e good evening welcome to the Rivier city council meeting it is May 6th please rise to salute the flag IED to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for it stands one nation under indivisible liy and justice for all roll call of the members councel agenzio here here councel janino here here councelor greo SAA here here councelor Hass here here councel Haro is absent councelor Kelly here here councelor McKenna here here councel noeli here here councelor sylvestri here here councelor zambuto here here and council president Cog Leandro here here Quorum is present approval of the Journal of the regular meeting of April 29th so move calendar item number three motion presented by council president cogliandro that the city council Awards certificates of commendation to the rhs speech and debate team in recognition of their performance at the msdl state speech championship come on up guys you can all slide up there so before we start before we start I I need to get into uniform okay I have to get into uniform so excuse me full size all right welcome so today I've asked you to come here so you can we can honor your performances at the Massachusetts speech and debate league um I I believe that speech and debate is very important uh especially for students and I just made some notes here so forgive me I'm going to be reading these but it improves communication skills critical thinking research hugely builds confidence uh persuasion skills academic performance networking opportunities preparation for college and in your careers going forward and mostly personal growth um I just thank you all so much for being here you guys look great all in the the hoodies and these are super comfortable right um so I'm going to read I'm going to do my best and please forgive me if I mispronounce any your names um but again guys congratulations and I have here each of your accomplishments that I'm going to be reading uh so just let me let me switch positions here okay oh where's Mr fellows so not not to uh not to throw anyone's age under the bus but I had Mr fellows in high school so just all right all right so finalist in group discussion ryhan Amed finalist in group discussion Safa L Roi please finalist in group discussion Adam old zenal I say it right how do I say it say again old zagi yeah hey all right all right finalist in student Congress Adam ashor finalist in student Congress era ishal state [Music] champion in radio broadcasting Fatima Basu finalist in radio broadcasting salsabil Mendoza I've known you since you were born just just remember it's my neighbor my a finalist in programmed oral interpretation Alex graus finalist in children's literature hea Morin finalist in declamation and prosay reading Dina OA [Applause] oesa state finals qualifiers in impromptu Christopher Mar State finals qualifier in children's literature Maya [Applause] Marino National Catholic forensic League Championship qualifier and oral interpretation of literature endurance nay [Applause] and we have our executive board members Isha Hassan and executive board member Lena Leah Leah Z zunia Zuniga ladies and gentlemen your rever speech and debate team all right I'm going to work my way up there if anyone wants to take pictures come on up here okay e e hello everyone for those of you that don't know me my name is era I'm one of the co- captains along with rhon where is he Ryon senior over here and I just want to say thank you for all for your consideration of our hard work this season I remember my freshman year when it was just like the four of us five of us in fellows's room and now we've grown so much and I'm so proud to see all the work that we've done and minus the awards we've also done so much for the community with the mayal debates and the other things that we've done helping out with the election season and I'm so proud to have the opportunity to stand up here and say that because of speech and debate we've had those opportunities so thank you so much and and Conway who is not here coach Conway he's probably with little Jack Jack his new son um who's already one year old by now which is crazy to imagine I remember when he was first born but shout out to Conway as well and shout out to Fells as always is supporting me and supporting us through everything and Ryon I know you're graduating soon do you want to say a few words the new voice of ruins hello everyone my name is ryhan as ER said I'm a graduating senior from Rivier high school and I would ALS just like to thank the team uh coach Conway and also Mr fellows for helping me get to where I am um without this club and without the opportunity that they have allowed me to take on um I don't think I would be able to achieve lot of the things that I have uh and get involved with the community as much as I have um so without this club I don't think I would be able to call rever home and um I'm super grateful for everything that this team has uh achieved over the years and I will forever be grateful for everything um they have allowed me to do so thank you so much guys and um over the next few years I hope to see amazing things that you guys receed um all the way from California so stand so I'm looking forward to seeing what she could achieve over the next few years yeah thank you so [Applause] much e calendar item number four motion presented by councelor H that the city council award certificates certificates of commendation to the life skills students who assist miss Sally branos behind the scenes at the rec department the life skills program has grown to seven students since Inception 8 years ago the students assist with shredding to painting props for City events these students are truly the unsung heroes of the department e so I just wanted to recognize the life skill students um it was a partnership that started nearly a decade ago with the rec department featuring one student and is now grown to six students currently and the students assist miss Sally with everything from painting and designing props for City events they prep for the preschool classes at the rec center they also assist with filing paperwork and paper shredding and as the motion said they are definitely the untung heroes of the department and I just wanted wanted to thank them for their dedication to the city I know one student was it Leah one student Leah who aged out a couple years ago after graduating walks three days a week from the woodon cemetery area and the students have shown great dedication for their city and to their city and they've showed a great love for their city so I just wanted to thank them for all that they do behind the scenes at the rec department thank you [Applause] guys certificate of recommendation in acknowledgement of your hard work and dedication supporting the many programs offered by The Parks and Rec Department in Miss Sally Ranos through the life skills program special recognition is hereby accorded to willbert [Applause] taras Pablo dilva [Applause] carero Jessica [Applause] bahana Jeffrey Lombard Ro Ramos [Applause] jetona [Applause] pekari and Lea [Applause] Cohen and I just want to I just want to point out that Sally does great work work at the rec department this wouldn't wouldn't have been possible without her and U Mr nazaro nearly a decade ago and I'd also like to thank Theo Phillips the life skills teacher and Biagio Gino who I happen to grow up with um for walking the students over whenever they're scheduled to be at the rec department but thank you for all you guys [Applause] do oh Christ Murphy too and also Kristen Murphy who serves as the transition coordinator the last several years yes she couldn't be there tonight thank you e e e calendar item calendar item number five motion presented by councelor Gino SAA that the city council award a certificate of commendation to Nick rrom city engineer and Don charmella chief of infrastructure for their fast and efficient work in Oak Island during the MBTA track shutdown which ultimately saved the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars all right just have a couple of words congratulations to Nick rrom for his incredible work in facilitating and executing the Oak Island waterm replacement project Nick our City's engineer is a Class Act example of a hide worker and an onthe go Problem Solver Nick was able to adapt and ensure that the project occurred at the right time to ensure that the neighborhood would have a water system it needs and one that will last for generations to come Ward five thanks you for your leadership adaptability and determination to complete this project certificate accommodation an acknowledgement of his fast and efficient infrastructure repairs in the Oak Island neighborhood during the MBTA track shutdown which saved the taxpayers hundreds of dollars hundreds of thousands of dollars special recognition is hereby accorded to Nick [Applause] rrom stay now especially congratulations as well to Don charmela the city Rivier chief of infrastructure for ensuring that the project was completed at the right time and at the higher standards when it comes to infrastructure in Rivier especially water Ms Dawn is hands down the most knowledgeable person in the city when he informed us this project was critical and that it had to happen now we had full trust in his confidence to strike immediately we are very grateful for his efforts to get the project off the ground and to see it through to execution thank you Don for your [Music] [Applause] leadership an acknowledgement for his fast and efficient infrastructure repairs in the Oak Island neighborhood during the MBTA track shutdown which saved the taxpayers hundreds of dollars hundreds of thousands of dollars Mama Mia special recognition is here by accorded to Don [Applause] charmella come on up for a picture come over here don't be sh tell everybody to come up all right she's us of course calendar item number six motion presented by councelor sylvestri that the city council present a certificate of commendation to Richie scanelli in recognition and celebration of his 70th birthday so if you've if you've grown up in r you know who Richie is Richie's been a staple at Little League fields at the r League uh pup water games he's he's held the sidelines if if if it's been done and rever Richie's attended it and um he's attended every every little league game I've been to since I was a kid every papana game and um someone special in my heart that that grew up around my family and was very close and um he would do a lot of work around the yard and and for the neighborhood and and Richie you're an outstanding man happy birthday and uh in acknowledgement and recognition of his Milestone of his 70th birthday which was celebrated on April 25th 2024 with speal special recognition is hereby accorded to Richie scanelli the city council of the city of Riv offers its sincerest congratulations and sends its best wishes for continued health happiness and good fortune the certificate of accommodation is a presented by the city Council and R of Massachusetts on behalf of the citizens this sixth day of May in the year of Our Lord 2024 in the independent of the United States of America in 2024 47th thank you Richie happy birthday a few words hold on hold on let's open let's get a picture here come on come on guys so the Legends you made it to 70 see you up here when you're 80 he's always late buy I I want to thank everybody here from an honor it's a beautiful honor to have it up here being 70 I hope I see 80 now thank you very much guys I got here the gu e e calendar item number seven unfinished business communication from the city auditor relative to Massachusetts general laws chapter 44 section 53 and A2 departmental revolving fund spending authorization for fy2 good evening sir name and address please for the record good evening Richard viske CFO 281 Broadway um this was carried over from last meeting there was some questions that councelor agenzio and Council Aro had I did forward those um responses to the counselors I hope that satisfied them for taking a favorable vote on this action so have it to answer any questions councelor agenzio thank you I want to thank Mr vque for giving uh me the information this week um I got information on the uh expect side of it the revenue side is still coming I think he's working with the uh department head uh struggling a little bit to get that but uh Mr V's office is going to help him out with that and I'm and I'm satisfied so I thank you very much uh Mr V thank you counselor any other councilors wishing to speak councelor noveli relating to these accounts um we just r beautif ation committee is no longer in effect existence like to have that removed and I'm also questioning the Wonderland to those were the parking lots on Ocean Avenue those don't exist anymore so I'd like to get rid of that that's all I can see for now Mr President thank you Mr President just to be clear the uh um the revolving funds are set by ordinance so if we were going to amend the ordinance that would be a different meeting so at this meeting we're just looking to spend uh set the maximum spend amount there if they're ex if they're uh no longer existent there'll be no money spent but I think uh to change the revolving funds that would be something we would do during fiscal year 25 to amend the ordinance so um may not be something that you can actually do on the floor tonight any any other counselors uh Madam clerk call the role pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 44 section 53 and A2 shall the city council approve the fy2 departmental revolving funds table councelor agenzio yes yes councelor Gino yes yes councelor greo SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro is absent councelor Kelly yes yes McKenna yes yes Council noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes the revolving funds authorization has been approved next up is the legislative affairs subcommittee report councelor agenzio thank you Mr President uh four items were before us this evening the first uh 24- 086 an ordinance further amending in the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier relative to the term of the superintendent um I'd ask that Madame clerk read that and we looked on it favorably and I ask that a roll call be taken in favor the amended language out of committee with a favorable recommendation was as follows section 2. 