice of a quorum for the record in accordance with the open Meeting law. This me, uh, meeting is being recorded live, um, broadcast live on MMTV. Um, I will motion by Unanim consent to open the floor for public comment. So you no objections. The floor is now open for public comment. This is the portion of the meeting where anyone in the public may speak
▶ 0:48 Mark Garipay: to anything on our agenda. Comments, expressing any viewpoint on other matters are also welcome. If there's anyone in the gallery that would like to speak, please come forward seeing no one in the gallery that would like to speak. Is there anyone online? Noted. Okay. If there are no objections, I will motion by unanimous consent to close the public comment portion of the meeting. Public comment is now closed for the record. Co vice chair Jamal Ledine is, uh, with us. Um, moving on to committee minutes approval. This time I'll motion by unanimous consent to approve without reading the minutes of the May 12th, 2025 appropriation and oversight. Budget hearing meeting, seeing no objections. Those minutes are now approved. Okay, moving on.
▶ 1:31 We are onto department budget presentations. First up, we got department 26 52 Recreation revolving account, and I think we have Frank Oliveri with us. And Jim Donahue, chairman of the Parks, chairperson of the Parks Commission. Thank you. Floor's. Yours? Uh, hello everyone. Uh, Frank Ria. I'm the Director of Recreation. Um, just wanted to provide a quick recap on some of the activities this past year with the recreation department. Uh, we've had a full year of programming, uh, which is our typical offering. Um, we had about 6,000 participants in our programs this year. So that's some of that. Most of that is part paid participants, um, along with a lot of free community programming and events.
▶ 2:21 Uh, we had about 60 scholarships or 60 plus scholarships given out this year, which was picked up by the recreation department. So no adult or child was turned away from any of our programming. We had over 300 community volunteers. We employed over 50 seasonal employees this past year. Um, mostly, uh, youth within our community or young or teens or early twenties, uh, with a lot of our programming. And it was a pretty successful year. Uh, this past year was our first time not having any funding from the city. Um, we're before you again tonight, requesting a $0 budget. Um, so it's, once again, we're gonna be allowing the recreation department department to be fully funded by our recreation revolving account.
▶ 3:11 Um, that is because over the past decade plus, we've been able to build up a surplus in that account just from being conservative with our approach, but also continuing to expand our offerings. Um, it's really important to note that this is not a long term solution. That it's not just a, the rec department can take care of itself. It is a short term bandaid, um, because we are continuously pulling from that amount. So all of our salaries benefits, anything that we do, anytime we have to replenish equipment supplies, it's all coming outta that fund. Um, we believe we can cover again this year, but again, I, I really can't stress this enough that it is a short term solution. Um, typically our budget average is around $84,000.
▶ 3:59 Um, so it's only about 15% of our budget. That's why we are, that 15% is the reason we're able to stay above and continue to offer our programs without asking for anything from the city. So, uh, with that, I dunno, Jim, if you have anything to add? Nope. I'm just here for support and then we're happy to answer any questions if anybody has any, Any questions from the council. Council. Thanks so much. Um, did you say 6,000 participants or 2000 participants? 6,000. 6,000. That's incredible. Yeah. Um, how does that range in terms of, uh, what we typically see year over year? It's, it's fairly consistent and, and we've been steadily increasing year after year. Um, but it's, if you look from last year,
▶ 4:46 Devin Romanul: it's a little bit up in the year from, that's a little bit up, but it's, it shows how the community does engage with our programming and it's one of the main ways that I, I feel at least that our community comes together. It's a way of pulling our community together. Yeah. Um, but it's, it's about 6,000 people Yeah. This past fiscal year that out and participated. Fantastic. I know my, my kiddos are certainly beneficiaries of, of the work that you do, so I appreciate it. Um, I, I wanted to ask you stressed several times that this is a short term solution. How short term would you say, and at what point does $0 appropriation zero for years start to dramatically impact how you think about not only your
▶ 5:27 yearly programming, but also your longitudinal planning? I have to imagine that that kind of financial uncertainty must impact how you think about infrastructure investments and, you know, personnel and, and that kind of thing. It, and you, it's, you're absolutely correct. That's exactly how we're approaching is like, you know, we're used to using the word shoestring budget in my profession, but this is beyond that. So we, we are doing everything we can to be creative and ration and reuse and pull from other resources in the community to try to keep that number from dropping as much as possible. Um, in terms of how long we can sustain it, I, I feel confident that we can do this fiscal year after this fiscal year.
▶ 6:13 I, it's uncertain, could we get further in, could we go another six months? And then, I don't know, I don't, I've never been in this position. I've been in this role for 17 years and we've never been in this position before. But, um, I'm also proud that we're able to do it on another sense that we've positioned ourself to be able to fund ourself for a short term. Yeah. And I, I think, Frank, when you look at the, you know, the, you, you asked the question about the, you know, the numbers, the numbers have gone up, which is a reflection of the program, um, despite the, you know, having a zero budget is sort of maintained or actually continued to expand the offerings, um, during that time. And so I imagine that in the absence of that, we'd need
▶ 6:55 Ward Hamilton: to think about either the pricing differently and or the, um, meaning the pricing for the participants differently. Um, or, um, or more limited or different programs. Well, we, we appreciate you managing a shoe stringless budget. Um, I hope the people of Melrose are aware that you cannot run very far without shoelaces, if I'm torturing the metaphor anymore. Thank you. Council Hamilton, Thank you. Thank you for being here tonight and thank you for all that you do, Frank, especially the last 17 years. Um, you know, the city owes you a debt of gratitude for everything that you've done. Um, not just for the youth, but for all the folks who benefit from the program. So thank you. It's appreciated and it's noticed. Thank you.
