The council will come to order. All rise and salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Please remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of our veterans, service members, and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. At this time, I'd like to do an additional brief moment of silence for our neighbors in Melrose who have suffered an unspeakable tragedy at one
of their schools this week where a young child was killed by a falling tree. We just want to extend our condolences to the family and to every member of the Melrose community at this time. A moment of silence. Thank you. At this time, I'm going to go
to councelor Sika for an additional moment of silence. >> What are you doing? >> Oh, coun. Do you both want us to have Okay. Um, I would like to have a moment of silence for one of my W 8 residents and a colleague to all of us, Anthony
Chickelli, also known as Chick. He was um a human resources director for I think approximately 10 years or so. I've known Chick for a lot longer than that. Him and his wife, the three kids. Um it it's just an absolute devastating
tragedy what happened to that poor man. And I just want to send condolences from all of us to his family at this time. Thank you. Thank you. At this time, will the clerk please call the role? >> Council Hayes
>> here. >> Council Condan here. >> Council Crow here. >> Council Lew. >> Council McDonald here. >> Council Ali. >> Council Zika here. >> Council Simonelli. >> Council Taylor >> here. >> Council Winslow
>> here. Council President Linhan here. Thank you. Uh, under the provisions of the open meeting law, for those of you in attendance, please be informed that UMA Urban Media Arts will be recording this evening's meeting. So, just be aware there will be audio and video recordings of tonight's meeting. Is
there anyone else present tonight who is recording in addition to Uma? Okay, seeing none, first order of business. Representatives from Cambridge Health Alliance, Department of Community Health will appear before the council to
prevent C present CHA's 2025 regional well-being report. >> Thank you. Welcome. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you so much for having us. Um, we have some slides. I'm not sure how we can get them back up here.
>> Hang on. >> Okay. Give bear with us one moment. >> Absolutely. Thank you. Yes. While we're doing that, I'm gonna put on Counselor Cologne Hayes's microphone to give a brief introduction. >> Yes. Hi. Thank you. Um so, yeah, while you're getting set up, I just wanted to
let everybody here know that um I am thrilled uh to have um these two phenomenal women here before us to present. We have uh Kathleen and Laura from CHA. I've worked with them for so many years. And actually, I'm going to
say that CHA produced like years ago, we worked together for the first Malden health and well-being study ever. I think councelor Crow was already also involved in that. So, um that was a super proud moment. So, I'm glad that we've done this every year and and um
now it's going to be it's a it's a regional uh health and well-being, but they are presenting on Malden and they're hoping that we ask some exciting questions [laughter] and um they have a little bit where to get involved. So, um hopefully you all had a chance to read the one pager. If not, they'll walk you
through it. And I'm so excited that you're here. Thank you. >> Thank you all so much for having us. Thank you for the the kind welcome, Karen, in particular. Um, so good evening everyone. I'm Laura McNelte. I'm the director of engagement and evaluation for the Department of
Community Health at CHA and joined by my colleague Kathleen O'Brien who has been playing a an extremely instrumental role in this well-being assessment and also the implementation strategy that comes thereafter. So, we're going to be tag teaming this presentation. Um, so to get
us started, um, let's just talk a little bit about what this well-being report is all about. So it's really part of a cycle of assessment and then implementation in response to the findings. So our goal with carrying out this well-being assessment is to really
examine and understand both the strengths and challenges of the communities in CHA service area. And the purpose is not just to assess but really to take action to positively change the factors that influence people's health. So this is a process that takes place every three years. It engages
communities across our primary service area, which are the eight cities and towns north of Boston, including Malden. It's guided by a community health advisory council, and we really coordinate with partner health systems, public health collaboratives, local health departments, um, and it does fulfill some regulatory requirements for
our institution as well. So um the well-being assessment that we carried out in 2025 was oriented around understanding current state and progress on a variety of equity principles and
focus areas. These particular equity principles and focus areas came out of the previous well-being assessment in 2022. So we really looked at the 2025 process as an opportunity to build on what we had learned in 2022, be really responsive to the priorities that
community members had voice during that cycle and see where are we at now, how can we continue to grow and improve. So the focus areas which we frame as the what what is it that were priorities for collaborative action centered on housing
what we call equitable economies equity and access and climate health and environmental justice. The equity principles or the how really frame how is it that we should be going about addressing these focus areas. This was something that really emerged through our data in the from community members
was that it doesn't just matter what we do. It really matters how we do it. Are we carrying out this work with a commitment to language justice? Are we including underrepresented voices in leadership and decision-making? And importantly, are we carrying out this work in such a way where we are promoting this idea of collective care
and healing? Many of our systems actually do harm to people. So, [clears throat] how can we be creating and fostering systems that are actually caring? So, this is what we focused on addressing or really collecting data on during the well-being assessment in 2025.
So, um, we'll just touch on this in the interest of time, but one of the ways that we went about conducting the assessment was through conducting what's we call the community well-being survey. So, um, this was co-designed with community researchers and input from the
community. Uh, we have a really strong commitment to conducting assessment in a very participatory way. So, it's not just CHA behind closed doors coming up with a survey and putting it out into the community. We're actually working with the people that we aim to engage in
in responding to the survey as co-designers in understanding what is it that we want to ask about, who are we going to reach, and how. So, this is just some data about who participated in the survey. So, as you can see, we had almost a thousand participants. Uh just over a hundred were from Maltton. And
then you can see the demographics of participants. We really aimed to ensure that we were intentionally over representing people of color, um, people who speak languages other than English, immigrant communities, and other groups that tend to tend to be often under
represented in surveys like this. In addition to the survey, we conducted focus groups and interviews. So, you can see the the um demographics and areas of expertise of the people who participated in focus groups and interviews. Uh, I'll
just note that from Maldin specifically, we worked with folks from, let's see, Mystic River Watershed Association, um, Maldin High School, >> Chinese Culture Connection, >> Chinese Culture Connection, Malden Core, Housing Families, um, and a number of
and a number of other, um, people who have certain areas of expertise in in the Maldin community. Um and then I don't think we touch on it here um in these slides, but just so you know, we look at a a enormous amount of secondary data as well. So data from the Census
Bureau, um the Department of Public Health, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, [clears throat] there's probably 40 some odd sources looking at hundreds of different indicators. So by bringing both of these primary and secondary data sources together, we get a a a stronger and more comprehensive picture of what health and
well-being look like across all of those focus areas and equity principles. All right. So, I'm gonna hand it over to Kathleen to talk about the the content and what we found. >> Wonderful. Thank you so much, Laura. Um, so I know ahead of time we sent the one
pager and it is okay if you did not get a chance to look at it yet. You do have it in front of you now. Um, it is the the colorful graphic with I think 10 um squares. So, what we will do, we'll look at them on the slides and you can look at them on your page as well, and then
we're going to do a very quick little vote. Um, not an official vote, um, on which of these 10 you want to dive deeper into. I think we'll end up choosing two just in the in the interest of time. Um, and we can always, you know, come back or you can have us come,
you know, another time in another space. Um but overarchingly here we had 10 key findings. So this goes across all of our focus areas and all of our equity principles. Um and the first one that comes up is as Laura mentioned, you know, really ensuring that we're
creating these spaces of collective care because people said overwhelmingly that they feel most healthy when they're in spaces where they can either care for others or feel cared for. Um the first question we asked was what does well-being mean to you? And this came up
really overwhelmingly. Um, we also found mental health distress is, as I'm sure many of you know, you know, a key a key issue in all of our communities. Um, our third one had to do really with housing and food insecurity. Really seeing that, you know, a lot of our households are
housing cost burden. Many are um, severely housing cost burden, especially renters. Um, and a growing number of folks in our communities are facing housing um, food insecurity as well. Um, we also found that environmental health issues are coming up more and
more every time we do this assessment. Um, number five is really about accessing care for physical and mental health and how those have really worsened since before the pandemic. Um, number six is really just showing some of the some of the um the health
outcomes that we're seeing. heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and sexually transmitted infections are really the the most the the most challenging health issues in our communities at this time. And we're finding that immigrant
community members physical and mental health is significantly impacted by social, economic, and political exclusion. and our our communities, you know, folks with disabilities and LGBTQIA plus individuals are experiencing
disproportionate barriers. Racism and language are the most frequently cited causes for discrimination and kind of an uplifting one, you know, folks again when folks are participating in decision-making around these issues that are impacting their health in their
lives, they're reporting more benefits to their well-being. So the big question, which do you want us to talk a little bit more about? Give you more of the numbers, give you some of the the quotes, the stories um around these
as we're >> Yeah, you could shout it out or we could do we could do our menty meter. Um, we do also just the other handout that you have is the Malden community data profile, which is a lot of the the data that that Laura was talking about from
all of our our secondary sources. And that shows you Malden and the state on the handout that you have. This is Malden compared to all of the communities um across our region, but only really for um these the the really the 12 selected health indicators uh
that we chose for this. and really just showing, you know, which communities have higher rates. So when you see an orange, um, that means that the rate is worse than the Massachusetts average. And when you see something in green, it means that the the rate is lower or better than the Massachusetts average.
So this is just a snapshot. Again, you have a lot more. [laughter] Um, and we can dive deeper into some of these in our next five minutes or so that we have. Um, and then open it up for questions. And you can ask a question right now if you want to, Steve.
