everyone good evening Welcome to the Health and Human Services subcommittee meeting would you please join me and salute the flag roll call of the members of the committee councelor agenzio here here councelor Haro is absent councelor McKenna here here councelor sylvestri here here and chairman H here here Quorum is present there's one item on tonight's agenda and that is a motion by councelor Kelly that the city council ordered to a public hearing an ordinance requiring the publication of certain records of the police department hello name and address for the record please good evening counselor it's Michelle Kelly councelor at lodge Derby Road um um I'd like to first of all thank you for holding the subcommittee meeting regarding my motion my main goal of this motion is to just bring some statistical data and information to Residents in a form that is easily accessible for them if you remember we used to have what was called a police blot published weekly in the local papers which is no longer being done while campaigning I was actually asked over and over again why the police blot is no longer published and since it's no longer published how residents could get get this information in addition shortly after the election I was contacted by residents who knew some type of criminal activity took place on their street but they were not able to get specific information about what actually had happened I'm told the police blotter was no longer published because it could possibly open the city up to liability in the event that incorrect or inaccurate information containing identities or personal details were published and I guess to an extent I agree with that however I also believe we have a responsibility to our residents as elected officials in bringing awareness and being transparent even about things which may be less than becoming because being aware of your surroundings is directly related to Public Safety and the safety of our residents in addition awareness and transparency were two Notions that many of us campaigned on during the last election this change is merely an attempt to continue to keep our residents aware of what's going on in their neighborhoods and being transparent about it it as elected officials I believe we have a responsibility to provide an easy way for residents to get what whatever information they want and I'm confident that attorney capy pursuant to Massachusetts General Law chapter 4 section 7.26 could make sure that statistical data is set forth in such a way so that it maintains confidentiality regarding personal identities and details and therefore does not expose the city to any liability I understand that printing the statistical data in local papers would come as an added expense to the city so I am therefore suggesting that we at least request Our IT department to create a link on the city's website where the statistical data can be displayed on a weekly or bi-weekly basis for residents to access if they so wish I hope that you will see that this is a reasonable request and vote this out of subcommittee favorably this evening thank you thank you any member is wishing to speak councelor renzio I think this is an excellent motion brought forth by councelor Kelly I I think that um data as far as if a car theft or a house break occurs on a particular Street you could report that you just leave the name of the uh person that may have perpetrated it out uh you could you could put all that um information up on a website and residents could look to see if anything's happening in their neighborhoods if robberies have uh increased they could be on the lookout so I think uh that's a great motion and I uh I encourage it thank you thank you councelor sylvestri thank you Mr chairman um thank you Council Kelly and um I agree it's a good motion have you spoken to the chief about this I have not what I did do was um do a little research on the Police Department's website and I was unable to find any statistical data the link that I did go to um seemed to have everything redacted so there was no information for me to access even just the crime itself is I couldn't find it I couldn't access it which is why again I'm ask asking for this to be easily accessible for residents so if we have a link clearly posted on the the city's website um you know for if I couldn't find anything and I was really looking for it I don't think the average person could find it and you're only asking for data neighborhood crime that was committed no name no exactly right got it thank you councelor McKenna thank you Mr chairman um councelor Kelly I think this is a great um motion um one thing in my ward uh we in the last couple of years we've had theft um people have left their cars open and and people are uh blat ly go into they're going into driveways opening the car cars and stealing and the only way I could get that out was on Facebook so I think this is a great so if we have Facebook and we have the journal and The Advocate to do this I think this is great because I I do think that people pick up either one either one of those papers and read them well just to clarify I'm not sure when I spec when I first inquired about this I was told that there is an expense that's going to come to the city if we want to publ if we want this published in print in the advocate in the journal so I don't know if that's an expense that that we want to take on I I'm all for it if we can do it um if it's in the budget or we can find a way to do it I'm all for it if not I would at least ask that we put it on the river.org website I think this is a great idea thank you very much permission to speak from the chair thank you so originally I had thought that we were when we first brought that this up we were speaking about putting people's names back into the police log like we had talked about early on um I understand that that causes an issue with if it's sensitive information if it's an incident related to an assault or if the case ends up getting dismissed at a future date how do you go back and say it's been dismissed and because once it's printed on there it's printed it's there forever you know and I understand if a case gets dismissed that could cause an