▶ 7:38 Robb Stewart: Thanks. Anyone else? Council Stewart? Thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you Mr. Olivar, Mr. Donoff for, for being here this evening. And, um, so I was looking at, um, hang on, my screen went blank for a second. I was looking at the revolving account numbers. I just wanna to stand them a little bit. Um, just gimme a second here. Come on. There we go. So there's a balance of $584,000 as of 5 6 25, and then there's revenues of $415,000. Is that what was received for this fiscal year? Is that how I interpret that? What is that Revenues? Yeah. It's a, it is a great question. I'm, I'm happy to kind of explain how that works. Um, that, that is the revenue collected for the fiscal year. However, as, as many of you know,
▶ 8:35 we collect funds upfront, right? So when you, we put a program out, the registration fee gets paid in advance. Mm-hmm. Then all those bills come due, right? So those expenses eventually hit. So like for right now, when we're looking at the amount in that fund, it also includes all of our summer revenue, which we've collected in this fiscal year, which is gonna get paid out. So I I, I know it's well over $200,000 that we've collected already for this upcoming summer. Right. So that, that makes the rec revolving budget look much more inflated at this point. 'cause summer's one of our biggest collection times, um, in terms of, you know, looking at it where it currently stands. Right. Right. So I,
▶ 9:24 so the differences about $170,000, right? I'm sorry, say that again? The, The difference between the balance and the revenue that you received, according to this is about $170,000. So that's kind of your buffer is Can I interpret that? Yeah, it's even less than that though, because we still have a lot of spring expenses that are gonna be coming out and that that also doesn't include all the salary and wages that are also coming out of it. Mm-hmm. However, 'cause that's all coming out of the rec revolving. Um, but bless, bless you, bless you. Somewhere within, it's hard to nail down exactly, because there's always money coming in and out of the account. But I think that's a fairly close estimate if,
▶ 10:07 Robb Stewart: if we wanted to go with that. Sure. I, so the, I guess the, the, um, what I'm interested in is what is the gap, right? So in terms of dollars, how much money comes in and how much money has to go up and what is, what is the shortfall Oh, okay. That we have. That's kind of what I'm trying to get my arms around. I'm, I don't see it just based on these Sure. I, it's, it's, it's per year. It's pretty close to what we're requesting from the city. If I'm, if I'm understanding the question correctly, what Historically requested, right. Right. So at that, I want to say maybe three, four or five years ago, we requested a $20,000 increase because we weren't meeting, it was $64,000. It went up to $84,000.
▶ 10:52 Robb Stewart: So it's, it's somewhere, depending on the fiscal year, it could be anywhere from 70 to a hundred thousand dollars is the buffer. But again, it's our, our expenses aren't solid because programs are constantly coming going. Some are more popular one year than others. So it's, it's kind of a influx. And we offer several hundred programs. So I want, it's 300 plus programs that we offer. So it's a complicated to give it ex a just giving that ballpark number is a little complicated. Sure. Sure. Um, so is that 70 to a hundred thousand? Is that the total outlay that you need to do or is that the uh, the shortfall in the outlay? More of the shortfall. Okay. So you are eating into your, uh, revolving fund at about 70
▶ 11:47 Robb Stewart: to a hundred grand a year if you go, don't receive any money? Correct. Okay. Alright. And that, that might fluctuate depending on, again, this is my first year actually going through this and I don't know exactly where we're gonna land. Yeah. So I don't, I just don't want to put that out there as Yes, that's the correct answer. 'cause I'm still a little uncertain. That's what we're still trying to determine, but that's a hundred thousand dollars a year might be what we're coming up short and what we're asking the revolving fund to try to cover. Right, right. No, I get it. I get it. So I'm, I'm just, I'm just trying to get a handle on, you know, when do you hit insolvency and, um, and what would potentially be required to delay
▶ 12:33 Robb Stewart: that insolvency if we start getting to that point? Sounds like we're not there yet. Uh, because, you know, you've got, the whole team runs a great program. Uh, I think it's a, a huge, um, factor in, in the, you know, just what we offer as a city. Uh, and this is something that I would, I think it makes sense as part of the council to support in what way we can. So that's why I'm trying to understand where we are and how, how urgent it is. Yeah. Um, and so, you know that I think what would help us if you came before us is lay out not just what this is, but where, where you are approaching that insolvent situation and you raise the flag if it's an issue. Right. Yep. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
▶ 13:22 Mark Garipay: Anyone else? Can I just ask a couple questions? Sure. On the revolving, uh, account, since it's off our budget now, we don't really see what your budget is, what your total expenses are. What is the recs department total expenses yearly, would you say? I would say it's, that's kinda what, uh, council Stewart was looking, looking for. What, what, what's the total cost to run the rec department? I would say it is gonna be close and I, again, this, this will fluctuate, but I want to say ballpark number 550,000. If we weren't, if all the revenue wasn't coming back to support our department, the total expense would be somewhere around 550,000. Okay. Maybe it will, maybe a little north of that. Is there any way that you could just kind of get us
▶ 14:19 Mark Garipay: that number at the end of the fiscal year just so we can see where it compares to the revolving account? Um, and then when was the last time, this is not a, a great topic and people, when was the last time you raised pro uh, cost of the programs? We've raised, unfortunately we've raised user fees at the, in the schools. Some of the highest around, when was the last time the park commission or rec department looked at, um, increasing some of these costs? 'cause we are in tough times. We did a, we did a multi community assessment maybe three years ago. Um, there were most of our pro, a lot of our programs were on the lower end, which was wasn't a bad thing. So a lot of our programs did end up coming back
▶ 15:05 and matching up what a lot of the other communities are doing. Right. It's not apples to apples in a lot of ways, but close enough. Uh, we've been steadily including a slight increase each year for each of those programs to try to keep those prices up to date with current costs. So it is, it is a built into our model now to, to include a small increase for each program year after year, rather than trying to make jumps every couple years. Mm-hmm. So that assessment really helped us figure out where that baseline was and what other communities were Doing. There was, and Frank can help me with the details on this one, um, I think about two months ago we did, um, have an increase in a select program in some select programs
▶ 15:49 where there were increased insurance costs that we were gonna have. Is that right? So I think there were, um, you know, it's not necessarily, you know, there were, there was an increase in the need for Cory and some other, um, some other liability insurance, um, coverage. And as a result of that, we increase the fees to, uh, to cover that rather than, you know, create a, a deficit. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And you said 6,000 children? We've, we've, uh, have been in the program throughout the course of the year. That's adults too. Adults, we, we have a lot of adults do our programming. Um, so it's, I would say two thirds is probably youth, maybe in three quarters is youth and the rest is adult programming. Yeah.
▶ 16:32 Mark Garipay: I'm just thinking that, you know, if we look at, and I know this is not, this is none of these decisions. We have to make a great decisions, but we also need to keep rec vi viable. Um, so I would, I would encourage you looking at that again, if we have 6,000 kids, I mean, you could cut into half of that potential loss. Yeah. With a little slight increase. But Yeah. President merely Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just was wanted to clarify the, with the youth programs, um, so youth and here's youth basketball is still being run by rec or is there, there's, I know there's a travel team. I don't know, I just wanna clarify what's rec and what's not. And same thing with soccer. 'cause I think there's a little bit of Sure.
