okay we have good evening everyone welcome to the June 3 city council meeting please rise to salute the flag I pled flag of the United States of America the stands indivisible and justice for all Ro Club the members councel agenzio here here counselor janino here here councelor Gino SAA here here counc H here here councelor Harry Mio here here councelor Kelly here here councelor McKenna here here councel noeli here here councelor sylvestri here here councilor zambuto here here and council president cogliandro here here Quorum is present approval of the Journal of the regular meeting of May 20th so move calendar item number three the city council will present certificates of achievement to the recipi recipients of the 2024 Rivier Community scholarship Serena Ross Carla Leo Robel and zerus [Applause] boria good evening honorable Council uh I do have uh one of our Representatives uh in recipients uh in front of you this evening I did want to mentioned uh and as you some of you may know or some of you uh new councils uh may have seen uh we have the riv Community scholarship that's uh given out each year uh we we give it to three deserving students the community scholarship is um funded through a payment uh when you get your tax bill in the mail or sometimes your water bill you'll see there's an option to add a dollar add $10 add a any any nominal amount that you'd like to donate to the city of Riva scholarship fund uh and at times there's been some generous donors that have been really help in keeping this scholarship uh fruitful um every year this uh scholarship recipients or recipients uh goes through a rigor rigorous selection process through the school department and uh and uh the mayor's office uh it's not just an academic scholarship it is also based on community service uh each year we see that these recipients attend some of the greatest universities in the country and in sometimes the uh entire um Universe uh so you see kids going everywhere we have an exceptional student in front of us tonight and note that this scholarship is presented in the Rivier schol uh Riva high school scholarship night which we just had a few nights ago and the recipients uh received each of them received a $2,500 scholarship to the university or college that they're attending next year uh the two recipients that were not able to make it uh t on tonight uh there is a bit of a graduation some a lot of graduation or pre-graduation events happening um and they were not able to attend uh one is first is Carla Lee robas who will be receiving her $2,500 scholarship and again she was uh in attendance on um last Thursday evening at the school to receive her her award the second C the second um recipient that received their 25 interal scholarship is s Serena Ross again very very uh bright future ahead of us and third and you know not that I'd like to rank these but getting to know zaras uh and also being fortunate to worked with his father for a number of years uh in my prior life and U lives on in ward 3 on Proctor AV a wonderful uh W 3 recipient here comes from a great lineage of um unbelievable students and also is passing on some of this to his younger brother I believe that's uh sister I apologize sister that's at Rivia high school and is going to be uh doing some great things uh has received a number of other scholarships but also uh is going to be attending an unbelievable University um that none of us could get in into and uh he might want to tell you a little bit about that but in closing before I do present uh zaras in front of you um the the scholarship is has been run for a number of years by uh many different uh former colleagues and people that have represented our city proudly and I do want to pass the Reigns and it has been um duly passed on to the mayor's office Aid so Ro Miss Rose Burns will be championing and in and cheerleading and and leading this charge over the next year for the scholar uh Rivier Community scholarship through the mayor's office and hopefully for years to come so I wanted to congratulate Rose for taking on this honor that's now bestowed upon you um but but without further Ado I do present to you Miss Mr B boria to speak to the council hello I want to say thank you for the scholarship as it will help me um pay for college and um I think like the scholarship is really helpful for students who help the community and yeah thank you and next year I'll be going to ol College of Engineering studying computer and electrical engineering hee going to come up and take a photo if that's great you all good right up front e hey can we congratulate rose on graduating from Boston University Rose was congratulations rose rose was another you know she didn't receive the riv Community scholarship but she did get a number of a Awards from the city of Rivier and again um zaryas is attending enen and uh it is it is truly we all know this is an acceptional University that I mean less than 1% of the people that apply are are are um awarded uh entrance into that school so he is a special and unique individual and he's going to do great things in the city of R thank you so [Applause] much please fire challender item number four Keith emlan from National Grid will appear before the city council to discuss double polls specifically thirdparty attachments which are currently holding up 21 double polls in the process Madam clerk have we received any communication from National Grid as to a reason that they're not in attendance no last I heard council president I'm sorry I don't mean to speak out of turn here guys but this is completely unacceptable does anyone else wish to speak on on the matter councilor Kelly are there any consequences that we could perform put you know I I continue to bring up something that happened I believe it was 2017 or 2018 with the previous W 3 counselor put his foot down when Fiori's Market was not receiving the treatment from National Grid that they were supposed to and they went without power and coolers for for years I think a decade and I have insisted that we put our foot down in the same exact fashion um you know just when I and I'm just going to speak freely here I we I just felt really good with our relationship with National Grid that we were communicating well with them and then here we are again in in the same spot uh and if there is a real valid reason that they're not in attendance tonight I'd like to know I hope everything is okay but otherwise this is completely unacceptable Council zambo I I agree with you Mr President and uh I I'm suspicious and I I believe there must be something that caused this because we we did we were getting back to communicating here so I I want to believe there's an emergency that caused this and and we didn't hear about it yet because it's it was on the way here or something so let's hope let's hope this is the case and and we'll take it from there if we need to take action we can always take action I hope you're right councelor thank you we'll place this on file unfinished business calendar item number five an ordinance further amending the senior citizen property tax workof abatement councilor Kelly yes um so we have some further amendments to this would you like me to read the Amendments or um basically what's happening is we can't offer we cannot offer anything higher than the minimum wage we mistakenly thought the minimum wage was $15.75 an hour it is actually $115 an hour so abiding by that $15 an hour does then change the hours um that seniors would be working or volunteering their services from 62 to 66.6 and that would allow us to um increase the $750 per per year tax property tax abatement to $1,000 and then the um last change is just um in section 28805 the financing would be um increased from $25,000 to $50,000 and that is a um we're doubling that only because it was not increased in the past um it was just an oversight so that would correct all the um issues in the ordinance thank you Mr President thank you counselor councelor Gino sa I agree with Council Kelly but I disagree with the amount I did a little bit of research and Boston does $40,000 and for an individual and 55 for a family so I think maybe we can follow suit to 40,000 instead of 50 no no