Finance Committee - Regular Meeting

I'm Ben Wheeler. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. I'm Ben Wheeler. I use he, him pronouns. I am a counselor at large and the finance committee chair. It is 06:03PM, and I would like to call to order the Tuesday, 01/20/2026 meeting of the finance committee of the Summerville City Council. This meeting of a city council committee will be conducted via remote participation following chapter two of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' acts of 2025. We will post an audio video recording and a comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City Of Somerville website and local cable access government channels. We are joined today by clerk Delaney Fisher Casio.

Clerk, could you please call the role to establish quorum?

Absolutely. This is roll call. Councilor Link? Councilor Strazo?

Present.

Councilor Hart? Here. Councilor Scott?

Present.

Chair Wheeler?

Present.

Alright. With that, we do have all members present, so we have quorum.

Alright. Wonderful. We will be taking up our seven item agenda in the order posted. And, also, to everyone in the meeting, as a general note, if I pronounce your name wrong or get your title wrong or use the wrong pronouns for you, please do not hesitate to interrupt me. I wanna get it right. Okay. Point of order. Clerk Fisher Casiole, do you read the item? Do I sort of say next item?

Honestly, it is kinda up to the chair's discretion. I will say, generally, in committee meetings, the chair does read out the items.

Okay. I'm happy to do that. Alright. Item one, ID 251881, approval of minutes. This is the approval of minutes of the finance committee meeting of 12/09/2025.

Is there any discussion of these minutes? Okay. That item is laid on the table to recommend approval with a single vote for multiple items at the end of tonight's meeting. Grant and gift acceptances. This will be item two, ID twenty five-eighteen oh one, Municipal Road Safety Grant.

This is the mayor requesting approval to accept and expend a $65,000 grant with no new match required from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to the police department for the Municipal Road Safety Program. We have director Emily Wisdom and lieutenant Michael Holland from Summerville Police Department. Director Wisdom and lieutenant Holland, could you please tell us about this request?

Good evening. Thank you, chair. So the this particular grant is the municipal, road safety traffic grant. We've applied for this grant, in the amount of $65,000 to augment the city's traffic safety budget. Records indicate, I've only been here about a year.

So records indicate that the city has received this grant consistently for, it looks like, the past decade. So this grant is nothing new to anyone. Maybe a few of you on the on this committee might be a little bit new to the finance, so I will I will do a little bit of a breakdown, the documents, with the application, and some of the the scope of work are attached, in Legistar. So the grant is broken down into four components. The community awareness and education materials for $8,112, safety items in the amount of $5,642, overtime for traffic safety enforcement from about April to September, $33,930, and overtime for pedestrian and bicycle enforcement from January to May.

And, again, there's a small period in August and September as well. The total of that overtime request was $17,316. Over the years, the summer the summer the Summerville Police Department has received feedback regarding the pedestrian and bicycle enforcement campaigns. Campaign is a term that the grants use. We don't typically call them campaigns, but that is how you will see the documentation from the state in the backup.

So the feedback that we've gotten has been carefully considered over the years and has helped to guide how the pedestrian and bicycle enforcement how how that grant is implemented and used. As a result, of the feedback, pedestrian and bicycle safety activities have shifted to emphasize and include safety education rather than solely focusing on enforcement. These education efforts take place often in non enforcement settings such as along the community path, allowing for distribution of safety materials and protective gear that's purchased through the grant. A large portion of the pedestrian and bicycle overtime is utilized for the distribution of these safety items and the educational materials. And, however, it does not mean that there is no bicycle enforcement activity taking place, but it but the the SPD really prioritizes the education piece so that we can teach safety and have as much materials and safety items out there as possible.

I also have Lieutenant Holland here from the traffic unit who could help answer any more specific questions related to policy if anybody has

I'm seeing a hand from counselor Link. Counselor Link.

Yeah. Through the chair. I I just wanna confirm. So having heard, this explanation and also having read through the documents, it doesn't look like we're talking about having, any of the any specific campaigns about, like, stopping cyclists going through pedestrian signals, crossing through intersections of pedestrian signals. Is that correct?

I'm gonna refer to lieutenant Holland on specific specific to, traffic policy, but there's nothing in specifically in the grant materials that, I don't think guide that.

Yeah. Through the chair. I I guess I I what I I would love to know that we're not doing that, I guess, I'll just say more opaquely. The yeah.

In in

the past, I've seen, you know, enforcement in places where it seems unsafe, oftentimes, to be in the flow of traffic and more safe to be to wait for pedestrians to go and then to proceed. And I would love to make sure that we're not going to be trying to push people towards a less safe practice. Thank you.

So excuse me. I can answer. The grant is focused on pedestrian and bicycle safety. It's not, routine bicycle activities. So while they're out there doing, the enforcement and education, You know, there may be a time where they do stop somebody who's going through a red light like that. If they deem it unsafe because they're out there, they have to, you know, dress it, but it's not specifically going to target that or look for for those activities.

Fantastic. Thank you.

Councilor Scott.

