Welcome to the Riviera City Council meeting of March 9th, 2026. All rise and salute the flag, please. 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. >> Roll club the members. Councelor Argenzio >> here. >> Here. Councelor Kogandro >> here. >> Here. Councelor Jino >> here. >> Here. Councelor Go Sua >> here. >> Here. Councelor H >> here. >> Here. Councelor Kelly
>> here. >> Here. Council Mckenno >> here. >> Here. Council Mccurio >> here. >> Here. Council Noelski >> here. >> Here. Council Sylvestri >> here. >> Here. And council president Zamutoo >> here. >> Here. Quorum is present. >> Calendar item number two. Motion presented by councilors Garina SA
Novaski and McKenna that the city council award a certificate of commendation to Linda Deo on the occasion of her retirement and in recognition of her years of service to the city of Rivier. Good evening everyone. For more than a decade, Linda Deo has
been a constant at city hall, serving under two administrations and keeping the mayor's office running day in and day out. Anyone who has spent time in city halls knows things just don't happen by accident. They happen because of
dedicated people like Linda who work behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. She has always done her job with professionalism, patience, and calm presence that so many of us have come to
rely on. But most importantly, she has always treated people with kindness and respect, and that's something that truly makes a difference. On a personal note, I'm proud to say that Linda is not just someone I've had the opportunity to work
with. She has also become my friend. That makes it even more meaningful to me to be here tonight to recognize her. Linda, thank you for your years of dedication to the city of River and for everything you've done for the residents and for all of us who have had the
pleasure of working alongside you. Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement. We wish you nothing but happiness and relaxation in this next chapter. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. I could need my glasses. Um, Linda, I'm
just wi I'm going to say it really brief, but I'm just wishing you a wonderful new chapter in your retirement. One that's filled with happiness, good health, and plenty of travel. I know you're going on a big trip pretty soon. >> Uh, best of luck that whatever lies ahead.
>> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Oh, what can I say? These two young ladies said it just about all. But just working with Linda, I've been here 26 years and I've been through a lot of people through that
office and she is the best and you know she enjoys everything that you know we all look at the same thing the same way. Uh the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins and you have more I hope you have more
good trips at JetBoo Park. >> Yes. So go for it. Good luck. >> Thank you. >> So the certificate reads, "City city certificate of commendation and acknowledgement and recognition of extraordinary, distinguish, and meritorious public service during your
employment with the city of Rivier special recognition is hereby accorded to Linda Deo, office of the mayor. It is with great pleasure that the city council of the city of Rivier offers its sincerest congratulations and best wishes for a happy, enjoyable and welldeserved retirement.
want to come. >> Who doesn't want to come? >> Yeah, ask them to come up. >> Oh, >> come on. Get in the picture here. Will you ask the mayor? Come on. >> You want us to plead? >> You're sending off your >> special envoy here. >> Exactly. There's no way of protesting
your calendar item number three. Motion presented by councilors Kelly and Cogleandro that the mayor request Brian Dacen of left field to appear before the city council to provide an update on the construction of the new high school. >> Mr. Den,
>> Council President Zamutoo, good to be here. Thank you councils for your time. Figured I'd start with a quick update and we could go through any questions afterwards if that's all right. Um, >> hi. >> So, the project, a lot has happened over the last number of months. Phase one site prep and demolition is complete.
Uh, we are also 100% complete with all environmental permitting the local, state, and federal levels. Um through the late fall and into winter, most of the focus on site has been uh a very large soil operation, soil handling, um
sorting, exporting to landfills, um etc. We've also begun uh setting underground utilities, storm water utilities, and um getting ready for mechanical utilities in the coming months. And um particularly in the last few months, we've focused on ground improvements um
which we can get into a little bit more detail uh later. But ground improvements is basically prepping the areas of the site that are going to receive various amounts of weight, whether it's the building, roads, paths, retaining walls, uh or just fill. and prepping the area around the footprint of the building
with sheet piles to be able to transition this month into actual excavations for foundations and commencement with pouring concrete. Um from a high level um from the we've awarded about a third of the project prior to the last few months. Uh that
third of the project more or less encompassed the site work subcontractors uh concrete and structural steel. So, all the foundations, all the steel, that was all released via an early package, about a third of the project. Um, and we're about 13% complete with that early
work. Uh, which puts us overall um at about 4% complete for construction for the whole building. Um, as we transition into heavier construction work in the coming months, one of the things I wanted to mention tonight um is we are going to be doing existing condition
surveys um to abutters within 250 ft of the Wonderland property. Those abutters will be seeing uh certified letters in the mail to request at their discretion a survey of the exterior andor interior of their house um at no cost um so that
any future potential claims based on heavy construction machinery can be better addressed. I wanted to make sure I got that out there because a number of people are going to be seeing those letters. Um now all that soil handling um had an impact to the schedule and it's a it's a
really detailed summary of of how we got there but um it starts with geotechnical when we were bidding structure earthwork last summer call it June July August uh a number of the bidders especially the low bidders uh had some concerns with
how they were going to achieve the design settlement criteria that sent us down um the project down a pretty deep wormhole of um testing various pockets of soil for geotechnical capabilities. That process ended up identifying that we're going to have to dig deeper and
move a lot more dirt than we were previously planning. Once we know we're digging it up, we then have to test it for geoenvironmental uh purposes. All that testing led to a whole lot more soil exporting to various landfill facilities than we had anticipated and had the net result of
pushing the project schedule back by 3 to 4 months. So, as of a few months ago, um through discussions with the building committee, um the schedule no longer is showing a summer 2028 occupancy. We're now trending towards um a the building
being ready substantially complete in November of 2028 and allowing for a potential holiday move into the new building. We are doing everything we can to recoup that time. Um some of us are still believers that um with if the right things happen in the coming year,
year and a half, we'll be able to get back on the original schedule. Um but all of that soil sorting handling uh that was a result of bidding the foundations and ground improvements did set us back time-wise. Um on the financial side of things I mentioned
that the project was one/ird bid out. The remainder of the project over the last few months has been out to bid and uh we do have bid results in. The bid results are still being analyzed. We're not outside of the point where things like bid protests can happen. So, we
haven't released uh bid results yet. We'll be ready to review those bid results in a draft final construction contract with the school building committee this month. And um the schedule is to bring the final construction contract with a chapter 149A job that's called a GMP, a
guaranteed maximum price contract. We'll have that ready for the school building committee uh to review it and potentially approve it in April. Um so generally speaking what I can say is that um I think the project will be in a position based on the initial bid
results to achieve the financial goals we've been given by the city the mayor and the school building committee of uh of bettering the budget. Um so we're in very good shape on the financial side of the update. Uh we did lose some time on soil handling operations and um high
level that's the update for now. I can certainly take any questions and come back with any more detailed info that you folks would want to see. Councelor Cleandro. Oh, you're appointing who? Councelor Kelly. Sorry about that.
>> Thank you. Okay. >> Uh, thank you for coming in. Um, you're welcome. >> So, I do have a few questions. If you bear with me. >> Sure. >> So, watching the um building committee meetings, it was unclear to me. This is why one of the reasons why I had you
come in tonight uh because it was said that the movein date was going to be postponed and it was something about soil. But I was unclear and I think now it's become more clear. The primary issue with the soil is both contamination and stability. Is that correct?
>> Correct. >> Two issues going on. >> Yes. The the first issue it the increased amount of soil that had to be dug up um was a geotechnical a soil bearing capacity issue. That's more or less
different contractors have different means of ensuring that everything settles right. The design team designs the parameters. Building has to settle at this rate. Walls settle at a different rate. So it all happens in harmony. Um that process has been
solved. Um however to implement the work in the manner that the low bidder implements this sort of work. Their means and methods. We had to move more dirt. Once we had to move it, we had to test it. And on any urban fill site like this, when you have to test that much
soil, you're going to find pockets of contamination. So one led to the other. >> Okay. So as a result of that testing to you're going to be monitoring that contamination as it goes. Okay. >> Yep. >> Okay. Um
and has the full volume and the classification of the soil requiring to be moved off site. Has that completed now? You know you you have everything that you know is going to be needed or is there going to be more that might come up down the road? So um we divided
the site into three what we're calling grids. Uh one the most important one is at the building footprint in between the future building footprint in the road where a lot of the cranes are going to um be. So that first grid that's the
critical path of the schedule because it leads to being able to do foundations and steel. Uh that's complete all tested all pre-characterized and mostly exported. Uh grids two and three. two is in the middle of the site where the um baseball looking field is uh that has
the geotechnical I'm sorry geo thermal heating system underneath it. That area is in the process of being being pre-caracterized. the area on the north side of the site towards the Shamanadav neighborhood. Um we have not started um the the soil
pre-caracterization testing because that's where we were using to stockpile soil to get it out of the way for the um for the foundation the critical area. So by the end of this year we will have been through all those areas and we feel we've learned enough to capture in the
final construction contract um all the costs associated with it. There's obviously risk with soil. Uh until we've gone through all three of those areas, which will take until late fall this year, we can't be positive. But based on what we've learned and what we've tested, we think the final construction contract will cover all costs associated
with this. >> So possible, but not probable. >> Correct. >> Right. Okay. Um the cost already that's been set aside from the contingency is being used to deal with this. Is that correct? Um the services associated with the
testing program uh aren't the actual picking up and handling of the dirt. Um the services of an LSP Sanborn head is working on the city's behalf have been paid for through project soft contingency. Uh any impact to the actual
additional moving of dirt is being captured in a construction contract which is going to land under budget. >> Okay. So if there's any if any other soil issues come up, are you confident that what we have left over and the contingency would cover it? >> Yes.