63.2 shall read as follows the Department of Public Works shall be under the the general supervision of a superintendent who shall be appointed by the mayor subject to city council confirmation the superintendent of Public Works Shall Serve for a term of four years co-terminus with the four-year term of the mayor and until the superintendent's successor is duly appointed and [Applause] qualified call the rule or oh I'm sorry ordered on a second reading as amended ordered on a third and final reading as amended roll call for engrossment and ordainment shall the city council approve an ordinance relative to the term of the superintendent of Public Works as amended councelor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor greo SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro is absent councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councelor noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes and councelor zambuto yes yes and councilor president cogliandro yes yes the ordinance is engrossed and ordained Mr President the second item before us was 24- 091 an ordinance further amending the revised ordinances the city of Riv relative to Food Truck regulations there were several amendments uh that were looked on favorably and I ask that Madame clerk read the motion as amended and a roll call be taken in favor thank you the several amendments coming out of committee were as follows strike section 5.10.03 Bennington Street East Side only at or nor at or near Jimmy kimmerly Park north of Crescent Avenue and south of winth Av not to exceed two food trucks at this location at any one time additional amendments are as follows section 5.10.5 subsection 4 reducing the number of food trucks allowed from 2 to one and striking at any one time and inserting in place thereof for special events only section 5.10 .050 subsection 5 reduce the number of food trucks allowed from 2 to one section 5.10.5 is amended by inserting a new location as follows shley Avenue Southside only between Walden Street and Northshore road in front of 161 Charli AV not to exceed one food truck at this location at any one time section 5.1.0 60 parking requirements sub new subsection D food trucks shall be detached from any vehicle when stopped or parked for the purpose of conducting business Vehicles which tow the food truck shall relocate to any other available legal parking space so as not to unnecessarily take a parking spaces located in front of brick and mortar businesses vehicle shall be subject to all parking regulations including but not limited to metered and timed parking spaces and lastly the hours of operation for the Shirley Avenue food truck locations shall be 11:00 a.m. to 900 p.m. at the discretion of the License Commission ordered on a second reading as amended ordered on a third and final reading as amended roll call for engrossment and ordainment on the ordinance I'm sorry uh shall the city council approve an ordinance relative to food tuck food truck regulations as amended councelor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro is absent councelor Kelly yes yes councel McKenna yes yes Council noveli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes councelor zambuto yes yes and council president Cog Leandro yes yes the ordinance is engrossed and ordained Mr President uh number three on on the agenda was 24-23 an ordinance relative to Street and sidewalk opening permits during winter months there was a small Amendment added at the end uh it was looked upon favorably I ask that Madame clerk read the ordinance as amended and we look upon that a roll call be taken to look on it favorably on the following language reported out of subcommittee is as follows proposed subsection 12.4.2 shall read as follows approvals for permit requests for work occurring after November 15th shall be conditional upon adherence to the rules and specifications for winter excavation activity within the city of Rivier in approved Street or sidewalk opening permit shall be issued upon receipt of a signed acknowledgement of the rules and specifications for winter excavation activity within the city of rier by the perate failure to adhere to the aformentioned rules and specifications may result in the cancellation in refusal of existing and future permits in addition to the requirements of section 12.04 080a an additional winter excavation fee of $500 is required upon approval of the permit this fee is to offset the cost to the city of excavation issues pertaining to work being completed in winter months the additional winter excavation fee of $500 shall not be required in the event of an emergency permit that is issued by the city during this period ordered on a second reading as amended ordered on a third and final reading as amended roll call for INR and ordainment shall the city council approve an ordinance relative to Street and sidewalk opening permits during winter months as amended councelor Areno yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor hero is absent councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councel noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president Cog Leandro yes yes the ordinance is engrossed and ordained Mr President the fourth item before us was 24-37 an ordinance relative to appendix Table Three salaries of the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier parody salary ordinance it was uh there was a small Amendment at the end um we did look on this favorably if the city clerk could read that and um call for roll call so the the Amendments as presented uh uh in subcommittee were as follows there were there was amendments to multiple titles and or salary amounts within the table the new table was pre uh provided uh to the committee by Claire and zerel there was also a removal of the number 3% from the second and fourth columns in the table within the proposed subsection F1 there was also the removal of the third column in its entirety from the table within proposed section F1 and there was a new section subsection H increases in perpetuity that was included at the end of the section and that read as follows any and all salary percentage increases that are negotiated between the city of Rivier in the laborers union Local 22 via collective bargaining agreement shall be applied to the exempt employees here in councilor sylvestri thank you Mr President um Mr President uh I was a little confused when we took the vote um during the subcommittee to be honest with you um I thought we were voting for The ordinance to to lock the positions in I didn't know we were locking in the salaries as well um so I I asked that we possibly table this until we get some time to look at these numbers a little bit longer and tougher and take a look or are refer back to committee I refer I'll refer back to committee motion to table is n debatable so it it now is table till the next meeting May 20th Communications calendar item number 12 communication from the mayor relative to the reappointment of Deborah Frank to the affordable housing trust fund board appointments calendar item number 13 communication from the director of veteran services requesting approval of various Memorial poll locations welcome sir name and address for the record please pressing the button thank you Isaac Isaac s McDaniel director of veteran services City R Addis 107 St Andrews Road East Boston uh Mr President fellow Council men and women uh I present to you there are three individuals on docket today who are welld deserving of uh a memorial polls and ifb we'll present these these Memorial po to the families of these surviving individuals on Veterans Day excuse me on Memorial Day the 27th of this month pending any questions any questions all in favor all opposed I so Ed thank you calendar item number 14 communication from the CFO relative to an overview of the city's finances including a presentation on the long range forecast and Debt Service schedules for the general fund and water sore Enterprise fund good evening sir name and address for the record please good evening Richard viske CFO 281 Broadway um I will wait for Ashley to put the presentation up on the Monitor and there 25 slides I'll try to go fairly quick um if you can wait till the answer for questions if that' be great if not I can answer as we go like the small I sent you in the email I said on your email I attached it e e e e so uh motion to suspend the rules all in favor all opposed while under suspension I'd like to take up item 15 calendar item number 15 communication from the CFO requesting a public hearing relative to a bond authorization for the new Rivier High School in in the amount of 493 million $217,900 I'm guessing we need the CFO for this one too Mr Mayor uh thank you Mr President uh as you as you know this language is uh what what when through Bond Council in msba for approval so you have to officially hear it tonight so it can go to public uh public hearing and then you'll uh hopefully be able to vote vote on it later on this month so there really isn't a whole lot to discuss uh out outside of uh and just a little bit the CFO will give you a financial update but that that is the official Bond language uh from our bond Council uh through the uh lawyers lens and also through the msba uh what is required by the state city uh to adopt thank you uh does anyone have any questions at this time I know Mr V is uh downstairs he's resending an email so that we can discuss the previous communication um let's take a f minute recess everyone what I'll do why don't we just move it to a public hearing because we're going to be discussing it again and in Ways and Means later understood but this is a very serious topic and I want to give all counselors as many opportunities as possible to ask as many questions as they need so that we all feel comfortable on the 20th so 5 minute recess recess five minute recess e e e e e e e e e e e e at this time we will restart the meeting calendar item uh 15 Mr Vis we went down to the one below so that's the business we're dealing with at this time Madam clerk if you would thank you calendar item number 15 communication from the CFO requesting a public hearing relative to a bond authorization for the new reier High School in the amount of 493 mil 21791 thank you uh Richard viske CFO 281 Broadway uh what you have before you is the required Bond language from the mass School building authority and bond council with regard to the construction of a new River High School we are required to Bond the gross amount which is $493 million of which we anticipate um reimbursement of approximately 20 250 million I believe hold on