i pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to to the republic for which it stands One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all The clerk call the role
Council Teneri Garcia present Councelor Jimenez River present Councelor Cupro Council Taylor here Councelor Robinson here Council Tesher is absent Council Kelly Garcia is absent Councilor Santig present Council Vega is absent Councelor
Brown here and council with President Dave Sus is absent Seven members present You have a quorum Mr Chair Vice President Thank you First item we have a memorial and celebratory resolution introduced by the council president and all members of the
city council for women's history month Whereas throughout the history of the United States whether in the home or the workplace in schools courts or during wartime women have fought for themselves their families and all people of the United States And whereas in 1980 President Jimmy Carter recognized the
first week of March as women's history week noting that while men and women worked together to build this nation too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed And whereas Congress formally declared March Women's History Month in
1987 and President Ronald Reagan issued a corresponding presidential proclamation And whereas women played leading roles in the abolitionist movement the emancipation movement labor movements the civil rights movement and countless other causes to create a more fair and just society for all And
whereas Janette Ranken Republican of Montana elected to the House of Representatives in 1916 and Haiti Carowway of Arkansas elected to the Senate in 1932 were the first women elected to Congress And whereas here in Massachusetts Susan Fitzgerald a Democrat of Jamaica Plane and Sylvia
Donaldson Republican of Brockton were the first women elected to the state house in 1923 while Sabil Holmes Republican of Brooklyn was the first woman elected to the state senate in 1937 And whereas despite the advancements women have accomplished much remains to be done to ensure they
realize their full potential as equal members of our society Now therefore be it resolved that the Chelsea City Council recognizes March 2025 as Women's History Month in the city of Chelsea acknowledging the achievements of women throughout our nation's history and urging all residents to take time to
reflect on the many notable contributions women have made to the United States Is there a motion on the floor Adopt this unanimously under suspension If there are no objections seeing no objections I'd like to speak if I can Mr Chair Pardon Thank you counselor Thank you Mr
Chairman Um again this is a great resolution Our president actually offered this She's out sick tonight So it goes to show that we still have great women working amongst us here So um I think it it's a worthy resolution that we should recognize It goes to show that
we recognize the work and the sacrifice that's made not only yesterday and years ago but continue to be made every day by our women you know whether they're amongst us on the city council the school boards the presidents the governors here in our commonwealth in
the United States of America Um we go and we salute them as it was stated Um former President Jimmy Carter recognized this in 1987 where we can celebrate the women history and we got like I said we got amazing folks here We just had a
women I believe it was our first women's um conference this past Saturday where we had a lot of women's there and they were doing great things and continue to do great things I'm honored to speak on it because moreover it gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the achievements the work that's being done
not only in Chelsea but other communities across the country and also the history of um the contribution that's been made by so many women brave women to giving up dedicated their lives sacrificed so much to be beyond mothers
you know we think of women the first thing we think of I do myself speaking personally here my mother If it wasn't for her guidance and her um dedication and sacrifice I wouldn't be here And I'm sure many of us whether we're on the city council in the audience or just
listening out from home that we credit our mothers And again that's a woman So we celebrate and recognize the work that they've done and the opportunity to acknowledge them is this month here mother's um women's um month All month all month we can celebrate it Thank you
Mr Chairman Councelor Coopo Uh the only thing I can say is women create life I I my wife is the greatest thing and I have eight daughters and to me they're the greatest gift they could give me They're
stubborn they're intelligent they have a mind of their own and they're more caring than men are Without them it wouldn't be none of us So I thank God every day for my mother that made me in the beginning All men should do that
because without women there wouldn't be none of us And I thank my wife for being the best part of me and I thank my daughters for being the best part that I made including with my wife So I thank all the women and God bless you and just
keep on doing what you're doing Thank you Councelor Garcia Hi good evening Um I am a proud Latina woman Um I want to thank all the women
in my life who have molded me and have been pillars to my success and and some of our community success Um this month should be celebrated every
day I mean we I wish we were paid to be moms to be sisters to be moms grandmas everything Um I think our workload is a lot and um and sometimes
undersseen So we appreciate the city's um contribution to put in us in every decision making that the city has made thus far Um and I think we're headed in
the right direction So thank you Seeing no more speakers Next we move on to public speaking Is there any public speakers Hi Go up right over here to the microphone and give your name and
address please Okay Hi my name is Sandy Maynard I live at 52 Chester A and Chelsea and um I'm here advocating for the Sunflower Garden at the end of Marboro Street for our community enhancement team project Um as I understand it there's not enough people
here to vote on it tonight but I do want to thank you for your thoughtful and careful consideration on this important issue for our community enhancement team and I hope that the members who are out today with the flu recover fast Thank
you Any other speakers Seeing none we'll close that portion of the meeting Next order of business Next we have approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of the city council dated February 24th 2025 Move to approve the
uh meeting minutes Accept and file under suspension Yes there's no objection Accept file Yep Under minutes So ordered Next we move on to communications from the city manager First communication
received from the city manager responding to council order 2519 John Ruiz statue Dear councilors I'm writing in response to council order 2519 requesting that a statue of John Ruiz be placed in John Ruiz Park At our last council meeting I shared the exciting news that we have signed a memorandum of
understanding with Embrace Boston to establish a new monument at Chelsea Square We continue to work with Embrace in earnest to create a transformational monument in Chelsea Square Embrace Boston has worked with other communities on similar efforts most recently the town of Great Bington to create a monu
memorial to web devo Our goal is to align the opening of this monument with the reconstruction of our downtown and the renovation of Chelsea Square While we are excited to share our progress in the Chelsea Square monument we understand that the city council would like to pursue a statue of John Ruiz Park in parallel I will be asking our
