City Council - Regular Meeting

Recording in progress.

We now call this meeting of the Somerville City Council to order. Pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025, this meeting of the Somerville City Council may be conducted via remote participation. Please note we will post an audio recording, audio-video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Somerville website and local cable access government channels. and will be available for future review. Will the clerk please call the roll.

This is roll call. Councilor Ewing Campin. Here. Councilor Link. Here. Councilor Scott. Present. Councilor Klingin. Present. Councilor Strezzo. Present. Councilor Saeed. Here. Councilor Wheeler. Here. Councilor Hart. Here. Councilor McLaughlin.

Here.

Councilor Umbau.

Present.

And Councilor Davis. With nine members present, we have quorum.

Thank you. Pursuant to our rule 32, let it be known that this city council salutes the flag of the United States of America and let us recall our oaths to uphold the constitutions and the laws of the commonwealth to the best of our abilities and understanding. We'll begin with a moment of silence. Are there any councillors who wish to speak about community members? Councillor Klingon.

Mr. President, thank you. I ask that we remember this evening Scott Michael McPherson. He's of Cambridge, but he is someone of a relative of mine. So Scott was the cherished son of the late Robert McPherson and the late Barbara Duquette McPherson. He leaves behind a loving family who will forever hold him in their hearts, including his sisters Patricia Brown of Beverly, Tammy Brown Perez of San Francisco, and his brothers Robert Bobby McPherson of Marlborough and Sean McPherson of Salem. Scott took great pride in his career as a union laborer and scaffolder. He genuinely loved his work and was grateful for many lifelong friendships he built along the way. He was known for his kind heart, easygoing nature, and loyalty he showed to those fortunate enough to call him a friend. Outside of work, Scott found joys in life's simple pleasures. He loved spending time on his boat, trying his luck with lottery tickets, and never missed a daily Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee. Though Scott faced health challenges throughout his life, he met them with remarkable strength, determination, and courage. He was a true fighter who refused to let adversity define him. Scott's memory will live on in the hearts of all who had the privilege of knowing and loving him. His kindness, quiet strength, and unwavering love for his family and friends will never be forgotten. And Scott leaves behind two children, my half-nephew, Matthew, who passed away a few years ago, and Scott's other child, his daughter, Jessica Trombley of Methuen, I think. And I ask that we remember Scott and our thoughts and prayers this evening, thank you.

Any other, Councillor Wheeler? Thank you, through the president. I want to recognize the passing of a community member, Fernanda Ferreira, who was for a long time an unhoused individual, did find housing with the help of some of our wonderful local organizations, and passed away recently. Her passing, she was a mother, a beloved community member, and her passing is a reminder of the commitment that we all need to make to the most vulnerable among us. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Wheeler.

Any other? Would everyone in the chamber, you know, wish above this rise for these individuals? So colleagues, after we go through the citation, grant location, we'll take several items out of order. And these items are 9.4, 4.6, 4.2, 7.17 and 4.4, 8.1 and 7.1, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6 and 7.7.

I may, and I apologize for this for not flagging it earlier, but items 4.2 and 4.4 are items that residents are here for, and I don't believe it will take that much time. I don't know if it's possible to take those out of order. Which items? 4.2 about the Mass Nurses Association and 4.4 about the Disability Act. I don't think they'll take that long.

I mentioned 4.2. We can take 4.4 as well. Yeah, of course. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 1.3, approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of June 11, 2026.

Seeing no objection, that item is approved. Oh, so there's an amendment to the item.

Yes, there was amendment to Chris Duan's name. It's spelled incorrectly in the minutes.

So there's an amendment to... you know, amend the Honorable Dwan, you know, to his correct name. So any objection to the amendment? I think the amendment is approved. And so do we need any, I don't think there's any roll call anymore for that. I don't think so.

I believe because we have one member remote, we would have to do a roll call. Okay. Oh, no, never mind. Just motion to approve the amended minutes.

Absolutely. Thank you. So next item. The item is approved.

So the next item is 2.1 by Councilor Mba, commending Janine Pagliaro on the auspicious occasion of her retirement after over 38 years of dedicated service.

So this is an item from the clerk's office, and I will just read it so that, you know, it's always good that we recognize the hardworking, you know, employees of the city in the office of the city clerk. So this citation is for Janine. and the citation reads, be hereby known to all that the some of the city council and the mayor offer their sincerest commendations to Jeanine on the auspicious occasion of her retirement after over 38 years of dedicated service to the city, most of which was served in the office of the city clerk. She capably served four city clerks, along with numerous city councillors, licensing commission members, and the public, and was a constant welcoming face in the office. Her calm guidance, expertise, and thoughtful insight were appreciated by those who worked with her. So we congratulate Janine. I don't think she's here today, but we'll hand this citation to her. So that item is approved. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 3.1, Eversource applying for a grant of location to install seven feet of conduit in Wheatland Street from Utility Pole 141-2 to a point of pickup at 6 Wheatland Street.

This public hearing is now open. Is there anyone who wish to speak on the item?

Mr. President, we have Ms. Jackie Duffy here to speak.

Jackie Duffy.

How are you tonight?

You have the floor, Jackie Duffy.

How are you? It's Jackie Duffy, Eversource. We'd like to install approximately seven feet of conduit from pole 14 over 2 to service 6 Wheatland Street.

Thank you, Jack Fidafi. Anyone else who wish to speak on this item? Is there anyone online, Madam Clerk? You can use the raise hand function if you have anything to say.

I'm seeing no one, Mr. President.

Okay, so this public hearing is now closed. Any discussion on the item? Councillor Strezzel.

Thank you, Mr. President. This is in Ward 4, and I'm seeing that actually all of these items, if I may throw you to Jackie Duffy of Ephersource. Good evening, Ms. Duffy. Good evening. I'm hearing a lot from constituents, not in any of these words, looks like, on tonight's agenda, but... having issues with Eversource and the ability to consistently give power and consistent energy with the summer. So as we have these three items on this, has there been any thoughts on how we're going to manage this summer with Eversource and these three items?

I don't know what you mean by give power. Give what the hours is over the summertime, you mean? Yep. Okay, that's not my area. We're going to have to come back to you on that. Yes. I'm just here for these three, but I can't bring it back to the division. And it's Ward 4, you said?

Actually six unfortunately not on this agenda, but I will be waiting for an email from you and Okay And we can take this offline definitely want to discuss this. Thank you.

Okay.

Yep We've had a lot of outages to some with all the storms and everything correct I'm not hearing about this in word for I mean you have the word counselor here But having a word six and we don't have a word six counselor here tonight Okay

Okay. Any other discussion on the item? The item is approved. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 3.2 Eversource applying for a grant of location to install 4.5 feet of conduit in Line Street from utility pole 211 slash 7 to a point of pickup at 62 Line Street.

I declare this public hearing open. Is there anyone who wishes to speak on the item?

would like to install approximately five feet of conduit and lines to provide electric service to 62 Line Street.

Anyone online? Is anyone on the clock?

There is no one, Mr. President.

Okay, so this public hearing is now closed. Any discussion on the item? Mr. President.

Councillor Scott. Thank you, Mr. President. This is in Ward 2, and I am sad to say, I'm happy to say Poll 211-7 is a perfectly fine utility poll. Unfortunately, the very next poll down the street, 211-8, is a doubled poll. It has been for many years. Through you to Ms. Duffy, what is the replacement schedule on Poll 211-8?

That I do not know. I'd have to go back to the division and ask them. Can you give me the poll number again, please?

211 slash 8. 211 slash 8. Okay. Mr. President, I am considering whether or not to recommend this go to committee so that we can get that answer before we proceed on it. Jackie, is this to support new construction at 62 Lane Street?

Yes, it is. Yes, it is, and this customer's been waiting. And you're in session too, right? We won't have anything till August?

yeah normally i would send this committee given that we have uh meetings every two weeks of that committee thanks to the good good counselor from ward seven but we are about to enter a six-week legislative recess and so i don't want to overly burden the homeowner that said ms duffy i would appreciate an answer to that follow-up by email and we will hopefully get that poll addressed shortly or we can address it in september when we return thank you okay i'll send you an email

Because of Scott do you want to send this to come in?

Okay, see any other discussion on the item Since none the item is approved next item and I'm quick next item is 3.3 ever source applying for a grant of location to install a total of 199 feet of conduit in Elm Street from utility pole 112 31 to manhole 189 3 2 an additional conduit from a manhole 189 3 2 to a point of pickup at 199 Elm Street

I declare this public hearing open. Does anyone wish to speak on the item?

Jackie Duffy, Eversource. I would like to install approximately a 154-feet conduit on Elm Street to provide electric service to 199 Elm Street.

Anyone else who wish to speak on this item? Hope there's nobody online just give it a night. I don't see that. Okay. So I think that is probably getting close and a discussion on this item. I've seen on the item is approved.

Thank you have a nice summer session is for the before Jackie leaves can I just ask a question. So

Do we need to reconsider the item?

Thank you. Yeah, Mr. President, this would be on item number 3.1. I should have spoke up sooner.

If I could just make a comment. Okay, so 3.1. So Madam Clerk, so we'll move to reconsider the item number 3.1. Can you read the item?

Yes. 3.1, Eversource applying for a grant of location to install seven feet of conduit in Wheatland Street from utility pole 141 slash 2 to a point of pickup at 6 Wheatland Street.

So the item is being reconsidered. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate that. Through you to Ms. Duffy. Ms. Duffy, 6 Wheatland Street. What is the nature of the line that's being... Is this for the current owner to... I'm unclear. It's an abandoned house that they're waiting to do work on that they said probably won't happen until the fall. I'm just curious what this line achieves.

They're proposing it for a multifamily residential building.

Okay.

We get the request, so that's why it came before you, before they did anything. That's what happens.

Okay. I actually would ask that this gets sent to committee. I have some concerns around this particular connection and this particular property.

So. If it's too late, it's too late, but I don't know. No, no, no, no, it's okay. The item is before us, you know, so we will refer this item to licenses and permits, but we will not be able to make any roll call vote on this item because Councilor Link is online, so we will wait at the end to vote. Okay, thank you, Mr. President. Sure, so that item will be referred to licenses and permit.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 9.4 and 4.6. Oh, yes.

So we'll be taking our first items out of order. So item 9, item 4.6, and 9.4. Madam Clerk, would you read this item?

Yes. 9.4 Davis Square neighborhood Council submitting comments regarding formal recognition by this Council as a neighborhood Council under chapter 7 article 9 of the Code of Ordinances and then item 4.6 is by Councillor Davis conveying support for formally recognizing the Davis Square neighborhood Council

Hello. Welcome, Elaine and Chris.

Hello. I want to acknowledge our other board members and many members who are in the room with us tonight. We do have a slide deck. Should we? Sure. Thank you. You don't have access to it.

Chris, can you?

It does. I can fix that very quickly. Sure.

So probably take a two minute recess for them to get the slide in order. So Madam Clerk, could you do a roll call vote to re-establish your quorum?

Yes. Councillor Ewen Campin.

Here.

Councillor Link.

Here.

Councillor Scott.

Present.

Councillor Klingon.

Present.

Councillor Strezzo. Present. Councillor Saeed. Here. Councillor Wheeler.

Here.

Councillor Hart. Here. Councillor McLaughlin.

Here.

Councillor Mba.

Present.

And Councillor Davis. With 10 members present and one absent, we have quorum.

And then you have the floor.

First, I want to just say how humbled I am to be here representing the hundreds of members of the Davis Square Neighborhood Council who have come together over the last few years. I'm excited to be able to present our formal request for recognition by all of you, the City Councillors, so that we can continue the work that we have built over the last few years. And we put together a presentation to tell you a little bit about how we got to where we are, what we've been up to, and hopefully you can kick the tires a little bit and see that we are worthy of this designation. So I'll be co-presenting with my vice chair and our treasurer as well, so I'll call them up at a couple of points. But I think we can move forward in the slide deck, please. I'm realizing the text is very small from here. Basically who we are is we are the neighborhood council for Davis Square we are made up of residents workers business owners in Davis Square area and We have formal nonprofit recognition from the state of Massachusetts. We worked very hard for that We work to advocate for the residents of our neighborhood to represent their needs and desires to improve the community and to inform our our members and our neighbors of what's going on and make sure that they're connected to the decisions that are being made about our neighborhood. Next slide, please. We are open to everyone with a stake in Davis, so all of our meetings are open. We have membership available to residents, workers, business owners, people who own property in our catchment area, people who volunteer at the organizations that do good work in our area, and also anybody who is unhoused who receives services within our catchment area as well. Next slide, please. We have a neighborhood map that is right on our website. So the city of Somerville designates the Davis Square neighborhood. We have decided that in many cases, the residents who live directly in Davis Square were not in the blue designated area. So we have gone a half a mile out for residents and we pay attention to the developments that are happening within that blue map. Our city defined boundaries are in blue. Our half mile welcome is, it is a little odd because we're in a corner of Somerville. So within that half mile includes Medford, Cambridge, and Arlington. But the vast majority of our members, which you'll see later on, are Somerville residents. Next slide, please. So the reason why we're coming to you all now to seek recognition is because there are multiple things going on. We came together about two and a half years ago when there was a community meeting about neighborhood planning for Davis Square. It started with 11 people who exchanged email addresses But now our membership has grown tremendously. I do believe that we were a big part of why the new administration and the mayor is prioritizing finalizing the Davis Square neighborhood plan. So that is ongoing. The city is actively engaging us in how we plan for our future right now. We also have major developments being proposed for our neighborhood that we want to participate in. And also, this is a decisive time for us. We have plans coming to us and we want to be ready to meet those plans with an understanding of what our needs and desires are so that we can negotiate in good faith on behalf of our neighborhood. Next slide, please. And there are seven projects that we're actively monitoring in our catchment area. I'm gonna turn it over now to PJ Kim Santos, who's our treasurer, to go through a little bit of our history of how we got here.

Wonderful. Thank you very much. My name is PJ Kim Santos, and I'm the treasurer of the Davis Square Neighborhood Council. Yeah, so I guess a little more than two years ago, I actually was not one of the original people who were trying to propose the organization, but Elaine and a bunch of others were interested in trying to start a neighborhood council, somewhat inspired by the ones that exist in Union and Gilman Square, and began understanding what it would actually take to make that all happen. Actually, thereafter, they began recruiting and growing, first meeting in the basement of the Davis Square branch of the Somerville Library, and then expanding out to the, as we were meeting, it's called larger and bigger, to the Baptist Church across the street. A big part of the origination process was developing our bylaws, so we sought to get buy-in from a wide variety of different people and try to integrate in all the different stakeholders who have a lot to say about what makes Davis Square and how we actually want to try to organize ourselves. at some point we elected our first board and began pursuing the process for becoming an officially recognized organization some of that involved filing to be a 501c for a non-profit some of it involved making sure that we comply with all the different city ordinances that declare neighborhood councils to be appropriate organizations and amending and adjusting ourselves as either new opinions or new people join and want to reform and make us a more welcoming and a useful organization. At this point, we've now had two full elections of the board. We have more than 600 members registered as part of our organization, and we're here coming in front of you all to be recognized. Thank you.

Thank you, PJ.

Thank you.

Next slide, please. We have a couple photos here. I want you to see our beautiful neighbors that we pass all the time and work with. So we began meeting, like we said, actually our very first meeting was at one of the tables outside of JP Licks in Statue Park. And at the first meeting, everybody got to sit down. That's how small we were and we have grown tremendously. We very quickly outgrew the West Branch Library and now we've been meeting in the Crystal Ballroom because there's not really a venue big enough to hold all of our members when we have exciting local news to discuss. Next slide please. We have public bylaws. They're on our website, like PJ mentioned. We have elected leadership. We have had now two elections of our board of directors. This past election, we actually added secure online voting to incorporate more people into the decision-making process, which I think was a learning process for us, but it turned out really well for our members. We also have built in balance. We have different stakeholders incorporated into our discussions and we have a lot of different opinions. We have a diverse community and we try to conduct ourselves by listening to all the different opinions we have in a neighborly fashion, discuss those things and come to consensus on them. Next slide please. Here's our board of directors. Most of them, I think, are here, except for one. He had a conflict. I don't think we can need to spend time on that. Next slide, please. We've also done a tremendous amount of outreach into the community. And for the outreach and membership section, I'm going to call on our vice president, Chris Beeland, to discuss this.