I don't have that slide but um we are required to authorize the entire amount um subject to reimbursement by the msba uh by law this is required to go to a public meeting uh so this notice is a formality to have that public meeting happening any questions thank you Mr viske any counselors have any questions okay this will be ordered to a public hearing on May 20th uh resume normal order of business calendar item number 14 communication from the CFO relative to an overview of the city's finances including a presentation on the long range forecast and Debt Service schedules for the general fund and water and sore Enterprise fund thank thank you again Richard viske 281 Broadway City CFO um directly correlated to the bond authorization that will go to public Heen on May 20th I have prepared a presentation of uh Financial overview and long range Financial forecast for fiscal years 2025 through 2034 um with that I will um pass out uh the numbers on a uh 8 and a half by 14 spreadsheet along with The Debt Service schedules for our general fund and our water and sore Enterprise fund so um with that I will walk through this presentation if you have any questions um if you can wait to the end that'll be great but if you need me to clarify anything please uh let me know and I'll do so thank you very much so um the goals uh of this presentation is to review the financial condition of the city and to review a 10-year Financial forecast and to convey any other related information regarding the financing of the new Rivier High School um it's the status of the 2025 budget which is not finalized yet you will get that on the 3D of June completed but these numbers are um all rounded and estimated for purposes of this presentation and I'll discuss the forecast for 2025 and Beyond and to try to answer any concerns or questions of the Council next slide please so the good news is uh city has always been pretty diligent about funding its stabilization rainy day funds and other trust accounts for purpose of this presentation I just figured I'd walk through that balances as of our last Financial audit we have a $9.2 million in our general fund stabilization we had $3.6 million of free cash certified by the Department of Revenue we have 5.1 million in water and Source stabilization with uh $300,000 of retained earning certified by the Department of Revenue in our other trust accounts we have approximately 8.8 million in our health insurance trust we have 1.7 million in our other post other post employment benefits trust which is uh retire health insurance Community Improvement Trust of uh uh nearly $1 million and affordable housing trust also nearly $1 million again this is as of the 2023 audit so those numbers may have went up or down depending on um interest and uh earned and expenditures made out we have a doublea bond rate with a stable Outlook by uh standard and po next line please so what are the challenges obviously the challenges of building Financial capacity in the city to fund a new high school for the city of Rivier as well as a new high school at the Northeast vocational which we are the largest member unit of that about 20% of the student population which represents 20% of The Debt Service that comes with that school so you know Debt Service obviously a uh challenge our pension liability it must be funded by 2040 we are on schedule to have our pension liability totally funded by 2033 that's very important to this presentation as well as the forecast because on the last fiscal year at 34 we see a tremendous uh boost in our capacity due due to The Debt Service dropping off by about 177,000 uh 17 million my apologies um we do have other post employment benefit liability that's calculated by the um Auditors also uh recognized by the bond rating agencies that's similar to the pension liability only for health insurance so it's not required by law yet but we do have to represent that we are funding for the health insurance benefits of the retirees as well right now we pay as we go through our health insurance budget but we have slowly been putting money into our op liability to represent that we have a plan to fund that our collective bargaining Agreements are all expiring in 2024 except two we did have one-year agreements with our unit a and Unit B um unions that are our managers Union and our ouri employee union we have one-year agreement with them it was a 3% Co that was uh voted and that that funding is represented in these numbers tonight we do not have any agreements for our police unions which there are two our fire Union or our DPW Union but we do have contingencies in the budget for anticipated raises for those collective bargaining units we're also about to uh see the end of our Public Employee commission agreement which is our uh health insurance agreement with all the unions um basically sets the terms on our health and dental insurance plans and uh we are kicking off neoti iations with that group as well next slide so for fiscal year 25 in draft form our budget will be approximately $294 a. half million represented by about $120 million of property taxes $22 million of local receipts 170 million of state aid and revenues from our Enterprise fund of 34.5 million for water and soore and approximately 400,000 for Solid Waste Enterprise fund those revenues uh have to justify the expenses on the right hand side you'll see approximate spend is for 2025 budget will be about 10.8 million for the general government 32.7 public safety 1293 million for Education 4.6 million for Public Works 4.7 million for Human Services culture Recreation 9.2 million for Debt Service 46.1 million for fixed cost which is our health insurance our pension obligation and U property Casualty Insurance 31.7 million of water Enterprise fund expenses 4.8 million solid waste and state assessments and our overlay is 20.6 million so revenues have to equal expenses we have to have a balanced budget um according to the Department of Revenue and you will receive a balance Budget on the 6th of June uh the 3rd of June and uh we will have our hearings in the month of June so uh next slide please so what exactly is financial forecasting it's a tool that allows municipal offices to review operational needs identify fiscal challenges opportunities and help develop long-term budgeting policies as part of an overall strategy that's what we have before us today our strategy is to build capacity to build a new high school and uh process of doing that is we review the rever and expens es and we project them over a m the year period take into effect uh account things that may affect that economic conditions strategize on opportunities and threats and modify as conditions change these uh these forecasts are are very fluid they change um almost as often as we review them so um what you see here today might change in next next month it could change next year depending on what kind of decisions we make during the budget process um why do we do it we want to uh have a commitment to professionalizing government we want to make strategic investments in our operating Capital budgets and to plan for future Financial threats and opportunities next slide so on the assumptions um uh property tax revenues are based upon the best estimates of development in the city uh as reported by our chief assessor Dan Brer 40 who's here and our Building Commissioner Lewis cavanaro who unfor couldn't be yet tonight so um what you have in the forecast here uh projected revenues based upon the natural growth of the tax levy which is 2 and a half% as well as the new growth that is uh built in the city you take the value of the the the new buildings the the new infrastructure that uh generates property taxes and you apply the previous year's tax rate to it and the pment of Revenue let you recognize that as New Growth so um in this Revenue assumption right now there's no no tax overrides or debt exclusions considered in this forecast um there's uh no consideration for the adoption of the community preservation act which I'll talk a little bit about later on in the presentation but those are two types of uh uh two types of revenues that may help if needed while we consider uh how we project out our revenues our local receipts are based upon forecasted revenues typically look at the Historical Trends in our motor vehicle excise our room tax our mails tax permits licenses Etc um we're doing a fee survey right now to um see where we uh stand with relation to our peers our PE cities as I look at it are Chelsea Malden medfi uh Everett and Salem uh that fee survey has been done by the department heads and we are now putting all the information together to see if there are opportunities to increase some of these revenues with regard to the overall Financial forecast um there's no new revenue streams that are considered here um there are many that we could consider again like we're doing with fee survey we have no marijuana excise tax that could be uh revenues that are recurring that could help build capacity I know uh Council sylvestri and others have uh expressed some interest in revisiting that it's been 3 years of a billion plus sales in the Commonwealth uh we're losing out all that money and I think uh that's something that we should strongly consider with regard to building capacity there's something out there uh that the governor and the lieutenant governor put forward called the municipal empowerment act I'm not sure how who's familiar with it um but there are local options that could increase motor vehicle excise sear charge at 5% there is a uh option to increase the rooms tax from 6% to 7% and there's also a local option to increase the Mal's tax from point 75% to 1% now what's that mean just in raw numbers based upon the fiscal um 25 Revenue estimates that could generate potentially $560,000 in hotel tax another $415,000 in mes tax another $350,000 of Motor Vehicle excise tax so a potential of about $1.3 million in new recurring revenues could be an option to this Council if they so choose to vote that if it is passed at the state level so um keep your keep your ears open for that passing or not but I I I think that those are all um options that we should also consider when we look at the long range financial plan um state aid cherry sheet revenue is forecasting here that's the money we get from the state for our Chapter 70 which is our school um aid but we also get unrestricted General government Aid some other types of uh Revenue sources that coming from the common well that number is estimated at one second please 117.5 million that is the last latest and greatest number from the Commonwealth we're forecasting those revenues out at 4% and Enterprise for revenues are simply the fees that are paid for water and soore usage as well as um any fees that are generated through um Solid Waste Enterprise fund next slide please so I'm going to drill down a little bit on those four categories property taxes again it's $120 million that's estimated based upon the fiscal year 2024 Levy of 13.7 million the automatic 2 half% increase to that is 2 and half $2.8 million and we're estimating New Growth at $3.5 million so that gives us $120 million of expected property tax revenue the estimated new growth over the next 5 years cumulatively is 29.2 million you do have 10 years of forecast in your presentation here but for purpos of this PowerPoint I just want to walk through that 26 is estimated at 5.5 million 6 milon 27 7.2 million 28 6 milon 29 and 4.5 million3 so those are cumulative once you get that New Growth you don't lose it so 29 $2 million of New Growth will certainly help um offset the cost of The Debt Service and all the other services that are provided here in the city so um the next five years are also forecasted there but um it's pretty obvious that uh the city is relying on this new growth to help build capacity to build a high school next slide 2025 o receipts like I said 22.3 million that's about a 5.3% increase from 2024's estimate some of the examples of local receipts that we collect here that go right to the bottom line general fund out motor vehicle excise rooms tax males tax license and permits investment income we are estimating local receipts to come in between 2 and 3% year-over-year from prior estimates I say two to 3% because some grow faster on others so we don't have a blanket increase for every Revenue we're seeing a lot of um increases in our rooms of males tax some of the other permit fees of stuff level out but we're forecasting