Oh, thank you, mister chair. Good evening. Lieutenant Holland, it's been a minute. It's good to see you again.

Good evening.

So, mister chair, I you know, I'm old enough to, remember this grant coming up in previous years and, having this routinely be a conversation that we unfortunately have to continue having, because state money continues being used to, for lack of a better word, do stakeouts at intersections to give, bicyclists warnings and tickets. Thank you very much. When I look at this, at the end of the application, I see on page 10, eleven, and twelve, it it talks about how there are four separate campaigns, I believe, listed here, all of which, cite that they are nonenforcement campaigns. Although it it does say, for example, at the bottom of page 10, it talks about pedestrian bicyclist enforcement campaign. And then a little bit later, on page 12, it talks about encounters in a nonenforcement capacity.

So I guess, lieutenant through you, mister chair, to lieutenant Holland, could you maybe help help folks understand how the department is differentiating between enforcement and non enforcement activities on this grant?

So for the enforcement is for pedestrian and bicycle safety. So they'll be doing, it's mostly focused on the crosswalk issues with for pedestrians crossing the street and motor v. V. And for the bicycle portion, it's for motor vehicles that are violating those those rules, like the hooking rule, dooring, blocking bike lanes. Those are the things we're gonna be focusing on for the enforcement.

For the nonenforcement, it's all about the education we have. Safety is things to give out, lighted, straps for bicycles, helmets for them them to pass out in educational brochures and, just educating them public as they, we interact with them as to the rules of the road and and how to be safe.

Alright. Thank you for that. Mister chair, I'll be honest with you. I've heard from a lot of people in the Cyclist community who, aren't thrilled with the language, not not just the language, but the pairing of language that's been used by the department in justifications with the screen in the past and then the behavior of the department once the, once the funds are actually being put out there to to have folks on overtime, standing in intersections. It it is heartening, to hear this focus, but I am I'm anticipating some very difficult conversations with constituents, if and when, I get phone calls this year saying, hey.

I got flagged down and given a ticket again, at an intersection for doing an Idaho stop. I guess what what kind of is are there any commitments being made by the SPD, about the the use of this over time?

So as as far as citations go, the in in I have the numbers given to me from our statistics guy at the station. And in 2024, there were 7,924 citations issued. 243 of those were bicycle offenses. In 2025, there were 6,101 citations issued with a 147 being to bicycles. That's if you do percentages, it's about two and a half percent 3%.

So our enforcement on bicycles is not much at all, as far as we go across the city and what we do enforcement on, it's it's over 95% for motor vehicles. I understand the bike community feels targeted, but if you look at the numbers, it's we're not, like, a 147 last year citations were issued to bicyclists. It's not that many over the whole year.

Alright. Well, I appreciate that clarification. I guess I'm a little bit confused because when I look at the, internal data on page five of this application, the number of citations only seems to add up to less than 4,000. I think I just heard a much higher number for 2024. Can you help me understand that?

24.

Would it be appropriate for me to briefly interject?

I mean, mister chair, it's your me.

Sorry. I, I just wanted to to ask lieutenant Holland to just repeat. I wrote down the twenty twenty five numbers you said, but the the numbers before that were those 2024 numbers?

Yeah. So if if if, these are incorrect, I apologize. I don't know what's on that form, but this is what I was given, in the the last few meetings we've had and and specifically tonight. 2024, we issued 7,924 citations, and there were 8,935 violations on those citations. So some of them had multiple violations.

'25 was 6,101 with a total of 6,900 overall violations. And for the bicycles, there was 243 in two thousand twenty four and two hundred and fifty seven violations. So a few of those had multiple violations. And then in 2025, we had a 147 citations issued with a 156 violations.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Sorry. Back to you, counselor Scott.

Yeah. No. Thank you, miss Chair. It actually kinda, prompts the next question there, which is, you know, if we're if we're putting on our grant application that in 2024, we put out less than 4,000 citations, and here we're hearing a much higher number.

So I I Is that

is that all traffic citations? Is this are we, or is this including tickets we wrote for people leaving their trash cans up? I mean, I'm trying to understand.

I I I think the numbers on the form here are specifically to the grant data from these years, and I'm I'm just giving you overall numbers for the the whole year from the entire police department.

Okay. So that would also so when you say there were x many citations and only 2% went to bicyclists, that also includes citations that don't have anything to do with traffic?

No. No. No. We, I mean, we only we don't issue anything besides those. This is not counting, city ordinance violations or anything like that. This is specifically motor vehicle citations.

Well, I I continue to be a little bit confused as a discrepancy. Is there, is there some more detail? Can you send us that report of citations so that we can maybe, take a look at that and understand understand better this discrepancy? Because I I can only see the numbers that are in front of us right now, lieutenant, of course.

Right. And I I believe the numbers here, I just put the citations that were issued during the grant enforcement only that you have on your screen. Oh. And the numbers that I gave you were overall for the entire department for the year for those years.