for what they make the 40,000 I do not I didn't write it down Michelle wanted to change it from 25 to 50 exp Madam clerk please please the funding for the program comes from the Assessor's overlay account so right now that line item is only funded at 25,000 in order to be able to fund the program at $1,000 it needs to be funded at 50,000 okay I misunderstood thank you so I I think that's just I'm sorry Mr President that's just was kind of like a housekeeping um item that we were cleaning up it should have been increased but it was never done so now putting it at the 50,000 just um clearly reflects the amount of money for 50 individuals getting a th000 a piece it's $50,000 so it has nothing to do with the income requirements which is what I think you were speaking to has nothing to do with that council president the income requirements are as follows in no event shall a person be eligible for this program if such person's income exceeds $7 73,5 for individual applicants or exceeds $889,000 $500 for married applicants income limits will increase by the percentage increase in the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics and consumer price index for the previous year as determined by the commissioner of Revenue any of the counselors councelor noveli thank you Mr President uh I don't have a problem Tak here at a senior workof program but you know I think the mayor has to look at if this is this this has to go through the mayor's office as a uh as an order is that true no it does so it's something that the mayor has to look at to see whether or not we can afford it because somebody's going to have to pay for it somewhere and it's going to have to come out of somebody's pocket somewhere somewhere in the line whether it's somewhere in the city budget or what you know wherever he could find it if he could find it so it's going to be his his choice to to see whether or not it could work Council Lian buo if we can't afford this we're in bigger trouble than I think so I mean if if we can't take care of our seniors I think we should be ashamed of ourselves councilor Kelly this is a nominal amount um we should I agree with Council Zam buo if we can't do this something's wrong this is a nominal amount it is a program that's only available to 50 seniors I believe and we're increasing the um amount from $750 to $1,000 so it's basically another $250 for 50 people I I'm pretty sure we can do that any other counselors sir name and address for the record Anthony Pali 51 Arcadia Street uh working to pay off a debt without a salary that is the definition of inent servitude I don't like the fact that our seniors whether it's 63 hours or 62 hours or 66 that it might have to be have to work in the retirement to get some kind of a discount you're talking about 50 seniors to get a discount I think the city has $50,000 today you'll probably vote to give hundred and something thousand to Sand Castles $500 million for a high school $50,000 for pizza potties that'll be in the budget coming up I'd like to see this program go away and I'd like to see the seniors get the discount so that they can enjoy their retirement now there are people that would say seniors like to work sure they do but I don't know anybody that likes to go to work make $1,000 don't get any of that money and have it go right to a tax I would like the seniors to be able to get this discount without having to work but if you must have somebody work could you add to the program that volunteers could do the work for example I get get two vacation weeks a year I'd take one of my vacation weeks and I'll happily work the 66 hours for a senior they can get the $1,000 knocked off their attack so that they don't have to work thank you okay councelor Kelly so um I believe and the Madame clerk can confirm this for me that we as a municipality are following along with Massachusetts General law that is allowing us to do this so that if we were doing anything other than what's prescribed under that stat under that Massachusetts statute we would have to take it up as special legislation and ask our state representatives Jeff Cho and Jessica janino to help us get this done I would happily work with them to try to get something done I understand that that would take longer I don't think that that would be something for fiscal 2024 that we could get get in place by if we can't even if it can get done so what I would ask is that we at least entertain this now so that the seniors can get an extra $250 for 2024 fiscal year and then work on something else with uh representatives janino and turo to see if we can do anything um in addition to this thank you councelor councelor Zan buo thank you Mr President uh uh in a perfect world I agree with Mr Pali however uh We've we've had people begging for this workof program and I think is there still a lottery for this and and you know so there are there are hundreds of people trying to get this workof program uh some of it for work some of it to get the Thousand or what was 800 to get the th000 bucks off so uh in a perfect will I agree with you and if you want to donate your time that's wonderful and I think it's it's Noble but uh I think we need to go forward with this as is and and uh if we could put more people on the program because we have a we have a list of people that don't get picked in the lottery that don't get anything so uh the more we can put on this the better and the more money they can get for doing it I I think it's I think you'll ask out of the 50 people that do it there's there's hundreds more that want it and they're they're thrilled to get it so I I don't think it's I I don't see this as being evil to the seniors that's that's my point Thank you thank you counselor councelor H thank you Mr President so my former position at the senior center I saw the workof of baitman programs firsthand to answer councelor Zano's question they do still have the lottery 50 people receive real estate and 50 people receive water I'm curious if councelor Kell or anyone looked into upping the number um would has that ever been proposed to go over the 50 recipients so uh Madam clerk can confirm um but I believe we are going along in accordance with the statutory requirements of Massachusetts General law in terms of the components um the city council has the ability to open this up to however many people in the lottery it's a matter of funding the program to provide for whatever number the city council chooses that is going to be in the lottery Council J so oh sorry go ahead councelor so with this we are more or less just looking to alter the to go in line with the state the minimum wage and um and uh 50 was it 50,000 but nothing with the number of recipients that hasn't been um discussed at all thank you thank you counselor councelor janino thank you I'm looking at this what's in front of me right now and I think the $3 an hour difference is minimal I've had the chance to work with somebody the seniors in the past and they nothing but eager to work at the station with me and help us out and I'm all for this year thank you I would Mr President sorry can I just add one more thing I would also like to say we had a number of workers at the senior center that did great work um they enjoyed coming to work and coming to volunteer every day but and did it with a smile on their face whether it was pushing the barrel around or answering phones we had a great group at the Senior Center thank you thank you councelor councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President um I think we this is great piece here but I think we need to take a a deeper dive into this um it we we very I don't think in the last six or to eight years have we even hit the 100 Mark of of residents get that would qualify so maybe we need to look at upping the the number of of income or something like that but but right now currently the the 100 spots don't get taken in and for the past I don't think eight years 100 people have made that councelor H thank you Mr President in response to councilor Sylvester he is correct um the 50 First spots for the real estate usually go very quickly and then um the next 50 go to the water um workof but I think it has been a struggle to