about 2 and 3% we like to try to forecast revenues a little lower just so when they come in higher we have some excess capacity again we're doing a fee survey right now and with the budget delivery we will deliver you some uh suggestions on where we may be able to increase some of our local uh fees that will put us in range with our peers again some of these fees hav't been looked at in 20 some OD years so more to follow on that next slide State a is estimated to be $17.5 million sometimes you refer that as the cherry sheet Revenue used to come in to us on Cherry color paper so most people know that as cherry sheet Revenue uh That official notification comes from the commissioner of Revenue um to municipalities on uh funding their uh like I said Chapter 70 School spending unrestricted General government Aid which is money that goes to the bottom line for services in the city and uh some other smaller numbers um state aid we're estimating to come in at 4% from fiscal year 2026 and beyond for purposes of this forecast next slide water and soil and solid waste Enterprise funds uh total Enterprise fund is estimated to uh pull in 34.5 million The Lion Share of that is our water and so Enterprise um that's our water rates and our soore rates those rates are designed and and uh to cover 100% of all the cost of running the water and sore Enterprise fund um some of the challenges with our Enterprise fund is that we are in the MW when we get assessed by them for our water and soore we don't have much bargaining power at all we have to pay the assessments and we're also paying for The Debt Service to um adhere to the consent decree that um city has on it for some of its sore and uh inii issues um we're projecting Revenue increases at 4.25% however um at during fiscal year 2025 I'm going to do a water rate study to ensure that our rate structure is such that our rates will cut C all of our expenses at least for the next several years we did a three-year water and sore rate vote two years ago we're on the last year of that threeyear structure so I think it's time to do another water and sore survey to see uh where we need to be in the out years but for purposes of this we have 4.25% increase there so was Enterprise fund is subsidized $4.5 million from general fund tax dollars I point that out because it's uh $4.8 million to collect our rubbish and dispose of our rubbish we did just enter into a 10-year contract with wind waste uh we have a contract with capital was for hauling and um over that 4.8 million we we only generate 340,000 of revenue for that so um what's that mean it means any way we can cut cost on collecting our trash or raise revenues um to offset those cost would help build capacity I'm not here to promote that I'm just here to State the fact that it's something that we could consider um we're forecasting the growth uh the 3% on the revenue for the all always out the prize fund that's the revenue side of this presentation next slide we'll talk about expenses um if anyone has any questions I'm Happ to answer them if not I'll power through all right then oh councelor agenzio thank you uh thank you Mr VC the you mentioned the motor vehicle excise tax if we were to go up on that does the city keep all of that money or do we have to transfer that over to the state all that money would come so the proposal at uh the state level would be a 5% SE charge so if it's $25,000 it would go up 5% on that and that all is 100% directly comes to the city we're estimating 7.1 million so 5% more is about $350,000 that that's at the current level if we get more cars and that that kind of compound and that and that Revenue would have to be spent on roads and sidewalks does not it's un it's it's general fund Revenue okay and the rooms tax do we currently collect uh that on short-term rentals yes okay um also for short-term rentals there's a community impact fee of 3% that could be implemented is that correct I think that's going to be part of what we present in June as far as some fees that we may not be charging that we might want to consider okay thank you very good you're welcome thank you councelor any other questions councelor noveli are you done thank you no thank you Mr I got the expenses after that uh Mr I just thought that revenues if anyone had questions councel NOA Mr v um are we collecting any funds from the uh new budget Park in the area on leur Bank Highway where Thrifty used to be I'm sorry I didn't hear a question where Thrifty used to be on Libra Highway are we collecting any funds from their operation I'm I'm not sure what you're talking about councel point of information State your point councel I'll share it that he's talking about Herz and and we are getting revenue from them to my knowledge that was the deal we made that they register all the cars and rever in order to have a park and ride what's with this so the answer the answer is yes I don't remember do anything with Herz what happened is can Mr President if if iway I'll explain this absolutely okay so when uh when the cars all moved to the airport we lost all the search charge money we were getting from Thrifty they were still doing park and fly there we put a cease and assist on that because it was not allowed anymore because it wasn't an accessory use so they made a deal with the city to register all their cars from the airport in Riv and re uh rent some cars out of that location a small number of cars and continue the park and ride that was the deal it it's about 6 or 700,000 a year uh that was one of my Great accomplishments thank you any other counselors floor is yours Mr Vis okay um all right so this next part is expenditures um One backwards please there we go so um like I said previously General government is estimated to be $10.8 million for fiscal year 2025 includes departments like the mayor the council City cleric elections Finance legal planning department engineering um we do have a million dollars reserved in the mayor's budget for Collective bargainer negotiations like I previously said two police unions and fire and DPW are all except to expire so the budgets you will receive do not have any raises built into those particular departments budgets but the contingency lies with the mayor's budget so when you see the mayor's budget going up a million dollars don't get too nervous um um we're estimated that the general government expenses are going to increase 3.5% for this forecast next slide Public Safety is uh the budget that uh has police fire our 911 dispatch our Municipal inspections our Building Commissioner and our parking Department our expected expenses for Public Safety are expected to increase by 4% for this forecast that 4% is based upon current Staffing levels in all departments so um again as we and as we uh go fiscal year to fiscal year if there's need for more police or fire or uh parking Municipal inspections etc those will be added in um as we go year to year so for purpose of this forecast it's 4% on current Staffing levels next slide education uh Riva School District 126 million we fund at the net School spend the minimum requirement and that's the minimum contribution that the city can make to uh the schools to comply with uh Department of Education regulations um that money represents the operating cost only for the riv Public Schools all thatb Serv as for Riv high school and all the other uh school debt is represented in our debt budget so operating cost only in that 126 million just to be clear we do have a Regional Vocational School um it is at 3.3 million um 2.2 million represents the operating costs 1.1 million represents the debt now they are in the process of building their high school they're a few years ahead of us so their debt obligations are at partial completion right now but the forecast does um take into account the full Debt Service for that so that Debt Service goes up to the point where it Peaks out at about 2 million you'll see that in the forecast um those numbers again they could change with regard to rates in the future and and what they um schedule of complete um completeness of that high school is but we do account for all those um cost within this forecast um Regular operating costs are estimated to go up by 4% next slide thank you Department of Public Works is estimated to be 4.6 million that is um not included in the water andur Enterprise fund or the uh Solid Waste Enterprise fund so so 4.6 million represents the administration the snow and ice budget Highway and science department parks and open space facilities and public property we're estimating that our DPW expenses will go up by 3 and a half% again based on current Staffing levels next slide Health Human Services culture and recreation um you can read which departments fall under those uh Health and Human Services uh cumulative is 2. $5 million culture and recreation is 2.2 million we're estimating 3 and half% increase in our health and human services and 4% in our culture and recreation budgets next slide please Debt Service Deb service this year 2025 is estimated to be at 9.2 million that reflects all current debt service requirements as well as the new high school at $493 million again $239 million Grant from msba so we're estimated to get almost a quarter of a billion reimbursement for the school which is spectacular we still have to borrow enough to pay for 254 million we're forecasting that debt at 4% and that debt would Peak according to this forecast in 2033 at 15.9 million and we're going to talk probably a lot more about that but just so everybody is wear at home we do have that all built into this forecast we also have the point of Pines fire station at 6.4 million we borrow $9.4 million already we are um have temporary bonds for the 6.4 million we will be bonding that in fiscally year 25 and those costs are also built into to this forecast the estimated Debt Service expense of all existing expected debt has been built in this forecast PR the ATT T that schedule now just one quick note that you might look at your debt schedule and then you might look at the forecast and they may not reconcile because like councilor said we do have some offset accounts that bring down the cost of the debt and we do have some cost sharing with regard to the new DPW building half of that building is paid by the water and soore Enterprise fund and half is paid by the general fund next slide State assessments 18.6 million um the things that the state assesses us on are the retired teachers health insurance MBTA assessments special education and tuition assessments for our school choice and our Charter Schools mosquito control and such we're estimating that those increases will go up 4% for this forecast next slide all right our fixed cost 46.1 million broken down as follows health insurance budget at 26.3 million our fiscally at 26 rates are increasing by 6% and our ining by 9% for 2025 those rates are actually subsidized because the recommendations were actually higher but we um we are using some of our um fund balance to keep those rates at 6% and 9% for forecast and again we're negotiating with our Public Employee commission and with the respective uh cbas to uh work towards long-term stability while maintaining quality health insurance for all it's a it's a Hot Topic in the city um but for the purpose of this forecast we estimate that that goes up 6% and that's important because 6% on 26 million is is a big number so um there'll be lots to talk about with regard to health insurance property Casualty Insurance is estimated to be at 1.3 million this year and estimated to increase 5% for purposes of forecast our retirement assessment is uh 16.7 million uh that assessment is bound by the funding schedule that's approved by uh perak which is the state oversight board for pension systems in the Commonwealth um our schedule for complying with being funded by 4040 is based upon a 5% increase per year until the unfunded liability of the pension is fully funded again as is scheduled to be done in fiscal year oh2 uh that's a typo 2033 sorry about that um that's important like I said I'll point that out at the end of the presentation here what that does for our forecast um Medicare taxes the 1.45 that we're obligated to pay on behalf of all our employees and that budget's 1.8% estimated to go up at 4% per year next slide water and soore Enterprise fund and solid waste Enterprise fund $31.7 Million worth of expenses for wur Enterprise represents million 8 in salary about a million2 in EXP expenses our long-term