deputy city manager of operations Deon Fields and our arts and culture manager to pursue a statue of John Ruiz Park We will provide updates to the city council as soon as we are able to Thank you for your ongoing support Accept and file the communication if there's no objection
So order Next we have a communication received from the city manager responding to council order 2522 fire hydrant Lind Street and Suffach Street Dear councilors I'm writing in response to council order 2522 requesting an update on the fire hydrant located at Lind
Street and Suffach Street I have confirmed with our commissioner of public works that this fire hydrant is currently operational Our water and sewer team received a report of the hydrant having low pressure After investigating the issue our water and sewer team found a closed valve on the intersection of Highland Street and
Suffach Street The pressure currently meets that minimum required fire flow of 35 PSI Our water and sewer team completes completed a thorough inspection of all hydrants in our city twice per year as part of our hydrant flushing program This inspection is to ensure the fire hydrants meet our fire
flow requirements We will ensure that this particular hydrant is prioritized going forward Thank you for your ongoing support Accept them Any case like to speak on it You have the floor counselor Um so from what I'm gathering the fire
hydrant works and it's functional and has enough pressure in case of a fire happened So I come they still have a black bag over it They still have a black bag that it says you can't use it So if it's functional and it meets the standard it should be opened and everybody should
you shouldn't have a it shouldn't be covered And uh from my understanding is that fire hydrant didn't have enough pressure you it has 35 the minimum Is that the minimum or the highest So that's the only one that's in that whole street There's no other hydrant on
Suffach Street but that hydrant So if that has low water pressure how you going to how you going to go down to the other end if you needed to or the ones behind you Well that that's the question It says it's operational Okay Then take
the black bag off of it and make sure that it does work Thank you Next order Next communication received from the city manager responding to council order 2524 grant research and assistance Dear councilors I'm writing in response to council order 2524
requesting that the city support local businesses by helping them apply for grants Our department of housing and community development has been working on this through Omar Miranda and the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce In collaboration with the chamber our team will ensure businesses are aware of opportunities and provide support with
applications These grants could include empower digital grant program administered by the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation Imagine grant assisting small businesses in enhancing their digital capabilities Application resources are available in multiple languages the BISM empower crowdfunding
program which provides financial assistance to small businesses for facility improvements equipment purchases or other capital needs through crowdfunding campaigns Businesses can access this program directly through the SPTA providers The Massachusetts State Small Business Credit Initiative which
offers loans ranging from $100,000 to $10 million for various purposes including equipment purchase and real estate acquisition The program focuses on businesses owned by socially or economically disadvantaged individuals The Massachusetts Development Finance Agency provides financing and real
estate development services to stimulate economic growth including grants and loans for small businesses And the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network which offers resources and guidance on various state and local grants available to small businesses Our Department of Housing and Community
Development is also launching a digital marketing support program and a small business support program over the next few months We will provide updates to the city council as soon as we are able Thank you for your ongoing support You have the floor counselor Thank you Thank you Mr Chairman I just want to
speak on behalf of my colleague Tess um councelor Tess He's very um concerned about this he brought this together I know he's been working with the city manager in his absence tonight I'll be remissed if I didn't get up and say anything We have the um director from
the chamber of commerce here Um obviously I'm sure they're interested in what we're doing here I'm glad the city manager was able to give us a follow up on the request of the order and u just um note that when those opportunities come when they should be um finding
about the grants or the opportunity for the funding please make um our director of the um chamber available and also aware of it Thank you and again I wanted to speak on behalf of my colleague Next communication Next communication
from the city manager responding to council order 2525 special permit for downtown businesses Dear counselors I am writing a response to council order 2525 requesting that the city issue a special permit to each business making them exempt from parking enforcement After a
preliminary review we do not believe that our current parking regulations allow for the special permit While we can propose new parking regulations I want to share my initial thoughts on the request Parking enforcement in densely populated areas is performed to create vehicle turnover This was the intent
when the city of Chelsea created a two-hour parking limit in our downtown several years ago Prior to this rule a particular vehicle could sit at a parking spot on Broadway all day and as long as the meter was fed they did not need to move I fear that creating this special permit would go against the
spirit of our current parking regulations Mr President Mr President President uh move to wave the rest of the reading and uh accept and file under communication if there are no objections Seeing none counselor
go ahead Um again I just want to thank again the director for being here A lot of these come right in the order We want to make sure that the business community and the direction of what the city's working together is trying to alleviate some of the the hardcore um um
frustration that's going down there and I understand that the order states that he we have done what we can do and what we can't do is stated but again um we also complain about all the vehicles as was mentioned down there to take all that parking up So again um my colleague
who um proposed this is not here On behalf of him I'm speaking on this Thank you Next communication Next communication received responding to council order 2527 collaboration with local parking lots Dear councilors I am writing in
response to council order 2527 requesting that the city coordinate with local property owners to make parking available during weekends I am happy to report that we have made one very positive connection in this effort Specifically two local businesses were connected so that parking could be made available for special events We have
also reached out to Chelsea District Court to request use of the parking lot for overnight parking of residents Unfortunately the district court shared concerns with residents not removing their vehicles in the morning and disrupting start time of the court We will continue to engage them to see if this issue can be resolved We have also
reached out to the state to request that the parking lot on Fifth Street and Arlington Street be made available for resident parking This parking lot has been underutilized over the past few years and would greatly benefit our downtown businesses Will you provide Mr Chair Uh move to wave the rest of the reading accept communications If there