>> Okay. Um and could you just touch on a little bit of what the monitoring systems are that are in place to make sure that the contaminants when excavation is going on is don't pose a risk to either workers or >> Sure. >> residents. So, first off, Conigi, the
general contractor down there, the construction manager rather, um has a whole lot of um safety protocols within their contract, within their standard standard operating procedure to um limit things like dust um and limit exposure and knowing where to dig. We really did
all this testing in a pretty detailed manner if we know exactly where to dig and how many how much volume we're going after for various types of contaminants. Um, so not only are they using their best procedures, um, the city has Sanborn head, uh, who is the LSP, the licensed site professional who did all
this testing and is responsible to make sure it gets handled appropriately. They're on site any day that soil um, management is going on. Uh, Leftfield is also on site uh, every day to keep an eye on them and everyone. and GZA the
geo techchnical engineer again the part of this that triggered all the soil testing is on site to monitor from a making sure the right soils from a um loadbearing capacity end up back in the right grid spots >> and how long will these monitoring procedures be in place
>> more or less for the duration of this year we we'll be out of all of this uh all of this soil handling by next winter I don't even like saying next winter still um but we'll We plan to be out of it by fall. >> Okay. And again, the costs for this are
covered in the contingency. >> Covered. Correct. Covered on in the contingency and in the construction contract. Yes. >> Okay. And lastly, I I know that it took you a while to come in this time. Um, and actually the last time too. Would it
be possible or do you think would it be prudent for you to come in maybe once a quarter just or or you know once every three months to just give us an update? I know that we have those um construction committee meetings and they are on um filmed on Re TV and recorded,
but a lot of us don't get to see it and we would just like to have some updates if that would be okay. >> Absolutely. I I'm I'm not familiar with the calendar the next few months, but um the next big update will be all of the bidding, the guaranteed maximum price
contract, and um we'd be ready to go through that in the beginning of May if there's an available meeting then. that that could be the next time that a meaningful update could come back to the council with some good news. And actually I just thought of one other questions in in terms of the contaminants
what was found are they I I think it was I can't remember the three of them with three contaminants specifically that were found correct and and are those considered to be um typical in this type of >> I I'm going to forget the scientific
names but there were certain areas of lead certain areas where it was oil and gasoline based other areas that were the types of chemicals that you can see come out of either cars or kitchens where there's refrigeration and HVAC equipment. So all of it is
pretty typical especially for historically filled tidelands. So I mean that that entire area stretching all the way from the Wonderland area past the current high school and almost up to the fire department if you go way back in time was all tidlands. And what we're
finding is typical of the urban fill that was used to fill tide lands 130 years ago. >> Okay. And the surveys that you mentioned that would be sent out to a butterstor within a 250 foot zone. That has nothing to do with the contaminants. It has to do with the
>> vibration. Yeah, correct. Just making if if there happens to be any damage. We'd like to capture the current scenario and helps everyone be on the same page. if um heavy machinery that's drilling the big holes or putting in the steel might cause uh issues to abing properties.
>> Understood. Okay. Thank you. That's it. >> Thank you, councelor. Councelor Cogleandro. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Brian, thank you for being here. Thanks for always being uh willing to come up here. >> Uh councelor Kelly asked a few of my questions. So, uh I just at this point I have I have one left. I'm on the
building committee. I'm I'm up to date on a lot of things. Um, has there been any more talk about where we're putting the commuter rail? >> Yes, less so on the project side, but I that's something that I keep my ear tuned to on the city side. Um, this
might be a I think I saw Tom behind me. Tom would have a more meaningful update than me, but yes, there's been progress. at the rapid pace of state government after three and a half years of issuing the earmark. They now have a designer on uh on hand with with Mass or with MBTA
um that had their first coordination meeting with Brian and his team about a month or so ago and now are have taken into account the site plan um and everything that that uh we've put together for the high school and are figuring out what the optimal sighting would be accordingly. and then they'll
be checking in and coordinating with them over the the next year as they're conducting the building project. >> So I would imagine that these projects if they're still doing the commuter rail are not going to happen concurrently. >> Correct. Yeah. >> But do I mean in your opinion do we have
room to still put it there? Because it would be really nice to have a commuter rail. know we are going to work to ensure it happens there if if it's tweaked maybe you know slightly different from where we're envisioning it now but along the
line we we need to have a commuter rail stop there so we're going to make sure that happens >> thank you and uh I think May would be a great time to have you come back and give an update once all that bidding is done thank you Mr. >> Thank you councelor councel novasowski
>> thank you Mr. President Brian, thank you. Uh I'm sure you you know what I'm going to say as far as the flooding that happened several months ago at one of the uh businesses across the street from the school.
>> Yes. >> And uh I received many many phone calls from her especially late at night >> when when all this transpired. And I do want to thank Mass for sending a crew down so quickly to try and solve the
problem. Uh unfortunately the problem was more on the site uh the school site. Uh can you tell me exactly what happened? >> Sure. So um more or less the area that the call it south of the garage through
the whole marketplace area where that um business was it all drains towards Wonderland. uh both at the surface level and underground. Um the city in separate from this project but in parallel is
revising some drainage that's running along the roads there. And the project one of the main underground um drainages from that area from the rotary into the site ran under the roads and right into
the old dog track loop and continued on. Um that piece of pipe is right under where the building goes was also basically not functional. Uh it was ancient. And so a bypass for that uh a pumped bypass system to be able to
coordinate the work the city's doing on the road and the project was doing and ripping up all the old utilities to make way for the new foundation. uh a pumped bypass system was put in place there and um it initially proved not to be adequate. So, uh, the contractors that
we've worked with and the city engineers that were in touch with about this, um, on a weekly and daily basis when it was happening, we've upsized and doubled down on pumps, um, to the degree that, um, the site work contractor actually in off hours and weekends has an employee
staying locally in a hotel who's effectively um, the person who needs to make sure those pumps are always running. So, we are bypassing some of the drainage to install new drainage both on the city side outside the project and within the property at
Wonderland. And um that was a hard lesson learned from the initial bypass that was put involved. Just wasn't wasn't beefy enough. Wasn't getting enough water through it and uh needed to be upsized and better monitored. >> Thank you. Uh also too, I do want to uh
thank the rever DPW for also showing up. I don't want to absolutely disregard them because both sets of crews were there and they were working hard all night long, you know, >> two couple nights because it happened twice, two separate times. Um, now are
we going to be able to get reimbursement for that business for loss of business? >> Uh, that's an interesting question. I would probably have to chat with a number of other people from the city, but uh it's something that it could be pursued. Yeah, >> it it would all depend on all sorts of contractual details, but yes, it's
something that could be pursued. >> Okay. You know, we we want to look into that for the future. Also, we just want to cover any potential things that may happen again. >> Sure. That would generally fall under a builder's risk insurance policy, which is in place and um items that we could
engage the general contractor on. >> Would that come through the contractor or through the city? >> Uh it would more or less have to come from the city to the contractor. >> Okay. >> Y Okay. I'll I'll tell them that. >> Sure. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate it. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you, council. Councelor Gino SA.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Um Brian, thank you for being here today. >> You're welcome. >> Most of the questions I had were actually asked by Councelor Kelly. Um I do have one more. That certified letter that went out that was regarding the the construction noise that could ruin
people's um foundations, right? >> Yep. mainly vibration based. >> Vibrational. Okay. So, can the council be privy to these letters that go out to Abutters? >> Sure. And they haven't been sent yet. Just to describe it a little more, there's going to be a cover letter with
my name on it that just explains this is typical. There's no cost to you. It's optional. And then the survey company who as people fill out a form and say, "Yes, you can look at my exterior of my house or interior." A company shows up, takes pictures, documents it. So, >> yeah, we got one down in um the Pines
for the MWR. So I I know what it looks like, but I just want the counselors to be able to get all this information that does go out to the residents. >> Absolutely. >> Um to the abuters in particular, um as the construction progresses, what steps are being taken to minimize the impact of the surrounding neighborhood? Um
particularly the neighborhood behind the high school, which is my ward, and including the traffic and the noise. I I need to know like what type of mitigation plan is going to be in there as well as um the safety um safety concerns concerning the
contaminated dirt. >> Sure. So, we have um from a vibration point of view, uh we have vibration monitors installed uh around the site, including on the north side towards the neighborhood. We also have permanent uh permanent until we're done with
exporting dirty dirt. Uh permanent air monitors on the site as well. Um if there's if either of those go off um one from an airborne particles point of view, one from a vibration point of view, if anything exceeds the specification, the construction site
team instantly knows the construction site's instantly shut down. Um and um we will work to minimize it happening again. So it's a live system that we're using via monitors both from a contamination air sampling the air as it
reaches the property line and also vibration at the property line. Uh Conigley will know instantly if any of those thresholds are tripped. Left field will know instantly work is shut down and um and we then work to stop. >> Are those the air quality monitors? Is that what you're using? >> Okay. Y
>> um >> and now a letter will go out explaining all this stuff to residents as well or we going to not tell anybody. >> I mean I'm concerned about the the cancer causing carcinogens that'll be in the air. >> Do you know what I'm saying? There's a
lot of dirty dirt there and I can tell by the different colors on the tarps. >> There's a lot of different types of contamination. >> Yeah, there's all different types of dirty dirt. >> Yep. So, our responsibility um and mandate is that none of those airborne particles travel off of the site and
we're using the monitors to ensure that doesn't happen. Um in the winter, it's a little easier. It's harder when we have dry weather. Um so, what you'll be seeing on a daily basis is watering trucks as we get into the warmer months to keep dust down. Um any dust events on
the site that any of us notice from the trailer and other grounds to immediately stop work until watering trucks are out there. But um there's a very defined protocol with the D and with the state about what must be done to to minimize or eliminate any airborne particles and
we're beholden to all of those rules and uh have people on site watching uh to make sure they don't happen. >> I would really like the constituents to know what what what is happening. So if you can keep everyone informed, including us counselors, I would really appreciate it. Thank you and thank you for your time. >> You're welcome.
