##VIDEO ID:Sw7SEZ6F5ic## e e e e e e e e e e e e e for this meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meetings law adequate notice of this meeting has been provided this meeting of August 19th 2024 was published in The Courier News and Star Ledger and placed on the Burrow's website notice of this meeting was also placed on the bulletin board at Burrow Hall a copy of this notice is available to the public and a copy of the statement shall be included in the minutes of this meeting mayor Brian Gallagher here council members Teresa boner here Glenn Dene is excused this evening Tom Mitchell here Randy pittz is is excused this evening gusic here Roger V here all right please stand for the salute to the flag Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay motion for approval of the minutes of August 5th 2024 so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Tom Mitchell yes Roger verm I'm sorry Gina travic yes Roger vro yes all right departmental reports and notices as listed um going to depart a little bit uh we have a special guest here tonight uh somebody uh new to the burrow but not new to the area um after a lengthy search the Somerville board of education has made a selection of a uh new school superintendent his name is Gary laiso and uh Gary is here tonight uh uh to just make a brief introdu introduction tell us a little bit about himself and uh and and we can give you a warm welcome so Gary if you if you want to first of all I'd like to thank everyone for really War wonderful to a little early and introduced to our Council and mayor and I really appreciate that first of all I have been in the area but Rel absolutely we found out that our educational path have cross in many different ways um just a little bit about myself exced to get started it's been two very quick weeks on the job so far since August the 1 in the sumv school district everyone from students to the staff commun have abely warm welcome wonderful helping geted District brige extr stely Rel than you for awesome uh look forward to uh to chatting with you tomorrow and uh we welcome you to uh to our great town it's awesome um you'll uh you'll find it uh challenging at times but mostly rewarding and uh I look forward to uh to working with you and the entire district and figuring out how we can benefit from each other so thank you thank you I'll see you tomorrow sound good all right take care thank you you don't have to stay for the rest of the meeting me to get the ice awesome that's I appreciate the warm welcome thank you more we'll be able toat and catch up onville and I look forward appreciate it thank you all right let's go into committee reports let's start with uh Tom speaker wasn't New Jersey Transit announced that their trains and buses will be free for the week leading up to Labor Day that is August 26th to September 2nd as a thank you to customers who endured a summer filled with delays and disruptions customers who already paid for a monthly pass pass for August will get a 25% discount on September passes the Daniel Robert house which is burrow Hall will be on display again at weekend Journey Through The Path this year the dates for October 12th and 13th the historic advisory committee is looking for volunteers to help conduct tours the historic advisory committee has suggested that the World War II Memorial by the YMCA be represented in the Veterans Memorial Day Parade next year it was suggested that the parade committee redraw the parade route the oil painting for the 2023 Native American Heritage day has been completed Harold Willard will be presenting the portrait to the mayor this November and he wants it to be posted in a public building two old paintings by Ava Cohen were discovered the library in the library's New Jersey room after some research it was discovered they were painted in the 1870s it was decided to have them digitally photographed the Somerset County Food Bank is dire need of donations donations of food food banks are always slow down during the summer finally i' just like to say we learned again or we're reminded again that most of our parks are on the flood plane keep that in mind when it rains that's it thank you Gina good evening all I have a report on the Somerville Rescue Squad um the uh Squad had responded to 44 calls in July um that brings a six-month total up to 753 calls uh through six months um the uh average uh response time in Somerville continues to be very low uh 4.5 uh minutes uh so I think you're in good hands um in that there also um 14 uh fire alarms uh so far that they've responded with with um and 369 volunteer hours um regarding the Board of Health um I did ask Patty hunt to make a a public um notice on uh the vaccination clinic that's uh been arranged uh through through the County Health Department there is uh free vaccinations uh child health vaccinations that is for uh tomorrow and Thursday um over at the uh Richard Hall Community Mental Health Center um so the uh there are eligibility requirements for for the free free ones but um uh you can find that information uh on the buau website um and then lastly the report for uh councilman Deni uh who's not here tonight uh the environmental commission meant uh last week they are working on the the next fiveyear plan for the community forestry Plan a state requirement um they're also planning an EV car show for October a repeat of last year uh and which was very successful by the way and then also uh there they have uh written several tree grants uh to get more trees in town and most recently collaborated with the DSA on a u Municipal tree grant for the uh the district the business district so um cross your fingers okay thank you Teresa thank you uh the municipal Alliance and new Services Commission did not meet in August uh the next meeting will be held virtually on Thursday September 12th at 7 p.m. and is open to the public um the Somerville public library has some great programs for children and teens over the next two weeks tomorrow Tuesday August 20th at 4M they'll be crafternoon program for kids and twin in the children's room uh they'll be making crafts with various supplies Wednesday August 21st preschool story time at 10: a.m. it's an interactive program that Fosters literacy skills through books songs and activities on Thursday August 22nd the teen leadership committee meets at 6: PM uh teens can earn community service hours by helping to plan and organize upcoming teen programs this program meets twice a month Tuesday August 27th