are no objections chairman thank you Again um this is another uh I don't want to call it an eyesore but this is another issue that u frustrate the business community and also the residents there But appreciate what the city man has done I read it
earlier Um we got some we got a little a little bit of break here But with the courts people have to understand if you're not going to be out of their parking lot at certain time is an issue liability of towing and park and and moving the cars And they just couldn't grant us that So we did try I know the
city manager we had conversation is working on it but we did get a piece of a little piece of some of the other parking lots Thank you Next communication received from the city manager responding to council order 2528 providing a grant for the chamber of commerce Dear councilors I'm writing
in response to council order 2528 requesting that the city provide a grant to the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce I am incredibly supportive of our chamber of commerce and the incredible work the team does The chamber of commerce has been incredibly supportive during the downtown Broadway construction project The chamber's involvement throughout the
project is instrumental to ensuring the success of the project The city has supported the chamber through a grant funded by ARPA that expires on June 30th 2025 The city would fully support continuing this funding Mr Chair uh move to wave the rest of the ring accept and file under communication if there are no
objections uh needs to be moved to ways and needs This is just the communication I think Correct And if I can kind of just briefly u speak on it You have the floor Um actually I did have the opportunity to attend the um meeting on
Thursday night at um the Holiday Inn at the chamber did and they recognized four people two local businesses Um one was the brown jug the one was delicious um um Salvadorians They recognized um legacy
award for Bruce Mark and a lifetime achievement award for Peter Zach And um the event was sold out and Jay Ash was the speaker and everybody who was there had a wonderful time I just want to
thank the chamber for all they do for the community Councelor Sanagate Thank you Mr Chairman I just wanted to uh state for the record that I really endorse this I have been
able to attend the community outreach meetings at the chamber that happen once a month and have also been involved in other activities that they have um put together and supported and I can't say enough about the hard work of the staff
and the opportunities that they have made available not only for the business community but for the community at large So I just wanted to to say that I am in full agreement with this idea to continue your funding
Um councelor Garcia um I also want to echo what uh my fellow colleague has mentioned Um the work that has been seen over the last three years at the chamber
is impeccable and incredible Uh I want to thank Jen Hassel for putting our community first and really understanding the community and allowing our business
owners to feel comfortable and we thank you We thank you and I'm in full support of this grant Um it is so much needed I have never seen that place Um I I always used to see it empty I'm sorry
I'll be honest Um but there's always people there People speak very highly of the work that's been done and continue happening So we thank you Councelor Brown Thank you Mr Chairman Again I just echo real quickly
and first and foremost want to shout out to our city manager I know many of us as city councilors we go into his office and we talk about these things and the response we get back is very encouraging and let him it's part of our priorities Uh again he gives the response we get
the orders So um we are we we are really um blessed to have Jen um and her leadership team What's been done over the last few years here uh it's just a really encouraging to have bring the um the chamber together It's really now over the last few years a piece of our
community Before it was like you know we would go to installment dinners and we grow things but now we have really activities If there's a an event up in Ali's park or one of the parks they're there to supporting whether it's with the ice cream truck or just having
community engagement So um we all here I speak for us all here we all support what's being done with our business community and the head of our business community is the big agent behind it which is the chamber of commerce And we grateful to the city manager listening to us whether it's individually or if
it's just at these meetings Thank you Next communication Next communication received from the city manager responding to council order 2529 increase funding for storefront improvement program Dear councilors I'm writing in response to council order 2529 requesting the city increase the
amount of funding provided to small businesses through the storefront improvement program Our team is incredibly proud of the storefront improvement program This program serves to beautify our downtown increases the pride in our local businesses and provides a boost to the local economy by enhancing downtown properties This
program has been tested over several years and we have a playbook that works We agree wholeheartedly that the funding should be increased for this impactful grant Mr Mr Chair uh moves to wave the rest of the reading accept and follow a communication that there are no objections This is coming up under new business
Councelor Recupo this was a few years ago We did this to help the businesses and create a better environment in Broadway so people can go shopping more This is good that they're going to approve more money but I I I kind of hope that this will be put more
towards more stores fronts instead of just a few because last time it was a minimal amount Maybe this time we can share it and more of the storefronts can get more and maybe get Broadway to look a little better than it does cuz some of
those business there need this type of help And I hope the city does and it creates even a better and more funds for it and will create a better environment for the people to go shopping in in Broadway And what I would like to see is be spread more over Instead of one or
two people give it to more people Instead of giving one 20,000 maybe give them 10,000 and split it between the rest so more of these people can get help Thank you C Councelor San Thanks Mr Chairman Um I
agree wholeheartedly with councelor Recupo Um I think that we should try and improve the storefronts of as many businesses as possible And right now the ones that have been improved are really beautiful But unfortunately it also has
the downside of making the others look more downtrodden just because there's a big comparison with you know one sign that's just has neon and is lit up and others that just don't have uh what it
takes at this point So I really think we should try to uh put as much money as possible as we can especially since these businesses have really been struggling Um so again yes
Next commun communication Next communication received from the city manager responding to council order 2531 red markings at the corner of Congress Avenue and Park Street Dear councilors I am writing in response to council order 2531 requesting the city provide an explanation for red markings at the
corner of Congress Avenue and Park Street The council may remember that in 2019 the council directed the department of public works to create better delineation in Park Street in front of the Polo Comparero restaurant At the time we did not have adequate lines on the street to guide traffic through the