>> Thank you, councelor. Councelor Mccurio. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Brian, for coming being here tonight. And uh I'm just new to the council and I'm just getting up to speed here. So, uh left field, what what what's your company's role in the building of the high school just to let the people of Re
Rivier know because they see you here representing left field just to let the people know. >> Sure. We are the what's the state calls the owners project manager. uh we work directly for the city to represent them through all other contractual engagements with designers, engineers,
testing agencies, contractors, and we uh we represent the city's best interest in that process. >> Great. Thank you. And Mr. Dacon, um the soil that we're we're we're going to build this high school on, it's uh some of it's contaminated and um how
many cubic yards have we removed so far off the site? When I was driving here, I realized I should have looked that up today. It's hundreds of thousands of cubic yards. I could get a most Yes, it's a lot. >> And the soil profile, is it sand, clay, uh, pete?
>> It's a mix of everything. Um, there were pockets of more organic matter, more clay matter. Sort of a a we've been talking about it like a 3D game of chess. Depending on how you deep deep you go, different pockets of contamination, different pockets of soil characteristics are there. And that's
why it turned into a whole sort it all out. Um, not only to be able to export anything that's dirty and we don't want to put back um but also to make sure that what gets put back is appropriate to be under a building, a road or retaining wall, whatever it happens to be.
>> Okay. And um the stability of the soil that's going back to where the high school is going to sit. Uh there were test pits done in that area, correct? >> Yes. >> And how deep were those test pit test pits? Uh some of the deeper ones were down 60 or 80 ft, but we've we've
probably got to the point where we've dug about 1,500 test uh test pits or sample holes on that site. >> 1500 test pits, >> test pits and drilled sampling holes. Test pits a little bigger than actually
going in and drilling for soil characteristics. But we we have just we have uh focused on the area around the building and any areas where there's builtup grade there's a lot of weight >> to um to test at a almost about a 20ft grid 20 to 25 ft grid. We started this
process thinking about a 200t grid and the more we learned uh about the soil the grid got smaller and smaller. So we're pretty much have tested a grid uh in all but the edge areas of the site that aren't getting much grading or any buildings. We've tested at about between 20 and 25 foot frequency.
>> Okay. And the test pits being that deep, did you encount the water? >> Absolutely. Groundwater's groundwater is only about a foot below the average grade of that site. >> Okay. And the the process of uh uh putting the foundation in uh explain to the people a little is it drill and
fill, meaning you drill and put concrete in and then build a foundation on top of that. Is that the approach we're taking? >> Generally speaking, yes. the um we have um deep piles with rigid inclusions and those are rigid inclusions sort of an industry buzzword to talk about how soil
improvements will connect to the foundation but generally speaking it's a it's a tra it looks like a traditional deep footing um foundation that has a lot of technology um underneath that to ensure the stability of the soil and to
ensure that the settlement rate of the building settles in harmony with the builtup areas outside of it, the walkways. So, getting them all to settle at the right amount is really the key. >> And and you talk about settlement rates. What What's the rate going to be in in a
in an area like that that you according to engineering studies? What's the settlement rate on on a big building like that? >> An inch a year, two inches a year. you're talking with the so the way that the ground improvements are being implemented um we're probably talking an
inch or two a year during construction um and because of the ground improvements that are be being put in we're trying to get all that settlement upfront to be able to monitor it during construction um and the key after construction is that everything it's all
settling at a different rate um based on what's on top of it uh and getting all those rates to continue over the next number of years at the correct rate is is a big key, but we're looking to see the vast majority of the settlement during construction based on how the
ground improvement subs are implementing the the ground improvements. >> Okay, great. And uh I'm in favor of uh councelor uh Kelly's uh view coming up at least quarterly in front of the council. Give us updates. Uh we'd like to know what the budget is. make sure
we're still on budget for this school because we are it's going to be a big ask, a big bond that the city has to require to build this school out. So, we would like uh uh continue updates from you and I appreciate you being here this evening. Thank you. >> Sure. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Council McKenna.
>> Uh thank you, Mr. President. Uh thank you, Brian, for being up here. Um I would just like to know just myself how deep uh the contaminated soil went. Um because I know when they were building the casino, it went like 12 feet or whatever it went. So I was just Do you have a number on that?
>> It very much varies by area. Um some of the deeper areas are closer to 20 ft. Some of them are higher up in the soil. It really depends on how it was filled when it was filled. That site wasn't all filled at once. Uh it happened over a
number of decades as it became the Wonderland before it was the Wonderland dog track. Um, so it really varies by by layer. Um, but a lot of it was closer to the top. That was never like a you hear the word a super fund site or a a
brownfield or a green field site. Um, it wasn't it wasn't like a you've got to keep going. Um, the whole site really was only raised 10, 15, at some point max 20 ft from its historic pre-development grade. So really the
contamination didn't go below that natural level of where the undisturbed soils and the underlying soils were. It's all in that top usually 10 15 ft range. >> And I have I have a suggestion. Um, with all the construction that has gone in my
ward, um, one of the things that I asked the developer to do was take videos of the neighboring houses um, and make sure that their foundations were good so no one could come back and say, "You did this if if it was already cracked." So,
I would suggest that make maybe take a um of the neighboring houses, take a video of their foundation before you start with the machinery. Yep. We will we will be doing that. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, councelor. Councelor H.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Brian, thanks so much for being here tonight. I just wanted to touch on the timeline and your expectations of the timeline. I know you originally said, well, the original date was the summer of 28 and now that got pushed back to November 28 with the
holiday move, I think you said. Yes. And that would be fully functional, correct? Student, staff, everything. And in your experience, um, what would have to happen to get back on track with the summer 2028 opening? That way it just
coincides with the school year and not we're not looking at a December move or a January move. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> A lot of things would have to happen. Um, and that's why I think you'd get two slightly different answers if you were asking the contractor and asking us um,
as the OPM. But, um, a, we've got to get out of the bidding process. We have all the bids, but we've got to get out of the bidding process with no protests. We don't have any protests to date. We need to be able to execute um, the GMP contract in April is planned, and we need to get the foundations started. If
that all holds, we're then talking about not running into any lead time issues. We think we're ahead of that with all the big mechanical equipment. Um not running into any local to that site natural disasters in the next number of years. No big snowstorms, no big
flooding events, no hurricanes. If all of that falls into place, um we could dial the schedule back. It'll take a year, year and a half to have that amount of resolution. We really want to put half of the job in the ground and have half of the risk gone um till we
can start making those projections, but we need um we need not many storms. We need short winters and we need no surprises on the supply chain side. >> But it's something that's definitely possible. Correct. I think it's possible >> and certainly what we're going to we're going to work towards even if it doesn't
pan out because if we can't get the kids in there in the summer, it still is beneficial to the school and the city to have a a longer runway to get familiar with the building to retest all the systems to do training, etc. So, we're still going to try to even if we can't
get it all the way back to a summer move, we're still going to try to push it as far back as we can to increase that runway of um occupying a building of that size and complexity. Thank you. >> Thank you, council. Council Sylvestri, >> thank you, Mr. President. Brian, thank
you for your time tonight. I really appreciate it. Um, majority of the questions have already been asked, but just so we can touch base again real quick. Um, all the issues we talked about, soil contaminants, uh, sinking of the foundation, these are all issues
that you all deal with on majority of sites, correct? >> Yes. >> Yep. in the contaminate you're finding, there's nothing like super out of the ordinary about them. Nothing that's dangerous or anything that we don't want to build a school on. >> Yes, 100%. I've never done a never done
a school project where there isn't some amount of this, especially on a site that, you know, hasn't been a school for the last 100 years, call it, if if there were other other um uses on the site. >> Okay. >> So, it's it's normal in my experience.
