Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2025-10-20
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
- Attendees
- MINUTES APPROVAL
- PUBLIC COMMENT
- APPROPRIATION
- Library Fines Appropriation FY2026. Appropriate the amount of $16,550.00 from account 29032-590000 (Library Fines Account) to account 016112-534200 (Lib Exp Books & Periodicals). (ID# 13005)
- ORDERS
- Authorization to Transfer Land at 138-140 Franklin Street for a nominal fee. Authorizing the disposal of 350 square feet of City land located on a portion of 138-140 Franklin Street in Melrose for a nominal fee for the reasons provided in the Notice of Decision (ID# 12985)
- Authorization for Land Transfer 138-140 Franklin Street- Execute Quitclaim Deed. Authorizing the transfer of the City land located at 138-140 Franklin Street in Melrose to the current owners of the remainder of that property, as described in the attached Quitclaim Deed. (ID #12986)
- ADJOURNMENT
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MINUTES● OCTOBER 20, 2025 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:20 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting was Called to order by Chair Garipay at 7:20 PM Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Maya Jamaleddine Vice Chair Present Cal Finocchiaro Present Ward Hamilton Absent 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 II. MINUTES APPROVAL 1. Appropriations and Oversight - Committee Meeting - Oct 6, 2025 7:30 PM Motion to Approve minutes without reading made by Chair Garipay RESULT: ACCEPTED [10 TO 0] AYES: Jamaleddine, Finocchiaro, Karamcheti, Obremski, Romanul, Stewart, Vandiver, Williams, Migliorelli, Garipay ABSENT: Ward Hamilton III. PUBLIC COMMENT Motion to Open public comment made by Chair Garipay at 7:21 PM There were no comments on the floor or via Zoom Motion to Close public comment made by Chair Garipay at 7:22 PM IV. APPROPRIATION 1. TRNSF-2026-2: Library Fines Appropriation FY2026 Appropriate the amount of $16,550.00 from account 29032-590000 (Library Fines Account) to account 016112-534200 (Lib Exp Books & Periodicals). City of Melrose Page 1 10/29/2025 5:36 PM Minutes Appropriations & Oversight Committee October 20, 2025 From: City Council ASSIGN TO COMMITTEE Motion to Recommend to full council made by Councilor Stewart Seconded by Councilor Karamcheti All were in favor and motion passed Comments by councilors on discussion: -Councilor Karamcheti asked if this is a typical amount of money for library fines,to which she replied yes and they are moving the necessary amount to the other account to meet regulation and code. -Councilor Vandiver asked how much money is left in the library fines account, to which she replied very little remains. RESULT: OUGHT TO PASS [10 TO 0] Next: 10/20/2025 7:45 PM TO: City Council AYES: Jamaleddine, Finocchiaro, Karamcheti, Obremski, Romanul, Stewart, Vandiver, Williams, Migliorelli, Garipay ABSENT: Ward Hamilton V. ORDERS
1. (ID # 12985): Authorizing the disposal of 350 square feet of City land located on a portion of 138-140 Franklin Street in Melrose for a nominal fee for the reasons provided in the Notice of Decision From: City Council ASSIGNED TO COMMITTEE Motion to Recommend to full council made by Councilor Karamcheti Seconded by Councilor Jamaleddine All were in favor and motion passed Comments by councilors on discussion: -Councilor Jamaleddine asked why the $10 fee for the land disposal to which she replied the property owner proposed that as a nominal fee. -Councilor Stewart asked if there are any liens or potential problems with the land to which she replied no. City of Melrose Page 2 10/29/2025 5:36 PM Minutes Appropriations & Oversight Committee October 20, 2025 RESULT: OUGHT TO PASS [10 TO 0] Next: 10/20/2025 7:45 PM TO: City Council AYES: Jamaleddine, Finocchiaro, Karamcheti, Obremski, Romanul, Stewart, Vandiver, Williams, Migliorelli, Garipay ABSENT: Ward Hamilton