routinely get close to 100 or around that number thank you yeah and and also um we have the veterans workof program that in that program uh as Mr pale mentioned a a family member can do the work off so if you have a disabled veteran in the home a wife or family member child son nephew can come do the work hours and and the veteran will still receive that bonus so if and there's no a age limit uh all you need to do is be a veteran of the military Mr President counselor Gino SAA what if we further amended it and changed it from 50 recipients to 75 and left it at the 750 I think the max we can go to is 70 the ordinance currently has the program listed as a minimum of 50 Lottery applicants to a Max imum of 70 Lottery applicants 20 more is better than 20 less I think the point that was being made was that we not even getting a 100 people is that correct so what would raising the cap do uh maybe on the real estate side I could understand but well what is the will of the council sorry Council Jer uh can we further amend this to allow for volunteer workof for folks who uh qualify but yeah at this point I would recommend that we put this into subcommittee since we have now two amendments on the floor um I don't know how you feel about that councilor Kelly I my recommendation since we're getting amendments now uh is that we put it back in the subcommittee put it back in subcommittee so it was unfinished business um what which subcommittee would you like to put it in can we I I I find this odd because you know all I'm trying to do here is increase some money for the seniors at least for the fiscal year 2024 if we keep amending it and I could be wrong the clerk can um correct me if I'm wrong but if we don't move on this now I don't think anything will get done for the next cycle right is that correct so I'd rather give them something and then you know do the Amendments further and then we can get have the Amendments take place later down the line okay so we have we have two amendments on the floor maybe we should vote on the first one which is to raise it from 50 to 70 we'll just take it up now is that what we're doing or so we can do set up to 70 the number section two this is already in the ordinances section 28830 application process the number of senior citizens participating in the program shall be limited each year to a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 70 councilor McKenna I just have an idea and I don't know if it's going to work but I mean if the real estate um counselor has if the real estate um the 50 uh that's being filled really right away and the water is not then why can't we uh like you said councelor uh greenus why that we could you know limit it to maybe 70 and then raise um the fee for them raise the the the you the minimum wage to you can't do that okay okay so I'm going to just pause right now we have a lot of different ideas on the floor and I'd like to know if anybody is excuse me gentlemen I would like to know if anyone's putting an official Amendment on the floor at this time I and if you are if you are putting an amendment on the floor please state it now I think instead of going up coun H thank you Mr President we have to focus on the income level also so if can this be altered in a way that we can because I'm I'm nervous that if we go with the increase in spots we're still going to see the same amounts of people apply for it and it's going to be you know we're going to be short and because not everyone qualifies given the the income level so I think the real Crux of this is the the people that qualify for with the income with what they take in a year excuse me councilor sylvestri yes um considering we have the CFO in the room could we hear from him I would love to hear from the CFO thank you good evening sir a name and address for the record please uh good evening Richard viske 281 Broadway CFO I'm sorry I walked they're in the middle of the conversation um I think I understand some of the questions and I I'm happy to try to answer them but uh just remember this senior tax uh work off a batement program is a Mass General law we follow the Mass general laws I was just reading up a little bit about it um because I know they uh expanded it to go up to $750 per person that money does come out of the overlay account which is uh money that we have to account for for property tax just like any abatement we're not allowed to just discount taxes we need to go through the abatement process so whatever increases that the council would like to do uh we would just have to calculate what that exposure is and make sure we budget accordingly but I do know that it's minimum wage so we have to pay the minimum wage which whatever the state minimum wage is today 1575 or $15 that's that's the amount we can do so if it's $750 is the maximum I believe abatement we can do is it what's it up to a th000 now yeah right I know they got a catch up a little but whatever the law says we just have to divide that total abatement by the number of hours to get to that $15 an hour um but with regard to how many uh seniors you'd like to see able to take opportunity of that I believe that would be something you Chang there with with an ordinance and then we'll just make sure we budget the right amount in our overlay to to uh address that so can I ask councilor Kelly um so are you saying that if we go along with the statute minimum wage um $1,000 would be the aate the amount of the abatement that I would be looking for that the motion is written as if we increase the 50 individuals to 70 individuals would we be able so now we're going from 50,000 basically to $70,000 is that doable yeah it's certainly doable um we will just account what we typically do is we we budget amount for overlay for regular abatements but a lot most of our abatements that we give through our overlay are statutory for veterans surviving spous blind so we would just have to make sure that we up that amount 20,000 which uh long story short won't be a problem and do you think that those 20 spots those 20 additional spots would be used that they would be utilized correct I mean I don't uh firsthand deal with that I know it's done through the assessor's office and through uh Elder services but um um it can hurt to offer it I know taxes are going up I know people need uh some relief so um maybe with the right amount of promotion you'd get 70 uh seniors that would take advantage and you know we'd have no problem administratively budgeting for that or or handling that but uh how many people actually enroll in the program I couldn't tell you off top my head off I couldn't speculate how many would do it I think if Thank you Rich good any other counselors counselor has I think it's fair to say if the income level was adjusted you'd see the slots get filled up I pretty quickly because I know a lot of seniors the senior center had issues with the qualifying for the um the income level so I'm pretty sure you'd see I'm confident that you'd see more seniors yeah I mean honestly to add $20,000 to Overlay to have more seniors take advantage of the program wouldn't be a problem administratively thank you councelor councelor McKenna councel janino councel renzio thank you I'd like to make a substitute motion that we move from 50 to to the maximum of 70 we're we're amending the motion can I so the application process section reads as follows the number of senior citizens participating in the program shall be limited each year to a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 70 applications will be available and accepted at the assessor's office or the mayor's office within City Hall between July 1 and August one if more than 50 persons apply for such program a public Lottery shall be conducted in the city council chambers overseen by the treasur ETC so you're changing the 50 to 70 in in both instances yes so shall be limited each year to a minimum of 70 period period and then also change the word 50 in that second sentence from 50 to 70 and then Madam I believe Madam clerk that we would also need to change that 50,000 to 70,000 and section 2.88 .050 are there any other amendments that want to be heard Mr President councelor jerio just wanted to add a section to