>> Okay. And uh what about transporting it when it when it leaves? That's just to say or >> Yep. It's all regulated. Uh people have to there's checklists that go right into the truck with the driver that have to show up at. There's a lot of facilities we're trucking to throughout the
Northeast. Um depending on the type of contamination and the basically the cheapest place to uh the cheapest regulated and appropriate place to put it. Um we're trying not to send this all to uh the place that might be the most expensive. So, we're dealing with around a dozen different landfills and trying
to send the right things to the right places to do it cost efficiently. But the whole trucking process is regulated. Uh, typical of any construction process. And, um, as long as we have people watching it by the time it leaves the site, it's then the, um, the haulers's responsibility to show up with the right paperwork and do the right things on the
way. And, um, that's all covered with our subcontractors that are working for the project. And lastly, just um once the the project's complete, we talked about some weather issues that might happen. We don't want it to set us back now. What what could happen in the future once the
school's done where we're taking uh risk mitigation now in and with the land to prevent that from happening in the future? Correct. >> Yes. And a lot of it is about the design, the underground design of that site and the grading of the site has really been designed to be as resilient
as possible. And um the main way to improve um flooding events of the abutters around the site is what I would call the the greenification of that site. In the end, the um final design for this
school, this project, this site is somewhere around half the pavement that was there when it was the dog track. Uh that's the biggest cause of runoff and um not giving an area for that to percolate back into the water table. So, we're going to the design improves
provides more impervious imperous surfaces to allow water to naturally get uh into grade. We're improving all of the outfalls into the eastern county ditch which bring it all right back out to the ocean. So, um, we feel that the site will be more resilient to flooding
and storms when we're done than it was before. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you, councelor. Anyone else? Thank you very much for your time. >> Thank you all. Mr. President, >> councelor Cogleandro
>> like to motion to suspend the rules to take up agenda uh item nine. >> All in favor? All opposed. Calendar item number nine, motion presented by councilors Kuggleandro, McKenna, and Mccurio, that the mayor and
city planner work with Masdot to revert the Winthrop Avenue, Harris Street, and Route 16 intersection back to the original configuration. City clerk, I'd like to um take a brief recess. back in section.
Repeat it into the record. >> Can you want to read it again? >> Thank you. >> Again, we're on calendar item number nine. Motion presented by councilors Kaggle Leandro, McKenna, and Mccurio that the mayor and city planner work with Masdot to revert the Winthrop
Avenue, Harris Street, and Route 16 intersection back to the original configuration. >> Council Cougandra. Thank you, Madam Vice President. Um, first and foremost, I filed this motion on behalf of the residents in the
>> Yes, ma'am. >> Absolutely. Filed this motion on behalf of the residents in the Harris Street area, the East Mountain A, the Beach Street area. I could keep going on and on. I've never in my life, and I've lived in this city 43 years, seen a simple street reconfiguration affect
such a huge portion of the city. Uh, I want to thank uh the city planner, Tom Skarowski, and his team. They're going to be speaking tonight. And, um, right after this, we'll have public comment. I know a lot of people have things they'd like to say, and you'll you'll be heard.
Um, so um, unless anybody else wants to speak on the Oh, yes. I'm sorry. The Go ahead. Well, >> Council McKenna, >> thank you. Um, so we talk about Harris Street, but uh I would like to raise a serious concern about the recent traffic
change on Revier Beach Parkway, Route 16 heading into Bell Circle towards Beachmont. Since the installation of the red light for vehicles turning towards Beachmont, traffic has been backed up all the way to the Reier skating rink
and further drivers are waiting up to 15 minutes in traffic. And it's not only residents, it's commuters, too. Um, and it's never been backed up like that before. We've always had a yield sign. Uh, previous previously, there was a
righthand yield sign with just one um uh lane. It wasn't two lanes. So, that's why they had to put the the red light um in place and the traffic flowed much more efficiently. The current light appears to be creating significant
congestion in the area. I hope this situation can be reviewed and evaluated as the delays are causing major inconvenience for residents and commuters. Thank you. >> Council mccurio. >> Thank you, Madam Vice President. I'd
like to read a brief statement, please. Since this change was implemented, I have heard from dozens of residents about the impact the new traffic pattern on Harris Street is having on their neighborhood. Many of these residents have taken the time to organize and
submit a petition asking the city to recognize this change. I want to be clear tonight. I support the residents and I support the request to review this pilot program. The people who live in these streets, Harris, Su, Elm, Bixby,
Butler, Beach, Winterb are the ones who experience this traffic every day. Their voices must be heard. One of the main's concerns is that the neighborhood streets should not become solutions for regional traffic problems. Much of the congestion we see in the
ward one and three is tied to regional traffic near Bell Circle and Route 16 streets like Harris Street were never designed to absorb the type of traffic volume. Any long-term solution to focus should focus on managing regional
traffic not shifting congestion from one residential street to another. Another important point is that this pilot was implemented during the lowest traffic season of the year. The change began on December 6, which is one of the quietest
traffic periods in Riviera. Winter traffic supply uh winter win, excuse me, winter traffic simply does not reflect the conditions we experience in the spring and summer when beach traffic increases significantly. Before making any permanent decisions,
the city should evaluate how this patent performs during those higher traffic months. Residents are also reporting the traffic is not being reduced, it's being redirected. When one route is restricted, drivers naturally look at the next available
shortcut. As a result, many residents are seeing more vehicles on on surrounding neighborhoods streets, creating additional congestion and frustration. I have experienced firsthand increased backups at many key intersections near
Winterbath and Beach Street, Central A and Route 16. Drivers who pre previously moved through that area effectively are now entering the neighborhood looking for alternate routes that leads to more turning movements, confusion, and slower
traffic flow. The sudden change in a one-way section has also created confusion for drivers who have used this route for years. That confusion can lead to sudden U-turns, backup and driveways, drivers stopping
unexpectedly, behaviors that increase the risk of accidents, and create additional concerns for pedestrians. Finally, we must consider the quality of life that impacts the residents of Ward One and Ward Three. already experienced
heavy traffic due to regional congestion. Diverting additional vehicles onto residential streets affects safety for children walking in the neighborhood, increases noise, impacts parking, and ultimately affects the livability of these
neighborhoods. The petition submitted by residents shows that this is not just a few complaints. It represents a significant neighborhood concern. And again, the people who live on these streets are the ones experience these conditions every
single day. Their lived their lived experiences should be an important part of evaluating whether the pilot program is working. The petition is not not about opposing progress. It's about asking the city review the impact,
listen to the residents, and consider adjustments in the plan if it is not working. I respectfully ask the administration to review the traffic data since this change was implemented, meet with residents, and evaluate whether the modifications to this
traffic patterns are necessary. Because when residents organize and respectfully ask their government to reconsider something that affects their safety and daily lives, our responsible as a council is to simply to listen and take
action. Thank you, Madam President. Council Novaski. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. U I want everybody to know that I agree with everything you're saying. And I can tell you right now that last fall, I think it
was October and November, Council McKenner and I appeared before the traffic commission, the Rever traffic commission, and told them this will not work. they still went ahead and went for
this 90day time frame to look at. You know, I hate to say this, but I don't have a lot of faith in Mass Dart in changing this back. They may make some minor changes, but I think we're still going to be unhappy. So, I wish
you a lot of luck. You know, whatever we can move forward to try and make this happy through our state delegation. you know, I I'm with you. So, that's where I am now. Thank you, >> Council Goraya. >> Thank you, Mr. President.
Surrounding neighborhood streets are now carrying unintended traffic, resulting in congestion, that's it. >> And driver maneuvering challenges. Residents have seen a large amount of cars backing into driveways. I've gotten
phone calls about it. When they realize they're going the wrong way, they have to turn around. When traffic is pushed into smaller streets not designed to put through traffic, accidents, risks, and neighborhood safety concerns increase.