2. (ID # 12986): Authorizing the transfer of the City land located at 138-140 Franklin Street in Melrose to the current owners of the remainder of that property, as described in the attached Quitclaim Deed. From: City Council ASSIGNED TO COMMITTEE Motion to Recommend made by President Migliorelli Seconded by Councilor Karamcheti All were in favor and motion passed Comments by councilors on discussion: -Councilor Stewart asked if the property owner will cover the fees for this transaction and yes, they will. -Councilor Williams asked why this land was taken by the city of Melrose in the first place. She stated that from her research she found that it was related to the relocation of Albion Street at the time. RESULT: OUGHT TO PASS [10 TO 0] Next: 10/20/2025 7:45 PM TO: City Council AYES: Jamaleddine, Finocchiaro, Karamcheti, Obremski, Romanul, Stewart, Vandiver, Williams, Migliorelli, Garipay ABSENT: Ward Hamilton VI. ADJOURNMENT Motion to Adjourn meeting made by Councilor Stewart at 7:34 PM Seconded by Councilor Vandiver All were in favor and meeting was Adjourned City of Melrose Page 3 10/29/2025 5:36 PM
Transcript
▶ 24:05 Mark Garipay: for the record in accordance with Open Meeting law. This meeting's being recorded and broadcast live on MMTV. At this time, I'll motion by unanimous consent to approve the, without reading the minutes of the October 6th, 2025, uh, appropriation and oversight meeting. So you, no objections. Those minutes are now approved. Um, moving on to public comment. Uh, I will motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objections, the public comment portion of the meeting is open. Is there anyone in the gallery that would like to come forward and speak tonight? Seeing, seeing no one in the, is that, is this the general meeting? No, that's at 7 45. Um, all set. Uh, seeing no one, uh, looking to, uh, speak in person.
▶ 24:57 Mark Garipay: Is there anyone online? There's No one online. Okay. There are no objections. I will motion by unanimous consent to close the public comment portion of the meeting. Public comment is now closed. Moving on to appropriations. We have ID 1 3 0 0 5 library fines. Appropriations FY 2026 ate the amount of $16,550 from account 2 9 0 3 2 dash 5 9 0 0 0. Library fines account to account 0 1 6 1 1 2 dash 5 3 4 2 0 0. Library expense books and periodicals. I believe we have, uh, director Ner with us, please come up. Do you wanna say a little bit about the, the order and you know, you know the, you know the drill? Yes. We, uh, we often do these transfers in the fall. Um, this is a transfer from the Library Fines account.
▶ 25:56 Um, by City Regulation I money in the Fines account can only be moved into the Books and periodicals account. So that is just by regulation why that fine transfer happens that way. Um, and this transfer will allow us to meet the municipal appropriation requirement by the Board of Library Commissioners. Thank you. Any councils have any questions? Council Chetty? I could have looked this up myself. I'm just curious, is that a typical amount in terms of fines that you see? We actually, we transfer it. It's usually less specific. Um, but we are cognizant of the budget restrictions, so we were really just trying to keep as close to the requirement as we could. Thanks. Council Vandiver. Uh, thank you Mr. Chair.
▶ 26:48 Uh, how much remain, if you know off the top of your head, um, how much, I'm curious how much remains in the library finds account after that transfer? Very little. Thank. Thank you. Council Stewart? Thank You, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, make a motion to Recommend to the full council. I'll second. We have a motion to recommend ID 1 3 0 0 5 to the full council made by Councilor Stewart. Seconded by Councilor Carmen Shady on discussion, um, why don't we take a roll call, please. Sorry. Vice Chair Jamine? Yes. Counselor Occhio. Yes. Counselor Caram Chetty. Yes. Counselor Mki? Yes. Counselor Romano? Yes. Counselor Stewart? Yes. Counselor Vandiver? Yes. Counselor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Gar,
▶ 27:42 Mark Garipay: Yes. That, that, uh, appropriation will be recommended. Next up, we have, uh, two, two more orders. We have ID 1, 2, 9, 8 5 authorizing the disposal of 350 square feet of city land, located on a portion of 1 38 dash one 40 Franklin Street in Melrose for a nominal fee for the reasons provided in the notice of decision that, uh, information was all in the packet. Um, so I will hand hand this over to City Solicitor Phillips. Great. Good evening. Thank you for all having me. Uh, before you tonight, just to, to discuss the next two orders that are on the agenda. Um, in short, these next two orders are looking to correct a title issue, uh, for the property owners at 1 38 1 40 Franklin Street in Melrose.