allow for a volunteer workof for a family member if it's not our it's in the statute is it in the statute for um seniors only or veterans [Music] only sorry no worries take your time propose itre it would increase austral for pass for a vote after the am the statute reads as follows councelor hero for persons physically unable to provide such services to the city or town um oh an approved representative for per persons unable to that's satisfi as my my requirement or my Amendment yeah how do you define unable but the the statute just says physically unable to perform CFO excuse me if I may I would just be very careful about trying to get too cute with this law I mean we don't want four or five different volunteers showing up if I have to if I can't come to work I can't send a volunteer if the law allows for something I I know there's some well- intended people in here but let's not try to get too cute with the law thank you Mr President Council novaski Mr President you know we all want to take take care of our seniors everybody has a different idea and I think we ought to take the base amount if we want to change things later bring it up later but let's get the base amount done now so they could started in July 1 and get everything going and let's to get the base motion passed with the few number changes that's about it council president instead of adding things to it let's let's vote on and get it past I believe I said that if we could at least get them some benefit and some increase for fiscal year 2024 we can always amend this down the road yes we're going we're going in a circle now Council Zano this is the last one last one right and and and and I think that you you had it right it's all set let's just vote on it you got it you got you you come up with a solution now let's vote on it so we're going to the max amount of people we're going to be voting on an amendment to go from 5050 to 70 right we're also going to be going from 50,000 to 70,000 right okay so let's take the Amendments up first and get this thing passed the amendments are as follows section one is amended as follows section 288020 is amended by deleting 12 and inserting and place thereof 15 section two is amended as follows section 2.88 point2 is amended by deleting 62 and inserting in place thereof 66.6 new section 4 section 2. 88 .050 financing the of the program is hereby amended by deleting 25,000 and inserting in place thereof 70,000 and section this is going to be new Section Five Section 28830 the application process the number of senior um I'm sorry shall be limited each year to a minimum of 70 participants and you're also striking the word 50 in inserting in place thereof 70 persons roll call for those amendments yeah you can if you want roll call on the Amendments on the Amendments councelor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councel noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes Council buo yes yes and council president C Leandro yes yes the Amendments have been approved uh ordered on a second reading as amended ordered on a third and final reading as amended roll call for engrossment and ordainment as amended shall the city council approve an ordinance further amending the senior citizen property tax workof abatement program program as amended councelor agenzio yes yes councel janino yes yes councelor Gina SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor hero yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councel McKenna yes yes councel noveli yes yes counc sylvestri yes yes councel zambuto yes yes and council president Cog Leandro yes yes the ordinance is recorded as engrossed and ordained as amended next matter is the health and hum Health and Human Services subcommittee report calendar item number six motion presented by councelor Kelly that the city council order to a public Hearing in ordinance requiring the publication of certain records of the police department councilor H thank you Mr President so the Health and Human Services subcommittee voted to table the request by a favorable vote of three to two Mr President councelor agenzio I'd like to uh place a Minority Report to take it off the table absolutely so my reasoning being I think this is an excellent motion by um councelor Kelly uh we talked about this at length I think a publication on a website that uh indicates what's going on in your neighborhood as far as car break-ins house break-ins make the uh residents a little bit more aware Council hero did bring up a great point about substance abuse so if necessary I'd make a motion or a substitute motion that anything concerning substance abuse the address and location uh not be published and that just a general statistic Citywide be available if that's agreeable councilor Kelly yes I would be agreeable with that councilor sylvestri thank you Mr President um if if we could just get it in the the amendment to have it put on the police page instead of the r.org page I think that's the more appropriate place for it be put so we have two amendments so far anyone else want to offer amendments Mr President councilor house thank you Mr President and just to make sure that I know when it was read in the subcommittee we we mentioned names um just to make sure there's no names in there if we want to have a a list of areas you know where or um days of the week Monday this happened Tuesday this happened just to alert residents but we have to make sure um if we put this through we're not going to put anyone's names before you start working on the ordinance okay so at this time we're going to take a roll call vote to remove this from the table Madam clerk on councelor agenzio Minority Report to take the ordinance out of committee and on to the floor councelor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor h no no councelor hero no no councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councelor noveli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes councelor zambuto yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes the Health and Human Services I'm sorry the ordinance is now on the floor we currently have have amendments unless there's any other counselors wishing to speak on the issue uh May would it be possible to reiterate those amendments once more I know that one of them was Council agenzio to remove yes to uh anything having to do with substance abuse that addresses uh are not published and that just a general statistic Citywide be available let us take a roll call on that first Council Jero we'll take is that right on councelor AR enzio's motion to I guess include to amend section 260 2.6.1 120 section A shall not in I'm sorry the police blot I just want to get the president and just in the spirit of expediency um if if it pleases uh councelor jenio may we add the word mental health as well mental health issues that's agreeable to me right that way we don't have to take multiple votes okay this public so it's SE 2.6.1 120a shall be amended to read the last sentence a new sentence shall be added that statistics regarding Substance Abuse and Mental Health incidents shall not be included I'm sorry councilor Kelly I'm sorry I believe they want to just Citywide statistical data to be no publication of addresses or anything right [Applause] Madam clerk may I recommend would you like me to recommend some language yeah so after language I don't know if it's proper language but after the word police blot with the exception of mental health and substance use not substance abuse but substance use incidents um uh yeah sure so shall make the police blotter and arrest log accessible with the exception sorry with the exception to the substance use one more time so so in the first sentence the police department dep this is how it would read the police department shall make the police blot an arrest log accessible with the exception of substance use and mental health incidents to the public by publishing it on a weekly basis on the official website of the city of river and then oh I see what you're saying yeah we're just going to add something to section A at the end of that sentence regarding specifically why not say to remove the geographical location of calls or arrests in