Ah,

okay. So this is this will be the uptick in citations that were offered as a result of this grant funding. Specifically, we could trace back to the overtime for enforcement activity. Okay. Correct. So in that in that lens, we can say this basically this grant would increase by 50% the traffic enforcement activity that's happening in the city.

Yes.

It's alright. Okay. Thank you. I I wanted to make sure I understood. Alright.

Well, mister chair, I guess, my only thought here is that, I voted against this grant in the past when it was tied to quotas, for stops, because we know that protection stops are a scourge and an unfortunate one that continues to be used. I voted against it when it had quotas for the amount of stops that would need to be made in the streets, and I voted against it when it had specific bicycle enforcement provisions in there. I'm inclined to have hope that we are reaching a new day here with this grant and with our new administration. So with the with the assurances that are in here for nonenforcement activities, I am tempted to give it a shot this year, mister chair, but, with the clear understanding that I know that our constituents are not confused about when their money, when when public money goes to, let's say, activities that they don't feel makes them safer in, in their cycling and pedestrian activity. So I I think I'm willing to give this one a shot this year, mister chair, but I will be keeping my eye on it, and I'm sure my constituents and neighbors will not be quiet.

Thank you for your for your patience, and let me ask a few clarifying questions here. Thank you.

Absolutely. Happy to have your contribution, counselor Scott. Counselor Link?

I just do wanna call. We we've mentioned, through through the chair, that we've we've talked a bit about, enforcement through citation, but there's also enforcement through warnings. And those I think even though they might not bring a financial penalty, they still have the same action, you know, of discouraging people from doing things that, sometime that, I guess, frequently are things we don't want them to do. But, in the one situation that I talked about where, if there's a I think I think of, for example, the, what is it? So Prospect and Webster, that intersection where it's a a fully, signalized stop.

I wouldn't want to see, if people are letting pedestrians go first. I would not want to see, you know, cyclists given the warning not to do that. So it doesn't sound like that's what we're gonna do, but I just wanna say that that part out loud as well. Thank you.

Thank you, councilor Lank. Any other contributions from other members of the committee? I have a a question or two I wanted to ask as well to to director Wisdom and lieutenant Holland. I had a chance to, to speak with, director Wisdom, earlier, to ask some questions. I've been learning a little bit more about this item and watching the the discussion from last year.

One of the things I wanted to ask about that I didn't have a chance to, to look into before was the, the safety supplies. First of all, I'm I'm just curious, you know, the the bicycling safety supplies, what kinds of supplies have those been, and do you anticipate those being? And I'm just curious to ask more about the the supplies for last year's grant. Were those handed out, and, and when were those handed out?

So I I will say, mister chair, that the person who handed out the, supplies last year, He's currently out on leave, and so we can't I can't ask him exactly when that they were handed out, but they, they have to be purchased by March and handed out during the campaigns. So I could probably, find some historical data and submit it to you in a memo, following this meeting for that information on exactly when those, those items were distributed, but we intend to distribute similar items this year. I know that I I think it's mentioned in the grant application what the items are. I have that there will be helmets. There will be some, bracelets that I'm told, I think, light up that we've purchased over the last two years.

Give me just one second here. I have that. So, yes, the safety pamphlets. Let's see. And it's in the goals. One second.

I'm so sorry. No no problem. And, I don't mean to make you peruse No. The the application. I I'm I'm, you know, more curious about Mhmm. You know, the the practicality of handing those out, if that's something that the department finds easy to staff, to find officers who who want to be be doing that. Yeah. And then, sorry. And and if you wanna speak to that, please, I I'd I'd love to hear.

Sure. I'll tell you the guys would much rather, hand the stuff out than be out there writing tickets Mhmm. And and do an enforcement. So those those assignments get get scooped up right away. Last year, I believe they were doing them on the community path where

for the

for the bikes, and they were out there with helmets and light up bracelets and some lights for bicycles. And if they saw people who didn't have them, and they had, all, safety pamphlets as well, and they would interact with them, give them give them what they had, hand them out to people. And then also the some officers had them in their cruisers during their regular shift. So if they saw a child riding without a a helmet or something some they needed some light, they would, get them what they needed.

And through the chair, just to follow-up on lieutenant Holland. Just to I just wanted to confirm that we are purchasing 750 safe, safety pamphlets, 660 pieces of bike safety equipment that include 500 lighted safety bracelets, 60 bicycle helmets, and a 100 bicycle light sets.

Thank you. And then I wanted to ask one more question with apologies to other people who are waiting about enforcement of of dangerous driving. One thing that has been brought up to me by multiple residents in different parts of the city is that there are intersections where drivers frequently run red lights. For example, one intersection that's been cited to me specifically is McGrath And Pearl, but, you know, I'm sure people who do more studying our traffic patterns could name others. I'm I'm curious the overall approach that the department is taking to the the driver safety enforcement component of this because, you know, I know there are there are many people in this city who feel like you don't have to wait very long to see dangerous driving.

And sometimes it can be confusing to to know why we see that happen so many times with you know, and less frequently see a driver pulled over.