Exactly what my fellow counselors have said. The project was a 90-day trial monitoring pilot and um with promise data evaluation and potential tweaks. There have already been an astronomical
amount of public comments about confusion, tons of confusion going on over there. People don't know where they're going, what they have to do, and this is causing accidents. This is very detrimental to this neighborhood. I fully support reverting the Winthre A
Harris Street section back to its original configuration because the current changes have created confusion for drivers, increased the potential for accidents, and have not improved traffic flow at all. Residents have voiced concern that the pilot has not achieved
its intended goals and returning to the previous layout will restore the clarity and safety for everyone using this intersection. And once this happens, I am asking to add into the motion
uh law enforcement at peak hours to make sure that things do run smoothly. Thank you. >> Thank you, councelor. Any other counselors? We'll hear from uh the director. >> Good evening everybody. Tom Scroski 281 Broadway chief of planning and community
development. Um I'll be brief. If you want to see the full episode, you can um go to Revier TV uh online to check out what we um spoke to with the neighborhood um on February 6th. it goes into great detail looking at the data um and kind of where we are where we want
to be. I won't dispute anything that's been discussed tonight. In fact, um leading up to that meeting, I was given the first round of data um looking at how we were doing with this project and it was actually showing we were doing a great job and there was significant
reductions in traffic and everything was rainbows and sunshine and I could see with my own eyes that it wasn't. Um and I have both then at that meeting and and subsequently over the last month committed to doing what we can do to fix
this problem. Um you know I would remind us all that you know this all started you know even as far back as 2013 when Suffach Downs um the initial casino mitigation discussions were had and then later on um when it became an HYM
mixeduse development. It's always been discussed as a project for two reasons. Number one, you have over 2,000 residents going through a neighborhood street. And number two, you have a failing intersection. Um, it's been a failing intersection for a long time.
Um, so we were worried and and certainly planning ahead, thinking about what needs to be done to fix this failing intersection to make sure it works better. Fully appreciate that's not what's happening right now. And I'll talk about some of the things that were working against us during this time period. Um number one, there's some
serious signal coordination issues which you know basically um the timing of the signals was not properly um calibrated to the situation on the ground. Um and you know that I think I mentioned at the meeting and I still would argue that is
the single biggest um hurdle and and potentially the biggest opportunity we have to fix this problem. Um second was snow. I mean, we've just had a lot of snow that we've seen have has had impacts on streets throughout the city and traffic throughout the city. Um,
third is just behavior change. So, as a few people mentioned, um, this is going to require a change in the way people act, whether they're going to choose Winthre Avenue or or Beach Street or um, you know, if they're avoiding the neighborhood cutthroughs, they're going
to there was certainly a period of time in the beginning. It's waning, but I understand it's not completely gone away. An issue where people are still going down Harris Street expecting they can get out and they're confused. Um, and some people have gone out into the intersection and we did have dedicated
enforcement for a period of time uh working on that. But, um, that's really something only a permanent solution could fix. Um, and in the meantime, there are going to be some enforcement issues there that we're doing our best to work on. Uh, the another issue is the belt circle bottleneck. So, we have an
an additional plan to add a slip lane to Bell Circle so folks can actually get right onto Route 16 and take that double left-hand turn onto Winthrop A um and utilize the new uh signals there and that would basically pro provide an
additional outlet for some of this traffic and some of this queuing. But there is that bottleneck right at PLS check cachers. So, um, we have been working through design, um, and working to resolve that issue. I think when that happens, there's going to be significant updates. Um, and then I think another
thing in my opinion that we had working against us here was we always chose a solution that I think was going to please no one. Um, because we didn't do what actually had to be done, which is going back to my earlier statement, we
wanted to move 2,000 cars off a neighborhood street. we did not want to redirect them. Um, but there were, I think, four different traffic commission meetings where different iterations were discussed and ultimately it was landed on in this pilot having still the ability for traffic to go through Harris
Street. Um, then, you know, turning on um on SUL and and to Library and out back to Winterb. Um, personally, I think if we want to do this right, we need to close off access to the neighborhood alto together. But I think before we get there, we need to do uh several other
things to create the conditions where that will work. Um so here's what we've what we've done and here's what we're doing. So the first thing we did um we fixed the dedicated left turn going on uh what's called the missing link or route 16 from Winthrop that there were
some safety issues and by creating that double left or that dedicated left turn um we provided a safer left turn which is the most unsafe traffic movement in an intersection. Um the second thing we did and actually just implemented this on Friday
was fix the signal timing with a new system called dynamic max. Um, I mentioned before the rapid system um, pace of state government. Um, after the the last meeting that we held in February and actually even a week before as I was doing the drives and I was
going through every single intersection movement you could do at that intersection, it was plainly clear to me it wasn't working. Um, and we brought to our engineers and then subsequently to Masdot that we needed to fix the timing. So that was right around February 6th. Um, and it just got fixed the other day.
you know, it took about 30 days to actually implement this timing. So, it is very difficult on this project when we have to work it. You know, it's a project that the city is certainly working to support, but ultimately it's a mass roadway and and they have to answer and and resolve all these issues
that we bring up and it takes a long time. Um what I will say is after we did that signal um timing change I went ahead and did all the movements today that I did exactly a month before also on a Monday also at 4:15 and Route 16
heading to Wintherbav um took me 9 minutes getting on um the Broadway ramp to the intersection a month ago. It took me a minute and 10 seconds today. Um on Winththerpav there was not queuing like there had been going far past haden
sometimes going all the way to um the school was non-existent and it was all the way back to the school when I went 30 days ago. Um same could be said on Beat Street. I'm not saying that this is problem solved. We're we're done here. But it does appear that there have been
significant improvements as a result of those timing changes. So, we're going to be monitoring that to see if that's a consistent thing and not a one-off. And maybe people didn't want to go for a drive because they were enjoying the nice weather. Who knows? There could be a variety of reasons why things were different, but from my view, it looks
significantly different, significantly improved, and that was actually our expectation as to how things would operate. Um, we're also through this process, we've expedited the Bell Circle slip lane, um, getting the state to move a lot quicker than they normally would otherwise. And um to councelor
Mercurio's point about us implementing this right now in a dead traffic period and actually this was brought up in December when we talked about this with the council. Why are you doing this now? Why don't we wait a little bit? That was partially by design because we didn't
want to wait to resolve these issues in the middle of the summer. We wanted to resolve them when traffic was at a bit of a a a downturn so we could tweak as we as needed. And because we have to coordinate with the state, everything takes more time. And because Mass 250 is happening this summer, because the World
Cup's happening this summer, there's a lot of people coming into Boston this summer. We've gotten their commitment to move on that permitting a lot quicker to get that slip lane built. Um, we're also working with them on signage improvements. We're exploring whether we could do some signal coordination on
Bell Circle to let traffic move and flow more freely from Beach Street onto um Route 16. Now that the snow appears to be uh finally thawed, we're going to get some temporary speed humps out on Harris Street. Um we're also going to get some
traffic counting signs on um a number of the roads throughout the Library Street neighborhood to look at both volume and speed to see if there are any um any issues where, you know, we we solve traffic on one road but created them on others. for basically expanding our data
collection effort. But but that's another thing that the police did not want those signs out until the thaw because there's there's a lot of issues with with salt corroding the material the the equipment and they wanted to make sure it was going to be um you know
wouldn't damage the equipment. And then we also need to actually work on a permanent treatment. Whether that is keeping that existing oneway to SU or making that entire stretch of Harris Street one way altogether. We can't have this sort of period that we're in today where we have
something that doesn't look like a permanent solution and it confuses a lot of drivers. Um and you know ultimately we also committed to meeting with a resident focus group. I think that was a a suggestion that was brought up in the meeting by councelor McKenna. Um I
haven't had any just one person who'd be interested in doing that, but basically when we take a look at the data, take stock of where we are, we'll meet with the resident focus group. I'll put another call out if anyone else wants to join it. Um I had everybody's um emails from from the meeting, sent them out to
everybody as a a call to to meet with residents both in a small group setting and eventually another public meeting in the library. Um, still happy to do that. Um, and then, you know, ultimately we're going to have data collection done in the week of May 20th or March 20th. And
subsequent to that, we'll be putting all those different uh signs out with with the police department. We'll have a neighborhood meeting and a focus group if there's a critical mass that wants to join one. And then in April, we'll reconvene with the traffic commission to talk about next steps. And I'll tell you
all what I told the um the group that met at the library last month, which is that I am confident that if we make these tweaks and these changes right now, we can create a better condition than what is there today. If that's not the case and it's
not helping and it's getting worse, I'm not going to fight for something that doesn't work. Um, I want to make sure that we know what direction we're going and we're going in the right direction, but if we're not going there, I'll be right there with you all. Um, pounding the table complaining to Masot to fix
this because councelor Novaski is also right. Going back to the way things were is probably not possible given that it's a mass roadway and they wouldn't approve a signal plan like that for a move to a four um fourleg to a five leg intersection is um an atypical
intersection. It's an inefficient intersection. Um, and it's not something they would generally approve. In theory, this should work better and I'm going to work to make sure it does. And if I if it doesn't, I will work with you all to find a better solution. And I'll leave
it to the residents to ask any questions they might have. >> Thank you very much, Council Aenzio. I think you might want to stay. >> Thank you, Mr. If I could. Uh, I just want to take a minute and uh uh congratulate uh Miss O'Hara. I know
she's going to be uh presenting a um u signatures from the neighborhood here tonight, a petition, and I'm full support of the neighborhood, and I'm full support of the um counselors that are putting this forward. Uh there's been I think there's a little bit of
confusion. Everyone's referring to this as a pilot program. the part where cars exiting Harris Street onto that intersection. Mass DOT doesn't consider this a pilot program. It's permanent as far as they're
concerned. >> That portion I would say that's accurate. Okay. >> Um I do think there's a lot of other things we can do to >> positively. I agree with you. But the to have get the misconception out there and I I hope it it would
happen, but I seriously doubt Mass Dot is going to reverse all the work they did there, all the money they spent so people can exit out of Harris Street again. So the pilot program that everyone seems to be referring to certainly isn't that. Now there's other
things that we can do like you've uh iterated uh quite eloquently all the different traffic patterns we could change. Uh I think we have to work on that the slip lane um I know that was came at a later date and realistically
with the permitting the engineering and then the installation of that what's your realistic opinion on when that could happen? Um, I think I told the neighborhood uh at the meeting a month ago in fall, I think after talking with
Mass Dot and the engineers subsequent to that meeting. Again, everything hinges on Mass Dot, but it's actually a pretty complicated or pretty simple project from a constructibility standpoint. We want to get it done before the World Cup. That is that is me telling you what
my ambitious goal is. What the realistic goal is probably fall. >> Okay. And I I know we were very concerned or the city was concerned about cars coming down the highway, having to exit on Beach Street and then taking a left on a Harris to make that.