>> Yes, councelor Winslow. >> I, you know, I was at Malden High today looking at some applications of seniors to colleges and I was surprised how many were looking into psychology and that type of thing and it was something different. I mean, I've been looking at these things for since I was in the
school committee over 10 years ago. So, it it showed me something's changing. So, I thought maybe youth mental health would be something good to focus on. >> I was going to say the same. >> I was going to say that as well, actually. Maybe we have some consensus there. >> Youth mental health or mental health in general. >> Yeah, >> sound sound good to everyone. Youth
mental health, you can dive in there. >> Yeah, >> sounds like we've got a lot >> and we have a few a few indicators. We have, you know, as we said, we have um number five, which is around the kind of accessing the care for these. >> Um and then we're also seeing when we're seeing number two, the mental health
distress, how much it connects to things like housing and food insecurity. So um and you know just facing other other sorts of barriers and other forms of discrimination. Um so we could show kind of the care the access piece like
getting to the doctor and getting to a counselor or a therapist >> and also um just reporting the levels of mental health distress. So we'll do two and five. >> Sounds good. >> How does that sound? >> That sounds great. >> Great. >> Okay. Laura, do you want to
>> Sure. We can we can tag team. Yeah. >> All right. So, um as was stated in the key findings, we find that across the region of CHA service area, more than one in three adults and nearly half of
youth are reporting high or very high levels of mental health distress. This statistic comes from a survey that was run by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health called the Community Health Equity Survey. So we were able to get the data from DPH that looks just at the CHA service area. So this is where
these data come from. So this is inclusive of Maldin but not solely Maldin data. >> So the chart that you see on the right hand side of this slide um shows the the percentage of participants in each of the groups that are listed on the left axis who report high or very high levels
of mental health distress. So you can see in the blue at the very top that is the stratification by age group. So we can see that youth are reporting 44.6 or rather 44.6% of youth compared to 37.6
of adults overall. Um and then we can also see just knowing of course that all of these categories are not um mutually exclusive. It's important to recognize that there is an intersectional lens of identity when thinking about mental
health and distress. So, we can also see some very high rates of mental health distress among transgender individuals, among LGBTQIA individuals, as well as folks with disabilities. When we dig into the stories and more
qualitative experiences behind these statistics, what we find is that it's not always that youth or adults or anyone are experiencing mental health distress because of a mental illness per se. Oftenimes it is a very natural
reaction to an anxiety related to the stressors of things like housing insecurity, poverty, climate change, lack of support for caregivers, discrimination, harmful social and political conditions. These are the things that people are pointing to as
the cause. The quotes on this slide come from participants in our focus groups and I won't read them um out loud to you all but it does really emphasize how mental health is a really comprehensive construct.
>> May I just share one please >> one thing? Um I believe that the quote on the right, so I I did a focus group with um young people from Malden High School through the Chinese culture connection. >> Um and there was a lot of talk around climate anxiety.
>> Um and we had it had come up in the 2022 assessment slightly. >> Um this time around it was >> it it was very it was >> almost all the focus groups that we did, but but these young people they talked about the climate clock or something in New York City. Um, and they said, you
know, we feel like the purpose of it is to get people to act, but what are we supposed to do? Like, it's not us who who should be acting, right? It should be, you know, these these large corporations and and the people in charge. So, I just wanted to share since we wanted to focus on youth. >> You have some amazing people, young
people involved. >> Definitely, >> they taught me a lot during that focus group actually. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Any questions about that or >> as we go to the next one >> is your question about that? I do see one light.
>> Counselor McDonald. >> Yeah, I just I really appreciate that. I met with um a group of high school students at uh at Malden High about um you know their their their climate action club and like yeah we were talking about climate despair um and how
there are um there are a lot of things that people can do and so we had this there was this great uh youth climate summit that happened here and so I I do think it just makes the point about how important that is. My question was does did you also look at access to mental
health support? I'm sure that you did. >> Is that the next thing? >> That is that. >> Well, great segue. Let's go ahead and read this line. [clears throat] >> Councelor Winsow, did you have your light on for a question on that same top? >> Let's go to the next slide now. >> Okay, no problem.
>> Great. So, um, yes, to that point, we we did also look at access to care since even though as as we just talked about many of the stressors related that that are really un the underlying cause of mental health distress, we should be addressing those upstream factors for
sure, but still access to mental health care is critically important as well. So um what we found through our both quantitative and qualitative data was that both mental health care access and physical healthcare access are much more
challenging now than compared to precoid. Um community members and healthcare providers alike emphasize that people have more complex needs and health systems are are more underresourced. There are really not enough community, organizational, and government resources
to address the variety of needs that folks have. We know from state level data that healthc care providers are leaving the profession at higher rates now than prior to the COVID pandemic. We know that people who delayed access to
care because of the COVID pandemic now have more complex disease processes that are more difficult to treat. So all of these factors are really coming together to make access to care more challenging now than before. Um and when we look at
health insurance in particular, of course insurance is not the only um factor that influences access to care, but we do find that in Malden the the rate of uninsurance is quite a bit higher than the statewide average. So
5.9% of residents in Maltton do not have health insurance compared to 2.7% in Massachusetts. And that rate of uninsurance does vary by by group. So um non-citizens have um much higher rates of uninsurance
compared to naturalized citizens and USORN residents. And then by racial and ethnic group, we do find that Asian, black, and Hispanic residents have higher rates of uninsurance compared to white residents. Did you have a question on that slide? >> When we
No, no, no. Continue on. >> Okay. Okay. Um, so just digging into the just a little bit more around access since again insurance is not the only factor. I won't go into all of the details of this slide because there's a
lot on here, but I will focus on um the mental health side. So in our survey, the CHA well-being survey, we asked people what kinds of health care they needed in the last 12 months and whether they were access able to access that care or not. And if they were not able
to access that care, we asked them why. So the chart on the left hand side, I will draw your attention to the I guess fifth bar down um or I'm sorry, sixth bar um for mental health care. So what
we found is that around 32% of our respondents said that they needed mental health care at some point in the last 12 months and among and of those you know around 32% who needed mental health care
around or almost a third were not able to access that care. So on this slide we're showing you 22.8% 8% and 10% since that is of the overall population but the relative percentage is really closer to a third. So that that's pretty
substantial that about a third of people who needed mental health care um couldn't access it in the last 12 months. Now when we look on the right hand side of the slide and ask why uh the sort of third block down for mental
health care the vast majority 39% it was because they couldn't get an appointment. there was just not availability to get that care. Uh not knowing where to go to get services was the second most common reason followed by not being able to afford the cost followed by my insurance didn't cover
it. So these are you know pretty significant challenges to accessing mental health care uh just access and availability of providers costs insurance coverage and just knowledge about um where to go to get the kind of
care that people need. So, I think that's the last Yes, that's the last one of that section. So, yes, questions, thoughts, reactions? >> Uh, I know councelor WZO, we wanted to go back to you had a question and then I'll come back to councelor McDonald. >> I just um just a a broader question. I
know there's often the youth risk behavior study. Is was that data factored into this? Is that something that's happened recently? >> It it is. We did look at um the so the challenge is that um Malden's actually did not conduct a YBS um in the last
several years. So the data that we had was I I think it was maybe seven or eight years old. Yeah. >> So we didn't [snorts] find it to be especially um >> they did conduct something. >> Um >> they just weren't able to for some
reason get the results from the >> folks who conducted it. But it wasn't the YBS that we're used to. >> Um it was just there was some barrier and by the time we were doing this because we collected all of our data by November >> um of 24 >> 25 24 >> 24
>> What year are we in? [laughter] >> Um yeah, so there was just a um they weren't able to get it to us. It was something but it was not the YBS. So >> our other communities did have that. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Winsow.
Councelor, I'm gonna actually take counselor um Cologne Hayes and then come back to councelor McDonald. >> Oh, thank you. Um thank you so much again um for coming here. The I wanted to also tell people though before um that there is a full YBS that can you just tell people where to access that
since um there's so much to get through that people know they can look at the whole um >> the whole well >> the whole yes um >> and you will also get these slides and it is at the end. >> Oh okay. Um, also [clears throat] there's a a link there.
>> Your main takeaways document that you also have is good. An expanded version of those those points that we um that we just talked about, but again the full well I believe the well the well-being report is yeah maybe 60 pages altogether.
>> I can't remember. >> So you can research this less than 100 >> because there's so much data here. you can dig deep on your own is what I wanted to say because the youth we can just talk about this all day long this breaks my heart this um um information not it's not something that's surprising unfortunately but also councelor Winslow
did um already bring up we talked about the YRBS data and anyone who was here over the years or on the school committee you probably remember those were a huge that was a huge benefit to our city like it was going through all the schools and asking information that we >> desperately need so maybe we can talk
about um that another time but thank you for asking that. Thank you. Thank you, councelor Cologne Hayes. And back to councelor McDonald. >> Yeah, thank you. I kept having questions and then it was the next slide that you had, so I was just like waiting to get >> I like that we're on the same wavelength. >> This is great. This is I No, I love
this. Um the So, I just wanted to ask if there are really better p the figures about mental health not being not knowing how to access a provider, not knowing where to go, not being able to get an appointment. I mean, we do have mental health parity law for insurance coverage in this state. Not that that
deals with everything, but like it's just very sad and concerning, especially for emergency hospitalizations for mental health. Obviously, we're building a facility. You know, we've just built a facility in Malden that can help address that. If there are best practices that you think would be important for our
community to consider around helping people to get access to the mental health care that does exist. I know there are long wait times and it's hard to find a provider. I saw that for primary care and I know that's a big concern, too. I I would love for us to talk more about that and and if there's anything that you have, you can follow
up with us about. I don't need you to fix that problem on the spot, but like >> that's just very it's very concerning. >> It is. We we fully agree. Um, one thing that we can share, uh, as far as best practices, so CHA recently opened a
community behavioral health center at the CHA Malden Care Center on Canal Street that includes an urgent care for behavioral health where you do not need an appointment. Anyone can walk in whether or not they are a CHA patient, whether or not they have insurance.
