Town Council - Ordinance & Rules Committee

Braintree Town Council MEMBERS David Ringius, Jr, Chairman Committee on Ordinance & Rules Steven Sciascia, Vice- Chairman One JFK Memorial Drive Julia Flaherty, Member Braintree, Massachusetts 02184 Lawrence Mackin, Jr, Member December 13, 2021 MINUTES A meeting of the Committee on Ordinance & Rules was held Remote via Zoom Webinar on Monday, December 13, 2021 beginning at 7:00pm. Chairman Ringius was in the Chair. Clerk of the Council, Susan Cimino conducted the roll call. All votes were conducted by Roll Call Vote. Present: David Ringius, Jr, Chairman Steven Sciascia, Vice-Chairman Julia Flaherty, Member Lawrence Mackin, Jr, Member Also Present: Nicole Taub, Chief of Staff/Town Solicitor Donna Connors, District 3 Councilor Michael Cavanaugh, Sustainable Braintree (President) Rachel Horak, Sustainable Braintree (Vice-President) Clint Richmond, Sierra Club David Ringius, Jr, Chairman of the Committee on Ordinance & Rules asked for a moment of silence for our first responders and all those serving home and abroad. Approval of Minutes • None December 13, 2021 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 1 of 8 Old Business • 002 21 Councilor Sciascia/Councilor Connors: Amendment to By-law Section 135-1101 or take up any action relative thereto Chairman Ringius asked for a Motion to Take off the Table item 002 21 A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia to Take off the TABLE item 002 21 Motion: by Councilor Sciascia to Take off the TABLE item 002 21 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) Chairman Ringius asked for an update from Councilor Sciascia. Councilor Sciascia stated this is an amendment in response to some drainage issues where property owners were draining from their sump pump into neighbor’s property or over sidewalks. Solicitor Huff took the language and changed it with basically one sentence stating you cannot drain onto your neighbor’s property or across the sidewalk. Councilor Connors stated this is perfect and it all comes down to one sentence and gives the Town the ability to take action. Councilor Sciascia stated we are ready to take a vote as Solicitor Huff revised this language. Nicole Taub stated I believe this amendment drafted was to a Zoning Ordinance. It will need to go through steps as a Zoning Text Amendment. We will need to finalize a sponsor at this point. It will not be enough for O&R to take a vote at this point. We will need a sponsor and Zoning steps taken. Councilor Sciascia can the Council sponsor an amendment? What would that process look like? Can we send this and ask the Council as a whole to sponsor it. Nicole Taub stated you could send this to Council with a favorable recommendation and ask for the Council to sponsor it with the revised amendment that Solicitor Huff worked on. It would need to go through all the Zoning Text Amendment steps though. Let me confirm the correct steps. Ms. Taub stated myself, Director SantucciRozzi and Clerk Cimino can meet to get the correct language for sponsorship. Nicole Taub stated so everyone has it, it was a change to existing by law 135-1101 the establishment of standards subsection F adding at the end of the last sentence “, nor shall any water be discharged onto any sidewalk or over a property line.” December 13, 2021 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 2 of 8  A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia for favorable action to the full Council item 002 21 which is: MOTION: an amendment to by law section 135-1101 the establishment of standards subsection F adding at the end of the last sentence “, nor shall any water be discharged onto any sidewalk or over a property line.” Motion: by Councilor Sciascia for favorable action to the full Council item 002 21 which is an amendment to by law section 135-1101 as amended. Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) • 003 21 Councilor Sciascia: Inclusionary Amendment or take up any action relative thereto (Update) Chairman Ringius asked for a Motion to Take off the Table item 003 21 A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia to Take off the TABLE item 003 21 Motion: by Councilor Sciascia to Take off the TABLE item 003 21 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) Chairman Ringius asked for an update from Councilor Sciascia and understand you have been meeting with the Mayor’s office. Councilor Sciascia stated he has been working with the Mayor, Director SantucciRozzi and Ms. Taub. It has gone to the Planning Board for sponsorship. The Planning Board has neither agreed or disagreed to sponsor it at this time. Nicole Taub stated there was discussion whether this was feasible and what the unintended consequences would be so after the November meeting Director SantucciRozz, Attorney Huff and member Kroha got together and put together some revisions to the draft that the Planning Board is going to be considering at their next meeting. 10 residents could proceed with their version but it is on the PB agenda to be discussed. Councilor Flaherty mentioned we talked about building Community support for inclusionary Housing. I am just wondering has the Mayor’s office or anyone else made a move in that regard. Councilor Sciascia stated he had a Community meeting last night. There is some activity on social media about trying to get the word out about this. This has been under discussion in Braintree for 18 years. Once this moves forward there will be at least two public hearings one with the Planning Board and one with the Town Council. If I need to I will have more community meetings on this too. December 13, 2021 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 3 of 8  Chairman Ringius stated this will be tabled until we see what happens at the Planning Board meeting. A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia to TABLE Order 003 21 Motion: by Councilor Sciascia to TABLE Order 003 21 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) • 20 034 Councilor O’Brien: 8.800 Single-Use Plastic Bag Reduction Bylaw or take up any action relative thereto Chairman Ringius asked for a Motion to Take off the Table Order 20 034 A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia to Take off the TABLE Order 20 034 Motion: by Councilor Sciascia to Take off the TABLE Order 20 034 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) Chairman Ringius stated this proposal from Councilor O’Brien was presented quite awhile ago. Then during COVID the Governor’s orders stated there should not be any use of reusable bags to avoid transmitting COVID so the idea of banning plastic bags became mute. This was also coinciding with a presentation a group of Girl Scouts and had them come before the full Town Council to give their thoughts and opinions and why it would be important for Braintree to take up a plastic bag ban. We have sent out for opinions from our legislative delegation. Over the years there have been proposals like this on beacon hill. We did receive an email back from Senator Keenan’s office in terms of where the State stands on a State-wide ban. We have also reached out to the Chamber. We have received comments from Ms. Kroha. We will be opening this up to Public Comment at this meeting. Mike Cavanaugh, President of Sustainable Braintree stated we have had time to look over the proposed Ordinance language. By in large there is a lot of good language in here. Mr. Cavanaugh showed slides and discussed the benefits of this ban. Mr. Cavanaugh stated they have discussed this with people from the Sierra Club as well. They work with communities to see this type of ban happen. Rachel Horak, Sustainable Braintree (Vice-President) stated this is a good first step to reducing plastics. Clint Richmond, Sierra Club stated I have been involved with this issue since 2012. There are already 146 communities that already have these similar rules in place. I felt the outline of the proposed Ordinance is strong. There are 2-3 changes that could be considered. That are best-practices in some cases from other communities. There are also some “tweeks” that could make the Ordinance easier to implement. One being the definition of a single use bag requires a measurement which is not necessary and gets in the way of implementation. The other is the exception of keeping existing bags who might prefer it or are disabled or have an accessibility need. I can say I am not aware of December 13, 2021 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 4 of 8 any law that does that in Massachusetts. I appreciate the intent. In other states that have passed this does not have such an exception. No other jurisdiction has seen a need to do that. Maybe there could be further discussion on what the alternative could be. We are trying to get rid of these bags and not keep them around even behind the counter. It can create enforcement problems. The final one which you have the privilege of doing is to add a fee. Boston has a 5 cents fee. Other cities like Cambridge and Newton have a 10 cents fee. There most likely will be a fee built in for any State Legislation. We see unless radical changes are made at the State level we don’t see this ban passing anytime soon. We do encourage local municipalities to pass legislation. Crystal Evans, stated I see many drawbacks and how this will negatively impact people. It is a lot harder to get your groceries home in paper bags if you walk or if you are in a wheelchair. It is a lot harder if you use a cane or a walker and be able to carry anything. The plastic bags can be tied around mobility devices. I am not opposed to a plastic bag ban. I just think we need to stop and look for solutions for certain groups. I would like to suggest this topic go to the Commission on Disabilities agenda for next month and have Michael Cavanaugh, Sustainable Braintree come so we can talk through some of the ways the people will be impacted and how we help serve some of these residents. As a wheelchair user, the reusable bags that you get at like Marshalls have straps that are too long and hang down along the wheelchair and rip. I like the reusable polyester bags with the shorter strap but they cost about $13 each. We need to consider what can we implement for these individuals before we remove what they have always considered something easily accessible to go shopping independently. Nicole Taub stated thank you for all the thoughtful input. We had talked about getting input from all the Stakeholders. Maybe another group to reach out to would be Elder Affairs with a change such as this. I understand the Chamber is not taking a stand because of the split in membership. It is probably going to have more of an impact to the small businesses because of a cost associated with it. If a ban does move forward we hope without any of the negative impacts discussed and also going to preserve the environment. Chairman Ringius read a letter submitted by Chamber Chair Kroha: December 13, 2021 Via email: towncouncil@braintreema.gov Braintree Town Council 1 John F. Kennedy Memorial Drive Braintree, MA 02184 Re: Proposed Ordinance, Single-Use Plastic Bags Dear Councilors, We write to you with respect to the proposed Single-Use Plastic Bag Reduction Bylaw up for discussion at tonight’s Ordinance and Rules Committee meeting. Thank you to Councilor Ringius for inviting us to participate in the discussion. We have reached out to our membership and requested December 13, 2021 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 5 of 8 feedback on the proposed bylaw. We received mixed feedback from the Braintree business community, with almost a clear split of businesses that support passage of the ordinance for its environmental