debt principle and interest again you have the schedules that um show what those are made up of in then the water assessment and sore assessment 6.6 million and 12.7 million respectively from the MW as you can see the drivers of the water store Enterprise fund are fixed costs debt and assessments non-debt expenses for water sores expected to go up 3 and a half% per this forecast and the debt increases per the debt schedule Solway Enterprise fund again we we got about $500,000 worth of salaries and expenses and our contract services for picking up and Hauling our solid waste our recycling Goods Etc 4.3 million expenses forecast to increase at 3 and a half% um for this forecast we did just approve a new contract for solid waste uh disposal so at some point I'll have to adjust that numbers for that new contract next slide last part of the expenses are other finance and uses those are uh things that aren't budgeted but required to be addressed per a smash General law the overlay $1.5 million the overlay is what we use to um give out abatements and exemptions through our property taxes uh Department of Revenue allows us to realize 100% of our property taxes we don't have to build in any allowance for uncollectibles essentially the $1.5 million is that allowance for uncollectibles so we're allowed to uh get credit for 100% of our estimated uh taxes that uh is on the tax levy there is an offset on our charry sheets of 140,000 that goes directly to the library so we offset that on our forecast and then uh snow and ice deficit of 250,000 that's built into the budget right now um I know we had no snow but we had a lot of ice and you know we have to run the trucks and stand and salt so um that deficit is also accounted for in this forecast um 250,000 is pretty low to be honest so after this fiscal year we raised it to 700,000 with a 5% increase going forward then hopefully stays more at 250 than 700,000 but try to be true to Historic numbers next slide please so that was a long way of saying that we have $294 and5 million of revenues $294 and5 million of expenses forecasted for the 2025 budget they're all rounded for purposes this presentation again final figures we provided on June 3rd when the budget's delivered and that is important because that's the base for the forecast for 2026 and Beyond so the last three slides are just um things that I didn't want to talk about at the beginning because I know last year we had a lot of uh a lot of people worried about some of the stuff that I presented with regard to create capacity new revenues and trying to keep expenses in check but I tried a different approach here I want to do a little opportunities and threats for revenues and opportunities and threats for expenses and then the last slide I'll talk about what I think a good plan may be for us uh Council mayor Finance Etc so what are the opportunities and revenues again tax revenues there's something called the community preservation act that allows municipalities to assess above Prof 2 and a half up to 3% for purposes of open space historic preservation affordable housing Etc it's a tool that um I'd say at least 150 200 communities already use there are matching funds that come from the state if that's passed that's important because those dollars can be dedicated for things that we otherwise pay for in the general fund right now so on $120 million 3% of that $3.6 million if you go to the max you can vote 1% 2% or 3% but it is an option to to create capacity debt exclusion again we're not cont tooting on debt exclusion but um if needed you have to go to the voters to vote to override proposition two and a half that's a last resort but again you have to talk about what we have for options when uh we talk about this long range forecast with regard to local receipts we're doing a fee survey you're going to see some recommendations to up some of the fees that will create capacity that um we don't have now those recurrent revenues will help us uh plan for the future new recurrent revenues I think the most obvious one is the uh marijuana excise tax which we have not taken advantage of but we uh certainly should consider I think every single neighboring Community has it and the Billboards are here the coasters and the restaurants are here everything else so uh we we've lost on a lot of that opportunity I talked a little bit about the municipal empowerment act I think the most obvious choices if we were to go that route would be uh most vehicle ex size meals tax and rooms tax have opportunities to create new revenue streams there with regard to state aid and grants um you know lobby lobby the state and local officials that can uh make a difference we have we have some great representatives and uh at at the state house and uh I know we have some great Federal representation here living in River so I think it's going to be a a joint attack to try to find any dollars we could to help offset um cost that we otherwise budget as part of our general operating budget for fiscal year 25 and Beyond Enterprise fund again I know another uh another source spot is talking about pay you throw or other things we're probably one of the only communities that do not have some kind of cost per a bag or annual fee or what have you um I'm a property owner I I'm not looking at charging pays you throw but again I think it's something that has to be considered as part of a $4.8 million budget that that we only generate $330,000 of revenue for stor and water Enterprise fund is another option I think most people know about half to two-thirds of the city does not have drainage we have sheet flow all over the city our Capital plan has tens of millions of dollars of drainage projects in it there is um there is uh something in the Mass general laws that allow you to create a storm water Enterprise fund which would be dollars generated just for storm water uh expenses those are our opportunities threats on our revenue is uh tax revenue obviously growth less than forecasted I know that I believe uh hym is coming in to speak to some of the councilors with regard to their progress and and and what's next over there our forecast is based upon numbers that we received from them um if those numbers go up and down obviously it's going to affect this um forecast oral receipts there could be a downturn in the economy there could be less building permits there could could be less males rooms tax interest rates could decrease interest rates decrease we get less investment income however if the interest rates decreases probably Bond bonds would go down in cost so that might offset one another but that is uh a threat for revenues state aid there's obviously always a chance that they reduce local Aid or they don't continue to fund it at the rate they have um if that happens that will obviously affect the bottom line and then Enterprise fund down term economic downt ins larger receivables less money in the door you know we saw that during the pandemic we had a lot of receivables a lot of people going into um you know uh the red with regard to their their their home costs and their paying their water bills and their taxes so those are the threats on revenues but we have a lot of opportunities too next slide so now I figured to talk about opportunities and threats for purposes of long-range forecast on the expenses the opportunities obviously to negotiate long-term savings and Healthcare again I puted a$ 26.3 million budget fiscal year 2025 investment rate of return assumptions exceed estimates and reducing our pension cost so um we're we set our our um Actuarial projections on a 7% return on investment if we get more than 7% our liability will go down if we get less our liability goes up but 7% is something they've been trending down from above about 88 and a quarter down to seven so that's um I think there's a possibility that we could exceed that if we increase the use of technology and Innovation we can reduce recurring operating expenses we've had some success in the finance department um integrating all of our financial software able to kind of keep our head countdown our full-time equivalents we've we've lost a couple in various departments if we can keep uh being Innovative and and embrace technology we can stabilize uh cost of Labor we set up a high school stabilization trust fund we did make a deposit in there um that trust fund is going to be important because when you look at the forecast you're going to see some negative years you're going to see some positive years the idea of the trust fund for the stabilization is that if we need to tap into that to offset some of the the spikes and debt while growth catches up or what have you we uh need to apply some kind of strategy on how we would build that trust up and then use that to stabilize the the spikes and The Debt Service what are the threats actuary assumptions like I said if those fall short it's going to increase our liability in the out years inflation obviously inflation keeps interest rates High interest rates high on bonds and notes require us to uh budget more for those costs health insurance costs are um crazy uh prescription drugs are uh uh one of the biggest factors in this um medical expenses is um this is just not due to anything in particular here just the the general cost of providing good quality Health Care is is expensive we got to increase Staffing due to the growth of the city like I said these are all forecasts based on current Staffing level so if we come up and we need more police more fire more DPW we have to build that into this forecast how many and and and at what years do we put them in that's all stuff that we have to talk about increased School enrollment is going to more students is going to mean more cost probably get more state aid but you know more students is going to cost more money so those are my expenses opportunities and threats and the last slide is a strategy I believe we should start to consider as we talk more about um this forecast what I'm recommending uh with the mayor's uh approval here is uh to create a longrange financial planning committee and assigned three members to each committee and again these are just these are just ideas at this point but we'll take uh one employee of the city uh one city councelor one designer the mayor and break into some subcommittees to look at items that we're forecasting here and I think the ones that are important would be a subcommittee on looking at new growth and development looking at local receipts and other recurrent revenues looking at our Enterprise funds looking at our general fund expenditures look at our education ation including the NorthShore vul and Rivier High School I mean Rivier public schools look at the debt and look at the employee benefits and pension um there may be others that we can add of subtract there but I think that you know we need to come together as a community here and the council and the mayor really have to put their heads together to try to um make this a reality I think everybody has said over and over they want a new high school but many people are nervous about many different things I'm nervous as any ofone I'm up here trying to tell you how we're going to pay for it but um I think we can do it um I think the forecast shows that we can do it but it's going to require some work and uh I'm looking forward to helping any way I could so that's my presentation and uh happy to answer any questions thank you thank you very much Mr viske I'm sure everybody has questions uh councelor H thank you Mr President Rich thanks for that presentation so when you mentioned New Growth at I think it was three and a half million um where does rever stand in comparison to our surrounding cities um with new growth do you have any idea with the I mean we have the fastest growing community in the commonweal so I mean I know we're up there but I I don't have particular numbers on different communities I know that um within the communities around us we do fairly well I mean places like Sommerville and Boston are going crazy but I think our growth is uh is is very very good compared to our peers and uh it's really one of the driving forces that is going to help us uh build this high school and that's even without the the Cannabis um effect yeah the new growth is strictly the buildings that you see going up in suffk towns and on the beach and and throughout the community and you know New Growth could also be someone putting a new deck on the house or a new addition so it