read to a therapy dog will be happening at 4:30 p.m. in the children's Department kids can practice their reading skills by reading a story to certified therapy dog registration is required by visiting the US Services desk or calling [Music] 908483 p.m. that is for all ages tween teens preschool kids of all ages uh where they can explore the world and their imagination as stories come to life with magic and take a thrilling adventure right in the library that's it okay thank you Roger from Recreation uh just a reminder that the pool is now closed um spray parks will remain open until mid-september registration is also open for our youth soccer clinics uh the tricky Trot registration is available online as well as adult pickle ball and youth tennis so please uh check out our website uh for those uh lessons and for uh the the various uh pickle ball sorry the pickle ball lessons and the tennis lessons and the registration for the Turkey Trot which is a great time I highly recommend it even if you go as a spectator it's a it's an awesome experience that's it all right thank you uh we have one item up for discussion uh this is item number seven which is a request to adopt an ordinance to eliminate two on street parking spaces at 6 West Cliff Street uh this is the result of an application that went before the Zoning Board of adjustment um it's regarding the property on the northwest corner of cliff and Bridge West Cliff and North Bridge um I guess as a part of the site plan uh for the reconfiguration of it uh the applicant uh had provided uh the ability to move the driveway uh which is in very close proximity to the uh to the uh intersection which is a very busy intersection and move it Westward to the I'll call it the other side of the structure uh to create a more safe uh egress Ingress and egress uh to the site um the folks have provided a uh a rendering of photos of what the uh current site looks like right now as well as schematics on what the uh potential site would look like and prior to bringing this on as a uh an ordinance for introduction thought we would just have some discussion to see if there's any uh any issues behind this I'm not exactly sure what what they want to do um so they want to remove parking that anyone any spaces anyone could could use to park on the street to use for their new driveway or what is it that they want to do yeah if you look Westward uh on the second sheet you can see there's two cars there yes those are the two spaces they would look to eliminate uh so that they could put in a driveway roughly in that location to the left side of the building as opposed to where it is right now on the right side of the building so then could we swap the parking spots we we could my only concern with that is that uh it's so close to the intersection it it becomes yeah it becomes you might be able to get one um but having two there I think that would have to be kind of like a a field decision I think it does make for a safer Ingress and egress to the uh to the site I think we might be able to squeeze one parking space I mean what is the ramifications I what what precedent are we setting is this a normal procedure it is a normal procedure you know it's it's an it's a holdover I mean the access uh driveway is a holdover I mean the building's what 120 years old the ACT actually the attorney for the uh for the applicant is here if you want to maybe provide a little bit of additional background address question you may want to is that on yeah that's it may not yeah that's yep so uh good meeting good good evening council members my name is Michael silbert I'm an attorney from d franccesco baitman and I'm here on behalf of six West Cliff Street LLC so we went before the zoning board back in February and received preliminary and final site plan approval and variance relief and the topic of this driveway came up during the course of the application process and at the hearing the existing driveway doesn't comply with the Barrow's ordinance it's located way too close to the intersection it is also uh 10 ft wide and the applicant or the client my client has to currently enter on Cliff Street go across his property go over to his neighbor's property and then exit on Bridge Street so when the board reviewed the application and the board's professionals they suggested uh as a matter of practicality as well as safety at the intersection that the driveway be relocated um closer to the neighbor's property driveway is also a shared driveway so it is now going to be located uh in closer proximity to the other neighbors's home that it's sharing and you can see that on the second picture how far away the current driveway is from the next door neighbor to six West Cliff Street so those were the two main reasons why the board suggested or aside from the fact that it doesn't comply with the ordinance that the driveway be relocated down Cliff Street um so those are the main reasons so safety and and practicality uh our engineer did uh on the on the uh horizontal control plan it's possible to locate an additional parking space so while the request is that the ordinance eliminate two parking spaces it the net would be a loss of one space because it technically there could be an additional space put in but as mayor Gallagher mentioned it was our opinion and I believe it was the board engineers and planners opinion that uh the having two spaces uh put close so close to the intersection would create the very type of safety problem we're trying to uh alleviate by relocating the driveway and where is the shared driveway at the Shared driveway is located at the intersection of Cliff Street and Bridge Street and it's been there to my knowledge it's uh more commonly known as Hangman's Hill that driveway and the and the the home that you see there has been there since I believe the 1860s um this is just an opportunity to create a a better better situation for local traffic flow and also it's the the the neighbor that wasn't part of the application as well as my client is receiving a benefit because the new driveway will be 20 feet wide so my client will no longer have to Traverse through their neighbor property and go through a winding Loop if you look on page three of the aial you'll see what my client has to do if they want to exit the property the property at 6 West Cliff Street is also undergoing a change of use so no improvements to change the beautiful structure you see there but it's going to be operating slightly different than than the way