So the location will be selected through our our past citation data where most citations were issued a violation scene through, complaints we received through the city and from the constituents. We have several different ways of of, getting notified of of problem areas. And then through crash data that we have, and then off, we also allow the officers to give their input of what they see when they're out there. So if there's any specific areas you'd like to see enforced, feel free to let us know, we'll add them to our locations.

Thanks. I've I'm, you know, I'm really happy to hear about that kind of multipronged, you know, information based approach, which I'm sure gives you better information about where to go than, you know, a a sort of idle anecdotal approach. Counselor Strazo.

Thank you, mister chair. Here I am. Hello. Yeah. Here's my here's my menu, mister chair, through you too, lieutenant.

Holland, how about this? I see I see we're going to just go right at it because, yes, I I have seen a lot of just blips of one week of traffic enforcement or just monitoring and then not on Broadway. Lot the bus lanes are never are are infrequently monitored and people speed consistently through them, much because it's supposed to be a a bus bike lane. So that is incredibly dangerous. And also, when we talk about cyclists and pedestrians, hopefully, never meeting, yes.

Absolutely. We don't want cyclists to be to go through citations. However, there's also the actuality of numerous residents being very feeling very vulnerable in pedestrian crosswalks because they are sometimes cyclists do speed through and either dodge them in in pedestrian crosswalks when the pedestrians have the right of way. And with that, I've heard consistently that sometimes, like with older residents, they don't have the ability to just quickly dodge a cyclist that's going around them in an intersection with traffic. So that is very much a real concern.

Yeah. I don't want cyclists to be to to have citations, but there are some. It is not a broad stroke of a 100% blanket statement that that doesn't happen. We have to bring that into acknowledgment. And, yeah, most cyclists are just fine, but that does happen.

Another issue I am bringing forward that consistently has to be addressed, and I will be bringing it up this year, is the intersection on Vinyl And Highland Avenue because it's like cars should not be driving into that pedestrian crosswalk. And consistently, the city has not addressed the fact, despite the fact there are two no turn left signs onto from the high school exit drop off area to the the crosswalk. So putting that out there, you asked for my menu items, and there they are. And yes.

You just explain the Vinyl And Highland one again? I'm just writing it down.

Vinyl And Highland right in front of Summerville High School.

I fought two years

to get a a a crossing guard, and, blessedly, he's now there and there every day. And I'm so happy to hear him. I'm his biggest fan. He doesn't even know me. And then also but we still have cars that drive consistently into that crosswalk where we have teens and pedestrians and parents walking their toddlers to the day care and teachers walking into the high school. Cars directly turn into the path of the pedestrian crosswalk, and they're not supposed to be turning left there at any time. But I see it consistently happening day after day after day.

Okay.

Thank you.

Councilor Hart.

Thank you. I just wanted to if I can add in one other situation here in word seven through you, chair, to lieutenant Holland. The the in front of the fire station in Teal Square is an area where people often do not stop at the red light and putting the crossing guards in danger, and I've heard from families walking their kids to school that it's a very dangerous intersection. So be awesome to get more enforcement of that intersection. Thank you.

Okay. So if, there's no other counselors with, with comments or questions, the the sense that I'm getting is that, though the committee has, some concerns about about the approach to enforcement, I'm I'm hearing a sense of encouragement that the police department has been really hearing the community's concerns about making sure that any bicycle related kind of handling from from the department is really focused on the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians and not on a sort of arbitrary feeling enforcement of rules that bicyclists may be, strictly speaking, sometimes violating, you know, such as the Idaho stop, which isn't officially legal in Massachusetts, but which often cyclists are doing for the purpose of safety. I do wanna mention, I have also seen a cyclist pulled over for going through a red light at a t intersection where there was there was no cars or or pedestrians in the way that cyclist was then let go with a warning. But as counselor Link pointed out, even being pulled over and detained and given a warning can be deeply inconvenient and a frightening experience, and especially in the environment where there are people fearful of what being in the system could mean for immigration status, for example.

I just wanna emphasize the importance of being incredibly cautious with that to to our representatives from the police department.

Thank you. We we understand.

Thank you so much. So with that said, the the sense that I'm getting is that the committee would like to also lay this item on the table to be approved in a vote at the end of the meeting?

Mister chair, move to approve.

Thank you. Point of order. I'm not sure if that's something that then gets a second and a roll call, clerk Fisher.

I'll second it. Just in case.

Thank you. Councilor Scott.

Thank you, mister chair. According to the rules of city council, motions made in committee don't require a second. However, once the motion is made, it's an item before us. So, we can discuss the motion. It could be withdrawn. It could be laid on the table still, for a vote at the end of the meeting, or you can take a roll call right now if you'd like.

Okay. I appreciate the motion to approve. Why don't we take a roll call on this item right now, if that's okay with the rest of the council? Okay. Clerk, Fisher. Thank you.

Yep. On item number two, ID 25Dash1801 on recommending approval. Cancer Link?

Yes.

Councilor Strazo?

Yes.

Councilor Hart? Yes. Councilor Scott?

Yes.

Chair Wheeler?

Yes.