goes from anything from a small Home Project to any of the larger buildings you'll see in the city great thank you Mr pres if I if I could also elaborate on that uh as you know I serve on the massas association and not to speak ill of my fellow Mayors um you know we went into this budget session and the best part about this presentation uh Rich did a a very nice job and I think that you can all agree that he gave you as much possible information as you could attain I know that some of you may want to take a nap now but this this uh big forecast sheet here uh really lays it out when Rich and I sat down uh and the team sat down to go over the budget um to start in late February early March we started with a deficit and I think that that starts every single year we start with a deficit two three4 million and we find we try to shrink the Gap every single year uh this is technically my second budget but realistically uh most involved in this one than I more much more involved than than last year and every year the CFO and every city starts with a deficit and then they bring it in bring it in bring it in until they can present a balanced budget to you uh like we're going to on June 3rd so we brought that $2 to $3 million gap in February to $0 to bring a completely balanced budget to on June 3rd not to spill the beans I've been sitting with some of my colleagues $9 million gaps $10 million gaps overrides for nothing not for regular projects not for big big deals overrides in Melrose overrides in brain tree overrides across the Commonwealth for communities that decided that they didn't want to do anything 8 10 12 years ago and they wanted to sit stable Rivier fortunately had the had the foresight not to do that a lot of a lot of communities in Great Boston did that as well and they're sitting a little bit uh in a better better position than most but Mel I'm sorry brry has a $9.5 million budget Gap and there's going to be potential if they don't have an override there's going to be layoffs massive Riva doesn't have that problem so when you look at this sheet 10e forecast there's a few there's a few lean years and there's a few good years those are two and 3% of our budget I I look forward to that challenge and I Know Rich does too so we feel very confident about what we presented here thank you councelor McKenna thank you um Mr uh president um I just want to say thank you um I was one of the six that voted no last year I really do believe I in this probably people out there that don't agree with me but I really do believe that we really needed this year an extra year to absorve everything all the information I feel we didn't get enough information from last year and I think this year you've both been very Mr mayia you've been so transparent uh calling us in giving us the numbers Rich you've given us all kinds of uh data um I just think it's it's just wonderful that I have a better perception of what's going on and a better feeling a better feeling um I just want to ask Rich a question about hm and I don't know if you know this or not but um I know last year we talked about you were going to we had to wait six years before we would get the revenue from hym is that true or was or am I not talking um I mean if you if you look at the forecast um that I gave you the one page that is on the screen there's three I'm sorry if you can't read it let me uh all right so so we break it into three categories we got typical New Growth non hym large new growth and then hym suff new growth and that's for cast it out the non hm suff growth is based upon the numbers that they've given to um Dana and the assessment department and and I think pretty much everybody um who've listened at the um uh what What's the committee that you guys are on school building committee huh School building committee yeah not the school building committee the uh what's the committee what everybody that meets for the new projects site plan yeah site plan sorry one of a few committees I'm not on um so again the the the the forecasted growth numbers are based upon projects and uh Dana can probably speak to a lot of those individually but that goes from everything on the beach to in North Rivia to hm and Etc so uh again I think it's important for us to um keep those lines Communication open to make sure that these projects are progressing as uh as planned and if they are are not if it's delayed it could uh just be a timing issue what happens and that's when that High School stabilization account comes into play to to offset those spikes but the the the numbers you have before you the best numbers we have now but this this document will evolve every every every time someone comes in for a new building perimeter a new project so that's why I think it's important to have some subcommittees to get together keep on top of it so that we're all uh being best informed on on what this forecast is and what it should be okay so um I have a second question so um uh hym you know we're counting on phase one to be built in five six years whatever um that first building that's going up and they're opening it in June are we getting that tax revenue right away as soon as it opens well it it comes on as of June 30th of each fiscal year whatever percent completion they're at we tax them accordingly so so yeah the short answer is we're going to definitely start seeing some tax revenue you know we'll realize 100% of it when it comes on fully so that am I building down there you'll probably see full uh full growth numbers in 2020 26 or 27 excellent thank you thank you counselor councelor Areno thank you Mr President just a couple of questions uh the community preservation act uh that's matching funds from the state if we were to Institute that have you done any projections as to what that would cost the taxpayer well you can go up to 3% on the levy so if we're estimating $120 million a tax levy 3% of that would be 3.6 million and that doesn't include the matching funds from the Commonwealth um historically that number goes up and down the revenue that they get for that um CPA is based upon real estate transactions so I think last fiscal year you don't see a whole lot of match there because of the rates going up but I think once these rates come down and and uh there's a lot more transactions you'll see it you know it's been up to 100% match it's been as low as 22% but um I can get you historical figures I think I had that on one of the last uh presentations but so you you the cost to the taxpayer would be I think per million about $50 correct oh yeah if that if that was a question so per million so at three at 3 million 150 but if it was 1 million about $50 50 million quarterly or yearly $50 yearly or quarterly yearly oh okay um thank you Sor I wasn't sure I didn't know that was the angle you you were asking my apologies thank you thank you counselor counselor Kelly oh I just T oh I my apologies back to you Mr the uh the marijuana part of this uh is that something we have to change our zoning and then we we let developers or people that are interested know we're open for business uh I'd have to defer the the I don't have all the particular laws on that I think the first thing this Council has to do is reverse their vote that Bandit from here but um I think the zoning was already put in place so you might have to amend it depending on where you want it okay so we have to let people that are interested know we're we're ready for action here I would imagine so yes all right thanks and one more one one more question um the high school stabilization fund uh I I understand that the school department is like has an $8 million surplus uh can any of that money be put in the stabilization fund it it cannot because the uh we we fund the schools at the minimum net School spending requirements so um there's no if we if we diverted money into that stabilization we wouldn't meet the net School spending and then we just have to make up those funds in the in the next year so uh okay so that has to stay there that come back be kicked back okay yeah we're thinking more uh free cash uh okay uh and stuff like that or maybe some of these new recurring revenue streams could be DED you can dedicate revenue streams into that stabilization fund as well okay thank you thank you councelor councelor Kelly thank you Mr President um the projections that you got from hym with those originally like you haven't gotten any updated projections or anything like that so do you know how old those projections are when you receive them I'd have to refer them the chief assessor okay good evening sir name and address for the record please Dan Brer 40 assessor 281 Broadway uh so I usually have quarterly uh conversations with hym to kind of adjust their timeline for all the projects and has that been done recently so so the has so I guess the L latest the L latest projections that you received from them has it increased decreased um so these are probably about last conversation about a month ago um and I'd say it was pretty much the same since the last conversation they didn't move to a much of targets of when they expect to get going on some buildings and when they expect them to be complet so in the conversations that you have had since the beginning has they've all stayed the same or have they decreased at all over the time um no I mean there's definitely been some delays um I know they pilled a building permit for the foundation on the life science building um which hasn't happened yet um but as far as the apartment building that's up that's been pretty much online I know they pulled a building permit for the next phase of apartment buildings that's been pretty online to what they've projected okay but there has been a little bit of a it's you know it's hard to say it's a moving Target uh for them and certainly for us but we definitely track it you know very very closely okay all right um and I noticed the um this is probably for you Mr viske sorry um the the entry here that references um the Wonderland acquisition fee that is just the 29.5 million yes okay and then this might be a little off topic it's my last question I'm not sure I heard you mention MBTA a reference to MBTA very quickly do we pay fees to MBTA they're in here we sure do yeah do do you know how much they are or would they I do it's like yeah about $4.3 million I think it's an assessment through the so the state will give us money and then they take money so then we get done that amount and that um I can get you a copy what the the latest numbers are but that all comes through those Cherry sheets from the Commonwealth ah okay great thank you so much thank you counselor counselor sylvestri thank you Mr President um Mr thank you for coming up tonight Dana thank you for coming um I think the first question would be for you Mr v um so you I know you you said that you did uh all your projections with the current level of Staff have we done any projections on the possibility of fire in and uh police that we could potentially need years like do you know like possibly next year we'll be hiring four the year after we're looking to hire three like have you added that into this at all like I said I have not for the purposes of this I mean every year we typically budget a few more firefighters a few more police officers you will see that again this year but the I didn't want to get into projecting amounts of firefighters and police again there's you know with the mayor being somewhat new that th those types of discussions have to be between the mayor and the police and fire chiefs and then we could start to build those in but for purpose of this I didn't want to stop making too many assumptions that we're going to need x amount of police offic x amount of firefighters I just want to use a a solid base based upon our fiscally at 25 budget thank you and uh I think this question would be for for you Dana um when when you do your assesses um your assessments uh would you say that you're um assessing at like the the the normal are you are you below average average higher like when when you take an assessment are you assessing more on the safer side or or is there room could there be what I'm I guess what I'm getting at is could we have stuff out there that's more worth more than what we're I mean we have to be at full and fair cash value and it's all it's all uh approved by the you know Department of Revenue through the state so okay there's tons of checks and Bales each year to make sure that assess values are you know where