good evening everyone welcome to the May 20th city council meeting please rise to salute the flag flag United States for it stands indiv roll call of the members councilor agenzio here here councelor janino here here councelor councelor Gino SAA here here councelor H here here councelor hero here here councelor Kelly here here councel McKenna here here Council noeli here here councelor sylvestri here here Council zambo here here and council president K Leandro here here corm is present approval of the Journal of the regular meeting of May 6th so move Madame clerk I'd like to put a motion on the floor to suspend rules all in favor all opposed I'd like to please take up the appointment subcommittee report councilor McKenna thank you Mr President we had I think it was six uh appointments tonight um there was uh four new appointments and two uh re appointments uh and they were um voted out favorably thank you okay Road call I'd like to take a road call oh no all together all together yeah okay Madam clerk shall the city council confirm the appointments as reported by chairwoman McKenna councelor agenzio yes yes councel janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA absolutely 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 councelor zambo yes yes and council president Cog Leandro yes yes the appointments have been confirmed president [Applause] person councilor hereo state Point um just for some of us that aren't on the subcommittee on appointments I'd just like to congratulate to all the candidates and I know they're awesome and uh they've been doing a great job for the city um including some of them who are mentors of mine uh former counselor Steve morbo who got appointed to the Dei department so really uh appreciate you all and um Good Luck thank you councelor councelor Gino SAA I'm thrilled that they hired Chris TR up for this position he has been doing such an amazing job he is on call 247 I drive him absolutely crazy but he's always there 100% he gives 100% to the city and I'm really proud of you Chris thank you councelor Council sylvestri thank you Mr chairman I'd just like to say congratulations to all three Mr President all three that were pointed tonight and uh I I know they'll do a fabulous job thank you and uh Mr Chella just remember to take your boots off when you come home please thank you back to the regular order of business calendar item number three hearing called is ordered on a bond authorization for the New River High School in the amount of 493 million $217,900 good evening sir name and address for the record please uh Patrick Keefe 44 Kilburn Street R Mass Mr President honorable councel Madame clerk tonight uh we are before you uh for the humble request for the city's largest Bond authorization ever for the future of our Riv high school and our entire Riv education system for $493 million $217,900 one over the last four years the council former Council myself have worked uh relentlessly to ensure that we made the best choice over the last 14 months yourself Mr President former president McKenna and many of The Honorable body here and most recently over the last six months this new Council has done everything turned over every stone had hundreds of meetings asked each question and made sure that everyone will make a decision that they feel very comfortable with knowing what the the that we have in our community and I just want to say thank you it's been an unbelievable experience to work with yourself Mr President former president McKenna and of course every all each 11 councilors whatever your decision is tonight we respect but I do humbly ask for your uh your bond authorization I have everyone from the entire School building committee team here to answer any questions I know we have already turned over every stone and you have asked a number of questions so you may not have any new ones but we are here if you do need anything thank you very much thank you Mr Mayor this is a public hearing what I would ask is we've been dealing with this for quite some time if you are have already spoken um maybe give some other people a chance to speak but instead of coming up tonight if if you want to show a raise of hands or if you just want to get to to the vote tonight but if anybody really feels like they need to come up and say something that has not been said yet I welcome you to do so otherwise we'll move on with the public here hearing and get this vote done seeing and hearing none are there any opponents anybody not in favor seeing and hearing none I will close that side of the hearing I would like to open it up to City councilors at this time councilor McKenna thank you Mr President uh good evening uh don't be fooled by my vote tonight it has nothing to do with how I was treated last year by my friends some who I've known since I was a kid the nastiness the meanness and the threats my sister said it's politics Joanne I said no not for me it was personal because of an extremely costly projection that I voted against last year wholeheartedly because of the lack of transp transparency and educ ation we received as a council it was my duty to put the city and our people first and protect this city from going into bankruptcy or a vote for a proposition two and a half to finance this school the council and the city needed this year to look at how we are going to pay for the school we received transparency and we were educated we needed this time for the council to understand the numbers on what the city needs for finances and what we can afford plus with the substantial increase the city is getting from the msba to help Finance Finance this project makes the school more foreseeable I would like to say kudos to Mayor Patrick Kei for bringing this Council to the table and assuring us that the city can afford this new high school because of the growth this city is experiencing I know that may Keef would not would was not sure if he wasn't sure of this he wouldn't put his career as mayor on the line thank you to CFO Rich visk for going over the numbers and answering all our concerns and questions what a difference the year makes thank you thank you councelor councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President um Mr President uh I think that my councelor to my right Council McKenna has said RAR everything that I was going to say um I really do think we needed this extra time it gave us the time to really sit back take a look at things um but I promised um the people of that neighborhood that we would sit back and do the right thing and eventually that's what we did um and and you know I believe the high school's going in the right place is this a sure you know is it scary absolutely but you know we live don't live in a perfect world but us students need perfect education and that's what we had to produce for them so I'm in favor of this and I hope the rest of the council is too thank you thank you counselor councelor Kelly thank you Mr President for me I wholeheartedly would like to see a new high school however the issues I have are cost timing and unknown risk factors specifically I would have liked to have seen the cost of the new school scaled back in terms of bells and whistles so that costs were at a more manageable level especially since history tells us projects always end up costing more than originally estimated this proposal also comes at a time when we have two very important unknown risk factors the successful and ontime completion of suff downs and a pending eminent domain lawsuit lawsuit pertaining to the Wonderland site currently we are witnessing an economic atmosphere where the need for commercial and retail space is on the decline this is key because the viability of suff downs has a tremendous impact on our ability to fund the new high school to illustrate this we see that future revenue from all new growth throughout the city is estimated to be appr approximately $12 million as compared to the total amount of projected revenue from just one project suffect Downs which is expected at 43 million therefore in an uncertain economic commercial atmosphere we're heavily relying on the successfulness and the ontime completion of suff downs keeping in mind that only a small percent percentage of one of the four phases has been complete and a commercial building has been put on pause in addition the pending eminent domain lawsuit also poses a risk which could increase cost all of these factors have a tremendous impact on our