intersection DPW hired a traffic consultant TEC to design the lines on the street The focus was vehicle and pedestrian safety When the design was completed the city applied to the shared streets and spaces grant program from MASDOT to install the signage DBW went
before the traffic and parking commission to get the design approved These markings were also to test out the eventual alignment of curbing that will be implemented as a part of the reconstruction for this area being funded by the state tip program I did discuss the specific red markings around
Kates's bagels with our commissioner of public works Our commissioner believes that we can reduce the red markings at the crosswalk and potentially fit one more parking spot Our commissioner will be looking into this and in the coming months we will report her findings to the city council when they are available Thank you for your ongoing support
Accept and file the communication like to speak on it You have the floor councelor Cooper Um I hope the people are that are watching this can understand exactly what the red markings are for because some of them ask me questions and they say that it takes the
parking away In some ways it does It takes parking but that's what they were for It may be in some cases where the parking is necessary Maybe like this states the DPW commissioner
can look at it and see if there's a reason maybe we can eliminate those red markings and bring parking back So this was done on the purpose of the people to understand what the red markings were for and that it doesn't necessarily mean that the red markings can stay there all
the time They could be removed like it says here if it's warranted So whoever needs something they should call and say and then the city will look at and say if it's warranted to remove it If it is it could be removed So this tells you
that the red markings is not a permanent thing Thank you Next communication Next communication from the city manager responding to council order 2532 status of the city's housing rehabilitation program Dear councilors I am writing in response to
council order 2532 requesting the city provide a status of funding on the housing rehabilitation program Our department of housing and community development is working to launch our next housing program The program will be launched with $200,000 from the workforce housing rehabilitation program
funded through a previous city council appropriation We expect to launch the program in the spring of 2025 Our director of housing and community development has noted that using community development block grant funds makes housing rehabilitation programs restrictive in terms of who can be
supported in a higher administrative burden in using CDBG funds to administer housing rehab programs In order to support a larger number of residents and to continue housing rehabilitation programs in the city we will approach the city council for additional funding We will first use the $200,000 that was
previously allocated Thank you for your ongoing support accept and file their communication like to speak on it You have the floor councelor Um I put this order in to understand because there's two programs One is HUD program which
follows a standard of HUD and the other one is a program that the city implemented which t homeowners don't have to they don't need to have a HUD tenant in their house to qualify for these type of funds But through the years it's been very minimal Many
minimal people have gotten it And my desire and I hope the desire of the rest of the council is that more homeowners in the city of Chelsea will get the opportunity to be able to fix their houses because a lot of them cannot afford it and they if you have these
funds why not give it to more people Because in the last five years like I stated before only two people two people were the ones that were able to get these funds What this I hope what this does it creates more opportunities for
homeowners and when they go down there uh there's an order that I put before if you don't understand how to fill the form they have a specific person there that will help you fill the forms So when you go there you ask for them to help you fill the forms because in the
past people have gone there filled the forms and have gone back and said you didn't fill it right or you're missing something So when you go there you ask for the person that's downstairs I think they do have someone that caters to that So go ask for that person and that
person will help you fill the form the way it's supposed to be So when you go back they not going to tell you They'll have to tell you the reason why you didn't get it not because you didn't fill the form right So thank you very much and I thank the city for trying to
help the homeowners even more and take advantage of the program for homeowners that need it Thank you Next communication Next communication from the city manager responding to council order 2537
Question regarding senior transportation service Dear counselors I am writing in response to council order 2537 requesting the city clarify who is able to use the shuttle service provided by the senior center The shuttle service is a program that was started by our director of health and human services
Tracy Nikki The service is contracted to a third-party transportation company Trips can be booked by calling our senior center at 617-466-4370 during normal business hours We encourage residents to call days in advance to ensure schedules can
be met The services provide trips to medical appointments as well as social activities and visits to Market Basket The service is open to all Chelsea residents over the age of 62 Veterans over the age of 62 are encouraged to call and use the service While the senior center is focused on residents
over the age of 62 I know that our staff go above and beyond to help any resident in need Our director of constituent services would also be happy to connect residents with necessary resources Thank you for your ongoing support accept and file the communication like to speak on it You have the floor
councelor Cupro Um I don't understand what this actually means because if you're a veteran and you're 62 you're entitled to it anyways But the point was that I put this in was to help veterans that are not 62 that they could use that
bus the same way But from what I get it here that I guess they think it's a bad idea to do that to help the veterans that are not 62 years old that have no way to get to where they're going And uh I disagree with that I don't kind of I can't understand how you can refuse a
veteran what you're saying here We'll contact you and go to the other people that might be able to help you That's in another word saying we're not going to do nothing for you but we're going to put you in connection As far as 62 years old anybody can use it I'm 69 I can go
there and you can't refuse me because I'm 69 How about a poor veteran that's 30 years old What can he do Well you going to contact them to another agency That wasn't the point of this order The point of this order was to see if that bus could be used by veterans that were
not 62 And this reply that tells me that we're willing to help any anybody any any citizen but it doesn't specifically state that a veteran can go and use that bus That was the whole purpose of it to make sure that a veteran could use the bus Thank
you Next communication Next communication received from the city manager responding to council order 2538 creating an ordinance allowing city to remove snow Dear councilors I am writing in response to council order 2538 requesting the city look into creating an ordinance allowing the city of