▶ 17:20 Confusion in the community about that. There Is always, there's always confusion on that. Yeah. Um, for, for several, for the about 15 years, the rec department had absorbed the travel basketball in Melrose. Um, and during that time we put a real, a nice structure around it. Um, we were kind of limited on how we could exp they, they were looking for more expansion, but within our capacity we weren't able to do that. So the travel component did separate from us, but the in-house Melrose program, which is just our inner city week, um, is still under the recreation department. And so we still get over 800 kids in the wintertime that sign up and do our, our winter basketball. And that's where over 200 of our youth basketball coaches,
▶ 18:03 parents, adults in the community that coach, so. Okay. And so that's, that, um, is the only inner city, um, youth sports league. Right. Every, every other one is not managed through the rec department. Correct. We, we also run fall flight football, flag football. Okay. So that one comes through us almost like a user group. Like if you think of like Melrose Little League Melrose Youth Soccer. Yeah. So flag football, um, youth basketball. And then also, uh, youth field hockey. Okay. Comes through our, our department. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Any other questions? Uh, council Vanderberg, uh, Thank you, uh, appreciate you coming and speaking, uh, to us. Uh, the listening to the discussion was just making me think about the fees
▶ 18:51 Kimberly Vandiver: and who we charge fees across the city. Um, I know we've heard a lot about how the school department has very high fees and, and the parents in the community are facing fees for music and sports and drama and this and that and every single kind of activity. So I would encourage you, as you look at potentially at any point, raising fees to look at not the school aged children, but any other user groups in the city that may be slightly less hammered with fees right now. Just a suggestion. Thank you so much. Thank you. Anyone else? So, will of the committee, Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to move this item to the bottom line. Second, a motion to move the, uh, department 2 6 5 2 recreation involving account bottom line
▶ 19:38 Mark Garipay: by Council Stewart, seconded by counselor c*m machete. Um, on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? That bottom line is moved. Next up. We have one more. 2, 6, 6 9. I I think you guys are all set. Right? I think we have to have the wreck revolving, uh, the wreck revolving reauthorized, unless That will, that will happen, uh, later in appropriations. Um, I don't necessarily know that anyone else is gonna have any questions on just reauthorizing it, but if you're more than welcome to stay, but I would, I would think you're, you're good to go. We're good. Thank you. Thanks everybody. Okay. Thanks Frank. Thank you. Uh, department 2, 6, 6, 9 parks permits revolving account. And we have, um, superintendent parks,
▶ 20:26 Rob Carillo with us, and Mr. Donahue is with us too. Thank you. Uh, so brief overview of the parks department over last fiscal, um, installation of the gazebo and the fountain at El Pond. Um, skate park renovations, the lights at Fred Green as well as others, um, still overseeing over 30 parks, 50 adoptive sites, community gardens. Uh, the field rentals permits was about the same. I think it was five more than the last fiscal year. About 3,206 was the, the final number we had. Um, and our department per per permit fund is about the same, uh, roughly $12,000. Um, Thank you. Any questions from the council? Council Hamilton, Thank you. Thank you for being here and thanks for staying with us. Um, kind of an aside to what's going on,
▶ 21:23 Ward Hamilton: like with up at Mount Hood, uh, which is a tremendous success, um, our partnership there with Sagamore and the benefits the city has realized through that. I'm wondering if you could just speak briefly about that, if, if that is that appropriate or should I, I'm, I'm sorry. So I, I'd like to ask, uh, Mr. Carillo, uh, some questions about, I would ask him to speak to the successes at Mount Hood working with Sagamore and how we might see that model, um, applied to other city assets. Um, You can ask if you wants to answer it, but he's gonna be with us with the Mount Hood Enterprise Fund. That's probably, Think about that. Thank you. Sorry about that Council. Not A problem. And thank you for all that you do for our city. Appreciate
▶ 22:14 Mark Garipay: It. Yep. Any other questions on department 2, 6, 6 9? What's the will of the, I would make a motion to, uh, to recommend no Move the bottom line To move to bottom line. Second, We have a motion to move the bottom line of department 2 6 6 9 parks permits revolving account made by Vice Chair Jamal, and second by Council of V on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? That bottom line will be moved. Thank you very much Mr. Carillo. You'll be coming back up in a few minutes probably. Sounds good. Thank you. Next up, department 6 52, uh, pine Banks. We have, uh, Mr. Hank Keer with us today. And, um, Mr. Rick Rudolph, a board member for Pine Banks and Melrose Rep. Thank you for inviting us here tonight. Uh, Mr.
▶ 23:18 Rudolph, although not a resident of Melrose at this point, is a member of the class of 1967, that, uh, seniority, I have to, I have to defer to his opinion on many things, but he's a member of the board of, uh, pine banks because he's not a resident of either city and therefore, theoretically objective. But I don't think he's missed a marrow's football game since 68 that was in college playing football. Yeah. Um, I brought a copy of our annual report. Um, I believe the financials of our budget that we adopted have been forwarded to you previously, but the report has got some additional material with pictures of things that we've, uh, been doing. Part of the interesting thing in here is the resurfacing
▶ 24:16 of the, uh, ball field, which was how to take off synthetic turf and take the infill, reuse it, and then put down new turf. Uh, and there are pictures of that. The pitchers mound now is made of concrete and is covered with artificial material, and we're informed that it's gonna be better to play baseball on. We're informed by people who are actually playing baseball. Uh, so that seems to be a good thing. They like that because there's no clay on the field anymore. And if it rains, uh, you can be on there in about two minutes. Um, page 10, we have a memoriam for, for Joan Bell. Um, she made our life an awful lot easier, uh, in, in how to run a park. What's a reasonable price for, uh, softball, I mean
▶ 25:18 for soccer nets and where to buy them, um, and how to reasonably balance the interest of two towns in field usage. So we miss her. Rob's picked up and, uh, is doing a good job as our liaison. Um, but the picture there is a retirement party, which was, uh, last summer and she was taken too soon. Uh, there are also pictures of some of the events in the park on page 12. On the upper left is an embarrassing picture of, uh, the mirror of Malden, which we try to have at least once in, uh, in each year. Uh, there is a picture of a fish. We have it stocked so that there are fish in the pond. It's not a consumer fraud. There's a picture of a marrow boy who got a fish, which isn't big enough to eat, but there it is.
▶ 26:23 Uh, fairy house day on 13 is something I had no idea about, but the children make little houses, put them in the woods and they see ferries dancing around them. And uh, the woman who brought that to us is Barbara Murphy. She used to be the Ward five counselor in Malden. And she's, she calls herself Mother Nature in this, but she's gone on to be the police commissioner for the City of Malden, and she's still gonna be doing Fairy house day for us. I'm not sure that she's changing her uniform. Um, the Bread of Life walk from October is there, um, ward five counselor Ari Taylor, uh, at a Halloween event, which is on page 15. And then on page 16 is Santa's visit, which was in December. And we have both mayors on page 16 on the bottom of
▶ 27:29 that page, trying to induce Santa Claus to have a better appropriation for them budget, like, um, our Ward five counselor, Malden, Ari Taylor is in the upper left with her, uh, husband shown there in the picture. Um, and he died, gosh, I think it was March 20th, 47 years old. Jeff Taylor. I know if you, you've heard about that, but you have a loss like that in, in a town like Malden or Melrose. It's a, it's a big hit. And she's a, she's a good, she's got a daughter who's graduating from Malden Catholic this year. We're all concerned about how it's gonna go. So, uh, projects we've completed, we got the, uh, track res resurfaced. We got the, uh, baseball field, uh, resurfaced. That's from 2007.