Thank you. So yeah, we've put up a lot of posters around town at least every other month and for our big meetings. Our meetings are advertised on the giant sign on the Middlesex Federal Bank so that people walking around know that there's something happening. We have various overlapping interest groups. whether Davis Square Village, Somerville Yimby, Somerville Homeless Coalition, Somerville Foundation that get notifications. We have our own social media. We have a very active outreach committee that's committed to letting everyone know that we exist. So they table in Statue Park. They're gonna be at the Davis Square Farmers Market and Artbeat and other places. Yeah, so we've done pretty much everything that we can think of. And when there's something that's high stakes, people do show up in the hundreds, as you saw photos for. And next slide. I think there's statistics. I was just looking at our official spreadsheet, and it's somewhat complicated because people can qualify in different ways. So we have 642 verified voting members right now. And as Lane said, the vast majority are Somerville residents, 567. There's a handful of Cambridge residents. The Cambridge border is only 1,000 feet away from the main Davis Square intersection. And in the outlying areas, four residents of Medford and two of Arlington. And then dozens and dozens of business owners and workers, some volunteers, a few people that have taken a strong interest in the square and have been approved by the board. Next slide, please. Sure, I can talk about the committees as well. I go to a lot of committee meetings. So in addition to the development projects and negotiating community benefit agreements with developers, as the ordinance asks us to, we take an interest in everything that our community tells us they care about. So we have Greening Davis volunteers going putting plants in the ground and working with the city on maintenance. The Elm Way Action Group has just submitted a recommendation to the city for pedestrian and parking improvements to the first block or a couple blocks of Elm Street. And let's see, we have... People are very interested in redeveloping. The city owns a little white church on College Street across from the library. We have an annual summer social and our programming committee is trying to have more fun events and also raise money to keep us going. infrastructure needs, as you can imagine. And the zoning committee is also interested in homeless shelters. There's a committee on the Davis Square neighborhood plan, so like housing is a, a theme that goes through the neighborhood, I think. And there's a lot of small ideas like public art and things that people are always bringing to us. And so when we have volunteer capacity or people are excited about that, we give it to them or form a committee. I know it's very democratic as it is here. So that's what we're doing on the ground. Next slide, please. And one of the things we did, we had a big meeting up at Tufts just to get a room that was big enough about how the development process works in Somerville. And especially for the Copper Mill project, there's been a lot of questions from the community, answers and non-answers from the developer. So we've just been doing a lot of coordinating and a lot of people ever we have new members every meeting sometimes dozens of them and everyone needs to get up to speed on the facts of development and how they can influence it democratically so we're providing that as a service as well next slide please there's a photo of the the meeting we had uh during storm at tufts next slide please those are our breakout groups And yeah, as we've been talking about, we have Copper Mill as our main project. We're tracking smaller projects. Some of them are already under construction. We did endorse a zoning change on Highland Ave and Whipple, which was partly approved by the City Council already, which is going to be producing more housing and a mixed-use development. And we do have volunteers that monitor the ZBA and the planning board for projects in our jurisdiction. And we update our membership at our monthly meetings about that and everything else that's going on. Next slide, please. And yeah, these are some of the smaller projects, community fridge, public art, transit improvements. Someone suggested an oral history project. So one of our board members is volunteering to find out more about the history of Davis Square. Next slide, please. And yeah, did you want to talk about community? I think that's your floor.

Thank you. Thank you, Chris. One of the more important things I think that we've done is really to help strengthen the social bonds as a community organization in Davis Square. So everyone, actually many of you counselors have been to one of our meetings. And so you know that we spend the beginning of our meeting introducing each other to each other. Everybody gets introduced with their name, their pronouns, and how they're connected to the square so that we all get to know each other. We make sure that we have a social after all of our business meetings, and truly I think that's where the real work gets done, where neighbors talk to each other and discuss what their ideas are. And we are, like Chris said, trying to have more fun together. So last year we had a really wonderful community social at Socko's and we're planning another one for July 20th. It's free, free bowling, free pizza. It is cash bar. Sorry, we can't do that for you, but please join us. It's a great way to just have fun and get to know your neighbors better. So we are actively building the social bonds of our community as well. There's not much left, so I think, next slide. Yes, we are open, public, and easy to join. One takeaway from this is that we actually create a, we've been hosting monthly member meetings. They're on a regular schedule. They're posted widely. They're open to anybody, even if you're not a voting member. And we also have a new member welcome handout that we give out at each meeting. We anticipate new people coming and not knowing everything, and we want them to get up to speed. So we are proactive about that. Next slide. and that's it we respectfully ask the somerville city council to grant us recognition we know there's additional steps in this process like i said we're looking forward to you all kicking our tires and making sure we're doing a good job open to suggestions it's our understanding that the next steps are referral to committee and in a public hearing and we're looking forward to that thank you thank you elaine as uh um

Thank you. As someone who has attended your meetings, I'm really impressed by the level of work that your team has put together. You guys have activated the entire Davis Square neighborhood. I've never seen an organization that evolved organically. Everybody in Davis Square is talking about Davis Square Neighborhood Council. It just reminded me of the Union Square Neighborhood Council, how it all started in Gilman Square, also now Davis Square. very important to have community groups come together and activate a neighborhood so they can have a say in what happens, you know, within that, you know, neighborhood. So thank you so much to you and Chris and the entire team, you know, and the neighborhood council. So with that, I will, you know, ask my colleagues, so Councillor Ewing, come here.

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, I just want to shower you all with praise as well. So, you know, forming the Union Square Neighborhood Council, that was really the first community process that I was ever involved with, with politics. And it was really, really hard. And it took an enormous amount of work. And so I just have a really profound and deep respect for the work that you all did. It really shines through in the presentation tonight, but just grinding it out. And it is really a public service. I just want to thank you all for that. And I also just want to say, looking back on 10 years ago when we were setting this up, it's like beyond, I think, our wildest dreams that we would see additional neighborhood councils form. And not only form, but at this level of transparency and accountability. And I also just want to note, for the public, I think we often get a lot of questions, what is this process of recognition? I do think it's important to just say, this does not confer any magical or legal powers on any group of people. They can get together and start calling themselves a neighborhood council, right? Anybody can do that at any time. And they have the same legal authorities that any other group of people has. What this does is this is just a way of saying the city council, as you said, has kicked the tires. This is not an exclusionary group of people. This is not a group of people that they just get together and make decisions in a one-off way. This is a democratic group. This is a group that has bylaws, that has elections, that actually does the work to do outreach, that has open meetings. What we're doing here is just a stamp of approval that This is not just a group of people that's going to say it's our way or the highway. This is a group of people that's actually going to listen to the neighborhoods. So I'm very much looking forward to recognizing this group. I look forward to the public hearing. And thank you all for the work you've done.

Thank you, Councilor Hutt, Councilor McLaughlin.

Thank you, President. Through you to Elaine and the rest of the Davis Court Neighborhood Council, I also want to just appreciate all of the work That has been done just hours and hours and hours of work, I know, and beyond over the past couple of years. So I really appreciate your dedication and commitment and just all of the hard work, as my colleague said. So thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Haas. Councillor McLaughlin.

Thank you, Mr. President. I also appreciate all this hard work from the community so that we don't have to do the work. You're welcome. We are representatives of the community and we're expected to represent the interests of the neighbors. It's not possible to always know what everyone wants at all times and that's why it's great to have these neighborhood councils to do the really heavy work of figuring out what the community actually wants. We've seen it work out great in Union Square. It's working out very well in Gilman Square. I'm trying to help people get one started in East Somerville, but I'm not in charge of it. It's the community that is in charge of it, which is what I love about the neighborhood councils. And I'm sure we all know that this got a little expedited because of the Copper Mill development. And Davis Square's been long overdue for a neighborhood council. So this is a great opportunity and I'm gonna be happy. I represent the other side of town. I grew up outside of Davis Square. And people, when I'm knocking doors, talking to them, everyone wants to talk about that 26-story building. whether they're for or against it, that is the subject. And it's gonna be great for people to have an outlet to actually voice their opinions on it in the neighborhood council. So I look forward to approving it as well.

Thank you. Councillor Klingon. Thank you, Mr. President. Just to pile on, thank you all so much for all the work that you put into this. It's very impressive. What I really want to say is that I feel like this could be, this is sort of part of the legacy of those of us that got on in 2018 as far as, in this ordinance, as far as codifying neighborhood councils. As Councillor Ewan Campin said, I also was in the early days of the Union Square Neighborhood Council, or Union United it was before it was the council. But the point is, is that before that people felt like development happened in a vacuum and you needed to use the courts maybe like they did at mystic view task force we are getting better projects we are a better city because of residents that step up and create these councils like you all have so i just want to thank you and look forward to seeing you all do the work thank you counselor clinton counselor strezo then counselor scott amen

Congratulations to you too. Thank you. And to the Davis Square Neighborhood Council, thank you. I know it's a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and love. And I remember a time not long ago where Davis Square was really sleepy and much to be desired of connecting people and a lot of community going on in pockets, but not like this. And whenever constituents come to me and say, I have a feeling or I want to get more connected, I always guide them to you Davis Square Neighborhood Council, what's about to become even stronger, stronger than even what you are now, to say, well, do something about it. Everybody can have thoughts and feelings. And what are you going to do about it? How are you going to engage with the community? How are you going to get involved? And those things matter. So with that, happy to get this, to enjoy this moment and happy to go forward with the next steps and see where we go from there.

Thank you, Councillor Streza. Councillor Scott. Thank you, Mr. President. I will save my effusive praise for a future meeting because we have more meetings to be at on this topic. Although I will also certainly congratulate the Davis Square Neighborhood Council on this submission, this very thorough submission. and thank the members of the Union Square Neighborhood Council past and present for bringing us to this point. I anticipate holding a public hearing on this public communication, similar to as was done for Gilman Square and for Union Square Neighborhood Councils. I would like to do that at the first available opportunity after our recess. Our next meeting is on August 27th. That would put the next legislative matters meeting on if we followed the regular cadence on September 1st, which I understand is a date of heightened importance and great public interest, at least for three members of this chamber. So perhaps I can prevail upon the chair of finance and we can find a way to make a different date for that. So date pending, but I anticipate early September for this public hearing. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Scott. There you have it. Councillor Saeed.

Yeah, through you, Mr. President, thank you so much for being here tonight for the presentation and for all the work you have been doing. This is truly inspiring, and I'm very excited for this to take off and to see the community getting organized around issues and figuring out what's best for Davis Square. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Saeed. Councillor Wheeler. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to echo what my colleagues have said, I have seen in the meetings of the DS&C that I have attended how patiently and thoroughly the DS&C has been building your capacity as a forum for including many community voices and earning trust and buy-in through your commitment to fair and open procedures. I really feel like this civic, this level of civic dedication, it's a real reflection of something special in Somerville. And I wholeheartedly support our moving forward with our processes around considering this seriously, hearing from the public, and I hope that ends with recognition and full steam ahead.

Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Wheeler. I see an enthusiastic member of yours also.

Thank you.

please introduce yourself for the record my name is edward ball i'm at 80 winslow avenue just off of davis square my wife have been here and i've lived here for about four years right now and davis square is really a major center of our activity and we walk through there we go to the restaurants there we get coffee and pastries And we see a number of you there from time to time. And we've now been involved in helping people get elected and involved in other activities. And in fact, as I pointed out to Ben, you and Kevin, I even saw a bear and owl on the park on the walk one day. And I sent you an email or a picture of it. So one birder to another. I got involved in Davis Square about, oh, a year and a half ago or so. And during that period of time, we have grown from really the start of the first of this year from about 150 members to over 600. And what that has done is that has created a very different organization than the 10 or 11 that met in October 2024, who met with Tom Gallaghani, I think Elaine might have been there, Alan Dana, and a number of other people, and Andrew Flynn. When Andrew Flynn came to the group and said, what do you want? And it turned out at that point that that's where the 26-story tower building idea arose. And since that time, there's been a major change in the membership of the organization, where we now have probably over 400 new members this year who have a vision of Davis Square that they want to share. And right now, we're dealing with, I'm looking forward to having this go to the legislative committee, to go ahead and thrash through the compliance issues and also deal with the number of issues we're wrestling with right now, which is how many people do you need to have to vote and attend a meeting to go ahead and do something? Right now, the quorum provision in this bylaws is eight. and a majority of eight could go ahead and appear and pass something, given the fact that might have been good for when the membership was of 50 or 100, but it's not appropriate for a membership that is now over 600 people. so there's a there's a debate right now going on and that debate should be resolved so that it's so that we meet the real intent of the statute here or the ordinance which seeks a broad participation active participation in the decision making and so this whole debate we're having right now about quorums and voting and how many it takes to appear at a meeting in order to have a vote on a bylaw on a benefits package or how many do you have to have in a meeting to vote on a bylaw change? It can't be eight anymore, it's gotta be something different, and so we're working through that right now. So I'm glad this is going, and I understand it's going to the legislative committee, And that gives us the time to go ahead before this board to wrestle with these issues, which we're wrestling with right now. Some are going to come up at the end of January, end of July, the next meeting, in terms of how do you need to vote to pass a benefits committee. And then there's another whole issue of how do you deal with assuring that a large number of the membership of this Davis Square neighborhood take place and have an opportunity to take place. And it's up to the board. I'm on the bylaws committee. I was on the nominating committee. I've been a member for a period of time. And we have to make sure that we go out there to the community and not only get people interested, but keep them interested. And that means having a vibrant affair. And the more people we have and the more people we have in the actual decision making in Davis Square will make Davis Square more vibrant. So we need that activity. And we have 600 people now we have to engage further and we need to go ahead and figure out how to do that through these bylaw provisions and these quorum provisions. Because when the laws were passed, they didn't have as many as people we have right now. We have now many, many more. So we need this several months over the summer to go ahead and work these things through and work then with the ordinance committee in September, I guess, has been the next meet, and then come back. And I look forward to the day when we have that sorted out and have this organization approved. I've enjoyed tremendously working with this group. It's a great group of people. And as we grow and get bigger, we have a new board right now, different people on the board, it gets even more vibrant and it's exciting to go ahead and see this come out. And now to participate in the Davis Square Neighborhood Plan and then incorporate the DSNC in that process as well as other organizations like Davis Square Village and the Davis Square Foundation and other organizations. get involved in this process, many of which are part of the 600 that haven't had the opportunity to be involved as I have had now over a year now. So we have to integrate those people and get them involved. So really appreciate the opportunity for this meeting tonight and to hear about this exciting development that I didn't author but I've been part of. And it's excited me and my wife, and I've gotten to know and talk with various councils about this. So we look forward in the fall having hopefully a public hearing so you can see the people who were affected by Davis Square, who they are, hear from them, and take your measure of who they are so you can then consider the approval of this as a neighborhood association. So thank you very much for the opportunity to be here, and thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Ed. See no further discussion on this item. We will refer this item to legislative matters. Thank you so much for all the work you've done for the neighborhood council. Thank you. Councillor Strezla.

Not on this. I wanted to, I think we should acknowledge that there's an issue with the closed captioning for anybody either online or in the room, and that the city, the clerk and city staff are working to fix that. Okay. with the vendor, from what I understand, and it's still ongoing.

Thank you for bringing that up. Is that? Okay. Thank you. Next item, Madam Clerk.

It's 4.2 here.

So we'll move to... 4.2?

Yes. By Councillor Mbah, Councillor McLaughlin, and Councillor Ewan Campin, in support of the nurses and healthcare workers of Mass General Brigham Home Care and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

I see, I don't see... Okay, everybody... The whole council wants to sign on this item, so... Wonderful. So I will yield and... Thank you, Mr. President. This resolution recognizes the essential role that nurses and health care clinicians at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Mars General Brigham Home Care play in protecting the health and well-being of Somerville residents and the broader Middlesex County. And the resolution also encourages Mass General Brigham to negotiate in good faith and reach agreement that value the expertise and dedication of frontline health care professionals who provide compassionate care to our community members every day. So I will want to sponsor, they are all here, my friend Shannon Vera and Karen Esty to speak to this resolution.

Council bar would like to sponsor two speakers in objection. You have the floor. I'll please give you a name and identify yourself Hi, I'm Shannon Vieira.