issue for someone moving forward but since this is more or less just based on a location and incidents happening around the city I don't really see an issue with it and I think it would be something that would greatly benefit the residents if they could go on the rier website and and just get a an idea of what's happening in the area just to be extra cautious thank you read the ordinance language the ordinance as presented is as follows an ordinance requiring the publication of certain records of the police department section a new section two 60120 police blot and arrest log publication new section A the police department shall make the police blot and arrest log accessible to the public by publishing it on a weekly basis on the official website of the city of rier the police blad and arrest log shall include but not limited to a chronological list containing information on arrests citations accidents incidents and any other relevant law enforcement activities within the police department section B the police blot and arrest log shall be easily accessible to the public through a dedicated section or page on the official website the police blot shall be in a format that is easily searchable sortable and downloadable for public viewing and Analysis and lastly section c the police department shall ensure that the published information complies with relevant laws and regulations concerning public records and shall redact or remove any part of the police blotter and arrest log that is exempt from disclosure pursuant to Mass General laws chapter 4 section 7 subsection 26 or other legally applicable applicable privileges from non-exempt Material celor sylvestri thank you for the leway I'm sorry councelor Kelly um did you get uh any opinion from Paul uh the capy have I gotten anything fromy no but basically what we're asking him is to stay Within the limits of the law so that it we would not be exposing the city to any liability if it's statistical data and all personal identity and um you know sensitive information regarding anyone's identity is being redacted and withheld personally I don't see how that could be an issue no I I I don't think it's an issue I just don't think it's I think there's a maybe a place for it I just don't know if the city's website is the most appealing to you know I I think I can well I mean if it were up to me it would be published again in the paper yeah right but there's an expense tied to that so I would be open to suggestion if someone has a better okay idea thank you permission to speak from the chair is there a way we could link it to the Rivier police page um instead of having it right on the r.org homepage um that's something we could definitely reach out to Chief cahan about I I've spoken to him and he said he has no problem speaking to us about this so any questions I'm sure we could we could ask Chief Mr chairman uh through you to the um Madam clerk should we make an amendment stating that no personal information uh the way it's read there it sounds like we're looking for rest logs and what have you should we make an amendment saying that no personal information will uh will be revealed or is that acceptable to you it's it's I thought that's what we had talked about too and then I heard names in there and I got a little oh hold on a second you know cuz we said we weren't going to focus on the the printing of names I can read it one more time and the committee can certainly make any amendments as they see c fit so the uh section A read as follows the police department shall make the police blot and arrest log accessible to the public by publishing it on a weekly basis on the official website of the city of Rivier the police bler and arrest log shall include but not limited to a chronological list containing information on arrests citations accidents incidents and any other relevant law enforcement activ activities within the police department so do we want to take out info on arrests can we make a a change on that one councelor would you object to putting it on the police's page and and not the city's main page no I wouldn't object to it I think maybe if we had a a link on the r.org that would then take them to the police department page y absolutely there is some language in that um I believe that speaks to the Massachusetts General law that might speak to the sensitive information I think Mr chair if you don't mind councilor Haro um thank you Mr chair for the leeway through you to councelor Kelly um thank you so much for presenting this order and I just have some a few questions about it so I guess um what is the feedback you've been hearing from residents as it relates to this particular motion that they pres so you weren't here from I um sorry that's okay um so basically when I was campaigning I had several incidents where residents were saying hey what happened to the police blotter how come we used to have this in the journal and we used to be able to know what was going on in terms of criminal activity in my neighborhood I would know how Vigilant I needed to be and I could get that information easily and accessible I can't get it anymore and honestly I didn't know and I didn't even know that it stopped being printed um and I it got me thinking and I said I I really don't know why we stopped it um then I actually had residents call me and say you know I saw four police cruisers on my street and I know something happened but I tried calling everywhere and I can't get any information as to exactly what happened um I don't want to live two doors down from something and not know what's happening right in my community and right in my neighborhood do I need to be more Vigilant should I be putting up maybe a secur security camera should I you know what's going on it seems like I can't get the information so when I dug in a little deeper I found out that most likely the reason why R and not only rier other communities as well are moving away from printing this um information is because if someone were to get arrested or something say it was a mistake in Identity or anything could happen and we print that information in that individual's identity and then he's cleared of all charges and it was a mistake