benefits and other businesses that oppose the ordinance based on increased costs to the business and consumer. Based on the split feedback from our members, the Braintree Chamber does not take a position on the proposed ordinance at this juncture. Thank you for your time and diligence in review. Braintree Chamber of Commerce Kim Kroha, Chair Councilor Sciascia mentioned we do not want to do anything to hurt small businesses that would not affect big businesses as much. Maybe we could find out who the small businesses were that had issues with this and maybe have them come speak to the committee. Maybe we could begin this with a phased approach for about 6 months towards the elimination of plastic bags. Councilor Flaherty stated we should try to help out the ADA community. Maybe we can get the type of bags Ms. Evans described. Different organizations could possibly have these types of bags available. Maybe we should have someone from the DPW come speak with us. I know a big cost associated with plastic bags is the fact they get tangled up in recycling equipment. Councilor Mackin stated he would like to hear from members of the business community that are against this and their reasoning why. The business community has had a tough couple of years. I would like to take that into consideration too. Chairman Ringius stated I am hoping to hear from more members of the business community. A large corporation like Shaw’s or Stop&Shop might be able to off-set that cost. It is the local businesses that are truly contributing to our town. The prospective from those businesses is important as well. Chairman Ringius asked Chief of Staff Taub if there could be an official legal opinion on this proposed Ordinance by the next committee meeting from yourself as Town Solicitor or Attorney Huff. Ms. Taub also mentioned Braintree would be considered a city for the purposes of this Ordinance due to the form of Government and would be allowed to charge bag fees as such. A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia to TABLE Order 20 034 Motion: by Councilor Sciascia to TABLE Order 20 034 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) December 13, 2021 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 6 of 8 • 031 21 Councilor Mackin: Municipal Oversight Committee or take up any action relative thereto Chairman Ringius asked for a Motion to Take off the Table item 031 21 A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia to Take off the TABLE item 031 21 Motion: by Councilor Sciascia to Take off the TABLE item 031 21 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) Councilor Mackin stated this idea has been on and off this committee agenda for some time. This originally grew from the idea of the Petersen Pool and what happened there. Looking backwards doesn’t do us a lot of good. The thought is to have oversight and look into any projects going forward. We should run the town more like a business. It is good to show residents our fiscal responsibility. The committee does not have to provide an overview or report each time but it would be up to the committee. Councilor Flaherty stated I have a concern this could stall projects. Chairman Ringius stated it is important to have additional eyes and are always good thing but not to have everything grind to a hault either. I do not think we need a monetary amount. I think this should just be an oversight and what we are allowed to do via the Charter. Rule 40 of the Town Council Rules allows us to create Special Committees. It is best not to over-define this committee. Members discussed the wording for this special committee. Chairman Ringius stated this is not overly broad or overly narrow. It is mindful of all concerns mentioned tonight. Nicole Taub, stated this committee needs to be mindful of scheduling around project timelines and depending on the project there may be an existing committee that is in place that already has some responsibility for that. There are also other ways to become educated and engaged on projects through other Town boards and committees. A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia for favorable action to the full Council item 031 21: MOTION: Establishment of a 3-member special committee to provide independent review and investigation of all matters relating to Town of Braintree managed construction projects for which concern arises and referred to it by the Council and/or Council President, as allowed via applicable Charter provisions and relevant state and federal laws. The primary purpose of this Committee is to ensure proper procedures are being followed, were followed on past projects, to ensure responsible spending of taxpayer money, and to establish reports of such. Each member will be a Town Councilor appointed by the Council President. December 13, 2021 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 7 of 8  A Motion was made by Councilor Sciascia to approve item 031 21 Motion: by Councilor Sciascia to approve item 031 21 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (4 – Flaherty, Mackin, Ringius, Sciascia), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) New Business • None It was unanimously voted by Roll Call to adjourn the meeting at 8:46 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan M. Cimino Clerk of the Council Documents provided for Meeting • 20 034 Councilor O’Brien: 8.800 Single-Use Plastic Bag Reduction Bylaw or take up any action related thereto • 002 21 Councilor Sciascia/Councilor Connors: Amendment to By-law Section 135-1101 or take up any action relative thereto (Update) • 003 21 Councilor Sciascia: Inclusionary Amendment or take up any action relative thereto • 031 21 Councilor Mackin: Municipal Oversight Committee or take up any action relative thereto December 13, 2021 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 8 of 8