I'm a nurse and chair of the home carers bargaining committee, and this is Karen Esty Hi, I'm the speech therapist with MGB home care and the secretary of our Union So we are on day two. We just wrapped up day two of a strike. We authorized a seven-day strike. We have been negotiating for our first contract since March of 2025, and Mass General Brigham has refused to come to the table on key issues that we're facing. I myself have actually provided care for patients in Somerville many times over the years. I've worked with Mass General Brigham for 12 years now. And we are looking for really basic things. We're looking for productivity metrics that allow us to work our eight-hour day and be done at the end of the day. Currently, we take home two, three, four hours of work with us every night depending on our caseloads. We're looking for caseload limits related to how many patients we can safely care for. In home care, there's no limit to how many beds a facility has. In the hospital, you're limited to how many beds you physically have. In home care, everybody comes with their own bed. So we are asking management to implement limits so that we can safely provide care for our patients. When nurses and therapists have 30 or more patients on their case loads these patients need to be seen two to three times a week usually it's unmanageable in a 40-hour work week so we're asking for that and we're asking for competitive wages we are unable to retain qualified clinicians in home care because of the work-life balance issues but also most of our clinicians a lot of our clinicians are working second jobs to maintain their quality of life We currently cap out at a wage of about $35 less than hospitals like Brigham and Women's and Mass General, which Mass General likes to continue to tell us we're all one system, but yet they won't pay us the same. So we really appreciate your support. We saw a lot of you today at our picket. We really appreciate it.

And over the years, we haven't been able to have even cost of living increases. So we get a standard raise every year. And meanwhile, our CEO has had her pay increased by 40% in four years. Ours have increased 2.5% every year, and no more. One of the really important issues for us is truly that patient care aspect of things, and the way that we can manage that is by capping our caseloads and getting that productivity language into the contract. We don't feel like anything we've asked for has been outrageous. And the resistance we're meeting is truly frustrating. And I do apologize about my voice. I've been screaming for two days. I mean, I've been screaming for 20 years, but two days in a row.

The support that we've had from Somerville City Council has been outstanding. So we really can't tell you how much we appreciate it. Mass General is really trying to union bust, not just us and Brigham and Women's, but we've had multiple new unions formed within Mass General Brigham in the past several years. The primary care doctors formed a union. The residents and interns have formed a union. Occupational health nurses have formed a union. And there are more to come. And this is them trying to say, no more unions. We're done. We're not going to let you win. So having you behind us really shows that we are unstoppable and we won't give up.

Yep. And our PTAs, our LPNs, and our CODAs and phlebotomists actually just unionized too. So we are excited for them. We're happy to support them.

Thank you.

Thank you. I just want to say thank you for your courage. You show every day. And as you can see, the entire city council has signed on to this resolution. So we are with you all the way. And Madam Clerk, I would like you to just read the resolution for the record. And then I will offer the opportunity for my colleagues, the co-signers, and then any other members that wants to make some remarks.

Absolutely. whereas nurses are a fundamental resource for a healthy community, and whereas MGB Home Care and Brigham and Women's Hospital are essential providers of healthcare services for the residents of Somerville and Middlesex County, and whereas registered nurses at BWH have been engaged in contract negotiations with Mass General Brigham and are seeking a fair union contract that protects patients from providing competitive cost of living increases, affordable health insurance choices, and safe limits on temporary staff. to protect high quality patient care. And whereas clinicians at MGB home care have been engaged in contract negotiations with Mass General Brigham and are seeking their fair market competitive first union contract that protects patients, preserves access to high quality local care with supporting recruitment and retention. And whereas weakening these staffing protections would risk patient safety, increase nurse burnout, and make it more difficult to recruit and retain experienced nurses. Oops, sorry, I hit the wrong screen here. Apologies. Whereas the community depends on BWH nurses and MGB home care clinicians to provide high-quality, compassionate care to neighbors, families, and residents across Middlesex County, and whereas a fair contract and support staffing, wages, and working conditions will strengthen patient care and help ensure that health care services remain accessible locally. Now, therefore, be it resolved that this council supports the efforts of the clinicians of MGB home care and securing a fair market competitive first union contract and supports recruitment and retention and protects access to high quality patient care and provides... Sorry, my computer's freezing here. and recognize the standards for safety of working conditions and be it further resolved that this council also supports the efforts of the nurses of Brigham and Women's in securing a contract that supports recruitment and retention of nurses for providing competitive cost of living increases, affordable health insurance choices, and safe limits of temporary staff to protect high quality patient care and this council encourages Mass General Brigham to negotiate in good faith to reach such agreements and be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution shall be delivered to the CEO of Mass General Brigham and Chair of the MGB Board of Directors, the State and Federal Legislative Delegation representing Somerville and any other appropriate stakeholders.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Councillor McLaughlin.

Thank you, Mr. President. As a council who represents Assembly Row, that is where Mass General currently is, I always try to support organized labor. But in this particular instance, I feel doubly obliged to support it. Because some of you may remember when Assembly Row was first built, we were very excited to get Partners Healthcare to come into Somerville because of the potential tax revenue we would get. uh because of the way the deal worked uh where they rent the space instead of own it we ended up missing out on a big bonus for the city of somerville so to hear that now it's mass general and that they're not paying their nurses and we're not getting our card either and you're getting to operate as a for-profit organization, basically, when you are a nonprofit. They're operating as a Fortune 500 company with a nonprofit status. So this is what bothers me the most when it comes to places like Mass General, Tufts University, Harvard University, all these places that have billions and billions of dollars, and they can't pay the people who are doing the work. I go to the hospital. I am almost always treated by a nurse. People get home care, they're being treated by a nurse. You can't see a doctor half the time. As the nurse is doing all the work, this organization would not exist were it not for nurses. So I expect them to treat their nurses the way that they should and pay them what they deserve.

Thank you, Councillor McLaughlin. I know the right word for it, greed. Councillor Yuenkampen.

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, thank you all so much for being here. You know, myself, everyone here is a thousand percent with you, as you mentioned, has been on the picket line, will be on the picket line. I just want to say it's just a shameful day in Boston, in Somerville. One of, if not the largest employer in Somerville, mistreating nurses and health care professionals to the point that they're walking out and then they're locking them out. It is just profoundly disgusting. But this is also incredibly inspiring, because you all are showing the way that we fight back. This is happening. This is not just happening in the health care space. This is in every sector of the economy. People leading these companies are screwing over workers. And this is the way to fight back. So thank you for the leadership that you're showing. We have your back 100%. We'll be with you until you guys win.

Thank you, .

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, I just want to thank the health care professionals who came up. I was proud to walk the picket line and speak to them yesterday. I know it's been noted that partners, formerly partners, is now MGB Master Admiral Brigham. One of the things I mentioned to the healthcare workers yesterday was the fact that when they merged that same year, they did not give many nurses who were non-union at the time. My landlady was one of them. They did not give them their bonus. They said they had a tough year. They gave them cookies and thank yous. That's the type of thing that they spent millions to change the name, millions to change the sign, all of the stationary. This is where the priorities are. While we have people who are caring for our loved ones, The way that they're treated directly impacts the way I love when they're treated. While there are many unions forming in different sectors, I think it's extremely important to make sure that healthcare professionals are treated properly and able to care for their patients properly. I heard a couple of different scenarios specifically around the fact that they have five patients a day. That's all that management cares about. It doesn't matter if it takes you an hour to get from, you know, I mean, we all hear people complain about traffic in Somerville. You know, if you have a patient in Somerville, it might take you 40 minutes just to get across town. Then you got to find a parking spot. They're not even, they're not getting paid for the time that they're on the clock, essentially. So you can imagine they might, you know, What happens when they get to that location? They're up against the clock. It just creates a really bad situation for everybody except the people that are getting paid a million, whatever it was, $2.3 million that their CEO. I'm happy and proud to stand with these healthcare professionals, and I had the opportunity to speak to some of them yesterday, specifically around the fact that some of these acronyms, like LPNs, or, well, I know what that one is, but for instance, speech-language pathologists, until you have somebody, maybe an elder or a child with a disability, you don't realize, you think that that's just simply about helping somebody speak properly. But when my father was going through dementia care before he passed, it was the speech pathologist who helped him to be able to make sure he could swallow food. As we know, many people with dementia end up essentially aspirating because they lose the ability to swallow. And so those people gave him the utmost care. And so I just think that, you know, until you have that up-close experience, you don't realize that, you know, these people are the ones going to people's homes, caring for them in their homes so that they can stay in their homes. So shame on Mass General Brigham. And, you know, I stand with these health care workers. I stand with the nurses. I stand with labor always. And, you know, we have your back. We will continue to have your back.

So thank you. Thank you, Councillor Klingon. We're going to go to Councillor Link and then come back to you. Councillor Link is online. You've been waiting for a while.

Thank you, Mr. President, through you, I just want to say so as a person who comes from a family of health care workers, both past and present, and grew up with my grandmother as working as a nurse, my mom working as a secretary at the same hospital, the it's It's so important that these jobs are so important and they're so underappreciated. And I think we're all recognizing that now here, all my colleagues. But I also want to point out too that we We know that when we have at-home care, that it's superior to having someone go into a home. When they're able to get at-home care, it's cheaper for the state, it's cheaper for the families, and it's... the outcomes are better. So these are essential workers. The work that they're doing is extremely essential and we absolutely have to be behind them. The final thing I'll say is, so I'm not able to be in person today because I've got a family reunion, but we were all just talking, unprompted by me about this strike. and about how we're all cheering on, you know, all these people here are just, you know, are just cheering for the right outcome of this strike. And I really, I'm looking forward to getting back into Somerville and hopefully everything's resolved by then, but if it's not, I will be there with you.

Thank you, Councillor Link. Councillor Strezza.

Thank you, Mr. President, to you, to our nurses, and the MNA, and Mass General Brigham's crucial staff. I want to say that I follow every year just how the pay increases of our top CEOs and board of MassGen, how it increases, and what's the latest with them. And you're right, Mr. Chair, through you to Councillor Kling, and you're right, it is definitely some millions. And we know that while they're giving cookies to, Ms. Jen is giving cookies to nurses and turning their pockets inside out and saying, gosh golly, and while moths fly out and say, gosh golly, we just don't have it this year. I do know that there was a bump up of executive pay that, according to the Boston Globe, reached new heights in 2023, and then a 40% increase in the year after that. The highest paid hospital executive in Massachusetts, Mass General Programs Executive, receives $8.4 million in total compensation. That was in just 2023. And then, currently, it has been bumped up to over 8,000, I'm sorry, pardon me, $8 million And I think it is insulting that they would try to nickel and dime you with all the hard work you do, with all the consistency, devotion, care, compassion, and the fact that we rely on you in our community and you show up for us always, the fact that your caseloads are increasing, Your hours are increasing, and you're just expected to persevere through that while the top executive, and this is old, so I'm sure it's increased a little bit, makes $6 million. No, no, no, $8 million.

$8 million, that's right.

That's scandalous and insulting. It's an insult to you. It's an insult to the patients. It's an insult to our community here in Somerville. We absolutely stand with you. I was proud to be there talking with you there. I'll be back again to talk with you and stand with you and walk with you. And we all will here in Somerville. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Streisand. Thank you. You know, it's really a shame that we have to sit here and be talking about this. This is like just basic stuff. You know, investment in health care worker, you know, it's just an investment in patient safety, like quality care and a strong local health care system. So that is like basic fundamentals. Councillor Saeed.

Very shameful indeed, Mr. President, through you. I just want to take a moment to thank you for being here today after two long days on the picket line. I was there today. It was like 90-plus degrees. Yeah, and just to say, you know, as my colleagues have shared, we're with you there, we're with you all the way. And I just want to share today when it was on the picket line and, you know, hearing the stories from the nurses, literally everyone, you know, despite their working conditions, the challenges in their working conditions that we just heard about, all they were talking about is their patients and how worried they were about them. And these patients are our community members, our neighbors. So again, thank you.

For that discussion of this, Councillor Klingon? Mr. President, a brief recess to take a solidarity photo.

I know some of these nurses, I talked to one of them particularly yesterday, came pretty far to be here.

Absolutely. This council will stand in recess for five minutes. Thank you. So we will come back. Madam Clerk, would you call the roll to establish a quorum?

Yes. This is roll call. Councillor Ewan Campin. Here. Councillor Link. Here. Councillor Scott.

Present.

Councillor Klingin. Present. Councillor Schrezzo. Here. Councillor Saeed. Here. Councillor Wheeler.

Here.

Council Hart. Here. Council McLoughlin. Here. Councilor Umbau.

Present.

And Councilor Davis. With nine members present, we have quorum.

Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 7.7. Requesting the appropriation of $204,400 from the salary contingency salaries account to the Department of Public Works school custodian's personal services account to fund a memorandum of agreement with the Service Employees International Union Chapter 3 school custodians.

The record reflects that the mayor is in the chambers.

Thank you, Councilors and Council President, through you. We're seeking funds to approve... Yeah, would you introduce yourself, please? Oh, yes. Matt Siragu, Assistant City Solicitor, Labor Council. We're here to seek funds to fund the fiscal year 27 costs associated with the collective bargaining agreement reached with Local 3. This is the union that represents the school custodians. They work in our schools every day. They are city-side employees, but they are school custodians. This contract is a three-year contract covering fiscal years 26, 27, and 28. In fiscal year 26, they're going to move to a new salary scale that will achieve equity or parity along with the SMEU custodians, building custodians. Then, in fiscal years 27 and 28, we'll have 2% COLAs in each of those years. Along with those financial components, there's a conversion to a vacation accrual system and a vacation payout for those with high vacation balances, similar to other items we've had with other bargaining units recently. And the contract also includes some additional staffing flexibility to allow us, the DPW, to better address the changing needs in the Somerville school and various schools. So we've created a swing shift and we've increased the number of floaters and the group was just really there to work with us to help achieve the goals of the schools in maintaining a safe, clean, secure environment. So with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions the council has.

Thank you. Any discussion on this item?

Thank you, Mr. President. No question. Just always happy to fund a union contract and give people their money. Congrats and thank you for your patience, gentlemen, who came up here for this and waited.

Any questions for Tony Serkis? Councillor Wheeler? Thank you, Mr. President. I'm excited to see this agreement. It sounds like a wonderful coming together, and I'm glad to get these funds to people doing hard work for our schools. Just a question about sort of procedure for tonight. I gather that this is something that the administration is interested in having immediate action on, if possible. And if so, is that something that you might speak to the value of doing that now?

Certainly, Council President, through you, yes, the administration is seeking immediate approval. The value is twofold. It is getting people their raises and their money as soon as possible, and also the way we seek the appropriation, it's based on a sum of money that will cover the increased wages for the balance of the fiscal year, so the appropriation amount, the appropriation requested is to cover this week or next week going forward in the fiscal year. So that is another financial basis for the immediate request, the request for immediate approval.

Councillor Wheeler? Good. Any other question for Tony Circus? Seeing none, that item is approved, I believe. Oh, Councillor Link, sorry. Okay, take that motion back. Forget about it.

Councillor Link. i totally get it this is not ideal um i just want to say a real quick thank you because um in the school building facilities and maintenance committee we've we've talked several times about um needing these like swing shifts uh and the floaters and that we have that now is fantastic um so huge round of applause um thank you

Thank you, Councillor Link. And, yeah, no, this is really exciting. Councillor Scott, do you have any?

Mr. President, given the request for immediate consideration, I would move to approve, hoping to have a roll call vote so that they can get their approval and go home.

Thank you, Councillor Scott. So that motion is approved. I believe... It requires a roll call vote, sir. Yep, I believe, yep. Clerk, would you do a roll call vote, please?

This is roll call on item 7.7 counts are you in camp and yes, counseling. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, Next item is 7.17 and 4.4. 7.17 is proclaiming July 26 to be Disability Pride Month. And then 4.4 by Councilor McLoughlin and Councilor Klingin, reaffirming this City Council's recognition of July as Disability Pride Month in light of the recent Supreme Court rulings and legal memorandum on the Olmstead decision from the Department of Justice.

Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, Honorable Council, Honorable Dwan, You've heard me say this a lot, that everybody deserves to feel pride in who they are, where they come from. Unfortunately, society seems just hell-bent on making folks with disabilities feel devalued, feel less than. That's why it's so critical that we have events like Disability Pride Month, which is July. We need to make sure that people feel seen, feel heard, feel valued, feel like they matter. And in Somerville, that's part of who we are. So I was thrilled earlier today to be part of a ceremony raising the disability pride flag out there. The Commission for Persons with Disabilities put together a really, really great ceremony. Councillor Wheeler and Councillor Strezzo were part of that. Councillor Strezzo spoke on behalf of the council. And it was a fitting occasion. So really happy to proclaim this month, Disability Pride Month here in Somerville, and just really appreciative of people who do that fight every single day to make sure that we're living up to our values.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councillor McLaughlin.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'm glad that the city is on top of this already, and I wanted to submit a basically similar order, which is the positive side is recognized in this month, but there is an important issue that came up recently with the federal government regarding the Department of Justice and the previous Supreme Court decision on the Olmstead decision, which made sure that there was unnecessary, to prevent unnecessary segregation of persons with disabilities The DOJ decision is ruling that a lot of the rules that the Supreme Court already decided apply throughout this country may not apply to certain states. And this is very concerning, undermines a lot of the work that's already been done for decades now. And we've been a worldwide leader on addressing disability issues in this country. So, I wanted to raise that up and not only just recognize it, but also think about what we have to do as a city in order to compensate for the loss we may have on the federal government level. I was hoping to sponsor a disability commission member, Holly Simone, to speak for a moment so she can give a better explanation about what's happening.

Would you introduce yourself for the record?

Sure. My name is Holly Simeone, lifetime resident of Somerville and current chair of the Disability Commission. I'm here as a resident to talk about events in July. Thank you, Councilman McLaughlin. Thank you, Councilor Klingin. Thank you, President Mbaa for allowing me to speak tonight. I would like to explain first and acknowledge that not every adult with a disability embraces the term disability pride. And that's okay. That's a personal choice. People don't necessarily feel proud that they have a disability. But I would like to clarify something. Being Disability Pride Month is about recognizing and honoring the decades of advocacy, sacrifice, and courage that secured the Civil Rights Act that many of us rely on today. And that culminated in the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act into law by President George Bush on July 26, 1990. You don't have to be proud to be disabled, but it's very important, in my personal opinion, that we tell children that it's okay to be different and you can be proud about being disabled and you shouldn't be shamed for it or made to feel less or different. So children may embrace being proud of being disabled and adults can choose what they'd like to do. But I'd like to just talk a little bit about what Councilman McLaughlin talked about today. And I think there's a big misnomer that the ADA is the law. It is the tiniest of all of the laws and it came much later. There are so many other laws that impact what is legally right to do in a city, a state, a government, a job. outside of the ADA. I'm just going to start a little bit about this. As you said, there was a place called Willowbrook. Our good old favorite, Geraldo Rivera, did a big expose by climbing through a fence and he got cameras in there. And if any of you have ever seen the story about Willowbrook, you would not be smiling or laughing right now. It was an institution where people were housed. They sat two on a cot in a cart. They were bone skinny thin, they were not fed well, many were not clothed, they weren't medicated properly, and they had no education. And that was in 1972 in America. And what happened after that at the Willowbrook State School was there was a movement in 1977 to adopt where advocates occupied federal offices and demand that Section 504 of the Rehab Act be passed. What also happened was a crawl on March 12th of 1990 where people dumped their wheelchairs at the bottom of the Capitol building in DC and crawled up to get our president at the time to sign it into law. But what happened that shuttered Willowbrook is the Olmstead Act. And that's what is in jeopardy right now. That act said it is against the law to institutionalize a person that people have rights to live in their homes with nurses that we talked with earlier today. They have a right to be participating in civic government, to go to a flag raising, and it actually costs less to keep people at home than what it costs to institutionalize them until what happens to them. Right now, someone said, I think you misinterpreted Olmstead and actually it is perfectly fine for us to institutionalize people. We don't have to give you services at home. So that is not, that starts at the most, most Those with the most needs with those with simple needs. Imagine a person or a child with autism who's high functioning, high masking, receive services at home. If the government says Olmstead's misinterpreted, they lose their services at home and they're told you can go live in Willowbrook. And I'm not over explaining this. That is how easy it is. Parents who have children like I did face that every day because we have more medically complex children, they are heavy users of insurance, and they would immediately be sent to the next Willowbrook. So there's a lot going on. I don't have a solution. I don't really have an ask of you, but I just appreciate the opportunity to share what is happening at our federal government and how it impacts us every day. But there are times where being a part of the Disability Commission feels like crawling up those steps one by one, fighting things at every single level every day, trying to get a seat at the table and to do what we are chartered to do by the law that the city of Somerville accepted. And it's great to be recognized for doing the work as a resident, and it's an honor to represent others, but we need to give us the ability to do that work. and to intersect things that are happening, not to take it away from people that own it, but to give you some personal insight. You have a disability commission because you need the voices of lived experience. You put this in. How does a wheelchair get by? Did anyone think to measure how far that is? You're blocking an access aisle with this. It took me asking three different people, where are the closed captions? I wear bilateral hearing aids, and I'm not the only person in this room that relies on closed captions. If all the microphones went off, would you have stopped the meeting? But you didn't stop the meeting when I couldn't hear what was being said. Because you don't know how hard that is to be a person who wears bilateral hearing aids. I'm not here to make you feel bad or sad. I'm explaining what it's like to be a person with a disability or to be the parent of a child or an individual. And I appreciate all the things that you have done and all the progress that we have made and what this administration is doing, but there will always be more that is needed. And one thing that we were talking about was fair housing and affordable housing. And what we have forgotten is where affordable housing intersects accessible housing. That does not mean financially accessible, that means wheelchair accessible, which is a federally mandated requirement that we have not been keeping an eye on until we had a change somewhere in the city and now we have variances coming in by the dozens at various stages. So this isn't the time to talk about that, but it is an example of where there's been great change and now we've brought forth an opportunity. And one of the where that intersects is in fair housing and a two foot requirement to build high. So I think, you know, I'm appreciative that we soon will have a fully staffed commission, but I really wish we had the support of more leadership of in this room to do the work and to give you some advice. I'll take any questions. I don't see anybody wearing your hat except Ben. I got a ponytail, I couldn't put it on, but yeah. I got a ponytail, I can't put the hat on, Kristen.

Thank you for your work and for really shedding light on this issue. It's unfortunate that we live in a society where if you're a senior or you're a person with disability, you're almost invisible. But we'll continue to do better as a city and as a community.

You don't understand it because you don't see it and it's not your fault, but you have soon to have a 13 member body who is willing to tell you how you can do it and make it easier, not more expensive. But we take up more space and we sometimes cost more and that's okay. I'm proud of that. I'm proud that I need more room to get in this building. Do you know this isn't accessible? And it doesn't go up or down. No one in a wheelchair can come in here. And it's pretty sad to think you have to stand to the side or hold a different microphone. There's so many little things that make people feel less that no one ever intends. But we want to make that go away. If you let us.

Well, I'll yield if there's any questions for the speaker. I just, I have, as the co-sponsor of this, I did have something I wanted to say after.

Anybody have any questions for Ms. Mignon? I don't see any. So, Councillor Klingon, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank my colleague from Ward 1 who brought this forward. It was after, I think, conversations that we had had. This is the second. So, in 2024, we brought forth disability pride, the flag raising and recognition of the month through a resolution. This is a reaffirming of that resolution. We also had to do last year the same thing when there was a strange interpretation of the 504 plans and that seemed to be under attack. Now we're back here reaffirming because of this Department of Justice determination surrounding institutionalized living. So once again, we are here, and thank you, Mr. President. Tonight, I'm proud to join my colleagues in recognizing Disability Pride Month and reaffirming the City of Somerville's commitment to ensuring that people with disabilities who live, work, and visit our community are respected, supported, and fully included in all aspects of civil life. Disability Pride Month is an opportunity to celebrate achievements, contributions, leadership, and advocacy of people with disabilities. It's also a reminder that disability rights are civil rights, they're human rights, and that the work of creating a truly accessible and inclusive community is ongoing. I really appreciate what you said. I know activist communities and I know that sometimes there are deviations and some people might say the whole aspect of pride, but I think it really speaks volumes in the sense that there used to be a ton of shame and stigma attached to having a disability to the point where we put people away and that's what happened with places like Willowbrook. So I do think it's important to in the same way that gay pride is like we're here and you need to see us and recognize the fact that we are here. But this reminder feels especially important across the country. Disability advocates have expressed concern about recent actions by the U.S. Department of Justice that seek to narrow the longstanding interpretation of the Supreme Court's landmark Olmstead. For more than 25 years, Olmstead has been widely understood to affirm that unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities can constitute discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Here in Somerville, we have an obligation to continue moving forward. We must recognize that compliance with the American Disabilities Act is the floor, not the ceiling. Our goal should not simply be to meet minimum legal requirements, but to build a city where accessibility, inclusion, and equity are part of every decision we make. I want to acknowledge that I have been encouraged by this administration's commitment. I actually should have cut this part out because I was under the impression that the ADA transition plan was supposed to be on the agenda, but I guess it's been pulled back for some more work, so that's okay. We'll hold off on acknowledging that, but I am encouraged that that plan, there has been a lot of movement on that plan, and the mayor has it. It's one of his priorities. So much so that, like he said, he has questions and concerns. So I just want to reaffirm the importance of ensuring that voices of people with disabilities are not only heard but actively included in decisions that affect them. The principle of nothing about us without us should continue to guide our work as a city because the people who are most affected by the decisions deserve a meaningful seat at the table. And so I'll just say as we celebrate Disability Pride Month, let us recommit ourselves to building a Somerville where everybody has the opportunity to participate fully in community life, where accessibility is viewed as a shared responsibility and where every resident is valued and welcomed. Together we can continue to work for creating a city that is more accessible, equitable, and inclusive. And I just want to say that Willowbrook's been named a few times, but I worked for many years at the Department of Developmental Services through the period where the commissioner and through the department was closing the Fernald Center. If you don't know the Fernald Center, it was closed finally in 2014. It was founded in 1848. It was a school for the feeble-minded. It was the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, its founding, 180 acres up in Waltham. humanitarian innovation, the care of idiots and feeble-minded individuals. Photos from the early days show girls in starched white dresses and boys in white shirts with black ties sitting erect in classroom desks. Over time, feral residents also included orphans, abandoned children, unmarried pregnant young women, visually and or physically impaired individuals, as well as individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach may have helped to mollify the minds of family members. But Walter Fernel was a eugenicist. He didn't want certain people procreating. But through the advocacy that was mentioned, the Fernel Center was finally closed. But yeah, we can't go back to the days of being able to indiscriminately and lock people up indefinitely. The things that I've witnessed at the Department of Developmental Service with regards to community-based living, which is the model that we moved when we moved away from this, the enrichment and just the sheer joy and sense of empowerment that these individuals who once were institutionalized are now living in their own apartments with roommates and all these different situations that it's just been amazing and they used to just wallow and as in Willowbrook be chained to radiators. So this is really important that we recognize this, and I appreciate the mayor doing a proclamation versus just our resolution. That was really a great thing by the city, and I'm sorry I missed the flag raising today. But, you know, I would have been there if I could.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Klingen. Any other discussion on this item? Councilor Hutt?

Thank you, Mr. President, and I would like to sign on in support of this as well and through you to appreciate Ms. Simeone for being here and for the counselors for raising this up. Our whole society and our city owes such a debt to the activists and advocates for decades who have worked for the rights of people with disabilities. We know that that's a group that, one of the many groups that our current federal administration is targeting, and we absolutely need to be standing up against that, and it's horrifying to hear about the rollbacks of the Olmstead decision. And yeah, just really appreciate everybody bringing that to light and drawing attention to it. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Hart. Any other discussion on this item?

I was going to make this very brief. But as I said earlier today at the at the 3 you to counsel to a solid community can a commissioner your commissioner now. Chair I can call you chair, I'm here is a resident chair Simeone. As I said earlier at the Disability Pride flag raising, that when it comes to either advocating for someone with special needs or disabilities or having disabilities, it becomes extraordinarily frustrating. And every day, just all the different ways that the world has been that our community, our processes are just designed differently and that advocacy becomes every single day an act of not falling into the cynicism, that goal to not fall into the cynicism is an act of everyday resistance. And that's very much how I feel about that. So I want to really leave that resonating, that it's constant. And I am an optimist. and these moments matter, and these conversations matter, and what we choose to do when we wake up in the morning tomorrow on this matters. I'll leave it at that.

Thank you, Councillor Strezzel.

Because we're coming further than no one else other thing I'd also move to do a quick recess for a photo and I would like to invite anybody who's Self-identifies having a disability or really anybody who wants to stand in solidarity for this photo With our brothers and sisters who may have a disability we do so in the short horseshoe.

Okay. Thank you construct England before that So madam clerk 4.4 The item is approved, 7.17 place on five, the proclamation. And yeah, thank you. And so we will stand in recess for five minutes. City Council is back from recess. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll to establish a quorum?

This is roll call to reestablish quorum. Councillor Ewen Campin?

Here.

Councillor Link?

Here.

Councillor Scott?

Present.

Councillor Klingin? Yes. Councillor Scherzo? Yes. Councillor Saeed? Here. Councillor Wheeler?

Here.

Councillor Hart? Here. Councillor McLoughlin?

Here.

Council member president and Council Davis with 9 members present we have corn.

Next item and then click.

Next item is 7.3 requesting authorization to borrow $130,392,395 in a bond in to appropriate the same amount to participate in the clean water state revolving fund for the Morrison Avenue linear storage project.