ability to fund the new high school while increasing risk with increased risk comes an increased probability that we will have to pursue other avenues of Revenue to pay for the school many of which were not welcomed when they were mentioned in Mr VC's 2020 3 presentation for example one possibility was a proposition 2 and a half override which will increase property taxes and we've actually seen proposition two and a half overrides and property tax increases in other towns when they built new schools for instance like Wakefield and stonum for me the risk is too great and comes during an uncertain economic atmosphere where we already are seeing commercial development declining and we'll be putting all of our eggs into one basket by counting on the successful and ontime completion of one project suff Downs I have heard from too many residents who are struggling financially especially our seniors who are finding it very difficult to stay in their homes and an increase in taxes or an increase in any other fee would be catastrophic for them lastly I'm also concerned on how this will impact our ability to afford and pay for other things that the city will need like road work Emergency Services Etc thank you Mr President thank you councelor councelor yarmo thank you Mr President um and thank you Mr Mayor for this um my family and I immigrated to the United States 24 years ago it'll be on June 7th so if we can align the ribbon cutting for this on June 7th 5 years from now that'd be great and why I bring that to the table is because um many of us moved to the city of Rivier to give our kids an opportunity a chance this is a working class city um I think you've heard it from me you hear from me at every council meeting we're not the Lexington or the Carlile the Concords we're R there people here get up every morning and they take the train into Boston and they serve in our hospitals among them my parents both of whom were janitors and put me through school as janitors U but I would have never made it to College without the education that I got here in the riv public schools and and a building is not the education and that's true but I owe everything to this education system the teachers some of whom I'm here some of whom I serve with on the city council um the students the police officers the firefighters the community we've built around and why reveres the Crown Jewel North of Boston today has everything to do with our education system we owe it to our kids to our future gener generations to the workingclass folks in this city who have decided to move here to give their kids a chance to build this high school we owe it to them to build it in a timely manner we owe it to them to build it with good strong paying jobs because those effects Ripple throughout our community this is an investment in the future and the well-being the long-term well-being of our city something we cannot miss if we hesitate even for a minute we risk accreditation we risk rising cost we risk the opportunity of getting uh ahead of what will hopefully be lower interest rates in the next few years um so with that said I just would like to again thank the people over there uh for believing in our kids uh it'll be a yes vote for me today Mr President and I look forward to U walking into that building and celebrating with the amazing in Educators that have uh that have held our hand who have been our confident confidants our friends um and thank you Mr Mayor thank you councelor councilor Zam buo thank you Mr President unfortunately I won't be getting any Applause tonight and uh I wear that as a badge of honor because I'm not here for that I'm here to protect the taxpayer that's what I do I won't be voting for this Bond tonight because there's too many uncertainties um first of all we took $1.2 billion off the tax roll we swallowed that and we move forward what are the uncertainties well we got this financial presentation that was massively done by a terrific CFO he's one of the best in the state but what's underlining you know everybody said well how transparent it was and it was very transparent unfortunately the unknowns are what are the problem the unknowns are the cost the final cost of Wonderland for the land the unknowns are uh it's it's built on really what I call a house of cards and if one of those cards falls apart we're not going to be able to afford this Bond yeah we can if we go to a a pay to- throw trash in in a community's what's that uh communities uh you know the you know the one but it's really a 3% tax in Disguise and you know the fin like I said the financial presentation was all there the only thing that was different this time in the presentation was all the bad things were put at the end like the pay to throw trash like the only 4% raise in in in fire and police that becomes a cut if if we're at 6% uh inflation these are the these are the unknowns that are in there uh it's it it's irresponsible for me to vote for this Bond and that's why I'm not going to do it and and like I said about the financials it was masterfully presented but if you put lipstick on a pig it's still a pig it's all the all the scary things are still in this presentation we're we're we're talking about barely getting by at certain times and if something goes wrong then then the crap hits the fan and uh this is the reality and I always tell the truth up here and uh some people don't like that and that's okay but uh uh I hear from the taxpayers and I've never been more popular and I can tell you that right now and I'm not looking to be popular and I'm not looking to be right because God forbid several years from now people are going to say zbo God Rest his soul he uh he was right we should have listened to him that's what I'm hoping doesn't come true but uh are you knocking on wood that I'm going to that I'm going to die oh okay but uh all in all uh you know there's just too many unknowns here and what are they there can we afford this Bond we're saying yeah we can barely by the presentation we can barely meet these things if everything happens correctly if suffix Downs comes in the way it's supposed to and by the way way I promised my taxpayers a tax cut for cyc Downs because it was going to pay 47 million a year in real estate tax and and now I have to reneg on my promise because we whatever money we get from there we're going to use towards this debt service to pay for this high school and the other uncertainty that doesn't have to do with the bond is uh the meepa process I don't believe the timeline now I I know everybody's been up here promise us that this timeline's going to go through I don't I've been involved in meepa processes I've been involved in construction all my life I do not believe that's a true timeline so that's my reason that I'll be voting no tonight on this uh Debt Service thank you thank you counselor permission to speak from the chair thank you for the record there was three people just want to let you know thank you everyone for the ability to speak from the chair um Mr Mayor I want to say likewise it's been really great working with you um for me this was a willingness to take a risk we all all know this is a risk we all know this amount of money is a huge risk and we've all on this Council been given all the facts and all that differs is our opinion on those facts some of us think we can do this and some of us might not I don't know I don't ask my my counselor's questions I don't do that um but I do want to commend every single person on this Council especially the newcomers who have been thrown to the Wolves right into the right into the fire essentially with this this High School Vote there has been tons of information thrown at us and you've all done a great job and I I appreciate it and I've loved working with every single one of you on this um Mr Mayor it's been nice to come to work with my guard down the last few months showing up here after last year my guard was up every single day I walked in this building and I don't feel that anymore thank you and I also want to say for me this is about me trusting the ability of the administration that they're going to do everything in their power to make sure that we find the right ways without burdening the taxpayers to pay for this school and my trust has been renewed in the administration I did not have that last year I will be voting yes tonight thank you Madame clerk please call the role shall the city council approve a bond authorization in the