--------- Good evening. I'd like to welcome you to the Legislative Affairs Subcommittee. Please join me in a salute to the flag. >> Roll call of the members. Councelor Gino Sio >> here. >> Here. Councelor H >> here. >> Here. Councel Kelly >> here. >> Here. Council McKenna >> here.
>> Here. And chairman Argenzio >> here. >> Here. Quorum is present. We have two items on tonight's agenda. Council order 25-265, an ordinance further amending the affordable housing trust fund powers and duties.
>> Thank you. Any uh councilors wish to speak on this? I >> think this was just a housekeeping item. We've discussed this at length. Uh if no one uh has any comment uh a roll call to look on it uh favorably.
>> Shall the legislative affairs subcommittee provide a favorable recommendation to adopt the ordinance as proposed? Councelor Garino SA. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Hass. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kelly. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. And Chairman Argenzio. >> Yes.
>> Yes. The proposed ordinance has received a favorable recommendation for adoption. And second agenda item computer is council order 25-266 an ordinance relative to sign maintenance. >> Thank you. Any councilors wishing to
speak? No comment from the council. We can move forward to a u roll call in the affirmative. Shall the legislative affairs subcommittee offer a favorable recommendation to adopt the ordinance as proposed? Councelor Garino SA. >> Yes.
>> Yes. Councelor H. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kelly. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. And chairman Argenzio. >> Yes. >> Yes. The ordinance has received a favorable recommendation will be forwarded to the full city council this evening. There's no further business. Chairman. >> No further business. Meeting adjourned.
Thank you. Welcome to the December 1st, 2025 meeting of the zoning subcommittee of the Riviera City Council. 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 call of the members. Councelor Aenzio >> here. >> Here. Councelor Go Slaya >> here. >> Here. Councelor Jammo absent.
>> Councelor Novaski >> here. >> Here. And chairman Zambo >> here. >> Here. Quorum is present. One application tonight pending Shirley Avenue Realy Trust Trustee James Perry 65 County Road Chelsea Mass requesting a special permit from the Rivier City Council to allow
the existing storefront and nine residential units to remain in place where city records indicate a storefront and six residential units at 85 Charlie Avenue. >> Good evening, Mr. Chairman. members. Um not to reiterate uh what we had
addressed the council of in support of our application for special permit. Uh if any of the subcommittee members have any questions, we'd be happy to answer them and sorry for keeping you waiting. Thank you. >> So, so if you can just reiterate what we all know. >> Okay.
>> For this is for the audience uh that happens to be watching. >> Indeed. So um when uh Jim and his brother Tom bought this building about 26 years ago, there was uh existing there a storefront and nine apartment
units. Uh during the course of the years, they did some minor upkeep. Uh they did not expand the living space. They did not increase the number of units and did um sort of architectural and regular maintenance uh to the
outside of of the building. Um they came into a contract uh with the uh housing uh task force after one or two of the tenants had made some complaints about substandard uh code um provisions and
possible violations. And when the housing task force did a site inspection there, they noticed um as they were inspecting and inspecting and reinspecting um the repairs that there were more uh
dwelling units within the building than had been indicated on the record. Uh although they were obviously older units, there was no uh indication of any um current uh construction or any subdivisions of
any any apartments in there. And so at their next meeting, they asked us to come in and get that squared away so that the assessor's records, the building records, and what's actually at the locus would all be compliant and
consistent. So, in order to do that, um, we would require, according to the site plan review committee, a special permit to increase a pre-existing non-conforming use. Six units is non-conforming, nine is non-conforming. We're increasing uh not replacing, but
just to bring it into compliance to validate it. >> Great. Now, that's that sums it up perfectly. And the point I was trying to make is that this is an existing situation. And this is not we're not uh really doing anything except making this
legal. That's been there for some 20 some odd years at least. >> Yes. >> And probably before they bought it. >> So uh I just wanted everybody to know what was going on here that we don't do anything underhanded. Everything's above board and that's what this is all about.
And so uh this is a case where uh we're making something that should have been legal a long time ago legal now. And that's what this special permit is about. >> Okay. Any members? >> Council Novaski who's audited it.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, um we have no problem with this and uh or I have no problem with this. I didn't even have a community meeting on it because I knew it was a cut and dry thing and there was no reconstruction, no expanding and you know the only thing
that we're adding in is that they can't get um parking uh permits, visitor permits or permanent permits for anybody in the building. So, and that they have to rent to a lease to
people that don't have cars except for maybe the three or four spaces they have in the back, which is on their property, but they still can't get uh any street parking, you know, by permit. That's the standard that we've done for anything
six or over. So, um, but this is something that is similar to what's been going on all over the city with ones and two family houses. People are looking to make a two family illegal, too. And it's been two for 25, 30 years. So, they're
coming to make it that legal. It's a smaller scale, but I have no problem with this. And I think we should uh let it go through. Thank you. >> Thank you, counselor. Nobody else, Madam Clerk. chairman from site review. >> Yes, please.
>> Conditions from site plan review in addition to what was discussed at the zoning subcommittee as requested by councelor Novasellski. Uh one, all residential units shall be brought into compliance with building plumbing, electrical, fire safety, and health codes. Two, the property shall not be
eligible for participation in the city of Riviera's residential and visitor on street park permit parking program. Three, the project proponent must pay a sore mitigation fee which is based on 10 times 110 gallons per bedroom times $130
per gallon. This fee shall be calculated based on the increased number of bedrooms beyond what presently exists. The soore mitigation fee shall be utilized to remove inflow and infiltration from entering the soar system and shall be paid to the city of Rivier in two installments 50% prior to the issuance of a building permit and
50% prior to the issuance of an occupancy permit. And lastly, in accordance with chapter 1747, the capital improvement trust fund is applicable to this project. Call the role. >> Shall the zoning subcommittee offer a
favorable recommendation to approve the special permit subject to those conditions? Councelor Aenzio. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Goaya. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Hermo is absent. >> Council Novaski. >> Yes. >> Yes. And Chairman Zambudo. >> Yes. >> Yes. The special permit has received a
favorable recommendation to be granted. No further business. >> Thank you very much. No further business for the zoning subcommittee. Thank you all. Okay. Um, we will begin our sub commmittee meeting on climate workers
and sustainability. Uh, if the members would kindly rise to recite the pledge of allegiance. 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. >> Madam clerk, roll call of the members, please. >> Roll call of the members. Councelor Aenzio. >> Yes. >> Here. >> Here. Councelor Garino SA >> here. >> Here. Councelor Kelly here. Here. Council McKenna. >> Here. And chairmano >> here.
>> Here. Quorum is present. One item on tonight's agenda that's communication from the chief of planning and community development requesting time to conduct a presentation on the work of the North Suffach Office of Resiliency and Sustainability. >> Mr. Scaroski. >> Good evening, councilors. Tom Skarowski,
281 Broadway. Excited to be with you tonight to talk about the wonderful work of the North Suffach Office of Resiliency and Sustainability, otherwise known as Ensource. Um, we haven't had an opportunity since this office was formed to really fill in the council and all
the wonderful work that we're doing. Um, so I wanted to take this as an opportunity to number one introduce the wonderful team I have with me tonight um, who's been spearheading this work for the city as well as uh, the town of Winthrop and the city of Chelsea. Um,
number two, to get your insights on various areas of interest related to climate sustainability and resiliency work in the city. And then most importantly, um perhaps through your work as advocates for your constituents um in the city, making sure
you're spreading the word about some of the programs and and topics we'll be talking about tonight, but also extending an opportunity for folks to get more engaged in this work in the future, both in resiliency work and sustainability work. There have been and
will be many more opportunities to get engaged with the public in this work. and we want to make sure people are aware of the office, the work that we do, and the opportunities to get engaged. Um, I was um heartened to see some petitions go through uh some
motions on this evening's council agenda related to items um in the resiliency and sustainability space. So hopefully there'll be more opportunities like that in the future for us to continue this conversation. I realize we don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to get right in to it. Um, just to introduce the team
briefly, we've got Abda Zakazib, our sustainability manager, Kristen Homemire, our resilience manager, and Lydia Malchemist, our energy advocate, who comprised the threeperson team, which is overseen by Winthrop, Chelsea,
and Ravier, respectively. Um and just to cover NSOS briefly, it was established in 2021 um to advance projects and actionable solutions that combat climate change and protect people, critical infrastructure, and the environment. Um with goals to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and air pollution that are generated by and affect these communities. Um and then build the capacity of the municipalities to better prepare for and respond to catastrophic events. and ultimately to lead a lot of really important regional efforts in these three communities which comprise
North Suffach County. So I'm going to take some time now passing it to our team to talk first about resiliency and then sustainability efforts briefly and then we'll uh have a quick Q&A with the council. So I'm going to hand it over to Kristen to talk about some of the resiliency work that we're doing.
>> Hi everyone, my name is Kristen. Nice to see some of you again and nice to meet you. Um, so I'm the resilience manager and I focus on projects that look at climate hazards such as extreme heat, sea level rise, flooding, and emergency preparedness. And so for an example of
some of the projects that I work on, uh, a lot of those deal with green infrastructure. So for example, in the Shirley A neighborhood, we're trying to plant 30 street trees um that will help with extreme heat when people are walking by um, in that downtown corridor area there. And we're also looking to
put in a rain garden pilot outside of city hall um to help with storm water management and to deal with some of the flooding issues out here. Another project that I'm working on is the community rating system which is a FEMA program that will lower residents flood insurance costs and will also increase
educational awareness about flooding in Rivier and also help residents of Rivier be aware of their flood risk. Um, and it is a really hefty program, but we think it will benefit people because it will help lower their flood insurance rates.