Anyone? Director Rage. Good evening, Council President, members of the City Council. For your record, Richard Rage, Director of Infrastructure. We do have some slides, mostly as visual aids. Thank you. So we'll start off with the project elements. We can go to slide three. It's a funny title, linear storage, so what is linear storage? So this is primarily a flood relief project. Many people know that the greater Davis Square area is subject to flooding, particularly Clifton Road. One of our major strategies in landlocked areas like Davis Square is storage. There are no opportunities for tanks in that neighborhood, however, so that storage has to be in the form of oversized conduits, and our route for that is Morrison Ave, therefore Morrison Ave linear storage. In order to get that big box culvert into an already congested underground street, we do have to relocate a bunch of the other utilities, including gas and water and the other sewers. On the next slide, this just illustrates the difficulty that we have with addressing flooding in Davis Square. We have three connections to the MWRA, one in Union Square to the Cambridge Branch sewer, one outside of assembly to the Somerville marginal, and another to the Alewife conduit along Alewife Brook. The area of Davis Square is landlocked, has a number of regulators in it. Under dry weather conditions, everything flows into Union Square to the Cambridge branch. During high weather, there are overflows that then carry that combined sewage to the Alewife Brook. So that poses a challenge for any improvements in that area. On the next slide, the project components here are, of course, that large sort of box culvert relocation of a bunch of other sewers and water. While we're there, we also rehabilitate other pipes that don't have to be relocated and are in sufficient condition that we can simply rehabilitate them in a bunch of manhole rehabilitation. The project limits on the next slide are primarily along Morrison Ave from Cedar almost all the way to College Ave. It sort of cuts off near Winslow just because of the way that the system works. We'll also be doing some work on Pearson and Highland Road. One of the things that we found again with the complicated way that our sewer system works is that improvements in this area could actually lead to downstream flooding, really by Buena Vista. So we had to include other improvements sort of outside of that localized zone. So we've got work along Potterhouse Boulevard and also some work on J Street that balances out the system. We can move forward to the project benefits on the next slide. This actually winds up being a very positive project for the overall system health. If you look at flood reduction benefits, we're currently at 60% design. Right now, under a 10 year storm, we see 1.33 million gallons of flooding in that Morrison neighborhood. The improvements here will bring that down to 0.17 million gallons. And you see there are also benefits in the J Street and Packard areas as well. The next slide sort of illustrates the mapping of the flooding. Again, for that 10-year 2030 event, as you see, the flooding is pretty pervasive throughout that neighborhood, and this project would eliminate most of that, and what remains is relatively shallow compared to what existing conditions are. On the next slide, this project also has CSO benefits. It's important to highlight that this is not one of the projects that we were putting forward in the CSO plan to the state because we didn't want to commit ourselves to having to do this. on the schedule. This is sort of an elective project for us to do, along with other similar projects that we intend to do, but the benefits are nevertheless fairly substantial. In that typical year, the 2050 typical year, we go from 13 events to 11. You know, that reduction of two is a 15 percent reduction in frequency. But more importantly, it reduces the volume from 8.5 million gallons in that typical year down to 6.4, and that's a 24 percent reduction. And it's sort of illustrative to point out that this is sort of our plan along with the CSO plan. The CSO plan has a lot of storage in it. The storage tunnel is the solution for the alewife. And to make that more resilient, we can continue doing other projects like this to maximize the effectiveness of that. As I said earlier, this area of Davis Square is an interesting part of our system, which primarily flows down through Union Square to Cambridge Branch. We had to be very careful with the design of this, increasing that flood storage but also conveyance in the Davis Square area that we didn't inadvertently flood out Union Square. And the long-term simulations, essentially, there's no increase to Union Square. So from a hydraulic perspective, we're balancing the benefits in Davis, but not at the expense of Union. So it's a success from a hydraulic standpoint. Moving on to project schedule and funding. Now, the reason I'm here tonight asking for council action is not my usual way of going about these projects. June or July is a strange time to be doing this. You usually see me in November and December lining up for the next construction season, at which point we will have done brought the design to 100% and we will have value engineered it and had a really tight budget. What has changed for this is, and we can go to the next slide to see the timeline on this. We submitted an application for the State Revolving Fund, the SRF, back in July of last year. That submission to the state for funding was based on the 30% design, which at the time was $30 million. We decided to move forward with that application at that time because The Biden administration had put an influx of money into the SRF program, and the SRF program was going to give us better percentage than our commercially available bonds. At a minimum, it is a 2% long-term loan, 30-year loan. And because we are a disadvantaged community in many respects, we will also be eligible for loan forgiveness. The amount of that loan forgiveness is not known now. It's not locked. It won't be until we get closer to the actual construction date. But the program offers us much better financing terms and some loan forgiveness, which would be essentially a grant that we otherwise wouldn't be eligible for. The downside in terms of council action is that for us, city council approval was due, and the paperwork was due to DEP on June 30th. Because of budget, we were not able to fit this request in. We did request and they gave us an extension to July 15th, which is like next week. And so the council action tonight is to authorize us to get into the SRF program and borrow up to $130 million. So that's the item before you right now. As I say, this isn't my normal way of doing this. Usually I will have gone through the process, value engineered it down, usually getting the price down. You'll see on the bottom half of the schedule, we currently have the 60% design in hand. We've got the cost down to 111. I'm hoping that by the time we get to bid, we're gonna be even lower than that. But, you know, that notwithstanding, we've got this opportunity to get into the program now. The indication, or not even an indication, Trump has cut this program. So right now, we are in the pipeline to essentially benefit from a Biden administration appropriation and an influx of cash. Were we to delay this by a year, this would not be here for us. It would go to other communities. We would lose our place in line. So that's why we're asking for an action tonight. We will continue doing what we normally do in advancing the design, cutting costs, My anticipation is that in December of this year, rather than coming to you for an appropriation as I normally would do, I will instead come to rescind whatever we manage to cut out of the cost. So we're asking tonight for the authorization for 130. In December, at this point, you know, we should be able to cut 19 at least. I think we're going to be able to cut more than 19, but I don't know exactly where those numbers lie. And then that would set us up for what we normally do is bid over the winter and then break ground next summer on this project. So it's a complicated ask, it's a big one. This number, the 130 number, was what we were holding in our rate projections. So when we got the rate approval last month, we were anticipating spending this money on this schedule, essentially starting in summer of next year. So this doesn't have any, need to increase rates any higher than what we were already projecting is baked into what we were asking for on the rate of approval. So, you know that that's that's sort of the situation we're in as always if you just go two slides ahead if you want more information This is one of many projects that was a you know, sort of a follow-on from the citywide drainage And water quality master plan we've got the summer voice link for that it is also a sister project to the Mystic River outfall and sewer separation project and which we also have Summer Voice for, and of course the Summer Voice for this project is linked there. So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Director Ridge. Before I go to Counselor Yuenkamp, I'm just curious, like, so when I was looking at, when I saw this number early on, I went to, like, the capital improvement plan fiscal year between 2023 and 2029. I didn't see this on there, so I wasn't sure if it was like a in your project or why it wasn't part of, you know, how we always have this master list.

Yeah, to the president, the last time we posted the capital improvement plan, as we discussed in finance committee, is three years ago. And this project started three years ago. So it was just sort of on the planning horizon. So it wasn't posted on that. As an outgrowth of the drainage quality master plan, it was sort of on the radar, but it hadn't been defined to a point where we could put it on the capital plan. But in the time since then, it has been the capital plan that we use to project the rates. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, I think we've been watching this project for the last three years, especially with wrapping up Spring Hill, which was this huge project. In my ward, I've been aware that this is the next big one. So I don't really have personal strong feelings about exactly the details of the financing. I've been aware that this is coming. Can you, through you, Mr. President, can you just say one more time the amount of money we're going to get from the feds?

So through the chair, because we submitted the application about a year ago now on what at that time was a $130 million project, they have earmarked 130 for us. So that would be the upper limit. And it is a borrowing program that is at 2% over 30 years, which is much better than what we're getting commercially right now. Director Bean would have it off the top of his head, but as I recall, the last time we went out long term, which was last month, I think it was something like 4.3, something like that. So significantly better rate. And also, we don't know exactly what the number is going to be, but based on our EJ population, we will be eligible for loan forgiveness for some undisclosed amount. I wouldn't imagine it to be $100 million, but it could be a significant amount that we wouldn't even have to pay back.

Got it, Mr. President. So yes, I mean, to me, that's extremely significant, right? Two points on an interest rate over 30 years on a project of this size is a lot of money. It makes sense to me to do it now. It's just a kind of stark reminder of how long these three years were at 60%. Construction starts next year and then it's four years of construction. I mean, it just kind of boggles the mind and this is a project as I understand it Mr. President, there's no streetscapes component of it right for financial reasons, right? We don't even get to nice in the street, which is through the president.

That's correct That's that's one of the ways that we went from 130 to 111 was cutting the streetscapes I mean, mr. President, I obviously always wish there were streetscapes.

I also understand we're in a really constrained environment It's really difficult just to the extent that you can do this briefly can you just remind me how this geographic region was chosen um you know there's a lot of parts of the city that flood we all get emails etc etc not this is incredibly important i support this but just for for my uh explaining this to constituents thank you for the question to the president um there

One of the reasons or the primary reason why we prioritize this is that it also allows us to renew and provide redundancy for a pipe that we know is in poor condition that is in the bike path. in the Davis Square. And it provides connectivity for a large portion of the city. So all the way up into Gilman Square, not Gilman Square, to Magoon Square. So Magoon Square DPW area actually flows under the tracks and then into that Morrison Avenue neighborhood, and then connects down at a point right outside of Somerville Theater and continues on down. That pipe's in poor condition, and were that pipe to fail, we'd have a very large portion of the city that would essentially be on a water ban for a long time while we tried to excavate this pipe in the bike lane. So because of that high risk and the fact that this project addresses that risk and retires that risk, this project was one of the ones that was prioritized over a lot of the others in the drainage master plan.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'm all set. I'm in support of this.

Any other? Councillor Wheeler. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate all of the long-term planning that clearly has gone into this. And I have some questions. Some of them are ones that I think I already know the answer to. So one of the things is I know the idea of borrowing $130 million sounds sort of inconceivably huge. And So first of all, I appreciate your clarity on the benefits of being able to get a low interest rate for this. My little back of the envelope suggests that we're talking about something like $6 million annually, but I know that depends on is that the full amount? Are we on a sort of standard even amortization schedule? One question I have is just to sort of get clear on why this is necessary. It's certainly, I know about the flooding being a problem I hear from lots of people over by Morrison Ave. Is this something that is, really explicitly and absolutely required for the city under our commitments to reducing sewer overflow and improving stormwater drainage. Another good question to the president.

Again, while this has CSO benefits, This is largely seen as a flood mitigation project and a risk mitigation project for the failure of that pipe that I just described for the Ward 3 Councilor. But also acknowledging that it is a very large price tag and not wanting to commit the city to having to do this, because again, with the CSO plan, we will be under consent order and we have no choice but to do it. So strategically, we did not put this into the CSO plan because I didn't want to put us in a position where we had to do it, that we elected to do it for those other reasons.

And through the President, why does it help for us to be electing to do it? Is there an amount where if it was part of the CSO plan, could a greater amount of the funding of that be coming from MWRA and from other sources?

Through the president, again, there's a lot to be negotiated between Somerville and MWRA on the overall payment of the CSO plan and the state, frankly. Because this is primarily a flood relief and system risk reduction, MWRA would not be very interested in paying for any of this. It would be eligible for their other local assistance programs that they do, that we already take advantage of, mostly on the water side. And we would get a, you know, it would not qualify for the full amount because we don't get that much. But this isn't a thing that MWRA would fund.

And then finally, through the President again, for an item like this, can you just give a sense of I'm assuming there has been discussion of this for quite some time among your staff, among our city's excellent finance staff, and a relative prioritization of given limited resources, is this the next thing that we really need to do?

this isn't really much of a question but i'd love to just hear uh you know hear a summary of that from you yeah so you know the the water and sewer prioritization is sort of we always acknowledge that it's the same kitchen table impacts but the the um prioritization of water and sewer things isn't usually in competition with the general fund because we have different sort of funding sources and limitations. That said, we do take that prioritization very seriously and only put forward projects that have definitive benefits. And again, in terms of the risk reduction, that pipe in the bike path is going to fail. I mean, it already has failed once back in, And it was a very difficult repair, very invasive in that area. um and the rest of that thing is is sort of a ticking liability um so it is very much a priority for us as a city to to take care of that um the flooding in that area has also been highlighted as a problem um and and one that we've had relatively dry few years so you haven't heard that much about it certainly since you've been on the council um but in the years before that uh counselor davis can attest that That neighborhood has been very vocal about the flood.

I'll just say, through the president, I heard about it from many people in that neighborhood who had disturbed recent memories of those problems.

And to be completely frank, when I saw the 130 number, I said, we can't do this. We have to start cutting costs. And we were down to 111. I'm still trying to cut more costs out of this to make this more palatable. But at the same time, the benefits are clear. The risk retirement, the flood reduction benefits, I can't express what a great job the hydraulic engineers It's a very complicated system that they've put in, and it's entirely passive. We don't have to have any pumps in it. It's just weirs and elevations, and it works very well, and the fact that it also shaves off combined sewer overflow. It's doing three big things, so it's still a priority project. I just want to shave another 11 off of it.

Finally, through the president, If we were to take a different approach to this and say, hey, let's just do the minimum repairs that we need to on that problematic pipe or deal with it when it becomes a problem, in the long term, would that approach be more expensive?

Through the president? Yeah, bless you. Were we just to do the repair, the repair of that pipe is a very expensive part of this and offers no additional benefits other than retiring the risk. It doesn't reduce CSOs or address any of the flooding issues. And as a standalone project, because of the mobilization to do it, and it's all the bypass pumping that would have to be in place for this project anyway, there are a lot of associated costs that would then be doubled were we to split it into two. So my thinking is if were we to split it into two, we'd never do the flood reduction project.

And to the president, that would leave us in a more of a debt, so to speak, in the sewer overflow component.

Through the chair, yeah. We wouldn't be reducing the CSO or addressing the flooding problems in that area at all.

Thank you. I appreciate your answering my questions through the president. I am also ready to support this. It's a big ticket item. My back of the envelope may or may not be quite on the money, but we're probably talking about something roughly in the ballpark of $6 million a year. That's a lot of money for us. I appreciate the work that's gone into getting this proposal to this point and that this is a relative savings compared to other approaches we could take. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Wheeler. Councilor Haag?

Thank you. Through you to Director Raich, thank you so much for this presentation. It's great to know that this is happening and I appreciate all of the work that's gone into it and it's great to hear that there might be some loan forgiveness and some help with the price tag, so that's wonderful. I have a couple of questions, and first, if you could just say a little bit more about the streets in Ward 7, the Powder House, Packard, and Jay, and the benefits to those neighborhoods and the need in that area.

So both of those areas are also subject to localized flooding. I think the flooding map really just focused on the Morrison Ave ones, unfortunately. I probably should have got the other maps from my consultant. But J Street in particular is one that historically has had a lot of flooding. In fact, there... When I first started here almost 10 years ago, there had been some condos that were permitted that probably should not have been because they're actually sort of lower than the street and they had constant problems. Like every time it rained, it would back up into the condos. The sewer department has it on their list. Like every time a large rainstorm is coming, they go down and jet that line as a preventative maintenance measure. So this also addresses that J street. There's flooding on that corner. on Potterhouse. Usually it ponds because you've got that sort of grass strip and the sidewalk behind. It creates rivers back there. So this addresses that in Ward 7 as well.

Thank you. I appreciate that. And through you, another question. So I'm learning all of this. I'm a beginner at understanding these issues. So I appreciate your explanations. And I know during the budget hearings, you were telling me about the difficulties in doing stormwater management as part of streetscapes and things like that. And I'm just wondering, in terms of other ways of attenuating rainfall, like gray water systems or things that property owners could do, I know that's a very different thing from engineering this sort of project, but what, since we're on the topic, what sort of opportunity or limits do you see in strategies like that?

To the President, there was some talk at budget of the stormwater fee, which Councillor Scott has been involved with since he was on the council. We're looking to roll that out once we have all the billing issues. We're targeting January, and we just had a meeting with that team yesterday, and January seems really close to us now, because there's a lot of work that has to be done. But the One of the purposes of that is to make payment fair because stormwater is the sort of root cause of most of our costs. And so there's some payment fairness. But more importantly, My mind is there's an incentive there to reduce your stormwater fee by deep-having and by holding stormwater on-site And the modeling that that we see that we've run modeling on your different percentage of people buying into that on a level of intervention that we know can happen because we require it for any building permits and It will reduce CSOs by 25%. It'll significantly reduce flooding. And so that's, we're moving that in parallel to incentivize folks to store their stormwater onsite.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Councillor Hunt. Councillor Saeed.

Through you, Mr. President, thank you for the presentation. I am very supportive of this part of this.

You might have to recuse yourself because your house is one of those ones that would be affected if that pipe breaks. I'm still going to speak to it.

But so Cedar Street all the way to all part of it. Yeah, I mean, I'm very familiar with this area because one, you know, I live there and But I'm glad to see that we're looking for ways to reduce the cost and keep the project going. Yeah, I want to understand this slide on flood reduction benefits. It's just because you just made the point that this will not address the flooding when we'll ask the question.

So just to clarify, Councillor Wheeler asked if we were to split the project in two, just do the pipe rehab by itself and not do the linear storage. So the linear storage is what gets that flood reduction.

And this project, it has that. Okay, sorry. And okay, so I just want to say that when I first got on the council, so this was three years ago, this is one of the very first things that I had to like, you know learn about and uh obviously was hearing about it from neighbors um but it's not the same to meet with the director post away and say that this is actually one of the areas that keeps him up at night it's like that bad where sewer water imagine all along the bypass in this area and uh just i mean right now we know that most of the basements on these streets they're flooding and um Some neighbors on Cedar even had sewer water coming out of their bathrooms and all that, which is just horrifying. People just lose everything overnight. Just to say, this is a really important project for us to address. yeah a few questions so it says here for the timeline it's four years so is that only during the is it does it include just construction season or is it more of like through the president i mean

As the good Ward 3 counselor knows, we try to work around the season, snow permitting. So if we have a snow-free winter, we'll keep on going. If the snow falls, we'll have to shut down. The four years... It's probably slightly conservative. I don't see this getting done in three years. I think there's spillover into year four. How much of the fourth year is actual construction? Really hard to predict right now until we start digging.

Just trying to get a sense of also the impact it will have on the community path. It's heavily used by neighbors, families. When we get there, we're not there yet to make sure we prepare for that and have alternatives and all that. Obviously, this is really important because I mean, we all use the community path, and we know this area. When it rains, you literally cannot get through there. I mean, if you're on a bike, yeah. But if it's icy, this ice freezes overnight and all that. It just becomes impossible to get through. Oh yeah, and then just back to the first slide, I think I missed where it says where is linear storage. Can you tell us one more time all the different things that will be addressed in this project?