Alright. With that, that is all votes in the affirmative.

Thank you so much. Okay. Clerk, so with appreciation to our, police guests oh, yeah. Okay. Great. I was going to, make sure you know. You should feel free to to leave the meeting, or if you're interested, please feel free to stay.

Thank you so much, Cher. Have a good evening.

Okay. Take care. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Clerk, in regard to items three and four, I note they're tightly related. Would you please read them into the record together so they can be taken up in a single discussion? Or sorry. You said I read those into the record, so I'll deviate from my script. Why don't I read those into the record? They are item three, ID twenty six zero zero five four, the housing bridge pilot for seniors, and item four, ID twenty six zero zero five three, also the housing bridge pilot for seniors, a continuation with just a a different distinct grant.

So for the first, the mayor's requesting approval to accept and expend a $20,000 grant with no new match required the executive office of housing and communities to the office of housing stability for the housing bridge pilot program for seniors. For the second item, the mayor is requesting approval to accept and expand a $200,000 grant with no new match required from the executive office of housing and livable communities to the office of housing stability for the continuation of the short term housing bridge pilot program. We have, director of housing stability, Ellen Schachter here. Director Schachter, could you please tell us about these grants?

I absolutely can. Thank you, chair. So this is a program which started in f y twenty, '25. It is a pilot program. I think, some of you have heard me talk about this, but for a statewide effort, we're trying to get passed through the state house, which essentially funds housing for seniors for a very temporary period of time between the time in which they are no longer able to pay rent until they are able to access permanent affordable housing.

And our legislative effort is to get this to happen statewide. I think some of you may know that older adults are the fastest growing group of the homeless. Homelessness went up 13% for older adults between twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four. So, and I think a 39% of the lowest income renters in the Commonwealth are seniors. So for all of these reasons, we really tried to focus on this group and have done this with this pilot program.

What we do essentially is that we get referrals from five different agencies that work with seniors, including my own organization. We look at folks that have priority for housing, meaning they will be housed sometime within maybe six months to eighteen months, and then it's a program of rental assistance, and we also help to screen people for other kinds of benefits that they might be eligible for. Last year, through funding from the state, we had $100,000 in funding, and through the program at that time, we were able to assist eight older adult households, all of whom either remained in their home or have now transitioned into permanent affordable housing. This year for this grant, which actually runs from 07/01/2025 through 06/30/2026, so we're halfway through the grant cycle, we did get slightly more than doubling of the grant. The two grants represent two parts of the program.

The first grant, which you can see for a $20,000 match, goes directly to the administrative costs of the grant, and the second grant, which you see is $200,000 goes primarily to rental assistance for older adults. Last year, we've already now started taking some new folks on in this year, and we will continue to do so, provided that these grants are approved. And one thing I will say, I know a number of you have heard about the problem of financing for budget, sorry, of funding for permanent supportive housing. We are now accepting five older adults on the permanent supportive housing who are losing that subsidy, and they're going to be transitioning into our program. So it's really important to us.

The program is a great program and it's really important that we have very good statistics because we are using them daily to try to have this program expanded statewide. Thank you to Senator Jalen, who we know will not be here in the next session, but for really providing a lot of leadership on this issue and helping us to get this funding for the pilot program.

Thank you so much, director Schachter. I'm sorry, councilor Estraso. I see a hand from Yasmin Rudasi, intergovernmental affairs intergovernmental affairs. Yasmin, would you please speak? I'm just not sure if there's a point of order.

Thank you, mister chair. I just wanted to add to, director Schachter's excellent description. I just wanted to clarify that these, both these grants are part of the f y twenty six state local earmarks, so they were set aside for, local earmarks by our state delegation as part of the f y twenty six state budget process. That's all I wanted to add. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilor Strezzo, I saw your hand first before.

Super. First in line. Thank you very much. Pole position. Mister chair, threw you too. Director Schachter, welcome. Hi. It's nice to see you in another committee. Happy 2026. Director, just a few questions on this. Are these are these households are they single household member households, or are are they two members? What what are you seeing? What is the trend of this? Or is there no

Through the chair, yes. There's some some data around this. So far, last year with the first eight participants we had in the program, six were single adults, one was an adult couple, and one was a single adult with a disabled adult child. So, we are able to go beyond just the single adult families to those that have head of households that are seniors. Obviously, the more people there are, the more expensive usually the housing is, so the more of the budget that gets taken up with larger households, but those are all things that we consider as we're making selections for who will participate in the program. But we're really happy that we could go beyond we could go you know, we could assist in a variety of types of household configurations.

Thank you, director Schachter. Miss Chiu, through you, are these Somerville residents or are I saw that Cass is referring as well or there's a partnership with that. Are these all Somerville residents or are they residents throughout the Commonwealth that are seeking any place and land in Somerville?

