Boards & Commissions Committee

This meeting starts at 0:02 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Agenda

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▶ 0:02 Good evening. The time is 7:25 PM on Tuesday, September 8th, 2026. This is a meeting of the Boards and Commissions Committee. I am Councilor Vander Veer, the vice chair. Also joining me tonight are committee members, Councilors Finocchiaro, Kowal, Park, President Freeman, and I think that's everybody. This serves as a notice of a quorum for the record. In accordance with the Open Meeting Law, this meeting is being recorded and broadcast on MMTV. Maya is already online with us. Oh, excuse me. We also have non-voting member, Councilor Giannola-Dean, joining remotely with us. This serves as a notice of quorum for the record. In accordance with the Open Meeting Law, this meeting is being recorded and

▶ 0:54 broadcast live on MMTV. I will now motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objections, we're now open for public comment. This is the portion of the meeting where the public may speak on any item on tonight's agenda. Comments expressing any viewpoint on other matters are also welcome. Do we have anyone online for comment? No one online. Okay, so seeing no one in the room or online at this time, I will motion by unanimous consent to close public comment. We're now closed for public comment, and we also need to approve the minutes. I will motion by unanimous consent to approve the meeting minutes from August 10th, 2026. Point of order. Oh, yes. Do we need to do everything by roll call because Maya's remote?

▶ 1:39 Oh, thank you. Yeah. Oh. For clarification, I believe as a non-voting member. Oh, okay. Correct. Thank you. Okay, so we can go ahead. Okay. So motion to approve the minutes from August 10th. Seeing no objections, those are now approved. And moving into our business for the evening, tonight, we have two appointments before us. The first is ID number 2026-1629, the appointment of Daniel Gelermini at 20 Pilgrim Road as a full member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, ZBA, for a five-year term set to expire on the last day of February 2028. Mr. Gelermini's appointment replaces the membership of Benjamin Rosenberg, who recently resigned from ZBA. And we have Mr. Gelermini as well as the mayor here tonight. Welcome, and the floor is yours.

▶ 2:35 Good evening. Thank you for having us tonight. So we're here to seek appointment of Dan Gelermini as a full member of the ZBA. He has been serving, he's halfway through his second term as an associate member, which is a two-year appointment. And due to the resignation, we'd like to have him transition into the full member slot. And then I believe on your full council agenda is a request for an appointment to the now what would then be vacant associate member slot. So he was last appointed in April of 2025. So some of you were here for that. He's an architect by training. He's been serving on the board since 2023, and we're excited to have him stepping into this larger role. Thank you very much. And would you like to add anything?

▶ 3:18 Nope. Just wanted to say thank you, everyone, for taking time. As Mayor Gregorice mentioned, I'm an architect with 20 years of experience working on civic, cultural, and housing projects. I enjoy using my expertise to contribute to our community, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. Councilor Finocchiaro. Thank you. Not a question, but I just want to say thank you because, yeah, the ZBA is a lot of work. And we need knowledgeable people on that board, and you're a perfect fit. Great. Thank you. So appreciate your time. And next, I have Councilor Park. Thank you. And thank you for serving on the board up until this point. You have a unique perspective or position simply because you actually served on

▶ 4:10 there for, I believe it was two years. So my question, I think it's two parts. One is the expectations that you had then when you were going into it as opposed to now, now that you have two years under your belt, what's different or what's unique about this position or role that you didn't encounter or anticipate when you first ran? I think something that is always going to be a challenge, especially when you're serving on a board and you're voting on things that impact your community. I had a lot of experience approaching it from the architect and designer side, but understanding that you really have to balance individual interests with what's best for the community is always a challenge, and I think people expect there to be one

▶ 4:57 answer, one right and one wrong, and it's really not that. You have to go into every case with an open mind, weigh the benefits to the community, weigh the impacts to the neighbors, and make a decision that you really can't undo. And so I think having presented and seeked permission and approval on boards versus being on a board and deciding what gets built in your community is just a huge responsibility, and it sort of sticks with you beyond those meetings, and you drive by these spaces, you understand how it impacts the public realm, the community, your neighbors. And so that's something that sticks with me, and I think you get better every year you serve on the board. Funny you should say that. Sort of segues into my next question.

▶ 5:37 As you know, these past few years have been really busy with multifamily development and housing, and I hear a lot from our constituents about the projects on Essex, Tremont, Green Street. They're very large projects. Hindsight, of course, is 2020. Is there anything different that you would have done on the zoning board committee that you wish you had known or would have acted or decided differently? I'm not sure if different is the right word, but as I said, every year you get better and better at this, right? I think we learn from the decisions we make, we learn from the impacts, we learn from the projects that are built. And I think there's always things that we want to do to improve those projects or make them better.

▶ 6:33 And with the zoning board, I think you're limited as to what's in your purview on those projects. But I think every project, it being a learning exercise, you bring better, stronger questions to the next case. And so I think having served as an associate member for three years, I really think that prepares you to be a full board member. Okay. And can you just give me one example of what you would like to be better at in this particular role? Again, I don't know if better is the right word, but I think we could always be more comprehensive, right? I think you can spend an infinite amount of time reviewing the projects, reviewing the drawings. And again, I think every project I come having learned from the previous one,

▶ 7:19 learned from the previous questions, learned from the previous presentations, learned from the previous designs, and I feel as though I'm more comprehensive after each project I've gone through. Thank you very much. Yep. Are there any other questions from my colleagues or comments? I'll ask one. As an architect, have you presented to other ZBAs outside of Melrose? All the time. Zoning boards and planning boards, yeah. I'm just curious, since you have that perspective, how Melrose compares to other communities in the way that we operate. So some communities are certainly more challenging, and others are not. I think there are other things that some communities do that I really personally think are a benefit to the community, and I think we could learn from.

▶ 8:07 And then I also think there are other communities that could probably have a closer eye on design, public realm, and pedestrian experience, for sure. So, I think we do a really good job, but I always think that we can do better, right? I mean, isn't that something we should strive for, so we do a little bit better? Well, it's excellent that you have that perspective and can bring potentially ideas about how to adjust things or what else, there's not just one way to do things and- Absolutely ... always new things. Are there any motions from my colleagues? Make a motion to recommend. I'll second that. We have a motion to recommend from Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by President Freeman. Discussion?

▶ 8:49 So I believe we can do a voice vote. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? So that will go back to the full council with a favorable recommendation. Thank you so much for volunteering to spend so much time making our community better. Sure. And thank you for everything you all do. I really appreciate it, and please join us for a zoning board meeting this one tomorrow night. Thank you. Thank you. The next item that we have on our agenda is ID number 2026-1633, the appointment of Megan Britt, 79 Burrell Street, to the Liquor Licensing Commission for a six-year term, said term to expire the first Monday of June 2032. My understanding is she's not able to be here with us tonight. I'd like to make a motion to hold in committee.

▶ 9:38 Second. We have a motion to hold in committee from Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by Councilor Kowal. On discussion? Okay, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? So we'll hold that in committee and look forward to hearing about Megan Britt in a future meeting. That is the last item on our agenda tonight, so if there's no objection, I will now motion to adjourn. We are now adjourned. Good evening. The time is 7:45 PM- West ... on Tuesday, September 8th, 2026. I am Council President Freeman. This meeting of the Melrose City Council is called to order. In accordance with the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, this meeting is being broadcast and recorded by Melrose Cable Access TV, and will be available for

Boards & Commissions Committee — 2026-09-08

Agenda

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