▶ 28:30 That's actually existed since 1939. Um, it was brought to my attention this summer by the, uh, the newest owners to of that property. So in 1939, as part of relo relocating Albion Street in Melrose, the board of Alderman at the time voted to actually authorize the transfer of the city land, which is 350 square feet that actually sits in the front yard of 1 38, 1 40 Franklin Street. Um, and they authorized the transfer to Melrose Co-Op Bank, who was the owner at the time. After that vote, though, there was never a deed that was signed, never a deed that was recorded, um, by the mayor at that time. So legally title never validly transferred. Um, the Melrose Cooperative Bank did develop a plan of land
▶ 29:11 that was used to then transfer the property multiple times. However, because Title never validly transferred, that small portion still actually is titled to the City of Melrose. So I'm before you tonight looking to correct that. Um, at the request of the property owners, um, to correct the title issue and transfer a title of this three 50 square feet of city land to the current orders requires two votes of city council, which is why there's two orders on the agenda tonight. So I'll talk first about the first order. So that's 1 2 9 8 5. Um, so that is the request to dispose of it for a nominal fee for the reasons provided in the draft notice of decision. So this order is requesting a vote of, um, city council, um,
▶ 29:52 relative to the disposal of the land for a nominal fee. So the city assessor has valued it at $6,200. Um, this three 50 square foot portion, uh, to the best of her ability based on land tables from fiscal 25. Um, pursuant to chapter 30 B, if the city council wishes to transfer land at a price less than its current value, it has to publish a notice of decision in the central registrar, which is what I've drafted, uh, for council's consideration tonight, explaining the reasons and disclosing the difference between the value of the land and the price that you're looking to dispose it for. Because of the uniqueness of the situation and the fact that the property owners have been paying property tax, um, that's included, that 350 square feet, um,
▶ 30:32 that's actually was titled to the city, but they've been paying property tax on that for 80 plus years. Um, and for all intents and purposes, it was this property's, uh, property not in use at all by the city of Melrose. Um, I suggest counsel, um, transport for a nominal fee of $10, which is just a standard nominal fee use in real estate transactions so that there's consideration for the transaction to take place. So I've drafted a proposed notice of decision with that reasoning, um, that if you vote in the affirmative on 1 2 9 8 5, you would be authorizing, um, the transfer of the land for the nominal fee of $10 pursuant to the reasons provided in the notice of decision. And if there's an affirmative vote, um, we would go ahead
▶ 31:12 and publish that notice of decision in the central registrar. Would you like me to go on to the next one? Uh, Why don't we take questions on the first one. Okay. And, uh, dispose of that. Uh, any questions on 1, 2 9 5? Council commiss? Um, less of a question, but just wanna say thank you for taking something that happened in 1939 and seeing it through it just makes things so much easier for everyone, so I appreciate the effort. Absolutely. Thank you. Anyone else? So I'll make, um, Uh, just a quick question. Uh, out of curiosity, why did we like $10? Why is it $10 and It's just a standard nominal fee? So sometimes we use $1. Uh, the seller had proposed $10, $10 is just a standard placeholder, nominal fee
▶ 32:06 Maya Jamaleddine: because you need to have some amount of money. Mm-hmm. In order for the, um, contract or the deed to be validly executed, there has to be some consideration. So we just chose the number 10, um, as a nominal fee. It's just frequently used in real estate transactions. Okay. And, and this was decided by the city or by the, It was proposed by the current owners. Okay. With the Deed. And then it would be transferred back to, um, The $10? No, no, the, uh, the actual property, The property will then be, so if there's an affirmative vote of counsel on the next order tonight, the mayor would be able to execute a deed. Um, we would then record it in the registry, and then the title for that 350 square feet would be transferred
▶ 32:49 to the current property owner. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Um, as the counselor of the area of which this resides, I'm happy to make a motion to recommend. Second, We have a motion to recommend 1 2 9 8 5 by Cons. Ache, seconded by cons, Aldine on discussion. Council Stewart. Thank You, Mr. Chair. Um, um, so Ms. Phillips, there, there's no lien or anything on the property, right? There's nothing that is gonna cause us any problems going down the line? You looked into all that? Uh, yes. We have looked into that. We've looked into of the registry. We've also looked into the land, what we've had the city engineer look at that as well. And like I said, we had the assessor look at the value of the property.