Well, thank you. Through the chair, that's a great question. These are all Somerville residents primarily, and just so you know the sources, some of the other sources of referrals come from protective services offices at Somerville Cambridge Elder Services through the Council on Aging in Somerville, through OHS, CAS, and the Somerville Homeless Coalition and Legal Services. So those are the entities that we've been doing outreach to, to get, you know, to have people placed within the program. And I was especially pleased to be able to place some of the people in the protective services program because for anybody who doesn't know, that's the protective services program is where people basically file concerns for seniors that they are at risk and in some kind of danger.

And so this is a way to stabilize some of those folks that are identified as having the highest risk in their current situation. Typically, the highest risk of being displaced or a publicist.

Mister Chao, through you to director Schechtner, thank you for that. And that's exciting to hear this progress that we're really creating that safety net. Last question, and thanks for indulging me. Is there this is a pilot. Is there any talk or commitment that this will be a permanent, just safety net, no longer a pilot evolving into the next phase?

Thank you for that really important question too. Unfortunately, the state money that we get is is earmarked on an annual basis. It's currently in the form of a pilot, and as you heard from, you know, from legislative staff that it was done at the request of senator Jalen. Also, I should add that the $20,000 administrative grant here was at the request of representative Bueterhoben, so that also that she still remains, so I think it really is subject to annual appropriation, but what we are trying to do hopefully is to, and I hope you know you guys will all be thinking about this as the budget proceeds, but as part of our affordable housing, as part of our flexible rental assistance through the affordable housing trust fund that we're hoping to get refunded beyond this year, we would attempt, if there isn't state funding, we would attempt to set aside a portion of those funds to continue this program if at all possible. The last thing we want to do is have this pilot looked up by the legislature to show us that this isn't working because we stopped funding people and they became homeless.

So we're really trying to identify ways to make sure that folks in this program remain housed. When we got our first year of funding, we set aside six months prospectively of funding from this affordable housing, specific affordable housing trust fund rental assistance program so that we could guarantee seniors at least six months beyond the funds that we knew we had available, and we would try to do that again. Our hope is that either there would be another earmark next year or eventually that the program would go statewide and there would be a permanent access for these resources. I couldn't promise if it would be our office then who was contracting, but the important thing would be that somebody was doing the work for older adults regardless of whether that's through our office or through someone else.

Thank you. Thank you for that, and, fingers crossed. Thank you.

We're move to councilor Scott.

Thank you, mister chair. You know, I don't have any questions about you know, obviously, this is a great use of money, and I'm glad we're doing it. Hello, director Schachter. I guess my only question is I know that there's been a lot of chaos, given the continuum of care grants. And, obviously, our federal funding, situation is horrific right now. Is this one of the categories of service provision that normally might have been in that in some of those continuum of care grants is being impacted? Is this us backfilling that? Or, I just wanna understand how this fits into the overall funding picture.

Thank you for that, counselor. That's a really good question. So what our understanding was that five people, some people homeless coalition is anticipating even with the litigation that is pending to try to save some of the continuum of care funding that there is going to be a decrease of some kind in the amount of money that they have available for what they call for permanent supportive housing. So, these five residents are people that they have concluded they could no longer provide permanent supportive housing resources to, so they would have been displaced. I think they are getting no fault notices to quit, and so we are trying to keep them in place through this program until they can get into permanent, hopefully public or subsidized housing in the city of Summerville.

So right now, I would say we are taking those that they have identified. They will no longer be able to serve, keeping them in their house and making sure that they get permanent housing.

Alright. Well, I I really appreciate that, and I think it's an important one for people to be aware of that these are people who are currently housed, who are being evicted from housing, because of the loss of this, what's called the continuum of care grant. We can probably go into that all night, mister chair. We'll put that on a later agenda. So I just I I think it's important for folks to understand how absolutely this is a diving catch being done by your office in the city of Somerville, and it's one that I know I wholeheartedly support, and I feel confident most of my colleagues do as well.

So, thank you for coming with this, and thank you, as always, for trying to find innovative ways to make sure our neighbors stay housed. Mister Chair, I'm I'm ready to support this whenever whenever the rest of the committee is ready to move forward. Thank you.

You, councilor Scott. Councilor Link, did you have, questions or thoughts?

Councilor Scott took my question. But I I guess I do I'll just since I'm speaking, I'll just say through the chair, thank you so much, director Scheidner, for all this great work. And from you know, I'm I'm really excited to see, this and get to to support it.

Thank you. Thank you, councilor Link. Just a brief comment echoing what I've heard from the other members of the committee. I really appreciate, especially, director Schachter, you're talking about how your office works with so many community partners to be making sure we are weaving a net that can support people who might otherwise be falling through the cracks and and getting referrals, sourcing people, making sure that we're finding people who need this most. I just I really appreciate that work.

I'm I'm really happy to see you know, it's not that a $100,000 or a $120,000 is not a significant amount of money or sorry. $220,000 is not a significant amount of money. But, you know, in terms of the state budget, it's a relatively small amount of money. And if it can make a difference in a number of people's lives and help them have more stable years in these these crucial years of their life, I think our whole community really benefits. So so thank you for that work.

Thank you.

Okay. Sounds like people are ready to move on. This item is laid on the table to recommend approval at the end of the meeting. Thank you so much, director Schachter.