amount of 493 m217 $1 for the new Rivier High School councel agenzio yes yes councel janino yes yes councelor Gro SAA yes yes councelor Hass yes yes councelor Haro yes yes councelor Kelly no no councelor McKenna yes yes councel noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes councelor zambuto no no and council president C Leandro let's build a high school yes yes the bond authorization has been approved Mr President Council no suspension of rules for reconsideration hoping it will not Prevail all in favor all opposed recorded as no councelor Zano congratulations M Keef just Mr President Mr Mayor if I can answer M councel McKenna thank you very much Council McKenna thank you Mr President Council you make me so proud tonight and uh this is this is an unbelievable moment for the city of Rivia thank you don't [Applause] cry now do you all want to stay to talk about the senior citizen property tax workof yes let's take a 5 minute recess 5 minute [Applause] recess that wasn't bad what was it 5 around think e e not here e e e e e back to the regular order of business calendar item number four hearing called disordered on an ordinance further amending the senior citizen property tax workof abatement this is a public hearing going to open the floor to proponents anyone in favor seeing and hearing none we will open it to opponents anyone not in favor seeing and hearing none any City councilors wishing to speak my recommendation would be to table this and keep it in the city council uh instead of legislative affairs due to the amount of time we actually have for subcommittees this year so unless there's any objection this will be tabled to the next meeting calendar item number five hearing called is ordered on an amendment to the zoning map of the city of Rivier as follows in ordinance further amending the zoning map of the city of Rivier relative to the Ted District section one title 17 of the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier in the zoning map provided by section 171202 of said title is hereby amended by changing the zoning District of the following Parcels from GB to Ted parcel 10-1 188 A3 d one 2 three and four this is a public hearing we'll begin with proponents anyone in favor seeing and hearing none any opponents anyone not in favor favor seeing and hearing none any City councilors wishing to speak councelor Gino SAA uh the pro zoning change from the GB to the Ted will align more closely with the intent of the city zoning ordinances the properties are currently used as a Repair Garage which is not allowed in the GB District repair garages are allowable use in the Ted District additionally the new property owner would like to exercise a class two license on the property which is allowable use in the Ted District I look forward to discussing this at the zoning meeting further thank you thank you counselor any other counselors councelor noeli thank you Mr President Mr President you know I I don't mind making changes and Zoning I'd like to see maps of what it looks like you exactly where these are so you know when they go in committee I hope that somebody can provide a map and show us where these uh locations are thank you thank you counselor councelor buo uh thank you Mr President obviously um uh I I agree with my colleague to the right we should have a map in front of us and know what we doing but I I look forward to this in zoning and I am probably going to be a proponent of it but uh uh everybody should know exactly what we're doing and we should see it physically and uh so I look forward to this being in my committee zoning thank you thank you councelor referred to zoning subcommittee on June 3D Mr President let the record reflect that uh councilors zambuto and novaski are agreed on something please he said let the record reflect that Council zambuto and noeli agreed on something this evening listen uh Council noeli and I have been up here for in the 20 something years and we've agreed on a lot of things not just this one thing thank you calendar item number six hearing called dis ordered on a request by the city planner for adoption of a zoning ordinance further amending the flood plane overlay District of the city of Rivier good evening sir name and address for the record please good evening councilors tomkowski 281 Broadway um I'm here tonight to present um revisions to our flood plane ordinance overlay um and this basically is just to conform with the newly drawn um flood insurance rate Maps which will become effective July 3D and in addition to that when they become effective through coordination with the states um mimo office and their flood insurance um coordination team we had to update our ordinance to basically align with the Massachusetts model bylaw for flood plane um ordinances this is all really to make sure we are still um in conformance um with the national flood insurance program so we can continue to participate in that happy to take any questions if you have them thank you sir are there any other proponents anyone else in favor seeing and hearing none are there any opponents anyone not in favor seeing and hearing none any City councilors wishing to speak councelor noveli thank you Mr President once again um we'd like to see some kind of map what we're looking at here what the what the old one is and what the new one's going to be so this um in this case we won't I wouldn't actually refer you to um our zoning map or any of those over this would be references made to the firms that um the national flood insurance program puts together which are a little bit more convoluted and difficult to read I'm just offering that as a caveat when I do send it over but we do have the the map changes and the biggest changes have to do with the area in and around suff Downs um but basically they took a series of amendments from 2000 up to today and Consolidated them into one big change so it'll be a bit of a messy map when I send it out between now and when it goes to subcommittee I'm happy to answer or Frank stringy any technical questions you might have thank you councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President uh Tom will this change any of our residents to to land in a Zone where they may need flood insurance or anything like that the the only changes I think almost without exception are actually to the benefit of Riv homeowners so uh these were all what are called letters of map Amendment where a homeowner or in the case of hym a large property owner puts together an appeal essentially to FEA that states you know with new data they have reason to believe that they're not in the flood zone or that they're in a lesser flood zone or a lesser flood elevation so all these I think and if there is an exception I'll bring it up at the last meeting but I believe exclusively they are in favor of land owners and property owners in the city thank you Tom [Music] any other counselors councelor McKenna thank you Mr President uh Tom uh does this coincide with uh Mass do um in what sense well I mean I know there's going to be changes in in Beachmont uh with the flood zones and and you know Road configurations and and uh I just want to know if it it it coincides with um mdot's plan in the future in terms of Bennington street or Bennington Street Crescent Tav Beach mon it shouldn't it shouldn't have any implications on roadway work or Mast doot projects okay thank you thank you councelor any other counselor Gino SAA Tom does this coincide with regular homeowners insurance because I live in the pines and I don't have flood insurance but I know that the home homeowners insurance now went up because of the area that we live in by like 80% this this year and it's happened to everyone in the neighborhood so I think that a lot of the flood insurance premiums and just insurance premiums we're seeing across the board are due to changes in the industry and um you know I guess a greater risk profile you know in in the area and in around your ward we've seen a lot more flooding as of late right and I think that has led to increased projections of risk um but at least in terms of what these flood maps represent there aren't any changes that would include any homeowners that aren't already in the flood zone um so I I don't think anything that will be taking place here that goes effective July 3rd will have any additional negative impacts I think any of those premium increases we're seeing are more reflective of changes in the market no they stated