Some of you may know about the Beachmont Resilience Project. Councelor McKenna was instrumental in helping us get this project off the ground. Um, we were awarded a grant from the Coastal Zone Management or CZM in FY25 last year that looked at short-term actions and
long-term solutions to reduce flooding in the Beachmont area. And from this project, we heard a lot from residents about how their cars were constantly being flooded either from high tides or extreme precipitation events or both. And so that kind of inspired our design
for Beachmont's resilience phase 2 where we will be installing early flood warning sensors that will help residents be alerted to move their cars. So that will be like a text alert that will go out to the residents for that neighborhood um to help with that. And
we are also looking into a citywide utility elevation assistance program because something else that we heard a lot through that our outreach and engagement last year was that uh flood insurance only covers so much and it only covers it like utilities if they need to be replaced from a like a
damaging event. And so they can't have like cover the extra cost to raise the utilities to make sure that they don't constantly get flooded and to also um like be replaced constantly. So we're looking at how can we help residents with that gap to help elevate their
utilities. And because this program was liked so much, um, MAPC, which is the regional planning agency for metro Boston area, they wanted to help fund an early flood warning sensor system for Remny Marsh.
So that will be helping residents in Oak Island, Riverside, and Point of Pines. Um, if there's like any like major flood coming where they think their cars might be flooded, sitting with the Beachmont neighborhood that will help them move their cars earlier. And we'll also be doing a lot of outreach and engagement
about uh flood risk awareness and like what they can do to help make their property more floodproof. Um and I'm going to pass it now to my colleague Abdurzac for sustainability. >> Good evening city council. Uh my name is Abdur Zak Kazib um sustainability
project manager for uh North SuffK Office of Resilience and Sustainability. And I think we just might have lost our slides here. I didn't do anything. I promise. >> Oh, we are never immune to technical
difficulties here. Perfect timing for me. That's why we want to build sustainable. >> We keep you try. Maybe we could take advantage of this brief technical moment and answer any questions that you might have related to
resiliency and some of the things that Kristen mentioned. Councelor McKenna, >> thank you. She uh Kristen, you uh touched on rain and ocean, but you didn't touch on marsh, and that's one of the biggest problems down there. Um is that going to be uh also uh included
with this uh alert system? >> Yes. So there will be two flood sensors uh for like the Bell Isle Marsh area like for Beachmont and then two for Remny Marsh that will help uh collect data from like past storm events and also like predict from like the current
data that we will be collecting. And it's not going to be a sensor that like emits any like light or sound. It will just be like collecting the different like flood depth levels. Um so there will not be any disturbance to any of the residents living by the sensors.
All right, we could try this one more time. Uh, my name is Abdura Zakazib, uh, sustainability project manager for the North Suffic office of resilience and sustainability. Uh, most of our sustainability projects are under the umbrella of uh, energy
efficiency, um, waste management, uh, transportation related projects as well. Um but in Rivier projects I'll just be covering the energy efficiency um and uh our curbside compost program. Uh one of one
of the projects is the municipal aggregation rivier power choice which is the city's electricity aggregation program um that has been designed to provide uh stable competitive electricity rates for residents and businesses. Uh the rates up there in the
slides are the current rates um that are available right now through the river power choice. Uh some notable um highlights here for the program since its launch in June this past summer of 2025 is that the cost savings uh for the
participants collectively have saved um over $350,000 um dollars. Um, another important aspect of the program is that um, there's an option of cleaner electricity by providing access to higher renewable
energy content um, than just the standard sort of utility supplies. Um, and an important component is the consumer protection um, which is the fixed contract term that is assigned with the program for two years.
Um, up next is the organic waste program, uh, River curbside compost program. Uh, we're currently under the, um, development and launch of this program, um, pending the sign up for the 250 households
um, under u with partnership with um, garbage to garden. The way this program works is that each week um a resident gets to place their bin um at the curb um when
the vendor comes and collect the uh the bins. Um the service is available to residents of any size and that is including large buildings and we'd like to emphasize on that in particular because it's one of the biggest questions that we've been receiving uh
during the outreach process. Um we are highlighting some reduced rates here. Um that is in compared to other municipalities that run it at um somewhat relatively higher rates um per
month. Um but with the caveat of being able to start at 250 signups. Um we are including a um $100 gift card for uh households who participate for a 12-month um uh with the curbside
program. Um for the thousand signups, um all residents will receive a free starter kit which includes a curbside bin, um a roll of liners, and a how-to booklet that guides them on what can they compost and what they cannot
compost. Um, another component of this program is that we've been receiving a lot of feedback on uh the rodent um uh issues that are related with the program. And so um we've seen that the the bins
themselves with a really secure lids um kind of help reduce rodent access to food uh because they're not available in and the regular trash bins. Um and lastly, I'm going to cover a little bit on energy efficiency uh for
municipal buildings um uh specifically. And um the role of the ENSOR's office here is that we support and planning, coordinating, and implementing energy upgrades across municipal buildings uh including school buildings.
Uh we start by doing comprehensive building assessments uh through the massafe program and partnership with um uh the utilities through what we call a community solutions program. Um some of the uh funding that is currently available for us is energy efficiency
conservation block grant which is a federal funding uh that we have secured for um specifically the city hall um energy efficiency upgrades um at least part of it for phase one. Um and then
the mass CEC or the Massus Clean Energy Center Empower Program um with uh collaborating with MAPC uh the metropolitan area planning council to conduct a strategic sort of uh guidance
for um the school districts. This is a regional effort between school districts in Chelsea and Rivier. um more on energy efficiency programs. Um I'll go ahead and pass it on to my colleague Lydia Malcolm, the energy advocate to talk about the community
first partnership. >> Hi, good evening. As Od said, my name is Lydia. I'm the energy advocate for North Suffach. Um I work with the Mass Safe program through the community first partnership grant which North has been a part of since 2022, I want to say. Um,
we seek to increase participation in the Mass Safe program which uh in renters, low-income residents, residents who speak languages other than English and small businesses. The Mass Safe program is intended to connect residents to rebates and incentives for energy efficiency upgrades um for renters,
homeowners, landlords, and again small business owners. Our outreach has uh included general community engagement, tableabling at community events, working with um community partners and stakeholders and letters and postcards. We work with different vendors who provide the energy efficiency upgrades,
but are available to residents for any questions they have along the process or barriers that they might run into or ways that the program might be improved. Um or any other energy efficiency related questions that might come up. Um, it's
just a very brief overview, but I'd like to open the floor now for any questions or feedback or just general comments on the pardon meation. >> Thank you, Lydia. Happy to answer any questions you have about any of the things we've touched on or any other
projects related to sustainability or resiliency that you're curious to learn more about. >> Any question from the members? Um, councelor Arenzio, >> thank you. Uh, there was mention of a rain garden at in the city hall area for flooding. Can somebody
>> Yep. So, we're working with Weston and Samson right now to um they're actually doing just the initial survey right now. So, figuring out what's underground, what's above ground um to look at some green infrastructure and installations within about a twob block radius in and
around city hall on Broadway. Um, so connecting back to um the Broadway master plan, one of the things we heard is that Broadway can be kind of a relentless corridor at times um and could use some some more green space, but also for the storm water management impacts. Um there's some real benefits
to having more green space. >> Oh, I'm I'm all for more green space. I wasn't aware there was any flooding in the area, right? >> This like supports DPW's work in the Diamond Creek catchment area, which Broadway technically covers in. Okay. And so it will help with like storm
water runoff that like goes um into the Diamond Creek area. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Any other members of the committee hear? None. I think thank you Mr. Scaroski for and your team for your presentation. Um this of course is
uh Yman's work and hopeful that the city will continue to invest in um climate resiliency and sustainability. Um with that that concludes our meeting for the climate workforce and sustainability subcommittee. Thank you. >> Thank you all. I place this on file and
clar Part: 2
America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Roll call the members. >> Roll call. Councelor Arenzio >> here. >> Here. Councelor Cogleandro >> here.
>> Here. Councelor Jannino >> here. >> Here. Councelor Gino SA >> here. >> Here. Councelor Hass >> here. >> Here. Councelor Hermio >> here. >> Here. Councelor Kelly >> here. >> Here. Council McKenna >> here. >> Here. Council Naselski >> here. >> Here. Council Zamutoo >> here. here and council president Sylvester >> here.
>> Here a quorum is present. >> Approval of the journal of the regular meeting of November 24th. >> All in favor? All oppose. >> So ordered. >> Calendar item number three. The city council will award the Rever Junior Patriots flag football team for its undefeated season which concluded with a
championship at the NC YFC 2025 flag football tournament on November 1st. Council has 67. >> Guys, thanks so much for coming. Um, it sounds like you were having a practice out there, but that's great. I love it. Congratulations on an awesome season.
Um, you outscored your oppon opponents 226 to 24, so that's not too shabby. Um, great job. You ran you ran the table undefeated season and I want to give a shout out to the coaches, Anthony, Mark, Allan, Jason. Um, you guys really set
the tone from day one bringing the kids together. You believed in the kids. Everyone bought in. All the kids bought in. The parents did an incredible job. The parent family participation was awesome cheering you guys on on the in the on the road. But, um, great job.
team is made up of first and second graders. I know a few of you are moving up, but a few few of you are returning next year. So, let's run it back again, guys. Congratulations. [applause] >> Can we have the players come up >> and the coaches too?
>> Awesome. Thanks, coach. You guys had me all nervous. I've never been in front of an undefeated team before. I have to stand up here. >> Right. Scoot on in. Scoot on in. >> Back it in a little bit, guys. If you can see the ham.
>> So, I will read the first certificate. City of River, Massachusetts certificate of commendation in acknowledgement of your extra extraordinary athletic achievement accomplished through perseverance, teamwork, and discipline as a member of the River Junior Patriots
Flag Football Team in winning the NCFC 2025 flag football tournament on November 1st, 2025. Special recognition is hereby accorded to Nicholas Campanoni. >> [applause]
>> Lincoln Dwire. [applause] Congratulations, >> Cash Miller. [applause] Joseph Martinez [applause] here. Justin Moore, [applause] >> Adrien Abdullah, [applause]
Lorenzo Valerice, [applause] >> Javvon Green, [applause] >> Henry Abor, >> [applause] >> RJ Hos, [applause and cheering] >> Brian Ramirez, Brian, [applause] good job,
>> Sebastian Artiaga, Salano, [applause] >> Derek Deamastine, >> [applause] >> Now for the coaches. Anthony Camponi. [applause] >> Coach Jason Moore, [applause] >> Coach Alan Abdullah, [applause]
Coach Mark Abor. [applause] >> All right, guys. On the count of three, Patriots. Okay. One, two, three. Patriots. >> Good job. We're going to take a 5m minute recess. back to the regular order of business.
Yeah, I'm fine. 67. All right. Um, Madame Clerk, can we uh skip to number five and take up four once the gentleman arrives? >> Sure. >> Thank you. Calendar item number five, the chief of planning and community
development will present the city council with an overview and full scope of planned work on Harris Street and the surrounding area. >> Tom, >> good evening once again, counselors. Tom Scraki, 281 Broadway chief of planning and community development for the city.
Um, I'm joined here with our city engineer, Nick Rystrom, our DPW commissioner, Chris Jeromea, and Christa Lucas from the Howard Stein Hudson Group, who's worked with us on this project. Um, happy to just give a quick overview of what's happening and why
it's happening and then, um, turn the floor over to some questions. So um just for starters um this project started a long time before I was here at the city um in you know 2018 2019 the development advisory group
that was meeting over you know the series of months and years looking at off-site mitigation related to the Suffach Downs project. Um, this project uh at Harris Street was identified as one of those potential mitigation items that was reinforced in uh 2019 and 2020
through the special permit as well as the MEEPA findings. This is um it highlighted in the 2020 MEPA certification as one of the off-site mitigation uh projects what we call section 61 findings or those things that through the MEPA process the developer
is uh required to complete as mitigation. Um so there's been a lot of time and effort um prior to my time here at the city in which this was identified as a key area of concern. Um and then it
was reinforced as Suffach Downs began design um we worked on this is one of the first off-site mitigation projects. uh we had a series of meetings in 2023 and 2024 where we looked at different iterations of how this intersection
configuration would work. Some of those iterations included um prohibiting SU Street to one way, prohibiting all of Harris Street to one way um and various um iterations in between. Ultimately, we
landed on in February 15th of last year. Um the traffic commission ultimately decided on this design which has now been designed and constructed. We're just waiting on um dotting our eyes and crossing our tees with um
National Grid. But this is the design that will be implemented on December 6th, this Saturday um late afternoon. Um and what it'll look like is is basically this. So, there'll be two northbound turning lanes on Route 16 um turning
onto Winth Avenue. Um in the other direction, there'll be a new um rightbound um I I I mixed up the directions, but uh dual southbound lanes turning onto WintherPav and then the other direction dual rightbound um going
northbound to turn onto Winterpave. Um and then due to the conversion of Harris Street to one way in that first segment of the road, this intersection will go from a five leg to a four-legg intersection. Not only is it less
complicated and safer for cars and pedestrians. It also reduces the wait times at that intersection because you you don't have to wait through five phases. You're only going through four. So, the ultimate um end result of this is a more efficient traffic operations
at that intersection, additional left-hand and right-hand turns getting onto Winterb from either side of Route 16, and most importantly, um for our purposes and and where this really started with the Suffach Downs discussions way back when, um there's
this big goal of removing a lot of regional cut through traffic from going down um Harris Street. And as you can see, the the existing regional access, you have about 2500 vehicles that currently use Harris Street as essentially a cut through. Although it's
a neighborhood road, it's being used as a regional throughway. And the ultimate end goal here is to take 1,500 um to 2,000 of those cars and bring them back onto Route 16. It's regional traffic. It belongs on a regional roadway. So, more
efficient traffic operations, those additional left and right-hand turns. Um, the end result we hope is to create a more efficient Route 16 that can keep roads or keep drivers off of our neighborhood streets for what is regional through traffic. Um, so at that
meeting on uh in February of 2024, we proposed a phased improvement approach starting with a 90-day data monitoring period. Um, where we'll have two-way operations on SU Street to Bixby with no parking on either side. Um, the balance
of Harris Street um, you know, for now will remain two-way except for that first block from the intersection to Sul Street. Um but after this 90-day period, we can take a look at the data and we can see if we need to tweak any of these
things, whether um Sewel Street converting back to one way in that segment or some or all of Harris Street becoming one way or um you know remaining in its current operations. and HYM is committed to support the data collection over this 90-day period,
setting both a baseline and at various points through this 90 days, taking a look at how traffic is operating, and also contributing $35,000 towards neighborhood improvements coordinated with the city for postimplementation changes that we might need to make to tweak operations, which which I'll get
to in a minute. Um, and another thing we're doing at the same time, we're working on some bell circle improvements. What you see here on the screen is the future 7 plus million dollar improvements at Bell Circle that will be implemented when Suffach Downs
gets to 3 million square ft um in its development. Just for context, we're at about 400,000 right now after Portico um starts, we'll have another 400,000. So 3 million square feet. We're still a ways out. Um but as construction picks up,
probably not that far out, maybe two or three years. Um, and then we'll start permitting on this project, which is, as you can see, a pretty comprehensive change along all of Bell Circle, adding slip lanes, extra lane southbound from Harris, and an extra lane northbound, a
lefthand turn from V uh VFW Parkway approach, and additional pedestrian safety improvements and transit priority improvements. These are big changes related to Bell Circle, but the most important one for purposes of this conversation, the
reason I bring it up is [snorts] in those conversations with the traffic commission, the the five or six that took place, there was a lot of uh discussion about what's highlighted in blue here, having a slip lane off of Bell Circle, so traffic coming from Beach Street can get right onto Route 16
because at peak hours there can be a backlog. So, we recognize that this seven plus million dollar project that will be stuck in permitting for quite some time um is going to take a lot of time and money to get done. We wanted to get this done in the shorter term. So, we've actually
been working early action. We just submitted 75% design plans to Masdot um and just received comments back which are relatively minor in nature and we're aiming then to move forward with a full 100% submission and aim to get started in the spring on the installation of a
slip lane at Bell Circle to help address some of the beach street traffic so they can ease into Route 16 a little bit easier again to avoid Harris Street. Um so in the short term this is something we're working on. in the longer term, the the broader improvements will take
place very soon. Um, and in the meantime, as we prepare for a December 6th launch, just some things we're doing and working on. It's been a lot of inter agency coordination working with Masdat of course this is their roadway working with N national grid gas and electric um
and working with various city departments um to make sure that folks are well aware of the changes that are about to take place um but we're not relying on that alone we're also conducting social media outreach which will start this week and direct
butterflyers in the S street library street neighborhood just began today I I heard from some counselors that heard from some of their constituents that received some flyers. Um, we are working with our wonderful community liaison team as well as folks at Howard Stein
Hudson to make sure we're engaging with folks in multiple different languages and have both local experts with our liaison, but also technical experts from Howard Stein Hudson to make sure we can answer any questions that they might have. And we we're also working on um temporary signage at both of these
locations on either end at the Beach Street side or the intersection to alert drivers to this upcoming change. Here is a sneak peek of some of the social media um posts that we'll be going through. And we've been coordinating with the
mayor's office to make sure we're getting the message out both, you know, that these changes are upcoming and what the changes mean and the new turning lanes, what the routes will be for both local and regional traffic. And here's a look at the flyers that we've implemented that both talks about
what's happening, but also why it's happening. And then again on the back gives uh a sense for both neighborhood and regional through traffic about what this exactly means. Uh and we have this in Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Chimera. So we're really trying to make
sure we're leaving no stone unturned and engaging with the community in as many ways as possible. Um, in terms of implementation, we're going to be conducting data pre and post um, implementation to monitor the changes to
adjust things as needed. Um, we're coordinating with DPW, police, and fire. We're going to be conducting reverse 311 calls to Abutters um this week and working on some of the notifications to Abutters as I mentioned as well as coordinating with GPS companies like
Google Ways and Apple to make sure folks are aware of these coming changes and to speak briefly on the data collection efforts which will start later this week. Um again, we want to set a baseline so we know exactly where things are today. Um, and we'll have
24hour TMC collection uh turning movements and volume at the intersection itself and 48 hour ATR which you know basically covers volume and speed at these various locations on SU Street. uh further up on Harris and at the Route 16
approach as well as at the Beach Street approach to Bell Circle and then again turning movement counts right here at Bell Circle where that slip lane will be installed in the future. And so as we conduct this um the data
assessment over the the 90 days of implementation, we'll then look at what other um tools we might need in our toolbox to help uh improve any conditions um that you know we feel warrant improving uh whether additional
traffic calming measures um things like speed humps or or others that are in our traffic calming toolkit currently at the city. um a full conversion of oneway Harris Street if if we feel like the neighborhood would want to see something like that and the conditions warrant. Uh
we we're not doing that in this pilot because we heard from the neighborhood that's not what they wanted, but just that's always an option in our tool box if we ever wanted to go that route. or things like neck downs, which which are just um [clears throat] traffic interventions that can do
exactly what it sounds like, close down the approach to Harris Street, so it no longer looks like a two-way approach. Um and then of course signage, turning restrictions, and do not enter signs, which we're already going to be implementing, but if we needed additional signage, we'll always keep that in our back pocket. Um and then in
the medium and long term, looking at um sidewalk bumpouts along Harris Street to further reinforce um the street width, but also make sure we've got safe crossings for people in the neighborhood, permanent traffic diverters like you see here, here. Um again, the bell circle slip lane like I
mentioned. Um and then that's a typo there. um but a potential reversal of used a street or or basically any other configuration changes within that neighborhood that we think based on the data we we might feel is warranted uh to
to help improve operations with this. Um so at that happy to answer any questions you have about the process and and what the next steps are and with me and the team here. >> Thank you very much Tom that was very informative. Um any city council?
Council McKenna. >> Oh, go ahead. >> Councelor Cogleandro. >> You uh councelor um Cogleandro, I have a bunch of questions. Uh first of all, I want to say that um the lack of communication to the residents and to
the ward counselors is unacceptable. We got no um nothing nothing. Um the other thing too is uh two years ago we sat in front of the traffic commission meeting and they prom and a bunch of residents came from the neighborhood and they
concerned they were concerned about what was going to happen to the their quiet nice neighborhood. uh they were going to get inundated with cars uh trucks from ways uh you whatever the apps um and we
were promised that we would have a community meeting a couple of them we haven't had anything so I just I'm just so upset about the lack of communication and it doesn't happen here with you it happens all the time with pe with um in
the city uh the lack of communication counselors don't know what's going on and it just happens. This is just not a res a re um renovation to a street. This is a whole neighborhood that's going to be inundated with cars. It's a quiet
neighborhood. It doesn't have um sidewalks. Right now, people walk in the streets, kids play in the streets, they walk their dog, they do everything. And I just think that Sul Street's going to be a cut a cutth through. You're talking about Harris Street being a cutthroat. Well, you're going to you're going to
inundate Sul Street, um Big Spe Street, Butler Street, Elm Street, Low Street, Library Street, all those that wonderful quiet neighborhood is going to be inundated with cars cutting through and trucks because the apps are going to
take them the easiest way possible. So, I don't know if you thought about that. Um, so I just I have a couple of things that I want to ask you to do before December 6th. Um, it was asked to put a
um uh a um wait a minute uh a device on Sul Street to to see um how many cars enter and leave. Um I would really like to see that. I know it's December 1st, but if we can get it in tomorrow, just
to have that data to see, okay, we have 10 cars coming in and out of uh Soul Street on uh you know, from 3 to 5, you know, now we have 50 cars because of the um the changes in Harris Street. Okay.
So, I would really like to have that data. Um how many cars go in and out before we we do the change. Um, I want to know too at the at one of the traffic commission meetings um you said that um
Beach Street would get a two lanes at one point. You said two lanes. So you you said one would go into Bell Circle and one would go into Route 16 which would not make a tie up. Right now before anything happens, Beach Street is
inundated with cars all the way down to Vazer maybe to the corner. Okay. I don't know what if I don't know what's going to happen if if we don't put an extra lane in there. And that was supposed to happen. Wasn't that supposed to happen? Because listen, I've been sitting with
HYM since 2017. So, I know all this, but it was just put in our faces. There was no no community meetings. There was no no information to the counselors, to the neighborhood, nothing. You're passing out flyers today, you know. So, I mean,
I come on. This is terrible. You're You're gonna make a a beautiful quiet neighborhood crazy. You're gonna you're going to make no issues into a big issue. I know you have 90 days. Are we If this happens, can we change it?
You know, wait, I'm not finished yet. I'm not finished. Okay. Harris Street needs to be paved. They uh National Grid did all the work. It's bumpy. It there's divots. There's sink holes. It needs to be paved. If this is
going to be uh you know a street that uh people are going to use or not use, it needs to be done. So, you have to hold National Grid accountable curb to curb. Okay. Um I I just uh no sidewalks.
That's I said that. Um I think that's it. That's it. But uh I mean these residents are so concerned about you changing this neighborhood and yeah oh this is wonderful. We're going to get a bunch of cars off of uh Harris Street which is a cutthrough but you're going
to put it somewhere else. You know we're just taking it from here and we're putting it over here and that's how I feel. So um I'm done. And look at I feel like I have a sunburn because I'm so but anyways thank you councelor.
Council Leandro. >> Thank you, Mr. President and Vice President. Tom, I'm not going to harp on the communication thing. Not very happy that we're finding out today. Uh we're getting flyers. Nothing was included in
our packet. I do appreciate you very much being here today going through this entire presentation. I know a lot of work has gone into this, but just to touch on the traffic commission meeting, the neighborhood has spoken against this. we have spoken against this. Have you gotten any resident feedback from
that area in the positive on these changes? >> So I would say that the feedback has been mixed in the traffic commission. I I would agree with what what you'd stated that often and just frankly often in these meetings the people that are
going to come out are the ones that are most angry to >> that's why he asked if you received >> drives engagement. I mean, I think we we do hear from folks on the on Harris Street that don't want people driving down their neighborhood and ultimately that this did come from, you know, the
two two and a half plus years of of permitting work in the development advisory committee that highlighted this as a potential issue. But I would there are people that are concerned and and I would just to to piggyback councelor McKenna off of what you had said and I'll just state this unequivocally. The
intent of this is not to bring more people into the neighborhood, it's to bring less people into the neighborhood. And we are collecting data on Su Street. We're collecting data on Beach Street. Um, and if the data is sending us in a different direction or telling us that we're not accomplishing that goal, we
can pivot and adapt a as needed and and as we want to because that is not the intent of this project. I know there are folks who think otherwise, but just to state that plainly and clearly, we are doing this to bring regional traffic off of local roads, and if things aren't working that way, we are going to
adjust. >> Thank you. Um, so are we fixing something or are we changing something in anticipation of something? >> So, I would say we're fixing something today. Yeah, I don't I don't think that many cars should be driving down Harris
Street as a cut through as a neighborhood road. I think we are both fixing something and in anticipation of something that would likely exacerbate if we don't take take action here. But, you know, it isn't just Harris Street. I think making as somebody who's often sat at the
Winthre Street side of the intersection trying to go down towards Beachmont, especially in PM Peak, um you're sitting at that intersection forever. And this will also help to expedite the wait time at that intersection. So I do think it will achieve some pretty dramatic
changes for a lot of drivers, not just in hair street. >> Thank you. Um when were you going to start notifying the residents on SU and Bixby that there was not going to be any parking on that small area because if if we're talking about the same area, that
area is heavily used for parking. So my concern is now we're taking parking spaces away from people who have lived there. Where are we expecting them to park? That that's a big deal. That's a huge deal. So we're doing that in our outreach now.
Um and you know it came out I take your point probably a bit too little too late on that end. Um >> don't don't change it, Tom. Be sorry. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but how can you do that on such short notice? what are these people going to do? >> You know, it's not it's not fair to
them. And again, I'm not hopping on you, but >> where are they supposed to go? They you know, >> I think that's probably the quickest and the easiest pivot we could make. Um, and I think the traffic commission was pretty adamant at the outset that if we
were going to keep Su Street or have Suel Street be two-way in this in this instance that they wanted to retain that flexibility. That's a very simple fix that we can make if it's not working out as intended and and something as we're discussing with the neighborhood. I'll make a concerted effort to make sure
that point is addressed with those that park on that block. >> Thank you. And as far as we're changing traffic patterns in that area. I'm worried about Butler Street. Then you just mentioned changing the direction of Eustace. Is that on the books now or is that an idea for later on to help some
some sort of traffic issue? >> Yeah, right now we are not doing that. I was it was more of a point to say if we're looking at the data and the data is saying some of the things that councelor McKenna is concerned about that you're concerned about we can tweak the the model to try to achieve a more
efficient outcome that again is our core goal is to keep regional drivers off neighborhood streets. So if if we can make tweaks that we think will work to that end we'll work on it. >> And what is your plan for enforcement? I think everybody in this city knows that
signs don't pull people over and people and people [clears throat] in general don't respect them. So, we can put up, you know, the the flashing signs. We can add signage, but is uh have we spoken to Chief Levita in regards to this big change because this is a a very big change. I think we can all agree on
that. But have we spoken about what we're going to do to enforce drivers going the wrong way on that street? So, I think there'll be dedicated police details when this is launched in the first place. Um, and and I think there
will be a period of time where some driver changes in behavior will be necessary. Um, and hopefully the enforcement at the outset, the additional signage that will be placed throughout the area. Um, and and just passage of time will help aid in that.
But we we've certainly been in regular communication with with Chief Levida and and with the River Police Department throughout the process and we'll continue to do so if if it's not working out as intended. >> And I can't stress how important that is, especially if we're going to be doing data collection. Do you know you
know what I'm saying? So, and that's another point. We're doing this data collection in the winter. Do we experience more traffic in that area in the winter or do we experience more in the summer when people are trying to go to the beach? So, is this data collection going to be an accurate interpretation of what's actually going
through that area? >> That's a good question. I mean, I would say this is the best time to test it out as opposed to the summer. So, I'm I'm glad we're we're doing doing that now. But, I think we would have a pretty good sense just based off of the raw percentages of of who's cutting through
and who's not, if it's working as intended, if it's if it's hitting our targets that we're looking to achieve. Um, I think you could make a strong case that the same that holds true in winter would be in the summer, that it's quicker and easier to take other routes.
And although you could take neighborhood streets, our hope and our goal is that it's more complicated to do so and and folks will take the road that is quicker and more efficient. Um, so I think we'll be able to test that assumption through this process. >> All right. And talk to me after 90
[clears throat] days because right now the c we don't have any say. The council has no say in this. This is a traffic commission decision. They're working handinhand with all the departments. It's kind of out of our hands, which again, I do appreciate you very much coming here today. At the end of this 90-day trial, who gets to sit down in a
room and make a decision if it's working or not? >> That will be a traffic commission decision at at the end of the 90-day period. Um, I I think we will be building in different points to discuss with the traffic commission and and um if if the neighborhood would like to
have a meeting in in the in uh ensuing months kind of at a midpoint, happy to have that conversation with them as well. I the reason councelor we didn't have a neighborhood meeting on this is we felt like the traffic commission meetings we had been holding were pretty well attended by the neighborhood. Um,
but if there is a sense that there would be a good location in the neighborhood that would be more central that we want to bring people to, I'm happy to talk with with both of you um in in terms of setting and scheduling that conversation. >> Thank you very much. I'm all set, Mr.
President. >> Thank you, councelor. Councelor Jenzio. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um before I came on the council, I was the chairman of the traffic commission for six years and I presided over quite a few of these meetings and they were quite heated. Um
I wasn't there for the final vote. I I had left by then. But my idea at the time uh was to make all of Harris Street one way. You couldn't enter it from Beach Street. So, I don't understand why the neighborhood would be opposed to
that. Uh, this quiet neighborhood that uh, councelor McKenna refers to, there would be, if that happened, there would be no reason to drive into the library, Bixby, Su streets other than going to your home. There would be no cut
through. All cutthroughs would be gone. And I can't understand why there would be an opposition to that. Uh you could still enter the area from Low Street, Elm Street, Library Street. The residents could enter that neighborhood and have the neighborhood to themselves.
I do Do you can you tell me what the reasoning was that that wasn't considered? >> The the neighborhood opposition to that was pretty strong. Um so I would agree with you. I think that's in my view the
best alternative and I think something we should all be thinking of is probably the the most beneficial solution long term for that neighborhood. But I also understand that people need to work towards that and and you know what if we can do it this way and and ultimately it
doesn't it it allows residents to free flow throughout the neighborhood I think like they'd like to but also prevents that cut through traffic as we're hoping great. But if it doesn't, I think that's the quickest and easiest thing we could do um to to remove altogether cut through traffic.
>> Right. I know the biggest concern was coming down Harris Street, taking a right on SU, a left on Elm, and then a left on Winthrop that that would now be the new cut through. So I I did any was there any reason given why they didn't want that or
>> I believe there's folks in the neighborhood behind me and and I don't want to speak for anyone. I I just I remember the calls and the emails. I'll just leave it at that. >> Okay. Yeah. Thank you. [snorts] >> Thank you, councelor. Councelor H. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Tom, thanks so
much for being here. Um, like many of my fellow counselors, I had some questions about the the data collection and the timing. I noticed it said December 6, 2025 um to be implemented. Is that correct? >> That's correct. >> Okay. And um so the study the data
collection will take 90 days. Um, and then after 90 days, you said something about we could possibly hold a community meeting um to talk about the findings. What data was collected to see if it actually helped or act or or it hurt the neighborhood? Um, is that something you
would set up or something we would have to call for midway through or >> So, I I think it would lean on the counselors in terms of um when that and where that meeting should take place. But I will say, you know, we're going to have um this it was supposed to start
tomorrow, but due to the weather, it's not going to. So the third and the fourth will be the baseline data collection. Tentatively um January um would be the 45day period, and then in March um we would have the 90-day period. So somewhere between
January and March would probably be the best time to hold a meeting. And I'm happy to to hold that. And I'll defer to the counselors on scheduling and and the ward counsel. >> Thanks. And I know you also said one of the the intersection will go to four phases instead of five which was that
was that Bell Circle. >> Um that's the the intersection in question at Harris Street Winther Route 16. So currently um you if you're on Harris Street heading out towards that intersection the the intersection has a
phase that's specially dedicated to those folks. And now because you won't be able to go in that direction, that phase will go away. So it'll go from a five-phase to a four-phase, a more traditional intersection operation. >> Thank you. And like many of the counselors said, I'm concerned about those side streets. I'm concerned about
the residents on Sul Street with the parking. And I think the timing I feel like it's it was kind of rushed. I know you guys put a ton of work into it. I feel like once I saw the December 6th date, I thought it was going to say December 6, 2026. >> Um, so I was kind of surprised to see
that. Thank you. >> Point taken. >> Thank you, councelor. Councelor Janino. >> Thank you, Tom. I I wasn't around also when this was first started out back in 17. I was at the meetings at Suffet Downs, HM, the whole nine yards.
I'm kind of disappointed with the way it looks right now. I drove by today and if you're telling me is it's going to be one way going from Wither Bay to Beach Street. So, if you're coming off the Am I correct? I mean a two-way but the one way between
Shul Street and Win >> the Yes. Yes. >> So from Win Avenue head up towards Harris towards B Street. That little piece is one one way. So if you're coming off the Parkway, the way
the curbs cut out right now is a right turn permitted there or not because that curb is coming way up to the street. I mean, coming off of 16 or out of Bell Circle, the lane swings around. >> Mhm. >> But if you're coming from the police
station heading towards Immaculate and you want to make that right turn onto the Harris Street, >> I don't see how that's possible, especially with the school buses and stuff. And I know a lot of school buses cut through there, especially put a lot of time on Harris Street. >> So, watch the school bus.
>> The one thing with the school buses is they have adjusted their routes since the traffic commission vote was taken. So >> putting them on up to from Worth Avenue up to Beach Street to go straight up to Immaculate to the lights
and then right to the high school that way. >> Correct. >> Oh boy. A lot of traffic. And I was also there with the community meetings to begin and spoke with a lot of the residents and heard their concerns along with council ma at the time.
And I don't think it's right when we go against the residents of the neighborhoods and people making decisions don't live don't live here from other places coming in here and telling us how our street should be. You know, I mean, we counselors here. We're working with the working with our
residents and all of a sudden we're hit with this street configuration and cars in neighborhoods and I don't understand how how it works that way. Is it a little concerning?
>> Well, I know I don't live here, but it's my goal to improve the lives of folks that do. And it's the intent of this project to do that as well. So, we're going to continue to monitor operations and make sure this works the way we intend in in a way that lessens the
impact of neighborhood residents. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Councelor. Councelor Kelly. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, thank you Tom for being here tonight. Is there in light of what we've heard this evening regarding lack of communication and um
notification and things like that? Is there any reason why we couldn't postpone this, especially considering holiday traffic and things like that coming up? Is there any reason why we couldn't at least postpone this until January after the first of the year?
I think we'd like to test it out before winter hits in full force. I I think as complicated as it it is now when >> that's the case, we could wait till March or April. >> [laughter] >> you know, if that if we want to wait
until after the winter and then maybe give everybody a 90-day period from January 1st, give them 90 days to take this all in to make um any suggestions or, you know, to just give residents the time for this to sink in and know that this change is coming rather than hit
them with something so quick. Um especially given the fact of the time of the year with the holiday traffic and all that. I mean, I would be more apt to see something like this take place in um maybe April, you know, April 1st because you you don't necessarily have the beach
traffic yet. Um you've got a couple of months before that picks up and you're probably out of the inclement um weather phase. So, I don't know, just a suggestion. >> Understood. I mean, I think although the flyers that just went out came out relatively recently, I mean, through our
uh newsletter and, you know, the mayor's office and um multiple meetings with the traffic commission, we we understand not everyone's gotten the word out. We feel like we did our best to make sure folks were communicated with. And I think
ultimately we feel like in a low traffic time like now is the best time to test this out. Whereas if we did in April and had the 90-day period, we are getting pretty close into beach season and I'd like to iron out any issues we have now first before we get to that more
complicated, more high volume traffic time of the year. Um, especially we'll get a little bit of time when school's out and and that's a really great time to tweak things even some of the minor tweaks like what councelor Kagglantro had mentioned. Thank you, councelor. Councelor Noelsowski.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, you know, it's [snorts] not my immediate area, but you know, all my neighborhood and people that live in my neighborhood uh use these roads on a regular basis. And I remember being at the traffic
commission when they first started talking about it and we stated our concerns about soul street about being a two-way and people losing their parking spaces and uh there was a big concern back then. Uh I never heard anything
coming up on meetings at the traffic commission regarding these things. If they were there then I missed them. But I would say that uh we were very concerned about Soul Street. I can't see Soul Street as a two-way street. Very
very thin as everybody admits and trying to relocate the parking really does not solve a any kind of an issue other than make it more difficult for the neighbors as it was stated. Um,
I have a big concern on Winrop >> in the area coming from Broadway, >> Winthrop, uh, the same area from McMack and Beach Street backing up from Bell Circle to
Vazer as it was stated. Um, and the Revier Beach Parkway is terrible. I know it's during traffic time, but it's backed up almost to the police station on the westbound side. Eastbound's another issue because you
got the lights at Northshore Road. Um, I'm concerned about the timing of the traffic lights because right now there isn't much uh the signalization is very short coming up especially on the River Beach
Parkway at Harris Street. Uh, and I wanted to know if there was going to be a delayed left turn on that new left turn lanes, the two lanes coming from 16 onto Witrop onto the Re Beach
Reach Parkway, if there was that was going to be a timing delay in any way that is going to cause another uh signalization change. >> So like a delayed as in an exclusive leftand turn. Yeah. light
>> on those two new lanes that they coming out of Bell Circle. >> So there there will be exclusive left turn lighting, but then again, we're removing a a phase in the signal. So hopefully can expedite um the process overall. I guess
um on on some taken together, it's still a quicker process with with that additional >> that that'll back that'll back up Review Beach Parkway eastbound in front of the storage place because they're going to have to stop that traffic. So for that
left-hand turn turn to take it. >> It could be. I mean, there's also an additional right-hand turn for folks that are getting off onto Winthrop a that's not there today. And I know that's not there's still a lot of >> still going from four lanes down to two lanes, >> right? >> You know, and that's that's a big
concern. It's nice that they did the two lanes coming on that righthand turn, >> but uh >> point taken and it's all what we're going to be. >> It's something we have to look at >> monitoring. I think you really really have to look at a lot of things and and the communication in general
you know not going to make everybody happy on this but in general a lot of the departments are poor in communication to us anyway at least to us u a lot of things that are happening I'm getting calls from people oh I got
just got a letter uh from the city that they're doing different things I didn't know anything about it you know and that doesn't make me look good >> because and same thing with the other counselors. They're saying I don't know and they're saying well what do you know
you know well nobody's telling us we can't answer them or give them some kind of response and you know and I say that for all the departments and so you know that's a that's a big concern so I hope that's straightens out a little when the new
council comes in next year. Thank you. Thank you, council. Council has >> Thank you, Mr. President, for the leeway leeway. Tom, is there any way you can send us that attachment with uh everything in it, the closures and all the information just so when the residents reach out to us after tonight,
we'll have that information on hand >> the flyer as well as the things that you showed. Um I don't know if it was a PDF, but it would be nice to have that so we can have that information for the residents. >> Happy to send all that over. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, council. Any other counselors? Council Granswire.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. I agree with the council Novasowski. Um, we need to know what's happening way before any of this stuff is sent out to the neighbors and any before any of these meetings. And you you know, you and I had this
conversation today regarding two other issues. It I don't like to look stupid when when a constituent calls me and says, "Oh, what's going on with this and this and this?" and I don't have an answer. It It just does not make us look right. It
looks like we're not doing our job where in fact we are not being notified. I agree with Councelor Kelly. I think we should wait till April because it it just gives us the opportunity to learn more ourselves about what's actually going to happen and listen to our
constituents and what they want. So, um I don't know if this is a done deal or if there is room a wiggle room that we could actually hold off a little bit. And I think April would be a perfect month for it because like she said, it's
before the summer and after the winter. So, thank you. >> Thank you, councelor. Uh permission to speak from the chair. >> Okay. Um,
so Tom, I I thought I was going to get a little bit of clarity on this. I think I got a little bit more confused because the way I see Bell Circle coming from Bell Circle towards uh when you're So you'd be running parallel with Harris Street. You you then get to the light
where you can cross over going towards Chelsea or you could it looks like they made that so you can now come off the Parkway and turn down Harris Street but from what you just said there's going to be a one way to correct it one way in that direction.
You can't go the other way. You can't go out from Harris Street into the intersection. >> Okay. So that'll be for the residents in that stretch that need to access their homes. >> Okay. >> And then uh my my final concern was as
other counselors said um the I [clears throat] the backup and the congestion from Broadway to Bell Circle on Beach and then both sides on Winthrop I think is going to be a bigger issue.
um timing of lights, all that I think really needs to be looked at. Um but also, uh I think what everyone's I guess we'll address the elephant in the room. The amount of work that's been
done making these curb cuts and these intersections and I mean, is there a possibility the state even gives us a voice in this to say, "Hey, we might want to wait. Hey, we might want to do this. Hey, this isn't working out for us. we're going to go back. I don't believe that they're even going to give
us a chance to speak on it because that's just how it's been for the past. So, like what are are the opportunities of of changing these things if it doesn't work out? >> I think there's a lot of opportunities to tweak um various configurations
within the neighborhood itself. I think Bell Circle, that slip lane's going to be huge when it comes in and we hope to start construction on that later in 2026. Um, I I think that there's plenty of room to make tweaks and adjustments to make this work better for the
residents and we're committed to doing that. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Yeah, Council McKenna. >> Thank you. Can I just ask why they made um the turn the the uh pedestrian uh
triangle uh so tight uh to take the turn from uh Winthrev onto Harris Street. if this is this is the way that people are going to go and there's going to be uh two ways to uh Sul Street because getting from Winthrop going down to
Harris Street they they push the the pedestrian uh triangle further into the street and so when you're trying to make that turn people are going to hit it especially if cars are waiting there for
the light. So, there's a lot of different things going on there at that intersection and, you know, we have added those additional two left-hand turns. There's a lot more going on in the right away, so we don't have a lot of room to work with with that
turnaround. What I will say is it's going to be a little bit tight, but it's for a small group of people and a small group of people only. We don't want to encourage any other type of traffic going into Harris Street. So, that actually could be a good thing as well. And as councelor Geianino noted, the school buses aren't going to be there
anymore. That would be an issue, but but thankfully it's not anymore. >> Thank you, Tom. Thank you, counselors. This will be placed on file. >> Uh public comment. Thank.
>> Yes. Calendar item number four. The city council will award a certificate of commendation to Sebastian Aguadello Gomez for his exemplary contribution to educating and informing the residents of Rivier and representing the Colombian-American community with integrity and distinction here in the
largest Colombian American community in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. >> Council homeo Thank you, Mr. President. Um, before I read the certificate commendation, I'd like to say about Sebastian, um, who's
a, uh, fourtime Emmy award-winning journalists for NBC and Telmundo, uh, and has been covering our community, um, which is the most densely populated Colombian-American community in the Commonwealth. As many of you know, I'm
Colombian born. Um, and Sebastian has uh not just been informing our community as a whole, but has also been uh quite the representative for Colombian-Americans in River and around the Commonwealth. Um, so without further ado, I'd like to just read the certificate of
commendation uh to Sebastian for his exemplary word. the um certificate of commendation and acknowledgement of his exemplary contribution to educating and informing the residents of the city of River and for representing Colombian American themer Colombian-American community with integrity and distinction
in the largest Colombian-American community in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And whereas he's commended for his dedication, leadership, commitment to civic engagement, cultural representation, and public awareness by strengthening our community, elevating important voices, and fostering greater understanding
among the residents of the city of River. Special recognition is hereby accorded to Sebastian Aguodo Gomez. This certificate of commendation is presented by the city of uh council of the city of river Massachusetts on behalf of its citizens this first day of December in
the year of our lord 2025 and of the independence of the United States of America the 249th. Congratulations [applause] >> Tony send me that. >> Thank you. Do it again. >> Yeah.
>> Do we? Yeah. Did the whole console again? Yeah. >> He doesn't bite. I promise. I don't bite. Am I bothering for They'll be placed on file. Thanks for coming up tonight, D. I appreciate it.
All set. >> All right. Um, this is in response to uh, Council President Sylvester's motion um, on veterans exemptions. So, I put together a little slideshow just to uh, kind of go through what is available for veterans exemptions. Uh starting with
the first one uh is clause 22. Uh this is a $412 exemption. Um there's a few different ways for a veteran to qualify. First way being uh they have to be at least 10% uh disabled all the way up to 99%. Uh has to be a service connected
disability as defined by the USD VA. Uh second way they could be awarded a Purple Heart. uh they could be a spouse of an eligible veteran or the surviving spouse uh who does not remarry. Uh second clause we have available is
clause 22A. That's a $772 exemption. Uh that is achieved by a loss or loss of use of one hand above the waist or one foot above the ankle or one eye. Uh, another way to qualify for that clause is they can be awarded a Congressional
Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, or Air Force Cross. Next available clause is clause 22B. That's a $1,286 exemption. Uh it's available
[clears throat] to individuals who lost uh both hands or feet, loss uh loss of use of one hand above the wrist and one foot above the ankle or loss or loss of use of both eyes uh blindness. Next
clause available is a 22C which is $1,544. Uh you have to be permanently and totally disabled as rated by the VA and have specially adapted housing. uh clause 22D which is a full exemption.
Uh this is available to surviving spouses who have never remarried of military personnel who have either went missing in action during active duty and presumed to have died or have died as approximate result of injuries sustained
or illness contacted during active duty service. Uh clause 22E is $1,029. This is for disabled veterans who have 100% war- related disability as defined
by the USDVA. Next available clause is clause 22F which is also a full exemption. This is [snorts] for a veteran who is a parapillegic due to service connected disability. >> [snorts] >> Also a full exemption is clause 22H uh
which is surviving parents or guardian of military personnel who have either went missing in action during active duty and presumed to have died or have died as approximate result of injuries sustained or illnesses contracted during active duty service also known as a gold
star parent. Um [snorts] now all of those exemptions you do have to have ownership in uh doicile requirements. So, you have to own and live in the property. Um, we need DD214 is provided and the veterans award letter to show the percentage of disability. Um, each
year the period where you can apply for these exemptions uh opens up July 1st and it ends April 1st. Um, if the veteran has received the exemption in the past, we automatically mail out those uh applications to them. uh and we
prefill as much as the information as we can just to make it as easy as possible for them. Uh another clause that we have [clears throat] adopted actually just last year which was a result of the heroes act was clause 22A. So all of those funny amounts um what this clause
allows us to do is increase all of those amounts each year uh by the cost of living adjustment and uh we do get that from the department of revenue. They issue that number each year uh based on CPI. So for example, the clause 22 which is now $412
uh was previously 400. So the CPI was 3% uh last year. So got an increased 3% uh same as the other exemptions. [snorts] Um another option that is available through the city is uh for all our exemptions is
we double those exemptions. Um that's under chapter 59 section 5C and a half. Um the heroes act also gave cities and towns the availability to do this just for veterans exemptions. Uh we chose to do this already for all
of our exemptions. So it was kind of an all or nothing shot prior. Uh now cities and towns can under this Hero X they can just deal with veterans exemptions if they choose to. Uh but again we do them for all the exemptions. Also [clears throat] available is a
motor vehicle excise tax exemption. So, it's a full exemption for one vehicle of a veteran uh who receives 100% disability uh rating. Um I did miss one on here that I I remembered after was uh the veterans work program. Um that's available to
veterans. They can work 66.6 hours, receive $1,000 uh in exchange off of their tax bill for working. Um, that program is run through the veteran service department and [snorts] that opens up in April as well.
Um, so that kind of runs runs the gamut of of what we have for veterans exemptions. Um, available for any questions, comments. >> Thank you, Dana. Any city councilors? Council Gos. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Hi, Dana.
Thank you for coming. Um, can you explain the doubling of the veterans tax break? Um, I'm asking this because I spoke to a veteran in Ward 5 and um, he was explaining to me that he was at the VFW event that they had there and it was
explained by the VSO at the time and um, [snorts] the city that they would be doubling the tax break, but that is not what's happening. He is not he's getting an extra tax break but not doubled. >> Yeah. So, it's it's up to double. It depends on what happens uh to their tax
bill each year. >> Up to double. >> Yeah, it's up to doubled. So, >> for instance, if you're getting the $400 one or which is now $412 and your taxes increased $412 or $500, you it would get doubled. Um so, what it does is it
insulates them from tax increases year-over-year. They're pretty much paying a level tax each year based on the, you know, the base level for that is established the first year they receive the exemption and then after that it gets up to double depending upon
how much their taxes increase each year. >> So it's technically they're not getting they're not we're not doubling. >> It's not a straight double. So it's not a guaranteed $824. Okay. >> It's up to >> $824.
>> Thank you. But in pretty much 90% of the instances, they're getting doubled because of the tax increases year-over-year. Any other counselors? Okay. Thank you, Dana. >> You're welcome. >> This will be placed on file.
>> Public hearings. Calendar item number seven. Hearing called is ordered for the purpose of establishing the minimum residential factors that the board of assessors may proceed with the establishment of the tax rate for FY26. >> Uh Dana Brandford, the chairman of the board of assessors. I'm just here to
recommend that the council votes out favorably tonight the 175% shift uh which allows us to shift the tax rate and create a split tax rate of commercial and residential. This provides the greatest benefit to the
residential taxpayer. Um it has historically been voted favorably uh ever since it's been in existence. Uh doing so would result in a residential factor of 0.882054 and would then allow us to uh move
forward with setting the tax rate and issuing tax bills for fiscal year 26. >> Thank you, Dana. Do we have any proponents? Anyone here in favor? Hearing none. Closing that side. Any opponents.
Anyone here against? Hearing none. Closing that side. City councilors. Council Kogandro. >> Thank you, Mr. President. [clears throat] Um to the assessor through you. H how much is this going to raise the commercial tax rate? Uh so overall it's will actually be a
decrease in the commercial tax rate. Um so the way that the shift works is you start with the single tax rate and then apply the 175% to that single tax rate and then creates you know a residential
and a and a commercial tax rate. So last year's commercial tax rate was $185 and this year would be $17.74. Uh provided everything checks out with
the department of revenue as it should. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, counselor. Any other counselors? >> Okay, >> I have a question. >> Yes, Council Kelly. So, so if I'm understanding correct that the commercial rate is going to go down, but
the residential rate will be up, will be increased. >> No, the residential rate is also uh projected to be down. So, last year it was $9.7 per thousand and this year it' be $8.94 per thousand. >> Okay. But if values are up, there could still be an increase. Correct.
>> Correct. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, councelor. Any other counselors? Madame clerk? Shall the city council adopt a minimum residential factor of 0.882054
to enable the board of assessors to establish the tax rate for fiscal year 26? Councelor Aenzio. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Cogleandro. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Janino. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Gino SA. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Hass. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Hario.
>> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kelly. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Novaski. >> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. Councelor Zambo. >> Yes. >> Yes. And council president Sylvester. >> Yes. >> Yes. The minimum residential factor has been adopted. >> Public comment pursuant to chapter 402
of the acts of 1965. >> Uh we're now here at the public comment section. Any resident or business owner from REI, please come up, give your name, address for the record. You have two minutes. And please give the order number which you'll be speaking on.
>> Uh thank you, Mr. President. uh at Terrell 70 Soul Street. I'll be talking about the Harris Street changes. >> Thank you. >> I don't even know where to begin honestly with the new traffic plans.
Furious would not be the right word. Um a lot of this started we the neighborhood just asked for the some traffic enforcement which seems to be kryptonite to the city lately. All we asked was some enforcement and we
get this. It's just absolutely unbelievable. And the residents feel unheard. I don't have any confidence in this plan. Absolutely none. And I have even less confidence in the director. And if
I were the mayor, he would have been fired yesterday. And I would be asking for the entire traffic commission to resign. That's where I am. Furious is not the right word. I really
do hope this works out. But we live in a elderly focused neighborhood. My parents are elderly. We've had to have them medical aid several times. If we can't get them a fire truck down there due to traffic,
there is going to be hell to pay. And that's all I want to say about that because I am just absolutely furious. Mr. [clears throat] President, I'd also like to talk about two other topics. Uh the first one is apparently there's been a new fight at the high school
where a young lady was her hair was dragged across the floor. Uh I don't know how many people have seen the video that's been going around. >> It's not on the agenda, please. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Um both points are not on the agenda. if I could have a little leeway, Mr.
President. >> One minute. >> Thank you. So, I' I'd really like the, you know, I don't know. I don't know what the council wants to do with this, but I would just recommend something be done. And then the final point I want to
make is something I've talked to councelor Zambudo about is that my sources are telling me that a 22-year-old student at the high school and a 15year-old student are having a relationship. Now apparently according to state law students over 18 are allowed to stay in
the school system until they reach 21. I don't know all the details about this, but I find it troubling and I hope it's not true. So, I just would like someone to look into this. I It It is a very touchy
touchy subject, but it needs to be addressed. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you. Do we have anyone else that would like to speak with public comment? Public comment. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay.
address. >> Sure. Rich Viscate Tutor on Broadway. Um I'm sorry I don't know the council order, but I'm here to talk about the traffic study and I didn't realize how uh passionate people were about this, but [clears throat] I've owned a house on Harris Street for
30 years. And I don't know why everyone thinks it's so great right now. It's treacherous. People fly down that street doing 70 m hour, try to catch that light. I think this plan is actually good. I don't think it's perfect, but um [clears throat] some of the things I
think that should be addressed is um I agree with the with all due respect to council Aenzio, I don't think Harish Street should be a one way off a beach. I think that would be pretty uh treacherous. I do like the idea that Su Street will um be a two-way. I don't
think that taking parking away from that block is a big deal because that's the housing authority. People don't park on that street anyway. It's a very small area. I think we got to give this a chance. But I will say this, at the top of Harris Street, when you take a right on the Beach Street, that bus stop
should be moved to the west side because you go up the top of Har Street. When you take a left, you can't even see if a truck's parked there. So, I would move that bus stop to the west side of Beach Street. And that would make the right side two lanes so that the right lane could make its way onto Bell Circle to
get into that um to get to Winterb on the left. And then the people who have to go straight and get into Bell Circle, they'll never figure out how to merge in. So they just sit there like idiots. And that's why the traffic backs up. So you need two lanes from Beach Street at
Connor Harris up to Bell Circle with that one right hand lane's going to have to be a great slip lane. But that traffic backs up right now. It's going to be treacherous with one lane if there's no cut through. But anyone who thinks keeping Harishy is a cut through to 16 is a is is that's a terrible idea. They they blow through the stop sign. I
mean, there could be more traffic control, but this, I believe, is going to make that neighborhood a much safer neighborhood, not a much more dangerous neighborhood. So, I just thought it was worth mentioning. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Visque. Do we have anyone else public comment? >> Name and address.
>> Uh, Jim Mccur, 193 Crescent A. Uh, this is regarding the Harris Street uh diversion of, uh, traffic. Um, a couple of things I'm a little concerned about is, uh, when you take two-way traffic away and convert it into a oneway, uh,
we create patterns that new shortcuts and drivers looking for the fastest route will naturally divert into neighboring streets. Even a modest increase in daily traffic can significantly change the character of a
small residential road. They didn't look at the big picture here. um they just concentrated on Harris Street. Though the plan might work, but they didn't take into into consideration the smaller streets, the uh Sul Street, the Bixby.