or whatever that kind of never goes away it's out there right that that person now has this charge or or linked to the to their name and if they were to go for a job interview five years down the road and somebody Googles their name and this comes up it could negatively impact them which therefore could expose the city to liability so what I'm asking for in a in an attempt to satisfy the public desire to get this information um even though it may be less than becoming and it's not information that we you know we gladly want to publicize right I mean but residents have a right to know about it is to just merely put it in the form of statistical data so that names addresses ages none of that is going to be you know um printed or or available it's merely just Hey There Was You know a car theft on sour Road or there was a um you know a house Breakin on Reservoir r or whatever just so people can be aware of what's going on in the community which definitely links to Public Safety right to be more aware of your surroundings we all been told that and I think we all have a responsibility as public officials to you know bring the awareness and the information to the residents if they want it so that um I appreciate the intent so have you um have you had conversations with the police uh harm reduction task force about this ordinance part chance I have not I did speak to Sergeant janino who gave me a little bit of insight well counselor janino I'm sorry who gave me a little bit of insight um and that's really it I did check out the um city of R's website the Police website couldn't find any information there the information that they did have posted was all redacted so I don't understand why it's even there because everything is reacted um so I I couldn't find any information um and then so I know that for elections for example uh clerks and election departments have a hard time anonymizing data when the data set is really small so um how does this deal with that issue when you have maybe one incident that happened on say Alm Street and you know most people know who did that how do you whether or not most people know who did it or not isn't a concern if we're not listing the individual's identity then we can't be held responsible we're merely stating a fact that some that that it took place that something took place that a c theft or a Breakin or an assault in battery actually took place if we're not disclosing the individual who is suspect of committing the crime we can't be held to any liability um okay but so how do you solve the issue about an anonymizing data when the data set is so small I mean someone goes in and redacts it so so the police department will be redacted absolutely I don't I don't believe that lab motion I'm sorry is that is that written into your motion it is it looks so the last part of the motion actually mentions Massachusetts General Law chapter 4 section 7-26 um and it would be asking for all sensitive information or details regarding an individual name or identity be rejected okay and how do we solve the issue for folks who are struggling with substan use um where there may be hotspots in different parts of the city how do we solve for potentially uh marginalizing certain parts of the neighborhoods or certain parts of the city uh when when already when even in an anonymized set of data statistical data uh you're saying 15 what is it overdose arrests is itak councelor with all due respect because of the knockan knockan boxes that have already been uh put up in the city it's pretty apparent as to where those marginalized areas exist so that that's out there is it the is it the duty of the city however was I think working towards a hum reduction approach to continue to marginalize these commun ities by putting that data if it's factual data I don't believe that the city that the community is being marginalized I believe that it's information that is pertinent to the people who live in those neighborhoods so that they can be vigilant and aware of their surroundings and therefore you know be protecting their Public Safety so I heard you say earlier about how um some residents were concerned and wanted to be vigilant about their neighbors uh but particularly talking about folks who are struggling with substance use disorders and mental health issues um who actually need help right and often times sometimes uh regular police response isn't what's adequate there is a task force within the police department that responds to folks struggling with mental health and substance use issues and um are we asking then the resident differentiate between what is a health issue and a legitimate criminal complaint or a criminal uh security issue or this would be this would be a rest this would be something that would be P that would be publicized or P published in a police blot you you may understand that people struggling with substance use issues and mental health issues disproportionately get arrested compared to the rest of the population so I guess that's my question so if named how we best respond correct those situations and if if they are not being named counselor I don't see how that harms them if no if if their identity is not being exposed and the merely the arrest itself is being published I don't see how that negatively impacts them so if I live on my street and my neighbor has recorded mental health or substance use issues and police has responded to their home multiple times how are we looking out for the best interest of this neighbor who is struggling through something um when The Neighbor is being asked to differentiate between what is a security or criminal complaint and a health issue well I would hope that when the police are called that they then um allow whatever public services are available to that individual to rehabilitate himself okay thank you so and and then just to I guess close out my line of question here um you you have stated now that um you have not reached out to uh North suffa Community Health who is the entity within the police department that that uh handles mental health and substance use issues within the police department I have not okay thank you motion to uh motion to leave in committee until