they're supposed to be and there's tons of Statistics that we have to run through um to to prove those out every year thank you thank you councelor councelor counc sylvestri I do just to answer to him as well just let to let you know and they do a very good job but lo you do know every time there's a good sale out there I I let them know on I'm talking on the commercial values thank you Council Zan buo uh thank you Mr President and uh rich thank you for your presentation I wouldn't want your job um I'm obviously not convinced and and and I don't want to pretend that I feel better after seeing your presentation it's it's well done it's it's uh their projections um I see problems I see problems in public safety limiting it to 4% that we talked about that way back and it still hasn't changed the projections are the projections and and uh I'm not going to say I don't believe them that I'm hoping your projections stay uh what you said and and U but the bottom line is that without reducing services without limiting public saf safety and all the other things that come along with this I don't think we can afford it that's my position it's I could be wrong just like anybody could be wrong but I have a great fear for the taxpayer and you know it goes back to the whole school building program that I disagreed with taking property off the tax roll and spending this kind of money I you know I I hope you're right we're certainly not going to build this High School on marijuana okay and and that's come up as a theme like holy crap marijana is going to pay this half a billion dollar debt it ain't going to happen uh anyways that's not that's that's not the point I'm trying to make I'm my fears are still here and and you did a great job and and I like the way you rolled everything to the back end to you didn't you didn't throw the pay the throw in my face at the beginning very very good job and listen I think you're one of the best in the state for for a CFO for a municipality so I I appreciate you I appreciate what you did and you did what you have to do to present this to this body but this is one guy that's not convinced thank you thank you councelor permission to council president just to on the public safy end I just want to make sure for your for your knowledge I meet with both Chiefs very often and uh we both have a very common goal in mind to make sure that they're at the full compliment specifically the fire to make sure that they're when the station is open they have the full compliment of employees to staff it and there's a four-year plan in place that that uh uh Rich uh just was putting some rough numbers in there but uh we we are all in agreement uh chief chief brigh will let you know he's he he he's very confident in what we're going to do for his department and of course the police department as well thank you okay I appreciate that except uh except for the fact that inflation is is 6% we're we're talking 4% so that's that's a cut you know I I know my Democrat friends usually act like that but in this instance I have to say that 4% is a cut and and that's you when you a 30 employee to a new a whole projection all over the the place that God forbid the projections don't come in the revenues don't come in we we're we're up the creek anyways and and then then we're into the the threat situations where we got to talk override and and all this other stuff I just want everybody understand what we're into here I know we're going forward with this project and and we've talked about the other pitfalls that could be out there and and we're not going to get into any of that but I have a lot of fear over this project and the fear is not for me I'm an old guy I'm worried about the taxpayers I'm worried about the young families out there thanks thanks thank you councelor permission to speak from the chair thank you uh thank you very much for the presentation tonight and thank you both Mr Mayor Rich everybody every Department really for making themselves so available uh to the council and just to reiterate what councelor McKenna said it has been much much different this time around um I won't get too much into digging up the past uh rich I know it's difficult to do projections out 10 years or even five years so thank you for doing that and and I think for me this is a risk we all know it's a Financial Risk but it's being made more comfortable to take it and that's what this whole process is and that's why I couldn't agree more I know councelor McKenna councelor sylvestri have said it we needed this year we absolutely needed this year I don't care what anyone says I don't care how anyone felt or feels now this Council deserved what we got this time around so I want to thank you thank you very much um does anyone else have anything else they would like to ask there will be an opportunity for discussion on the 20th I'm assuming and um if anyone has any questions send your emails you know make make sure you communicate yes send them all to Mayor Keef uh Mr President thank you very much for hearing us tonight and again yes you have us you have our unlimited time until you need to make that decision and believe it or not and and Miss Kelly will tell you that year actually we got some better numbers and we're hoping that those numbers even continue to get better if msba reimbursements change even more in the next couple years which I get a feeling they might thank you very much this concludes tonight's city council meeting we are no we have go ahead councelor they point of information and if I may thank you yes uh Mr President last week uh this council with the mayor proclaimed May is uh Jewish heritage month and today happens to be uh days of remembrance uh of the Holocaust and during yashwa which is these days of remembrance we mourn The Six Million Jews who were symptomatically targeted and murdered in a holocaust one of the dark darkest chapters in human history we also mourn the Roma the cyti the slaves people with disability lgbq TI people racial minorities and political dissidents who were killed and endured abuse by the Nazis and their collaborators as well as those who risked or lost their lives to protect others we honor the memories of the victims the courage of of the survivors the hero heroism of those who stood up to the Nazis we remember 9/11 and we Rec commit ourselves to make real the promise of never again for all genocides committed the charge has never been more urgent than the aftermath of Hamas vicious attack on October 7th the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust among the 12200 innocent people who were slaughtered in the hundreds taken hostage were elderly survivors of the showah the Holocaust who were forced to relive the horrors they thought they had escaped decades ago the US government is working tirelessly to free the hostages who have been held by H Hamas for over half a year and as I have said to their families we will not rest until we bring their bring them home and that was a state statement by President Biden while Jews across the country and around the world are still coping with the trauma of that day and its aftermath we have seen an alarming Surge and anti-Semitism at home and abroad that resurfaces painful scar of Millennia of anti-Semitism and hate against Jewish people this includes harassment and calls for violence against Jews in our schools in our communities and online this blatant anti-Semitism is reens and dangerous anti-em anti-semitic or any other type of hate speech any type of hate speech has absolutely no place on college campuses or anywhere else in our country As Americans we cannot stay silent as Jews are attacked harassed and and targeted we must also forcefully push back attempts to ignore deny distort or revise the history of Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust or the mass murders and other atrocities committed on October 7th included including the appalling and unforg unforgivable use of rape and sexual assault to terrorize and torture Jewish women and girls during these somber days of remebrance we mourn the lives of typic of tragically stolen in the showa the Holocaust the 9/11 and October 7th we hold the Jewish Community close to our hearts we recom commit to remember so that what happened can never be erased some injustices are so highness horrific and Grievous that they cannot be buried no matter how hard the people try in silence wounds deepen but in remembrance comes healing Justice and repair toward those aims we must all forcefully act against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate fueled violence no matter who it is as we do we honor the courage strength and resilience of the Jewish people who have inspired the world for Generations by turning pain into purpose healing into hope and darkness into light President Biden has proclaimed May 5th through May 12th a week of observance of the days of remembrance of the Holocaust of the victims of the Holocaust and calls upon the people of the United States including re to observe this week to pause to remember victims and survivors of the Holocaust and we urge our school systems not to hide these atrocities and teach them in our schools so nobody will forget never again thank you thank you counselor the meeting is adjourned e --------- good afternoon the legislative affairs subcommittee has come to order please join me in a salute to the flag the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands Nation God indivisible liy and justice for all rooll CL of the members councelor Gino SAA here councelor hero is absent councelor Kelly here here councelor sylvestri here here and chairman agenzio here here Quorum is present first item on tonight's agenda is Council order 24- 086 in order ordinance further amending the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier relative to the term of the superintendent of Public Works name and address for the record please Claren zerillo 281 um I almost said Riv Street Broadway uh as you can see from the cover letter we submitted to this subcommittee um per count chairman or jenio as well as Chris tra's recommendations at the last meeting we added oh I'm on the wrong way one this is the superintendent of superintendent sorry so per everyone's recommendations at the last meeting we've added in language um matching our other coterminous position in the city uh so we request that this body approve language stating that the Department of Public Works shall be under the general supervision of a superintendent who shall be appointed by the mayor subject to city council confirmation the superintendent of Public Works Shall Serve for a term of 4 years co-terminus with the four-year term of the mayor and until the superintendent successor is duly appointed and qualified I know that council president cogliandro raised very valid concerns over whether that position would be booted um if a mayor were to resign or something happened and I hope in my explanation to you chairman that we believe that we are prepared to defend that that appointment would go through because when a mayor's appointed or when a mayor is elected for example 2024 to 2028 they appoint all throughout their term and if it's a co-terminus term that lives out the mayor's term regardless of whether that specific mayor is there or not so we were pretty confident um it hasn't been tested yet everyone's been safe so far but we are pretty confident that that co-terminus appointment would be attached to the term not necessarily the mayor that is sitting in that chair thank you very much any uh members wishing to speak members of the public roll call for a favorable recommendation to adopt the amended language as reported by Claire councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor hero is absent councelor Kelly yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes and chairman Areno yes yes the amended ordinance will be reported out favorably excellent thank you next up is Council order number 24- 091 in ordinance further amending the revised ordinances of the city of R relative to Food Truck regulations there were some amendments uh proposed by councelor noal selski and councelor McKenna if you could read those into the record the First Amendment offered by councelor Kenna is to strike section in 5.10.5 subsection 3 areas and hours of operation limitations Bennington Street East Side only at or near Jimmy Kimberly Park north of Crescent ab and south of winb not to exceed two food trucks at that at this location at any one time the request is to strike that language from that Ordinance do we formally have to adopt that you do all in favor all oppos okay okay all in favor all oppose all right councelor noveli has also submitted um several um amendments to the proposed ordinance as follows section 5.1. 