involving substance abuse and mental health because that's that's what it sounds like removing any geographical information in regards to those to those two arrests I think we're doing both right Mr President we're removing the geographical location and Mak it explicit that we're going to ask that they keep mental health and substance use incidents off the blad I I don't think we want to keep them off the bladder we would like to have a number I thought that's what I understood though no we we want to have a number but it would be instead of we want a number of what's going on and we have a right to know what's going on as well and and no names no geographical location for substance use arrests and mental health arrests I think that that's completely fine that way that they don't have to go out of their way to make another list Council noveli thank you Mr President just a point of information uh it asks for all this to be published weekly is that necessary that have it so often and maybe once a month you know just a [Music] inquiry Council Janina if I'm not mistaken the mental health issues are all hipper anyway so that's all redacted on the reports I think we could just have them make a entry like like C no once a month with the crime statistics in general for the city to give us different areas what's going on where it's going on at rather than a breakdown of individual crimes and locations with names listed on it no I'm I'm sorry that's not what I'm that's not what this motion is I mean if if someone wants to do that in the future but this motion is specifically so that people will know what types of crimes are being committed in their neighborhoods and community so that they will have some awareness which directly relates to their Public Safety councilor sylvestri oh sorry Council you that's already public information though anyone go to Stage for public records on that stuff I'm sorry that's public information already you can walk in this front door and get the information for the um the log for the night before or the week before any okay so the reason why in my presentation in subcommittee the reason why I brought this motion was because people were not seeing a police blotter publicized anymore they felt uncomfortable trying to call police dep the police department to try to get the information and they often couldn't get the information so they want a a way where they can stay Anonymous and not have to reveal their information in order to get this information um which should be made publicly available to them without having to jump through hoops or or anything so in that vein this is why I brought the motion councilor sylvestri thank you Mr President um so I'm I'm here on the city of r Police Department page um it's called the media log it's put on by um I think officer Menino um and I think that would be the perfect place to have this and also in this log they are um majority of the the information is redacted so I I I would be in favor of this information going on on the city of Rivier Police Department's media log it shows case numbers and and stuff like that and everything's redacted on that um so I think that should be the way the place would go like the only thing I would ask for thank you okay so just to pause for a second a lot of people want to talk we were in the middle of making an amendment um so let's figure out this amendment before we have any further discussion if that's okay that's okay no I'm given given everybody leeway and I do want to state that a lot of the questions asked tonight were have been discussed already um I mean I'm looking at the city of Lynn police department does the same thing they list all their their call logs you know so let's finish the amendment so the amendment was as follows section 2.6.1 120 section A the a new sentence at the end of that section shall read as follows geographical information shall not be included for incidents relative to substance use and mental health roll call roll call on that Amendment councelor agenzio yes yes councel janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councel noeli yes yes councilor sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes that amendment has passed are there any other amendments being offered at this time coun councilor Sylvester my apologies continue uh yes Mr President um that if we just have it um put on the r police Department's media log page counselor Kelly the the only exception to that that I I would like a link on the r.org and then you know it could link over the information could actually be on the police department but I would like some type of indication or or link on the r.org website yeah yeah right I link to that page we're just going to get the language quickly so the amendment offered by councelor sylvestri so they would be striking and this is in section A of section 26120 on the so it shall so I'm sorry the first sentence shall read the police department shall make the police bler and arrest blog accessible to the public by publishing it on a weekly basis on the on the official media page of the Rivier Police Department period further that the link to that page be included on the official website of the city of Rivier roll call roll call on that Amendment councelor agenzio yes yes councel janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councelor noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes councelor zambuto yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes that amendment has been approved are there any other amendments to be offered this evening on this councelor Gino SAA I don't have an amendment I would just like to thank councilor Kelly for bringing this to the the table my pleasure ordered on a second reading as amended ordered oh I'm I'm sorry this will be June public hearing on June 24th next up is the zoning subcommittee report ccor zamb buo thank you Mr President uh obviously the zoning subcommittee met this evening uh we had two items on the table um first one is 24156 an ordinance further amending the zoning map of the city of R relative to teed District be it ordained that the city rever as follows section one title 17 of the re rised ordinances of the the city R and the zoning map provided by section 17.2 020 of the said title is hereby amended by changing the zoning District of the following Parcels from GB to teed parel 10-1 188 A3 D1 and and 10 10- 1888 3-2 and 10- 188 a-3 you stole my motion and 10- 188 a-4 and that was voted out favorably and I ask for a roll call it's a mouthful ordered on a second reading apologize for that it's okay ordered on a third and final reading roll call for engrossment and or Dameon shall the city council approve an amendment to the zoning map of the city of Rivier by changing certain Parcels located on Northshore Road from GB to Ted councelor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor greo SAA yes yes councelor h yes yes councelor hero yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councel noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president C Leandro yes yes the zoning map amendment has been approved the next item up was um 24-1 168 a zoning audience further uh the flood plane overlay District of the city of Rivier that was also uh voted out favorably order on a second reading ordered on a third and final reading roll call for engrossment in ordainment shall the city council approve an amendment to the zoning ordinances of the city of Rivier relative to the flood plane District councelor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor greo SAA yes yes councelor pass yes yes councelor Haro yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes counc noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president C Leandro yes yes the flood plane district is engrossed and ordained next up is the appointment subcommittee report councel McKenna thank you Mr President uh the appointment sub committee met uh this evening we had three reappointments and two new appointments uh we tabled one appointment because of a no- show I would like to vote um the uh appointments out favorably favorably that showed up tonight for the meeting would you like to take up the four at once um yes