that it was because um of the water table that it's coming up and everything but I'm wondering if it's it's the same and that's why we're seeing the difference in in the flood insurance as well we so I did come across a few complaints from homeowners uh along the beach actually condo owners specifically that had mentioned that in recent years their property was added to the flood zone and it wasn't there previously um and I can only speak for the one instance where I did a little bit of research work working with um the state office that manages this program um and I was told that it was always in the zone and and nothing had changed in recent years that impacted that I think it was just a change in the premium of the flood insurance itself I know that there has been a um an increase in Oak Island as well and they used now Romney Marsh is part of that area that they're um raising the rates on I'd be happy to take any particular properties and we can perhaps connect in event of the next meeting so I could have a informed opinion on each of the parcels in question thank you you're welcome thank you counselor councelor Kelly thank you Mr President um my question is you stated that properties that are within a flood zone right now will in other words we're not adding you don't think that we're adding any properties to those flood zones however there are degrees within a flood zone correct so is that changing at all in other words somebody which might be in like a I don't know how they categorize them but say a level a would they be switching to a level B right so that's great question um and it goes from you know AO all the way to AE is sort of the the most restrictive and then you have the V zones which are the ones right along the coastline um I I don't believe in any instance again if there's exceptions I'll bring it up at the last meeting where where there's any sort of level of severity increase for homeowners here but again I could be mistaken and I'll I'll make sure to um confirm that for the next meeting great thank you thank you counselor this will be referred to zoning subcommittee on June 3D next up is unfinished business calendar item number seven an ordinance relative to appendix Table Three salaries of the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier also known as the parody salary ordinance Mr President C sylvestri uh I'd like to offer the following Amendment um section H where it says increases in perpetuity is amended by continuing the sentence after herin and inserting the following language listed in section F of Table Three mayor and city council and legislative branch employees so um what this would do was remove us from voting on our salaries each and every every year um and it will also give the remaining on that list um they they'd have to come before us to to get an automatic raise they're not going to get the automatic 3.75 that was in the ordinance um and uh the rest of would get um whatever the union votes on thank you counselor any other counselors wishing to speak on a second reading as amended I'm sorry we have to vote on the amendment first everyone please take a roll call on the amendment on councelor sylvestre's Amendment as read into the record councelor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councel Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro presid voting present councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councelor noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes the amendment is approved on the second reading as amended on a third and final reading as amended roll call for engrossment and ordainment shall the city council approve an ordinance further amending appendix table three of the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier councelor Eno yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro yes voting yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councelor noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes councilor zambo yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes the ordinance is engrossed and ordained calendar item number eight is the committee of the whole subcommittee report on a motion presented by councilors McKenna and Kelly that the city council request Tom O'Brien of hym to appear before the city council to provide a construction progress update on Subic Downs permission to speak from the actually I can defer this to you councelor McKenna that's okay councelor McKenna thank you uh Mr President so uh councilor Kelly and I asked uh for Tom O'Brien to appear uh last meeting he gave he came and he gave us a preview on what's uh going down uh what's going on down uh suff downs and uh you know we there was rumors and he he addressed the rumors so um I was okay with that um if Council Kelly wants to speak that's [Music] fine this will be placed on file next up is the ways and means subcommittee report this was uh calendar item number nine motion presented by councilor sylvestri that the city council hold a preliminary discussion on potential zoning amendments related to the implementation and expansion of medical and adult use marijuana in the city of Rivier Council sylvestri um I said enough that night and I I think it's time we move forward here in the city Mr President thank you councelor councelor y thank you I think the Cannabis industry in our city deserves some TLC all right THC little bit of both don't have to drug test me baby you already know I'm smoking [Laughter] weed before any further incrimination it's legal in the state of Massachusetts Mr President any other counselors wishing to speak placed on file the appointment subcommittee report was already taken up next up is the legislative affairs subcommittee report calendar item number 13 an ordinance providing for interpretation services for public meetings and public documents councelor jio thank you Mr President we had one issue uh before us an ordinance providing for interpretation services for public meetings we had a presentation by Miss inzerello uh we decided to leave this in committee uh until uh Council hero and Miss enzell Can U discuss uh different amendments and what have you to this so we're just leaving it in committee thank you all right this will remain in legislative affairs calendar item number 17 we're on to motions motion presented by councelor greo saam that the mayor be requested to instruct the DPW to repave and resurface Pines Road in the interest of Public Safety the road has been destroyed due to saltwater sand and clamshells councelor Gino sa motion speaks for itself all in favor all opposed so Ed calendar item number 18 motion presented by councilors Kelly and janino the mayor be requested to rename Liberty Park to Lieutenant Jon Jones Memorial Park in honor of his career as one of the first black police officers for the city of Somerville his service to the United States of America as an Air Force veteran and lifelong resident of North Rivier further that the DPW in conjunction with the open space and environmental planner be requested to install appropriate signage bearing the name of the park and to schedule a dedication ceremony upon completion of the park revitalization project councilor Janina I just want to say when I heard about the pack up in north and the location of it and the request being made to name it after Lieutenant Jones he said no brainer Lieutenant Jones was born in North fora passed away in North Ria he was North rier the Jones f are North R um he was an Air Force veteran served in the Air Force honorably sumerville police officer came a lieutenant sumerville move for forward was involved with youth sports the the kids coach parent his kids I I've watched his kids grow up in North Ria went to school with his cousins nephews Brothers you know it's just a no-brainer I drive by this park once a day it's located across from his house where he was we built where his family grew up and um it's all positive thank you councelor councelor Kelly um I just want to Echo all the things that councelor janino just said and I think this would just be a wonderful tribute and um looking forward to getting this done thank you thank you councelor councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President um councelor janino councelor Kelly you guys just beat me to the to the punch I I jumped on this um growing up with with both of his sons and and his family uh the impact uh that he had on on my generation and and the the youth