Chelsea to remove snow from sidewalks and charge owners for the expense I recognize that this winter has been tough especially after the last two years of very mild weather February saw a bitter cold spell following a large snowstorm which only made matters worse Snow on the ground quickly froze and was
very difficult to deal with and treacherous for pedestrians We struggle with the situation in our public buildings and public areas and we empathize with residents that dealt with freezing temperatures There are several sections of Massachusetts general law that cover snow removal and responsibilities of property owners The
state has a comprehensive website that I frequently reference linked below Locally we have several ordinances regarding snow removal relying heavily on state law Section 2421 snow Mr Chair uh move to wave the rest of the reading except on our communication If there are
no objections I'd like to speak on it if it's possible You have the floor Councelor Recupo Okay When I put this order in we know the rules though Everybody knows that you have to clean the sidewalk This was intended for
businesses They want businesses A lot of business do not clean their side They might get a ticket for 50 bucks That's for them to get more business and people to go to them because I got a lot of complaints that people couldn't go to these business because the streets were
still full of ice and they were a lot of places on that were full of ice They didn't clean it So they give you a $50 ticket that doesn't mean anything So what you want to do is you clean it If you don't clean it the city will clean it And if you you're going to get a
ticket a bigger ticket You're going to get whatever it cost to clean that would expedite the businesses to clean it even faster because they have an urgency to clean it cuz if you don't clean it you're going to get what it costs to clean it So that's what I we know the
laws all these laws you know we already know but that's not the issue The issue is to make businesses clean it so people can go shopping It will be beneficial to them to do it Thank you Councelor Jimenez Rivera Uh so I just want to
um clarify that what the communication says is that state law allows us to do this Um so I guess I I do have a I I was wondering if we could um suspend the rules so that I could ask the city manager a question Get some information of how often we do this So move to
suspend the rules to ask the city manager a question Any objections No Okay City manager Hello So um I just wanted to clarify whether the chair please Oh sorry to the chair Just would like to clarify whether this is what the
state law what the Mass General law says is that we are allowed to do what councelor Vuper was suggesting we do and then follow up to that Do we do that and how often So the answer is yes Uh uh we are able to do what councelor recuper is asking
for already both under state law and under our ordinances So in the communication counselor uh I highlighted the the uh uh what you are asking for which is already in in our ordinance which which states that uh uh if if
people don't comply uh the snow or ice will may be removed at the expense of the owner and it will be it will be leaned on the owner's tax bill So so it's it's already in there the um we we we we do do it very often but we we we
only add it to the tax bill in when it's it's uh in in an abandoned property right Uh uh one one example that I can think of is is this winter we have been plowing Forbes uh uh all all winter because uh uh uh our fire department has
asked us essentially to to ensure that all the roads are are are open So so we we are tracking the expense and and we are going to to bill it to the property owner In the case of of of uh uh what
occurred earlier earlier this year we got a lot of calls of ice on the sidewalk of ice on the street NRDBW uh uh you know is happy to help anyone Next communication Next communication received from the
city manager regarding an intermunicipal agreement between the cities of Chelsea Everett and Melrose to combat extreme heat and flooding Dear councilors I'm writing to you with a request to the necessary city council action to formally accept the intermunicipal agreement between the cities of Chelsea
Everett and Melrose for the creating oasis in our hottest neighborhoods increasing urban forest health through green gray solutions and the mystic river watershed project You may recall that the city received funding for this project through the municipal vulnerability program or MVP action
grant in FY24 The goal of this project is to plant trees to combat extreme heat in three municipalities on the Mystic River wershed by utilizing storm water infiltration structures to decrease tree mortality leverage regulatory mandates and capture numerous co- benefits such
as increased tree canopy cool neighborhoods and decrease storm water runoff thereby minimizing flooding Yes Accept and file the communication and can we take a roll call vote on it Something coming up in the new business Okay
Next communication received from the city manager regarding the FY26 through FY30 capital improvement plan Dear councilors I am excited to request the approval of our capital improvement plan for fiscal years 2026 to 2030 pursuant to the obligations under section 5-4 of
the charter of the city of Chelsea The city council has done a tremendous job reviewing the CIP with our administration most recently at a subcommittee on conference on February 25th 2025 There have been no changes to the CIP following these meetings Mr Chair uh move to wave the rest of the
reading accept and follow communications and uh move to schedule the public hearing There are no objections So order something coming up under new business Next communication received from the city manager requesting local match to federal earmark for Mil Creek resilience
project Dear counselors I am writing with an update on the Department of Housing and Community Development's work to increase resilience at critical housing and development sites In 2024 our federal delegation including Representative Ayanna Presley and Senator Mary's and Warren secured a
[Music] $999,999.75 federal earmark for Chelsea to work on resilience improvements at three sites along Mil Creek This includes Chelsea Housing Authorities Cravano and Prattville complexes in the former Forb site We have received signed contract documents for this grant and
are seeking the required local match of $333,3325 or 25 Mr Chair move to wave the rest of the reading accept and follow under communication If there are no objections ordered something coming up under new business Next communication request for city council approval of
donations to Chelsea Recreation Dear councilors pursuant to Massachusetts general law chapter 44 section 53A Wave the rest of the reading there' be something accept the communication There be something coming up on the new business So ordered Our final
communication from the city manager requesting approval of appointments and reappointments to boards and commissions Dear councilors pursuant to section 4-2 of the charter of the city of Chelsea I am writing to recommend the following individuals to boards and commissions in the city for appointment to the community recreation advisory board Mr
Jackorian of Chelsea Appointment to the community recreation advisory board Miss Carolina Anzola of Chelsea and reappointment to the conservation commission Mr Dakia Christmas of Chelsea I respect the Mr Chair move uh with the rest of the reading uh accept and file
communications and send it to a second reading So ordered Next on the agenda we have a communication and petition received from the track and parking commission received late Any objections to receiving the late communication