thank you on the confirmation of the appointment of Deborah Frank to the affordable housing trust fund Toby pearlstein to the library Board of Trustees Marita kums to the library Board of Trustees and Paul ring to the library Board of Trustees councelor agenzio yes yes councelor jino yes yes councelor greo SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor hero yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councelor noeli yes yes councel sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president C Leandro yes yes the appointments have been confirmed Communications calendar item number 14 communication from the city auditor relative to the r cable TV appropriation good evening sir again hey good evening Rich viske 21 Broadway City CFO uh this request uh is a quarterly request of the council to appropriate the money that we collect on behalf of uh the cable company contracts and needs to be appropriated for uh operation order via TV so happy to answer any questions if there are any any coun move the question roll call all in favor oh we got a roll call on the floor roll call please shall the city council approve an appropriation in the amount of $13,988 83 from the cable access receipt Reserve fund for the payment of rier TV's quarterly invoice councilor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes yes councelor Haro yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes Council noeli yes yes councel Silvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president calandro yes yes the appropriation has been approved calendar item number 15 communication from the city auditor for the fy2 24 free cash appropriation for the sand sculpting Festival good evening Richard viske 281 Broadway City CFO uh we are here to request uh free cash appropriation to help with the annual sand sculpting festival at the beach and uh the amount that is being requested is $150,000 um it's a little less than we um requested last year but we did have um $2 million less in free cash so trying to um uh spread it out accordingly so um again $150,000 requested to uh help support the sand sculpting festival at the beach happy to answer any questions any counselors councelor Areno uh thank you Mr BC which uh department handles those requests and purchase orders and whatever uh the the free CRA yeah excuse me the request was through the mayor's office so the mayor's office okay yes thank you very much Council Zano so I'm going to vote no on this so I've I've got to uh give an explanation the sand sculpting Festival was going on for years a corporate sponsor donated $10,000 a year every year one year they were in trouble and needed extra money they gave him another $10,000 then somebody decided that they weren't environmentally friendly and decided not to take their money anymore so I don't support the organization anymore because of that and I can't vote what good conscience to spend taxpayers money on this thank you thank you counselor if there's no other counselors let's take a roll call shall the city council approve an appropriation the amount of $50,000 from free cash to the sand sculpting Festival account coun councelor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor greo SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro yes yes councelor Kelly no no councel McKenna yes yes councel noveli yes yes councel sylvestri yes yes councel zambuto no no and council president C Leandro yes yes the appropriation has been approved calendar item number 16 communication from the city auditor relative to the FY 24 snow and ice deficit thank you Richard viske 281 Broadway City CFO um this free cash appropriation will bring our snow and ice deficit to zero um as you may know we are allowed to um spend in deficit on our snow and ice account due to the nature of that account and uh the emergency nature of it but um in the Clos the books with a zero um deficit in that account we are seeking an appropriation of $171,000 to uh ensure that there is no snow and ice deficit to raise in fiscally at 2025 is recap thank you any counselors roll call shall the city council approve an appropriation the amount of $171,000 from free cash to the snow nice deficit account councelor agenzio yes yes councel janino yes yes councel greo SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes Council McKenna yes yes councel noeli yes yes Council sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes the appropriation has been approves Mr President Council noi can I ask for a suspension of rules on reconsider consideration item 15 hoping it will not Prevail on the suspension of rules all in favor all opposed so voted rules are suspended and on on the reconsideration for item number 15 uh communication from the auditor in regards to free cash appropriation for the sand sculpting Festival all in favor all opposed councelor zambuto is recorded as no thank you sir caler item number 17 communication from the city auditor relative to the FY 25 budget appropriation thank you Richard viskey 281 Broadway City CFO I um have placed in front of all the councilors the budget book for fiscal year 2025 um the appropriation order is um part of that budget it's what you would vote on and um we will begin those hearings on June 10th which uh will um be in attendance for June 10th and every other meeting of the ways of means some committee we can give a brief presentation on the budget on the 10th but um this order is before you to hopefully put in committee and start those budget errands but happen to answer any questions on the appropriation order itself this is going to Ways and Means the budget meetings will take place June 10th 11th 12th and 13th and I forgot to State we are back to the normal order of business calendar item number 18 communication from the mayor requesting approval of proclamations and recognition of pride month in juneth good evening sir name and address for the record please Steve Mor director of diversity equity and inclusion for the city of Rivier 281 Broadway good evening honorable members of this city council I am presenting two significant proclamations on behalf of the mayor um the first Proclamation is to declare the month of June AS lgbtq Plus pride month celebrating the invaluable contributions of the lgbtq individuals in our community also um committing to an annual flag raising ceremony and Pride Celebration to demonstrate our support and unity the second Proclamation is in recognition of jun's historical significance we pledge to honor this day with a yearly flag raisin commemorating the emanci emancipation of enslaved African-Americans and reaffirming our commitment to equity and justice for all um through you madam clerk to the council president um there is on the juneth proclamation the first paragraph I was wondering if you could there was an error if you could strike the last sentence of the first paragraph strike the words on June 19th so we'll just read to conduct a yearly flag raising ceremony and then insert in Rec in recognition of juneth because originally it said June 19th but City Hall is closed on the amendment all in favor I'll opposed so voted thank you on the proclamation recognizing the month of June as pride month All In fath favor all opposed so ordered and on the proclamation recognizing June 19th as juneth all in favor all opposed so oted calendar item number 19 communication from the mayor requesting a loan order in the amount of $3 million for phase 15 construction project number6 729 for Pump Station and drainage improvements good good evening Richard viske City CFO 281 Broadway um this request is part of us uh staying a good standard with our consent decree uh in past years we've asked for a much larger loan order however we are coming close to the end of uh hopefully the uh at least the storage and I I part of that um consent decree and um while we weren't even thinking of com to the council for a loan order for this fiscal year we found that with the um principal forgiveness that is being uh funneled through the uh State's trust to the cities and towns it was better for us to uh seek a loan order for 3 million and resend old money of 3 plus million to take advantage of that program so I know