growing up and he took so many others in like they were his own um so to have a park that's continued to live a legacy of of himself and and his son who is a a Cambridge cop and and works with a a youth program similar to the one that Joe singer runs here in in Rivier um it it just shows that the the family service and Legacy in in this park is so deserving I couldn't think of a better place or a better name for this park and uh great motion thank you thank you counselor counselor H thank you Mr President I would have loved to have been included in this motion because JJ and I go way back we grew up playing travel basketball together me and his brother Jason um his dad was a a great man he was a staple in North there and in the city and he was a close friend to my dad's and my dad helped dedicate a memorial back to Mr Jones in 2005 so this is a great tribute 20 20 years later and I'm very happy to support this in honor of Mr Jones and the Jones family thank you thank you counselor councelor McKenna thank you Mr President um I think this is a great motion I wish I was included in it too I had most of the Jones uh children in school and in high school and know them all and I think this is wonderful thank you if there's no objection from councelor Kelly or councelor Janina would it be okay to add the entire Council I say we add everyone as a whole on this motion fair enough he deserves of all of us councilor jerem didn't get to meet Mr Jones but I I did get to meet his son who's uh you know I think I spoke a little earlier during the coun the high school vote about the influence that the people in our community have had on me and uh his son is has been a staple and mentorship in my life and I really appreciate him so um to your to your father big toast here U and I hope this passes good evening sir name and address of the record please good good evening my name is JJ Jones um five Richard Street up in North Rivier and kind of getting a little little emotional thank you guys for all your kind words um truly from the bottom of my heart thank you um specifically I wanted to to thank um counselors ganino and Kelly for putting this together as well as uh sylvestri and Hass for jumping on and showing their support um also clerk uh Melnick and Charlie gria reached out and they helped as well um you guys said everything pretty much most most of what I wanted to say but um my father was born in the woods steps away from the park back in 1943 uh a massive blizzard January 26th of 1943 um he died just you know a few steps away from it as well in in the family home that he built and uh built for us and and raised his family in um during his life he was an Air Force veteran he uh was in the the uh Air Force as a midair refueler spending time over in uh Vietnam came back from there became one of the first um black police officers in in the city of sumerville which was an amazing accomplishment uh you know back in the 60s and 70s that was a big deal um spent 32 years passed away in 2005 as Lieutenant um and as far as being a dad and and what he kind of meant to the city he was he was a fixture at every single game or practice or City Event and there literally wasn't a kid in the city who didn't know of Mr Jones he was he was just there um not only as a parent but also as a coach um and our family you know some of you guys alluded to it is the The Roots Run wide and and deep up in north of um over 100 years there have been over 100 family members that have you know were born and sort of raised up in that in that neighborhood um some have come some have gone um but back when it was mostly woods and and mountains um you know before all the new houses and construction and developments um you know that was our home and that Park was the center of it all uh you know I learned to ride my bike right there I taught my kids how to ride their bike right there I got my first broken finger on the spinning wheel of death that it used to be there back in the day uh it just to me wouldn't make sense to name it after anybody else um he was an amazing man and deserves to be remembered so thank you all appreciate you [Applause] you all in favor all opposed hi so ordered [Applause] calendar item number 19 motion presented by councelor Hero that the city council order to a public hearing an ordinance further amending the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier establishing a program to divert waste from landfills and incinerators to offset waste disposal costs councelor yo Mr President thank you um the motion speaks to our and we're actually having robust conversations with other colleagues in the council who uh wanted to sign on including if we could be noted uh councelor guino SAA uh would like to be added to the um motion um for this compost an ordinance and further that we uh motion to move this into the committee on climate for further deliberations as we're working with some Community Partners uh local or environmental groups who uh would like to give us some more feedback on this and have a more robust conversation prior to yeah prior to the order of the public thank thank you madam clerk thank you counselor any other counselors counselor sylvestri yes Mr President I just want to um say I support this motion I I received uh 30 to 40 emails asking me to support it from from residents that are already either composting or or want to start so um I think it's an idea a great one and and we should try it thank you counselor councelor RJ thank you Mr President I'm also in favor of this uh it's it's a great motion um a lot of other cities and towns have already entered into something like this it's a great way of getting uh trash out of the wa stream uh helps the environment so I'm in full support of this thank you thank you counselor councelor H thank you Mr President I would also like to say I'm in favor of this I've had a number of residents reach out via email and text um like councilor sylvestri so I think this is a great great thing for the to look at thank you thank you councelor councelor Kelly thank you um yes I have also received um some calls and some emails regarding this and I would be in full favor of it and um thanks for bringing this motion I think it's great thank you counselor anyone else this will be referred to The Climate Workforce and sustainability subcommittee calendar item number 20 motion presented by councilors H McKenna and Gino SAA that the mayor request the city policy writer and analyst in conjunction with the building department to investigate requirements for utility companies or any company that conducts road work or construction to provide notification of said work to the city council and impacted residents notification shall be given at least two weeks in advance shall provide a timeline for completion and shall describe any impacts the residents may experience including but not limited to lane closures traffic congestion parking bands and overnight noise this proposed notification would be app applicable for all scheduled non-emergency work councelor H thank you Mr President so I think this is the type of motion that's probably been in the works for years not for me um by myself but this stemmed from a couple of weeks back when myself councelor McKenna and counselor Gino sa all received different messages from residents concerning traffic in certain areas road closures in certain areas parking bands in one instance and um noise that was going on over construction that was going on overnight and none of these residents were alerted none of these resents were given a timeline and I'd like to see if this is something we can do through the city policy writer and analysts with along with the building department and see if we can get a notice for resid res just so they can plan accordingly whether their travel is going to be impacted or you know even their sleep schedule so I think this is something that the residents deserve and something that the city should look into thank you thank you counselor councelor McKenna thank you Mr President uh so uh about uh three weeks ago I got a couple calls from residents that live on uh R Beach Parkway which is that's where we're talking about and um I had call the city um and this no one knew about what was going on on Riv Beach Parkway but they were working from 10 o'clock until whatever in the in the uh am and so um I asked the one of the residents to take a picture of the construction uh truck that was working and found