Was there any um traffic study done to see how many cars come from Broadway up street and take the right onto Harris? Because there seems to be an incredible amount of traffic now on Beach Street. Uh was that like a
misconception? We didn't realize how many cars were making that a shortcut. Also, >> I think that was part of the I I'm I'm not sure if the studies looked at which direction they came from, but it was still solving the same problem that we had these 2,000 cars going down Harris
Street. And I think still with that shared goal, if we fix a slip lane, wherever you're coming from, you're going to be able to head up on the missing link. >> Right. I I think the residents u are concerned because there's traffic backed up all the way to Central A. uh the slip
lane for it to work you have to get to it. So there there's a little bit of >> Well, again, I I'm not sure if today was a unique situation, but it was it was it was close to Beach Street a month ago when I did it. Today I got right up to
the circle. I couldn't even turn my timer on because I started moving. >> Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Council Novaski, >> thank you for the leeway, Mr. President. Um, you talk about the slip lane. I have yet
to see any plans or what it's even going to look like or how it's going to work, even even if they were temporary plans. So, I have no clue what it looks like and or what how it's going to work. >> I'd be happy to share that. I I didn't
bring it tonight um because I I believe we talked about it at the the council meeting in December, but then certainly at that meeting in February with the neighborhood um I'll share the link to that meeting um from River TV and I'll also share the plans with the council.
>> You're welcome. >> Thank you. >> Go ahead, Council Murio. >> Thank you. Uh Mr. President, one part of this project that is working is the uh left on to uh winter bath uh uh go around Bell Circle. That that is working
really well. So that's one component that's working good. I know we can't change the Harris Street, but would we consider making that a oneway all the way down from the parkway down to Beach Street? And would we have if we we do decide to do that,
would that be an ask for a mass do or is would that be something that the city can do? >> That's a a local decision and one I would fully support. I'm actually now on the traffic commission. Um the last time around I I was not but um I I I would
feel comfortable doing that if the conditions I saw today were regular for an extended period of time that we could make a judgment that things were working. If there is a significant backup still on Beach Street in Winterb I would want to wait until the slip lane's done to fully get that uh
accomplished. But I I think that that has to happen at some point whether it's in a month or in 6 months from now when that slip lane is done because otherwise we're just playing a game of whack-a-ole and that doesn't make any sense.
>> Council McKenna >> that u Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for the leeway. Um how can um Mass do dictate um city streets? I don't understand that they can tell us what to do and there's there are city streets.
>> So Harris Street um they can't tell us what to do. Um but in so far as Harris Street connects to a stateowned and maintained traffic signal they can um so the signal at Route 16 is owned by a masdot although we we led the effort to
tweak the signal. it was at their behest. And I think, you know, these discussions that started in 2013 probably started because of their push to fix this intersection. I don't want to sound too fatalistic and say we can't do anything about this Harris Street deal. But I think the point is we're
trying to plan ahead to make sure we're fixing traffic problems today and 20 years from now when this project's built out built out. If we can't notice demonstrable improvements, um, I can make that case to Masdot and try to fix it. But, but what I'm saying tonight is
I think that if we make those fixes, things will get better. It's going to be a better intersection and Masdot wouldn't consider reversing it because it's supposed to work. I understand it's not. Um, but traffic engineering 101 tells us that moving from a five leg to
a four leg should work and these tweaks that we made should make the signals more efficient. And I really do think it's a matter of coordination and timing. So I think time will tell over the next couple weeks if that's true. >> Everybody done with questions here? >> Okay. So we're going to return to the
regular order of business. Yes, of course. Um, >> Mr. President, >> on the motion, I guess. Um, all in favor, all opposed. So, audited. Now, we get we're into the public uh comment period.
Madame clerk, you want to define that? >> Public comment time pursuant to chapter 402 of the acts of 1965. Rever residents or business owners only. Please provide your complete name and address for the record. Indicate which council order number you will be speaking on. Two
minutes per person allowed and public comment period is capped at 30 minutes total. >> Okay. So, anybody that has to wants to speak, you're going to have two minutes and only two minutes. And uh but we want everybody that wants to speak to please come up.
>> Mr. President >> Councelor Cogle, >> just for everybody, I know you guys are all here. I just want to The rules state that you're supposed to, you know, tell us what you're here to speak on. It's 26-052. I think I think everyone here is
speaking on 26-052, right? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you for that, counselor. I assumed everybody knew that. That's what everybody's going to speak on, but I appreciate clarifying it. Thank you. Uh, Mario, 270 Beach Street.
>> Um, good evening. >> We may hear alternative fixes proposed tonight. Respectfully, we have already had that conversation on February 10th. Residents showed up, adjustments discussed, concerns were acknowledged, yet nothing has changed. The gridlock
continues, residential neighborhoods are overwhelmed, intersections are backing up well beyond capacity. This is a daily occurrence. Emergency vehicles are delayed. Parents are navigating unsafe school dropoffs. Residents sit through
multiple light cycles just to leave their own streets. Drivers are cutting through side roads at unsafe speeds. Public safety and quality of life are being compromised. I understand that reversing Harris Street may require signal reconfiguration in coordination
with Masdot. I understand that it may not be simple, but complex complexity does not justify inaction. Residents are not asking for a layered adjustments or more experimentation in surrounding neighborhoods or more skewed
data. They are asking for a clear correction to the change that caused this disruption. I am submitting this petition with over 200 signatures on behalf of residents who want decisive action, not another round of
modifications. Fix the problem. Restore Harris Street. Thank you. >> Thank you. Name and address for the record. >> My name is Travis Alpert. I'm a member of East Coast International Church, 19
Coolage Street. Sorry, I'm sorry. Um, and I own and operate a business in River. I'm just here to speak on the Harris Street thing. You guys know I do a lot of community engagement and I have met regularly with people who live on Harris Street. You know, Tom's fighting the
good fight when it comes to DOT, but it's a little bit it's a little bit ridiculous, right? like they're studying commuters and the impact on commuters, but we're looking at the impact on the community and people who live here directly and how it impacts them. So, as
much as we can involve the community and the neighbors in this process is going to be the most valuable thing because DOT can make their decisions and sure they are the state and Route 16 is there, but this is impacting people's lives, not just how they get to work and
what avenue they decide to uh to take. Right. And I love the whack-a-mole reference. Um 30 days to have a difference, right? It's we're we're fortunate Tom went out today, right, and and and took a timer and time the intersection and now we're finally seeing the difference. And so I think it
needs a little bit of time. I think people need to experience that difference now that the signal is changed. Um but can't help but say it's a little bit ridiculous. we we can't continue to yield to DOT, especially when we have conditions all over the city of state roads that are horrible
with potholes and snow banks and etc. So, just thank you guys for for how much you guys work for the community. Thank you, Tom. And, you know, I want I just want to encourage everybody to continue to collaborate. And also, if you're watching, you should be here because I know there are people that live at
Harris Street who this is impacting and they're not here. So, thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Next. Good evening. My name is Darothy Terrell. I lived at I live at 70 Soul Street. I have to take exception to what
you said. I left my house maybe Thursday to go to Walgreens and Chelsea and pick up a prescription. I went up to Winthre Avenue up Elm Street. I turned towards the church. The line
was all the way back to the school. I could not get beyond Low Street because people in Low Street had pulled out onto Winter Avenue. One gentleman stopped in the middle of the street facing behind
Father Brennan Hall to pick up his grandchildren. I couldn't go. I went down low street saying, "Well, I'll go out Library Street." I couldn't go out Library Street for the traffic. I don't know if you drive through at 2 in the morning, but it's not the way you say in
the daytime. Okay. I had to go down Soul Street. I went home, pulled in the driveway, and my son said, "Did you get to Walgreens so fast?" I said, "I didn't even get out of my damn neighborhood. I am so frustrated. Pardon me for saying damn,
but when I can't get out of my own neighborhood, this is disgusting and I don't want to hear we have to work with DOT. I could say something nasty right now, but do something. Stand up to DOT. Will you please? Harris Street is a
community street. I don't care about that light out in the middle of the intersection. That's a city street. stand up and take control of our streets. There was something else I I'm shaking. I'm sorry. I didn't plan on
talking, but I am so frustrated. I am 81 years old. I have lived in this city my whole life. I have lived on Sul Street. This August will be 61 years. Ronnie Leguualia, you've been there. We're
probably the oldest time residents on the street. And to see this stupid plan, and it is stupid. I don't care how long you think it's going to take to fix it. It's not going to get fixed with what they want to do. Turn Harris Street back
so I can get out to go to Beachmont without having to go all the way down to Broadway or something to turn around. This is the most asinine thing I have ever seen. Thank you. >> Thank you. Name and address, please.