Yeah, through the president, especially from Morrison, and then we do a little jog and go down on to Winslow, we will pretty much be touching every underground utility that's currently there. As you know, Eversource is out there right now replacing the gas line, and we've already coordinated with them on the corridor that we want them to be in. Coordinated is a polite term for the way that has gone But we're getting we're getting the gas line out of the way now. We will have to relocate the water line There will we will be putting in a new sanitary sewer alongside the the larger box culvert so Pretty much everything gets moved to make way for a large culvert that has the volume so yours In simplest terms what you see is surface flooding will now be underground in a large box culvert and we got to do a lot of work to Make room for that

Thank you, Mr. President. I'm glad to hear this. The request is just to make sure as we dig up the street, we get everything done because the challenge, this is going to be coming for years, making sure that after four years, we're not digging up the street again. I'm glad to hear this and look forward to learning more as we move forward. Yes, you know, we get the funding to keep going with this project. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Saeed. Any other question on this?

Mr. President, we need eight votes for this. There's only seven of us, so can we call the other councillors back for actually voting? We all use the same system.

It was just a joke.

So, seeing none, we will approve this item and then we'll wait to do a roll call vote. Okay. Councillor McLaughlin, we're waiting to, is Councillor Linsley on? Okay. So madam clerk, can you do a roll call vote on this item?

Yes, this is a roll call on item 7.3. Councillor Iwan-Campin.

Yes.

Councillor Link. yes councillor scott yes councillor clingen yes councillor strezzo yes councillor saeed yes councillor wheeler yes councillor hart yes councillor mclaughlin yes yes councillor davis with 10 councillors um it is approved thank you

Next item, Madam Clerk.

Yes, next item is 7.4, requesting the appropriation of $834,595 from the Facility Renovation Stabilization Fund for Continuing Building Design and Construction Services.

Director Rich. Council President, if you'd like, you can also take up for 7.5 at the same time. It's the same discussion.

Madam Clerk, are you ready?

Yes. 7.5 requesting the appropriation of $185,352.58 from the Street Reconstruction Stabilization Fund for continuing street, sidewalk, and pavement condition assessment and design services.

Thank you. So as we discussed in infrastructure's budget hearing, every year, because our projects are tied to the construction slash calendar year and bridge fiscal years, we start projects in one fiscal year knowing that we're going to then need to continue on those projects in the next fiscal year. We do that by taking all of our active projects that have active POs. We take that money out of the previous fiscal year, put it into stabilization, and then appropriate out of stabilization back so that we can then wreck against them on new POs. We typically do that, as you recall, at the end of budget night on the 25th. There were a number of items that were taken up. The first half of that thing was in those items. This second half was just missed. We couldn't get all the math in and get all the items on the agenda. So on the 25th, the council already took our money from fiscal 26 and put it into stabilization, we now have to take it out of stabilization and put it into accounts that we can wreck against and continue all these POs.

Thank you. Councillor Scott. Thank you, Mr. President. This is just basic bookkeeping catch-up. If you notice on these memos, they were issued on June 20th, so I would recommend approval this evening.

Any other question? Councillor Klingon. Through you, Mr. President. I'm just curious. So did you say there was a list of, like, what projects are?

Through the President, we submitted a memo along with the items that were already voted on that took it out of the budget and out of fiscal 26 and into stabilization. So for the facilities, it's a bunch of the stuff with the schools. Our ongoing work at the Argenziano Boilers, the West Roof, all that stuff. I actually knew that one. I was looking more to the sidewalks. The street rehabilitation, the way that we've been funding it for the past many, many years is that we do bond and use Chapter 90 for the construction. But for the engineering design, engineering oversight, and all the consulting work, we use our annual budget. We don't bond for that. So this is basically the design, oversight, checking, all that kind of stuff that we rely on consultants for.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Councillor Klingon. Any other question? Seeing none, the item is approved. I think we require two roll call votes.

Yes, we can bundle them together, Mr. President, if that's okay with you. So this is roll call on 7.4 and 7.5. Councillor Ewing-Campin? Yes. Councillor Link? yes counselor scott yes counselor clingen yes counselor strezzo yes counselor saeed yes counselor wheeler yes counselor hart yes councilman yes counselor yes counselor davis with 10 10 council members it is approved

Thank you. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 7.6, requesting approval to appropriate 50,000 from the salary and wage stabilization fund to establish a police detail revolving fund for superior officers.

Anthony Sirica?

Good evening, Attorney Sirigu, to speak on this item again. For the record, this is $50,000 in relation to an item included in the Superior Officers' recent MOA that was approved by the Council a few weeks ago. This $50,000 will be used to create something of a revolving fund so that Superior Officers can be paid in a more timely manner when they work in detail. $50,000 is used to make a payment to an officer after they work a detail, and then when we receive payment from the vendor or the contractor, that money goes into the account. So it's self-sustaining in that sense, I suppose.

Thank you. Any questions?

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you. So this is no new money. This is just a way to get people paid a little faster.

Council President, through you. Yes, that's accurate. The patrol officers have had an account like this for a number of years. The superior officers will now just have one, too. But yes, it's not the city paying the detail fund. It's just putting some money forward, a capped amount of money forward, so that the officers can be paid in a more timely manner.

Got it. I'm all set. Thanks.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. And following on that question, I know there are some revolving funds that the city has where from time to time there's a need to infuse the revolving fund with more money. is it your understanding attorney sirigu through the president that uh that is not the case with this fund that instead there's an agreement you know as as part of this memorandum of understanding uh that uh fifty thousand dollars is sort of the capacity of this fund uh there's a one-to-one correspondence of money that will be coming in and money that will be going out there's no reason to expect that there would be a need to infuse this fund with more money unless at some future date there's a new and different agreement with a union.

Council President, through you, yes, that's correct. Right now it's capped at $50,000. The money should come back as long as we manage the account well and account for the money and track down our vendors. It should not be a problem. We should not need more funds for it. Unless one day it were negotiated to be a higher amount if the detail rate went up further There could theoretically be reasons in the future why the amount increases, but right now by contract.

It's capped at $50,000 Thank you Thank you any other question See none that item is approved. I think we require a roll call vote on that.

Yes, mr President this is roll call on item 7.6 if accounts are you in camping? Yes, counselor link Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, Hello. Mr. Demers, you should be able to share your screen. Here we go.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Will you introduce yourself for the record? Yes, sorry. Just one second as I get up the correct view. OK. Hi, everyone. My name is Ben Demers. I'm a senior planner with the Economic Development Division of the Strategy and Development Department. So I am here this evening. Sorry, let me just place my things down. I'm here this evening to give an update on the Request for Proposals, or RFP process, for selecting a developer at 90 Washington Street. So as a reminder, the Somerville Redevelopment Authority, or the SRA, released an RFP to find a development partner for this site this past January. That was open until April. The SRA had two responses to that RFP from Wood Partners and North River Learing. Last time that we met with the council, the council voted to move those two finalists forward into what we call a best and final offer period, during which staff were able to negotiate to improve both proposals based on feedback from the council, from the 90 Washington Street Civic Advisory Committee, from staff, and from the redevelopment authority. So I'm here this evening to give an update. So I will spend this evening giving an update, and then we are also requesting that the council convene an executive session specifically to talk about the updated financial portion of their proposal. And then for, I'll give a summary of the proposal, but in the memo that was shared with this item this evening, there's also a link to the city's webpage on this project, which also has the link to the full updated proposal from Wood Partners. So the first thing that I want to note, so as I mentioned, we received two responses from Wood Partners and North River Learing. At the end of the best and final offer period, which ended on June 29th, so last Monday, Wood Partners did, or sorry, North River Learing did withdraw their proposal. We had gone back and forth with them a few times during the best and final offer period. Ultimately, they cited that due to the difficulties meeting both the programmatic goals and the required return for their investors on the project, they ultimately decided that they needed to withdraw. Obviously, this is disappointing to be at the end of a best and final offer period where we thought we would have two proposals improved at the end and to have one. So I do want to name that. However, I will say through the back and forth with Wood Partners, we saw a lot of improvements and changes to their proposal that I'll talk through this evening. feel successful coming out of that process. And obviously North River still a big player within the brick bottom neighborhood, big landowner in that area. And so learned a lot through this process about what the neighborhood wants to see for development in this area. So shifting into the Wood Partners proposal, you can see here that a significant amount has changed within the site plan. And I apologize for the size of this. I'm going to blow up the updated proposal in a second. You can see here on the left, the original proposal that was shared. So this was the large building that included some amenity space. And you can see the parking structure in the center, which was a six to seven story parking structure, which the building wrapped around. And then on the right here, you can see the updated site plan. So this updated site plan breaks up the building. So you can see in the kind of the main portion of the site, you have building 1A to the north and building 1B to the south, which comes along New Washington Street. And so by breaking that up, they've allowed for kind of more pedestrian networks within the site. And then along what we call the tail portion in the southeast of the site, you see building two. So they added a third building to the development. I'm going to zoom in a little bit. Sorry, it's clicking through. OK, so as I mentioned, by breaking up the site, they were able to add kind of more pedestrian connections throughout. So you can see they've maintained a civic plaza in the northwest corner at the corner of Washington and New Washington streets, and then the pedestrian plaza that kind of goes through the site and exits onto New Washington Street in the southeast corner, so creating a new point of connectivity through the site. And then you can see here some renderings of the buildings. So the image, both of these images being shown from the northwest, so from the intersection of Washington and New Washington Street. And so you can see the two main buildings, buildings 1A and 1B. These are both seven-story buildings. They have ground floor, community, retail, and amenity space, and then primarily residential rental units above. And then you can see a bit in the background of the image on the right, Building 2, so the smaller building on the tail portion, which is a five-story building. And you can also see in the rendering these buildings in relation to the Cobble Hill Apartments buildings, which are generally six-story buildings. There we go. So here is also a summary of the program. So you can see what the program was originally and then the updated program. So the unit count has increased from 324 units in the original program to 418 units. That's achieved both through efficiencies in the building design, but also through the addition of that third building on the tail portion. They've also decreased the number of parking spaces from 398 spaces to 244, and they have moved those parking spaces below ground, essentially by adding one level of underground parking across much of the main portion of the site. The idea here is to go as shallow as possible to have to remove as little dirt as possible. They've kept the retail space roughly the same, so it's about 15,000 square feet of retail, and you can see they have kind of grouped their retail, which is the purple space in the site plan at the top. They've grouped that space around the plaza in the northwest corner, and they have also increased the size of one of the retail spaces to be up to 11,000 square feet, and the idea is that that could potentially house a neighborhood grocer, which generally looks for a floor plate around that size. And then the community space, which is shown in blue, has stayed roughly the same. So it's about 7,000 square feet of community space. We did talk a lot in the best and final offer process with this team about how to improve the boundary with Cobble Hill Apartments, which is the apartment complex shown to the east. so i want to talk about a few of the things that they did so the they have kept the access drive which you can see along the eastern edge so this adds a new crossing from washington street to new washington street which itself serves as a barrier but they also added additional landscaping particularly adjacent to building 1a so the northern building between the street and the building and then it's a little difficult to see here but i'll They've also just north of what's called Building 84, so the westernmost building at Cobble Hill Apartments, where currently there is a connecting route from the kind of center Cobble Hill circle to the western side of this building. They've also added additional landscaping where that road currently is, since now it's accessible from Washington Street. They also have designed this so that the access road, the northern portion, is the portion that would be used to access the underground parking, so that would have two-way vehicular traffic, but then the southern portion of this space would be primarily pedestrian-oriented. We heard a lot in this process about a desire for Cobble Hill seniors to be able to walk through the site and walk in general in this area, so we want to make sure that we have spaces that they can do that, that come into as little conflict with cars as possible. However, this space does still allow for southern access from Washington to New Washington Street for emergency and trash vehicles, which maintains access for those vehicles to the western edge of Building 84, which is also a priority that we heard throughout this process. And then one of the last things I'll note is that the blue community space shown here in the northeast corner adjacent to Cobble Hill, they have proposed as a senior center. So this is a 7,000 square foot space that they have proposed could be programmed by the City's Council on Aging. Currently, the Council on Aging has programming at the Tufts Administration Building in Teal Square, and then also at the Ralph and Jenny Centre, which is just further east along New Washington Street. But that's an older and smaller space, and so the intention is that potentially in the future, this space could replace that other senior centre use with a newer space. Obviously, many future conversations around that, but that's part of what they propose in the response. And then one other note on this. So Wood Partners has also left an option for the Redevelopment Authority to forego the third building on the southeast tail portion of the site. So again, this is the smaller building called Building 2 in the site plan. This would not affect the square footage of retail or community space at all since those are just housed within buildings 1A and 1B in the western portion of the site. It would mean a reduction in the number of residential units from 418 to 374 so a 44 number reduction in those units and it would also mean a reduction in the value that is offered for the land again we are going to be discussing the financial portion of this offer in executive session since that will continue to be negotiated up until if the redevelopment authority chooses to move forward with this team that would be negotiated up until the point that a land disposition agreement is agreed upon but just to give a sense that would have about a 10 reduction I do want to note also, so we spoke with members of the 90 Washington Street Civic Advisory Committee earlier this week on Tuesday about these updated proposals. Just want to share a bit of what they said. So definitely expressed disappointment having North River Learing withdraw from the RFP process. There had been a positive response to their renderings in the initial part of the process. But in terms of would partners update a proposal, they did mention appreciation for the fact that the team did make a lot of changes based on the feedback. So they increased the number of residential units. They did reduce the amount of parking and put that parking underground. And they did appreciate the placement of the retail space around the Northwest Plaza. And they also noted that the site plan maintained access to the western edge of Building 84 of Cobble Hill Apartments and that this was a big priority. They did still note some concern about the lack of ownership opportunities within the residential units. and within the amount of space still dedicated to resident amenities that were not available to the public. We talked a bit about the decision to include or exclude Building 2, so the building on the tail portion, from the final development. Generally, the CAC was fairly neutral on this decision. There was some preference expressed for including it to increase the number of housing units and the amount that the city would receive from the land offer, but obviously this building is closer to Cobble Hill Apartments, so it warrants further discussion. Okay, so just looking ahead, the Redevelopment Authority will be meeting next Monday evening. The intention is that at that meeting, they are making a decision around whether to select Wood Partners as the designated developer for this RFP process or to reject all proposals altogether. If they are to choose to move forward with Wood Partners, then we would immediately begin to negotiate what's called a land disposition agreement. So this is really... through the RFP process, selecting a negotiating partner and a concept for a project, it's the land disposition agreement that would really lock in the details of the project. And then that land disposition agreement would need to come back in front of the council for final approval before being signed. So I just want to flag that. Okay, so as I mentioned, we will ask the council to convene an executive session to discuss some financial portions of the project, but I do just want to take time now to answer any questions or clarify any points. Thank you.

Is it Director Demers? Senior Planner Demers, yes. Senior Planner Demers, thank you for your presentation. Any questions for Councilor McLaughlin?

Thank you, Mr. President. Several questions. But first, is there a slide of aerial view of the current lot of 91?

Through you, Mr. President, to Councilor McLaughlin, I don't have a current aerial view in the slideshow.

Could we back up to one of the aerial views?

Yeah, I can also just go to Google really quickly and pull it up if that... Yes, please. Through you, Mr. President, to Councillor McLoughlin. So this is now showing an aerial view on Google Maps.

I wish I could, I'm trying to visualize both of them at the same time, but my main question revolves around the new road that's being built. Where is the new road on this map?

So if you follow my cursor, the new road would come in roughly in the kind of center portion of the parking lot and then would move southwest and then come along the western edge of Building 84 and then exit onto New Washington Street.

And why is this new road necessary for the development?

So the new road provides a few things. It maintains access to the western edge of Building 84, and then it also allows for access down to the below-ground parking structure.

And is that not possible without building a new road? You can't get there from New Washington Street or Washington Street?

Meaning get into the parking structure? Yes. Through you, Mr. President, Councilor McLaughlin, feasibly you could have a separate entrance along New Washington Street that would lead down into the underground parking.