we get answers from the North suff Community Health and maybe we can ask them to come Andy I really see this as a issue of bringing the statistical data that used to be published in the police blader and that's all I'm looking to do here so I would request that this be voted on favorably tonight motion to table I would like to remind the committee too that we we did all have an election not too long ago and we did all run on I believe on bringing awareness and um transparency to the residents of R and in that vein um I don't see that that's what's being done here thank you so councilor Haro presented a motion to um table and that's non debatable so this I believe this stays within the we'll take a take a roll call to table I believe that was the the suggestion right on councelor Hero's motion to table the matter in committee councelor aeno no no councelor Haro yes yes councelor McKenna no no councelor sylvestri yes yes and chairman H yes yes the matter will be tabled in committee no further business the Health and Human Services sub comme meeting has adjourns thank you have a great night e e e e e welcome to the zoning subcommittee of the Rivier city council for June 3rd 2024 our rise and salute the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible for liberty and justice for all and click roll call of the members councelor Gino SAA present here councelor Kelly councelor Kelly oh here here Council noeli here Council sylvestri here here and chairman zambuto here here Quorum is present first item on tonight's agenda is an ordinance further amending the zoning map of the city of Rivier uh changing um the GB District to the Ted District uh for certain Parcels on Northshore Road okay councelor Kino SOA thank you Mr President Mr chairman um as discussed previously um when I proposed a motion the the zoning change from the GB district from from GB to the Ted will make the two Parcels that are there conforming as they are being operated non-conforming now they're being used as garages and um it will continue to be used as garage as garages and perhaps a just license to sell a vehicle but it will be conforming by changing it from GB to Ted thank you thank you anybody else any members of the audience want to speak oh Council novaski thank you Mr chairman Mr chairman um I don't have a problem with this you know I just when we when we do something like this I don't want anybody to think it's spoton it's not because it's adjacent it's already adjacent to a Ted District so as long as it congr contingent with it uh and it's for a good reason we got a good family that wants to take it over you know put some business in there and and I I I think it's a good move thank you councelor I agree with you it is not spot zoning and I'm you know I'm against spot zoning so uh yeah and we checked with the city planner and he agrees with us so um anybody else want to speak on this matter I guess we'll take a roll call for a favorable for for a favorable recommendation correct I shouldn't get ahead of myself should I shall the zoning subcommittee offer a favorable recommendation for adoption of the zoning ordinance change relative to the GB um I'm sorry relative to the Ted District on norshore road councelor greo SAA yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councel noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes and chairman zambuto yes yes the ordinance the zoning map change has received a favorable recommendation will be reported out to the full city council this evening thank you next matter is um Council order 24168 zoning ordinance further amending the flood plane overlay District of the city of Rivier is anybody here to speak on this or you received the city council received an email from the chief of planning uh this afternoon he said unfortunately was unable to attend uh but did submit um some testimony and writing for the committee and it did receive a favorable recommendation from the planning board so what's the will of the committee Mr chairman if I may um Council novski I don't have a problem this this is something dealing with the federal government and it's seems to be helping our folks in R so I think we got to move forward with it approve it here and then bring it to the council thank you you yeah please do this was the email from Tom karowski from this afternoon unfortunately I'm not able to attend the zoning subcommittee meeting in subsequent council meeting tonight but I wanted to submit a few remarks to the zoning subcommittee and the council in support of the flood plane zoning Amendment going in front of the city council this evening to reiterate what I stated at the public hearing these changes are mandated by FEMA to continue to participate in the naal flood insurance program if we do not pass these changes by July 3rd we will be suspended from the program the changes outlined were done in consultation with the national flood insurance program State coordinator and align with the new changes to our flood insurance rate maps that become effective July 3rd a few notes on those changes the new firms simply consolidate several letters of map change that have taken place since 2021 these letters of map change are currently in effect but these changes will now become part of the new firms C attached which outlines those changes none of the changes Place additional restrictions on R Property Owners as stated previously these changes are all less restrictive than what was there previously even were that not the case the comment period on map changes has passed so these changes will go into effect now we simply just need to update our zoning to reflect these new maps you can find the these new maps on FEMA's website I must admit they are not userfriendly but until we get the new data from FEMA we do not have the capability to add these uh points into our flood plane overlay that appears on GIS once we get that data we will add it and there were uh additional questions about um burdens being placed on residents in Ward 5 specifically along Rivier reach Boulevard I can confirm that none of the letters of map change included here were related to those areas those maps have been unaffected since 2016 so any changes that