>> Daniel Montero, one Bixby Street. So, I am I'm on a corner lot and I am the second house in Su. My driveway is on SU. And
I just want to lay out a scenario for you. So everybody that's shooting up Harris and then they get to that blockade there and they realize that they can't go up onto Route 16. They get frustrated and
they turn onto SU. From that turn from Harris to my driveway is roughly 100 ft. Okay. They are slamming on the the the gas because
they're frustrated. A regular car, I'm going to give you real math here. A regular economic car like a Toyota RAV 4, there's probably 500 of them that go by every day right right there at my at my street. In 100
ft, it can reach 30 to 40 miles an hour. Okay, a regular car like that to 0 to 60 is 8 to 10 seconds on average for just a typical car that everybody has, right? Not a not
a sports car. So, in that 100 ft, they'll be directly where my wife parks her car, okay? And pulls out groceries, pulls out my 5-year-old, pulls out my seven-year-old, okay?
So, what's going to happen? I know Mass DOT doesn't want to change this back, but I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. You need 40 ft to come to a complete SP stop if you've gotten up to 30 mph.
That's well past my wife and kids. God forbid anything happens to my wife and kids. God forbid anything happens to anybody in my neighborhood. But if it stays the way that it is, the way that people are flying down sewer, somebody's going to
die and then it's going to be all over the news. This is being recorded, okay? And then everybody that lives in this neighborhood is going to call all the the the the channels because they're going to reach out to us and we're going
to tell them exactly this. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Name and address, please. >> Uh, Ed Terrell, 70 Soul Street Review, Mass. So, what I want to say, I want to say with respect so I don't seem cruel.
Um, I want to first rise and support the motion. Thank you, Joanna, Council McKenna. Thank you, uh, Councelor Mccurio. Thank you, Angela. Thank you, Anthony, for putting this forward. Um, well, you added something.
I cannot express my frustration with what has been happening. The meeting at the library, as far as I'm concerned, was a total farce. Even the data presented to us would didn't line up with the narrative.
Now we're going to be told again mass dot mass dot whatever. I'm tired of hearing it. I know some of you have Mara Healey on speed dial and many of you are campaigning for her. So I strongly
suggest that you pick up the phone and call Mara Healey and get something done. because you're going to get voted out. You lost my vote. Unless I see some changes, I'm not
voting for any of you. And the other tweaks that need to happen is Tom needs to be fired. How many times have I been sitting here and have I heard stories about the tower, about this, about that at the last minute? How long is this going to
continue? Now I live on SU and there's two dayc carees on our street. One at the end and one on the other side the street and we have little kids walking up and down our street. The cars are flying down SW street.
A little kid is going to get killed. Something has to be done. And if that means I have to come up here and you get angry at me to save a kid's life, then so be it. Do something. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you.
At a minimum, there needs to be some enforcement on these side streets and uh to try to stop some of the speeding because uh that's something we can do and should do and will do. Name and address and please
>> Cindy Evans, 54 Butler Street. Good old Butler Street. um my Bixby Street neighbor and what Ed just said, the only thing that I can add to what's been said before is that foot traffic hasn't really been out there. It's a walking
neighborhood and you've changed the quality of life for the people in that neighborhood. We don't have sidewalks. It was a very walkable neighborhood. The weather's nice. I was out with my grandkids this afternoon and said to
them, "You can't be out here. It's not safe. You cannot be out here." As cars flew up Butler Street cuz they're not waiting till they get to Su. It's an accident waiting to happen. And
I'm terrified. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Here we go. >> Name and address, please. >> Thank you. Karen Johnson, 16 Haden
Street. I've noticed the spill over on Haden Street now, particularly in the afternoon. And the cars, no kidding, because it's a fairly straight street. They're racing down the street just about the time the kids are getting out of school. Again, we have sidewalks
unlike Soul Street, but you're asking for a dangerous accident to have. And let me tell you, I've experienced a tragic loss of a family member from a motor vehicle accident. And I don't wish that on anybody.
and the citizens should have the right to say what goes on in the neighborhoods, not the state of Massachusetts. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, looks like that ends the uh comment period. Next up is the zoning subcommittee
report. >> Councelor Sylvestri, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, this evening we had three items come across the zoning subcommittee. Um, first we had a ordinance amending
title 17, the revised ordinance of the city of Rivier relative to special permits. Um, with amendments, we had a a favorable >> Can we Can we just hold off a minute, please, Mr. Chairman? Let's uh let
everybody file out and those take this up again. >> You got it. >> We'll take a two-minute recess. back in session here. >> Chairman Sylvestri, >> good luck. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, this
evening we had the zoning subcommittee. Uh, we had three items on the agenda. First, we had um an ordinance further amending the title 17, the revised ordinances of the city of Riviera relative to special permits. Um we voted
favorably uh as amended and um yeah, we had a favorable vote. Roll call. >> No. >> On on the second reading as amended. >> No. All in >> favor oppose? >> No.
automatically. >> Okay. Automatically tabled. >> Okay. For for the second item on the agenda, we had a special permit requesting to enable appellant to modify the non-conforming structure by converting to retail flower shop to a restaurant at
619 Broadway. With all the amendments and conditions, we voted favorably. >> Roll call. >> Shall the city council grant the relief requested for 6 619 Broadway subject to the conditions as reported by the zoning
subcommittee? Councelor Aenzio. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Cogleandro. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Janino. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Gino Slaya. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Hass. >> Yes. Yes. Councelor Kelly. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Mccurio. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Noelski.
>> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Sylvester. >> Yes. >> Yes. And Council President Zambudo. >> Yes. >> Yes. The special permit has been granted. >> And then finally, Mr. President, we had a H&J LLC 126 Morris Street in Revier,
uh, requesting a special permit to enable a pellant to reconstruct an altering and pre-existing non-conforming residential structure into a four-story residential apartment structure consisting of nine units at 95 Stanton Avenue in Rever.
We also um voted on this favorably. Uh, Mr. President >> on the uh special permit. >> Shall the city council grant the relief requested for 95 Stanton Avenue subject to the conditions as reported by the
zoning subcommittee? Councelor Aenzio. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Kogandro. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Gino. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Go SA. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Hass. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kelly. >> No. >> No. Council McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Mccario. >> Yes.
>> Yes. Council Novaski. >> Yes. Yes. Councelor Sylvester. >> Yes. >> Yes. And council president Zambudo. >> Yes. >> Yes. The special permit has been granted. >> Next up is the ways and means subcommittee report. >> Councelor uh Chairman Cargleandra.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh we met today at 5:45 p.m. We had one item on the agenda. Uh it was the new updated table of fees and it was voted uh favorably unanimously. I ask that uh we
take a roll call >> on the second reading. All in favor, all opposed. So audited. On the third on the third reading, all in favor, all opposed. So audited
on engrossment and addment. Roll call. Shall the city council approve an ordinance further amending appendix a table of fees of the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier? Councelor Aenzio. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Cogleandro. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Gino. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Gino SA.
>> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Hass. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kelly. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Mccario. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Novaski. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Sylvestri. >> Yes. >> Yes. And Council President Zamudo? >> Yes. >> Yes. The ordinance is engrossed and ordained.