Okay. So raising this as an issue, as I have consistently brought up, this berm that you can clearly see separates 90 Washington from the rest of Cobble Hill, which is not only some of the only green space on the street, but also protects the seniors from the development we're having where it looks like we're building a road over it now. So that's a concern of mine right off the bat. And I'll back up and say that I think the proposal that I've seen is better than the previous proposal, so I'll say that much. But that's a concern of mine that we're gonna get rid of green space to build a road, especially if we don't need to do that. I understand we're trying to allow access to the back area, but they currently have that access right now. So if we left it as is, that wouldn't be an issue. That's just the immediate thing that stood out to me was immediate removal of a lot of green space to build a road. And then building two is definitely a concern to me. You can see nothing but trees there right now. And it literally looks like a shoehorn, the building itself. So I feel like we're shoehorning in. a property to make this work, which has been my line in the sand, literal line, separating the properties, that's been my top concern. So I'm not sure, if you have a response, that's fine through the Chair, but I'm just stating my immediate reaction to what I see.

Senior Planner, you want to respond?

Oh, sorry, through you, Mr. President. I was just making the note that the... I don't think this counters your point necessarily, just that the fire department requires that Western access and that the access road through would... help to maintain access for those fire trucks because the current way of, I think probably the more important point here is that the access road coming down here, It definitely does cut into a portion of green space on the berm here, but it also would largely maintain an existing access along the western edge here and then cut into the parking lot. So the space where the berm is located on the site is likely more taken up by a portion of the building, so the community space and then residential units above within building 1A, so the northernmost building within the new design.

Let all of us ask questions for now.

I've just stated my immediate visual reaction to what I'm seeing and my concerns, but if other people have thoughts, I'd like to open it up to them. Sure. Thank you, Mr. McMillan.

Thank you, through you too, Mr. Demers.

Quickly, please remind me. how many retail space opportunities are there with this latest project? I know there's the expanded one of square footage in one of them.

Through you, Mr. President, to Councillor Strezza. So they're offering roughly 15,000 square feet of retail space. That's shown in this split as essentially two retail spaces, so one being around 4,000 square feet, a little under, and then one being roughly 11,000 square feet. But the team does call out that if 11,000 square feet is more than is needed Which you know that might be larger than even a neighborhood grocer might need that that could be subdivided further into additional retail spaces Thank you through you One of the things that I've heard over the past years from residents and in what they desired is a laundromat

Has that feedback been given yet? And if not, if that is a possibility, would there be a special conversion of the retail space that would be required if that was? And I know that's a very specified retail opportunity.

I haven't heard the specific request around a laundromat. In general, I have heard the request around, so definitely seeing grocers, seeing food options, but also seeing neighbourhood services, which I think you could categorize laundromats under. I am not sure the specifications that would be needed for adding a laundromat to the site. I do know that the development team has started some conversations with potential tenants. But if that was a tenant of particular interest, then it's something we could definitely flag for them to start conversations early.

Thank you. If you can, please ask to see if that's still a priority. In the past, numerous times, it's been laundromat, a small grocer or convenient grocery store of some capacity, and a bank or some kind of like bank access to where they can walk to. One more question. And with that, if this ends up being a community space, would that be in place of the Ralph and Jenny Center? Or what would be the plans that the city is envisioning with the Ralph and Jenny Center?

Through you, Mr. President, to Councillor Strezzo. I can't speak to, it's definitely very early in the, even in the suggestion of this taking the place of the Ralph and Jenny Centre. The intention here being how proximate it is to the Cobble Hill Apartments and with the kind of the size of the Ralph and Jenny Center compared to the amount of the 7,000 square feet that they're able to offer here for community space. It seemed like a natural idea, but those conversations are so early along, so there'd be many more opportunities to have that conversation.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Strezzel. Councillor Klingon. Thank you. Oh. Chairman Scott, please. Sorry.

Mr. President, through you, so it sounds like this is pretty early on in the process. There's a general... of what will be to come, but when, so because this is currently sort of a city-owned parcel, if you will, SRA, I would think that would give us a decent amount of leverage as far as, and of course making all the numbers work is a whole other stumbling block but as far as you know making sure that we're getting the maximum amount of ADA accessible apartments maybe some like you know social housing units or something like that um when can those when will those discussions take place as far as like once we sell the if we sell them the land i mean we don't what leverage do we have then

Through you, Mr. President, to Councillor Klingin, can I just ask on the social housing piece what exactly you're referring to? Like what exactly you would be imagining?

Just the possibility of some sort of housing. I mean, social housing being the concept that I would identify it being as income restricted to say 30% of your income or something like that. But I'm just wondering when is a good time for those conversations to take place?

Through you, Mr. President, to Councillor Klingon. So what they have proposed for the site is, so it's the 418 rental units and then essentially the standard inclusionary zoning set aside. So 20% of the units being set aside at 50, 80, and 110% of area median income. So there are potential, you know, nothing is locked in until a land disposition agreement is agreed to. So we are not at that point yet. However, the Any additional asks around different kind of housing configurations likely will have an impact on the financial value that is offered for the land. This team has also been quite realistic in the conversations that we've had with them that they deliver roughly the size of rental housing that is kind of their wheelhouse. And so part of what is appealing and realistic about this team is that they have delivered this before, but they also do kind of stay within the space of rental housing generally. So there are future conversations to be had, but they have not posited currently, and we have not brought up actively in conversations the idea of having social housing units or necessarily deeper levels of affordability.

Okay, thank you, Mr. President. Through you, yeah, no, I was actually, I just kind of threw out a couple of different things, again, because it's sort of not being a public project, but, you know, whereas we're heavily involved, it's more going back to the conversation we had earlier about ADA accessibility in apartments, because I've always kind of struggled with, you know, the ADA-ready apartments versus fully ADA-compliant apartments or, you know, So that's always been sort of trying to understand what the workaround is. A lot of times developers will build stuff that they claim is accessible ready in case if somebody, I guess, wins a lottery or something or happens to rent from them that they can accommodate. Is that as far as we can go with this, or can we at least get some apartments that are fully ADA-ready and accessible?

Through Mr. President to Councillor Klingin, I will be honest, I'm not exactly sure what our process is for ensuring accessibility within residential units, just in terms of my role in the process, but something I'm happy to talk more about with staff for understanding when we bring that up in the conversation with the development team.

Thank you. Okay, that's all, Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Clington. Councillor Scott, I actually wrote your name and then I was looking at some other part of the agenda. Councillor Scott, you have the floor. Thank you, Mr. President.

I had one quick question and then some comment through you to Senior Planner Demers. It was a few slides back in. I just want to make sure I read it right. The bottom bullet on a page said financial proposal that allows the city to recoup a significant portion of funds spent on the taking. Now, I know we're going to get into details in executive session, but that sounds like not recouping the total amount that we spent on acquiring this site.

Is that accurate? Through the President to Councilor Scott, I cannot discuss details of the financial offer publicly. We'll discuss them in executive session.

Okay. Well, you know, Mr. President, if I eat three slices of pizza, I have eaten a significant amount of that pizza. So I have to presume this wording is intentional. So I wanna start with that concern right there. When I look at this, first I wanna extend my compliments to Wood Partners. This is a significantly improved project from their initial proposal. I appreciate the hard work from city staff that went into refining and making this as good as it can be. Unfortunately, I can say that this is an absolutely excellent project that would really enhance Dedham. It might be great in Milford. This is top-notch for Norwood, but this is in the heart of Somerville. This is an enormous amount of square footage for density that could practically be matched by some of our back streets in the backside of Lincoln Park. I think this, to move forward with this would be, a real loss of an opportunity, regardless of how much money the city is going to recoup from the, let's say, problematic process that has undergone at 90 Washington. I know that just across the railroad tracks in Brick Bottom, there's folks who want to do 10 to 15 story buildings. I think moving rashly, I understand the City Council doesn't get a say in this, but I would urge the SRA, when they're having that discussion, to walk away from this. I know everybody wants to see development on that site, but a fire sale is not the right time to sell property. If we are interested in social housing, If we are interested in seeing better there, this is a place where the city holds the most valuable resource that we have here in Somerville, at least in terms of material goods, and that's real estate. This could be an opportunity to say, hey, look, we already went all in. We bought this site. It's time to figure out how, while we're passing $130 million bonds and investments, how we really put our money where our mouth is in terms of housing production. that we could then ensure would be accessible, that we could then ensure had multi-generational use. We could pursue an entirely new model here as opposed to conducting a fire sale for the sake of recouping some of our investment on this site. When I think about our AAA bond rating, I wonder, what is it for? I think it is time for us to challenge ourselves. I think it is appropriate for us to take a big swing. And this, unfortunately, is not that big swing. I guess I'd feel different about it if I was on the Milford City Council, but I'm here in Somerville. So obviously looking forward to executive session, but I wanted to make sure that these remarks were held in open session. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Councillor Scott. Any other questions on this item? Councillor Wheeler.

Thank you, Mr. President. One procedural thing I wanted to just clarify. The step in the process, if the council and the SRA and the 90 Washington Civic Advisory Committee all agree to move forward with the Wood Partners proposal, there is an additional step, which is creating this land disposition agreement. Is that correct? and that itself would require approval by the council again. Is that correct?

Yes, through you, Mr. President, to Councillor Wheeler. So the decision around designating a developer is within the process solely the redevelopment authority is making that vote. So we're collecting feedback from the council and from the CSE and obviously want to get as much of that feedback as possible. for the decision on monday it is technically in the process the redevelopment authority's decision however that would immediately start the process as you mentioned of negotiating a land disposition agreement and that land disposition agreement is what would actually lock in the project and allow it to move forward and that document would need to be approved by the city council prior to being executed thank you and um just to sort of as a a frame of reference um

One thing I think that it's important for us to keep in mind here is this is, in some senses, a large plot of land. In some senses, it's a small plot of land. You can see on the aerial map how much smaller it is than the Cobble Hill development. And even though this was not originally conceived in our request for proposals process as specifically a social housing project, we are talking about 85 income-restricted units out of 418, I believe, was the proposal if we're including that building to the sort of tail building. With apologies to my colleague from Ward 2, I don't think that's happening in Milford. Is it as dense as I would ideally like to see? No. But the original proposal from North River Lyrinc, which did include a significantly tall tower, that had about this number of total housing units. An unfortunate aspect of the sort of context here is this particular developer, as I've come to understand it, please correct me if I'm wrong, senior planner, doesn't have experience building towers. It's not something they do as developers. That is unfortunate that we lost a developer who does have that experience. This is right by the Somerville Green Line Station. This is fairly close to the Orange Line Station just across the border in Charlestown. And it's on bus routes. And this, as I've said before, is a great place for density. I won't say this is exactly as dense as I would ideally like it to be, but it's pretty close. And I just want us to keep in mind, we do have an opportunity here as a city to have A bunch more housing, a bunch more housing near transit, a bunch more housing where people will not need to have cars, and 85 income-restricted units. Could we get something even better? I don't know. And that is a significant thing for me, that I don't know. So that's part of what I'm keeping in mind at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Wheeler. You're in luck because I would have, as a point of privilege, I would have invoked the Councillor to respond since you mentioned him. But we'll move on. Councillor Hutt.

Thank you, Mr. President. I just have a quick question through you to Planner Demers. Did the proposal specify the mix of the 418 rental units in terms of numbers of bedrooms?

Through the President, Councillor Hart, it did. I apologize, I don't have it within the slide, but if you go to the full proposal on the webpage, it's... The one thing that I can note about it is that there is a fairly high proportion of affordable three bedroom units in particular. So if you look at the ratio of studio one, two and three bedroom units across the project, and then you look also at those ratios across the income restricted units within the building, the ratio of three bedroom income restricted units is much higher than the ratio of three bedroom units overall. So they have tried to add more larger income restricted units, which is in line with conversations we've had previously around wanting to see more income restricted family size units specifically.

Thank you. I'll just add a comment in terms of I think it's great that the developer is considering the community space for seniors and of course I support that. It'd also be great to see amenities with families and young children in mind. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Hart, and also for what is what. I've had conversation from the folks that sit on that advisory board. They are excited about this project, even though they would have loved to see the whole thing, but I've spoken to a few of them, and they think it's not a bad project.

Councillor Clinton. President just a comment not not any more questions. So I I just want to say on this particular project You know, I will stick with what I've been saying from the beginning. I certainly would would look to the ward councillor on this If and when we decide what we just you know, we decide we're gonna do I love the idea that the city currently or the SRA currently somebody we kind of own it that we could get dreamy with it and But I know there's real financial concerns and constraints with this And I know that nobody's really building, we could be sitting with this empty lot for a long time. So I'm not, you know, I'm having to trust city staff and different people as to sort of what the best direction to go in is here. I guess, you know, we'll hear an executive session on the actual dollars, but, you know, I struggle with this because we're down to only one, we don't even have an option, we're down to one developer. and I heard concerns from the ward council about the berm, and I heard density concerns, and of course just generally what could be, but that may not be necessarily a luxury that we have to play around with, so I struggle with this.

Thank you, Councillor Tengen. Yeah, I agree with you, Councillor McLaughlin. You have so much influence in bringing, you know, leading the direction of this project, for sure. Any other discussion or question on this item? Seeing none, we'll place this item on file. Thank you. Next item, Madam Clerk.

The next item is 7.1, requesting that this council convene an executive session to discuss 90 Washington Street.

Attorney Amara, is this an item appropriate for executive session?

Mr. President, I'm sorry, can I just interrupt? In terms of the order of the meeting, I'm curious if it makes sense for us to break for executive session right now as opposed to continuing to address other items that might be of interest to people who are either watching at home or attending in person. And if it might not make more sense for us to, even though this is obviously relevant to the previous item, if it might not make sense for us to break for executive session later in the meeting.

Mr. Wheeler, did you request any item to be taken out of order? No. Okay. Good point. But thank you for that remark. Any members of the public, is there any item that you want to discuss?

Body-worn cameras. Body-worn cameras, I believe is what I heard, which would be the Finance Committee report.

Councillor Wheeler, this is, we don't, this is, this is a, we, we've had this protocol and so we will, it's, it's, I think it's at, at, Councillor Estrella, you have a comment?

Oh, you're the president? Yes, I was. Right. We have our agenda items and the plan that you've had to go through with this in this order. Right? Mr. President, if I may? Executive session. Our staff's been waiting here for a while for this.

That's what I intended to do, but I want to hear to my colleague to hear what

I would just obviously have great respect for members of the public that are here. Typically the way this works is we have their members of the public here to speak to an item. They work with the counselor should submit them. We take those up first. We also respect the city staffs time. The president typically works with the staff to set the order of the meeting. You know, it's up to you, but my view is it's 1030 at night. It's an appropriate time for us to go executive session while our brains still work.

Thank you. I guess this is exactly what I was trying to say. I mean, we already have. I came in early. We organized the agenda. If there was something that had to be taken out of order, a call was submitted. I also take consideration for members of the public. If there's any item, I'll But at this point, I think we need to respect the staff time. So, Attorney Amara, is this an item that's appropriate for executive session?

Yes, it's appropriate for the executive session.

We just want to prepare it to be adverse to the city's position if it was done in the executive session.

Yes.

Okay. Madam Clerk, would you call the roll for executive session?

Yes. Councillor Ewing-Campin?

Yes.

Councillor Link?

Yes.

Councillor Scott?

Yes.

Councillor Klingon?

Yes.

Councillor Scherzo? Yes. Councillor Saeed? Yes. Councillor Wheeler?

Yes.

Councillor Hart? Yes. Councillor McLoughlin? Yes. Councillor Mumbach? Yes. Councillor Davis? With 10, we are adjourned for executive session.

And we will return back and no vote will be taken in executive session. So we'll be back. I appreciate your patience. to regular order of business. So we're back from executive session, no votes were taken. And Madam Clerk, would you call the roll to establish a quorum?

Councillor Ewing-Campbell. Councillor Link. Councillor Scott.

Present.

Councillor. Present. Clingan. Councillor Clingan. Yep. Councillor Strezzel. Present. Councillor Saeed. Here. Councillor Wheeler.

Here.

Councillor Hart. Here. Councillor McLoughlin.

Here.

Councillor Umbau.

Present.

Councillor Davis. With 10 members present, we have quorum.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Councillor Wheeler. Mr. President, I move to take the the fiscal finance committee report, out of order?