have taken place are due to issues with property owners and their private insurance in short these zoning changes are necessary to continue to participate in the National flood insurance program and are based off of new maps effective July 3rd that do not place any additional restrictions on rever property owners so we want to report this out yeah looks like the will of the committee is to report the S favorably shall the zoning subcommittee offer a favorable recommendation on adoption of the new flood plane map Council greo SAA yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes Council noeli yes yes Council sylvestri yes yes and chairman zambuto yes yes the flood plane map has received a favorable recommendation for adoption option there's no further business that concludes the Zoning subcommittee for June 3rd 2024 thank you all e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening this is the June 3D appointment subcommittee could we all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you very much roll call of the members councelor agenzio here here councelor janino here here councel Kelly here here Council zambuto here here and chairwoman McKenna here here Cor present uh first appointment is the on tonight's agenda is uh the reappointment of Deborah Frank the affordable housing trust fund hi Deb could you uh state your name and address to the record please sorry Deb Frank uh 605 Middle Street brain tree um I res I work at a a Riv in Chelsea area with Metro Credit Union thank you very much could you just tell me uh describe how the trust affordable uh um Housing Trust Fund is going in in in the last year we've made significant progress when I first started approximately two years ago we didn't have a budget we now do we had no real projects going we now have several projects going and we look forward to having additional ones great thank you very much um thank you for coming up here tonight I do a good job for the city and thank you bye-bye all in favor all opposed for a favorable uh recommendation so ordered Council order 24-14 7 communication from the mayor relative to the reappointment of Toby pearlstein to the library Board of Trustees Toby will you come up here please can you state your name and address for the record please Toby pearlin 67 Brad street avenue Thank You Toby I just read your resume I couldn't believe it it was a book it was a wealth of you have a wealth of knowledge and experience I mean you're in the right place can you just tell me about a little bit what you'd bring what you've been bringing to the table in the library um Board of Trustees all right thanks sorry um well I have extensive experience both in library serving the public as well in corporate libraries um I've served in a number of different organizations within the profession of Library science uh I've written in the profession for quite a number of years so I think I bring a lot to the table from varying perspectives thank you any uh councils like to say something uh council is in buo yeah thank thank you madam chair uh I've known Toby for many many years she brings an unbelievable amount of experience and we're just thrilled that you still want to serve so thank you very much for your service my pleasure thank you councilor Zeno councelor agenzio uh thank you madam uh chairwoman I I've known Toby for a few years myself and with her work down at the Historical Society and and she's very passionate about what she does I think this is an excellent appointment and I'm fully supported thank you any other counselors all in favor all opposed for a favorable recommendation awarded Thank You Toby Council order 24-180 communication from the mayor relative to the appointment of Marita kums to the library Board of Trustees so Maria Marissa Marita is not here tonight so um and she did call she's working and she'd have to um you know uh not work uh so I'm going to accept her in appointments tonight thank you all in favor all opposed for a a I can't speak tonight a favorable recommendations I so ordered I'll have to take my time Council order 24-1 181 communication from the mayor relative to the re reappointment of Paul ring to the library Board of Trustees Paul will you come up here please you state your name and your address for the record Paul ring 67 fenno Street thank you Paul could you tell me what um you have brought to the library Board of Trustees well over I've been on the board for 30 years now and like I said I've seen a lot of changes and I've been there to help help all the changes of the books and all the events and everything being helping with all that over the course of the years and everything but like I said I've been there for 30 years and like I said seen a lot of changes and like to see carry it through into the Next Generation with these kids that are coming to the library like I said been been there a long time that is a a long commitment thank you very much for your commitment uh would any of the um councilors like to say something councelor zamb buo uh thank you Madame chair uh I've known Paul for all these years and uh he's a person of integrity and I'm I'm just thrilled that he continues to want to serve the city so I obviously wholeheartedly support his reappointment thank you councelor any other councilors councelor agenzio thank you uh Madam chairman I know Mr Ring also uh I love to see his experience on on the library he's he's an excellent candidate for this and and he's been doing a great job for 30 years and I fully support uh Mr rank thank you Paul uh continue to do a good job for the city that's what councelor um uh um guasa would say all the time after uh an appointment so I'm just continuing his legacy but thank you uh for your commitment all in favor all opposed for a favorable recommendation so ordered thank you Council order 24182 communication from the mayor relative to the appointment of Diana Ayala to the library Board of Trustees is Diana here she's not here so um okay we're going to table Diana um do I have to do all in FA all in favor all opposed to table no further chairwoman okay no further business thank this concludes the appointment subcommittee meeting thank you very much for coming for