out that it was mass do Mass do did not even uh give them Flyers to tell them that they were going to be working at night and the reason why they're working at night is because they don't want to cause a traffic jam but they're impacting people's uh quality of life people can't sleep because the jackhammers uh the road work and everything anyways um and so and then um councelor has called and asked if anybody knew what was going on and I knew a little bit about it because I had called d i called Mass do to find out who was the permitting person that would got um the per in construction company anyways um so this this is all related to this motion that we deserve to get and and I'm sure other cities get notified but residents should get notified and it shouldn't be the city to notify if uh if construction uh work is being done utility work is being done then it should be the utility companies that um give the notices to the abdas and um so people aren't impacted I know on winre bav winr bav where I live um it's been uh being constructed over a year and a half now and um there are times when they don't even let us know that we have to move our cars because it's not not we're not notified and uh police are going into houses and waking up uh residents at 7 o'clock to move their car so it we have to do better I think the city needs to demand that we get um respect from uh these construction company companies utility companies and going forward I mean this is going to be going on for 20 years because suff Downs is going to be bu be building for seven uh for 20 years so uh things are going to you know it's going to continue so we need to uh put a stop on this now and do the right thing thank you thank you counselor councelor Gino SAA well councelor McKenna was saying is I got stuck also in that traffic um that Monday night that last council meeting um I went down Broadway and then took a left to go down um Rivier Beach Parkway and I got stuck in that traffic for 45 minutes trying to get home and I had no idea what was going on and then another incident that happened a couple of weeks ago I actually had a call counselor um council president cogliandro is they put signs in front of my mom's house I was at my mother's house and all of a sudden they put signs and trucks are showing up to do work and no Resident was notified and I couldn't even get to get her to go into to take her to the doctors because there was trucks out there and no one was informed so they not only need to notify us as counselors they need to notify all the abuts when they are doing any work and it has to be in a timely fashion it has to be at least a couple of weeks early thank you thank you councelor councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President um I got to say the the work on um the parkway at night has been going on for the last three Summers um and the jackhammering starts about 10 p.m. and it doesn't stop till about 4:30 5 a.m. um it is pretty out of control uh but I I do think um I'm not sure how much we're going to get in a respond resp to this I think we asked too many times um and and without a response so I'm just hoping we can get one and I look forward to one thank you thank you councelor councelor McKenna thank you Mr President I think I I do think that we have the opportunity to deny work in uh the city um so I know that when I wanted um uh a new roadway for uh winr Bev after the construction was over I was denied and um uh Donnie chamello came in and said we'll stop the project right now if we don't get what we want and we got it we got for $575,000 to put a new roadway on winra B so we can stop if uh the council can stop uh the construction companies from coming in our city in in working so I mean if we have to do that we have to do that like National grid with the polls you know so um that's just my take on this thank you thank you counselor councelor noas selski thank you Mr President Mr President you know i' I've been through all this before and I feel for everybody um for the r projects we can do this unfortunately R beach park is a state project and what I would recommend also is that we contact that state delegation to let them know to contact Mass do to enforce and reinforce the notifications to everybody you know even if they told just the mayor's office so they could send us a notice to their office that would suffice but just let somebody know what's going on and I don't even I don't know if our DPW knows what's going on cuz some of the work looks like it's uh either water work or soore work and I don't even know what it's for you know where it goes to what it's connected to so uh I think we ought to include the state delegation on notification on this thank you thank you counselor I did hear a newly appointed DPW superintendent say that one of his goals was to increase communication so I'm hoping that uh we can get some more respect from some state agency that really don't show us any good evening sir name and address for the record please uh Ed Terell 70 schol Street here again I'd like to make the recommendation that City Hall really needs an intranet because then the notifications that the fire and police get can be seamlessly pushed to anybody because I hear about the 10:00 blockages on re Parkway and if you sit in the firehouse it comes up on their little board up there so this information really doesn't have an Avenue to be shared so I would really really um think about putting together an internet you know an internet for the city hall and then Communications de everything will be so seamless thanks so much thank you sir anyone else Mrs scosi hi it's me again um it's good to see both this petition in the last one on composting um reflecting things that the administration's working on right now and look forward to collaborating with you on the composting work and some of the efforts we're doing there but also I've heard a lot of this as well and we're looking to put together a a traffic working group of traffic and transportation officials in the city where we're to your point having a a stronger feedback loop sharing information sharing updates not just local projects but the state and the utility ones as well to make sure we have um that communication going out to the community so it's a great petition we look forward to working on this with you as well thank you sir on the motion all in favor all opposed so ordered calendar item number 21 motion presented by councelor greo Saia that the mayor requests the city planner to draft a zoning ordinance prohibiting short-term rental use in single family zoning districts councelor Gino SAA all right this all stems from me having a serious issue in the point of Pines um there are a ton of airbnbs popping up everywhere and the city are aware of some of them but what's happening is they're closed down but then they reopen and they they're using them all over again um the short-term rental use in the Pines neighborhood where single family homes are being purchased as non primary residents and are being used as not are you being used as commercial by people who don't live here the ordinance states that you have to be owner occupied but it's not like that they can be snowbirds and they can go away for 6 months and then they come back and it's considered own owner occupied so things have to change um parkings being affected that we are 247 parking in the point of pines and what's happening is these airbn beers that are coming in are taking over parking spots and residents can't park so I'm having an issue with that as well so Zach is of course on there working um there's a lot that's happening with these people they they're doing things that they're not supposed to be doing and I really need to see if we can change the ordinance so we don't have this issue with single family housing Homes single family homes thank you thank you counselor counselor arenia thank you Mr President uh full dislo disclosure my son works in the uh short-term rental office um so I I am in no way opposed to uh councilor greo so's motion but I would like before we move forward on anything I would like uh city solicitor Paul capy to appear before us uh this there been a lot of litigation across the Commonwealth uh about short-term rental and sometimes these cities Prevail sometimes the homeowners Prevail uh since the short-term rental office has been in existence uh 1,00 listings um were existed at at the time of inception and now there's about 115 