▶ 28:31 Uh, we got the a DA compliance upgrades on the dog park. Um, we've got, uh, some repairs done on the Syl Street lot 'cause of the ruts that are there. Uh, we're looking to, uh, continue on and resurface the Malden entrance parking lot. Oh, and we've got a new playground constructed that replaces one that was put in, in 1994 by the Adelaide Baird Foundation. And it's gotten a little bit long in the tooth. We planted, dedicate that, uh, for Joan. Uh, I got to know her mostly because of dedicating playgrounds, Franklin School, the, uh, Lincoln School. And we were involved in funding some of that with the foundation. Uh, and she seemed to know an awful lot about that sort of thing. Uh, and she was a big help to us.
▶ 29:30 So, uh, what else have we got? Playgrounds. It's almost done. Oh. And someone's interested in pickleball. Um, we have some convenient space adjacent to two cemeteries. And I was told earlier that I can't make cemetery jokes, but just one more. I'm afraid it's gonna raise the dead if we put pickleball courts there. Sorry. Um, unfortunately where we're looking to put it, which is south of the rugby field parking lot is an area that is, uh, they call urban landfill, which means that merose used it as a dump until 58. Uh, I can remember going there with my parents. My father would bring my sister and me there Saturday, and the only regret was that he brought her home. But, uh, we would have to take out two feet of fill,
▶ 30:30 dispose of it, put in clean fill, and then build the pickleball, port torts on top of that. And it's about 170,000 a piece. So it's, uh, for each one? For each one, yeah. Um, and that's without lights. Personally, my game might improve without, with, without the lights. But, um, that's, that's what we're looking at. And I think we've got space for three or four, but I think the price is gonna be the constraining issue. But it is something I know both communities want. We're looking at it. Uh, I've got a, I'm a lawyer and have a client who's trying to convert an old bed, bath and beyond up in Danver, and they're looking at putting pickleball courts on the inside there, uh, which would be great for January
▶ 31:22 and February cash flow. And they'd have every baby boomer in the county looking to play there. Um, if the sound insulation on the structure is an issue. But, um, that's about where we are. And if I can answer any questions and anything I can't answer, I'm gonna defer to my, uh, senior. Okay. Do you want to mention anything about Brian? Um, oh, we have a new superintendent named Brian Mulin. He came on in September and everything's very successful so far. Um, he comes out of the Cambridge Parks department. He knows all about fields and maintenance and turf and grass, and he's had trade groups come in and look at what we're doing at Pine Banks, and they're all jealous. So he's good. He would be here tonight, um,
▶ 32:26 Ryan Williams: but is, he's got a medical emergency in the family. So with regrets. Um, questions from the council. Councilor Williams. Hello. Thank you both for being here. Um, I wanted to, I, we've started using pine banks, my family and I more frequently because our kids are getting older and doing more sports. And I wanted to throw out a suggestion that when you're thinking through capital projects, at some point in the future, you might think about accessible walkways between fields and also between the, um, The Melrose entrance that, that road that winds around over to the other parking lot is another space where, say a person on the sidewalk entering from the public right of way, which is pretty common, um, would have
▶ 33:18 Ryan Williams: to kinda either walk in the grass or walk on that street, which is fairly narrow for, for two cars and a person to walk on. So it can be pricey, but there are, I think, um, certainly we get grants for sidewalk work as a city. And I think that, that the park could probably get grants from the Commonwealth for the sidewalk work as well. So just think about it when you're doing your capital projects. And I wouldn't worry too much about the cemetery. It's a very popular place. I've heard people are just dying to get in there. Thank You. You told me I couldn't. Council Vandiver. Thank you. Um, one question and, and one comment. Um, the question is, I, I remember a few months ago we heard about some lead that was,
▶ 34:02 Kimberly Vandiver: found routine testing in the area, and there was some lead found. It was, um, I believe corded off. And I wanted to understand if there's any, um, what, what the, the ongoing situation there is any remediation, anything to that effect? Well, we addressed the remediation necessary for the initial problem. Um, the question of what to do there, that's where the, uh, cross country trail comes down on off mount from and runs right through the middle of that. Um, the CrossCountry trail's getting an awful lot of positive comments from, from different schools. And, uh, so it's a, we don't want to lose that trail. Um, the lead that is there, uh, is above what's permitted. The remediation, I believe,
▶ 34:55 is gonna require taking out two feet and putting in clean fill. The question has come up or the answer, the potential answers to put another pickleball court there, uh, or basketball or something. Um, I'm not sure how the Sylvan Street folks are gonna feel about a pickleball court there, but, um, we're looking at it and don't have an answer long term. The short term is that it's fenced off with a sign saying, don't come in here. Um, I think the amount of lead that's in that soil is probably the same amount of lead that you'd find around an old Victorian home in Melrose, because that's what they used to use for paint and it just goes down there. But that's, um, it's about where it is. Okay, thank you. Um, is that,
▶ 35:49 and I know there was, it was found as part of routine testing. Is that done throughout pine banks or only near the, the playing areas or Like that? No, that was, that was there because that was a dump Uhhuh. That was when we, the trees that were in there were falling over. Uh, and because was when I was a kid in all roads, everyone had a 55 gallon dump that you burned your rubbish. And then ash cans, that's how they got their name. They would come by and pick up the ashes and dump it down to pine banks in that area. So we had cans, bottles, uh, and a lot of ash, and that's what caused the lead mercury, whatever. Uh, and the, uh, DEQE is always over our shoulder, making sure that we're making it safe.
▶ 36:57 Kimberly Vandiver: And, you know, my granddaughter plays down there and probably a lot of your kids and grandchildren do as well. And I wouldn't have that if that, if it was a dangerous situation. 'cause Pine banks was, that's where I played my little league and, and, uh, it, uh, has a, has a very dear place in my heart. Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, thank you. That's, that's helpful. Um, and then the other comment I wanted to make is also to appreciate, um, the partnership you have with, um, the Boston Outdoor Preschool Network. Um, for the last couple of years. Um, my daughter started attending there. It's wonderful. The kids are, you know, ex excuse me, exploring all over and, and going on adventure hikes and playing in the rain, playing in the cold.