it was originally it's uh now going to be mult for multif family it's going to have three apartment units and the board and the board's professionals felt that it was appropriate to uh undertake the that they they saw this application as a as a way to improve the intersection so I I I think that that's why you had uh in in Mr Cole's report for an example a note to consider relocating the driveway and complying with the Burrow's ordinance how wide is the frontage on Cliff Street I'd have to take a look at the plans give me one moment so so I know that the current driveway is 10 feet wide um I'm sure it's on here but this is such a small I can't really read me one moment let me see if it's in the uh his report here so it's 120 feet on West High Street okay so a 20 foot wide driveway is within the zoning requirement right because it's serving it's no longer a single family structure so uh the board and the burrow requires that it be able to provide uh egress and Ingress so so the testimony that that was presented at the zoning board was that this creates an improved circulation flow improved safety correct and an overall benefit to the community as opposed to a detriment it was one of those nice situations where the uh board and the board's professionals thought that this was a uh safe Improvement to existing conditions and the applicant was gracious uh with that suggestion because we would much rather have our driveway um further away from the intersection provide egress and Ingress and our neighbor was equally happy because now they have a driveway uh that fits more within the line of the character of the neighborhood where the driveway the neighbor will be using is more uh in closer proximity to the front of their their house okay makes sense now the pavement the the pavement of the existing d driveway will be removed yes the port cocher on the house we're getting into areas that hey Tom Tom we're getting into areas that really the zoning board dealt with the the question before us are parking spaces so that's kind of what we have to stick with okay I just wanted everyone to know that there are absolutely no changes except for repainting to the exterior of the structure the poro you were mening is going to remain it's going to become a porch so that was uh very important to the zoning board that we Pres ve the existing aesthetic character of the dwelling and that was very important to my client so all the improvements that the board reviewed were really internal and had to do with the parking lot configuration and driveway so so the question before uh this governing body is are we amenable to introducing an ordinance at our next meeting which allows the applicant uh to fulfill the zoning board requirements uh to to enable them to move the driveway to create a safer condition I think it makes sense I think it's you know as as has been said it's safety as well as it's amable to both Property Owners on on either side of what the where the driveway will be it's safer to be closer or farther away rather to the intersection uh and again uh I trust our zoning board has made the best decision possible for this situation and I think uh I think it makes a lot of sense for us to approve it agreed I think it's a beneficial project I agree okay agre thank you thank you very much for your time Kevin if you would uh draft that up and have that ready for our next uh meeting for introduction sure thank you okay this point uh I'll ask for a motion to open the meeting to the public so move second discussion roll call council members Teresa bonor yes Tom Mitchell yes Gina traic yes Roger ver yes all right please state your name and address for the record and please address your comments to me public portion is now open if that's on there you go yeah yep I'm in a band so I know how this works um oh boy good uh hi uh Jeff Kaiser 23 Vander um Avenue Somerville um so I'm here to talk about last night so last night obviously we had a rain event had a flooding Zone flood event um happened last night um and uh you know like we all might have looked um online on Facebook or taking some photos ourselves I found some photos online of the the flood and I did some I I I was interested in it so I did some digging and I took some of those photos and I tried to find locations in Somerville um on the actual flood zoning map from FEMA and and I've got I've got some some photos and um some information I'd like to provide you if you guys are interested in looking at it uh for instance you know this particular photo is is the new chairs on cliff and High um if you look at the flood zoning map for FEMA that is directly inside the 100-year flood zone if you look at the base the basketball court the normally the regular flood plane which is we we have a flood plane right that actually allows the petersbrook to overflow and then we have a 100-year flood zone and a 500e flood zone and if you're not familiar with those it's a 1% chance of a flood happening or water being in that area um in a year and so normally the basketball court is about 75% that's where the flood plane region is but you can tell that you know it's 100% covered and I've just marked it here as well that's in the 100 year flood zone um so that was last night so last night we we uh we uh we had a 100y year flood and if you look back to December um I remember a flood that occurred actually I came to a council meeting then um and uh the the same situation happened so I've got it here somewhere um anyway the there's I've also located some locations from from that from that flood as well um so we're basically having two 100-year floods within a year um well within a year and we know they're happening more and more um the situation in December 18th was that uh Veterans Memorial uh uh Drive was was closed because of that flood um and so we're occurring we're having 100-year floods every it's not a it's not a 1% chance it's like a 100% chance we're going to have this and I'm concerned about the projection of the negotiations and discussions that are happening in the planning board um as well as the resolution that was passed in this body to decide to um negotiate with a developer to build a 250 um uh number of apartments in an area that's in that 100-year flood zone and so I just want to bring everyone's attention to the fact that we're having 100-year floods already and that if we are going to uh conform well here's the thing the D has issued a new regulation that stipulates that the 100-year flood region and