Communication received from the assistant parking clerk regarding the agenda items approved at the March 4th 2025 meeting of the traffic and parking commission Agenda item number four adopt the following amendments to traffic and parking rules and regulations for bicycles and electric scooter scooters
as set out on the attached proposal based on the order submitted by councelor Leo Robinson Agenda item six post a handicap sign at 125 Grove Street And agenda item seven post a handicap sign at 33 Eden Street I'd ask the clerk to wave the rest of
the reading and move it to the next meeting so that we can have other councils weigh in on if they have any objections There are no objections So ordered that includes the late order that was included with all of
it So that will also be moved to second reading We move on to committee reports First committee report received from council president de Jesus from the meeting of the subcommittee on conference held February 24 2025 Move to accept and file under minutes
under suspension if there are no objections Next committee report received from council Taylor from the meeting of the subcommittee on ways and means held February 25th 2025 Accept the follow communication on the suspension There no objections So ordered
Next committee report received from the council president from the meeting of the subcommittee on conference held February 25th 2025 Move to accept and file of communications and minutes Committee reports Sorry So ordered Our final committee report received from the council president from the meeting of
the special committee to hire an independent attorney held on fe March 4th 2025 Move to accept and file under committee reports If there are no objections see none so ordered Move on to second readings First item
under second readings we have an order introduced by council attesture being read for the second time Order that the city manager wave property tax for all business owners along Broadway from Fifth Street to second street to account for loss revenue due to the ongoing construction project Mr Chair move to um
send us to conference uh under suspension if there are no objections So ordered Next item under second readings we have an order introduced by council Taylor being read for the second time Order that the Chelsea City Council
act on the report of the Community Preservation Committee on the awarding of grant funding to FY2025 Community Preservation Projects in accordance with Mass General Law Chapter 44B section 53D in in accordance with chapter 2 article 7 division 3 section 2-330 of the
revised code of ordinances of the city of Chelsea Move to wave the rest of the reading and move it over to the next meeting There are no objections Can we take eight votes to pass money We don't have eight votes Can Can we Can we move all financial orders to the next
meeting seeing as we do not have so move eight counselors present to pass them Motion to do that Is there I don't know if there's a specific motion that I need to make but whatever it is Yes Just in case just going to move all
financial audits Just we'll just have the clerk read read what they are uh and so people know that they're being moved to the next meeting And and sorry um Mr Chair just to c can we just clarify for the public what it is that we're doing and just exactly what's So all financial
orders uh for clarification need eight votes uh to pass Uh and since we do not have eight counselors present um they need to be moved to the next meeting Next order was a transfer from salary
reserve to regular salaries to account for collective bargaining agreements Okay Next was appropriation from free cash in the amount of 7,500,000 to general stabilization account and 2,500,000 to school capital
stabilization account Next was an order transferring funds in the amount of 300,000 from FY23 CIP project for attic expansion to FY25 public building renovation project account
Next was an order transferring $741,376.39 from unexpended portions of projects from FY 2017 and 21 CIP to a new downtown Broadway streetscape and roadway improvement CIP project And the last was a series of
free cash appropriations all postponed to our meeting on 324 2025 That concludes second readings Move on to new business First item under new business an order introduced by Council Taylor Ordered that the Chelsea City
Council authorizes the appropriation of funds in the amount of $100,000 from free cash to the Department of Housing and Community Development Redevelopment Fund Contract Services Account to provide funding to award to the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce in order to provide support for small businesses to continue
their operations and hiring as impacted by the Reimagining Broadway project Mr Chair move to uh refer to ways and means If there are no objections Thank you So ordered Next item under new business Order introduced by council Taylor Order that
the Chelsea City Council authorizes the appropriation of funds in the amount of $100,000 from free cash to the Department of Housing and Community Development's redevelopment fund contract services account to provide funding for the storefront improvement program Move to refer to Ways and Means
If there are no objections seeing none so ordered Next item under new business we have an order introduced by Council Taylor authorizing the fiscal year 2026 capital improvement plan loan order ordered that various capital projects and equipment
purchases shown under the heading of grant funding on the schedule attached here too and consisting of miscellaneous grants in the amount of 1,15,000 and chapter 90 in the amount of 620,000 for a total of 1,725,000 shall be undertaken and
financed by grants or other funds as shown on the schedule such grants to be extended under the direction wait the rest of the reading and send it to ways and means if there are no objections ways and means and schedule a public hearing Hearing Oh just schedule public public hearing Yep
Public hearing will be held on our next meeting on 3:24 So ordered Next item Under new business we have an order introduced by council Taylor Whereas the city of Chelsea has identified significant future flood inundation risk at the Chelsea Housing
Authorities Scravano and Pratville properties and the Forb site And whereas the Department of Homeland Security FEMA has made available congressionally directed funding through the pre- disaster mitigation grant program which makes federal funds available to state local tribal and territorial governments
to plan for and implement sustainable cost-effective measures designed to reduce the risk to individuals and property from future natural hazards while also reducing reliance on federal funding for future natural disasters And whereas our federal delegation has secured a
[Music] $999,99975 earmark through the legislative pre- disaster mitigation program to address this risk And whereas this earmark requires a cost share of 25% in the amount of $333,3325 for a full project cost of
1,333,333 And whereas the grant paperwork has already been signed by the federal government guaranteeing the availability of funding Now therefore be it ordered that by this vote the Chelsea City Council endorses the flood resilience project for the receipt of PDM grant funds appropriates the city's cost share
of the total project of $333,3325 from free cash and directs the city manager to take any and all necessary action to accomplish these projects Move to Ways and Means suspension There are no objections So ordered
Next item under new business we have an order introduced by Council Taylor Order that pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 44 section 53A1-2 the Chelsea City Council accepts gifts to the rec Chelsea recreation of two basketballs and 75 soccer balls acknowledging that the city of Chelsea