There is a 24-hour urgent care hotline that anyone can call 24 hours a day if they're experiencing an urgent mental health crisis. There is a mobile team that in crisis situations will go out and address the
the a person's need, visit them wherever they are. Um, and that that pathway can then provide an entry point to getting connected to more stable care. So the community behavioral health center model
is a really strong one to have in communities. So um as much as we can be promoting awareness of the CBHC as we call it at the CHA Maltton Care Center on Canal Street, I think the better we will be able to be able to serve some of
the both youth and adult mental health needs that exist in our communities. >> That is amazing. I didn't even know that could exist. Oh. >> So, wow. Thank you so much for saying that. >> Not yours. >> No. No. This is excellent. And we'll help spread I mean, I'm sure we'll help
spread the word. And you said so that that urgent care clinic takes adults and youth. >> It does. That's really that's really powerful. Thank you so much for that. >> Absolutely. Yes. And we're glad to send any more information about the CBHC so that you can share it with constituents
as well. >> That would be great. Thank you. >> Yeah, that's great. Thank you for that. Um, well, seeing no other lights on for questions, I just really want to thank you so much for your time and for giving us so many helpful materials, this was wonderful. I know all of us will be sharing this with our constituents and
sharing the video of the meeting. Um, thank you. And if you think of anything else you want to share with us by email, um, we can distribute it to the full council and make sure that our community members have that. So, thank you so much for being here. >> Yes, we'll definitely we'll share the slides. We'll share the materials. >> Thank you all so much for having us. We
appreciate it. Thank you for all that you do. >> Thank you. Okay, our next order of business is public comment. Public comment is allowed under council rules. Each speaker is limited to the subject matter relevant to this evening's agenda and folks must keep their comments to two
minutes or less. Clerk, do we have anybody signed up for public comment? >> We do not. >> Okay. Seeing none, we will move on to our next agenda item. Next agenda item is this evening's consent agenda. Tonight's consent agenda consists of meeting minutes to be approved, one
appointment to be referred to personnel and appointments, and 10 petitions to be referred to the license committee. Does any counselor have a desire to remove any of these items from the consent agenda for the purpose of further discussion? >> Okay. On a motion by councelor SEA,
seconded by was that councelor Taylor? Uh do we we need to do a roll call because councelor Ali is remote. >> Councelor Ali um say that he was here. >> Okay. Councelor Ali did not >> sure what he's doing. Councelor
Romellik, can you indicate whether you plan to be on screen and present to take roll call votes for the remainder of the meeting? >> I know, but we can't hear him. And he didn't indicate that he's here. >> And now he's off.
>> He's putting his thumb up. >> Can he speak? >> I can see your thumb is up. >> Oh, weird. You're right. You can see the caption. I was sitting too low. Okay. So, councelor Mali is indicating
he's been here the whole time. Councelor Mali, we can see you. However, you need to be on camera and audible for us to record your vote. That's the issue that we're having. I know it is really far away. Actually, I think we can hear you a little bit. Hang bear with us one
moment. We're trying to adjust the settings. >> Can you can kind of hear him a little bit, can't you? >> Yeah, I can. I can. We can. [laughter] >> I can't hear what he's saying. >> I hear muffled. >> I think we've done the thumbs up. We
have council, if you can keep your camera on and just help us by putting a thumbs up or down if you're Okay, thank you. We can hear you. It's just very very faint. For some reason, I'm like deafeningly loud in the chamber. >> If it's recording his >> Yeah, it must You're right. If it's
recording his his the text to speech, then it must be able to hear him. >> I don't know. I just don't know what he was saying. Um, >> okay. So in that case, yes, we do need to do >> so. So we will be doing a roll call vote for our votes this evening
with councelor Ali participating remotely. >> Okay. So we had councelor seea um seconded by councelor Taylor for the consent agenda. >> So um council Hayes
>> we're voting on the consent agenda. >> Sorry. >> Sorry. Yes. >> Council Condan. Yes. >> Council Crow. >> Yes. >> Council Lewong. >> Yes. >> Council McDonald. >> Yes. >> Councilman Ali. >> Thank you. [laughter] Very good to see you, sir. Thank you. >> Council SEA.
>> Yes. >> Council Taylor. >> Yes. >> Council Winsow. >> Yes. >> Council President Lahan. >> Yes. >> Okay. So, that's passed. >> Okay. The agenda is approved. Next order of business. >> Paper 252-26. order that the city of Malden commence a
one-year moratorum on permitting any proposals including but not limited to the creation, construction, or use of a property for the purpose of a data center. The foregoing moratorium is imposed to allow the city time to undertake studies and obtain resident input on the infrastructure,
environmental, health and economic consideration data centers may have on the community. This moratorum will be effective upon and will expire one year from the date of the adoption of this order. This is sponsored by councel Taylor and Lenn.
>> Okay, councelor Taylor for the paper. Thank you so much. Um, so I wanted to put this on here to start the discussion. I think it's important when we're looking at economic development and we're looking at our master plan. um we currently don't have any ordinances
regarding data centers and their use or or being able to use [clears throat] them that we start being proactive instead of reactive and we put this in place before we have someone come to us with a proposal and then we have to act quickly. This way we can really take our
time to look at the impacts and what's going to make the most sense for our city. Um, so I'm hoping, you know, this this goes with the the following paper a little bit that we will actually do the work, put something together, um, and
being be able to have a solid policy on these data centers. >> Thank you, Councelor Taylor. I do see some lights. I just wanted to say um, quickly from the chair as the co-sponsor, this was something I was um, pleased to have counselor Taylor bring forward. Um really the genesis of this
in part was um the counselor and I attended the Mass Municipal Association annual meeting in January and in speaking with some colleagues from other communities that have been um caught a little bit unawares or unprepared not
proactive as the counselor stated um we really were encouraged to be more proactive and start thinking about what we wanted to see in terms of economic development. We feel this is in line with um being prepared and in the committee that the counselor is chairing and thinking about what is a good fit
for Malden. Um you know I think there's been a lot in the media about oversized or unwelcome proposals in some of the gateway cities in Massachusetts. I think that um not in the interest of fear-mongering or thinking about worst case scenarios. We're rather trying to think about what would be a good fit for
some of the parcels that we do have in the city. Um we've done our due diligence to meet with some of the communities that have seen some of these proposals. We've talked to the labor community. Um and of course we'll be working with our um office of strategic planning and community development and
their expert staff who are the ones who know more about this than we do and we appreciate their time to work with us on this. I think what what I will say for myself, what I've learned is that there are some proposals that could be a great fit for the city that could help us bring in the revenue that we're looking for that could be more in line with
infill um and not the larger things that you read about in the news that you know overutilize water or damaging to the environment, but things that are more from the um academia side or things that we would want to attract from the health care sector or um our partners in the
region that are, you know, things that we would want to see that could be a benefit to the community that might be a good fit for Malden. Um I think there are some guardrails that we could put around, but we really want to learn and figure out what those things look like that would be a good um a good solution for our community that fit with what we
have already here and really just start that discussion and then think about the things whether it's a um max capacity or size or if it's a fuel type that we don't want to see or a noise um maximum that we want to implement. Hearing what those things are and what kind of rules we might want to put in place. um but
really going to the experts, giving them the time to research that and then not wanting to get hit with something that is a bad fit or that's exploitative in the meantime and giving us that space. Um so with that I will turn it over to my colleagues to hear their thoughts and first up I have councelor Crow.
>> Um thank you madam president. I actually wanted to be um added as a co-sponsor. It's been something that I've been talking about. I actually went to the youth climate summit and we were having some of this discussion about that and I just said it to council earlier that I've been reaching out to some other communities to sort of figure out because they did get sort of caught with
their pants down and it became you know sort of a a bigger issue I think having um a really an ind in-depth conversation as you just said council president Lhan you know to make sure that we have the right it's the right fit and it's the best for all >> great thank you councelor Winsow
>> yeah no I definitely You know, this is something that's certainly uh a lot of stuff is happening and it's great to get ahead of this stuff as a community because uh you know, if we don't, it can be very impactful. I mean, one of the things I I think we also have to understand and I didn't know I have a
question for the the sponsors is that I mean, technically there might be some data centers here already. I don't know. But I mean, I know if anybody's familiar with the old Jordan Marsh building, which is Macy's. when that was redone some levels of that upper part are actually a data center. It's just a lot
of what we're talking about these are these AI den centers that have a lot more processors and and computing power than the ones that for the current set of internet and stuff like that. So so that's the one of the things of we might you know technically the city kind of
has a data center and that type of thing. So the what's definitional here I think the intent here is at that level and so um so I I guess I would be supportive of the order of just understanding it's really at these AI data centers that are substantially
larger and more energy demanding than um than what we've encountered in the past and something that we do want to take a pause on. So, thank you. Great. >> Thank you, Councelor Winsow. Councelor Cologne Hayes. Oh, thank you very much. Uh, thank you so much, Councelor Taylor,
for bringing this forward. Um, I also we learned so much for our youth. I can't even say it enough, but at the youth summit, I was actually carrying this around in my bag because it which says mitigating data center speculation and risk. Um, because it sounds like we're all been looking into this and um called
um Repado too to talk about it. Um, and I'm be happy to put the moratory whatever it takes on that. I don't think we have the kind of data centers that they are talking about that cause the most harm in Malden yet, but I did hear about Everett and we don't want to be there. So, really appreciate you
bringing this forward. And then, um, maybe on the next paper I had a question of um, like what kind of surveys is that something that we're going to have to um, that's probably what you're discuss. I didn't know if that was going to your committee or to ordinance or to finance to talk about like
>> this. Okay, perfect. Um to talk about how but then how much a study might cost. Um I'd be interested in that. But thank you like I said for bringing this forward because I think it's um the right idea and I' I'd like also if that's okay to be um a co-sponsor added
as a sponsor. Okay, no problem. Thank you councelor Clone Hayes. Councelor McDonald. >> Yeah, thank you so much. Really appreciate also you bringing this forward. would like to ask be um added as a co-sponsor. >> Um I do think this is a really smart approach because as soon as a permit is
filed, we're locked in and we can't um you know, we can't change the zoning at that point. So it just buys us some time to be smart. I think that is a good approach. Um and there are lots of groups who are doing some good work uh at the state level on suggested approaches to to mitigating the impacts
of data centers. There might be state policy changes in the next year or two, which I [clears throat] think is good to consider. um like making sure those are, you know, water usage and renewable energy are front and center. Um I do want to say I think that a permanent ban on data centers h can have unintended
consequences because communities that don't have the ability to restrict that like the it will often end up in the most disadvantaged communities and while Malden is an environmental justice community I don't want to contribute to that. So trying to be thoughtful about mitigating impacts is a really great
approach. Um, and I'm very glad to support it. And I was just curious, are you looking for a committee referral or a vote on the floor tonight? >> Councelor Taylor, do you want to speak to that? I think what we have on our docket is to adopt this order and then
to refer the subsequent paper to committee for discussion, but I'll let you speak to that. That was the intention was to [clears throat] that's um and the reason why we did the separate papers was to adopt the first one and have the moratorum and then immediately go to doing the work. So we
weren't just putting something into place that then you know could get bogged down under >> languish >> a whole whole bunch of other stuff that we have to do but really to to focus on it now. >> Yeah, we do have a lot moving through economic development so we're trying to be cognizant of that workload.