this is going to a public hearing but just wanted to give a little information on on why we are proposing uh debt on that we are by no uh means uh complete with the consent degree but I think we're at a critical point where we're going to be at the uh the phase two of that project but um it's um it's prudent for us to take advantage of debt uh forgiveness through the OPA funds given to the trust so um we we've lowered that appropriation to 3 million and we'll be coming forward in the next couple of weeks with some Bond recisions on on that program so um I know it's going the committee but happy to try to answer any questions on that if needed thank you Mr Thee councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President um Mr es do you have a a rough estimate on on when we'll be done with that decree that is a a tricky question I think we got an extension until 20 2034 so um I do know that we've just about lined 100% of uh sore pipes in the city we've done a lot of lead service Replacements we've done a lot of the initial stuff with regard to the repairs but I think some of this now is just the uh trying to figure out uh the the volume of the sords that has to be pumped through uh MW and that might mean a a third station and such but the initial work between uh all the lining of the soil pipes is essentially completed with the money that's already been um bonded or will be bonded so I think there's some negotiations that have to be done with uh the state and the MW about how we're going to get the the flow to uh the treatment plant and whether that's a third station or not but uh yeah the majority of the actual work on the ground I believe is pretty much completed thank you this will be ordered to a public hearing on June 24th calar item number 20 motion presented by councelor greo SAA that the mayor request the Dei director or the Rivier Community School to investigate grant opportunities for the purpose of fully funding Spanish classes for city employees period uh and residents was a typo councelor Gino SAA firstly can we please add councilor to this motion as well okay so what I'm looking for is a course that will provide adult students with basic conversational Spanish skills when communicating with families as a city counselor I've run into a situation where so many people speak Spanish and I can't I I can't answer them I do have the opportunity to understand them because I do speak Italian but as far as my communicating with them I cannot do it so what I'm looking for is I want the ability to be able to have a conversation with them and know what they need from me as a counselor um I'm looking for a Spanish instructor with ready to teach the basic speaking skills um and I think with in the city's fiscal budget of 2024 there's a 30 ,000 line for Community Schools would this be able to pay for us as counselors or anyone in the city who would like to take the Spanish um course I'm not sure I know it's an educational program that um for the salary of the instructor so they do have that in Community Schools so I'm wondering if they we can further find a way to fund this maybe going to um a a different department in the city maybe Community Development to fund this for us thank you Council inovasi Mr President through you Council G um the 30,000 that you saw was that in the school department or the city budget can't hear you can't hear you can't hear you it's in Community Schools so it's in the school department budget then no it's not Community School is in the city budget okay thank you Mr President this is Council J thank you um fully supportive of my colleague in this uh Endeavor and I I really appreciate her putting in this motion and adding me on it of course language Equity um clearly becoming a priority of this Council and very appreciative for all my colleagues and particularly uh councelor gorino soat commissioner speak from the chair I just I think this is a great motion um and I just want to point out that this motion is to investigate grant opportunities so um I don't you know I'm fine with this because it's not us voting to spend money right away thank you all in favor all opposed so voted calendar item number 21 motion presented by councilors Areno and Kelly that the mayor request the engineering department and the DP W to reconfigure the northwest corner of the island at the intersection of parkab and Dale Street the curb of the island comes to a point in vehicles making a left turn from Park AV to Dale Street are damaging their tires and rims the point should be removed and replaced with a piece of radial curb to round off the corner councelor Areno yes thanks Mr President uh this is speaks for itself there's a point there and people are coming around and they're blowing their tires and ruining their rims uh a simple reconfig ation with a piece of radius curb will go a long way and uh in helping out the situation thank you thank you counselor councel Nova sski thank you Mr President Mr President I know exactly what you're talking about I've run into that situation many times especially during the winter when there's snow on it and I've always complained to various departments in the city to complain about it and they even put the sign there's a sign on there to keep right or watch for pedestrians it's over on the leftand side of the of that island and people don't realize it extends even if we put that radial the radius CB to put some kind of ball it there also so it sticks up higher at the same time while they're redoing it to put a ball it there so they could see where the end of it is thank you counselor councelor Zan buo thank you Mr President I support this motion wholeheartedly it's one of the most dangerous places in the city anything that can be done about it uh that makes it safer I mean somebody's got to put an engineer with an engineering degree he's got to put something together there that will work because whoever come up with that Abomination is really uh it's really a bad situation so I support the motion wholeheartedly thank you thank you counselor all in favor all opposed soort it calendar item number 22 motion presented by councilor McKenna that the mayor request the DPW to install a new concrete SW sidewalk on the lower portion of pearl a on the leftand side of the street heading in an easterly Direction the entire length of peav has already been repaved and a new concrete sidewalk on the right hand side of the lower portion of peap has already been installed councelor McKenna thank you Mr President so um 34s of the street is done um and I would really like the other side of the sidewalk the other side of the street to have new sidewalks uh because of the extensive uh flooding down there um that leftand side Sidewalk is in disarray it's also one side is concrete the other side is asphalt and the asphalt is just uh disappearing so um I would really I know um there's nothing in the budget and I know that I We're not scheduled uh perv is not scheduled but I really do believe they should complete the street it's not right that they you know 34s of the street is done and then the other side where where people live is not done and and the the asphalt is dissipating so I would really like to see this done thank you thank you counselor on the motion all in favor all oppos so what calendar item number 23 motion presented by council president cogliandro that the mayor and superintendent of public schools appear before the city council to discuss the status of Air Conditioning in the Lincoln School further that the city purchase and install air conditioning for the Lincoln School as soon as possible per permission to speak from the chair so I put this Motion in based on a whole bunch of phone calls from parents including my own children reporting to me that it is incredibly hot in that school now I am also aware that the air conditioning was installed in 2021 uh but because of the way that the the system is programmed it does not kick on until it gets to a certain degree so what ends up happening is they open the windows it gets very muggy in the classrooms once the air conditioning kicks on and that's the big reason uh that this is happening I I spoke to the facilities manager in regards