City Council

HEARING BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016 Hearing opened at 6:30 P.M. with Councillor Freda, Clerk of the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, presiding. All members were present except Councillor Dombrowski. This hearing is continued from June 13, 2016. Present at the hearing was James Whitney and Nicole Whitney. The following PETITION was the subject of the hearing: 50-16 James Whitney: Rezone parcels 503-3-1, 503-3-2, 503-3-3, 503-3-4, 503-3-5 at the entry-way of Southgate Business Park to mixed use (MUI) from Industrial. No one spoke in support of this petition. Greg Wheeler, an attorney in Leominster, said he has been presented with a petition signed by approximately 60 residents who oppose the zoning change at Southgate Business Park. He said the petition states that these particular residents are opposed to the rezoning of Research Drive because they feel that Mr. Whitney has entered into an agreement for the relocation of the Registry of Motor Vehicles at this site and the relocation of the Registry of Motor Vehicles the residents fear will cause a lot of traffic and congestion and not in accord with the initial use of the site which was for industrial purposes only. Two grants were provided for the initial infrastructure for this development and the language throughout those grants refer to industrial. Now that there is a proposed change use to the purpose of that proposed development the question is with the MORE Grant. The guidelines state that if there are any changes to the purpose of the project then the State needed to be informed immediately and there could be a potential consequence or outcome that the State could potentially recoup or recover some of the grant money that was provided for this project. That raises a serious concern for the City of Leominster who was an applicant for this grant as well as the other grants that were awarded. He said if there is a substantial change in the grant applications that needs to seriously be looked at if we are talking about a zoning change. Other issues are traffic and congestion. He said there is a substantial 40B affordable housing project that will to be developed or built next door to Southgate Business Park and share the same access way. Having the RMV there at the beginning of this development as an anchor tenant, how is that going to impact the further development of this industrial park, deterrent or bonus? Attorney Wheeler said from a legal perspective how will this impact the grants that have been awarded. He submitted the petition which is on file in the City Clerk’s office. Khener Almeida of 34 Crabtree Lane said he bought his house from of Mr. Whitney because of the location. He said he knew about the industrial park but if it was commercial zone he would have never bought the house. He bought his house for $407,000 and he doesn’t agree with this. Mr. Whitney said the Registry of Motor Vehicles is going there but not going in the section we are trying to rezone. It is going in the industrial piece. He said regarding the Zoning Board of Appeals opinion we spent some money with the City Solicitor on an opinion and it was pretty clear that the zoning opinion from the ZBA was off base. Councillor Freda read the recommendations from the Zoning Board of Appeals, Planning and Development, the Mayor, the Director of Inspections, the Planning Board and Kopelman & Paige. A letter from Robert Fitzpatrick was read. Correspondence from Mr. Whitney, ZBA members, the ZBA Secretary and Councillor Dombrowski regarding the recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals was read. All of the correspondence is on file in the City Clerk’s office. Councillor Bodanza said the petition that Attorney Wheeler submitted was based on the potential of the Registry coming to the site. It is very clear that the zoning ordinance provides that a government building, which the registry, can be constructed by right in any one of our zones including the industrial zone. The fact that the Registry may or may not be coming to this parcel of land or this development has nothing to do with the petition before us. He said we have Mr. Riley’s opinion regarding spot zoning and he didn’t believe at the time we needed that opinion but it clearly is not a spot zone. There is abutting MU1 land and forever what reason the Zoning Board came to a conclusion is just plain wrong. Councillor Cormier asked Mr. Whitney if he was still looking to rezone all the parcels that are listed on the petition. Mr. Whitney said there is one coming out. Councillor Cormier asked Mr. Whitney said he agrees with the concept on what you are trying to do but his concern is there is a difference between having a concept of having a barber shop, a small bank and a place to eat to service an industrial park and being allowed to put a strip mall there concerns him. Mr. Whitney said if you go out to the park, these parcels are very small. The one that is on the left hand side that is shown green on the map is mostly wetlands and only a small portion is usable. He said we figured with the setbacks they could get a 60 ft. building in there. He said their vision was to put a strip mall approximately 10,000 square feet on one floor and be broken up to put three or four smaller business in. Councillor Freda asked what the total acreage was. Mr. Whitney said without the piece they will be taking out it is about 11 acres. The piece we are taking out is about 2-3 acres. He said this whole project was approved by MEPA. A traffic studies were done based on any kind of usage put in there. He said we have to submit, after certain steps, the traffic counts out and that is going to trigger us to put a light in possibly at some point. Councillor Bodanza asked Mr. Whitney if he knew what the net acreage is for this piece minus the parcel you don’t want he wetlands. Mr. Whitney said it’s probably 6 or 7 acres total on both sides of the road. Councillor Bodanza asked if it was fair to say it becomes difficult to attract an industrial user on a two or three acre parcel.  