the 500-year flood region are actually going to be within um a section that no development no building no reconstruction should occur um the redeveloper uh put his application in quickly to get je we have to kind of bring this my point is we are looking to develop in an area that new regulations are stipulating we shouldn't um I respect and I actually appreciate the comments that have been made on this issue and I just want to bring everyone's attention to the fact that we already are in that current situation we already are experiencing 100-year floods so thank you thank you and I'll make comment once everybody's done you guys more you can give those would you like these yeah give those to Mr saluka thank you any other public comment yes James Meister uh one2 Bermuda Drive Branchburg New Jersey um thank thank you for uh having me here one second let me adjust this okay so I would like to address uh the tree ordinance for some context for the audience that is unaware I a rising senior at Somerville high school I'm in charge of the youth and government Club at the high school and I'm a volunteer with the environmental commission I would like to address the tree ordinance that was curated um in our environmental commission uh last uh the last couple of months uh this tree ordinance would allow that if a street tree is taken down it must be replaced is a short title for that ordinance um and this ordinance was actually put together by pure volunteerism by the ideals of the environmental commission that of of Grassroots literal Grassroots because trees and people coming together to work and put this into legislation so um I was a little disappointed to not see this on the agenda for today's U meeting because I believe this ordinance has come to a full uh close in terms of the idea need to address it as well as the fact that it should be heard on a public stage and it should be frankly voted on um this ordinance has been again culminated in the past couple of months and frankly it seems like it not reaching the agenda is a huge disappointment to people that I believe the community would be in huge support of a pro- environmental uh strategy um so I this is what's best for the community in my eyes and what the environmental commission's eyes at least from what I've understood um but in the future I believe that if we want to hear ordinances more often that is promoted by volunteerism um for example just push the button okay cool um so let me collect myself okay so the ordinance not being on the agenda is a sign of of I I feel like it's a of neglect because this ordinance was again a a long-term uh idea and if we want to promote volunteerism and working together to put together ideas onto policy in the future um how are we going to enfranchise future you know communities to put together ideas onto an ordinance onto legislation um I want to also address what uh Jeff Kaiser brought up which was the apartment complex that was proposed to be developed um over by I believe was Sommerville ice cream um it is on a a flood plane Zone and the fact is that during Hurricane Ida it was completely flooded and that is is a bad thing for developers and uh over the weekend I had drafted an ordinance for uh if you are going to build on a 90% flood plane that you are not allowed to do that because that would cause greater flooding in the area if I bring that ordinance to the council will it be rejected from the agenda again should I be should I expect to to not hear it onto the agenda um so I I'm a little I'm uncertain on where I should go from there and one more thing I want to discuss is the part um down excuse me downtown Sommerville Alliance and their plan that was um proposed a year ago to completely Revitalize Main Street into a more urban more mobile uh and more uh greater green spaces in the area um I was wondering when the council plans to take action on that and what the next steps would be for this uh large long-term project that would have great long-term benefits for the community um thank you thank you any other public comment all right uh hi mayor council Peter babinsky resident at at 56 sternad road kind of right right down the way um latime area resident and had the opportunity to move into Somerville last summer loving it so far um but one of the pressing issues that our community faces at least on this side of the tracks has been parking and I know through our HOA board and Communications with the council that it is my understanding that um burrow assuming ownership of the main roads Robeson station sternad whatever the main ones not the alleys would occur upon the completion of development at the site um there is still one parcel to be developed I understand that potential proposals and plans have a right to be confidential at this point but I think a lot of residents would like to understand timelines for um the Assumption of ownership by the burough such that the problematic parking situation and potentially other things like understanding snow removal and and other uh common Services provided by the buau would be established and you know we're looking for any type of guidance from from the Council on that one um you know if I'm I'm familiar with government organizations and plans I was a part of a fire district back in eastan well these things can take four five six years so we're just wondering when we can expect this to be addressed okay thank you any other public comment the lights on yeah um Seline Greaves 97 East Spring Street and um I had um a comment and a question about two upcoming um things in the agenda um I wanted to point out that in the um upcoming ordinance um for hearing and adoption today under section nine to um address insurance issues I wanted to um highlight to that one for introduction introduction oh I'm sorry yes yes you're okay for introduction yeah perfect um I wanted to highlight that there is um at least one discrepancy between the um the town language and um what the state has put forth and it is found in section one of article two um where it says that business insurance registration required it is unlawful for any owner of a business and then continues so just in that area area alone it is introducing a notion of lawfulness which is not found in the state language which is therefore introducing criminality in not complying with the um Town ordinance and that is not something that's put forth in the state language and um I think that um because of that alone um I have an objection and I'd like everyone