▶ 37:48 Kimberly Vandiver: So they love it. And they're very happy to be there. You've got a child there? I do. I do. She's, I, it, it's, it's amazing. They're outside in January, February, and Ari Taylor's, I think got a child there too. Yes. Yeah. But, uh, it's a very interesting group they've got there that we're trying to support them as much as we can. We get bought a storage shed for them. Mm-hmm. So Yeah, it really, it builds resilience in the kids. And, uh, a few weeks ago we went to a birthday party. It was a little bit rainy, and my husband and I were saying, should we go? It's kind of rainy. It's at a playground. And my daughter said, don't worry. Put on your rain gear. Let's go. Because that's what they do.
▶ 38:25 Ward Hamilton: They put on the rain gear, they go play. So I love it. Thank you. Yeah. Councilor Hamilton, thank you. Thank You, Mr. Keer and Mr. Rudolph For being here. Uh, I think we all appreciate what you're doing. I especially appreciate what you do in maintaining and growing pine banks into the asset that, uh, the jewel that it's for this city and from Alden. Um, and I share memories. I won't bore people with the old mower stuff. I'm sorry. No, no, no. You've, you hit the, it's not a criticism. I could, you and I could talk forever about this stuff, but Yeah. Yeah. Um, pine banks, I, I will share one memory. I think one of my oldest memories from I could have been one or two years old is, you know, the petting zoo
▶ 39:10 Ward Hamilton: and the playground and then, you know, later Pop Warner and, and all that good stuff. So, um, thank you for everything that you do. I do have, um, a couple questions that are very specific, um, around the pickleball courts. And thank you for the information that you shared tonight. In June of 2023, this city appropriated just over 34,000, um, towards the development of pickleball courts at Pine Banks. Can you speak to what, if any of that money has been spent or encumbered what it's been spent on? Oh, it's still, it's still there. It's still to be part of the, uh, the construction costs. Um, did the City of Malden also make a contribution? Yes. Yeah. That would've been a type three expense, capital expense.
▶ 40:02 Ward Hamilton: And those are split between the, the two cities. So we send a requisition to, to carrier or to Patrick, and they'd have sent us the, uh, the check at that time, and Malden did the same thing. It would be the same amount. Yeah. Okay. Um, I think you've answered a bunch of other questions that I had just in your presentation. Uh, for all the, the, the folks that are very enthusiastic about bringing pickleball to pine banks. I understand completely the challenges that you've described, and it's more on, it's almost all unknowns at this point. Do you have even a, a rudimentary timeline as to what, how you think things will go forward? Uh, well, we still have the, the, the funds from the Baird Foundation available set up
▶ 40:51 as a revolving line of credit, like a construction loan. So we've gotten through the first phase, which are the, the fields and the playground and the a DA. So we'll look at the budget on that, uh, and see how much fields, how many fields we can build. Right. Um, you know, I, I think four fields would be nice, but, you know, that's a big chunk of change and we could do it over years. And we may come back next year and say, well, we bought, we built two and we'd like to build two more if you'd like to help us with that. Right. Um, the thing about the revolving line of credit with from the foundation is that it's made our planning an awful lot easier than trying to fit it into the cycle of municipal funding and budgeting.
▶ 41:38 Mark Garipay: Um, so if we can get it done, you know, it's not being, it's not being tied to a fiscal year. Um, so that planning is in place now. We just got warranty information on the baseball field and the a DA work today, so they're gonna be submitting a final bill and we'll see where we are on that. Great. Thank you. I appreciate everything you do. Thanks, sir. Council, do it. Yeah. Mr. Chair, I'd make a motion to, uh, item to the bottom line. Second, we have a motion to move the, the bottom line of department 6 5 2 pine banks made by Council Stewart, seconded by Councilor McNaught on discussion. Um, I just had one comment regarding more or less the pickle balls. It's probably one of the, um, biggest suggestions
▶ 42:31 that we hear as counselors from our residents. So any, any, I would encourage, anything we can do to try to, to move that along would, uh, would be great, especially for the residents of Melrose. Uh, the, uh, last time I was here, uh, it was dog parks and we've done that. We've got a large dog dog park and a small dog, dog park. Now we have, both of them are a DA because we had complaints that people with disabilities weren't able to break, take their dog down to the park. Yep. So we have the proper ramp. It's been paved over so we don't have to worry about a washout. It's not just dirt, it's paved ramp going down with the, I forget what the, uh, incline, the incline has to be, but it's, it's all a DA approved.
▶ 43:26 They were there. They make sure everything is, uh, is up to spec. And, uh, we like it that way. Thank you. The complaints that we get on the dog park now are for the lack of water. Uh, so we're thinking about putting out a, a pereg dispensary. Um, but uh, you know, the only answer to that really is to have a water line from Sylvan Street come in and make the provisions. But otherwise folks seem happy with it. Yep. Um, anything. Yeah, I appreciate that. Anything we can do, um, just to try to move some pickleball courts, that'd be great. Um, councilor Rome, Just very quickly, I'll say, um, I want to, I appreciate my, my colleague counselor Hamilton, asking a couple of questions that I had about the financing the pickleball courts,
▶ 44:14 Mark Garipay: because Ward seven was home to a couple in, uh, FO Park, um, that are no longer with us. And it was of great interest to many folks in our neighborhood. So, um, you know, there was a lot of excitement generated about having them made, uh, stay in Ward seven. So anything we can do to help, uh, look forward to working with you, It's, it's a tough sport. Mm-hmm. Anyway, thank you very much. Thank you. Um, so that was on discussion. Anyone else on discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? That bottom line will be moved. Um, we have a full council meeting's supposed to start at 7 45. Do you think we, um, can shoot for, uh, mountain Hood Enterprise Fund or how do you guys, uh, take a little suggestion here.
▶ 45:00 Mark Garipay: Yeah. Uh, council chair, chair Garbe, just to, for the council, so we have the 7 45, we have the full council meeting, and then eight o'clock we have the public hearing. Okay. So Father Was the fifth ed teacher At the coalition. Okay. So we're gonna, uh, I'll entertain a motion to recess. We're gonna recess appropriations, we're gonna have, um, city council come in, um, start up the city council. 'cause based on our laws, we have to, um, our rules, we have to start our a meeting within 15 minutes of the start time. So, uh, we will be coming back to appropriations budget hearing, but, um, I'll leave that up to councilor, uh, president Elli. 'cause we have a couple public hearings also at eight o'clock.