>> Okay. So, so we would understood. And then is it and I'm sorry for not knowing this, but is an order sufficient for a moratorium or do we actually have to put something in zoning? >> So, I would look to our clerk for that because we did have a bit of discussion about this how we've handled orders to implement a temporary moratorium in the past.
>> It is correct. That's correct. In um in the past, this is kind of the language that we used. We did use it as an order. We adopted the order and it didn't go through um zoning or ordinance to make it a permanent fix. This is just a temporary thing and it's how it's we we
used historical data to figure this one out >> really quickly. >> Oh yes, one moment. Let me put your light on. Councelor SEA >> I don't know if this helps but I think my moratorum on class 2 ders might have been the last time we had a moratorum and this is the exact process that we
took in order to um put the that moratorum in place back then. It was some years ago but I I'm pretty sure that might have been the last time we had a moratorum on something. Yeah, that's a great example. >> That's great. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, Councelor Crow, >> I just had a quick question. I know that
we have you have a a one-year time frame. So, if we I mean, I know you have a lot going on, but um if we got in here and we figured out what the right zoning, the ordinance, whatever, would we back to sort of lift that, you know, but just gives us the full year if we
>> it's needed. >> I I that would be my intention. Yes. is is that if we got the work done in the next 3 to 6 months that we would be able to lift that sooner and not keep things lingering just to keep them lingering. So, um that would be my intention. Yes.
>> Great. Thank you. >> Okay. And I do see councelor Ali has a hand raise if you want to put your camera on and then try to you're going to have to speak up a lot to to for us to hear you. I think >> he's not talking at all. >> We cannot hear you at all. It says [cough] co-sponsor.
[clears throat] >> Okay, we can for some reason we can't hear you, but the dictation >> like via text. >> Yep, we can we can read your text. It's we see that you're asking to be added as a co-sponsor. Great. Thank you. You're welcome. >> For the next two papers. >> For both for the next two papers. Okay,
we hear you. Thank you so much. Okay, so we will need a roll call to adopt the order. Do we have a motion to that effect? Would you like to make that motion, Councelor Taylor? >> Okay. Seconded by Councelor Cologne Hayes. Will the clerk please call the role?
>> Council Cologne Hayes, >> yes. >> Council Condan, >> yes. >> Council Crow, >> yes. >> Council Lewong, >> yes. >> Council McDonald, >> yes. >> Council Mali, >> yes. >> Council Seca, >> yes. >> Council Taylor, yes. >> Council Winslow, >> yes. Council President Lan.
>> Yes. >> Okay. So, that order has been adopted 10 to zero unanimously. >> Okay. Next order of business. >> Paper 253. [clears throat] Order that the city council tasks the economic development committee in conjunction with respective city staff to undertake studies and obtain resident input on the
infrastructure, environmental health, and economic considerations data centers may have on the city of Malden and surrounding communities. The economic development committee will report back to the full council on the findings from this study and provide a recommendation to determine appropriate zoning
districts and use regulations. >> Okay, Councelor Taylor, thank you. Um, as I stated before, this is the second half of that paper to really uh start doing the work. Um, we're looking forward to working with OSPCD,
um, and also the community again with the the labor unions and and just everybody who has some prior knowledge of this to really put something together that is going to be very thoughtful and and mitigate any any serious impact while still allowing for
further economic development. So, >> okay. Any further discussion? >> Second motion. >> Fantastic. On a motion by councelor Taylor, seconded by councelor Sika. Will the clerk please call the role? >> Council Clone Hayes, >> yes. >> Council Condan, >> yes. >> Council Crow, >> yes. >> Council Lewong,
>> yes. >> Council McDonald, >> yes. >> Council Mali, >> council, >> yes. >> Council Taylor, >> yes. >> Council Winslow, yes. >> Council President Lahan, >> yes. >> Okay, so that paper has been referred. >> Okay, that is referred to economic development.
>> Can I be added as a co-sponsor? >> Certainly. >> Add councelor McDonald. Okay. Next order of business, >> paper 254-26. Order that the city council will adjust the meeting calendar for June to accommodate for scheduling of the budget
public hearing process and deadline of the final vote on the fiscal year 27 city budget. It is so ordered that June 2nd will now be a meeting of the committee of the whole and June 9th will be a meeting of the full council. >> Okay, councelor McDonald for the paper. So, after we had calendared out the
finance committee schedule and trying to uh ensure we have a plan for a 45day review and vote on the mayor's proposed budget, that really led us to a June 9th um vote to meet that deadline. Now, if we fail to meet that deadline, there are procedural options, but they get messy.
Um, and I also just want to say that, you know, the proposed budget, and I'm sure the adopted budget will in fact include layoffs and position reductions, and the more time we can give to implement those reductions and those really hard changes, the better. We
really don't want to jam up the city at the end of the fiscal year. So, for those reasons, I do think it makes sense to try to keep to that timeline. Um the the original calendar that we adopted had June 2nd as a full council meeting, June 9th as a committee of the whole and then the remaining and then the
following two weeks um the 16th and the 23rd were full council meetings. Um and then the 30th the final day of the fiscal year we did not schedule meeting. So because you can't do anything uh in the fiscal year um when it's over. So
the so my so my request suggestion is that we flip the June 2nd and June 9th meetings so that we will end up with two we'll have two council meetings back to back followed by committee the whole followed by two more council meetings um and that that uh I'm sorry that goes the
other way around. No I said it backwards. We'll send an amended calendar to >> two committee of the whole nights followed by three full council meetings to close out the year and um we'll send an amended calendar. Thank you council president. Um the June 2nd have as
committee of the whole would allow us to conduct the public hearing on the budget uh during the committee of the whole so that that can be easily televised at that time and we can meet earlier in the day earlier um in the finance committee prior to that. uh we may end up needing
to um adjourn the finance committee and and reconvene after the public hearing depending on where we're at. Um but that was uh the proposal based on the discussions we all had in the finance committee about how to make sure we uh stay on schedule and have a chance to hear all of this. So that is my
suggested change to the calendar and um happy to have any questions or further discussion on that. >> Second. Okay, seeing no questions on a motion by Councelor Crowe, seconded by Councelor Winslow to adopt the order.
Councelor Omali, are you able to be with us? Okay, great. >> Um, clerk, will you please call the role? Council Cologne Hayes, >> yes. >> Council Condan, yes. >> Council Crow, yes. >> Council Lewong, >> yes. >> Council McDonald, yes. >> Council Ali, >> Council See,
>> yes. >> Council Taylor, >> yes. >> Council Winslow, >> yes. Council President Lahan. >> Yes, >> that order has been adopted. I will send out an updated calendar. >> Do I need to recuse before I read this? >> Um, sure. Okay. So, for the next item,
I'm actually going to vacate the chair and recuse myself because it concerns my employer at my day job. So, councelor McDonald is going to handle this agenda item and I will be back for the remainder of the agenda. Paper 255-26.
Order that the mayor on behalf of the city be authorized to negotiate and enter into a contract for a period of up to 9 years related to the regional bike share program, also known as blue bikes, which is expected to be paid through a combination of state and regional
funding, private sponsorships, grants, and system user fees, and will have no impact on the city's general funds. And this was sponsored by default. >> Yes, let me clarify that. Yes, while I am listed as the sponsor of this paper,
I am carrying this paper on behalf of a proposal from the administration. Um, this would typically be a paper that the council president would sponsor, but because she has recused herself from this paper, I am not sponsoring it, but um it's not an appropriation order. So, um, I think we have our staff from the
Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development here, Alex Pratt, our director, can, uh, explain and lay this out for us. So, um, let me make sure that your mic is on, >> Alex, please. >> Thank you. Um, so, as you all know, uh,
the city joined the existing Blue Bikes network about three years ago. We joined partway through a long-term contract for the region. So we there was provisions in that contract for communities like Malden to join. Um we have never spent any city of Malden operating funds on blue bikes. We have no intention of ever
doing that. We were able to join using some ARPA funds um and other grants that were available at the state level. Um and because we we joined then we have been able to participate in this uh ongoing negotiation between a number of communities um led by MAPC and the city
of Boston but with all of the other member communities at the table. And our number one priority has been reduce any operating liability to the city of Malden because that is our, you know, we don't have the money to pay for blue bikes unless someone else is giving us the money to pay for blue bikes. Um, and
that is largely where the conversations are going. Um, the contract is not yet complete. Um, there's a number of contracts involved involving Lyft, which is the operator of blue bikes, uh, Blue Cross Blue Shield, which sponsors and has naming rights to Blue Bikes, all the
cities in town. There's a lot of ongoing legal work. Um the paper in front of you tonight would authorize the mayor to um execute that contract when that is ready. Um as of now, we feel very confident that there is no liability to the city in terms of its operating funds
ever having to be used. Um there have been a number of grants that have been identified already by the MAPC region that can go towards the operating cost of the first few years of um this program. Um and the cities are um largely exempt from operating costs. Um
the only [clears throat] situation in which the city would really be responsible was if we were to add a new station. And if we were to add a new station, our intention is we would use a grant. Um there are some grants from Mass that have been used both for the region and for individual cities and towns for that type of thing. There's
the mass last mile grant. Um there's a federal highway administration congestion relief grant. Um and then there are other grants that are being secured by the region. So our our expectation is that there's, you know, there was little risk before, there's much smaller risk now um
that any operating funds would ever go to this. And we also have a um an exit clause if we need it. So let's say the grants dried up one year and we were really looking in a bad place. We could pull out of the agreement if we needed to, which we hope would not happen. But um the I just want to be very clear
because I know a lot of folks here tonight and at home are worrying about the city budget. there is no impact um of blue bikes on the city budget. And our intention is that that will always remain the case. And the way that we look at the um the draft contract and the grants that have already been
secured and the intention of the state to kind of fund this network as well, we feel pretty good about that remaining the case. But if push came to shove and it was are we staying in the blue bikes network or is it coming out of our operating budget, we would we would exit that network.