to it um I was planning to withdraw the motion this evening um but council is amambo on I'm I'm flabbergast that that we're still having trouble at the Lincoln School with air conditioning uh it's unbelievable somebody's got to bring in the manufacturer to override this situation that doesn't let the air conditioning come on I mean we're in 2024 here and give me a break I I mean we went through hell trying to get air conditioning there and now they still don't have air condition it's you can't make this stuff up as they say I think that you know hopefully the facilities manager might might add some tweaks to the to the system so that it it kicks on it with a certain temperature um and maybe they lower the or or lower the temperature it needs to be before the air conditioning kicks on but you know I know that they installed it I have two of my own children that go to that school yeah they're not going to come home and lie to me if they're hot of course not and that's why it's got to be fixed any other counselors I'm going to withdraw this because that's what I said I was going to do calendar item number 24 motion presented by council president K Leandro that the mayor and city council send a joint letter to mot requesting that a traffic study be completed for brown circle in the interest of vehicular Safety Council zambuto is recused from this motion permission to speak from the chair I think this kind of speaks for itself um any anyone born and raised here has mastered the art of that Circle at this point but for the people who have not uh it is a dangerous place to drive and like I said this speaks for itself I would like a traffic study done to see if there's any other safety measures we can take at that Circle any other counselors all in favor all opposed so Ed calendar item number 25 motion presented by counselor house that the mayor be requested to investigate the feasibility of revitalizing and expanding the donation fund for emergency purposes in an effort to immediately assist families who have been displaced due to an emergency like a fire or harsh weather councelor H thank you Mr President so this came about um a few ways I've noticed recently the last um year or so that if there's a fire or an emergency the city will put out an inquiry or look to Residents to donate items recently I had just seen a post from the Board of Health that ask for men's shirt sizes mediums and larges and I definitely would have brought my stuff but I had just brought it to Savers in route one so I was saying to myself I'd love to see the city set up a space set up a program where residents can donate two to three items Max that way residents are not dropping off trash bags full of stuff you know but if they if a resident if they choose can drop off two to three items in great shape that the city can establish an emergency fund um for those families that are displaced by fires displaced by flood flooding if a car crashes into a first floor apartment and they have to wait months and months and they can't get any of their stuff or or um any of their supplies but I also in talking to a few people I also found out that the fire fund is more or less depleted at this point so I was hoping to see if the city can kind of Kickstart or resurrect an emergency type fund for families that have to go to hotels or per even purchase supplies and I would also love to see the see the city build a network of hotels and even restaurants and supermarkets that they can kind of team up with and in case of an emergency and a family is looking for anything from for shelter or supplies or clothing but it's it's actually too it's there's the money part of it the the the donation fund that I'd like to see built up somehow whether it's through fundraising or co- drives and it's also the the um the clothing and things like that that will really really help help families and it will also help the the city and Adrien Maguire who's the emergency preparedness manager and from running around trying to locate items at all hours of the night and Adrian does an outstanding job being there for our resident she's always gone above and beyond she does great work and I'd love to see us kind of go to bad for her that way she's not chasing down items in the middle of the night or or trying to call a hotel to book a space for a family that just had an escape a fire at their house in winter time thank you thank you councelor councelor McKenna thank you Mr President um so um Council has we've had two major fires in uh Beachmont uh one in uh not not Beachmont W one uh one in Beachmont six houses uh the other two houses um in um right down the street uh it was so hard because Red Cross only gives a certain amount ofone money uh per family to put them up in a hotel after that these people have to find their own money uh to to live they can't move back in their house um councilor Kelly had a great idea to to because I don't want to take the respon the credit myself but she had a great um idea she's writing it down and I'm reading it I mean uh a couple of years ago we were bartenders uh at um drift and we raised a ton of money uh we could do the same to a fundraiser and we've got a top contributor Amazon here that should give us money maybe a wish list for some of these people that are you know that in need um I know that um the First Congregational Church has been super to us uh yeah they open their doors and we we get a lot of we ask for donations and we get a lot of donations sometimes we get too many donations that just people want to get rid of stuff and they don't know what to do with it but um I mean two great ideas Amazon that someone just text me um about that and I think that's wonderful and um councilor Kelly's idea about having a fun Razer uh we could do it as bartenders because people just love to see us sweat so I mean and they would come out in July or August and and they would probably give us you know if we ask for a certain amount of donation say $10 or something then we could start a fund so I I think this is a great motion I I I'm with you 100% And I've experienced it and I've worked with Adrian to try to get close uh so in uh items so I understand the need for this so thank you very much if residents want to see us sweat they can come to the next cornhole tournament councilor sylvestri thank you Mr President um I I think this is a great motion um I I just see I I think there needs to be a a tweak to it there there got to be a a time frame I think you know if someone gets put in a hotel it's great that we help but for how long right um and you know as Council has said I think we need to be strict on on items you know in the Veterans office people would always call I'd like to donate a few shirts and next thing you know they come with trash bags full and it's it's old worn stuff and it's um so I think we really got to work this out and and put it together in a right way um so we don't end up with a a a room full of people's spring cleanings right thank you councelor councelor Kelly I just want to say in in regards to seeing a sweat my idea was karaoke with your counselors for a fundraiser objection sir name an address for the record please Anthony Pali 51 Arcadia Street just a suggestion you may want to do it outside of the city the group that runs the riv Beach partnership FMP they are fantastic at these programs they run a foundation called the Greg Hill Foundation which its purpose is to help out families that have been caught in fires or storm damage or any type of tragedy FMP is a fantastic I mean they're this is what they do and we already have a partnership with them with the Rivier Beach partnership maybe they could start another fund called the Rivier fund and they could run it the back stuff for you guys and then all you have to do is show up and be a bartender and I mean I I don't know if FMP would be would hop on it but we already I mean we just gave him $150,000 I think they would help us out and maybe we would take the money from zambuto buddies to start the fund thanks on the motion all in favor I'll oppos so whated there is no further business the next city council meeting will be June 24th everyone have a good evening go Celtics you know it for