to notice that and I wasn't sure if I would have a chance to bring that up later so I wanted to um highlight that here um I wanted to um also um highlight concerns that um many many people who are not able to make it here today but thank you for the people who have um about the connection of the flooding and the development and the continued um proposals for development um thank you Mr Mitchell for bringing up the flooding when it came to the Parks it it's not limited to the parks I think a lot of us are very concerned um with our homes and what um all of this is um doing and then I had a question about the ordinance of um salary ranges I'm sorry yeah and um will I be able to ask a question at that time or should I do that here right now perfect um I was looking for um the listing for a person who is the yeah if you use titles only please yes parking utility and special projects person and I did not see that um as a job listing but um have interacted with someone under that title okay so if that could be provided to if if I'm if I have missed that in this listing I apologize and um thank you I think yeah thank you any other public comment hearing none I'll close the public I'll ask for a motion to close the public session so moved second discussion roll call Council memb Teresa Bon yes Tom Mitchell yes Jus traic yes Roger verm yes all right public comment is now closed um so that's a lot I got a lot I'm going to try to tackle each one um so Jeff in regards to to the flooding um I I don't think anybody disagrees with you um it's a problem it's been a problem for a long time hundred some odd years ago Rich you might have been around at that time um some very smart people actually created our Parklands our Parklands are designed to flood that that's part of why they're there um the volume of water that we had last night was was voluminous it it was I I don't know I don't know how many inches we had but it was a lot in probably within about an hour's time um I was out at 9:30 last night looking at the water as well uh for a whole lot of reasons and uh what I can tell you is the the Brooks handled it they did they backed up uh they backed up at the bridge points where the bridges were that's where everything begins to back up but the water was moving extremely quickly uh which means the river was down so so our Brooks handled it typically our Brooks can handle almost any storm we have the problem we have is the RAR River once the Ron River hits capacity and starts to back up our Brooks just begin to immediately back up that's what causes most of our flooding not all of it but most of it um it's a challenge uh um is it exacerbated Upstream absolutely is it exacerbated Downstream by the uh uh the flood control projects that have been put in absolutely we're caught in that creamy middle that um is is a problem it's us it's Manville and and it's it's you're punching a pillow every time you punch the pillow in one area it pushes out in another um in regards to development um what I will tell you is at the planning board um if folks watched it there was a common theme that came out of the and this was a conceptual review and a conceptual review is not to give uh a yay or an a it's to point out um positives and negatives uh you can't give a yay or a nay because you don't have testimony in which to give a yay or a a so there were three things that came out of that that meeting um and and if you watch it and you listen rather than than read sound not you but with folks in general uh read read sound bites or or look at social media um I think the board shared uh three concerns size location and safety um and what I can tell you from my perspective because my responsibility my responsibility along with the council but it falls on my shoulders is I have to ensure people are safe um that's a very weighty responsibility that I have uh and I don't take that lightly um I've gone through Sandy I've gone through Irene I've gone through other floods I can tell you in the last six months I've had I've had to move equipment out of DPW more times than I did in my first 15 years as mayor it's a problem it's not just our problem it's a it's a regional problem and there is no magic wand that's going to solve this problem we can make decisions that help mitigate some of the safety concerns behind that um and I have no doubt that this Council and the planning board and the zoning board will make those good decisions in the best interest of our community um I hope that addresses some of what your your concerns are um we share those concerns as well um the tree ordinance uh I don't like the term neglect that you use because it's not neglect it's called conversation um and that's something that I think is missing a lot of times uh so so the draft ordinance which is just that it was a draft model ordinance was sent over and what I can tell you is I did have conversations I had conversations with the chairman of the environmental commission and with the uh the council representative councilman Den one of the concerns that all of us has is you say Street trees it's not just Street trees that model ordinance what that says is if you take a tree down on your own personal property you must you shall replace it government does not belong in anybody's backyard in Somerville and I won't allow it so what we did have was a conversation and our conversation is how do we model something that achieves trees globally in all the Somerville but it takes that government factor out of my backyard there is no space for the government in my house in my bedroom or in my backyard and and that's not going to happen under my watch I'm not going to let it happen so you say neglect I say it's conversation so I think we all need to take a step back and understand the way government works in Somerville the way it's worked for decades 1909 is we get together and we figure it out we talk about it we don't come and we don't start casting Stones we don't come and say you're wrong I'm right we come together and we try to figure it out you look at the folks at this table we don't always agree right Gina but but you know what we figure it out so I I think everybody needs to dial back on their personal issues because putting people at odds with each other is not the way to go about things sitting down and having a conversation is the way to go about it and let's figure out how to do it right well I think we welcome that conversation mayor and I think if we want to mitigate flooding we need to