I'd hate to uh pass anything that someone challenges in court and then we find us eles uh more or less shooting ourselves in the foot um I like I say I'm in no way opposed uh to uh Council guo's um motion there's also some gray areas that exist in the ordinance that affect the whole city and I'd like to discuss those uh with Mr capy uh to see if we could tighten those restrictions up um so uh if we could maybe table this until uh Council excuse me city solicitor uh capy comes up before us I'd appreciate it thank you councelor councelor McKenna thank you Mr President um I was um wondering if we could put uh include uh rooming houses in this uh ordinance uh because uh I mean we're we're not addressing the roing hous in out um that's going on in the city and uh I had um my agenda delivered um by a Riv police officer uh Thursday night and I said how are things going and he says you know we're we're addressing these rooming houses they're a big problem in the city and I says what's going on he said well there's one on a certain street that has 20 rooms and they have numbers on each door and we have problems all the time with them and I said I have one next door to me and nothing's being done about it so I was just wondering if we could include the rooming house was in this ordinance with the arbnb and I just just to answer um uh councelor Gino haai is um just to give you Insight um Beachmont has the most airbnbs in the city so uh we're inundated because we're close to the water just like you but we're close to the water thank you thank you councelor councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President um I think this is a a good motion but I agree with councelor agenzio um before I think we move and solidify anything I'd like to hear from the city solicitor I do know the program that we've implemented um Nick and and Vinnie do an amazing job and um if an apartment is registered through Airbnb I know we have a system that verifies if if it's a proper registration so if they're if they're being removed and then re signing up I think our system should flag them so they might not be renting them legally through Airbnb um so we might have to figure a way to to to get on top of that but thank you thank you councelor councelor Kelly um along the lines of what counselor Areno was saying um I have some concerns as to the legal aspects of this as well and would like to like the opportunity to have Paul um pey come in so that we can answer questions and find out if there are any legal implications regarding this or surrounding this thank you thank you councelor councelor McKenna thank you for the leeway uh Mr President so I was one of the makers of this motion of the ordinance um uh probably about four years ago when it first started or five years ago when it first started and um you know I it's just I I think everybody's doing a great job I just think we were supposed to get some uh software uh that shows um where uh people are advertising um I think it was like oh do we have it oh okay I end this thank you thank you councelor permission to speak from the chair thank you um I just want to say I'm in contact with uh Vincent Areno quite a bit we have a lot of airbnbs in in uh ward 3 uh he's on his game man he he does a great job um and it's crazy because some of these illegal ones that you were talking about counselor they continue operating even without a permit and they're paying this $300 a day fine that we have um it's you know and they're exactly they're making more than that a day so it's crazy maybe we should up it to 500 I mean how do we stop it this could be a potential start I do agree with the legality surrounding it if it's legal to do in regards to the rooming house I know we just changed it uh last October I think we really need to start cracking down on enforcement of those and if we need to make additional changes to make it more difficult to exist in Rivier as a rooming house then we should do that um that's my two cents councilor Gino sa can I make a motion to amend it and add rooming houses to this do we want to put these in the same ordinance I don't think we have two separate ordinances is I don't think we should mixp excuse me yeah we passed it October 16th what what's the will of the council this sounds like a lot of discussion needs to happen legislative affairs potentially since we're looking at more at the legalities behind it councelor how do you feel I'm fine okay all right this will be referred to legislative affairs pursuant to rule 23 of the city council Rules of Order the following motions are reported out of committee with a recommendation to be placed on file calendar item number 22 motion presented by Council McKenna that the mayor requests the appropriate Department to install metal detectors at the main door and install new locks on the rear doors of the city council chamber for the purpose of protecting the city council and the public in attendance at meetings councelor McKenna you can um I'm good I'm good with this as long as um we have uh like tonight we had police presence as long as we have police presence um I'm I'm good with that and uh but I would really like to have these uh doors in back of us get new locks because anybody could come through here and I'm just thinking about Safety and Security so uh these locks don't even uh you can't even lock them well you can either put this back into committee we could take a vote on it tonight or you can place it on file whatever your will is um I'd like to get the um doors fixed if uh so I don't know we we would put this in committee can I can I amend it amend the motion and send it back to subcommittee yes metal detectors yeah take the metal detectors out and just uh make sure the doors in the back of us are have uh sufficient locks Mr President councelor couldn't we just make a motion to uh change the locks and not go to a subcommittee yeah that's too yeah so then are we are we placing this one on file and we'll file that motion uh for the next meeting yes can we not amend this motion to just have it include that and or strike everything else okay I'll ask one more time what is the will of the council motion to amend strike the current language and add that we place locks on the on the on the rear doors of the council chamber thank you simple enough on the motion as amended so ordered calendar item number 23 motion presented by councilors Kelly and janino that the may be requested to take by eminent domain lot 131 at 71 Sherman Street as a matter of public safety Council I would like this motion referred back to subcommittee it was a joint committee actually um legislative affairs and way uh zoning in ways and means I'm sorry zoning in Ways and Means permission to speak from the chair I honestly don't think that the council should be handling this business it is with the solicitor's office currently there are is there are things in motion with uh plot plans and surveyors involved I really don't think this is business that that we should be discussing or attempting to handle at this point I don't know how the council feels Mr President Council Zan buo I I happen to agree with you wholeheartedly I know that they're actively working on this right now and I think to to do any more here would hinder the progress that they're making so let's get the figures and find out what the solution is from them if we can always reject it if we're not happy with it well how thank you Council killing my only concern would be how do we get because I haven't had any updates from anyone regarding any progress or movement on this so how would we be getting those updates or progress or information point of information we we can ask the solicitor and the mayor's office to give us an update well then can I make a motion for an update from the absolutely councelor H thank you Mr President the young woman from 71 Sherman Street Nabil is here tonight and I think she would like to say a few words regarding this thank you good evening ma'am name and address for the please hi my name is nail Jabar 71 Sherman Street 71 Sherman Street Naila Jabar um I just like to bring to everybody's knowledge that uh this lot 71 Sherman Street is attached to my home um the reason that this motion was brought up was because of my neighbor on the other side um she is actually impeaching on the street as well uh she has put down plants on the street which is now is currently Sherman Street like the little sheffet Street the little side