0504 Northshore Road East Side only between Centennial LA and tone Street not to exceed two F food trucks at this location at any one time Council noeli sel's amendment is as follows reduce the number of food trucks allowed from 2: to 1 and strike at any one time and insert and place thereof for special events only and then I can go through all of his amendments as presented the Second Amendment is as follows section 5.1.0 55 Shirley Avenue Southside only at the city of Rivier Municipal parking lot east of nant Av and west of Walden not to exceed two F food trucks at this location at any one time reduce the number of food trucks at the location from 2 to 1 amendment number three section 5.10.5 hours and area I'm sorry areas and hours of operation limitations is hereby amended by inserting a new location as follows Shirley Avenue Southside only between Walden Street and Northshore road in front of 161 Shirley AV not to exceed one food truck at this location at any one time and lastly section five 10.06 parking requirements is hereby amended by inserting a new subsection as follows new subsection D food trucks shall be detached from any vehicle when stopped or parked for the purpose of conducting business Vehicles which tow the food truck shall relocate to any other available legal parking space so as not to unnecessarily take a parking spaces located in front of brick and mortar businesses Vehicles shall be subject to all parking regulations including but not limited to metered and timed parking spes thank you wish to speak uh counselor I do Mr chairman iron noeli 53d H Street um I've asked for these issues on shely have to be adjusted I've had complaints from some of the business owners regarding some of the uh the way the uh food trucks are being parked and keeping their vehicles the uh trailers tied connected to the TR uh cars so we're trying to correct that one thing I I would like to add is U like to adjust the time of the shirle AV um locations from 11: to 900 p.m. with the caveat as um as determined by the License Commission so this this way if somebody has a problem they can bounce them back to 8:00 right now they think that 8:00 is the time that they stop even because that's the way it's worded and I know I we had discussions with the clerk that there is um some uh variance that they can do but they their thoughts are it's 8:00 so we'd like to make it 9 o' just to uh give them that flexibility Okay so could to add that on to it shle so the amendment would be um there would be a new sub I'm sorry a new section under hours indicating that the Shirley Avenue locations may go to 900 p.m at the discretion of the License Commission correct okay okay thank thank you thank you okay Council novasi's Amendment oh counc sylvestri thank you Mr chairman uh just a quick question Mr chairman um maybe you to Madame clerk do we know um if any of these amendments if sworn in is going to impact someone immediately like they they're going to have to stop business immediately I can't speak to that I believe that would be a question for the city solicitor to answer okay and if we pass this vote on it tonight will it go into effect immediately upon the mayor signing it okay thank you councelor McKenna thank you Mr chairman um there's two locations now that um food trucks can go um I think the DCR gave seven spots two on Ocean a five on the riv Beach I don't think you need to have a permit oh you don't you do need to have a permit but they're giv it to rever Res residence um the other thing is um the uh hym is doing a food truck Park they don't need you don't need a permit for that anybody can come I already talked to him about that he said any truck could come and they have they don't have to run their generator they they will supply electricity so and is that happening fairly soon um it should be happening soon uh they called me last week and said it was going to be opening for the summer so I could find out definitely but I mean it wouldn't if it if this happens immediately like I'm asking for the TR food truck to be off of Bennington street because what happens is he's parked there 5:00 6:00 7:00 that's the busiest hours people can't get into um they can't get out of Beachmont because they have to go around in the the traffic's backed up all the way to Beachmont uh school so people have been complaining so but I wouldn't want to put anybody out of business so I'm really trying to get an alternative thank you thank you councelor greu I have a question for Council noeli the location on Shirley Avenue are there residents around there are there residential apartments that are around that location that you want to keep open till 9:00 p.m. uh there is across the street but over the last year that it's been in effect we've had one complaint uh person was complaining about the generator and the the small food truck it's a trailer uh got a new generator and it's a lot quiet we haven't heard any complaints in about 4 months I'm just concerned if there's children living in those apartments that they would have to it would you know imped in their bedtime no they were not okay thank you the Amendments proposed by Council noval seli all in favor all opposed all right on the ordinance as amended for a favorable recommendation on the fu Chuck regulation ordinance as amended councel Gino SAA yes yes councel Heria is absent councelor Kelly yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes and chairman Areno yes yes the ordinance as amended will be sent to the city council this evening with a favorable [Music] recommendation Council order 24-23 an ordinance further amending the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier relative to Street and sidewalk opening permits during winter months thank you members wishing to speak how you doing Chris Chella assistant superintendent 319 treasure street thank you so since we last spoke we did update that ruling to include the winter excavation fee to only be $500 what is it okay in the case of an emergency in the case of an emergency okay y excellent everyone comfortable with that roll call all in favor all opposed on the amendment as am okay roll call on the ordinance as amended on the favorable recommendation on the street and sidewalk opening ordinance as amended councelor greo SAA yes yes councel har is absent councelor Kelly yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes and chairman Areno yes yes the ordinance will receive a favorable recommendation to the city council this evening thank you I just want to put on the record for any contractors or homeowners at home uh if this is approved by the council does not go into effect until November 14th of this year okay thank you and lastly Council order 24137 an ordinance relative to appendix Table Three salaries of the revised ordinances of the city of rier also known as the parody salary ordinance thank you all right Claren zerillo 281 Broadway solicitor's office um based off of the updated cover letter you all should have I'm going to quickly go over the changes with one new comment I have for you all at the end um I know the city clerk provided you I think it's highlighted the last minute changes that we got from the auditing Department which amended a few titles SL salary amounts that are in those tables uh we removed the 3% that was incorrectly in those second and fourth columns in subsection F we did the same thing just another logistical removal of a column we added the traffic commission clerk um which counselor ganino had requested and we added in new subsection H increases in perpetuity at the very end um this should hopefully address um the concerns that were expressed over having to do this over and over again and then the one update I have uh with Rich vke here is that with this council's approval this is a very last minute Amendment we would request of you all to flip to section e salary schedule this is the big one the big table non-elected employees not represented by a collective baring agreement for the sake of uniformity and consistency we thought it best as they were going through the budget to add in the fire chief to that table so we would like to propose an amendment to this subcommittee to add in a row underneath police chief in that table and to provide for fire chief and when the city clerk is ready I have those numbers to read out loud okay under the first column 3%-5% 0.75% D 7124 we would like to add 152 652 third column will be not applicable due to Cola which Rich can explain and then we have the subsequent updates for the 16-year step table when the city clerk is ready so underneath police chief we request that we add in a row for fire chief for the 16-year step table uh column labeled 3%-5% July 1st 2024 column would read 160 285 and we request that this subcommittee consider that Amendment along with the other ones and we thank you for your patience as we've gone a little bit back and forth with you all uh rich is here to answer any questions about those amendments as well okay thank you any uh members with any questions for Mr bis any comments you like to make uh just uh uh clarify out Rich fuk CFO 281 Broadway um there was a little communic uh a little um confusion because the chief is a civil service Chief that's why we initially left them off the list but it also looked like he was the only one of every employee to be left off the list so we did a little research on civil service Chiefs and um we feel it uh appropriate to put uh his base salary in here so that we have consistency the only reason why we're not putting the 3% in there because He follows the fire department's calls and raises and we have not settled that contract yet so once they settle that contract we can amend it but that's why we're only going to the second column so just wanted to clarify why we did that okay thank you any councilor Kelly thank you um director of Dei is is it not on here that's a unit a management position in the contract okay thank you any other comments on the amendment oh sure go ahead councelor sylvestri thank you um did did is the veteran service officer on this list he's also a unit a um member too so these are the exempts okay thank you any further comments on the amendment all in favor all opposed I favor excuse me a uh roll call with a favorable recommendation shall the legislative affairs subcommittee offer a favorable recommendation for adoption of the parody salary ordinance as amended councelor Gino SAA yes yes councel hero is absent councelor Kelly yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes and chairman Areno yes yes this will be forwarded to the full city council with a favorable recommendation there's no further business thank you legislative subcommittee has adjourned thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening welcome to the May 6th Committee of the whole subcommittee please rise to salute the flag I to of the United States of America the for stands na indivisible with liy and justice for all rooll Club the members of the committee of the whole councelor agenzio here here councelor janino here here councelor greo SAA here here councelor H here here councelor hero is absent councelor Kelly here here councelor McKenna here here councelor noeli here here councilor sylvestri here here councilor zambuto here here and council president Cog Leandro here here corm is present at this time we are going to take a roll call to enter executive session uh pursuant to Mass General laws chapter 30A section 21 A3 city council will meet an executive session for the purpose of discussing the ongoing eminent domain litigation relative to the Wonderland site um the city council will not reconvene an open session at the conclusion of the executive session the regular meeting of the Rivier city council following executive session will begin at 6 PM this evening uh Madame clerk please take a roll call shall the city council enter into executive session councelor aeno yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor Haro is absent councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councel noveli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes councelor zambuto yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes