##VIDEO ID:wBigNjQf6AQ## good evening welcome to the November 25th city council meeting please rise to salute the flag pledge algi to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all rooll Club the members councelor agenzio here here councelor janino here here councelor Gino SAA here here councelor H here here councelor hero here here councel Kell here here councel McKenna here here Council noeli here here councel sylvestri here here Council zambuto here here and council president cogliandro here here Quorum is present approval of the Journal of the regular meeting of November 4th so move councelor agenzio thank you i' just like to take a minute uh the u12 uh R youth cheerleading squad is heading to uh Florida next week uh to compete on a national level and I just want to uh tell them and and ask them and um have a good time and the best of luck to them thank you thank you counselor councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President uh Mr President I just want to send out a congratulations and really a great effort to to both um the the leadership here at City Hall the mayor's office the superintendent the school committee in the teachers union um we've seen what happened in many communities a lot of kids really suffered for for teachers going on strike we allowed adults to keep Prevail keep cool our heads and and we came to an agreement and I just want to say congratulations thank you counselor back to the regular order of business calendar item number three motion presented by council president Cog Leandro that the city council award certificate certificates of appreciation to Brad olette Travis Gardella Mike Penta and Matt Mahoney for their work at R boxing Outreach if any of the other members of Rivier boxing would like to join their coaches or some of their coaches please feel free to do so [Applause] councilors can you oh sorry I just want to address everyone here uh my name is Travis G uh my name is Travis gadella um I graduated from uh R High School class 07 um you know I res Ria my whole life I grew up here uh I went off and did things as we all do in life and we travel and get experience and came back home and I just want to say uh I couldn't be more thankful to be a part of this program Joe singer is an Ang Angel Among Us everything he does everything he does we all wouldn't be here if it wasn't the joke um you know we have all these things happening and we get a chance to get in the spotlight and we get thanks and we get all appreciation from everyone uh I just wanted to V voice myself I just wanted to you know say thank you to everyone everyone's been so helpful and and um just you know all hands on deck thank you [Applause] guys counselors can we give them a little bit more room pictures will be afterwards yeah my goodness so would anyone else like to say anything uh before I get started I'm not going to say anything that nice though absolutely coach um first off Joe thanks for involving me in this um literally the text changed my life I'm tearing up I couldn't be more proud of all the work we're doing the recognition is great but we are just getting started I mean you have no idea we're barely scratching the surface I'm honored to be a part of it and uh I'm proud to be standing next to these women and men thank you anyone else all right well I don't know how I'm going to follow that um I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart a couple years ago I had some of you here I think it was Greg vendetti uh Tyler D'Angelo April feni and of course Coach Joe singer and the fact that we're doing this again is a true Testament to this program because we are expanding we are growing and I as a martial artist myself am so proud of this program um I just want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for doing what you do it is incredibly amazing to give back through boxing through through Combat Sports is huge for children and they learn so much more so much more than just how to punch things um and I can't stress that enough so I'm going to get right into it these are certificates of appreciation an acknowledgement and recognition of your hard work and dedication you bring to the Rivier boxing outreach program through your commitment to teaching mentoring and guiding young athletes which goes far beyond the ring by instilling discipline confidence and a sense of community that will stay with these youth for Life Special recognition is hereby given to Brad [Applause] ulette special recognition is hereby given to Travis [Music] gambardella special recognition is hereby given to Matthew [Applause] Mahoney and last but not least special recognition is hereby given to Mike Penta now if you guys wouldn't mind getting together counselors come on up and uh take a nice photo and thank you very much e e rule 34 public comment pursuant to chapter 402 of the acts of 1965 so this is the uh first meeting where we're going to have a public comment section so if there is any anyone who wants to speak on anything that's on the agenda now is your time to do so also keep in mind you will also have the opportunity to speak during public hearings so you will have two opportunities so if there's anyone who wishes to speak on any uh agenda item right now please come on up uh anything but the public hearings and just a reminder this will be the only time we're accepting public comment you won't have opportunity to come up for every motion or every item uh other than public uh excuse me public hearings is there anyone here for public comments seeing and hearing none we will move forward uh past the public comment section name and address for the record please and it must be something pertaining to the which agenda item are you speaking on that that's what I want to ask I want to ask something other than the public hearing but City Civics is it on the agenda this evening not tonight then we'll have to wait until it's on there then we'll have to wait until it's on the agenda sir you have to speak on who's going to put it on the agenda for me that is a great question that I don't have an answer to well what are these people do here okay have a seat sir thank you next up is public hearings calendar item number four hearing called is ordered for the purpose of establishing the minimum residential factor and setting the tax rate for fy2 good evening sir name and address for the record please any evening Dana Brer fory chairman of the reval board of assessors 281 Broadway uh we're here tonight uh as a board I'm here with board members John Venia and Matthew McGrath also it's Matthew's birthday [Music] today you uh we here to recommend um that the council adopt the minimal residential Factor as presented at 87 9287 uh doing so will allow us to create a split tax rate and shift the burden from the residential taxpayer uh to the commercial tax rate thank you sir uh are there any other proponents anyone in favor seeing and hearing none I'll close that side are there any opponents anybody not in favor seeing and hearing none I will close that side any City councilors wishing to speak seeing and hearing none Madame clerk let's take the role shall the city council adopt a minimum residential factor of 8792855156 o yes yes councel Gino SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councel hero yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes councel noeli yes yes Council sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes the minimum residential Factor has been established calendar item number five hearing called is ordered on a request of 101 Walnut Street LLC Robert Mahoney to consider a proposed land swap of a parcel on Austin Street for 35 Morris Street please note that the petitioner has filed a letter with the city council to withdraw this request this is withdrawn let's calendar item number six hearing called is ordered on the application of Judith pomino 994 42 winter bav requesting a special permit from the city council to enable the appellant to convert a non-conforming mixed use structure comprised of two residential units and one commercial unit to a three- family residential structure at 942 wira bav this is a public hearing we will open it to proponents anyone in favor we just wanted to let you know that the city will be provided and interpreted for Mrs Palomino this evening excellent thank you very much uh we please State our name and address for the record sure Jud palino 942 Avenue and re of course thank you you're welcome see he's up here as a proponent for this project does he want to tell us why sorry I'm just interpreting oh okay well could you interpret to her that give her a brief synopsis of what's going on uh what question um the reason is because you know why um that's uming okay uh so she's here because she purchased this property in 2001 um in its current state which is uh two residential units and one commercial she's been paying taxes on it as a three Family Residence although only able to use two residential units so she's here to con apply to convert that third unit currently commercial into a residential unit resulting in a three family home thank you very much are there any other proponents anyone else wishing to speak you guys can if there's any questions from counselors uh just be ready okay seeing and hearing no other proponents I'll close that side any opponents people not in favor seeing and hearing none I'll close that side councilors councelor McKenna thank you Mr President I just want to know if they're going to do any construction work to go up or they just going to use that store that used to be a store uh as an apartment so are you going to fix up the store to be an apartment so three PE it will be considered a three family sorry so she plans on uh fixing up the store to use as a residential unit so it will result as a three family no more commercial space but three residential units so are we going to have construction going up or we just going to use that store to be the third residential apartment NOP just converting the store into a third residential unit any other counselors seeing and hearing none this is going to be referred to zoning on December 9th calendar item number seven hearing call is ordered on the application of Daniel sea and Andrew sea seea Family realy Trust 21 Green Street rivir Mass requesting a planned unit Development Special permit to enable the appellant to construct an apartment building consisting of 29 one-bedroom units within the Ted District at 21 Green Street this is a public hearing we'll open it up to proponents anyone in favor please state your name and address for the record good evening Mr President members of the Rivier city council my name is attorney Larry Simeone I have Law Office in 300 Broadway Rivier Massachusetts unit number four I stand before you tonight representing the um sea Family Trust specifically I represent Andrew sea trustee Daniel seeka trustee and um the sea Family realy Trust as well as 21 Green Street realy Trust so I have two Consultants here tonight Mr President and so I'm going to make my explanation of this matter very short okay so I can get benefit of the council to talk to the people that are actually making the things happen and I'm not very good at making it short but I'll do the best I can sir so the program that we're dealing with a piece of property and the property is 21 Green Street and um it consists of a lot pot A2 which which is um 2,875 Square ft approximately 2 1.66 Acres the other lot that consists of this property that's being used for the development is lot y it's 4,960 Square ft approximately 1.11 Acres the property combined is 7,996 square ft the property was a single family home which has been raised by the the owner owners the property is located in the Ted District technological Enterprise district with a height of 50 ft and a minimum lot size of 25 ft so the project the applicant seeks a special permit for a PUD plan unit development to construct 29 one-bedroom apartments approximately 500 to 600 square ft in concert with the applications the applicants request for the special permit the applicant also did a shadow study which was submitted to the membership the project height has been agreed to working with the ward counsel and that will be 46 feet again working with board Council McKenna the frontage of the building will be located on Lee bur Bank Highway and discussions have been talked about and I think we might be a little closer today after speaking with u miss m that um in fact there'll be three uh veteran units uh established for this housing project so at this point Mr President and members of the council I'd like to start by having you talk to the architect Stephan ARS Associates he'll go through that very quickly and then I have Peter blell of uh Williams and sparas to answer any of your questions relative to the project after that Mr President I respectfully request that you move this matter to the zoning subcommittee thank you good evening sir name and address for the record please that's okay uh good evening Mr President City Council Members my name is Doug stefanov architect business of address of 423 West Broadway South Boston thank you for your time tonight uh I am working with the group here we propose a fivestory um 29 unit uh resident Residential Building um between Lee Burbank Highway and Green Street um it would be um five units on the first and six on each floor thereafter as the um areas have been stated they're all one-bedroom units there's no planned occupancy for the roof the roof is purely mechanical um there's no no roof deck or anything of that nature there's no there's no basement some of the first floor would have some utilities into it which Peter can speak of later Transformer trash room and other other components um it's two staircases within the building so it's fairly fairly simple building uh forget my small uh drawings um brick base probably a clabbered upper to kind of be more of residential vernacular if you will uh Windows to take in um as much light for the for the bedrooms excuse me um areas as we've stated 400 some well 450 five 600 they vary a little bit we have done Sun studies of the building in the the primary seasons of course summertime's the best right so uh the building front faces uh North so South is to the back of the building so the Shadows are cast primarily or for the majority of the time on Lee Burbank Highway which is a perfect scenario to provide well not to impede any of the neighbors so that's you have the summer time relatively small this is excuse me upside down fall and spring of course being the same uh starting at the top we've got morning afternoon and evening as you can see it rides from left to right and then of course winter time is never great as uh we know but it's cast again onto the highway therefore you know after you know 3 or 4:00 on a winter evening like tonight it's always kind of dark so can't um the site plan you see uh shows the site uh Building located on the site there's threefoot setbacks in each side pretty much uh front and back located on the property lines and it's combination of Steel up to the second floor deck and wood frame construction uh thereafter um so that's it in a nutshell thank you very much thank you very much for your time any any other proponents people in favor of the project good evening sir name and address for the record please good evening Mr President uh Peter blazel Williams and sparages 189 North Main Street Middleton Massachusetts project engineer um so U as everyone knows there was an existing structure here that's um going to be replaced with this um new structure um there are no Wetlands or any buffer zones within 100 ft of it there's no flood zone all of the uh Municipal connections will be on Green Street uh we have been through site plan review uh already um one of the things that we wanted to do was to try to take away a little bit of impervious area there now because the site was essentially all impervious before uh we did talk to uh Frank stringy about possibly removing some of the pavement uh in the private way uh adding some landscaping and some trees just to make it look a little more appealing uh for Green Street um despite that as as attorney simion had mentioned men um the height is 46 ft uh we're hoping to remove the impervious area uh by a couple hundred square ft um and surround the building with some crushed stone just to try to keep our runoff on our site um which then makes it a Redevelopment project um beyond that um I think everything that attorney Simoni and and architect Doug stuff I've already gone through is pretty pretty much there for you to see if you have any questions be more than happy thank you very much sir are there any other proponents people in favor seeing and hearing none close that side are there any o opponents people not in favor are you a proponent so you're a pro opponent okay name and address for the record sir amila Ruiz 18 Hayes Avenue Rivier Massachusetts I just want to add that I know the ca family for over 15 years I have rented from them friends and families have rented from them they are great ERS and now that they have this special project in that location where previously a house that was there was completely a mess and knowing that they bring in something better for that street whether it's uh leeor Bank Highway or Green Street it will be a lot better for the city of uh rier and I'm here to support them with that project thank you very much sir good evening sir name and address for the record please good evening Andrew Iana 14 Joseph Road Rivier I am a proponent for this project I think it's a good project I think it's the kind of development that re should have these are one-bedroom units which means that they will have very little if any impact on schools and therefore we all know that in building the new R high school that should be a concern of all of us secondly this is um this is a project is on liebra Bank Highway which is a state highway um and I think that that's a good thing for for the area and again I want to just say I'm a proponent thank you very much sir good evening name and address of the record please good evening Jason Kerney uh 3:33 Le bar Bank Highway I just want to say uh the seek is uh are very good uh I'm I'm one of their tenants now um I'm in a two-bedroom and I'm a single I don't need two bedrooms um I can't find anything that's close to Beachmont with one bedroom uh I think the the city needs some more one bedrooms and it's good for me because I commute I you know through the tea through public transportation so I think this is good for me and good for the community thank you thank you sir good evening sir name and address of the record please thank you Mr President thank you councilmen Council women uh my name is Donald Goodwin I live at 6 Lloyd Road in North rading Mass I'm here as proponent for Mr seeka uh during my 30 years of service with the city of Rivier I've had many opportunities to work in conjunction with Mr sea on various projects as you know my f was mostly in the infrastructure improvements to the city of Rivier and right through his property goes the main Shor line that probably Services 30 to 33% of the population of the city City based on what's being built on Ocean Avenue with the area I have always known John to be willing to work with anybody or to to make things happen we had a horrific collapse in that pipeline we needed to get access to that pipeline that runs right to his property and set up equipment that not only took the easement but took other pieces of property without no lawyers no if it's good for the city just get it done we got it done we put Jack pipe Jack piping equipment in there for months on end and with disturbance to his property not a single complaint from him same thing happened with the cver that runs through the bulkhead had to be replaced the the cver had to be re refinished we've had the shopping center that we put in a Stop and Shop we had to put the Force main through his property coming down American Legion Highway I know John he takes pride in everything he does and he will be an outstanding landlord I think you know people that know the area and know that that new District that was developed by members of this Council some of you are new but some of you were part of that Council this redistricting resoning is specifically for projects like this and based on what my knowledge is of what is going to be coming down the road to pay for high schools pay for it's not no impact on schools brings in the tax base it's it it I don't see any down side to this property and I'm sure if any of you have any questions regarding this property John will'll be more than happy to sit down with you and and work things out as I know he probably has with some of you already but that's all I gu you thank you thank you very much sir again I'm going to close the proponents now we will hear opponents anyone not in favor good evening sir uh name and address for the record please hello everyone my name is Shawn maal and I live at 18 Green Street which is across street from the the uh res the property so I'm here to touch upon three different points um specifically why I'm against it um in no respect to the people who just spoke only one of them live in that area only one of them live on Green Street so number one is the height number two is the context and number three is the traffic so I'll talk on height number one um look let's be honest we know something's going to go in there all right this isn't about I want nothing but five stories is just way too big for that site the site itself is like the size is just a little bit bigger than the infield of Little League field all right I mean it go they W go up to five stories 46 feet um so I'm also I live across the street I'm a resident but I'm also a registered architect and I highly I highly doubt that they can get five full stories on your 46 feet especially if there's steel involved just I don't see that being feasible so with that said I'm suspect of five stories and I'm afraid if five gets approved and then Engineers are sharpening their pencils it could creep up in you know who would know so to speak so that's the height and um I'd sent you guys an email um they talked about the shadow study that's a bit deceiving all right I took a picture driving down Green Street and you can see I made an outline I don't know if Ash can pull it up uh there's an outline of the building approximate and you can see where the building five stories is just blocking out the sun it's if you've seen the email you know what I'm talking about so that is the height issue I don't think at 46 ft you can get five stories actual framing I don't think it's going to happen and the Sun study looking down Green Street uh it's just going to block out all a sun for Green Street Point number two is the context um they say that you know this isn't going to mess up the context of Green Street the adjacent properties are twostory residential buildings and a one-story commercial building and they want to put in between that a five-story commercial residential it just doesn't fit now the argument might be hey 333 is a few few um like you a few houses down that was a commercial building that got retrofitted to residential that's like apples and oranges that wasn't a groundup residential building and then the argument might be hey they're putting in um in the old uh trailer park uh a development right that's a multi-acre site that isn't a tiny square box she I see her on screen um anyway so that's that's the the context it's just out of context for where it is is on Green Street and then lastly is the traffic now I understand that they potentially want to have limited parking right it's 29 units if there's a couple that's 54 58 people um we know there's not going to be that many cars but whatever did they did they say what the what the um address of this was going to be is it going to be Green Street or is it going to be Lee buring pway because I see that they've rotated so the main entry entry is here but if you're calling an Uber or ayt or anything with maps I mean there going to say take me down Green Street because you can't get dropped off on Lee Bar Burbank Highway all right so they're going to they're going to use Green Street as their vehicle throughway whether they have a car or not all right so traffic-wise what is the address how do you approach this building um secondly and this has already been talked about in some of the zoning meetings Green Street is is supposed to be two ways but it's really like one and a half Lanes wide anytime the car is going one way and the other you basic have to pull over to let that person buy and specifically when you enter Green Street that's really like one car wide what happens is the car on the parkway has to stop if someone's coming out stop on the Parkway and need let this person out or this person has to back up it's it's very dangerous so any more cars I mean talking like again potentially 58 more people that's a lot of cars that potentially be coming down Green Street it could be a real traffic issue um and again you guys had talked uh before about making Green Street um one side parking and with resident stickers and I think that's a great idea now this image is super deceiving this green space is literally in the middle of the road all right this is not this is deceiving this is not going to happen the roadway goes right to the edge of this property don't get fooled by this the roadway goes to the property line period so that is my Ashley can you pull up that you hit that image right there oh I don't know if it's can be submitted or if you've seen it you've seen it um their Shadow study is deceiving so with that said I mean that said height Too Tall context the wrong contacts for Green Street traffic traffic will be an issue again I'm not saying nothing something will go in there I'm not against something going in there but this particular building this height this size everything about it currently it's wrong for Green Street thank you thank you sir are there any other opponents anyone else not in favor good evening state your name and address for the record please Anthony Pali 51 Arcadia Street Mr President members of the council um that that neighborhood isn't so bad for development but what I'd like to speak on is I just think it is something that R I would love to see the city focus on single family homes it's a shame that they already presumptuously the developer has already turn uh taken down a single family home assuming that he or presuming that they are going to get a variance I think it's a little forward thinking of the developer to tear down a building before you've had the variance which leads me to believe that they think they're going to get it no problem which is a shame I think the city really needs to focus on the American dream which is single family homes not renting a one-bedroom apartment for $3,000 doesn't really help people out to have more units even if they're just one-bedroom units how does that help them own a property I don't like the fact that a single family home was taken down and taken off the table and in exchange more rentable units which take care of a developer that doesn't even live in the city I just don't think it's right I hope you guys I sorry to the developers cuz I know some of the guys I hope you guys turn this down I I think we really need to look at single family homes at best um at worst cond or tow houses thank you thank you sir any other opponents good evening name and address of the record please hello uh Amanda mcord 18 Green Street um my husband obviously spoke earlier so I'm just going to just touch on a from a little bit different perspective um my concerns are twofold so one is um as he kind of spoke to the scale of this is gargantuous and um I I have some significant concerns in terms of how the process has already gone so far um we attempted to speak at the zoning board of appeals about this there didn't seem to be any concerns about placement of a building that the zoning required 25,000 square fet and to present this 4500 foot lot as an appropriate placement for that um was not an issue and what we were told was it was going to be hardship for them um I'm not sure what the bar is for hardship and if it's different in R but currently it's being used uh for short-term parking and some simple math tells me if you charge $10 a day for the 25 or $30 30 cars that are parked there uh that's not really a hardship given what he paid for the property um my concern is also follow through on whatever designs are happening in the misleading nature of these drawings um again that is parking what is green on there currently so we're saying this which has insufficient parking the requirement for the Ted District would be 58 parking spots they're offering eight parking spots and now you're saying you're going to remove this parking I don't even know if they're allowed to do that but that green is the street that is not a sidewalk that is Street and people park there currently so that's very misleading and the shadow study is also misleading because the on my eyeballs the sun sets here so the sun sets behind this building here I say this because the sunshines in my house and if there is a five-story building across the street I will have no sun for Mo half of the day as the Sun is setting so I I feel like that that is Shady and misleading um and so I'd like to put that out there that I have concerns about that um I Heard concerns regarding uh the runoff and those things on the other properties on the street that seek as own they have paved I don't believe in accordance with permitting or any kind of zoning the entire yards with asphalt and they use them as parking lots so the idea that they're going to follow through on whatever rules are put in place for this I think is exceedingly unlikely um it's great that they have a lot of friends that were willing to come and say like I think this is a great idea because I don't have to live there um but as someone who does live there I don't think it is um the scale is appropriate and I think they should at least at a minimum required to follow the basic rules that other people have to follow when they're building things um I understand some level of flexibility this is so far beyond the scope of every requirement for zoning um and it was just waved because this is somehow a a hardship uh buying a property and then saying I'm going to just knock it down without permits I might add had to call the city because they just started de demolishing a house with no fencing safety fencing nothing just started ripping it down uh there's children in the street playing uh is is a sign of how they function and I think that that is really a problem and I'm hopeful that the council will put some more stringent at least parameters on what would go in place again I'm not under any delusion that nothing is going to go there I'm sure something will go there but I'd like it to be something that's a little bit more uh realistic and appropriate and also that there's some more a tighter set of rules for them to follow because they don't seem to follow rules they just seem to do what they want so thank you very much are there any opponents anyone else not in favor seeing and hearing none I will close that side City councilor councelor McKenna thank you Mr President uh so I met with the sea family um and I did talk to um Sean and Amanda and uh um the first thing I'd like to say is that I am trying to protect you so we did get uh oneid of Park and it was um passed by the traffic um the I'm trying to get 247 because if you have oneid of parking and you have overnight parking then people can still park at 7:00 to 10 o'clock so I'm trying to protect you with that if this goes through um the shadow study um I'd like to know who did the shadow study um and when was it done because I just asked for the shadow study two weeks ago and I just oh or a week and a half ago and um I just can't understand how that could have been done so um rapidly so Doug stepanov the architect yeah I did the shadow study you know I have oh a couple weeks ago when I was asked it's not that difficult you know you know I'll double check but we plac the building it's through a pro computer program we know where the sun is you know where the building Skies in scale and it generates you tell what time of the day and what time of the year I do them all the time it's it's common thank you I think that's when I asked for it uh the other thing I um would like to know is um they had a a business uh that fielded didn't do well a business uh um it was a for for businesses and they made it into an apartment building uh which we approved I was just wondering um how many cars um is in that building CU when I went there um it seemed like the parking spaces were completely empty so could someone answer that question for me put your but you should know who's yelling at me that I should know the um the original plan unit development for 333 lieur Bank Highway we were dealing uh with something that I don't think the developers ever and the administration at that time really was very happy about they had built a commercial building they had built something that was on a major highway and we thought this was going to be a really good thing unfortunately the economy changed and my clients were in very very difficult opportunity now they had to make a change went back looked at s talk to the city and then we submitted a plan unit development uh for a uh for us to turn it into residential units the residential units at that time because um there was so much land around this particular property um we allowed them to we were able to meet the requirement of two spaces per uh lot unit so that's where we are so how many cars do you have in that um building right now that's what I'm asking I would think that in sping to my client there's about six Bill six uh cars are presently being used for that particular building and how many um apartments in that building there there are 20 12 there 12 units okay all right um I just want to say that um uh Logistics has just bought the um oil tanks uh that oil filled uh and I do think that within the next probably 10 years you're going to see that whole leur Bank Highway change um I think this is just the beginning um they're going to take down the oil tanks they they bought across the street they bought the oil tanks which uh they've removed I think uh eight or nine right now uh AB buding um the Stop and Shop so um I think that uh passle of land Lee Burbank highway is going to be developed um within the next 10 years so that's um I don't have a problem with this the height I have a problem with I do have a problem with but I'm trying to uh uh stop anything that's going to go in Green Street whether it's an uba or parking or if someone has a car in that uh building that they're not allowed to park on Green Street so um but I do I do I'm going to vote for this but I'm not very happy about um the size um one of the things Larry I want to ask you sorry Mr Simone um is what is the size of the uh commercial building that you transferred uh transported into U the the um residential the 333 Le yes I do not know the exact size but what's that it's four so you're going to go up five stories okay all right thank you thank you councel just a reminder if anyone else wants any councilor zambuto uh thank you Mr President obviously this is going to zoning my committee uh I believe it's on the 9th um so anybody that has any further questions about this this isn't the end uh come up and share your concerns with us on the 9th and uh you know this is how it works and uh thank you thank you Council this will be reverred to zoning on December 9th at 5:00 p.m. calendar item number eight hearing called disordered on a request of Edgar aspa aspa Family Trust 53 Centennial La R Mass to terminate the following deed restriction for the property located at 51 Centennial AV no residential Andor commercial building or structure for habitation indor occupancy shall be constructed or placed upon on the premises the foregoing restriction shall be construed as a covenant running with the land is binding upon future grantees heirs executiv administrators assigns and transferees of said premises or any parts thereof this restriction cannot be altered by any variance this is a public hearing we will open it to proponents good evening ma'am name and address for the record please uh good evening city council president and City councilors my name is Nancy O'Neal and I am an attorney located at 14 pro Avenue I here tonight on behalf of the applicant Mr Edgar asena of the asena Family Trust uh owner of the 51 to 53 Centennial Avenue property I'd like to walk the honorable Council through the deed restriction of the property as well as Mr ospina's proposals for the property uh which as I will explain uh our link together so the 51 to 53 Centennial Avenue property uh consists of a pre-existing non-conforming uh apartment building uh at 53 Centennial Avenue and a vacant lot uh used for parking at the 53 uh used for parking for the 53 Centennial Avenue building the proposal here tonight is to extend and alter the pre-existing non-conforming use and structure at 53 Centennial Avenue so as to construct an addition to that building over the 51 Centennial Avenue lot and create an updated uh modern architectural facade to unify the two buildings uh which you can see here uh so the new addition at 51 Centennial Avenue venue would contain three stories in line with the number of stories uh of the existing building next door with parking and a small Lobby on the first floor and six Apartments over floors two and three so these six Apartments uh would all be one-bedroom units so the finished building uh consisting of 51 and 53 Centennial Avenue uh would include 13 units uh so the current building 53 Centennial Avenue uh contains seven units and the new building uh would contain six units so uh the size and scale of the addition which is slightly uh smaller in height than the existing building uh fits with the surrounding properties uh which features similar building coverage and density nine parking spaces are planned for the finished building to include eight parking spaces uh beneath the addition and one space uh located in a pre-existing garage at 53 Centennial so the space revision here would be uh 69 spaces per unit which exceeds demand estimated by the metropolitan area planning Council for Transit oriented apartments in the city so in short what is being proposed here is a Transit oriented addition to the building uh the property is located about 1,000 ft or A 4minute Walk To The River Beach Blue Line station so we expect project residents to utilize the blue line and nearby bus lines for transportation needs and to walk to local small businesses in the Shirley Avenue neighborhood so this building has been designed to meet current conditions in the Shirley Avenue neighborhood uh this is a Transit oriented building close to small businesses the building will be updated with an attractive facade to improve Centennial Avenue and bring visual interest into Fitz Henry Square uh so I'd like to add that the 51 Centennial Avenue property the vacant lot uh is burdened by the deed restriction that was placed on the property uh 20 years ago when it was deeded out of the city of river uh to an owner prior uh to Mr aspina so that deed restriction uh would prevent construction on the parcel so as part of this proposal for the addition uh to 53 Centennial Avenue we are also requesting uh that the city council lift this restriction so the city city council has Authority uh to lift this restriction pursuant to uh the Massachusetts general laws uh which give the city council power to release Municipal interests in land now Massachusetts courts generally favor the lifting of deed restrictions where a deed restriction is impeding desirable uh future uses uh and this comes from a 2017 case called 135 Wells Avenue ver versus HAC uh so the city's own master plan next ster a supports the notion that this project is a desirable future use that plan sets out the city's planning and economic development goals for the city uh and specific neighborhoods such as Shirley Avenue and that plan calls for the production of housing in the Shirley Avenue neighborhood at higher densities and with less parking uh than other parts of the city so the master plan master plan reflects that Shirley Avenue is a denser neighborhood benefited by public transportation uh and that it needs additional housing to sustain uh the small businesses in that area so we would argue that this project is a desirable future use that would justify the lifting of the D restriction both on the merits of the project itself and also based on the city's next stop rare master plan so again this is a minimally impactful project with sufficient parking that will beautify a neglected corner of Fitz Henry Square my client Mr asena is a city or river resident uh he is a bipac business owner and developer who is proud to improve his property in the city so we would respectfully request the council look favorably upon uh lifting of the deed restriction uh and also the request for special department and we are happy to answer any questions you may have thank you thank you very much are there any other proponents anyone else in favor seeing and hearing none we'll close that side any opponents anyone not in favor please state your name and address for the record Anthony Pali 51 Arcadia Street Mr President members of the council it's great to hear that we have a local business owner and someone that lives in the city that would like to build more units but I would like to ask him personally and I would like you to think of again the American dreamation through the chair sir sorry sorry Mr President Mr President um would really like the city to focus on ownership condos tow houses and less rentals I don't see how rentals help out the residents of this city if anything it puts them in a situation where they're spending thousands of dollars on something they will never own and I would really like to see the city go in the direction of condos town houses or singles for residents thank so are you an opponent of this I'm an opponent thank you are there any other opponents good evening name and address for the record please Laura Holmes 243 Campbell AV I have questions um I understand this is a currently uh six unit I'd like to hear um what the size of the apartments are that are there now and what's the rent level um as well as what will be the rent level for the and sizes of the new apartments so are you an opponent or a proponent I'm an opponent until I find out that there's going to be affordable housing understood thank you so much good evening ma'am name and address of the record please Gian Dumis 5 wand Avenue I am an opponent at the moment I may be a proponent but I doubt it very much um I would very much like to hear more about this building including if there is going to be affordable housing which our neighborhood desperately needs I would like to know more about um if they're going to be a partner in the Shirley a community you talked about how you want to work with local businesses I'm very active in the local community and with the local businesses we don't know you net so we would like to be your friend um but we'd also like to know um again if they're going to be affordable what their size is going to be what you're going to do about the parking situation if you're going to be offering a par uh parking passes because it is going to be a three-story building so they are going to be eligible for parking unless you're going to put no parking in your leases those are my questions thank you thank you very much are there any other opponents anyone else not in favor good evening name and address for the record please hi my name is Victor mius I own uh 55 Centennial and 189 Campbell Avenue um I've just had concerns about the parking um at that property considering it's very tight over there now uh although there's you know parking passes for the residents there but just concerned with the additional um size and um the amount of parking for that size building and I I she she spoke very quick I was just kind of curious as to as to the the woman that just spoke as to how big the existing units are how many um uh bedrooms are in uh the the main building that's there now and how many bedrooms are going to be added to the addition are you an opponent at this point yes thank you any other opponents seeing and hearing none I will close that side of the hearing any counselors wishing to speak councelor noeli thank you Mr President Mr President uh I know he was going to go into zoning so we'll talk a little more but just so uh folks know um there will be two affordable housing units included in these six new units and they will be targeted for Veterans Preference um as far as uh parking and cars are concerned uh these six units will not get any permits for street parking so they will have to have no cars uh no no car uh category in their lease so they have to come in just like we have been doing in all the other units on the in the a uh and uh what else do we have uh thec that I said apartment sizes I think one bedrooms one bedroom 700 square feet each uh the other part of the building has seven units in it and the um parking garage that they were talking about is across the street from uh 189 Campell AV uh under kind of underneath the building uh so we had a community meeting last week uh that was sent out to all the owners of Butters within 300 ft uh we only had one person show up and we explained what they were going to do and he had an issue with access into the back of his building which they're considering and um the building itself when they first approached me I told them that uh the building cannot be higher than the existing building that they that they own now and that's what they did they came straight across the middle part of the building of those you can see it is a uh it's a stairwell going into the new section there was no ele elevator um because they don't have to do elevator uh below three floors and uh we checked on the Windows there's no windows on the side of the building we checked with the fire department the they are putting in having them put in special uh fire alarms and sprinkler system which they have to do drainage coming off the street will be underground it won't be coming off the sidewalk uh when it rains or if it so there's no freezing in the winter um and I think that's about it now for now and there'll be more coming up when we have the zoning subcommittee thank you thank you counselor councelor sylvestri thank you Mr President um through you to either yourself or you sir um it what are the size just to answer the questions that that came from the the floor what are the sides of the apartments currently in in the existing uh so thank you so uh I'd like to thank um our neighbors for their thoughtful comment so the existing building it has seven units it's a mixture of twos and threes the existing units are uh on average between 8 and 900 square ft uh the uh six new units that would be contained in the addition there those would all be one bedrooms and they average at around 700 Square ft and if thank you if I could just uh clarify one point um regarding the affordable housing that was proposed um I need to take that back to my client but we will fully evaluate that as well as the request of our butter thank you and will there will there be there's no there no parking and will that be in the lease oh sure we can we can put that in our lease um I understand that uh the building will also be excluded from the parking pass program for the city um so if people who didn't have a spot in the garage were to park on the street they would be towed yeah I I just think it it really helps solidify that if it's in the lease when they sign it stating that they're they're not going to get a parking pass um so when then they do get the car towed they're not coming the next day saying hey I why is my car not here um so I appreciate that and and really if if you could think about that affordable piece sir we really need it that would be great thank you thank you counselor councelor has thank you Mr President um I'm a big fan of the no car category for the um for the for the property and like councelor sylvestri said I think that's very important to get in the lease um I also am a big fan of the affordable units um that will be used for veterans and I ask I don't know if it's possible if we could give strictly um rever Veterans Preference um if we can do that that would be great I'm not sure that's something we can do but I know the last development um veteran housing came from the state and there wen't any R veterans in there but if that's something we can do that would be great I'm not sure if it's possible but I would love to to um get the r veterans first preference thank you thank you counselor any other councilors councelor Kelly thank you Mr President I just have one question uh well two actually what was the initial reason um for the deed restriction being imposed imposed in the first place um so that was imposed by the city I can't speak to the city's intention on that I can tell you a bit about the history of the parcel uh so uh at the site of this addition that was originally uh it this is where we got this idea from it was a sixun building constructed around 1900 about the same age as the building next door that building uh unfortunately had a fire in the mid90s with the economic situation at the time the owner was unable uh to secure funding to repair the building it was torn down that's why there was a vacant lot the city took it its tax title uh when it uh sold the property it imposed that restriction on there um but as I've noted uh S as everyone here uh also knows uh the situation in Shirley Avenue has greatly improved uh from about the year 2000 um and it's a vibrant neighborhood walkable neighborhood um and it can support this type of apartment thank you thank you I I would would like to uh because a deed restriction is just I'm curious as to why the city felt um to impose such a restriction on that parcel um initially and so I would need that information before overturning that um and also do you happen to know the distance between the new addition and the uh parel next to it if I could uh just present our architect here Mr Joe Luna thank you he can answer your question better than I can um for the record my name is Joseph Luna Luna Design Group we are located 100 Conor for Hill Drive in Danvers uh we have the project Architects for this this project um you can see on the site plan just how limited the the site area we have here um on the west side of the property line we're coming up almost about about just about a foot off of it we're tight um but the adjacent building um is approximately about 8 to 10 ft away from our face of building by building code uh because we're in that close proximity to the lot line there will be no windows on that side that wall will also be a 1H hour rated fire firewall as well the same goes for the rear property line as well so uh we realize that we are tied up against those buildings but we're taking all the necessary life safety measures to make sure that there's no um breach of a fire councilor Kelly go thank you um do you know what the distance that would be normally be required for that side as far as building code yes um they allow within 3 feet anything less than 3 feet there can be no openings inside the wall by building code from 3 to 5 ft they allowed 15% percentage of window openings on that on the on the west side because we're within that 3- foot threshold there are no openings on that side so you're saying that there we only need three feet in terms of a setback On by Building Code not by zoning that's a separate issue I by building code referring to zoning y okay those are two separate issues right you wouldn't happen to know the zoning um I can tell you back right now uh can I just I can answer that one so the zoning uh for the RB District where this is located it would be 10 ft uh on the side okay uh I believe we have the one foot on the side and then about uh 6 to7 feet on the other property line thank you thank you thank you councelor councelor novaski Mr President justy I through you to councelor Kelly um that restriction was put on about 15 years ago when we felt the whole area was too dense but now it's 15 years later the atmosphere is looking for additional housing and so if we lift you know that restriction uh they'll be able to put this unit in so it was like I said it's 15 years old old ago and uh we just looking for uh to make a change so that that's why it was put on thank you thank you counselor um this is going to be referred to zoning on December 9th calendar item number nine hearing called disordered on the application of Edgar espena espena Family Trust 53 Centennial AV requesting a special permit from the city council to enable the appellant to construct a three-story Edition consisting of six Apartments to the pre-existing non-conforming residential apartment building on the property known as 51-53 Centennial AV uh this is part of the same presentation this will also be going to zoning on December 9th actually my apologies this is a public hearing we have to take proponents at this time any proponents that are in favor I assumed you were seeing and hearing none move move through that part of the hearing any opponents anyone not in favor seeing and hearing none close that ma'am if you absolutely yeah come on up if you could come up and state your name and address that's okay are you Bonnie proponent or opponent I'm neither or right now I have a question that makes me decide um we just did the six units this is six units will they be commercial right on the water or will it be like the rest of us it's that's not what she's asking sir it's not they just passed a six unites and under if it's don't have have to pay a commercial rate anymore okay that's my question thank you thank you any other opponents wishing to speak yes o opponent name and address please chanis 50 wet Avenue you haven't memorized that yet hi me again just wanted to mention that Shirley Avenue neighborhood has been improving since 2010 which has made it so much a target for developers and I regret every minute I spend improving that neighborhood now and I would like more affordable housing in this building and again I want confirmation that no parking will be in the leases and is it possible to put more affordable housing in this building and to made me do some improvements in the neighborhood to make it you know give us some sort of compensation because you guys are so interested in coming to Shirley Avenue I'm going to sit down and cry now thank you very much I'm closing that side of the hearing and any counselors this is going to be sent to Zoning for December 9th caler item number 10 hearing called is ordered on a joint petition submitted by National Grid in Verizon to relocate one jointly owned poll number 4811 10 ft East from existing location and install new pole p 456-8290 from National Grid well I am shocked I'd like uh if unless there's any uh opposition I want to place this on file placed on file next up is the legislative affairs committee report councelor agenzio thank you Mr President the uh first item before us tonight was the composting ordin uh that we've discussed in length uh we made a couple of uh small amendments to it tonight and I'd like to ask the city council to vote favorably on this as amended thank you Mr chairman any other counselors ordered on a second reading as amended ordered on a third and final reading as amended roll call for engrossment and ordainment shall the city council approve an ordinance establishing a program to divert waste from landfills and incinerators to offset waste disposal costs councelor Areno yes yes Council janino yes yes Council greo SAA yes yes councel H yes yes councelor hero yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councelor McKenna yes yes Council noeli yes yes Council sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president cogliandro yes yes the ordinance is engrossed and ordained Mr President the second uh item before us was an ordinance amending metered rates uh for the city of Rivier this pertains to four five and six family homes uh that our owner occupied and and we seek to move this from commercial uh water rates to residential water rates and the committee looked favorably on this and I would like a uh roll call to look favorably on it thank you Mr chairman ordered on a second reading no let's take a roll call roll call on the second reading councilor Eno yes yes councel janino yes yes councel greo SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor hero yes yes councelor Kelly no no councelor McKenna yes yes councel noeli is is recused councilor sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto no no and council president Cog Leandro yes yes the ordinance has been tabled there's an objection on the second reading table so the following meeting yes there was a third item on the agenda and and it's been withdrawn thank you Mr chairman cendr I'm I'm sorry the appointment subcommittee report councilor McKenna thank you Mr President uh we had one item on the agenda uh an appointment for Sarah H hor uh to the uh R Arts commission uh it was voted out favorably I would ask the council to for a road call please all in favor all opposed so ordered thank you pursuant to rule 23 the following motions or Communications are being reported out of committee with a recommendation to be placed on file calendar item number 15 motion presented by councilors McKenna and oreno that the mayor request the traffic commission to assess the activation of the 15minute grace period button on parking meters in the Broadway Central business district the activation of this feature will provide customers with free parking 15 minutes to run quick errands without being penalized uh just to inform the public what this means when something goes into subcommittee after 90 days by rule it's supposed to come back before the city council with the recommendation to place it on file meaning it was put into subcomittee and we've decided not to do anything with it at this point councelor McKenna what is your will councelor agenzio you would like yes Mr President I would like to keep this before us uh we had agreed to hold off on this until the chief of planning and Community Development uh was able to uh do their parking study uh the parking study is complete and that's another that's the fourth item on this agenda um I'd like this to stay in committee and the community development office and the Parking Clerk uh appear before us uh to explain the parking study results and I would still like to have this uh 15 minute thing uh considered this will remain in committee calendar item number 16 motion presented by councelor Hero that the city council refer the following proposed ordinance to The Climate sustainability and Workforce subcommittee for further discussion an ordinance creating stronger jobs for Rivier residents and improving the well-being of R's Working Families what is your will counselor Mr President I think uh we could keep this in committee for now I got to talk to some of the residents at this will stay in committee calendar item number 17 motion presented by council president C Leandro that the city council discussed the city's street sweeping program including fees scheduling and any other potential changes permission to speak from the chair place on file calendar item number 18 this is a presentation by the chief of planning and Community Development and Jason shriber of stantech on the Broadway Corridor parking study quite the presentation good evening sir name and address please good evening Tom scy 281 Broadway as councilor agenzio mentioned we spoke uh earlier this afternoon and now that the study's done and was you know presented to the Council on a busy Council night um after a lot of public hearings with National Grid um where we didn't get a chance for a lot of Q&A um we'll have a opportunity at an upcoming legislative affairs meeting to talk about both that and how that aligns with the um motion put forward about the 15minute grace periods and look forward to presenting that to the subcommittee in the near future Mr President thank you very much councelor y uh if it's if it's amendable to councelor AR jeno just because I believe this motion on the 15minute grace perod is in economic development that we put this in Economic Development and have the conversation at the same time yep that's fine with me so motion to move this to Economic Development Economic Development Communications calendar item number 19 communication from the city auditor requesting recessions of prior year borrowing authorizations good evening sir name and address for the record please good evening everybody Richard viske 21 Broadway City CFO um in preparation for um the large High School uh project uh the city treasurer and myself uh called through all of the approved borrowings over the years that have uh been on the books for a while these are projects that at Once Upon a Time this Council has authorized for uh borrowing and um projects have been completed we've borrowed the money that we need to borrow for these projects and these authorizations are basically uh allow me to borrow more money against those projects but since they're all completed this is a way to resend the borrowing authorization for upwards of uh 20 I think it's 20 $2.4 million so really um it's just a way to clean up the book so that when we go to bond for our future projects that we won't show that we have this kind of credit line outstanding here and it's really putting a wrap on a bunch of old projects most of which are um the uh the trust for the consent degree a lot of the borrowings if we borrow if we authorize 10 million or1 million and the Project's coming at 8 or9 million we have that author uh authorization on the books and we're just really looking to clean it up and have a nice clean slate for um calendar year 2025 so I did put an attachment with the memo um with the letter that shows all the projects and I'm happy to try to answer any questions but again this is really a a house cleaning for uh Debt Service for the city thank you thank you very much any counselors Madam clerk let's take the role shall the city council resend the borrowing authorization amounts identify on the November 24 authorized an unissued debt to resend schedule as they are no longer needed for the projects for which they were authorized councelor agenzio yes yes councel janino yes yes councelor Gino SAA yes yes councel H yes yes councelor Haro yes yes councel Kelly yes yes councel McKenna yes yes councel noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes Council zambo yes yes and council president Cog vandro yes yes the bond Rec order has been approved calendar item number 20 communication from the city auditor requesting reallocate reallocation of unexpended bond proceeds in the amount of 2 2,347 3 Mr CFO good evening again Richard viske CFO 21 Broadway this is a bit different this is actual debt that has been issued and bond proceeds are in our accounts however these projects are also deemed completed so what this body would need to do this is similar to a a uh reauthorizing debt that was for one particular project that we'd like to use towards other similar scope projects and when I say similar scope I mean projects that can be bonded for an equal amount of time for the original Bond so for example if we uh sold 20-year notes for a building project we couldn't use that money to buy vehicles or do other things that would otherwise be a five or 10 year amotization so working with uh Bond Council and the financial advisors there are three different projects that um have been completed and money remains in these projects that we are looking to allocate and what we try to do is come up with the broadest language possible um to utilize These funds these are all long-term 20e bonds and the the three um um current capital projects that we are um involved in right now to spend this money would be uh drainage systems at the mcmacken field uh construction of the McKinley building and otherwise any public drainage infrastructure projects throughout the city um since these uh dollars have been borrowed and the projects completed it's been advised that we spend these dollars first kind of a first in first out method so um the three projects identified are active projects right now and what we are looking to do with is um reallocate those Bond proceeds from the old projects to these new project um I do believe that this does need a public he and and the same procedures that we would do for a bond authorization so I don't think we can act on this tonight but happy to answer any questions on those proceeds and and and the game plan on on using them thank you thank you very much any counselors this will be referred to a public hearing on December 16th thank you calendar item number 21 communication from the chief of planning and Community Development requesting adoption of the city's housing production plan good evening everybody it's me again Tom Kowski 281 Broadway I'm excited to talk with you today about our housing production plan I'm joined here by Noah Harper from JM Goldson our consultant than been working with us on this project and Lorena escalera Community Development planner who uh was hoping to get an HDMI hookup so we could get the presentation oh thank you um and as they're working through the technical aspects here I'll just note um this has been a about an 18-month process we've been working on that is um included a number of community meetings and uh an extensive Community survey process where we sought to get um feedback from residents in the community about the creation of this housing production plan we're also supported in this work by an HPP working group which was a number of you know volunteer um rev residents and stakeholders who were committed to doing this work some of whom are here with us tonight if you're part of that working group if you could raise your hand so appreciate the support of those who were in The working group and then representing the council we had councilors McKenna Sylvester and Haro joining us um from the council side appreciate everybody's work in this um it's you know certainly a better end product as we're all doing it together with the more input we had from the residents and the community so ultimately what we're going to present tonight is really a road map for building the right kind of Housing and the right location across all income spectrums and in a way that can help us proactively manage our growth as a community I'm look forward to talking through the goals and the strategies of of of this plan but for now I'm going to kick it off uh to to Noah to get us started good evening uh Noah Harper with JM Goldson I'm a housing focused planner and have been lucky to have the the privilege of working on this plan for the last 15 months uh with with uh the city wanted to talk briefly about what a housing production plan is what it includes housing needs assessment which is a lot of data stuff that really confirms what we're all seeing and experiencing right now with high housing costs and so many people struggling to make ends meet then we'll go into the goals and strategies the most interesting part of the plan I think and and Tom will kick that off with Lena um just to really briefly say what is an HPP a housing production plan this is a state created program that essentially uh once it's approved by the state it can help um to mitigate 40b projects as one of the most practical uh applications of it and what that means is if you're under 10% of your subsidized housing inventory your affordable units you can use this as a way to uh to have a little more leeway in saying what projects are permitted in town or in city excuse me um but I like to think of it also as a way to have a really constructive Community conversation about what what revier should look like in the next five years to hear about how people are struggling uh what the opportunities are and work together to find some common common opportunities to to make housing more affordable and it's been just a pleasure working in the city over the last year so we've done a survey we've done Community forums we've had a lot of great input and and gotten to hear from folks firsthand uh about the housing crisis that we're all dealing with today so in inside the housing production plan there's a lot of charts and graphs a lot of uh data but also some thought on what are the constraints to development the environmental factors zoning comes up quite often I'll just preview that and also what are the local uh organizations local Staffing local government that's able to work on problems and and how can we get f folks to work together uh maybe more collaborative and strategic ways and and a lot of this community engagement that we worked on just wanted to pull out two quick graphs we said what are the pressures that are really making you think about leaving Riv number one mortgage and rent we heard that over and over again the cost of ownership the cost of rent is just too high um and then also hearing what are the pressing housing challenges there aren't a lot of starter homes it's really hard as a 27-year-old I'm I'm not see any starter homes and it makes me question is is am I going to be able to stay in the region long term also market rate housing when we talk about affordable housing I think there's a different definition for everyone uh capitally affordable that's deed restricted but also housing that is Affordable to a lot of folks and just hearing that there are not a lot of options on the market today every year the Boston Foundation puts out the Greater Boston Housing report card and and we see these Trends over and over again we we see that folks are aging household size are shrinking we're not making enough housing vacancy rates are high and Home Ownership is declining so with all of that sort of uh setting the stage for the goals and strategies that we worked on with uh with Tom and Lena I'll invite Tom up here thank you Noah so um before we get into the six goals and the strategies throughout them I want to tell you a little bit about why I think we need to have an HPP and why we decided to do one here in the city so first and foremost like no one mention and I won't belabor the point the Safe Harbor status is the statutory reason why we'd want to get a housing production plan approved um and you know that's certainly a a goal but I would say it's really a secondary one to the other critical components of this we looked at this as a way to effectively manage our growth and and proactively as a city so if we want to continue our upward trajectory as a city if we want to continue to build new school buildings if if we want to continue to support our teachers our firefighters our police officers if we want to continue to um support our growing senior population in the city growth is necessary for all of those things and in order to do it the question really is how are we going to do it effectively um this also will help us serve resident basic needs so in the housing production plan it stated that our median household income is $74,000 that means more or less the average person in R is eligible for affordable housing so um you know that was certainly borne out in the survey data that showed over 60% of the people that own a home today in rier that took that survey over 60% of them said they could not buy that same home today if they were in the same position and um you know so we're really meeting residents where they are in the city and looking both rentals and affordability on the home ownership side and and serving our basic needs but I also think a housing production plan can be about more than that too um it can stimulate Economic Development as well so um a lot of times in my field we talk about economic development on the one hand and housing on the other hand and it's as if they're two separate items altoe but I would argue you know to all of you tonight that they're in inextricably linked and I think the Shirley Avenue neighborhood is a great example of that a place where we've seen some pretty aggressive housing growth in the last decade and Beyond and that has led to a revital revitalized neighborhood um and improved economic conditions improved small business um and just generally creating a better place to live work and play in the Shirley Avenue neighborhood and that's because you know housing and economic development really are linked and I think as we're looking at Future coridor such as Broadway and the Broadway Master planning work that we've done um we've talked a lot about the linkages between housing and economic development I think that's critical um the next one is to mitigate traffic and I'm sure a lot of heads will turn when they see it because they think well Tom whenever we talk about housing the first concern we have is traffic um and I hear you loud and clear it was the number one concern in the uh next St R master plan that we put together um but here's the thing we need teachers in our schools we need folks in City Hall keeping the lights on making sure that this City's running well we need people at Logan Airport um TSA workers we need people at our restaurants are our line Cooks we need people providing critical services in both the city and in the region and the question is do we want them driving from New Hampshire or the further up the NorthShore or do we want folks living closer to where they work and I would argue to you if we're looking at building the right housing in the right locations we can help mitigate some of those traffic impacts because Rivier is a cut through from a lot of people coming up from Points North through both to Riv for jobs and into Boston and I think if we can do a better job of locating housing that is Affordable for those workers we can mitigate some of those traffic issues and I know it's a bit counterintuitive but I think it's important to recognize and then finally it can enhance our economic competitiveness and I I know you hear about this a lot um the governor um the Secretary of Housing and livable communities at Augustus has mentioned time and time again you've seen it on news stories about we are losing our young people every day um as they're leaving to jobs in more affordable parts of the country whether they're going you know to the South or or otherwise where they're looking for a more affordable way to raise a family this is not just um a news story this is not just a data point in a in a survey but it's also personal um and actually Lorraine escaler Our Community Development planner just last week put her two weeks in because she's moving to Texas because that's a more affordable place to raise a family um and to start you know we talked a lot about starter homes and and the American dream I heard that from Mr parci Alle um and I I promise you this wasn't theatrically timed for the presentation of the housing production plan and we're really um bummed to be losing Lorena because she's done amazing work both in the housing field and as a conservation agent for the city but this is you know as an employer here at the city this is a challenge I face on a regular basis trying to keep good talented young people in the city um and you know in 2016 when I bought a home um was just a kid fresh out of grad school working in a nonprofit my wife was a teacher uh we you know made an investment in a two two family uh we one unit in a two family and um that was our American Dream um and I think looking to today I couldn't have done that in this current environment on the salary that I had and our young people are facing that challenge on a daily basis as our folks further on in the Spectrum to to they're looking to age in place and it's becoming increasingly unaffordable for um folks of all ages so I would argue to you that it's also critical for our economic competitiveness to remain relevant and remain competitive as both a city and a region that we need to find housing options that can support our workers um in in the city and Beyond so um let get off my soap box for a minute um and get to the fiveyear goals that we put together there related to to preservation stability wealth building naturally occurring affordable housing Stock Supply building more housing and then location building housing in the right locations if you're following Along on R TV you can go to r.org projects and planning initiatives and we have a link for the housing production plan draft right there for you and I would direct your attention to chapter two that's really where the rubber hits the road as we talk about the goals and the strategies so first goal is really about preserving deed restricted affordable housing um that's safe accessible sorry Tom he to interrupted can you just repeat that real quick I was writing that there where to find it online um all right so if you go to the the top tab I think says Business Development and then you you click that and go to projects and planning initiatives and I believe it's the first item um is our housing production plan draft and then from there you'll want to go to chapter two um goals strategy IES and action items and that's really where we get into the details of this plan you're welcome so yes um not too much longer yeah it will go to zoning okay unless there's any objection when he's finished I'd like to put it in the zoning so Mr President also uh is there a zoning change on the matter should it go to Economic Development and councelor there are some zoning issues in this right in terms of um relieving some zoning requirements and things like that would that would be there are zoning pertinent items here would say are these zoning recommendations or these zoning changes that you're proposing um it includes recommendations but no actual changes will be voted on and and I guess preface this by saying we have the goals and the strategies but then all these strategies individually would need to get approved by the council at a later date even if in when hopefully this housing production plan is adopted but is does adopting the plan me that the things come into effect adopting the plan only adopts this is a road map where we have a menu of different Strat actual zoning changes we're not legally compelled to adopt any of these strategies that would all come in a future meeting with the council so just discussing so I would motion after Mr Tom Tom sorry Tom um for it to go to so once once Mr scosi is finished we'll we'll discuss where we'd like to put a counselor okay thank you got it all right I'm reading the room so I'll get a move on it um stability is all about protecting low to moderate income renters and vulnerable populations from displacement and discrimination goal three is about wealth building um offering affordable home ownership opportunities not just to income eligible residents but again the missing middle and just people across the income spectrum that are struggling to find home ownership opportunities in the city um naturally occurring affordable housing stocks so preventing the displacement of load to moderate income renters by stabilizing market rate homes with blow Market rents and Supply is really about building uh leave it at that and location building in the right locations so in that chapter 2 we have a series of strategies and I'll run through these quickly because these are just the highlights I think some of the most important ones um zoning reform is one of them it recommends we reform our zoning to support housing production um by doing things such as reducing minimum lot sizes permitting zero lot Line Construction in the right locations allowing two and three families by right in residential districts minimizing or eliminating off- street parking requirements near Transit and adopting inclusionary zoning um I'll just say on this map here here you you see all of those Parcels are Parcels in which a structure exists today that would not be permitted by zoning as it stands so the majority of our Parcels in the city are actually non-compliant with our zoning because they were built in a time before more restrictive zoning was was placed in the city so um in order to allow that missing middle housing we really do need to be a little bit more aggressive in zoning um reform that it also uh looks at adopting inclusionary zoning requirements and Lorena can just touch on that very brief um so the main point that I want to drive here is that R's former proposal back in 2022 fit in well with the surrounding context of the need um in the inner core communities such as Malden and Chelsea their I requires that 15% of the total development units be set aside for affordable housing um and we were under um that requirement at 12% so why I won't be able to see the outcome of the second iteration of The Proposal I'm feeling very out optimistic um that the this plan will lead us in the right direction and it's been really special and fulfilling to be part of the project team thank you thank you Lorena um and you know I I again this would take a another Council vote on inclusionary zoning um I know last time it was a bit of a take it or leave it policy and I think this time around I want to have a conversation with the council that um you know hopefully look forward to adopting something like this and Loren has done some great ground work looking at existing communities and we can talk about that later and appreciate her work here um the community preservation act it looks at adopting the CPA to unlock funds for affordable housing community preservation act can um fund affordable housing open space and Recreation and historic preservation um it's a search charge uh that needs to be approved by a um vote of the the residents in the city it also includes matching support from the state and matching support that currently we're missing out on um 196 of the 251 Community or 351 in the Commonwealth have it today um under utilized sites it recommends we partner with our rever housing authority to redevelop under utiliz sites they're actually working on that right now with the Housing Authority Dean Harris and his team are doing great work um and the the coolage and Constitution a properties they actually have an RFP out for a master plan now um and we're partnering with them on uh working through that process and then utilizing tax title Parcels for affordable housing you'll be seeing that in the new year as a proposal coming from my office promoting housing production supporting existing 40-hour smart growth districts the two that we have in the city um through creative tools and incentives to make the numbers work like the Housing Development incentive program which is the next item on the agenda um stabilizing existing affordable housing through things I'll talk about at um the subcommittee meeting frankly um but there's a variety of different tools we can use and then Transportation demand management so um we want to look to adopt some aggressive strategies to create um you know an objective policy that requires developers to provide transportation options for residents so if we're going to say you don't need parking okay well how are people going to get around and and this is a a strategy that ever at Boston and others have adopted to create a more comprehensive look at Transportation mitigation in the city um and those are just a few of them again the rest of them are in Chapter 2 uh hopefully you guys can get a chance to read through it and I'm happy to answer any questions now or between now and uh the next committee meeting I'm always here thank you Tom councelor Kelly thank you Mr President um could you speak a little bit about um the right of first refusal mentioned [Music] so this was um there there's a few different ways it can operate but a community like Salem for example um offered Property Owners um the chance to sell to the city a right of first refusal I think you know property owners could sell it for a few thousand dollars where the city would have the opportunity to be the first um party to purchase a property with maybe the intent of restricting it for deed restricted affordability so um it's it's still a new tool but an opportunity to take a property before it goes on to the market and you know a lot of the housing we have in the city that's affordable today isn't actually deed restricted it's just cheap so this could be used as a tool to keep housing cheap um for those residents in the median income here in the city that um need affordable housing to live here and is is Salem to your knowledge the only U municipality that is um acting on this to our knowledge yes there there was a bill going through the State House called tenant opportunity Purchase Act topa um that was similar but I think Salem is the only one I'm aware of that's done this and with these rights of first refusal pertaining to these properties be designated to certain areas I know you put that map up um and that look like a Citywide um initiative is this going to be designated in certain areas of the city or Citywide or well we I guess be the second community in the Commonwealth adopting it so we could create a set of standards and how and where we wanted to look at it but I think in Salem it was Citywide so anyone that wanted to opt in any property owner would sell that first refusal right and then the city could decide if they wanted to purchase it or if it could go to the open market and then if it were to be purchased all of these um initiatives that are outlined in Chapter 2 um one of them I don't know if you touched on but I saw something that was a sharable unit a sharable you know kitchens and bathrooms and things like that that would be okay no required parking lot to lot line building all of that would be in effect correct well I think in this case if the city exercised Its Right of first refusal if the provided the property owner sold it to us and we exercised our right we would decide what would happen with any given property um I don't think it's a I wouldn't assume that all of those things would happen it might just be if we have a single family home that's affordable we um bought the right of first refusal we decide to purchase the property and the housing um trust fund might then just sell it for affordable home ownership I understand but they would be options all the options would be on the table correct options that would then be subject to a public vote yes thank you thank you counselor before uh one moment I just want to remind everyone there was no public comment at this point in the meeting thank you councilor sylvestri thank you Mr President and Tom thank you very much um I I have to say you know the last time that we made um a push for for this plan I I think it was um done in too small of a group behind too too many closed doors there wasn't enough input put into it I don't think you were here at that point um so I'm glad to see you here I really think that we need input from development Realtors residents and and we really need to to to make this happen this time because we we have evidence here you know everyone hears uh affordability or low income and they think that it's uh all the poorest of the poor and and and it's going to run down the neighborhood and and it's it's not the truth we got people making 70 $80,000 that can't afford to live in our city and that's a problem we need to fix that we need a comprehensive plan and thank you for putting this together however I can help let me know thank you appreciate it thank you counselor councelor H thank you Mr President first off Tom and Lorena thank you so much for your work on this and Loren good luck thanks for all you did for the city but I think this is a huge huge step in the right direction there was a lot to unpack in the um in the in the packet but there was a lot of great stuff stuff that we've never really touched on here before um and I think the loss of The Disappearance of the starter home is probably one of the most troubling things I've seen the last few years um you take a young couple single single person wants to move into R like counselor VRI said makes 80 grand they can't afford one of these houses that are up for 700 Grand 800 Grand then you factor in housing for seniors senior um housing for Veterans uh we have a big issue here you know it's it's throughout Massachusetts but it's Rivier has a huge issue trying to keep R people in R and like you touched on we're us we're losing young people and young professionals every day and um if there's anything we can do to help or look at or add to this feel free to let us know thank you thank you thank you councelor councelor yo uh Tom well uh thank you so much for your commitment to this work uh you Claire and the entire team over there uh I also see mimim from the uh the planning board here as well um you know uh it's so important that we've done this work because R desperately needs Workforce housing um and we are pricing out our own f folks right I think you mentioned earlier how we are having folks drive from you know driving through River to go to Boston uh and how that creates traffic of course the data supports that those longer uh trips uh are what create congestion right and if we're creating Housing close to to workplaces then we can hopefully reduce that congestion on that front um Additionally you know uh work force housing is about keeping our community how we have it our grandchildren our children are having to move out of this city because they can no longer afford to live here so when folks talk about affordable housing and you know we have developers we had developers here earlier and counselors um particularly our W counselors who have uh a lot of we on this uh have conversations with developers about a project in their and their Ward um and they're asking for affordable housing they're not asking for a unit that's $1,000 or two-bedroom they're asking for you know a a reduction uh so that our community can stay together because we are having a drain brain here it has it is deeply tied to the housing to the housing crisis here in Massachusetts and so this plan is such a glimmer of hope um and I'm so happy that we we've gotten to work on this together uh and to and I've been able to witness this um because we are losing not just our community but we're also missing out on Working Families who want to stay here and grow a family here uh but just can't afford it here uh and we've proud proud at ourselves of having generation after generation of R residents live here for a long time uh we're losing that fabric because um not everyone can afford a home especially not when they're starting out so I'm glad that this also helps address this um and we do need to keep communities together even if they will never afford a home and I think that a lot of the things that you mentioned today will be able to do that for workers Working Families right um unfortunately not everyone can make um six figure figure salaries and they too deserve to live in this city um and you know so really really U hopeful that our um that this this has been presented and and God speed on this and I will motion again to so that this goes to the economic development committee Mr President does anyone have any opposition to putting this into Economic Development subcommittee I I only because it has so much to do with zoning I agree with you councelor thank you we take a vote so we have a motion on the floor to put this into the economic development subcommittee uh we're going to have to take a roll call on that to send the housing City's housing production plan to Economic Development councelor agenzio yes yes councelor janino yes yes councelor greo SAA yes yes councelor H yes yes councelor hero yes yes councelor Kelly no no councel McKenna yes yes councel noeli yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes Council zambuto absent and council president CAG Leandro no no this uh uh the housing production plan will be sent to Economic Development Economic Development calendar item number 22 communication from the chief of planning and Community Development relative to Housing Development zones good evening it's me again um I am going to be brief this time I promise so this is getting referred to a public Hearing in December at a date which I'll defer to the city clerk on but um this is for the creation of a Housing Development incentive program Zone actually a few of them in the city this is a tool specifically reserved for Gateway cities to promote housing production it's a two-tiered tool the first tier tier is a tax increment exemption often known as a tiff by many um that then unlocks what is really the most important tool which is the state tax credit up to $2 million for larger housing projects so it's a critical um piece of the puzzle for both um with regard to stuff suffect downs but also stimulating development in the two smart growth districts we approved just a year ago um in by this body so we want to promote more smart growth in the right locations and there a good tool to help us do that we'll talk more about it in December thank you uh this is going to a public hearing and also we're going to refer this to zoning calendar item number 23 communication from the mayor relative to the 2024 toys for tickets amnesty program mayor uh Sor oh sorry director babo sorry got a little shorter sorry about that good evening council president fellow councelors I know it's been a long night so I'll try to keep this brief um this is a program that the parking department has been doing for about four years now um each year we run an amnesty program where for about a month spin we collect a toy donation um and we take off about $30 in fees for a ticket um it's a great program we've been running for about four years um over the last year we were able to donate over 200 toys to the r Public Schools it helps make a difference in a young kid's life and it helps um for somebody who may have a park in violation this time of year it helps them take off additional funds allows us to provide somebody with a good Christmas um happy to answer any questions the council may have Council Gino SAA Zach thank you for putting this together this is a great program and um I'll be glad to donate whatever you need thank you I'm happy um the city had done this before I had took one with the Department I love being a part of this each and every year Christmas is a special time for me anything that we can do to help make somebody's Christmas very meaningful I think councilor Gino saai is just saying she has outstanding parking tickets so no on the on the communication all in favor all opposed so ordered thank you calendar item number 24 motion presented by Council janino that the city council award a certificate of Merit to firefighter Lewis J ivine in recognition of his retirement after 39 years of commendable public service at Central fire station lder Company 2 protecting and serving the residents of the city of Rivier councelor Janina have a comment for the night of the citation I'm fight fight iine spent 40 years on Broadway did a good job for the city thank you counselor all in favor all opposed so ordered calendar item number 25 motion presented by councelor greo SAA that the mayor be requested to make arrangements with parking control or the police department to temporarily designate all parking spaces in front of the Paul Rivier school as handicapped parking spaces during elections to provide easier in-person voting voting access for disabled indiv individuals councelor Gino SAA It should read traffic commission not parcking control um I received a phone call during this past election of a woman who was we wheelchair Brown and she could not get into the r um the Paul rier school to go vote out because there was no handicap parking outside there's only I guess two spots and the rest were taken by the people who are working the bake sale and she said it it just took her way too long to actually go in there and vote and it kind of like make makes her feel like she does not have that same opportunity that we all have to vote so what I was thinking is perhaps doing all the spots that are in front of that Paul Paul Rivier school all designated as handicapped just for election days and I know we would have to go through the school department as well because it's school property um it would benefit all the voters that have disabilities um we would have to go through the I guess the Ada to make sure that it's ADA Compliant and and all that other stuff uh temporary signage whatever we can whatever committee you think would be best to send this to I would say traffic um I would appreciate it thank you councelor councilor jinao I I know in the past we had situations similar to this here and the city put up temporary signs they they were they were more or less non- enforceable to advise people that they sports for for Han people I mean we could possibly to trat to the um Election Commission with the temporary signs again I know the will me the wheel School same problem I had four Sports up front and CS par there elderly people hand people the parking down back walking up with the temporary signs they says they put them up front they advise people give the spot to somebody else and mve on and there no no um rules being changed in it just advisory thank you counselor on the motion all in favor all opposed so ordered uh quickly I'd like to reconsider uh number 21 line item 21 uh it's been brought to my attention by the clerk that excuse me 22 rather that the uh the uh City's housing production plan and the Housing Development zones need to go to the same subcommittee uh so what I would like to do is either reconsider the vote to send it to Economic Development uh that would be my recommendation because one of them is dealing with actual zoning changes uh I would so they both have to go to the same subcommittee we can't separate them and I would defer to a zoning issues I don't want a zoning issue in Economic Development that's just my two cents on it it's up to the counil either two theel right that's that's the decision whether it was a roll call vote to to do that um where is oh that'll take forever to meet if we do a joint subcommittee it would this this whatever meeting this is this would take place on December 16th prior to the public hear right we have an issue Council yo I just wanted to I'm glad you're back councelor McKenna uh we're going back to the housing production plan and the Housing Development zones uh issues they both have to go to the same subcommittee they can't be separated can but if everything is to happen on the 16th gotcha so for timing purposes they have to go to the same subcommittee um so the question is do we send them both to Economic Development or do we send them both to zoning and in my opinion we cannot send zoning issues to another we could do a joint motion to do a joint committee so we will send both of these to a joint Economic Development and Zoning subcommittee uh Mr President counselor I I thought we went through this before that we couldn't do joint subcommittees that who chairs it who would we can it's just timing wise it's okay I'm making I'm making a decision you guys can overrule me if you would like we're going to send this to the committee of the whole thank both of them all in favor all opposed I uh calendar item number 26 motion presented by councelor greo SAA that the mayor request DCR to enhance safety and traffic control on Rivier Beach Boulevard by implementing the following one increase state police presence requesting that the state police regularly Patrol Rivier Beach to help ensure Public Safety two speed calming measures implementing additional measures to reduce vehicle speeds potentially including physical road sign I'm sorry Road design changes or sign adjustments three blinking warning lights installing blinking lights along Rivier Beach to increase awareness and caution for drivers especially at pedestrian Crossings or areas with high foot traffic and four additional speed limit signs adding more speed limit signage to clearly indicate safe driving speeds and remind drivers to slow down as they approach the beach area councilor Gino SAA thank you Mr President after meeting with several senior constituents who reside along Riva Beach I would like to emphasize the urgent need to enhance the safety and traffic control measures along Riva Beach Boulevard um the traffic is horrific trying to get from one end of Rivier to to the other end of Rivier uh the community is really concerned about the safety and the speeding Vehicles as well as the pedestrians who are at risk um this must be addressed promptly and and I know the city of Rivier has very little to do with it that it has to go to um DCR but I I need them to come up in front of of the council I need some type of measure to be taken to to be taken into consideration here um it's just to ensure the well-being of the residents and the and the visitors along Rivier Beach and I've brought this up before but again nothing has been done so whatever we can do as a council to get DCR to move their butt on this honestly this is what we need to do thank you so much thank you counselor uh if you want someone to come before us wouldn't we would have to word it in the motion that way so instead maybe um do you want to modify it or that we request um we can modify it by saying that we request DCR to come in front of the council to address the concerns of the residents along Rivier Beach Boulevard you want to take the rest of the language out no you can leave it all in so then that the mayor request DCI to appear before the council and to enhance safety and traffic Etc okay let me know impr on the motion as amended all in favor all opposed so ordered uh calendar item number 27 motion presented by councilor green OAA that the May request the DCR or DPW to assess and if necessary remove the brush and other combustible vegetation from the area directly behind 350 Rivier Beach Boulevard to mitigate fire risk further that the DCR or DPW be requested to implement a regular maintenance schedule for this area to prevent future buildup of brush and ensure ongoing safety for residents in this area Council Gino SAA following a meeting with residents of St George this has been a really big concern to them this whole year they said that years ago last year the year before years before that the city always took care of the brush behind St George um I'm not sure if it belongs to the city or to DC I need some type of mitigation work um to be done on this to find out who actually does the cleanup behind there but the brush is very high they did send me some pictures from behind the house so I can look at it and and something needs to be done in order to help them they're afraid of the rodents and they're also afraid of um fires thank you thank you councelor councilor McKenna I just want to uh give some uh history that uh Donnie chamela about three or four years ago got goats to come in and eat and they did a great job the goats but uh it was a lot of work for him I know they had to get a trailer and but the goats did uh eat that whole APLE in within a week so thank you on the motion all in favor all opposed calendar item number 28 motion presented by council president C Leandro that the mayor request the city planner to draft a zoning ordinance establishing food truck use by right in the HB District by establishing zoning regulations and minimum requirements for this use food truck operators would be able to apply to the License Commission subject to by the site plan review committee to operate a food truck on private property within the HB District permission to speak from the chair uh I I think that there are some areas in the city that are located in the HB District that would be utilized for something like a a food truck area specifically for me I'm thinking about the soio the old soio lot in Rivier I would love to see multiple food trucks in there to just give it some sort of look because it is so ugly and I have no idea what the property owners are doing with that property it is just it's been wide open since the fire we all remember the fire uh I would love to see something go there um instead of it be sold to the highest bidder for now I mean uh that's that's my two cents anyone else councelor sylvestri uh thank you Mr President actually they have a um that exact idea in Middleton it's a really cool place it's it's got a lot of play uh food trucks different of all different things barbecue Seafood little play area for for children um it's like a drivein food truck area so I love the idea and by making it an ordinance we'll have the opportunity to craft how many and whatnot so anyone else on the motion oh Council I was gonna say this is a great idea thank you thank you very much on the motion all in favor all opposed calendar item number 29 motion presented by council president colandro that the mayor investigate additional ways to communicate with our sen senior citizens about the senior water discount applications and yearly renewal periods many seniors were unaware they needed to reapply or apply by a certain date permission to speak from the chair uh this was brought about by receiving multiple phone calls from Seniors that did not have an opportunity to learn about the uh the Water rate discount or the application process specifically one one resident uh who is in and out of the hospital for treatment that I felt very badly for um so and I've talked to the mayor about this and they are going to I know that they do have a lot of communication about this they they have put in the paper it's you know it's been posted uh but the mayor said they are going to investigate ways uh to reach out to more of the senior citizens and regard to this any other counselors sir name and address for the record please uh Tom trainer business manager DPW 319 charger Street um Council the U program is the uh water discount program uh for the seniors which is an outstanding program um we we put out advertisement and let people know in the journal um in our websites TP w website as well as on local TV um we have Flyers down at the senior center uh we have flyers in the uh in City Hall um so any um any input anything from the council from anyone to better this um way to communicate to the seniors because it's a great program for the seniors it runs from uh March 1st to September 1st uh you do have to apply in person and one of the things um Council that you did mention uh there was confusion if the uh seniors do have to apply in person they do uh and then another thing was do they have to apply every year uh and yes they do and and what the confusion on that last that second piece was there was a um program with the assessor's office where whether it was a credit or uh some tax relief where that group of names were automatically pushed to the water sewer department and then they automatically were put in if they were eligible uh for the discount uh so maybe that's where that came from with um applying that we would have their names automatically the next year but as it stands now March 1st to September 1st um you have to be 65 or older um by the time the uh calendar year expires um let me see some of my notes here oh uh this year we did uh process and approve 1,06 applicants um and and part of the reason you know not to go here there I know you want me to be brief um but part of um part of the reason we and we don't want to refuse anyone we don't want to push anyone away is the timing of it it's it's always after September 1st and we've had people come October 1st we have to process these um and it takes a while for the staff to process them and then they have to be um represented on the third quarter uh water bill and that's where the discount would show so that's the part that I mean I I know it threw a lot out there but um it's March 1st to September 1st and 65 are older you do have to apply in person um and as far as our um I guess advertising for the program uh any input is welcome may I ask a couple of questions where do they have to apply where do they physically oh I'm I'm sorry yeah in person 319 charges street so the the DPW the new DBW yeah they can get their applications anywhere or online and are there any reasons other than age that someone would be denied this program no because um well if if the if you're not or occupied in the building I should shouldn't have said no so quickly you you have to um owner occupy in the building and the building has to be a uh single a double a three family so anything larger than that you know you wouldn't uh you wouldn't um be covered but the minimum is uh 10% um discount for consumption over 70,000 gallons so councilor McKenna thank you Mr President is there a um uh salary fee that you have to you know a certain amount of money that you you can't uh qualify for this I no no okay it's all based on consumption okay thanks councilor Gina SAA just have a quick question is this inserted in their um water bill is there like an insert in the water bill sent out to the residents that not not at this time well I think that would be a good idea so whenever the water bill comes out a stepbystep insert to let everybody know how they can apply and that is it's a yearly thing good point yeah that's a great point thank you counselor counselor H thank you Mr President Tom Debbie thanks so much for being here I've seen the ads um the TV spots the only thing I can think of other than what councelor greo sa had mentioned is maybe having an information um seminar at the senior center maybe once or twice you know before the program kicks off and that's something I know Debbie you've done before with um the assessor's office and things like that but maybe that could be another way to reach the seniors thank you I agree with you and you know cuz you've been there we we've invited them to come the other problem counselors is that obviously we have the Tom with water we have the assesses department and we have the senior work off of batement so there's a bunch of programs it's different ages it's different qualifications and we try to get them out to the seniors but I love that idea of putting in uh the the tax you the water uh bill which Ryan listen we love our seniors well listen I I sincerely oh I'm so sorry no no problem councelor renzio thank you uh thank you Mr trainer and de um one of the things uh if you can improve upon I know when they do get this rebate and they get their bill it's really not uh in black and white on the bill where that if if the discount happened so I know there was a lot of confusion um the discounts were given out this last bill but seniors don't see it uh in black and white on that bill so if if maybe a Improvement on the billing system so they can see I saved $80 I saved $100 it's you have to do a lot of math to figure out if you got this uh rebate or not so uh maybe if that could be improved yeah this this past um billing SE we actually had a problem with the um the print and that's something that we'll deal with internally but you're absolutely right the uh there was nothing on there but that was a a printing issue we were aware of that and um going forward we we understood that there be we got a lot of phone calls because of the confusion um no one wants to pick up their water bill and and wonder if they got something and so yeah we we understand that thank you thank you counselor any other counselors and I I just want to thank both of you were coming I didn't know you were coming I really appreciate that and I just want to state that I do know that we do loow a lot of Outreach but our seniors are still they're they're not looking into it so we got to be creative and if it comes down to me hand delivering things to my wood three residents I you guys know I will so um on the motion all in favor all opposed so ordered calendar item number 30 motion presented by Council noeli that the Rivier city council present certificates of appreciation to the following individuals for their upkeep and continuous maintenance of rumney marish Baran grounds for the past several years Bill REI Tom Sullivan Tony kacha and Lenny bonasoro councilor noveli thank you Mr President Mr President these guys do a great job and I'll hold uh most of my comments until with presentation thank you on the motion I'll in favor all opposed so ordered calendar item number 31 motion presented by councilors sylvestri and noveli that the city council adopt a section of the heroes act which allows municipalities to double the property tax abatement for disabled veterans councilor sylvestri uh thank you Mr President and um in discussing this with the clerk um I found out that the mayor's office has already accepted um and has approved the the doubling of this um where I would like to put in a substitute motion um by both sylvestri and novas sski that the city council accept mgl chapter 59 Section 5 Clause 221 which would adjust the veterans exemptions amounts annually based on the increase in the cost of living as determined by the Consumer Price Index for each year [Music] uh Council council noeli did you want to say anything no that covers it thank okay so I think because the city's doing this we're just going to place this on file councilor sylvestri yep place on file as a and then the substitute motion so let's vote on The Substitute motion all favor all opposed all right so ordered place on file can I take a moment of personal approve no you can do it at the end of the meeting we we got one de we have one more yeah calendar item number 32 motion presented by councelor sylvestri noas salski that the mayor request the veteran service office to provide an informational document and host an evening for veterans and their families for the purpose of explaining all the details and benefits of the heroes act the most comprehensive veterans Bill signed into law in the history of Massachusetts councilor sylvestri thank you Mr President uh Mr President there are just uh so much in this in this comprehensive legislation um things that are so much more of AET veterans small businesses hiring a veteran that's in low income it's it's $2,500 tax credit so I think a a evening that brings the the community together that really explains the intricacies of of this legislation would really help thank you thank you councelor councel noveli thank you Mr President Mr President uh you know I agree with councelor sylvestri and I want to thank him for including me on this these things and everybody knows that veterans are both about hearts and we want to do anything we can to uh make things good for them so I thank you and uh let's move on thank you counselor on the motion all in favor all opposed so voted may I take a moment of personal privilege I think we should take a roll call on that councilor Gino S I would just like to wish everyone in the city of Rivier a very Happy Thanksgiving thank you with that said there is no further business the next meeting is December 9th have a great night everybody --------- ##VIDEO ID:L12e_iqciGc## good afternoon everyone I'd like to call the legislative affairs subcommittee to order please join me in a salute to the flag Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for IT stand [Music] indis andice for all thank you rooll CL of the members councel greo SAA here here councelor hero here here councel Kelly here here councel sylvestri here here in chairman Areno here here Quorum is present we have three items on tonight's on tonight's agenda the first being an ordinance um establishing a program to divert waste landfills and incinerators to offset waste disposal costs Council har Mr chairman thank you for your leeway we've talked at length about this uh program I appreciate the feedback of the and welcome the feedback of the governor I mean the mayor's office on this particular ordinance if they have any particular amendments that they'd like to present would I'd welcome them uh in the mean meantime I believe we have some amendments uh uh relative to uh starting or doing compost adjacent work in our high schools and uh I will yield to are you ready for okay I will not yield yet but uh well I will yield back to you I guess and I hope that the committee votes on this favor thank you counselor any uh other counselors wishing to speak counselor sylvestri uh yeah just in in the last few weeks I've actually have seen a a large um it's not with the composting per se but a large increase in in roadin um and you know we have to do we have to do something I I I don't know if um maybe pulling in the the companies that are doing the the baiting and and whatnot because uh it is becoming an issue and uh we we need to figure out some solution for it thank you thank you counselor any other counselors wishing to speak Council greina thank you Mr chairman as I said at the last meeting what I'm looking to do is starting this program at the high school to start a pilot program and then see what we can do to get some type of funding so we know exactly what we're getting into before we bring it out and allow this in our city and I do not want to be the person that cost the city residents any money so I think the best way to do this would be a trial um an error um program within the High School Salem High School does that so maybe we can learn something from them and and before we attempt to do it ourselves I mean I went to Italy this year and I saw the way they run their composting program to be honest with you some of the stuff I agreed with some of the stuff I didn't they took trash out daily and it was a different form of trash and they had all these different buckets and to be honest with you it was such a pain in the rare I I wasn't happy with it uh but there's got to be a different way to approach it you know being here in the United States um but what they did is they made they comp used the composting stuff and they made plastic bags which are absolutely incredible to use instead of instead of us using the the paper bags I'd like to look further into that as well um using compostable material and I brought them home with me just to show people because the the quality of the plastic bag and it's compostable and it's biodegradable it's unbelievable um thank you are you offering a substitute motion or I I did it before as well to to do a tri and ever um at the high school yeah so she's going to I believe present an amendment to add to a section I can Amendment I'm sorry go ahead is that right that our my Amendment would be that any company hereby contracted by these provision run a program at Rivia High School for the education of the students Clark seems to deem fit is a c sure there's if you're looking there's sections 8.1 010 through 0.060 uh where is the amendment being inserted bear with me sorry well don't we have to look at it got to near that now sorry yeah I can send I can send it to you I'll send it all to you is that okay okay all right Mr chairman councelor sylvestri just for clarification um so is this going to be amendment to have the composting done through the high school students or for them to be part of it and learn with the companies that are doing it in addition to have the company doe uh educational program trial at the high school so the section would be section um 810 uh 8.10 do 020 under program design insert subsection e and I'll get you that language now I'll send you the language now so just to be clear this is in addition to your okay okay thank you Council zambuto Anthony zambo 87 High Street not counselor at this point here for this issue um I just want a little Clarity is this going to be part of an RFP that the company has to do u a program at the high school or how is this uh who's going to pay for this yeah so I think the idea here is that the program designed allows for an RFP or actually asks us the C the council is asking the mayor to put on RFP for transparency sake okay and uh and this would just be in addition to that design would be part of the RFP in other words okay thank you thank you councelor hello Mr chair uh Ed tur 7 Street re Mass I would just like to see the uh fire chief involved in this process because composting can actually combust and cause fires and we don't really need the old high school building to burn um there's been several fires there's one in Pasadena California I think Everett just had one so we might need a little bit of Guidance with this but I'm totally in favor of this thank you thank you Mr Terrell any other comments from the counselors Thomas Kowski 281 Broadway um just wanted to talk about the mayor's office um and Community Development planning is our approach to a composting pilot that we've been working on uh we have uh each year in our contract with uh win uh $25,000 to go to waste diversion and this year we're proposing to use that $25 to Implement a pilot um for uh a preferred composting partner in the city um and we actually have an RFP right now that's sitting in um our uh cfo's office waiting approval to get out the door and the the RFP will seek to create a three-year contract with a preferred um composting partner in the first year we would use that $25,000 to purchase up to a th000 um barrels for for residents to participate in the program um and they would still contract with the preferred partner themselves the city wouldn't be in contract with the composter to provide services which is an important distinction I'll draw on later um but that would be our year one goal and as we are working to secure a preferred partner and come under contract deliver those thousand trash barrels uh comp listing barrels we would then also be applying for a variety of different state and federal grants to help expand the programs in year two and year three um so we've already applied for um an EPA grant for $130,000 through their composting and food waste Reduction Program um and we have achieved at least preliminary eligibility for this there's so many acronyms that's why I have my phone up here the sustainable materials recovery program smrp through Mass D they actually have three different state grants that go towards composting so first you have to become eligible and then you can apply for the grants so we've now become eligible we're going to apply for Grants through that program and there's one other program through EPA um all of these are to support composting in municipalities so our first year goal is just to find a preferred partner purchase those barrels our second year goal would be then to look at some of the more aggressive things that are in this ordinance like subsidizing income eligible folks or incentives and marketing to to make sure that people are actually taking advantage of the tool um and potentially with one of these state grants we would also look at the partnership with the schools as uh councelor Gino SAA had mentioned um but we need funding to to expand the partnership further so we're starting at a very base level and then as federal or state funding permits we would expand the program accordingly um and throughout we we aim to collect data on the demographics of who's enrolled in the program to collect data on the waste tonnage diverted and what the savings would be on the municipality all the things that are outlined in the counselor's um RFP proposal through the ordinance um and so overall I think the mayor's office and and my department we certainly support the the goals of creating uh composting program in the city I think actually to your point about rodents I I've talked about it before but I think it actually helps to promote rodent diversion with secured composting containers I can speak and vouch for that personally um you know we have an RFP that's ready to go that's just awaiting final approval looking at data collection looking at a tiered approach where we get more aggressive as we get more funding all of that I think we're we're all on the same page with with some areas that um I worry a little bit about the RFP tying our hands on or or the ordinance itself number one I can't speak on the amount itself the 125,000 and that might be a question for our CFO whether you know that budget item is secured into the future as as putting this in the ordinance would kind of tie our hands in that regard um you know sometimes we might get a state or federal Grant sometimes we won't and then we'll have to supplement that with local dollars um and then the other the big question here is really as it's written in the ordinance the city would be contracting with a composter to provide composting services for the residents that creates um a little bit more complexity in the Contracting and actually might increase as you all know whenever a municipality gets engaged in um procurement things get more expensive as opposed to what we're doing now is we're providing incentives and we we have a preferred partner that we would aim to work for uh work with as opposed to you know getting involved in things like prevailing wage and other more complicated things uh that can drive up the cost of of this service service so that's one one potential issue um and then just the broader question of how we're going to pay for it if we're going to expand the service to the entire city and is the amount allocated here sufficient for that I think if we were to start with this pilot approach where we you know come to an agreement with a three-year contract I'm not necessarily sure we need an ordinance but we are on the same page I think with the shared goals here and and data collection and and then perhaps in year three at the conclusion of our partnership we could then think of a more formal way to whether it's through uh something like Medford or or Boston is doing where they actually are Contracting with the composting companies for a fee per service um I think we'd be better equipped at the end of year three to better kind of gauge what approach we want to take because clearly I think there's a lot of unanswered questions right now about some of the the finer points of this proposal thank you very much Mr chair how um so uh this is an opend program and it allows the mayor to contract as long as they're putting an RFB that has some specific specifications here so when you say that um so I understand the money component and um I somewhat agree with that um and I'm willing to make an amendment to lower that $125,000 figure to 25,000 based on your assertion just now and my understanding from my conversations with the mayor over the past 12 months around this particular issue um that we are using mitigation money to pay for this pilot um so uh Madame clerk in that section 010 and the Preamble if we can amend uh 125 to 25,000 um now uh I would like to know what the administration is doing to expand eligibility or access maybe not eligibility to folks who are veterans lowincome fixed income and folks who are seniors um although it it doesn't so yeah so I'd like to know what that looks like in your program design now and if you're your RF you said there's an RFP is this a public RFP um it it will be soon and I mean it certainly could be if the council would like to look at it in in advance of I guess a final vote as you all would take in a subsequent meeting um but yeah I mean I I can certainly share it with with the the chair of the committee and so your RFP is not hindered by these Provisions these just adds additional Provisions like uh low income uh eligibility senior eligibility or access I should say uh all that stuff so um you know just for the for the view the hearing pleasure of my colleagues that uh this does not tie the mayor's hand in any way uh to those things uh it just says if you already have an RFP which it sounds like there's an RFP that we have not seen um that um you know we include these things I'm sure sure now that I've pointed them out these things are magically going to appear on there but um but you know I think the importance here is uh we're starting a pilot program that's an optin program uh that the council many of whom have expressed their interest in being leaders on this issue uh and that we would like to see this be um part of our ordinances uh for a variety of reasons because this ensures transparency and ensures accessibility to a great amount of folks um so with that you know a motion for that Amendment uh to be taken up here uh and you know and hope that my colleagues will join me and voting yes for this to vote this favorably out of committee any other further comments before the we vote on the amendment hearing none yeah oh excuse me councelor sylvestri thank you uh Mr chairman through you um to Tom Tom um you stated that there's an RFP so the city's moving towards doing this already um you're not sure or or not that you're not sure but I think you said earlier that you don't know if we're ready to to put it into uh a legislation or or because we could help it grow and help it design we're not there yet is that what I'm hearing or well I think the $25,000 Amendment certainly helps because we got to make sure if we're putting something into an ordinance we actually have the money for it and at least for the next the the duration of the contract with win we had the money beyond that um you know I can't speak for our finances but um that makes me feel a little bit better I think we could probably look at some the finer points of the RFP in light of what I mentioned the distinction again between a preferred partner that we're working with and somebody we are Contracting with to perform the service is a really important one from a procurement standpoint that I think we just want to get the language right and I I'm not going to be able to do that tonight but I'm I'm sure I could look at the language in advance of it going to the full Council or if it's staying committee um but I think generally we we agree to a framework here I just worry about the RFP and and the language in the ordinance tying our hands too much to do what I think in the first phase is going to be a pilot we're going to be testing things out seeing what works and you'll see in the application we submitted to the EPA councelor Haro um our goals are shared in terms of income eligible subsidies and so forth but um in year one we want to get subscriptions up in the program because the more people we get enrolled in the program the cheaper the program becom so you know if you have under 300 I think it's $21 a month for one of the providers when you get to 300 it then goes down to 13.99 when you get to 600 it goes to $199 a month and so our goal is in the first year to bring down that monthly price so it's easier for us to then subsidize in year two and year three and Beyond um so our year one goal is really in service of the further goals but we got to get subscriptions up to make the economies of scale work the motion Council no just the motion to amend to uh from 100 oh sorry yeah can we bundle and take them on together motion to bundle I don't know if that's a thing but okay the Amendments the committee offered were as follows new subsection e of section of proposed section 810.02 new section e reads as follows that any company hereby contracted by these Provisions run a program at Rivier High School for the education of the students and the second amendment was amending the Preamble section 8.1.1 striking 125,000 and inserting a place thereof 25,000 on those amendments call on the amendment councelor greo SAA yes yes councelor hero yes yes councelor Kelly yes yes councel sylvestri yes yes and chairman Areno yes yes the Amendments uh have been approved now ordinance as roll call on an ordinance as amended for a favorable recommendation on the ordinance as amended to refer this ordinance with a favorable recommendation to the full city council this evening councel Gino SAA yes yes Council hero yes yes councel Kelly yes yes councelor sylvestri yes yes and chairman Areno yes yes the ordinance will be forward to the full city council this evening with a favorable recommendation for adoption next item is an ordinance amending metered rates of the revised ordinances of the city of Rivier councils this is a motion that I put forward uh concerning four five and six family owner occupied units uh right now those uh buildings are paying a commercial rate on water and a residential rate on taxes this motion is to uh have owner occupied four five and six families pay Residential Water any other counselors have any comments anyone can speak i' stand opposed to this Mr chairman iron noski 53 Deone Street uh I'm recusing myself as a City Counsel on this uh issue but uh I would hope that this passes and um I stated my case at the public hearing and I just hope that everybody understands where we want to go in this and thank you for the explanation thank you thank you anyone in the audience wanting to speak good evening council is John Lopes 62 Crest ay V Mass um I'm in supported this role back um main I own a 4unit building that's occupied by all family members and my son that's a co-owner I mean when I took out my loan when I first bought my house 30 years ago I didn't take out a a commercial loan it was a conventional loan so when this uh new uh water bill came and hit us hit us pretty hard you know and as far as if you guys know if you own a three family and you're paying Residential Water you know all of a sudden you get changed to Commercial and you got family members living there you know you really can't raise their rents I mean my rents are way below Market you know and it's a hardship on everybody and I speak for a lot of people within the city you know so I would support this Ru back if you could please thank you thank you anyone else wishing yes ma'am Bonnie Karen Barrett Street um I'd like to see an incentive put forward like to help this along and help pay for it um with the affordable housing piece that could come into that with maybe given um a tax deduction to multi family that go below the payment standards step by R Housing Authority dollar for dollar to open up more affordable housing really affordable housing and um I would ask that you looked at that piece before you went ahead and did that piece four families a lot some people are charging more rent I know the guy gentleman just said he isn't but anybody below the payment standard sure but there are people out there charging $3,000 a month for a two-bedroom it's not right thank you any further comments Madame clerk call the role please for looking on it favorably shall the uh legislative affairs subcommittee offer a favorable recommendation for engrossment and ordainment on U ordinance establishing or amending the metered rates of the city of R Council Greeno SAA yes yes councelor hero yes yes yes councel Kelly no no councel sylvestri yes yes and chairman Areno yes yes the ordinance will be forwarded to the full city council with a favorable recommendation thank you and lastly there was a motion presented by councelor Kelly an act relative to notice requirements for public hearings and parties of Interest defined for certain special permits councilor Kelly Mr chairperson I have withdrawn on this motion thank you do we need to do anything official no when you give your report chairman thank you very much and no for the business Council uh the meeting stands adjourned e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e want I already did it good evening and welcome to the November 25th appointment subcommittee meeting could we all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance roll call of the members councelor agenzio here here Council janino here here councel Kelly here here Council zambuto here here and chairwoman McKenna here here Quorum is present there's uh one appointment up for tonight and that's the appointment of Sarah HW to the public art commission Sarah Sarah will you come up please hi Sarah just turn on the mic um could you just give your name and address to the um clerk uh my name is Sarah H my address is 50 Ocean AV rever mass 02151 and Sarah um you're going to be appointed to the public Arts commission and what can you bring to the table can you tell me about your experience yes um I have a Bachelor of Science in art education from the University of Vermont and I was a high school art teacher up in Essex Junction um I am really excited to get involved in the community I live in I've actually never lived in another town as an adult I chose Riv to be my you know my home address and um I'm very interested in activating public spaces and stimulating um uh Urban Design I think what they're doing in East Boston and Lyn are wonderful and I'd like to see that here in R um I have a I work at a nonprofit in Boston the Boston Society of Architects so I have some connections there in terms of mural artists and understand the grant writing process thank you very much is there any councils council is in buo thank you Madame chairwoman uh I want to thank you for your interest in the city and uh you certainly sound enthusiastic and I said at the last appointments committee that I'm so pleased with the people we've got coming up here that uh really brings something to the table and so I'm I'm grateful that you wanted to participate and I'll certainly be voting for you thank you thank you so much any other counselors Sarah you'll I'll see you on Zoom awesome and I'm the chairwoman so I'll see you on zoom and do a good job for the city thank you very much thank you this concludes oh sorry all in favor all opposed so ordered recommended the confirmation of Sarah H to the PAC [Applause] this concludes the appointments committee meeting thank you and have a good night for