street so she has her plans which she keeps extending my fence when I bought the home in 2017 or 2019 is hasn't changed but she keeps impeaching and making the streets smaller so obviously uh I am in close communication with the szer office to figure out what we're coming up with a solution but I think uh the motion here for eminent domain is not because of Public Safety um the neighbor wants an SUV which she's made aware to me and she's having difficulty uh she doesn't want to park it in her driveway she wants to park it in her garage so um that's why she wanted to bring it up that it was a safety issue but uh I actually had a house fire at 71 Sherman Street and um the veh you know the safety Vehicles were able to get in and out completely safely um I am working with the city to try to figure out what the situation is but I just want you to open up that if you do bring this motion it's going to open up a lot of neighbors to be like upsetting or thinking that they can take people's property because um they just can buy aend a domain I mean I bought this lot it's still part of my property it's all inclosed fenced in just like my um deed requires uh I just want you to know that like where if you go down the street you can see where the plants are those are part of the street which she has has now planted plants on my fence hasn't changed since I bought it just wanted to okay if I might coun this is this is in the solicitor's office right now and the other person isn't here to speak to this and and there there are obviously I I'm not sure you when you bought the property that they disclose fully disclosed to you what the what the uh situation was that the uh the purchase of the land had stipulations to it I'm not going to get into it here I just wanted to I just want to put that on the table and that we're not going to negotiate this here tonight we gave it to the city solicitor to work out a situation that you should both be happy with and that's what we're hoping for here yeah I mean if I just want to make it very clear if this is an eminent domain it's because a neighbor is complaining and this is why it's I get get where you're coming from thank you so if I may I I really think the best course of action here is to place this motion on file and we can send an email as the council to the city solicitor to get an update on the case I don't know how councelor Kelly feels about that that would I would be in agreement with that um Mr President thank you very much counselor we're can place on file you want to you want to go ahead councelor uh yes I'd like to place a verbal motion on the floor that we do receive that the city council request an update from the city solicitor regarding um the matter of Emily Soha 71 Sherman Street map 29 block 433c pel Zer pel 6 thank you can I like Emily Sosa doesn't own that street the lot is owned by me I just want to make that very clear that people I don't understand what people believe but that lot is owned by we're not here to make decisions on what happens legally ma'am all my goal tonight was to make sure that we didn't have a say in what happened because we shouldn't um so I feel like everybody saying like I know Emily I get it at this point as as a council we're just trying to get information so that we can properly give information if we're asked about it that's all Mr President councel H uh thank you I will say that Emily at the first meeting and um this is the first time nbia has been able to express her her side of the story so it's nice to hear both sides thank you absolutely on councelor Kelly's motion all in favor all opposed so ordered calendar item number 24 motion presented by councelor Kelly that the city council order to a public hearing an ordinance requiring the publication of certain records of the police department councilor Kelly what is your will I would like this referred back to subcommittee any opposition this will be referred back to Public Safety Mr President this wasn't in public safety it was in Health and Human Services I take that back this is going to Health and Human Services Mr President yes a moment of personal privilege State your point counselor thank you um this message is from the Rivier senior Council board be it known that we the members of the Riva senior Council board publicly and unequivocally pledge our support for the people and the government of the state of Israel at this moment they are in their struggle for survival against the forces of Hamas who launched their brutal inhumane attack against peaceful civilian families in their homes and hamlets we ask for your support and your prayers as you see fit in this effort it may help to reflect on your own family's history your own ancestry from somewhere along the line There Were Strangers who gave them a chance and helped them in some small way to survive and prosper in this time of great Peril and even greater suffering for those victims who so brutally attacked please join us and stand on the correct side of History thank you thank you councelor Council noeli thank you president Mr President I thank the senior Council for that you know solution and their comments on this uh I would also like a point a personal privilege on my own if I may yes sir this month as uh was put together by mayor Keefe at the be beginning of the month uh was declared Jewish heritage month for the month of May and I just want to recognize two events that have come about and gone but last Monday since we didn't meet and I couldn't uh say my piece on this the Jewish people recognize the holiday of Yom hazikaron this is a Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of the wars of Israel and victims of actions of terrorism it is Israel's official Remembrance Day enacted into La in 1963 while yumaz zikaron has been traditionally declared to Fallen Soldiers commemoration has also been extended to civilian victims of terrorism including Hamas this day is equal to our Memorial Day and we want to remember all those that have put their lives on the line also last Tuesday was Israeli Independence Day this day commemorates the Declaration of Independence of Israel which happened on May 14th 1948 Israelis observe yum hazikaron to Comm commemorate the Israeli Declaration of Independence which was proclaimed by Israeli Prime Minister David benguan the Declaration of establishment of the state of Israel expresses the Declaration to be by virtue of our natural and historic right and on the basis of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly the words of prime minister borian declare that the establishment of a Jewish state in Israel to be known as the state of Israel this is equal to again the independence of the United States of America our July 4th while I am pleased to bring these events to everybody's attention the negative of all this I am not pleased with our rever Human Rights Commission for not recognizing these events at its last meeting they did recognize many other religious holidays in events and it was my understanding that the r HRC was to bring out diversity and equity for everyone thank you thank you counselor councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President um these are difficult topics that we're discussing and um people have opinions on both sides but I'll tell you as um someone that has seen the the the Dark Side of War um the Israeli people have been have been taken by terrorists at one point um and they foughten back and um but at some point there has to be Rules of Engagement in war um and and I believe that we can still support the Israel people we can still support the Palestinian people and not support Hamas or the military actions that are being taking place in the those countries because um there are being war crimes that are happening on both sides and I think we have to identify that if we're if we're going to call the elephant in the room I think we have to although Israel is Has Its Right to defend itself as I said there there are Geneva conventions there are War there there are a war um Rules of Engagement that uh at sometimes um I think the the Israeli government is is Towing the line so I I think we can stand for both and honor the Israeli people through through their time and and their suffrage um but at the same time showing the respect for what's happening in a in a dark time right now thank you Mr President thank you everyone there's no further business this is one for the books tonight meeting is adjourned e