>> Thank you, Alex. I see a couple lights. count. I'm gonna go to councelor Winslow first. >> Um first I'd like to be added as a co-sponsor to this. So that's one of the things um you know I had um been actually approached by the mayor um a few years back um when Medford was
looking to get involved in the blue blue light program and they needed a partner and um we initially just planned a three stations and found you know like some the ARPA funds to um help get that going. But I was always very made sure
um that we never got out ahead like ever jumped ahead to 20 stations. I said let's just put our toes in the water a little at a time. We we've added a few more. There's a potential to add a few. So we've always been trying to be um you know not overs subscribing on this and
you know now that the transportation gym tar has really taken the lead on that that continues and I have at times you know participated and and or viewed the the team that's pulled together this RFP to hire the next 9-year contract very
diligent a great group of planners throughout the region that are working on this and I say it's been a very diligent thing and uh you know and it's great to see that the blue bike program in our region is one of the most successful in the country. It has a good business model of of you know grant
funding for the infrastructure plus you know sponsorships and other sources for the operation fees. So it's working um and um it's you know it's only $15 a month if you want to do that yourself. So, it's very you we talk about affordability and this is an affordable
transportation option. And one reason why I kept at it is when when we had the line bikes which cost nothing to the city but were chaotic. One of the things that we saw from that program where the bikes could end up anywhere was that they tended to end up in our lowest
income communities because those folks don't have a place to store a bike safely. So the blue bike program opens up this other opportunity for transportation that you can, you know, sometimes at little or no cost. People can have another form of transportation
um that um gives them access to times maybe sometimes the bus doesn't have or doesn't go conveniently. This provides another transportation alternative for um residents who need that. So, uh, so I think it's very important and, uh, you know, it's the stations are often, um,
you know, if you ever see the one right here across the T- station right now, it's probably empty because so many people used it to take it to the neighborhood. So, so it's working, but the city's been very conservative of not getting ahead of our skis on this and this is just the next step. And so just
happy to be uh be a co-sponsor on this and happy to see that this is going forward and looking forward to new new bikes as as as Maldon's demand maldonians demand them. >> Thank you councelor Winszo. Next I have councelor Sika.
>> Thank you Mr. Chair. Alex, really quickly, I had my light on before you touched upon it briefly, but this exit clause that you mentioned, right? So, um, we're we're allowing the mayor to go into a 9-year contract with these blue bikes, and there's no way we can predict
tomorrow, never mind 9 years from now. So I just want to be certain that that exit clause states if we cannot we will not go into our general fund for these blue bikes that do we have wording
on that exit clause? Like do we know [clears throat] what that says? >> The last version that I saw is still being negotiated is just for the city's convenience. So we don't even need to give a reason. We can just exit. Um, but to your point about it being a nine-year contract, I believe it's a I believe it's a three-year contract with two
options to renew for an additional three years. So, we could also exit at that point if if the picture is looking straight. >> Okay. But next year, if if the state funding's gone, the regional funding's gone, private sponsorships, if everything goes falls at the wayside, we
will not be we will not be responsible to stay in the three-year contract and have to pay for this particular program. >> Correct. We have I I don't remember if it's a 30-day written notice or something like that, but you we say, you know, let's say on July 1, we say, "Listen, we got to be out
>> by I'm going to say the end of the summer." >> Perfect. >> I am totally in support of this paper and this program as long as it doesn't cost us $1 from our general fund. So, and I'm sure the majority of us are, but I just wanted to be certain you you
briefly touched upon it. It was the question that I had hit my [clears throat] light on. So, I just want to make sure right >> that that exit clause like council cro just said is eyeing clad we will not spend $1 of our general fund for this >> that's a big priority for the mayor as well
>> perfect thank you >> thank you for that clarity councelor seea and councelor cologne hayes you're up next >> thank you um so just to add on to um councelor seea so I just had a question like why is that um just curious how
that why that contract like um spread out like that. Three, three, and then nine. >> And I don't remember if it's three, three, and three or if it's five, two, and two. I'm not sure. But that is generally how longer range contracts will allow um communities to kind of
come in or come out. >> Um I'm not sure why they spread it up that way, but I take I take some comfort in that because it gives us more exit strategies. If something's not working well, we could we have some leverage to renegotiate if we needed to. Um, so yeah. No, >> no, it makes sense. Definitely makes
more sense than going into a nine-year contract, but I was just wondering why, >> yeah, >> you would have to do that. Like, why wouldn't it just be a three-year contract or or a one-year contract and you just renegotiate? >> I could speculate that, well, this procurement process took more than a year to get to where we are, and we're
not done yet. >> Um, a company like Lyft to make a long-term investment in the system wants to know that they're going to be operating the system for a long time. Um, I would speculate that that would probably be why any any provider would look for a longer term contract.
>> Okay. Um and I think it's a great idea and I um you know I see kids using the bikes all the time. So I do see that and um I think it's uh great that we're going to have that back as long like you said as long as it's not um costing any other
funds. Um, and then I wanted to know if you had data um, h how often they're used as compared to other cities or like Yeah, if you could give us some of that, that'd be great. >> Yes. I don't have a what I can do is I can follow up with some some real streamlined uh data, but what we've seen
is that in in our first year there's not a lot of activity. In our second year, it >> really blew up. Um, last year the station at Kirid Park was added I think about halfway through the the calendar year and there were more than a thousand rides. >> That's awesome. I do see them. I I know
people say they don't see I see a lot of kids but people using them all the time. So I think it's >> there's also data that you can look at that shows that people are commuting uh as well. The the wrership really picks up around commuting times. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Can I ask one more question? Uh, councelor Lewong and then back to councelor Seika. >> I'm actually councelor Seika. >> No, [laughter] >> no, she um she answer you answered my question. >> It was really about it was honestly it was really about the exit clause and making sure that we don't there's no
penalties. There's none of that. I absolutely especially in my area of the east side we see a lot I see a lot of um young kids using it. I see a lot of um which is great for commuting to school and um having those options. So, thank you for doing what you do to this.
>> Yeah, there's again, they're still finalizing all the language. There's going to be a lot more negotiation back and forth, but the the last version I saw had a for the city's convenience, I can't remember if it's a 30-day or a 60-day written notice. And unless we've ordered something order them to do something like we say we're putting in a
new station on Monday and we're pulling out on Tuesday and they've already ordered it, you know, besides that kind of thing that wouldn't happen in the first place, right, >> we'd we'd be we'd be free. >> Fabulous. Thank you. Great job. Thank you. >> All right. And now back to councelor
Zika. >> This is the craziest question, Alex, but >> I'll give you the craziest answer. >> When you when you send us along that data, is there a way to find out like the vandalism rate of these particular blue bikes? because I saw a kid down in
Lyndon at it's probably one of the only kids I've seen ride one of these bikes and it was spray painted red and like he made it his own personal bicycle. So, um and they're very distinctive. You can tell what a blue bike looks like. So,
when I saw the red, I'm just curious like it it must happen more than just that one time I saw it. So it it's just it will be interesting to see like they must take that into consideration with this whole entire program.
>> Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure they have data on that. >> All right. If you can include it. I would be interested in seeing what what the vandalism rate is on >> No, I uh I live next to the high school and so I see kids doing all sorts of things. >> Yeah. And this kid was not old. He was like maybe middle school if that. And he
had this blue bike spray painted red and I'm like, "Oh my god. This is crazy. But >> I'm pretty sure there is an age restriction for using blue bikes, but it's impossible to enforce because if he gets the parents credit card or something like that. >> Well, I'm pretty sure he mickeyied this somehow and he was just Yeah. I don't
Yeah. >> Yeah. Was he a Lynon kid? >> He probably was. They're very smart over there, you know. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> Thank you. >> Yeah. We We'll find out the edit for you. >> All right. Um any other comments? Um
just from the chair. really thrilled about this and I would just say I really appreciate how we're pooling our bargaining power as cities and towns. I wish we did more of that. Um and I think we can get better rates and better you know negotiating power because we're doing a lot of the same things. So um I
just really appreciate the work that uh your team is doing um to help make to help bring this about and uh very excited to have this move forward. So, I have a motion from councelor Sika to approve, seconded by councelor Crowe.
Uh, clerk, would you please call the role? >> Council clone Hayes? >> Yes. >> Council Condan, yes. >> Council Crow, yes. >> Council Lewong, >> yes. >> Council McDonald, >> yes. >> Council Mali, >> Council Sega, >> yes. >> Council Taylor, >> yes.
>> Council Winslow, >> yes. >> Okay, so that order has been adopted. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, councelor Omali, just real quick, we turned up one of the volume things. Can you say something and see if it's any better? >> Yeah, it's it's not any better. Okay. Well, that was a good try. We can see
your It's just the same. we can see your um the the uh captioning for you. But >> councelor M says, "Thank you for trying. It's appreciated." >> Okay. >> All right. Okay. Back to you, Council President.
>> You you you did that. >> I did. I did do that. >> What are we doing next? Nobody knows. [snorts] >> Okay. Next order of business. So, the next two papers are pretty much both the same, >> right? >> Paper 256-26, communication from Mayor Christensen
regarding an economic development package proposal. And paper 257-26, communication from Mayor Christensen regarding commercial street economic zoning analysis. And I think the um intent on both of these packages were to be referred to the economic developments committee.
>> Okay. Council Taylor, did you want to speak to either of these before we look for a um motion to refer? >> Yes. I just wanted to give a little insight into referring them to economic development. So, we do plan [clears throat] um I've worked with both Zach Lamel and
Alex Pratt from OSPCD um to devise a plan for these papers. So, we will introduce them in our next economic development meeting next week. And then we do plan on having an offcom committee meeting um night Monday the 18th is what we're hoping for where
we'll invite local businesses um and other community members the historic commission to further discuss them. Um that way we're not interfering with the the budget process as well. So, um that
is our hope and that that's the goal and then from there refer them to a joint planning and um ordinance >> rules and ordinance. However, we will take as long as we need to. Uh so if we don't get through everything we need to
talk about in our off committee night, you know, we are prepared to extend out the process a little bit so everybody has input. Okay, great. And I was just going to say, does anybody from OSPCD want to speak to these? I know you were just
here. Are you You're good. Okay, great. Thank Yeah, we have one question from councelor Cologne Hayes. >> Okay, so I just had a question on um to council Taylor. So you're referring it um to ordinance. I'm actually not going
to be here, but I do have I've already taken some notes. No, it's being referred to economic development >> a joint >> and then from there we would need to refer it would be yeah >> okay great because I was going to say I'll forward you my um notes on it for
your meeting if I'm not there but okay it can wait >> did everyone receive the package did the whole >> I believe >> the whole council can access that right okay great great >> great thank you no thank you for clarifying that >> okay so we had a motion by counselor oh
I'm so sorry Did you have a light, Michelle? >> Are you okay with doing one vote for both papers? >> I'm fine with that. Are you okay doing one vote for both papers? >> Absolutely. >> Okay. So, on a motion by councelor >> SEA, seconded by councelor Taylor to move both papers, we would be referring
to econ to economic development. We will call the role. >> Council Cologne Hayes. Yes. Council Condan. Council Crow. Yes. Council Wong. Yes. Council McDonald. Yes. Council Ali. >> Council Seika. >> Yes. >> Council Taylor.