Actually, Mr. President, if we can please just address this next item in the regular order of business 4.1, which will just be quickly placed on file.

Yeah, Councilor Streisand, you know, when there's a motion on the table to take an item out of order.

I had just asked before you this and asked the clerk to handle this before we went back in session.

Mr. President, I'm happy to withdraw my motion.

Thank you. Thank you. It'll be quick.

Councilor Whelan. I'm happy to withdraw my motion. So that motion is withdrawn, and Councilor Strezlo.

Yes, just need the item read, please, and move and decide. We are now back in regular order. That is now bringing us to item 4.1 by Councilor Strezlo, that the Strategy and Development Department and all relevant city departments conduct an economic analysis on the potential impact to the city's finances, including investigating all potential service providers, the impact of the city's bond rating, and the cost of enforcing the proposed ordinance amendment to Chapter 2, Article 7, Division 1 of the Code of Ordinances.

Yes, this doesn't need to be placed on file. I believe it just I need I'd like a report this handled over the summer and In the relevant departments take care of this immediately. Thank you Thank you.

That's all the struggle that Tim is a proof That's president. I moved to take the Finance Committee report out of order item 6b1 Madam clerk

Report of the Committee on Legislative Matters meeting on June 30, 2026.

The Finance Committee, Madam Clerk.

I'm so sorry. Did you say 6D? 6B1.

Oh, 6B1.

Report of the Committee on Finance meeting on July 7, 2026.

Thank you, Mr. President. The Finance Committee met on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 via remote participation with all members present and with the help of Assistant Clerk Madeline Letellier. The Committee discussed the approximately $232,000 state grant for a police department body-worn camera program. The administration had asked that the item be discharged to the full council for discussion. Several councillors expressed concern that the committee should make a recommendation rather than simply return the item without one, given our duty to perform financial oversight, the amount of time the issue has been before us, and the significant policy and budget questions involved. Several councillors spoke in support of the cameras as a tool for transparency and public safety and as useful for public defenders. The committee discussed continuing concerns about the proposal, including the fact that the grant would only cover initial costs, while implementation would create substantial ongoing costs for the city, totaling, by my math, $446,000 per year. The breakdown of my math there for clarity is $96,000 recurring for equipment, plus $18,000 additional for batteries. $215,000 for salary increases connected to a previously agreed connection between officer salary and the adoption of body-worn cameras, and $117,000 for salary for a technical administrator. Councillors also raised concerns that the budget had just required difficult cuts across departments and that body-worn camera funding would come alongside unresolved questions about police oversight, including civilian oversight and the broader policy framework for use of the footage and access to it. the committee voted four to one to recommend that the grant not be accepted. Before I ask that this committee report be accepted as submitted, I want to move to sever this grant item, 26-0378, as the administration has indicated an intention to hold a public hearing soon on the matter, and it's my intention to move that we lay this item on the table pending that hearing. Chair, besides that severance, I would ask that this committee report be accepted as submitted.

Any discussion on the report? Seeing none, the report is approved. So we need to... Is the item... The two items before us are severed. One item.

Can you... So I'm moving to sever item 26-0378. Chairman and clerk, can you...

Read the severed item.

The severed item is requesting approval to accept and expend a $231,635 grant with no new match required from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to the Police Department for Body Worn Camera Program.

So the item will be laid on the table.

The motion on the table I believe is severing the item.

We need to take a roll call to sever the item. Yes. And then we'll put the item before us and then before we deliberate and then before laying it on the table. So move to sever the item.

So this motion, yes, is to sever item number 26-0378. Councilor Ewen Campin? Yes. Councilor Link? No. Councilor Scott, no. Councilor Klingon, yes. Councilor Scherzo, yes. Councilor Saeed, yes. Councilor Wheeler, yes. Councilor Hart, yes. Councilor McLaughlin, yes. Councilor Umbau, yes. And Councilor Davis. With eight members, that motion passes.

Mr. President, can I request a clarification? Yes, please. uh i believe the chair of finance just said the administration intends to schedule a public hearing could you please clarify

um i through the president uh i'm referring to the communication that was given by the administration to this council in the last meeting that included a you know mention of uh the there being a plan to do a public hearing around this i know there's been a petition for a public hearing by members of the public

Council Scott, I guess we are discussing now on the server item, so it is appropriate to ask your question now, because the item is before us.

Mr. President, public hearings are matters of the City Council. They're scheduled by the City Council and by the committee chairs. This public hearing is scheduled to be held in early September. That has not changed.

Just for clarification, Mr. President, I'm not assuming that there's any other schedule. I apologize for saying it wrong.

So the item will be laid on the table?

There hasn't been a motion to do that, but I do move to lay the item on the table. And so...

Madam Clerk, so we're going to take that motion at the end.

We can take a roll call vote on a motion at any time.

If a councillor wants to lay this on the table, that motion is before us.

We can deliberate on that motion and then we can take a roll call vote. That would be in order now, if folks want to do that. Did you just make a motion? I did.

I moved to lay this item on the table. There's a motion to lay the item on the table. Is there deliberation? Any deliberation on that motion?

Thank you, Mr. President. I see no reason to lay this item on the table. I'm prepared to vote on it tonight. I would be inclined to vote on this item tonight.

Okay, so there's a counter motion to vote on it tonight, and then there's a motion to lay it on the table. So which motion supersedes?

The motion before us is the motion that would prevail.

Yes, okay, so the motion to lay on the table is in order. Madam Clerk, could you call the roll?

Mr. President, on the motion? Yes, please. Just because we're discussing this. So the question as I see it is, do we want to just put an end to the discussion of body-worn cameras tonight, and then we can't take it up for six months, whatever the number is? Or do we want to leave open the possibility that at some point in the future, financial situation changes, and we do want to take it up? Something changes. My view is if we were to vote tonight, I'm a no. I don't want to pay for it this year. It's too hard. I think that's what the Finance Committee said very clearly as well. I appreciate that. But I don't want to shut down conversation about body one cameras for good, for the foreseeable future. So that's not my view on this. If there is a way to make this happen that doesn't cost a lot of money, I'm certainly open to that. I'm skeptical that that happens, but we'll see, right? So that's why I'm in support of laying it on the table. We'll see what happens, is my view. That's why I'll be voting in support.

Councillor Clingen. Oh, Councilman Griffin. I support laying it on the table so we don't have 30 minutes of speeches at 11.30 at night right now. Thank you, Councilman Griffin.

Okay. Any other conversation? So, Madam Clerk, call the roll.

The motion is to lay item number 26-0378 on the table. Councilor Ewan Campin?

Yes.

Councilor Link?

No.

Councilor Scott?

No.

Council cleaning, yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, okay with 8 members that is approved.

And then, Mr. President, I'm not sure procedurally. I ask that the committee report be accepted as submitted overall, which includes items.

Absolutely. That continues to be accepted. Thank you. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 4.3 by Councillor Davis in his capacity as president, canceling the regular meetings of this council scheduled for July 23 and August 13, 2026.

I think it's self-explanatory, and so this is our last council meeting before we go on recess. Next item is for- Never mind, I was just going to make a joke. We don't have time. No jokes. We're going to go past midnight here.

I'm ready for the next one. Next item is 4.5 by Councillor McLaughlin in support of State Auditor Diana DiZeglio in her efforts to audit the General Court.

Councillor McLaughlin.

Baby, where the hell is my audit? Motion to approve.

Thank you. That item is approved. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 4.7 by Councillor Umbau conveying the protocol for consideration of appointments by the Committee on Confirmation of Appointments and Personnel Matters.

Colleagues, you can check that out, and if you have any questions, reach out. That item is approved. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is report of the Committee on Confirmations of Appointments and Personnel Matters meeting on July 6, 2026.

Vice President Yuenkampen.

Thank you, Mr. President. I ask that this committee report be approved.

Thank you. That committee report is approved. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 6 C 1 report of the committee on housing community development and equity meeting on July 1 2026.

Take a look at the minutes colleagues. It's wonderful stuff, but I do have to sever an item due to a Misfiling of one of the items so I need to sever Madam clerk Mr. Chair through you mr. President through you to madam clerk. Is it six visit order two six zero zero eight two That is correct. Correct. Okay. Can I move to sever that item? and move to approve I We'll sever it first and then move to a market where it's complete and approved.

So, Councillor Stroud will move to sever.

Item 260082. Item 6- Could you read that item? Yes.

This motion is on to sever item number 26-0082.

Councillor Ewing-Campin. Yes. Councillor Link.

Councilor Scott.

Yes.

Thank you. Councilor Klingin.

Yes.

Councilor Strezzo. Yes. Councilor Saeed. Yes. Councilor Wheeler.

Yes.

Councilor Hart. Yes. Councilor McLaughlin. Yes. Councilor Mumba. Yes. Councilor Davis. To members, it is approved.

So there's several items before us.

Mr. President, if we have to take the additional step to mark it we're complete, then so be it. But it's fine to be discharged through committee. Fine.

Chancellor Schleser, would you repeat what you just said?

Mr. President, I said it's aimed to be marked work complete. It was a discrepancy with the filing of this.

Oh, I see. Thank you. So that's about it. It's marked work complete.

Okay. All right.

And also placed on file, I think.

Next item is 6D1, report of the Committee on Legislative Matters meeting on June 30, 2026.

Thank you, Mr. President. We met for four hours, and I anticipate this report will take no more than 10% of that time. We did cover a great many substantive issues and an overstuffed agenda, several of which are going to be before this body for roll call votes this evening, so I hope my colleagues will allow me to at least explain what we'll be voting on briefly. There was a home rule petition presented by Director Alan Schachter about allowing Somerville to regulate leases and tenancy at-will agreements. It's also known as the early leasing home rule petition. This is basically to say that you cannot have your landlord tell you nine months in advance that you have to sign a new lease or else they're gonna start showing your apartment. It provides a very clear timeline that three months in advance is as early as that can go and really provides more stability and privacy for tenants. So this is something that I encourage you to listen to the discussion, but it was an excellent policy and one that I hope our state delegation will be able to get through the State House. There was also another, this one was an ordinance presented by Director Schachter, an amendment that requires property owners to provide a notice of building sale to tenants. So if an owner is going to be selling the building, you have to let the tenants know. Seems good. If you're gonna list your building, you have to let the tenants know that that is a possibility. This is similar to the Housing Stabilization Notification Act. And this is something that because it operates on a purely notification basis, we believe it doesn't interfere in the tenant landlord relationship. So it's something that we can pass as a city by ourselves. So those are two tenant rights items that we will be voting on tonight. Then we also had a brief conversation, relatively brief, about the ethical purchasing ordinance that was proposed with that item being kept in committee. There was a discussion of the Surveillance Technology Annual Report, which item will need to be severed because, no, it was work completed. That should be just fine. Ah, that's the updated surveillance technology report. I made a mistake and we took a vote to recommend to approve it. I'll need to separate that item to place it on file instead because it is a communication and not something that requires council action. There was a review of surveillance technology impact reports for various items, one that was approved, the smart tree inventory software, and several that were kept in committee, or one for Crime Tracer that was kept in committee. And then... The items related to body-worn cameras were voted to be discharged without recommendation, which, on acceptance of this, will place them once again before the Council. That is the Surveillance Technology Impact Report and the Technology-Specific Surveillance Use Policy for body-worn cameras. Oh, the final ordinance that will be before us tonight is the Councilor Davis ordinance that the code of ordinances be amended to prohibit the use of taxpayer funds for self-promotion. So that's been discussed and has the clearance from communications and everybody else to be approved. So with that, Mr. Chair, I would ask to sever item number 260936. Which number 6 to 6, 0, 9, 3, 6. This is a motion to sever item number 26 dash 0, 9, 3, 6 counts you in camping.

10 members approved to severing the item.

I request that item be placed on file. So the item will be placed on file? Yes. All right, and then I request that the committee report be accepted as submitted.

Any discussion on the committee report? Seeing none, the committee report is approved. I believe we have... We have a couple of roll call votes, Mr. President. We have to enroll and then... 62, the ordinance. and then the home roll petition and the amendment to the code of ordinance. So Madam Clerk, would you call a roll on those?

Yes. So this is a roll call to approve the home roll petition. That is item number 6D5. Councilor Ewen Campin? Yes. Councilor Link? Yes. Councilor Scott? Yes. Councilor Klingin? Yes. Councilor Chazzo? Yes. Councilor Saeed? Yes. Councilor Wheeler?

I'm sorry, clerk, can you remind me what we're voting on?

Yep, 6D5.

Yes, requesting the approval of the home road. Thank you, yes.

Councillor Hart? Yes. Councillor McLaughlin?

Yes.

Councillor Umba?

Yes.

Councillor Davis? That is approved.

Madam Clerk, we need to enroll and ordain the Code of Ordinance amended to prohibit the use of taxpayers' funds for self-promotion.

What number is that, Mr. President?

6D2. 6D2, yes.

Okay, this is a roll call vote to approve item number 25-1762. To enroll and ordain. Oh, we can do it all together. To approve, enroll, and ordain all together. Councilor Ewan Campin?

Yes. Councilor Link?

Yes. Councilor Scott. Yes. Councilor Klingin. Yes. Councilor Strezzo. Yes. Councilor Saeed. Yes. Councilor Wheeler.

Yes.

Councilor Hart. Yes. Councilor McLaughlin.

Yes.

Councilor Imba.

Yes.

Councilor Davis.

So Madam Clerk, so this is, so the report is already approved. So we just enrolled this would need another roll call for ordainment.

We took them all together. All right, this is still on the same item to ordain. Councillor Ewing-Campen? Yes. Councillor Link?

Yes.

Councillor Scott? Yes. Councillor Klingon?

Yes.

Councillor Strezzo? Yes. Councillor Saeed? Yes. Councillor Wheeler?

Yes.

Councillor Hart? Yes. Councillor McLaughlin?

Yes.

Councillor Umbau? Yes. Councillor Davis? That item is approved.

One last item to enroll and ordain, 6D7.

That is correct, Mr. President. This is to approve item number 6D7. Councilor Ewan Campin?

Yes.

Councilor Link?

Yes.

Councilor Scott?

Yes.

Councilor Klingin?

Yes.

Councilor Strezzo? Yes. Councilor Saeed? Yes. Councilor Wheeler? Yes. Councilor Hart? Yes. Councilor Mumbaugh?

Yes. Yes.

Councilor McLaughlin.

Yes.

All right, Councilor Davis. With 10 members, that is approved. And now we're down to enroll and ordain for the same item. Councilor McCampin.

Yes.

Councilor Link. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. This is to ordain the country when camp and that's the link. Yes, it's a Scott, yes, it's a clean and yes, it's just so yes, it's a site. Yes, it's a really yes, it's a heart. Yes, that's the problem. Yes, that's about this answer Davis. 10, 10, 4, Damon. Thank you.

Next item in the club.

Next item is 6E1, Report of the Committee on Public Health and Public Safety, meeting on July.

Mr. President, I think there are two items that were discharged without a recommendation, 69 and 6010. These are the body-worn camera surveillance technology impact reports. They came out of committee without a recommendation. I would move to send them back to the committee.

So there are two items before us, and there's a motion to send them back to Committees 6D9 and 6D10. Councillor Wheeler, on the motion.

I'm just curious about my colleagues thinking for why it would make sense to send those back to the committee, the committee discharge them.

How to summarize this. The majority of the committee did not want to discharge them. And after some confusing procedural stuff, they made it out without a recommendation. We could vote on them tonight. I think they would lose. I don't think that's the outcome anyone wants. Well, I don't think that's the outcome the administration and majority of the council wants. So while we continue to work on body-worn cameras, let's keep them in committee, keep discussing them.

Councillor Wheeler. I'm sorry, Mr. President. I'm just confused. I watched portions of the meeting. I thought I got the gist, but I'm just still confused. The majority of the committee did not want to discharge them, but voted to discharge them. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be obtuse.

Mr. President, a single counselor voted to recommend approval. Four counselors voted against that or said they would vote against that. Then the motion was changed to discharge without a recommendation. There was a discussion of should a committee do that. Here we are. A majority of the council does not want to approve these. The committee does not want to approve these as they are.

Mr. President.

On the motion, Councillor Strezzel.

Yes, I think it's hypothetical to make an assumption that the entire council would or wouldn't vote. That's up for a vote.