▶ 33:37 Mark Garipay: So we've sort of done all that research ahead Of time. I'm sure you guys, but just I feel like I need to ask. Yes. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Anyone else on discussion? Madam Clerk, can you call the role, please? Yes. Vice Chair Jamal Ledine? Yes. Councilor Occhio? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor Mki? Yes. Counselor Roman? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Garipay? Yes. That will be recommended to the full, uh, full council. Next up we have ID 1 12 9 8 6 authorizing the transfer of the city land located at 1 38 dash one 40 Franklin Street in Melrose to the current owners of the remainder of that property as described in the attached quit claim deed.
▶ 34:27 Great. So the, the second order, uh, 1, 2, 9, 8, 6, is asking for the authorization of counsel to authorize the transfer of this land. 1 38 1 40 Franklin to the current owners. Like I said, this portion of land sits in the front yard, um, of this homeowner's property currently. Um, if council votes to approve this, the mayor will then be authorized to execute the quick claim deed that was attached to this order. Um, and it'll be recorded and it will complete the title transfer to the current homeowners Council. Stewart Council. Thank you Mr. Chair. So I know there's a fee in terms of recording this. Do we, who's covering that? Are they, they will record it. What? I'm sorry. The current, the current owners are
▶ 35:08 Ryan Williams: going to record this. The current Owners are gonna record and pay for the fees. For the recording? Yes, the recording fees. Okay. Uh, are there any additional legal fees that have been incurred outside of the work that you've done? No. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Council Williams? Uh, Did you waive the inspection? Just kidding. That was a joke. Um, I'm, I'm curious about, uh, like why was this taken in the first place? I was looking through the materials in the, in the notes, and I never really saw, except for a brief mention of like, because it meets the public good. Is this sort of a case where, you know, sometimes people wanna give land to the city for conservation and a hundred years ago it was, I mean,
▶ 35:51 it's not, it's not conservation land, but like, what, why are we, why did they give it in the first place? I think originally from what I was able to see from the taking in orders is that the city was relocating Albion Street, which was a, ah, so it was that small portion that used to be part of the street that is now we were giving it over to the, the owner that was abutting the Franklin Street right there, which was 1 38, 1 40 Franklin. Oh, cool. I appreciate the history lesson. Thank you. Anyone else? President mre. Motion To, uh, recommend I'll second. Motion to recommend 1 2 9 8, sorry. 1 2 9 8 6 made by President Migliorelli, seconded by Counsel Machete. On discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the role
▶ 36:37 Mark Garipay: Vice Chair Aldine? Yes. Councillor Occhio? Yes. Counselor Chetty? Yes. Counselor Mki. Yes. Counselor Roman? Yes. Counselor Stewart? Yes. Counselor Vandiver? Yes. Counselor Williams? Yes. President Elli? Yes. Chair Gareth? Yes. That order will be recommended to the full council. That concludes our business for tonight. And appropriations and oversight. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Mr. Chair. I'll make a motion to Ador. Second. Second. We have a motion to adjourn made by Councilor Stewart, seconded by Council of Vandiver on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? We are adjourn. Good evening. The time is 7:46 PM on Monday, October 20th, 2025. This meeting of the Melrose City Council is called to order.