Calendar item number eight, communication from the city auditor relative to the appropriation of ETP funds. >> Councelor Carlandro. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um I know I know the CFO is not here. He did have to leave um unfortunately, but he did send
me a communication if I could read that to everybody. >> Please do. It says, "Two items approved via the ETP committee at its last meeting. One for telecommunication upgrades citywide for school, city, and public safety, and one for a digital
screen for parks and wreck for multi-purpose use, including messaging to community on events as well as for public screenings of movies, etc. The ETP committee, superintendent, CFO, library director, elder service director, and others that sit on this
committee already approved both purchases subject to the city council approval to move the funds in accordance with Mass General Law. The CFO recommends approval of both so that we can proceed accordingly. Thank you. On the motion, roll call
on the communications, I should say. Shall the city council approve the following appropriations from the ETP fund totaling $490,000, $115,000 for mobile LED screen for parks and wreck and $375,000 for citywide unified communications.
Councelor Argenzio, >> yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kaggleandro, >> yes. >> Yes. Council Judino, >> yes. >> Yes. Council Gino SA. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor H. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kelly. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Mccurio. >> Yes. Yes. Council Novaski.
>> Yes. >> Yes. Council Sylvestri. >> Yes. >> Yes. And council president Zambudo. >> Yes. >> Yes. The appropriations have been approved. >> Calendar item number 10. Motion presented by councilors McKenna Gino SA and Kagleandro. that the city council
award the certificate of merit to the nurse who risked her own safety and well-being by climbing over a barbed wire fence to administer emergency life-saving aid to a lineman who was electrocuted while repairing power lines on Railroad Street >> me.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh I'm going to read this. Um, on February 28th, a utility crew was working on electric wires on Railroad Avenue and Riviera when a young man was electrocuted and was left hanging from his harness.
Christina Lee from Montreal, who was driving by the incident, who happened to be a nurse, stopped immediately to help. She climbed onto a snowbank, went over a bob wire fence, and attended to the man
until the EMTs arrived. Her quick thinking and selfless actions that day were truly hero heroic and very likely hap helped save the man's life. If we were able to get her in front of the
this council, we just got her name today. We couldn't find her name. uh we couldn't find her address and then the chief chief Levita uh contacted um the council and they gave her uh her name to
us her address and she does live in Montreal. Um so if we were able to get her in front of the council we would very much like the opportunity to recognize her with a citation for her bravery and her compassion. Until then,
we will place this recognition recogni recognition on hold until we hear from her. And until then, her actions should go uh not go unnotice. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh
Council Gino SA. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Councelor McKenna, we will be sending her the citation via mail. We have our address. Um, she is a heroine and she really deserves this recognition. So, we will
be mailing the citation to her. >> Thank you, councelor. >> Councelor Cogandra. >> Oh, that's I was just going to say if she can't make it, which I if she's from Montreal, I can't see her flying in just to receive an award from us. >> We could fly up there and bring it to
her. >> Well, I was going to offer a road trip. No, this is well welld deserved. >> Absolutely. On the motion, all in favor oppos. >> Challenge item number 11. Motion presented by councilors McKenna and Gino SA that the mayor request the River
Police Department to assign an officer to be present during city council meetings. Given the increasingly hostile climate and heightened concerns regarding public safety, having an officer in attendance would provide reassurance to counselors, staff, and members of the public. The presence of law enforcement would help ensure that
meetings are conducted in a safe, orderly, and secure environment. >> Council McKenna. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I want to address a safety concern regarding our city's council meetings. On March 2nd and tonight, the meeting had to go into
recess because a man who currently has a trespassing order against him entered city hall, came into the chambers, and sat in the front row. This is not the first time this order has been violated by this man. Police were called and
removed him about 10 minutes later. Thankfully, the situation ended peacefully, but it raises an important question about safety for everyone in this room. Our meetings can sometimes be heated and confrontational.
That is a part of democra democrac democracy and people have the right to express their views. However, without police presence during the me during these meetings, there is very little protection if the situation escalates
quickly. It only takes a few seconds for something serious to happen. Council members, staff, and members of the public should feel safe when attending these meetings. I strongly believe having a police officer present during
city council meetings provides reassurance and helps assure that in any situation can be handled immediately if necessary. I'd rather be safe than sorry. So, thank
you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you, Council uh Council Sylvestri. >> Uh thank you, Mr. President. Um and I I really appreciate um Council McKenna's
motion. Um although I I just the the issue I have with it is either we're bringing someone in for overtime or we're bringing someone off the streets from a patrol to bring them into the chamber. Um, and I just don't know if I
could agree to that. Um, to have someone come off the street or bring someone in on overtime. Um, I think the way we handle it dayto-day is going well. Um, and that's just my two cents. >> Thank you, Councelor Cogleandro.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. I mean, I think I think the bigger issue is that people with trespass orders are allowed to enter buildings, you know, and they're not there's no way really to stop them at the door. And I do understand the concern. I mean, this council has been threatened with gun
violence before and um the only thing that I would want to know is what it's going to cost. So that by ordinance, we would have to do a financial impact statement. But I'm all for protection and I I believe that it would be overtime. Uh if somebody was to be here,
it would almost be like a a a regular detail. So, I would be um okay with finding out what the cost of this is, where what fund we're going to pay it out of, and and let's go from there. >> Point of information, Mr. President. >> State your point.
>> So, when uh Chief Callahan was uh in uh office, we had a police officer here all the time. And how he did it was um they had to rack up some hours, a community hours. Um and that's how they used to
come in here and they it was it didn't cost the police department anything. So I mean I don't know if Chief Levida does that. Um she's a new chief and she does she probably does things differently. But I mean >> I think we got your point. You stated
your point. Thank you, Council Muriel. >> Uh thank you, Mr. President. I think uh paying an officer >> you get it last. >> I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm debating with one of my colleagues here. >> I think uh paying a police officer
overtime for safety and protection and uh peace of mind on this council is money well spent and I'm I'm strongly in support of uh councelor McKenna's motion. Thank you. Thank >> Thank you, councelor Councelor Garino SA your second time.
I haven't spoken yet and I'm the maker of the motion with councelor McKenna. >> My apologies that you were supposed to speak one of the first ones. I apologize. >> That's okay. But everybody else just brought brought the points in up that I wanted to speak about. But I do agree
with what council McKenna and what councelor mccurio just said. If it's the safety of the residents and the council, I think you can't put a price on that. And what I witnessed this evening, I got in here at approximately 4:15, 4:20. And
the gentleman that was in here this evening walked in with me. I did not go up the elevator with him, but he stayed in the building until he decided to come into the council chambers when we were having one of the I think it was the
zoning meeting. But this shouldn't be allowed. He has a restraining order against him. he has a court order and and god forbid it wasn't him, it was someone else, what would happen? But thank you. >> Thank you. And I apologize for not
calling on you first. You were the maker of the motion. I thought you were looking for your second time to speak and my mistake. Um, see that? I actually made a mistake and I could admit to it. >> No way. >> Okay, here's the deal though. We're going to go to a financial impact
statement on this before we vote on it. I I I think uh that's that's the proper way to handle this. So that's what we're going to ask for. >> Yeah. We'll send it to public safety and we'll uh Oh, no. Ways and means actually
and and um we'll uh get a financial statement and we'll we'll understand where we're going from there. Then we can vote with uh the knowledge of what it is going to cost. And I'm not saying that we're putting a cost on safety, but we have rules that we have to follow
here. That's one of them. Thank you. Challenge item number 12, motion presented by councelor Gino SA that the mayor request the traffic commission and engineering department to conduct a comprehensive citywide safety audit of crosswalk visibility, pedestrian signage, pavement markings, traffic
signal timing, and trafficcoming measures with a defined radius of public and private schools, licensed daycare centers, dance studios, youth recreation facilities, youth athletic fields and complexes, and senior housing complexes. further that the DPW traffic and
engineering departments report back to the city council with findings, recommended improvements, estimated costs, and a prioritized implementation timeline. Also to be included as an evaluation whether additional flashing pedestrian beacons, raised crosswalks or temporary seasonal signage would be
appropriate in hightra areas. >> Council Gino Sawaya, this time I'll call you first. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, the city's been doing a really good job. >> Can you hear it? >> It's on. >> It's No, it's on. Um, all right. So, the
city's been doing a good job painting crosswalk lines and putting up crosswalk signs, but this audit will only be to identify what other areas need to be painted, what what else has to be done, whether that's moving existing signs,
adding new ones, or making other improvements to ensure the safety of our children and all its residents. um when new developments are built, we can also work with the developers and have them help with this with their mitigation
during our mitigation process with them. If if a school is near their area, well, we can make them responsible for putting up a new crosswalk. we can make them responsible for doing other things that would help the safety of our children,
whether it be um schools, daycarees, or even our seniors at senior centers. Um I think it's good something good to really look into and see what other options we have and it's just just a way
to try to have our streets safe for our kids. Thanks. >> Thank you, counselor. Any other counselors on the motion? All in favor? All opposed. So audited. >> Uh before we adjourn, uh just want to
remind the citizens of the state of the city address on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. to Susan B. Anthony uh school. Everybody's invited. Please show up and listen to what the mayor has to tell us.
The city council will be adjourned until March 23rd. Thank you.