>> Yes. >> Council Winslow. >> Yes. >> Council President Lennan. >> Yes. >> Okay. Those papers have been referred unanimously. >> Okay. Thank you. Next order of business. >> Paper 258, I'm sorry. A representative from the solicitor's office will follow up on paper 234-26
with an update to the council on the investigation into the open meeting law complaint filed by Bruce Freriedman of 8 Marvin Street on April 16, 2026 against the council related to the release of executive session minutes from April 14th, 2026.
>> Thank you to the clerk. Solicitor McNeel, you have the floor. >> Alicia McNeel, city solicitor. Um so as you read Mr. Freriedman filed an open meeting law complaint and in that open meeting law complaint there were three
separate allegations regarding seven executive session minutes. Uh so the first allegation was that the city council failed to regularly review the seven um executive session meeting
minutes. [snorts] The response from the city council um is essentially that the open meeting law does require um regular review of executive session minutes.
And um so that was the the first the second analysis was whether or not Mr. Freriedman timely filed these um allegations with the public body, the city council, and after reviewing the
dates when these so the the standard is when the complainant knew or should have known um that there was a violation. And after reviewing the seven executive session minutes and the dates, um it's
reasonable that Mr. Mr. Freriedman knew or should have known that there was a violation and since he did not uh file the complaint within 30 days with the public body, I request requested that
the attorney general decline to opine on this particular allegation because it was not timely filed. The second allegation was that the city council entered executive
session without valid exemptions and without identifying the matters that would be discussed in executive session. So based on this allegation and again it was for those seven um dates of
executive session meeting minutes those meeting minutes are not um disclosed. So the response to that allegation was that the another one request that the attorney general decline to opine
because they're not released and as having not been released there's no way it's really speculative in conjuncture conjecture as to what is included in those seven executive uh session minutes. The second part of that was
that uh [snorts] the um the second part of that was that the matter that was going to be discussed in executive session was not properly identified. And I included um exhibit
one and exhibit one are all of the uh agendas for those executive session minute meetings, those dates. And on the agenda you will find that there is um listed the matters that were going to be
discussed. Um and so again on that I asked the attorney general to find that the executive session minutes were properly um identified and the subject of those minutes were
um allowable under exemption three which is litigation. discussing litigation that having to discuss it in open meeting would um be detrimental to litigation position.
The third allegation was that these minutes again have not been released these seven minutes and the third allegation was that there was no legitimate read reason to withhold the executive session meeting minutes. I
included in the response a statement made by um the city clerk that these were reviewed and after reviewing them, they still would be um withheld based on attorney client privileged and based on
the fact that they are still um the purpose is still uh present to withhold these executive session minutes. I um and the other allegation was that they were
withheld in their entirety. The attorney general allows these executive session minutes to be held within with um in their entirety if it defeats the purpose for which they're withheld. So I asked again the attorney general to find that
there was no violation on either or all three of those um allegations. Thank you, Solicitor McNeel. Do we have any questions or discussion? Okay. Do we have a motion
to authorize the response to be sent? >> Okay. On a motion by Councelor Winsow, seconded by Councelor Taylor. The clerk will call the role. >> Council Cologne Hayes, >> yes. >> Council Condan, >> yes. >> Council Crow, >> yes. >> Council Lewong,
>> yes. Council McDonald, >> yes. >> Council Ali, >> Council SEA, >> yes. >> Council Taylor, >> yes. >> Council Winslow, >> yes. >> Council President Lan, >> yes. And just to note, I think councelor Ali said present according to the um
transcript. >> Thank you. >> You are welcome. >> Okay, so we've authorized the response to be sent. Thank you so much, Ally. >> Next order of business. >> Paper 258-26, committee report. The standing committee on finance to whom was referred papers
208 through 214 series of 2026 having considered the same make the following report. Committee recommends these papers out favorably to the full council. Okay. On a motion by councelor Taylor, seconded by councelor Luong to receive the committee report. The clerk will
call the role. >> Council clone Hayes. Yes. >> Council Condan. Council Crow. >> Yes. Yes. Council Lewong, >> yes. >> Council McDonald, >> yes. >> Council Mali, >> Council Sea, >> yes. >> Council Taylor, >> yes. >> Council Winslow, >> yes.
>> Council President Lingham, >> yes. >> Okay, the committee report is received and just by way of explanation before we proceed. So, these are these would typically be filed under of course our finance chair. um they are docketed under my name because we do have one
item that requires recusal um from our finance chair councelor McDonald. So um just like to explain that because you get that >> right. So I just want to make sure that we explain that because normally these things would be under your name and is it your preference that you recuse just for the item that is um a conflict for
you? >> Uh yes that's correct. I participated in discussion the others but I think councelor Taylor is going to talk us through each one since she uh chaired the committee where we discussed them. Okay. Councelor Taylor, will you Is it your preference to take these up? Take them one by one and vote them one by one
since they're pretty unique projects. >> We can do that. Yeah, I think that makes the most. >> Okay. >> Okay. The first one is paper 208-26. Order that the appropriation enumerated below being in the amount of $60,000 be appropriated from the community preservation act fund to the following
project. Malden rental assistance program from fund balance to action for Boston community development. >> Okay. Councelor Taylor for the paper. >> Thank you. Um, so we had a really great meeting in in finance last week to
discuss all of these papers. Um, and Dan Kauf did a great job going over everything. Um, this is from our the housing portion of the
community preservation funds and would help our rental assistance program through ABCD. Um, sorry, I wasn't prepared for >> That's okay. We have Dan here as well. If there's any additional questions,
Dan, do you want to approach the podium? >> He did such a great job in the meeting that I didn't and he's hung in here this whole time, so why not invite him up? [laughter] >> Hey everybody, >> thanks for having me. >> Thank you, council president um and
councelor Taylor. So the um the project we are discussing currently is the uh rental assistance program that is being proposed for being
proposed by ABCD. So CPC has funded a start secure program with ABCD since uh FY20 that has supported folks uh pro that has provided folks with move in costs so
they can get first and last rent to move into a new home in Malden. Uh that program was particularly helpful when the Oakrove fire happened at the laundry building and we're able to help a couple residents in that building moved to a
new um home in Malden. So in those quarterly reports that ABCD provides to us diligently, they have found that upwards of 50% of the people who apply for rental assistance cannot access the
start secure program because they really just need rental assistance um because they are in a rears. They need to get back on their feet. something has happened and they need um they they've fallen behind on rent and they just need
to get back on their feet. So ABCD is applying um for the $60,000 to help upwards of 20 families to uh get rental assistance and then also ABCD would
provide u matching funding um from their existing housing counselors to provide wraparound financial support to ensure that these folks won't fall into um arars again. >> Okay, great. Well, I I will just say
from having engaged with some of the residents in that fire, having the ability to refer to a program like this was invaluable and it was a I had happened to have just met one of those folks just a few weeks beforehand um just out walking around and then had their contact information and be able to
check in with them and then knowing we had this program. These things really do make a difference for folks. Um just to say that from the chair. Um do we have any other questions or comments on this or a motion? Okay. So, moved by councelor Cologne
Hayes, seconded by councelor Taylor. Um, we do still have councelor Ali remote, so we're going to need to do a roll call to adopt the order. >> Council Cologne Hayes, >> yes. >> Council Condan, >> yes. >> Council Crow,
>> yes. >> Council Wong, >> Council McDonald, >> yes. >> Council Ali, >> yes. >> That's a yes. >> Council Sega, >> yes. Council Taylor. Yes. >> Council Winsow. Yes. Council President Lennan. >> Yes. >> Order has been adopted.
>> Order has been adopted. Thank you, Dan. And maybe hang around if we have any other questions. >> There's a few more orders that pertain to Yeah. So, I [laughter] can hang out here. >> That would be very helpful. >> Paper 209-26, order that the appropriation enumerated below being in
the amount of $100,000 be appropriated from the Community Preservation Act fund for the following project. all of a street restoration project from fund balance to Malden public facilities department. >> Councelor Taylor, I'm just going to keep your light on. >> Thank you. Um, so I will defer again to
Dan to talk about this one, but this is the uh restoration of the old fire library. >> Both was a library at one point, right? >> Station library. >> Okay. Um, the old fire station library
that is um being used by the DPW. So, >> public facilities. >> Public facilities. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Sorry. Thank you. >> Yeah, it's in your it's in your award. All right. So, um, public facilities,
uh, is has now returned to CPC for their for a second round of funding following last year when they conducted building conditions assessments on this building and also the additional fire station that's still city-owned but decommissioned as a fire station on
Pearl Street. So, um the city has come back to uh after that assessment, the assessment found that the roof and masonry were in need of repair. And this application is to fund the repair of the
masonry, the fac, the historic facade on this uh historic fire station that was built um at least in part by the WPA when they added the ward room and and um here we go a picture of it.