think about trees so so so let me continue to address the folks here um and I agree with you and I've said to to Jeff and I said to Glenn you guys want more trees coming out of the planning board you got it all you have to do is ask but you're not going to mandate it to every homeowner when they cut one of their shrubs down it's not going to happen so let's see what else we got um parking young man uh we've had a number of folks here and actually this this conversation started before I resume the seat again um the burrow doesn't have the ability and I'm sure you you're aware of this we don't have the ability right now so what you're looking for is a timeline and I get that I don't have a timeline for you but what I can tell you is we have begun discussions with the developer on the last phase um is it fair to say Colin that it's it's in the works it's in the works yeah cuz I I don't have a timeline I don't think they have a timeline yet but I can tell you that they're ready all right uh I can also tell you that permit parking is not a stranger to me I've supported it I'm okay with it and I've said to a number of residents who've come here before once we have control uh we'll figure out how best to regulate parking in this area because it's a problem you know it's people jumping on the train they're using your parking spaces they're you know it's it's the Wild West in terms of parking so we'll figure that out but uh but I'm okay with permit parking but I can't put permit parking on streets I don't control and I'm I'm not ready to bring on nor is the council ready to bring on that control until the project is substantially complete and and the reason behind that is as they bring in equipment as they bring in heavy equipment they can damage the roads the last thing we want to have to do once we own it it's ours and when we take control of it I want to make sure that those roads are top notch so I know that doesn't help you in the short term but in the longer term there is a solution so thank thank you thanks for your patience uh unlawful the term unlawful Jeremy is there is there a a delineation between the the term unlawful versus I don't know what the other term would be in in that scenario illegal uh prohibited uh or does it matter you're Jeremy your your microphone it is unlawful yeah yeah that's so so this is a conversation now that we have um to try to gauge based upon your comment so if we have a law on the books and you break it it's it's unlawful to break it yes does anybody have an issue with the word unlawful it's I mean I it's either legal or it's illegal I don't know that there's a difference in in the terminology it is this our language or is this the state language yeah it is yeah I mean it's consistent with a lot of listen a lot a lot of the municipalities are struggling with this now it's um they're just starting these ordinances but it's very it's extremely consistent with and I I couldn't tell you that word or not word but it's probably mirror as most of the ordinances word by word to the ones that were work with the groups we're working with well did we massage it at all or is it as presented from the state the the only thing that would be different is the preamble of the ordinance which does not appear in the code book that's us usually the the Preamble is usually written in the beginning to kind of explain what we're doing right but the ordinance itself would normally start where the ordinance thoughts like you know several paragraph down Well here here's what we can do we'll we'll take a look at the draft ordinance that was that was brought uh or or uh sent through the state and if it's got a different langu different language rather than unlawful we'll change it to whatever whatever the state's guideline is um and it's a DI Minimus change it's it's on introduction so we're okay so we'll just have a we'll do a comparison review and and whatever the state's recommendation was we will uh we will comply with work for everybody well we don't have a choice with the state right what whatever the state says is works okay all right good and then uh salary range I didn't I didn't go through did did we get did you get a chance to see if the salary R if the uh uh parking utility and special projects I I'm so what happens with titles sometimes we may call someone by particular title but they not that may not be their official title right um in this particular ordinances um there were very few uh titles actually um adjusted that was not one of them so either that never existed in this ordinance um or the individual that may be using that title it's not its official title I believe that official title is project manager project manager yeah and is that in here without me having going through this yeah it is okay all right okay thank you um all right uh we have next up uh ordinance number 2739 ordinance for introduction which is amending chapter 97 entitled Insurance creating article two to be titled business insurance uh registration uh do we have a motion for introduction so moved second okay discussion so yes uh well let's let's give an overview of what this is first this this ordinance is a result of a uh a member of the public coming uh before us and and detailing a uh a state law that was passed a couple of years ago that uh we uh had not enacted yet so this is the result of of that and uh so so a draft ordinance was created uh of which you see here and rather than kind of wing it I'm going to read to you two sections from this which kind of condenses what this says so the following entities are required to register their Certificate of Insurance under this chapter a businesses which shall mean any person intending to sell or dispose of or to offer to sell or dispose of any Goods wees merchandise or render any services for fees within the burrow this shall include businesses operating on a temporary basis within the burrow such as peders solicitors and transient vendors um licens pursuant to the burrow code chapter 4 and temporary retail food establishments and mobile food units uh licensed pursuant to burrow code chapter so and so owners of single rental dwelling units owners of multiple dwelling rental units owners of multif family homes that include rental units even when one unit is owner occupied the owner of the business or the owner of a rental unit unit or unit shall maintain liability insurance for negligent acts and omissions in an amount of no less than $500,000 for Combined property damage and bodily injury