Thank you. Appreciate your time.

Likewise. Okay. Contracts and agreements. Item five is ID 260011, Spring Hill Sewer Separation, an extension of that contract. This is the mayor requesting approval of a time only contract for three months with a new expiration date of 03/31/2026 for Stantec Consulting Services Inc for design services for the Spring Hill Sewer Separation prod project. We have director Brian Postlewaite from engineering. Director Postlewaite, could you please walk us through this request?

Good evening, committee. Thank you, chair Wheeler, for letting us speak about this this request. The the long and the short of this is the the contract the construction project at Spring Hill, completed last year. Due to a few delays by the contractor in getting information to our consulting engineer, they were not able to provide us with the final documents for closeout, predominantly the as build drawings for the project. And, we wanted to extend the contract for a few months so that they had the time to prepare the as billed documents correctly and appropriately, which then will be shared with the city, and we'll be able to update our records.

But due to the timing, their contract ended at the end of the calendar year, and we needed a few months to or they needed a few months to complete that effort. This is work that the Stantec was already contracted to do. They have the budget to do it. They just need the time to spend the the money to finish their work.

Thank you, director Postalwaite. Any comments or questions from the committee? Councilor Strazza.

Sure. Thank you. First time finance committee member, longtime fan. Miss chair, threw you to director Polstowait. So can is this, common that this sort of snag of of three additional months would happen?

Through the chair, counselor. Typically, we keep enough time in the contract to complete this amount of work. This is has been a very long project with a lot of detours along the way, and we were hoping that we would be able to get it done. We didn't want to extend the contract prematurely, but here we are. We need to finish this component of it, have the money to do the work.

We just need the time because we're not allowed to spend money after the contract's officially over, even if we have it in the budget. So it isn't typical, but it also isn't unusual, to request for a time extension, especially a time extension time extension with no change in budget.

Okay. Director mister Chathuy, the director, I'm gonna hop back, let my colleagues hop ahead of me in line. And if I have further questions on this, I'm going to know. I wanna hear what they have to say in this. Thank you.

Thank you, councilor Strezzo. Councilor Scott.

Thank you, mister chair. And this is just actually, I I think maybe I was remiss. Welcome to everybody. I think everybody is brand new onto the finance committee here except for me. So I got a full house as the supposed grizzled veteran.

I will say that time only extensions like this are not wildly uncommon. If I had a dollar for every time we'd done a time only contract extension, Well, I'd probably have a significant percentage increase in my salary, but that's just because we get paid so little. No. It it but it's not entirely uncommon. And, especially for these things where it's a time only extension, we're not putting any taxpayers on the hook, and it does occasionally provide a nice opportunity for folks to ask questions about just what's been going on with the project and where it's going next.

So, I I I like this particular wrinkle of municipal governance that says, hey. If we're if we need to extend the contract, we have to come to the city council to explain what's going on. But in this case, it doesn't actually, generate any concern for me. So thank you, director Post Waite, for being here tonight.

You're very welcome, counselor Scott.

Any questions or comments from anyone else? Oh, counselor Estraso.

Thank you, mister chair. On that, through councilor Scott, thank you for that. Much appreciated. Always love a little refresh button. And, and and, yes, very much appreciated and looking forward to the fun going forward.

Thank you, councilor Estraso. I just wanted to add, let's keep separating those sewers. Thank you so much for your work on that, Director Postalwaite, and your whole department.

You're very welcome.

Okay. That item is laid on the table to recommend approval. Thank you for joining us.

Alright. Have a good evening.

You too.

Thank you.

Okay. Item 6, ID260088, the SMEU unit b memorandum of agreement. This is the mayor requesting approval of a transfer of a $103,421 from the salary contingency account to various departmental personal services accounts to fund a memorandum of agreement with the Somerville Municipal Employees Union unit b. We have Matt Sirigou, labor counsel from the law department. Mister Sirigou, first of all, please tell me, am I saying your name how you prefer it to be said?

Yeah. Can share it through you. Yeah. Sorry. Sirigou. Yes. This is a very

good Great.

Expert amongst the ones I've heard in my life. So so, yes, thank you for asking.

Mister Syrigu, could you please explain this transfer request?

Yes. Thank you, mister chair. Through you. So this is a follow-up to the unit b SMU unit b contract we settled last year as part of that collective bargaining agreement successor agreement. There was a provision impacting employees' vacation time and the new rules around accrual and a cap on the amount of vacation time employees can carry over from one year to the next.

There was multiple interpretations of that language, you might say, And we so we got together with the union and hammered out this MOA so that no employees would lose vacation time, and there would be no disagreement going forward about how vacation time would be carried over. The goal being, however, that going forward, employees will only carry over three weeks at most from one calendar year to the next. But acknowledging that there are some employees based on a variety of circumstances, positions, COVID, factors within and beyond their control that who don't that that don't necessarily have not historically used all the vacation time that they were eligible for. So through this MOA, we are paying out a a lot of that vacation time for the employees with exception with with large vacation balances. Then there are some folks who who you might say are in the middle who were giving a couple years to draw that time down.