Uh these are tight neighborhoods as they are. Uh diverting more traffic into that area and it's going to happen. Uh they haven't done any they just did a traffic study on Harris Street. They haven't done any traffic studies on these smaller streets. Uh I think this needs
to be done. Uh another issue is uh public safety. Um we haven't they haven't done any um studies on the fire trucks uh not going down Harris Street any longer. How are they going to be diverted? Which routes
are they going to take? Uh EMS getting down into that area to the uh uh the Sool Street area, the Bixby uh street areas. uh we didn't have see any studies of that being presented by the the uh Tom. So we need to look at those studies
first and different traffic patterns in that area how that's going to affect that area. Um so I need to I think we should take a step back. I like uh uh councelor Kelly's idea of uh setting back until April uh u and and really
look at take a deep look into this area one more time uh because a lot of people are concerned uh I can see the concern in the council's face and I'm and I'm hearing a lot from the residents in that area already um and I think we need more accountability from the administration
uh about this uh what's happening and what's going on Um, I think that's important. Um, so I hope we all take all this into consideration. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jim. Any other residents that would business owners?
>> Okay, closing that >> legislative affairs subcommittee report. >> Council Argenzio. >> Thank [clears throat] you, Mr. President. We had two issues before us this evening. Uh the first one was an ordinance further amending the affordable housing trust fund powers and
duties. Uh we looked upon this favorably and I asked for a roll call uh in the affirmative. Ordered on a second reading. Ordered on the third and final reading. Madame clerk, roll call for engrossment and endeavorment.
Shall the city council approve an ordinance further amending the REI revised ordinances relative to the affordable housing trust fund powers and duties? Councelor Agenzio. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kagliandro. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Janino. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Gino SA. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor H.
>> Yes. >> Yes. Council Haramo. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Kelly. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Novaski. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Zamutoo. >> Yes. >> Yes. And council president Sylvestri. >> Yes. >> Yes. The ordinance is engrossed and ordained. Council
Jenzio. >> Yes. The second uh item before us was an ordinance relative to sign maintenance. Uh we looked upon this uh favorably and I would like to call for roll call to work on this affirmatively. >> Thank you. Councelor
on a second reading. Order on a third and final reading. Roll call for engrossment and >> shall the city council approve an ordinance further amending the river revised ordinances relative to storefront signage maintenance.
Councelor Aenzio, >> yes. >> Yes. Councelor Cogleandro. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Gino. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Gino SA. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Hass. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Jammo. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kelly. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Novaski.
>> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Zamudo. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council President Sylvestri. >> Yes. >> Yes. The ordinance is engrossed and ordained. >> Zoning subcommittee report. >> Council Zambo. >> Thank you, Mr. President. The zoning
subcommittee met this evening uh on one item 25-304 surely a realy trust trustee James Perry 65 Court Road Chelsea Mass requesting a special permit from the Reier City
Council to allow existing storefront and nine residential units to remain in place where city records indicate storefront and six residential units. at 85 surely have rever mass. This is
really ends up to be just a clerical uh fix and uh this has been there for years and they're going to be brought up to code and that's the good part about this where the committee voted favorably unanimously and I would ask for a roll call please.
>> Thank you councelor. Madame clerk. Shall the city council grant the relief requested subject to the findings and conditions as reported by the zoning subcommittee? Councelor Arenzio, >> yes. >> Yes. Councelor Cogniandro, >> yes. >> Yes. Councelor Janino, >> yes. >> Yes. Councelor Gino Slaya, >> yes. >> Yes. Councelor Hass,
>> yes. >> Yes. Councelor Jerio, >> yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kelly, >> yes. >> Yes. Councelor McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Novaski. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Zambudo. >> Yes. >> Yes. And council president Sylvester. >> Yes. >> Yes. The special permit has been granted subject to the conditions as discussed
in zoning subcommittee. Next up is the climate, workforce, and sustainability subcommittee report. >> Councelor Herio, >> Mr. President, we uh heard a communication from the chief of planning and community development requesting um to give us some information about the
Northshore North Suffach office of resilience and sustainability. and we place that presentation on file. >> Thank you, councelor. It'll be placed on file. >> Communications calendar item number 12,
communication from the city auditor requesting an appropriation from the community improvement trust fund in the amount of $35,000 for renovations to Fitz Henry Park. All right, Tom. >> Evening counselors. Tom Scroski, 281 Broadway, at least for now, the chief of
planning and community development for the city. Um, so I'm I'm here to speak on Fitz Henry Park. I think the motion speak for itself. Um, this is a project that we've been working on for quite some time. Um, it
we're using multiple sources of funding. We were fortunate to receive a $40,000 earmark from Representative Turko's office. We also received a grant from uh the neighborhood developers working with mass development and then we also have community develop development block
grant funds to complete this um job and we are asking for CIT funding to cover the remaining balance of funds. This is one of three new parks that we've installed in the Shirley Avenue neighborhood along with the 69 Shirley Avenue Forest Pocket Park and the Flity
Square improvements that are currently underway. uh one of many improvements we we've been able to make with the help of CIT and CDBG over the years. Happy to take any questions you might have. >> Thank you, Chief. Any questions? >> Council Novaski. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President,
this is something we've been working on uh I'd say almost two years now. I know the the look forward point has been 10 years, but uh the last two years have been very very active. And I think that we want to use uh the CI CTI money uh as
part of a group financial package. So everybody's putting into this and you know the city has their two cents and uh everybody else put in their two cents. So it's it it's a local dog park. You know it's the first one on the east coast east side of Rivier and um we look
forward to it. It's coming along very well and um we look forward to it uh opening up soon. We know really won't be finished until the spring, but uh use will be uh very shortly. >> So, >> some landscaping needs to be finished in the spring, but hopefully in December
it'll be opened up. >> Excellent. Thank you, councelor. Councelor McKenna. >> Uh Tom, I know in one of the parks there's a um very very very old horses. Um they used to drink out of it. >> Uh what are you going to do with it?
>> We aren't touching it. Yeah, we we we tried to relocate it in the park in a more prominent location >> and once we dug into it, we realized if we dug deeper, we are compromising the integrity. So, we're keeping it as is and working around it. >> We should have like a little plaque that uh Oh, there is a plaque.
>> We're going to do >> Okay. Thank you. >> If I may, Mr. President, >> just to um go forward on this uh there was an old uh horse watering trough on Kimble Avenue of Flity Square and uh I
insisted that it not be relocated or moved and when they looked at it and see how weak it could be, they didn't want to crack it. So, uh, it's being built into the package of the design and also on the dog park, uh, we're putting in a,
uh, horse tie post and along with the, uh, a step for the people used to get off the carriages that used to be used. It was on the sidewalk across the street at Fitz Henry Square, but when they put new sidewalks in, they took it out and they put it over at the dog park. and
we're going to install it at the dog park with a historical monument with it. So, thank you. >> Very nice. Thank you, councelor. Permission to speak from the chair. >> Thank you, Tom. I just want to say this. This one was one project that I I really
like the way that the the city went after it. The city included the the residents. They had them come down there, use the sticky boards, ideas that they would like to see. I think it was it was really cool. I can't wait to see how it comes out. So, I appreciate the
effort put into it. So, thank you. >> Uh, can we have a roll call? >> Shall the city council approve an appropriation from the community improvement trust fund in the amount of $35,000 for renovations to Fitz Henry Park? Councelor Aenzio. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Kagglandro. >> Yes.
>> Yes. Council Janino. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Go SA. >> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. Councelor H. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Kelly, I mean, sorry, Council Haro, >> yes. Councelor Kelly, >> yes. >> Yes. Councelor McKenna. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Novaski. >> Yes. >> Yes. Councelor Zambudo. >> Yes. >> Yes. And Council President Sylvester.
>> Yes. >> Yes. The appropriation has been approved. >> Motions. Calendar item number 13. Motion presented by Council President Sylvestri. that the city council award a certificate of merit to Pichy Cham of the River Police Department in recognition of his promotion from master
sergeant to sergeant- major in the Massachusetts Army National Guard. >> Uh the motion speaks for itself. I'll hold my comments for that night, but um a few of us were able to attend his promotion today uh this afternoon at the
Reier Police Station. Um this is the highest an enlisted an enlisted soldier can raise in the ranks. Um so uh a noble feat and and an honor. So any other counselors?
All in favor? All opposed? >> So ordered. Have one late motion presented by councelor Jerio that the city council award a certificate of commendation to Doris Empire Morales Suarez in recognition of her milestone 60th birthday in which she has lived with epilepsy her entire life. Further in
recognition and support of individuals and families affected by epilepsy like Doris and her family that the city council declare the month of November 25 as epilepsy awareness month to raise awareness and reduce stigma about epilepsy a chronic neurological disorder.
Councelor Herio motion speaks for I'll reserve my comments for uh the presentation. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, councelor. That closed tonight's uh business and um councelor Novasowski, you have a point of personal privilege. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Appreciate it.
Um as everybody knows, this time of year is holiday season and um you know that the holiday lights at city hall and around the city will be lit on Saturday.
uh at 5:00 I believe or 4:30. So we invite everybody to that and then on uh December 14th Kaneka starts we'll be lighting our candles starting that and on December 17th we'll be having the
Monura l lighting in the front of city hall at 4:30. So, we invite everybody to come down and uh join us and have everybody celebrate together. And we've had great crowds in the past and uh the city is very diverse and it's nice to
see that everybody's working together and living together. So, we thank you for that. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, councelor Councelor Goa. >> Thank you. I'd like to take a moment of per personal privilege as well. I just want to remind everyone that Saturday
the 6th of December, we will be having our parade um in the Priscilla Nickerson Walk. The parade will begin at uh 4:15. If every anybody who wants to get on a float, it will be at River High School.
We will leave at 4:30 and travel um >> travel up to New uh around New Hall down >> Malden Street and down Broadway where we will have the Christmas tree lighting at 6 p.m. So if anybody would like to join us and come join the festivities, please
do. Thank you. >> Thank you, councelor. And that closes tonight's meeting. Have a great day.