to or death of one or more persons in any one accident occurrence and B the owner of a multif family home which is four or fewer units one of which is owner occupied sh shall maintain liability insurance for negligent acts and omissions in an amount of no less than $300,000 and and and so on um so essentially the state is mandating that uh that businesses and rental units maintain a minimum level of insurance uh uh that's it and and this isn't really anything that we have control over the state has mandated this as uh uh as state law so uh we are looking to uh to enact this to put this on the books the I did have one a couple of clarifications which I think we need to to make sure that people understand it also says business is operating on a temporary basis within the within the burough such as pedalers solicitors and transi vendors a licens pursuant to burrow code chapter 4 and temporary retail food establish and mobile food units so I think we need a little bit of clarification on that because I I understand our our initial conversations were that it's more brick and mortar businesses um temporary businesses in brick and mortar locations as opposed to let's say a street fair or the uh the farmers market that we have but it does also say mobile food units so I I think we have to do a little bit more review on that Kevin if we can um and and maybe find out either from DCA Department of Comm Community Affairs out of the state um or with from other communities on on how they handled that just to make sure that we're not creating something honorous um I I think once again intent is good for protecting people people um there may be some residential units that face a rent increase because of this state mandate um that's part of you know that it's part of the law uh so you know the I I doubt very highly that the landlords will absorb that themselves they will pass those increases along so those units that are over four units are not uh controlled by the burrow they're not inspected by the burrow uh that's handled at at the state level so we don't have uh that that's why they're not included in this I think if we're looking at this again Brian that we should also look at the Airbnb I think I brought that up at the last meeting you weren't here but um there are airbnbs in town and I think out of Public Safety that they should have insurance and also we probably need to look at it in terms of fire safety as well Gina I agree um and I actually I just s to Kevin yesterday I had gotten a uh because Airbnb is facing this all over the country um so they actually sent a a toolkit a legislative toolkit which we can look at as kind of a base model and then again approach other but I agree we I think we should look at it from not only from that side of it but we've had some incidents of uh airbnbs being rented for uh party purposes so we we need to to make sure that that doesn't happen whether that's considered a uh uh residence it's for a party or for a vacation yeah also the question I had earlier was whether or not this applies to State licensed rooming houses yeah I think initially I advise you I thought it would it does not it does not apply to state but we could added in our own ordinance if we wanted to right well it's like every ordinance is you know the governing body could do as it feels necessary with any ordinance it just this is to satisfy this the state requirement there are things that that we do on our own ordinances if that if if and again for for this is strictly a ordinance to allow a Xeno my office to collect their certificate that's what it does there there's no anything else that goes along with it but if that was something that you wanted to mend to include other other locations that would be you know I think we need to comply with the state ordinance and then we could amend it as as yeah as and maybe as we begin the housing plan and and we can yeah but I think that's good comments yeah I I think I think we should avoid uh bringing in any any any restrictions Tom can you lean forward a little bit for your microphone can you hear me now yes yeah I think we should avoid uh imposing any restrictions on the uh businesses in Somerville that are not already being being enforced by the state uh the state regulations I are I think adequately onerous very well put Tom excuse very well put my language I me and we could review that we we could see what the state does on or instead of duplicating I do understand your councilman saying if the if they're already giving it to the state why would we become the the depository of those certificates correct correct and I think rooming houses are governed by DCA correct yeah okay um all right uh further discussion all right I will open up for public comment on ordinance 2739 oh did you have one I I was just going to mention that um we discussed uh I believe in the last meeting that um the state law also dictates that the municipalities can charge the businesses a fee to file their insurance proof of insurance with the municipality uh and we as a council have decided that that is not what we would want to do uh I think our local businesses already acre enough uh you know financial burden that we we don't need to add to that so that was it yes good comment thank you uh public comment on 2739 so moved no I don't need a motion oh you don't need a motion just yeah it's just comment yes very quick um again uh Seline Greaves 97 East Spring Street and I just wanted to um highlight that my concern was not um limited to the use of um the legality um language being added to it was just to me an indication that more um um analysis and double-checking with what the state was saying should occur um and I just want to point out that the um verbage around illegality adds a criminality to non-compliance and I do think that there's a bit of a distinction between something being um worthy of a fine and something being made criminal and so I just really think that the language needs to be um adjusted and you know analyzed there my other concern was with the um language around um um transient or um limited businesses you know around food and things like that yeah the transient vendors correct and um the language is so vague and gives no um because it says even for a short time it gives no minimum and so I think um being concerned about what that means for um um Farmers Market vendors um Street vendors you know it could um arguably be um that language could apply to um kids having a lemonade stand and so I would