is responsible for the shipping and handling fee estimated to be $15146 Move to ways and means under suspension if there are no objections So ordered Next item under new business order introduced by councelor Cupo Order that
the city manager direct the department of public works to speed up the installation of additional ballards on Central Avenue due to recent motivation Accept acceptance suspension and accept and like to speak on it except and f the communication like to speak on You have you have the floor counselor They already did that Thanks very much for
doing it They already have put a couple of them there since they had another accident not too long ago So I but they only put a couple Maybe they should put a few more to protect them cuz I seen in East Boston uh and I have a picture I can show them They put five of them in
the intersections not one They put five to protect and even though they have a handicap ramp they put it around it But they did put more than one And at that particular corner it's a dangerous corner If you could go back there's accidents all the time because it's a four-way street Cars are coming from
four ways And the school bus is there the kids go there and a regular bus stop is there I thank DPW and the city manager for putting that So that was very maybe they should put a couple more if it's possible Thank you
Next we have an order introduced by the council Cupo Order that the city manager direct the department of public works to install Wave the rest of the reading like to speak on like to speak on it Is there a motion Yeah Motion to the mo motions to accept and
file the communication to speak on Sorry Uh file adopt under suspension Adopt under suspension Okay You have the floors They I was told they're going to put them back there as soon as they have them They they were on order So for the people they're wondering if they're
going to be put back there they are going to be put back there The city's going to put them See what I was saying earlier both of them got knocked down by accidents That's it's kind of strange that these polls got knocked down by accidents So I
think the manager will put in those precautions Those other polls will help Thank you very much Next we have an order introduced by Council Taylor ordered that a meeting of the subcommittee on conference be held with the city manager to discuss the criteria utilized to determine whether
or not to grant residency waiverss to board and commission appointees Accept and follow communication on the suspension to adopt Adopt adopted There are no objections Seeing none so ordered Next under new business we have an order
introduced by council Taylor Order that the city manager provide to the city council a report describing all federal funding received by the city of Chelsea including federal funds indirectly provided to the city through the state government Adopted unanimously under suspension There are no objections
Seeing none so ordered Next we have an order introduced by councelor Jimenez Rivera ordered requesting the city manager engage in conversations with instac about the public meeting transcript service and recommend to council whether we should contract their services for boards
commissions or other relevant bodies for the city Uh move to adopt under suspension if there are no objections I'd like to speak on it See none you have the floor Great So um so the reason the the way that this came up was that I was actually at the um association of school committees uh
conference u in hyannis this past winter and met some of the folks who are over at Instit It seems that they have created a service that uh essentially creates a full transcripts of meetings of public bodies and it then connects those recordings to the agenda of the meeting and then you're able to post all
of that online so that people can have better access to the meeting recordings and instead of you know having to figure out where in the meeting the conversation happened around this specific item you can just click on the agenda item and it takes you to that specific part of the meeting You have a full transcript so you're able to really better understand what was happening at
the meeting Um and so so I think this would be a really significant transparency boost for all the work that we do here in the city Um it also allows for generating minutes after the meeting has passed uh in ways that are more detailed than what we currently get from the different um boards and commissions that we have uh in the city I know that
that has been a challenge in particular trying to understand you know why did the zoning board reach this particular decision Why did parking and traffic do this or that right So I I think that this would be really really helpful to both the public and understanding why things are happening in the city but also understanding uh from the council
side instead of having to watch you know a whole meeting you're able to have a a better understanding of what happened by just reading about it Um so and it would also by creating those minutes really support the work of our clerk uh to make sure that um he is not as overburdened Um so this order is really just asking the city manager to explore the benefits
and and recommend uh what he thinks we should be uh doing if at all contracting with this um agency Uh I think especially this would be really helpful for the council Um I think the school committee should have conversations separately about about their process Uh and in particular zoning planning and
parking and traffic commissions I think would really really benefit from these uh so that the the public and the council can also have a better sense of um what is really uh happening uh in those meetings So hopefully uh the city manager will uh agree that that it is
beneficial and uh bring something to us Next order Next we have an order introduced by councelor Jimenez Rivera Ordered that a meeting of the subcommittee on rules and administration be held to discuss a potential rule regarding minor public work requests and request for information
Quote any minor public work Uh move to wave the reading and I'd like to speak on it and um adopt under suspension if there are no objections or actually sorry um yeah the order is to refer to the rules and administration subcommittee Um yeah So uh so
essentially you know a number of uh orders come in uh from the council uh every two weeks right asking for you know what what are really minor work orders and um you know we we then need to take a vote on it in order to you know get it done So I I think that it first of all makes our meetings less
efficient because we have to you know go through all of these work orders which can really pile up It also delays the work getting done because we have to wait for the council to vote on it before it starts getting done So I think that this would really prevent us from um sorry this wouldn't prevent us from taking an a work order up It ju it
simply would would mean that we have to wait 2 weeks after the work order was put in Uh and then if it hasn't been done yet or responded to then we would take it up Um so really this just makes I think it's making sure that things get referred to the city manager sooner um to make sure that we can then uh just
get them processed sooner Uh so that's the the idea behind the the work uh the the rule change um and you know sending to the rules subcommittee for further conversation Councelor recuper um I get the intent what the fellow council is trying to do but