>> So the fire station and then the library and ward room is over here. And so this whole uh facade needs to be repointed. Um this is an effort to make the building watertight so public facilities
can continue to improve the inside um making it more energy efficient. But the first step is really to make sure that the exterior envelope is secure. And so that's what this funding is for. This this property is currently used by public facilities as a shop. This is
where they do a lot of their repairs and maintenance for all of the city- owned buildings throughout the city. >> And what part of it is WPA work? >> I believe well 1908 was the um fire
station and I believe the um library. >> Cool. >> WPA. >> That's fascinating. >> Yeah. >> Any uh Oh, councelor Seika, sorry, I missed your light. Go ahead. I just wanted to um let the p members of the public at home know that even though we are doing all this work to this fire
station, it is not being sold. It is not being turned into apartments. Every time there's something new that's going on, they just did the they upgraded the windows and the heating system recently and every time they see workers out there, I have residents calling me. But
um it is going I spoke to um Eric Rubin today. It is going to continue to be, you know, a shop for our public facilities department. They've um where the two double doors are in the picture that Dan just showed, that's actually the shop area and they have made um some
office space upstairs where the um bedroom quarters used to be of the old fire station. So um yeah, so it's it's just ex fixing the existing facade like Dan said. So, and it is this building is a historic building. I heard you say the
word historic, but I don't think we just so everyone knows it is has been deemed a historical building in the city. >> Thank you. I make a motion to approve this paper. >> Did you have anything to add, Dan? I saw you raise your hand a little bit. Um well, for folks who are concerned about
city potentially selling this property and CPC funding being put in, um we have instituted a clawback clause >> in our grant agreements so that if the city were to sell this building, CPC would have the option of recouping some
of that fund. >> Perfect. >> Oh, great. Thank you for mentioning that. >> Good. Thank you. >> Hopefully, we don't. >> Yeah. Yeah. But that's great. >> Yeah. Um, who made the motion? >> Councelor Seika, seconded by councelor Crowe. Uh, we'll call the role to adopt
the order. >> Council Cologne Hayes, yes. Council Condan, >> Council Crow, Council Lewong, >> yes. >> Council McDonald, yes. >> Council Ali. >> Council Sega, >> yes. >> Council Taylor, yes. >> Council Winslow, yes. >> Council President Lahan, >> yes. Okay,
>> that order has been adopted unanimously. >> Okay, that order has been adopted. Next order of business. Paper 210-26 order that the appropriation enumer enumerated below being in the amount of $114,000
be appropriated from the community preservation act fund for the following project digitalization and preservation of historic records project from fund balance to the city clerk's office. >> Okay, councelor Taylor. Thank you. This is a really exciting project um where
the clerk's office um applied to be able to digitize our records um and have an online access which is going to make it easier to preserve some of the old historical books that we are currently
keeping as well as have better access to our records. >> Did you want to add anything >> Dan? I have photos of some of the um records that are falling into disrepair and so these would be preserved and digitized and made available to the
public. >> Fantastic. I do see councelor Ali's hand up and I'm not sure if he's typing something or saying something I should say. >> He makes >> he's moving to adopt the order. Okay. I
would just before we do that, does our clerk have anything to add? >> Um, well, I would just thank you for your consideration um on this paper. We've got a lot of historical documents in my office dating back over 150 years. And every time we do genealogy report, a
project, which happens every day in my office, >> um, handling these documents isn't safe. They're they're brittle. They're old. They're yellow. And, um, we're going to do the best we can with the funds that we have. And um then you might see us back next year for phase two. >> Love it. [laughter]
>> Okay, so we have a motion on the floor from councelor Ali. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by councelor Sika. The clerk will call the role. >> Councelor Cologne Hayes. Yes. >> Councelor Condan. Councelor Crowe. Yes. >> Council Lewong. >> Yes. >> Council McDonald. Yes.
>> Council Ali. >> Council Seca? Yes. >> Council Taylor? Yes. >> Councelor Winslow? Yes. >> Council President Lanham? >> Yes. Okay, that order has been adopted. >> That order has been adopted. Next order of business. >> Paper 211. Order that the appropriation
enumerated below being in the amount of $122,500 be appropriated from the community preservation act fund for the following project. St. Paul's Parish Church Buttress Restoration Project from the fund balance to St. Paul's Church.
>> Thank you, Councelor Taylor for the paper. >> Thank you. So, um I believe this is also for our historical building, which St. Paul's is, and to um help reinforce around the windows so that there is less
water damage and to c to stop any further damage, um to the building. >> Do you want to elaborate? >> Anything to add? >> Um this is one of nine buildings in Malden on the National Register for
Historic Places. Um this this church has did a master plan over 20 years ago and has been slowly taking off uh all the items on their own. And this is the first time that they've um come to us
for funding for restoration of this buttress that is clearly falling apart. You can see from the street that there's plywood over the windows. >> Wow. Okay. I do have one light. Is this for the next item? No.
>> Oh, this is for this. Okay. Councelor McDonald. >> Yeah. Thank you. I just want to thank um St. Paul's Parish for engaging with us over time um because they had come to the CPC last year uh to get a planning grant. Um and I is it for this exact work? I was unclear, but it is really
it's >> it's work. Yeah, it was a 3D scan that helps provide more detail for this construction. And I just want to remind folks who may not have uh recalled that we did extensive review with our legal department about the appropriateness of
CPC funds being used for religious buildings and set up some guidelines to ensure that they're not used for religious purposes but for historic purposes and looked at many other communities who do in fact fund those uh fund those projects since you know churches the the the quintessential you
know white cl like wooden church on the town green is such a New England fixture. Um, and so anyways, I just wanted to appreciate St. Paul's Parish for um helping us uh make this through, you know, figure this out and um and and
uh and being such a um an excellent example of historic architecture in the city. So, thank you. >> Yeah. And following your vote on that project, we did recommend a condition be placed on this award, um, following the condition that was placed on the last
award, which is just that the appropriation not be used to repair or restore any item whose sole purpose is religious. >> Okay, >> we don't think this project will, but >> thank you for that. >> We do have a motion by seems
want to second it. >> Okay, great. We have a motion by councelor Seika, seconded by councelor Winslow. >> We will call the role. >> Council Cologne Hayes, yes. >> Council Condan, >> Council Crowe, >> yes. >> Council Lewong, yes. >> Council McDonald, yes. >> Council Ali,
>> Council Seika, >> yes. >> Council Taylor, yes. >> Council Winsow, yes. >> Council President Lenningham, >> yes. >> Okay, that order has been adopted. >> Okay, that has been adopted. Next order of business, >> paper 212. Well, we actually Let me put
counselor McDonald's light on. >> Yes. So, this is the paper I'd like to recuse myself from. I am a member of this congregation. I have no uh involvement in the project. Um but just out of abundance of caution, I wanted to recuse myself from this um from this uh paper. Thank you.
>> Okay. We will come get you after. >> Paper 212-26. Order that the appropriation enumerated below being the amount of $250,000 be appropriated from the community preservation act fund for the following project. First parish church restoration project from historic preservation
reserve and the fund balance to first parish church. >> Okay, councelor Taylor. >> Thank you. And this would be another project historic restoration um on the first parish church um which is another historic building. I believe this is for the outside
>> of the building um to replace a stone. Am I remembering correctly? >> To repoint the masonry on the facade. Similar issue as the other building. >> Okay.
>> Okay. Motion by councelor Crow, seconded by Karen Cologne Hayes. Uh we will call the role. >> Council Cologne Hayes. >> Yes. Council Condan. Council Crow, >> yes. >> Council Lewan, >> yes. >> Council Ali, >> Council Sea, >> yes.
>> Council Taylor, >> yes. >> Council Winslow, >> yes. >> Council President Linan, >> yes. >> Okay, so that order has been adopted. >> Okay, that's been adopted. Next order of business. Um, Council Taylor, would you mind grabbing Councelor McDonald while we read the paper?
>> Not at all. Paper 213-26. Order that the appropriation enumerated below being in the amount of $500,000 be appropriated from the community preservation act fund for the following project. Malden affordable housing trust fund from housing reserve the budget
reserve and the fund balance to the office of strategic planning and community development. >> Okay. Councelor Taylor for the paper. >> Thank you. Um, so this is I don't know, Dan, do you want to go ahead and speak to this? It's pretty
>> sure >> self-explanatory, but I'll let you go into more detail. >> Yeah, this is the third uh grant application from OSPCD for the affordable housing trust fund to CPC. The previous two awards were
within weeks. um [laughter] allocated to projects that were coming through the pipeline. So, um, the relationship between CPC and the affordable housing trust fund has been building and has been really productive. And so, uh, OSPCD came in with a bit of
a larger request this year that, um, was fully supported by CPC, um, and can even say members of the public and how they pri think we should be prioritizing our funding. A lot of folks think support affordable housing.
So um yeah, this would go to the affordable housing trust fund uh to then reallocate to other projects. This is really important as a foundation of the funding stack because a lot of the state
and federal funding sources look to local funding sources to be in the project first. And so we felt it was really important um to fund this application to its fullest extent. Thank you. And I just wanted to amplify what you just said a little bit because
not only is that so critical as I've been I think it's my second or third year as the council's representative on the affordable housing trust board. We're seeing not just that we're able to immediately leverage these funds, but that as you said, they're essential to the stack. We can't actually do without
them. And that increasingly that match is not either not there, we're having to wait multiple cycles, or it's just diminished in amount. So, um the fact that this is larger and that it's become a repeat commitment is going to be um incredibly essential to us being able to do any affordable housing production.
So, that's that's my soap box from the chair on this one. Um but I do see some other lights. Councelor Winslow. >> Yeah. Now, I just really really want to reiterate that because I was the initial counselor on um affordable housing trust and >> I know at that time this the CPC was
very skeptical about this relationship. So it's great to hear that that that's working and in between the trust and OSPCD and this is really the purpose of that we're leveraging the funds. So it it the money we have from CPC is a small
amount to what really is the multi-million dollars that needs to go into housing. So but if it's not there it doesn't move forward. So it's great to see that happening. It's great to see this building very uh supportive of this. Thank you. Great. >> Thank you councelor Wow. Um, I did hear
a motion, but I didn't quite catch. Councelor Seika, second. >> Seconded by Councelor Winslow to adopt the order. The clerk will call the role. >> Council Clone Hayes, yes. >> Council Condan, Council Crow, yes. >> Council Lang, yes. >> Council McDonald, >> yes.