just ask that some additional effort um which it sounds like the council is planning to do um initial effort would be put into um making sure that the language um being put forward is specific in that wanted thank you thank you so much any other public comment hearing none close public comment and I do believe the definitions are part of this it just doesn't appear as part of this code okay so I think in our code book we don't ask me what it is but I believe there's Act definition for mobile food vendors pedlers itinerant like that we'll flush that out yeah okay thank you uh roll call council members Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Gus stavic yes Roger verm yes all right ordinances for public hearing and adoption uh ordinance number 2737 is amending chapter 102 section 118 entitled off street parking and loading requirements subsection F entitled driveways item four uh do we have a motion for adoption uh yeah I believe we have to open that I'm going to I'm going to open it up for the public hearing once we okay I I would I would move for for adoption but I have a comment on it second okay roll call you have to have the public hearing on this first yes oh yeah and and no all right you can treat motion yeah okay yeah I okay I I just wanted to advise that basically what this is doing the the existing law uh or the existing code uh limits the width of a driveway to 1if the frontage of the property but in case the property is less than 50 feet wide this this ordinance uh allows the driveway to be 10 feet wide and I think that's a very reasonable figure yeah this is this is cleaning up a uh an issue that was faced probably about 10 years ago on uh not on Schoolhouse Lane on uh over in in in that in the schoolhouse neighborhood Fieldstone thank you um there there's a uh a number of uh double width driveways uh and with with a single uh curb cut opening gentleman came to barl Hall requesting the proper permit to put in the double lane driveway with the single with the single with the opening and was denied um so we went back and looked and and literally every other person on the Block had this so what we tried to do was to bring it in conformance with the existing condition and uh apparently uh in housekeeping it was never fully adopted there was a line left off so this is really a housekeeping issue to bring things in compliance from 10 10 12 years ago that Mak sense okay uh public hearing did I yeah so this just to get us right back on page here so we have a motion and a second that we're going to treat as the motion and the second for the public hearing correct so this will be the roll call to open it up for the public correct council members Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Denis travic yes Roger V yes okay public hearing is now open hearing none we'll close the public hearing now we'll go for motion for adoption so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Tom Mitchell yes Gina straic yes Roger V yes okay uh ordinance number 2738 is amending ordinance uh number 2735-20 56 establishing a salary range for employee titles to be paid to certain officers and employees of the burough of Somerville uh motion for public hearing so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes gusic yes Roger ver yes all right Mo uh public hearing on 2738 is now open hearing none we'll close I'll ask for a motion to close so move second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Tom Mitchell yes Gus traic yes Roger V yes all right uh public hearing is closed uh motion for adoption please so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Tom Mitchell yes Jus traic yes Roger firm yes okay um resolutions uh 238 through 249 I will pull 249 uh is there any others that would like to be pulled 240 please 240 okay any others all right uh can we have a motion on 238 239 241 through 24 8 so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Tom Mitchell yes Gina straic yes Roger ver yes all right uh 240 is rejecting all bids for the Somerville Barrow Hall entry Portico and exterior restoration project on the second occasion and authorizing negotiation of a contract do we have a motion so moved second okay discussion yeah well the the buau received State approval of Grants to restore the Portico and repair the external facade of the Daniel Robert house otherwise known as burrow Hall uh we we received the bids but the lowest bid was over budget it was excessive and we could not afford it with the grants that we had been approved for so the historic advisory committee is is looking to to uh adjust the scope of the project to something that we can fit within the uh within the realm of the grants okay thank you uh any further comment roll call council members Teresa boner yes Tom Mitchell yes Gina straic yes Roger ver yes all right 249 is memorializing accepting the resignation of De rosinski from the Somerville planning board effective August 3 2024 for do we have a motion so moved second all right um just a couple of words dearra has been a uh a very longtime solid stalwart uh intelligent uh committed person on our planning board uh she's an architect by trade and uh she has helped guide uh our burrow for many many years she had a a um a gap and then I brought her back probably about 10 11 years ago and uh she has done uh wonderful things at the planning board uh she brought a different eye uh in in reviewing all of our applications and she is uh she is moving on she's uh she's leaving town to be with family and uh and we wish her all the best and uh we congratulate her and thank her on her many years of dedicated service to our burrow well said Brian thank you uh roll call councilman Teresa boner yes Tom Mitchell yes Gus traic yes Roger verm yes all right bills and vouchers we got a whoer this month uh I make a motion uh to pay bills and vouchers in the uh minuscule amount of 9 milon 86,5 24 and I will second that with just a notation that about 8.3 million of that is going to the school board and to the county so uh bulk of that is not coming from this table as a reminder the buau collects the taxes and then pays out that money uh throughout the year quarterly obviously um so as as the councilman said it is for state county and uh school taxes and it is 8,337 46969 that goes towards those entities okay great thank you roll call council members Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Gina straic yes Roger verm yes Tom I will entertain a motion for adjournment motion to adjourn second