And then there's, some folks who just generally based on tenure accrue a lot of time and were awarded two additional weeks of time this calendar year, by the terms of that MOA. And so they're allowed to use additional more time than the contract would otherwise permit in calendar year 2026. The overall goal here is that, no employee lose vacation time, but but going forward, there aren't people with large accumulations of vacation time, as that's an accounting nightmare both for HR and the finance department.

Thank you so much. Counselors, on the committee, anyone have questions or comments for mister Syrigo? Okay. Then, with thanks for your coming, this item is laid on the table, to recommend approval at the end of the meeting. And thank you for joining us and for your patience.

Thank you very much.

Okay. Last item of the evening is item seven, community budget hearing logistics. So this is oh, yeah. I forget how this is written in the agenda. Let me just make sure I'm reading it correctly.

Chair Wheeler, I am not seeing a seventh item on the agenda.

Oh, that's interesting. The clerk's office, sent a an agenda with that seventh item on it, but maybe that was just sent via email and that was not officially updated. This item was going to be a discussion of the community budget hearing. Now for open meeting law purposes, I do not want us to be discussing something that was not publicized. So I'm not sure if this falls under an area where there is an exception because this is purely a logistical matter and not an area of deliberation.

Councilor Scott.

Yeah. Thank you, mister chair. If you have a scheduling announcement to make or a plan you would like to communicate to the public and to members of the committee, you can do that. If you'd like to have a discussion about preferred methods for proceeding, that won't be better to wait till you have a separate item.

But if

you just have announcements to make, generally, it's been accepted.

Thank you. Counselor Strezo, I saw you unmute.

Yeah. Yes. Thank you. Mister chair, can we move to approve the items before us and then go on to maybe announcements, a suggestion?

Thank you. I love that suggestion. Thank you. I think that's a great idea. I'm not quite sure. Clerk, what what do I say in order to move that forward? Shall we, take a roll call on the items on the table?

Yep. So that is the items that have been laid on the table to recommend approval. That is items number one, three, and four together, five, and six. Councilor Link?

Yes.

Councilor Strazo? Yes. Councilor Hart? Yes. Councilor Scott?

Yes, please.

Chair Wheeler?

Yes.

Alright. With that, that is all those in the affirmative.

Thank you so much. So now, we could move on to any announcements directed at the entire public. Does anyone have anything to announce before I discuss the community budget hearing or before I announce it? Thank you. Okay.

So our committee will be hosting a a community budget hearing on Tuesday, 02/10/2026 at 6PM on that day. The community budget hearing is required by our new city charter. And in addition to it being required, I am very excited that we will be hosting it. The idea is to invite everyone from the Somerville community, any resident in Somerville, to come and to speak directly, to the finance committee, as well as to to everyone else, watching and listening about priorities that they would like to see, valued and included in in the budget, for this next fiscal year. So, we really encourage everyone to participate.

And anyone who is part of community groups, networks, religious organizations, social organizations, parent groups, school groups, please help get the word out. We would really like to invite as many people from all over Summerville and all the different ways that the city is diverse to to come and to participate. It is going to be a virtual meeting, and there is going to be live simultaneous translation in Spanish and Portuguese with additional languages available on request. We'll be publicizing the Zoom link soon. If there's anyone, who, would like to request interpretation in an additional language besides Spanish and Portuguese, there's an email address that you can reach out to, or you can call 311.

We do need at least seven days advance notice before the event to arrange that interpretation. The email address, is languageaccess,all1word,@SummervilleMA.gov. Languageaccess@SummervilleMA.gov, or you can call 311 to request an additional language. There will be Spanish and Portuguese no matter what. So if those are languages that anyone wants to make sure will be included, they're already definitely going to be included with live simultaneous translation.

So I just wanted to encourage all the members of the committee, all the members of our community groups and our nonprofit partners, and everyone in the city to help us really invite in as many people as possible. Someone does not need to be a registered voter to participate, just someone who calls Somerville home. So whoever you are, whatever your community and your needs, we wanna hear what's most important to you. Thank you. Do any other members of the committee have anything to add on on that announcement or any other announcement?

Well, thank you so much, everyone. I appreciate everyone's everyone's participation and support, and I'm excited for this committee. That brings us to the end of tonight's agenda. Do I hear a motion to adjourn?

Second.

Do we need that?

I guess we do not need seconds this For this learned today. Now I know. Thank you again, clerk, for your support and for previously reading the agenda item numbers that were up for approval. I think that's everything. That's everything, and have a great night, everyone.

So we do need to roll call for adjournment.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We need to roll call for adjournment. Love it.

Alright. On adjournment. Councilor Link?

Yes.

Councilor Strazo? Yes. Councilor Hart? Yes. Councilor Scott?

Yes, please.

Chair Wheeler?

Yes.

Alright. With that, it is 07:07PM, and we are adjourned.

Thanks, everyone. Have a great night. Thank you, everyone.