>> Council Mali, that's a yes. Well, he doesn't have his camera on, but >> Oh, thank you, Council Sea. >> Yes. Okay. Councelor Taylor, >> yes. >> Council Winsow, yes. >> Council President Lingan, >> yes. >> Okay, the order has been adopted
unanimously. >> Okay, that's been adopted. Next order of business. >> Paper 214-26. Order that the appropriation enumerated below being in the amount of $500,000 be appropriated from the community preservation act fund for the following project. Lynen Park restoration project
from open space reserve budgeted reserve and fund balance to the office of strategic planning and community development. >> Okay, we are closing in on the end here. getting [laughter] there. Councelor Taylor. Um, so this project would be for restoration of the tot lot and the main
playground, both of them, I believe. Um, which is desperately in need. Um, I believe councelor Seika said that it has it is still the original mulch from when the school was was built um 25 years
ago. So, uh, it would be great to to see a restoration here. So, does does Phoebe approve of this? >> She hasn't seen the plan, but I'm sure I'm sure she'll be very excited. [laughter] >> Dan, anything to add? >> Yeah, this is for um planning, design,
and construction. So, OSPCD will be engaged in at least three community meetings in support of [snorts] this project. Um, and this follows up on CPC's investment in the Lynen Rink, which is now uh new. And then you have
these tot lots that are separated by fence and make it hard for parents to be with kids of multiple ages and the landscaping doesn't quite isn't aligned anymore. So this would fix all of those issues. >> Fantastic.
Um councelor Seika, one moment. There you go. >> Yes. Thank you. It has been since 2001, so 25 years old. the William Dempsey Memorial Playground/TOTlot has been um there and looking at
everyone else's beautiful parks, I I get nothing but grief that Oz was looking the way that it is. So, I look forward to this. Um this is along with the CDBG money um that so so they're both going to work together to get this pack uh
looking amazing for the residents and then all our packs basically will be will be new which will be amazing. So >> amazing. >> I look forward to to working with the project and we'll make sure to have Phoebe at our meetings to put [laughter] to give her input on what she has in place to see that. Listen, there's no
doubt in my mind if anybody's going to give it to us it's going to be her. So I I look forward to it and I make a motion to approve this paper. >> Okay. Second on a motion by councelor SEA, seconded by councelor Leong. >> We will call the role.
>> Council Cologne Hayes. >> Yes. >> Council Condan. Council Crow. >> Yes. >> Council Leong. >> Yes. >> Council McDonald. >> Yes. >> Council Mali. >> He typed yes. Or or verbalized. Yes. And it got recorded. >> Yeah. Council Sega, >> yes. >> Council Taylor,
>> yes. >> Council Winslow, >> yes. >> Council President Lahan, yes. That order has been adopted unanimously. >> Okay, that's been adopted. Next order of business. >> Thank you. I think we're finally >> You're off the hook. >> Thank you so much.
>> Paper 259-26, committee report. The standing committee on finance to whom was referred paper 232 series of 2026 having considered the same make the following report. Committee recommends the paper out favorably to the full council. >> Okay.
>> On a motion by councelor McDonald, seconded by councelor Taylor to accept the committee report. >> Council council Condan. >> Council Crow. >> Council Lewong. Yes. >> Council McDonald.
>> Yes. Council Mali, >> Councelor Sega, >> yes. >> Council Taylor, >> yes. >> Council Winslow, >> yes. >> Council President Lenn, >> yes. >> So, that would be a nine to zero vote to receive the committee report. >> Okay. I'm going to go to councelor Crow right off the top.
>> I didn't read the paper yet. I think she needs to do you need >> I need to recuse myself because one of the organizations that's listed on here is my employer. >> Okay, that's no problem. >> Okay. Paper 232-26. Order. The city of Malden filed with the
US Department of Housing and Urban Development a consolidated plan including applications for grants under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 as amended and the Cranston Gonzalez Housing Act of 1990 as amended to be administered by the Office of Strategic Planning and Community
Development for fiscal year 2027, including all understanding and assurances contained therein on or substantially in the form presented to this meeting. and that Gary Christensen, mayor and chief executive officer of the city of Malden, be and hereby is
directed and designated as the authorized representative for and in the name and behalf of the city of Malden to sign and file said plan to act in connection with said plan and to provide such additional information as may be required.
>> Wow, a description only HUD could write. Um, [laughter] sorry, Council McDonald, for the paper. Yes. Not just directed but directed and designated. Yes. [laughter] Um so this is our annual approval of the federal community development block
grant which is a formula driven grant based on factors from the um that the housing the department of housing and urban development does send to us. And so we did get confirmation as I understand it that this has been this was approved um in one of the federal
budget agreements. So we actually know this money is coming. We're very glad for that. Um, and it is level funded for next year as well. Is that correct? Um, so that is that gives us a little bit of runway. It's a little bit it's a little bit less than last year, but but still
very close. Most items here um including the public services portion that goes to our various community organizations that we maximize basically level funded. The affordable housing and rehab um grant is basically level funded. Um the physical
improvements are where we see the most um shift from year to year as projects cycle through. So we've completed the Denver Park phase 2 and Butch Janetti Park financing and next year we'll be focusing on the Lynen Park playground uh and the Molden skate park on Willow
Street. Um and this also includes the new payment a new payment for the Molden River Works section 108 loan. Section 108 loans are paid out of CDBG money, so they don't impact the general fund of the city. We approved that loan, you may remember, in December, I think, for the
Malden River Works project. So now we are having to start to pay back on that loan as the final as a final piece of the financing to get that project done. The total um expense, oh, and one thing I'll just note is that we did see a reduction in ADA pedestrian improvement
funding this year um in part because there are other funding sources for this one. um unlike some of the other uh ongoing commitments here. So, the total is for a $1.79 million um CDBG budget. Had a good and
smooth discussion in the finance committee and unanimously recommended adoption of the order. >> Okay. Thank you, Council McDonald. Any discussion, questions? >> Motion.
>> Okay. Motion by councelor Winslow, seconded by councelor Cologne Hayes. Clerk will call the role. >> Council Cologne Hayes, >> yes. >> Council Condan, >> yes. >> Council Lewong, >> Council McDonald, >> yes. >> Council Mali, >> yes.
>> Okay. >> Council Sega is not here. Councelor Taylor, >> yes. >> Council Winsow, Council President Lan, >> yes. >> Okay. So, that has been adopted by any >> Okay. The order is adopted. Next order of business.
>> Personal privilege. >> Okay. The docket is clear. Do anybody like personal privilege? Councelor Winslow first. >> I just have a Is is the National Grid paper that's tabled. Is was that something we had to take up? Did councelor Ali need to >> It's my understanding that councelor Ali
when he was ready to take this up he was going to invite National Grid to come back um at a date certain in May I believe and um he would take it off the table at that I don't think we're prepared for that this evening. >> Okay, good. Just >> working with the owner of the building
to come to terms with the plans the changes to the plans they were making. >> Just All right. So, um, but I do have a personal privilege. So, >> so, um, on Saturday, May 16th, um, in Maplewood Square from 2:00 to 5:00, we're having our fifth annual Maplewood
Fest. So, we start off with a puppy parade. Um, and then have, um, a couple local bands from the neighborhood coming out to play. So, come out. We have, uh, that we have, uh, some special foods, uh, being planned by our restaurants
and, you know, games and other activities for kids. So, just come out, enjoy it, and uh something we have uh been having fun with for 5 years. Take care. >> Awesome. Hope you have great weather. >> Councelor McDonald.
>> I just want to start reminding folks that Malden Porchfest, everybody's favorite community wine music festival, is coming up on Saturday, May 30th from 12 to 6 p.m. It's dozens and dozens of um community locations and performers
across the city. and um they are still looking for hosts. There are actually more performers than available hosts at the moment. So, if you uh are able and willing to have some amazing local community musicians in your driveway or on your porch or your backyard um or
some other property you control that uh it's not too late to sign up. So, go to maldenporfest.org uh and check that out and I'm sure we'll all see each other around on the 30th. >> Awesome. Can't wait. Thank you, Councelor McDonald. Councelor Lewong,
>> I just wanted to also add to that that the Malden Lions Club will be doing a um mobile eye van at City Hall Plaza from 1 to 5:00 um at Porchfest and you can have your eye screenings and your blood pressure
screenings. So, come by and then you can get other information. I'm sure we'll have a table out and they will have information on um diabetes and all the different stuff that they do. um great works here in the city. They actually um one of the last grants that they did a few years ago, they actually were able
to equip this particular van with the ability to do um eye screenings for very young children >> under the age I think going up from two years old all the way up to um the very elderly. So, it's come by and visit and get an ice screening.
>> That sounds fantastic. Thank you, Council Leong. Well, I will just say briefly from the chair, um, tomorrow morning is is safe routes to school day. So, it's walk, bike, and roll to school morning, um, across the city. I will say
for just, um, the west side of the city for the first time, we do have an Edgeworth meetup, which has been a long-standing goal. Um, there's going to be a group meeting outside city hall right in front of the building here to walk over to BB at 7:40. There's going to be a group meeting up at Ambridge
Park on the corner of Savin Street at 7:40 to go to BB and then the corner of Charles and Russell, our first ever Edworth meet up to go to BB school at 7:40 tomorrow. Of course, there's folks meeting up all across the city. Um, I
would encourage anybody listening, if you want to know where your school's meetup is, I think Malden Safe Streets has the comprehensive list and that's on all of their social media profiles. So, I would check that. I'll try to cross post it on my own as well. So, if you follow me, I'll go home and share that
as well. But, it's an awesome day to just get together with um other families and caregivers that are biking or walking to school. The weather, fingers crossed, looks great in the morning and it's a fun time. And councelor Crow, I see that you have your light on, so I'm going to give you the last word. >> We've forgotten about >> Sorry. That's okay.
>> You usually get the mayor at your walk to school day. So, I think >> we do. So we will be meeting at um um at the old Belmont school to walk to Ferryway from our side and then I think there's a group meeting at um Lincoln Commons as well on the side. But the other thing is I want to say first to
say happy Mother's Day. This Sunday is Mother's Day and um I will be hosting the annual Mother's Day um breakfast at Anony's um from 9 to 11 on on Sunday morning. So come on by. It's free. It's just a time um to celebrate um all the
important women in our lives and our communities. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you for closing us out with that. >> Um it's 9:05. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Okay. So moved by councelor Seika, seconded by councelor Lewong. We will
call the role. >> Council clone Hayes. Yes. Council Condan. Yes. Council Crowe. Yes. >> Council Wong. Yes. >> Council McDonald. Yes. Council Mi. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. [laughter] >> Council see Taylor. >> Council Winslow. Council President Lan.
Yes. >> Okay. We are journed. >> Okay. We are adjourned. Thank you everyone. >> All right. I've got your papers here before I forget.