uh any constituents calls us and we put the audit to be done right So we we still got to tell the city manager we got to ask him to do it We can't just Does the city manager want every one of us to go up to him and say "Well this is what we want you to do every time." I
don't know if he wants to get that that we have to go to before we even put an order And a constituent calls us we'll go to the proper channel or whatever it is that we got to do and we say to them "Okay this is what we want you to do." So if they don't do it after two weeks we still have to put in an order
requesting that it's done So isn't it the same thing Councelor Sanagate I was just wondering about the use of 311 which I've had great success with for minor public works issues So that is
something you can track you can see So do we not already have a system in place That certainly has been my experience So I won't disagree with this but I think there are ways to report
those minor public works issues already through 311 Yeah we we always have any other any other speakers that have not spoken Okay Councelor Jimenez Rivera Yeah just just really quickly I I think um from
the perspective of putting in a work order this would not change that process um you would still put it in in the same way You would reach out to the clerk Um it's just that instead of it getting put on our agenda um it would go to the city manager to be addressed and then if it has not been addressed after two weeks
then it would go go into the the agenda So that this wouldn't change the process um on behalf of the of of the council side Um it's really about what ends up getting put on our agenda But anyway sorry I don't want to belver this here We will have a subcommittee on it and happy to discuss further
there Okay Next item under new business we have an order introduced by councelor Rupuro regarding a home rule petition limiting increases to property taxes for elderly owner occupied homes in the city of Chelsea Whereas chapter 59 section 5 of
Mass General Law has several tax exemptions for seniors Can can we wave the rest of the reading and bring it up the next meeting because there's not enough counselors We'll move to the next meeting Thank you
Next item under new business we have a resolution in order introduced by the council president to file and accept an intermunicipal agreement with and from the cities of Everett and Melrose for the implementation of tree trenches at Lock Street and Crescent Avenue Whereas the city of Chelsea has for years
recognized the dangers of unadressed extreme heat Mr Chair uh move to wave the rest of the reading and adopt Um this is need Oh sorry Um this is is this uh adopt under um suspension or does it need a roll call Roll call
Okay Move to roll call vote Uh intermunicipal agreements require six votes from council Seven of us Yeah Let's vote You wave the reading once they wave the
reading without objection Okay I'll I'll go ahead and go ahead and read the uh Yeah And whereas the city has been involved in regional lower Mystic watershed efforts such as the Wicked Hot Mystic Project and the Resilient Mystic Collaborative And whereas Mass General
Law Part One Title 8 Chapter 40 Section 4A empowers municipalities to enter enter intermunicipal agreements for the management and completion of complex regional projects And whereas the city of Chelsea through the Department of Housing and Community Development is the subreient of an MVP action grant through
a regional project with the cities of Everett and Melrose for $390,725 to advance the design and pilot a cost-effective tree infiltration structure And whereas the city of Everett the city of Melrose and the city of Chelsea have secured an MVP grant
from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for $390,725 towards the same milestone And whereas the eventual construction and implementation of a tree trench pilot project is expected to be implemented and completed by June 30th of 2025 And
whereas the city's only obligated match to these funds is in the form of staff time with no monetary contribution required Now therefore be it ordered that by this vote the Chelsea City Council approves the intermunicipal agreement as drafted between the cities of Everett Chelsea and Melrose governing
the creating oasis in our hottest neighborhoods increasing urban forest health through our green gray solution in the Mystic River wershed project pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 40 section 4A and directs the city manager to take any and all necessary action to accomplish the
project Roll call votes been requested move Thank you Just thank you again Mr Chairman and Mr Clerk for reading that Just want the public to know this is early in the meeting We were talking about trees and water and absorbent So I just didn't want to take a vote without
you know what we were doing up here So that's that piece of legislation that was taken up now where it talks about the communities coming together um to um actually pull together for this here uh
agreement Thank you Any other speakers Okay Move to roll call vote Yes Vote to adopt Council Tener Garcia Yes Councelor Jimenez Rivera Yes Councelor Cupo Yes Council Taylor Yes Councelor Robinson Yes Council Tesha is absent Council
Kelly Garcia is absent Council Santa Yes Council Vega is absent Council Brown Yes And councilus is absent Seven members voting in favor zero opposed four absent Order adopted Okay Does anybody have any public
announcements Council Robinson I I just want to say on on Saturday there was um basketball game between the police and fire which was held at um Chelsea High School and it
was standing room only Um it was a great day to see so many people from the community come out and support the police and fire Um actually Star Chung sister who graduated from Berkeley sang the national anthem which
was out outstanding Um and it just was a wonderful day uh for the community as it was since Thursday quite a few events took place um in Chelsea and f and Friday night was um Senator Seldon
Deminical's fundraiser for his educational fundraiser on Friday and then the events on Saturday So Thursday night we had the chamber Friday we had the senator and Saturday we had the police and fire I just wanted to make sure we let people in the community know
that it was a great weekend here Any other public announcements Yes just to remind the public that the Chelsea Palante Chelsea Onward Festival is going to be held um in uh Chelsea Square Saturday from 2 to 5 and it looks like
it is going to be an excellent event with lots of things happening even mini golf I think I saw So just wanted to um extend the invitation to everyone again councelor Uh just like to uh wish a peaceful
Ramadan to all of our Muslim uh residents and everybody in the area who was celebrating uh during this month Councelor Brown Thank you Mr Chair I just want to recognize our delegate from the school committee here She's been here quietly and she's been here in the
past week So just want to recognize her and thank her for coming in to listen also into these meetings Thank you Moments of silence Um I'd like to say a moment of silence for the poor teenage kid uh young man
that got that died in Chelsea And I hope that this type of violence doesn't exist anymore in our city It I hope that it disappears completely but it's I wish that it does And I feel sad for the
young man and the other young man that's in the hospital still and for the parents I also would like to just say my condolence to that family and also to the young man that's 15 years old that's still struggling and um prayers are going out and we as a city um we don't
condone those types of actions and stuff and we just hope that we can get through this together and find out what happened and let our police and the justice system handle the end of the bargain Thank you Thank you