▶ 45:41 Leila Migliorelli: So I wanna entertain a motion to adjourn appropriations for the time being chair. I make a motion. I motion To recess. To recess. Recess. Whoa. All right. We got a motion to, uh, recess by cons. Stewart, seconded by Council of Vanderberg on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? We recessed? Do I need time? The time she came in, look at length, the tenure. Yeah, if you hit the thing. Alright. Good evening. The time is 7:52 PM on Monday, June 2nd. This meeting of the Melrose City Council is called to order. I am President Elli and in accordance with Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. This meeting is being recorded and broadcast by Melrose Cable Access tv and will be available for viewing in its entirety on MMTV
▶ 1:47:49 Um, I took over the year after they kind of broke the course records. Excuse me, some councils just Sagamore just explain who Sagamore Is, the management company at the golf course. Thank, sorry. Um, so I believe their first year they broke the record in total revenue. Um, this past year they broke it again by almost half a million dollars. Um, they had 50,000 more rounds of golf in the last year than the year before. So that's calculated by a group of four. At one tee time is four people, so it was 5,000 more people than near before. Uh, we've done a bunch of renovations to the course, including the tree work, uh, the patio memorial, outside the clubhouse, the kitchen in the clubhouse, um, as well as others.
▶ 1:48:36 So do you have anything else, sir? No, I mean, just this, you know, it's, it just added ano another level of professionalism to it. We've also added the, um, the, the golf simulators, um, to create a revenue stream in the winter time and also an additional, um, both, you know, recreational outlet for, um, for residents of the city. Um, it's been a, it's been a good partnership. Any questions from any of the counselors? Council Hamilton? Thank you. I had a question before us earlier. Do you recall what that was or should I re-ask While ago? Yeah, Council Hamilton, I'm sorry. Sorry to interrupt. Um, just a reminder, if everyone can just speak into the mic. I'm sorry, I have trouble hearing. Sorry. No problem.
▶ 1:49:28 Ward Hamilton: So, earlier when you were before us, we were talking about the success at Mount Hood with Sagamore and, um, the enterprise fund model, and I was just interested NN nothing, uh, extensive. Just some brief thoughts or remarks from you on thoughts on how that model could be applied to other city Assets? Yeah, uh, I definitely think it could in terms of field rentals, uh, parks, facilities, everything like that. I think it could be seeing how successful they're doing and, um, kind of taking some of the things I've learned from what Smore does as a management company. I think it could be applied in terms of like field rentals and everything like that. Forming it. Right now we have the, um, permit revolving fund, which I believe has a cap
▶ 1:50:15 of about 40,000 a year. So, uh, we're not close to that right now, but I think down the road potentially could be. Okay, Thank you. Any other questions? Uh, I just have one question. In your, in the, um, budget, um, that, that was given to us Mo Hood community events, what, uh, what goes into that line item? It's $10,000. Um, so majority of that money is spent in partnership with the Mount Hoods Park Association. Uh, they run a few events including, uh, the 4th of July. They do a little event up there in the evening. They do the senior day at the golf course, which was a few weeks ago. Um, so majority of that line item is spent in partnership with the Park Association running community events all are
▶ 1:51:02 Mark Garipay: free to attend for, for residents. So does that, Mount Hood Park Association's a separate group from the city, right? Correct. Do they, they don't pay for their own events? We're paying it out of the enterprise fund. They pay partially, partially. Um, it's a percent split. It's been that way for as long as I know. Um, so I've been following the same model that was followed for the past. Um, but I, I don't have the exact split, but it's split between, they pay a percentage, we pay a percentage. So it's roughly 20,000 if it's 50 50. Right. Then we're spending on events up at Mount Hood. Would you say What, what was that? Well, we got a budget of 10,000. We spent seven. So in theory, if it's a split, we're spending $20,000 a year
▶ 1:51:47 for events up at Mount Hood? I believe so. Okay. Alright. Well I think there would be the, there might be certain, I think there's the Mount Hood Park Association, there's them, but then there's also like a portion of that funding would be for like you mentioned for the 4th of July and some other things that we can get this specific figure for the, um, you know, for, for that, for the event that was referred to that split 50 50. Okay. Thank you. Any questions? What's the will of the, uh, of the committee, Mr. Chairman? Uh, motion to, I'm sorry. We have to, we'll, we'll vote this on in the appropriation. It's in front of us to vote for approval, so we don't have to do anything right now on this.
▶ 1:52:29 Mark Garipay: Okay. Sorry. Apologize. That's okay. Thank you guys. Thank you all. Thank you. Chat it. Thank you for waiting. Next up we have department 1 75 planning and C community development. We have Ms. Laurie Massa with us also 1 71, the Conservation Commission. There is a zero zero funded that is now joined in with the planning and community development. I'm sure Ms. Masser will mention that. So we will not be taking any votes on Department 1 71 'cause it Okay. Doesn't have its own budget anymore. Floor's, yours. Thank You. Thanks for having me to present the Office of Planning and Community Development Budget. I've been the director since October, 2024. Um, it's the mission of the Office of Planning
▶ 1:53:12 and Community Development to protect and enhance the quality of life in Melrose, uh, to accomplish this mission. OPCD provides long range planning. Manages select capital improvement projects, recommends and implement zoning amendments, creates GIS maps and spatial analysis, applies foreign and administers grants and community development programs and implements special projects. Additionally, OPCD supports the work of several boards and commissions in the city and reviews all major land use proposals, including subdivision plans and conservation regulations. So the long range plans, um, that we've been involved with writing and implementing are the Melrose Forward Community and Master Plan, the Housing Production Plan,
▶ 1:53:54 way Finding and Creative Placemaking Plan, the Open Space and Recreation Plan, and the Net zero Action Plan. Uh, we handle, um, administrative and technical work to support the volunteer boards and commissions, um, including the Planning Board Zoning Board of Appeals Conservation Commission, historic District Commission, and the Affordable Housing Trust. Uh, OPC staff, our members of committees, um, including the North Suburban Consortium for Home Fund Distribution with eight neighboring communities, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, or the MAPC, um, the MAPC INTERCORE Committee, MAPC, Metro Mayors Coalition Task Force, and our local school Health and Safety Committee in 20 fiscal year 25.
▶ 1:54:38 Our accomplishments, um, so far are the, in the housing and permanent category. Um, we've handled, um, five new applications with the planning board for approval, including 61 residential units, nine of which are affordable, um, and two commercial properties. We also actively manage the follow up of conditions of approval. Um, and currently we have four active projects, um, where we're, we're doing that role and, um, assisting with the lottery for three of affordable units within those projects. Um, so these projects increase our tax space, revitalized underutilized sites and vacant buildings, and help to fill the local demand for more housing. Uh, for the zoning board of appeals, they have had 16
▶ 1:55:27 new cases, um, and additionally several 40 B comprehensive permit projects. The Historic District Commission has had eight cases. Uh, the Conservation Commission has had several cases, and the Conservation Commission also deals with wetland Regulation Enforcement and management of the Conservation land. Um, the office wrote, um, zoning amendments and informational materials, um, for the reification of the zoning ordinance. The new code has been easier to work with and has resulted in less, um, projects needing zoning board approval. The, uh, we wrote the accessory dwelling unit zoning regulations, the basement height amendment, um, the Floodplain Overly District Amendments, um, which is before you again tonight,
▶ 1:56:13 the Marijuana Use Buffer measurement, um, which is also before each night. And, um, we've also started a zoning dimensional analysis project with the inner core of MAPC. Um, we, this year conducted trainings with the planning board and zoning board to go over proper procedure and technical review of zoning permits and processes. We created rules and regulations for the first time for the planning board and zoning Board of appeals. We updated the comprehensive permit rules and regulations for the zoning board. We updated all of our application forms for the planning board and the zoning board to be consistent with the new zoning ordinance, um, and update, you know, the things that, um, are making them more usable for the applicant
▶ 1:56:58 and also for the members. We updated, um, OP CD's Development Project Review guide to reflect the new zoning ordinance sections. Um, we initiated a regional project with MAPC for the creation of Affordable Housing Administration toolkit to facilitate management of inclusionary um, housing units, which our office, um, is responsible for the oversight of. Uh, we submitted housing data to MAPC to meet our regional goals and updated the state subsidized housing inventory, um, for long range planning. We procured a consultant and started the A school facilities master plan. We're working with the, um, newly created affordable housing trust to get the board up and running, including creating an action plan, uh, working
▶ 1:57:46 with the engineering department on updates to the Natural Hazard mitigation plan and the L Pond Storm water management project. Um, we received the final state approval of the city's seven year open space and recreation plan, and we're currently amending that, um, which will allow us to have three additional years of compliance for the the open space plan. Um, for our grants and project management. We're continuing, um, to manage the Masterworks grant, um, related to the property that we were just discussing, um, for the EL Pond, um, culvert location reconstruction. Um, so that property is able to be redeveloped. We manage the design and bidding of the library renovation and addition project and oversaw the award
▶ 1:58:32 of the construction contract. Um, thanks to Denise Gaffey. We managed, um, the funding of the Memorial Hall Restoration project. We were awarded a technical assistant grants, um, for Memorial Hall operations plan. We submitted the application for the city's compliance with the MBTA communities law, including the required fiscal impact analysis, um, for our affordable housing requirement. Um, under energy and sustainability, we manage an award of $500,000 for the Green Community Building decarbonization grant in support of the Melrose Public Library. Um, this is a seventh green community grant. The city has received since our designation. In 2010, we were awarded $85,000 for a three year grant to fund a part-time energy advocate
▶ 1:59:21 position to conduct, uh, energy efficient efficiency outreach in coaching to homeowners small businesses, renters, landlords and income eligible residents to help them navigate and take advantage of new mass save and incentives for insulation, air sealing, and heat system upgrades, including heat pumps. Um, we help administer the Melrose Community Power Program to protect residents from, um, energy increases and costs. And approximately 90% of Melrose residents and small businesses are enrolled. Um, in this program, which is at a fixed rate. Uh, we helped achieve melrose's, um, renewed climate leader community status. Um, in terms of changes in our, our budget, um, we have a 3%, um, decrease in, in salaries due
▶ 2:00:11 to the staff changes in the department. Um, and what's remaining in the budget is salaries for th three full-time employees, 0.7, uh, of a full-time employee and one part-time employee. We have advertising for newspaper notices required for public hearings that are initiated by the city or when required for procurement practices. Um, applicants for our individual cases have to pay their own advertising fees. The printing costs, um, covers printing and supplies for the office. Um, there's, uh, conservation maintenance, light item for pond water quality testing and maintenance. Um, there's an energy, energy efficiency, um, line item for, uh, mass energized to, they have an interactive website tool, um,
▶ 2:01:07 which the, the city uses. Um, and for other sustainability initiatives, we have a dos in membership, um, for professional memberships, um, like the Mass Associ Association of Conservation and the American Planning Association membership, um, education and seminars for professional training and development such as the Southern New England, um, American Planning Association Conference, citizen Planner Training, collaborative classes, and Conservation Commission classes. Thank you. Uh, any counselors with any questions? Council Vandiver. Thank you. That is a very impressive list of accomplishments. That's my only comment. Thank you. Thanks. I'm sorry, council Williams. Yeah, I was also gonna say that's a lot.
▶ 2:01:59 Ryan Williams: Um, what percentage do you think the team spends responsive to, um, let's say, you know, permits and ZBA stuff and, um, versus the forward looking planning work? All the plans that you mentioned, if you had to split that into two kind of clean percentages. So the, um, case review is ongoing, you know, and so that, um, that fills, you know, oftentimes fills all of our day. Mm-hmm. Um, and then, um, but we, you know, always look to, even in reviewing those development projects, we look to our plans to, you know, point to what's, what are the goals? You know, how do the findings that the boards have to make relate to, to those planning documents. Um, but actively working on the plans it's, um, cyclical.
▶ 2:02:48 So, um, you know, when we're, we're in that we're, we're in it, but, um, you know, so maybe 75% is development review and the rest is long, more long-term planning. Do you think that there are any areas of, um, I say improvement, not in like a punitive sense, are there any things, any areas of interest that you would like the department to engage more on, but you just don't have the money for it? Well, I think, I think we do a lot with, um, you know, in the past with capital projects, um, and you know, procurement, which are two things that in other municipalities there's other people mm-hmm. There's staff that are devoted to those things. Um, and so the planning department has taken on a lot in those areas that, um, you know,
▶ 2:03:47 our intense pieces of work that pull you away from other planning initiatives. So, um, I'm not sure that answers your question, but, um, you know, we, um, I think we do a good job of getting into all the kinds of planning with the limited, you know, staff that we have. Um, and housing is super important and we're, um, you know, continuing to, um, look at our zoning to see ways we can, um, potentially amend that to, um, address some of our housing production plan goals. Um, and you know, with that comes transportation and energy and, you know, the, um, economic development and, um, all those other parts of um, the planning, um, realm that we, you know, try to keep, uh, within our review of projects, um, so that they kind
▶ 2:04:52 Mark Garipay: of meet all those different, um, needs of community. Okay. Thank you. Council Stewart? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, Ms. Massa, thank you. I think this is comprehensive, and I'll make a motion to move to the bottom line. Second, We have a motion to move the bottom line of Department 1 75, planning and community development made by Councilor Stewart, seconded by Councilor Al on discussion. All in favor a Aye. Opposed that, uh, item will be moved. As I mentioned, 1 71 is now in with, um, planning. So moving on, we have, next up we have ID 1, 2, 6, 6, 6 fiscal year 2026 Mount Hood Enterprise budget in the amount of $2,219,559. This would be a, I'm sorry, yep. Motion. Motion To recommend Second. Oh. Motion to pass. Well
▶ 2:05:59 Mark Garipay: Recommend passage. Recommend, yeah. Recommend for passage. A motion to recommend for passage by, uh, president Elli, seconded by our councilor, uh, Stewart, on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Actually, why don't we take a roll call, vote on that. I'm sorry. Yeah. Councilor Jamine? Yes. Council. Council. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Cameron Chetty. Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Council Stewart? Yes. Council Vandiver? Yes. Council Williams? Yes. President Moore? Yes. Chair Gar Pay? Yes. Ocean passes. Okay, next up. Id 1, 2, 6, 7, 8. Fiscal year 2026. Operating budget in the amount of $107,575,802. Ms. Council Stewart, Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to hold it in committee. Second.
▶ 2:06:54 Mark Garipay: We have a motion to hold id. 1, 2, 6, 7, 8. Uh, by Council Stewart, seconded by Councilor McNaught on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? That appropriation is that order is held. Next up we have ordinances re uh, 1, 2, 6, 7 5 reauthorization of the city of Melrose revolving fund table for fiscal 2026. This would be a motion for hold Chair. I'll make a motion to hold the committee. Second. We have a motion to hold id. 1, 2, 6, 7, 5 by Council Stewart, seconded by President Melissa on discussion. All in favor? Aye. A Aye. Opposed? That ID is held. Next up we have ID, 1, 2, 5, 7, 7 zoning amendment, floodplain overlay district, and we have Ms. Mass with us. And I believe in your packet, there was some memos on, um,
▶ 2:07:54 the response from the planning board. So, floor, Yours? Yes. Thank you. Uh, so the, the planning board, um, met and discussed all of the comments and questions that came up during the public hearing, uh, for these zoning amendments. And, um, have a formal response to, to each of the items in this memo. Um, they're not recommending any changes to the, the zoning amendment, the floodplain zoning, um, overly District Amendment, um, based on the discussion. So I can go through the memo, um, if you'd like, um, or just leave it at that. Um, I would, I'm sorry, I was gonna just open it up for councils or do you want, I mean, I'm assuming everyone had read it, so, yeah. Council, I just, I was just gonna say as a reminder that,
▶ 2:08:45 Ryan Williams: uh, the, the zoning amendment before doesn't accept floodplain. We don't define the floodplain. Um, it is done by the federal government. Uh, what we're doing is updating the, um, zoning to be more responsive to the fact that there are properties within floodplain and they need a little bit of special treatment and better define how we handle it in our zoning code. Thank you. Uh, council Hamilton and then Council Jam. Jamal, I was just trying to indicate that I've read the memo and, oh, raise your hand if you Thank You. Council. Council Hamilton. Council Jamal, Thank you. I just wanted to thank, uh, the committee on sending all these information. It was very helpful and, um, it answered many
▶ 2:09:30 of the questions that, um, resident residents, um, actually reach out and, you know, so to clarify that, so I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Um, what's the Motion to recommend full counsel? Second, we have a motion to recommend by Council Williams, seconded by Council Romano Romano on discussion. Roll call. Vote please. Councilor Jamal Ledine? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor O Brisky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Michael? Yes. Chair Garipay? Yes. Motion passes. Okay. Next up we have ID, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 zoning amendment regarding marijuana buffer zone measurements. Um, Yes. Um, so,
▶ 2:10:23 um, same kind of discussion. The, the planning board, um, met and reviewed the, the questions and comments, um, related to the zoning amendment, and they do not have any recommended changes. There was that memo also on that, so I'll open it up for the council if there are any questions. I was just gonna make a motion to recommend. Second, We have a motion to recommend ID 1 12 5 78, uh, by Vice Chair Jamal. Second by Councilor Williams on discussion. Madam Clerk, will you call the role please? Councilor Aldine? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor Reky. Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Council Williams? Yes. President Melli? Yes. Chair Garipay? Yes. Motion passes.
▶ 2:11:20 Mark Garipay: Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Enjoy your night. What's left of it? Appropriations request for FY 25 ID 1 2 7 2 3. An appropriation from free cash account 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of $60,000 to human resource number 1 52 to fund the employee separation incentive. We have Ms. Lauren Grek in front of us tonight to speak to this order. Sure. Um, appropriation, so this was an order, um, or an administrative request that the mayor put forth, um, back in the beginning of the calendar year as a way to start to try to close the budget gap. I believe y'all received, um, an email from her back in March stating that she was moving forward to this and she spoke to it. I believe it was May 8th, um, with the CFO Golden with all of you.
▶ 2:12:13 Mark Garipay: Um, we had four employees who were interested in taking the voluntary incentive, so it's four people at $15,000. Happy to answer questions. There was a memo also in there from, um, Ms. Lata. Yep. Um, we have, uh, questions, uh, co I'm sorry, council Stewart and Council Williams. Uh, I had no questions. I was going to make a motion to recommend to the full council. Second. Okay. Um, we have a motion to recommend by Council Stewart, seconded by President Elli on discussion. I have Council Williams. I I am sure this is, I'm sure that you've thought through this. Um, with the custodian position in particular. I know we've talked about reductions in the fire department, um, the library assistant position.
▶ 2:12:58 Ryan Williams: Sad to see those folks go, but when I look at the custodian position, like so do we have enough flexibility in the custodian, um, staffing category to lose a person? Yeah. So as the mayor stated, that's a position that would have to be filled. Right? We need a custodian. Um, this, it's a specifically a school custodian. Right? Um, what we are looking at right now is exactly that. Is it a new person that comes in or do we shift around someone, um, from somewhere else? Yeah. Um, within the DPW. Okay. Um, and the patrol officer too. We've heard a lot about minimum mm-hmm. Coverage for that. Yep. And I know Chief Fowler will be here, I believe Thursday night with you all, so I'm sure he'll Okay.
▶ 2:13:43 Okay. Have some, some more to say about that. I believe it's two officers that he'll be down. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Any other questions on discussion? Madam Clerk, will you please call the role? Sure. Thank you. Counselor Jamine? Yes. Counselor Hamilton? Yes. Counselor Carrum Cheney? Yes. Counselor Osky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vanderberg? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Garin? Yes. Motion passes. That motion will be recommended for passage to the full counsel onto adjournment. Adjournment to chair. I'll make a motion to adjourn. Second, we have a motion to adjourn by Council Stewart, seconded by Council Eric Chetty on discussion.