2 HEARING BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016 Mr. Whitney said there is no way. Councillor Feckley said, so these parcels were originally zoned industrial even though they were small. Mr. Whitney said yes. Mr. Whitney said he would like to amend the petition to remove Lot 3A (503-3-5). Councillor Freda asked what the frontage was for the lots. Mr. Whitney said about 1,200 feet. The lots are long and not deep. Councillor Chalifoux Zephir asked Mr. Whitney what the lot size is for 503-3-5. Ms. Whitney said 1.44 acres. HEARING ADJOURNED AT 7:16 P.M. ________________________________ Lynn A. Bouchard, City Clerk and Clerk of the City Council HEARING BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016 Hearing opened at 7:17 P.M. with Councillor Freda, Clerk of the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, presiding. All members were present except Councillor Dombrowski. Councillor Chalifoux Zephir recused herself due to a possible conflict on interest. Present at the hearing was Patrick McCarty, McCarty Engineering and Jason Cort, Vice President of PCG, Inc. on behalf of Do Health Massachusetts. This hearing is continued from May 23, 2016. The following PETITION was the subject of the hearing: 36-16 Mackie Barch for Do Health Massachusetts: Grant a Special Permit to open a medical marijuana cultivation and dispensary facility at 30 Patriots Circle, as shown on Assessors Map 499, Lot 50. Mr. McCarty said he was at the Joint Legal Affairs and Ways & Means Committees meeting two weeks ago and was honestly disappointed to see how that turned out for them. He had to inform the client of the scoring rubric that occurred and the outcome of that and they put together a letter addressed to the Council and copied to the Mayor and Kopelman & Paige. The letter reads as follows:  3 HEARING BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016, continued Mr. McCarty said everyone has known me, except for Councillor Feckley, since I was a toddler and we have been in business in Leominster for 34 years and proud to say my wife and I are the owners of that company. He has done a lot of thinking on what he was going to say tonight. He said our business was founded in 1982 and has been a successful business in the City. We have completed numerous project in the City and my wife and I employ 18 people. To receive a score of 1 ½ in relation to the nature and number of temporary construction jobs struck a nerve. He feels he contributes immensely to the City and was extremely disappointed and hurt from that remark. The second thing that struck a nerve was the discussion of charity in relation to this petition by another applicant. He doesn’t think there is an organization in the City who has called his office and asked for a donation where he has said no. Whether it’s pop warner, the Rotary, the lacross league, Habitat for Humanity in which he is the Board President and been on the Board for four years. He didn’t bring up any of that because he really thinks it’s not relevant at all to the applications before you. He doesn’t think it’s part of the discussion. What my wife and I choose to do to contribute to this community is our choice and the choice of any other applicant to do what they want to do for whatever charity or organization they see fit in the City but to try to use that as leverage to say there application is better is disappointing at best. We feel strongly that we have a great application that will bring quality jobs to the community and that we think it deserves another look and would appreciate it if the Council will continue and allow this to be looked into and continue our Special Permit request until further time to allow this to be reviewed. Councillor Marchand said it wasn’t a question that you do excellent work. One of the things of the rubric was bringing Leominster jobs to the construction component and in the presentation you share you use North Central Mass or Central Mass which was a regional thing and some of the other vendors were talking about hiring Leominster-Fitchburg area. The score was still acceptable but it just didn’t get the highest mark. As far as the weight of the applications, I speak for myself, it was important not to look at potential landlords, it was important not to look at some of the components that were insignificant and focus on the rubric that was created in a thoughtful process and that is how we came up with the a-I and to focus on that piece. It was not a question of your credibility or your dedication to the community. Your family has been a benchmark of success in this community. Mr. McCarty said and that is why he thinks it struck a nerve as he personally employee 18 people in this community and he was scored 1 ½ against someone who received a 3. Councillor Bodanza said he has known Patrick for a long time and should not internalize this as a reflection on your company because your company was applying for nothing. Your client was applying. He said he thinks the Legal Affairs and the Ways &  4 HEARING BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016, continued Means Committees did a thoughtful job with a difficult set of circumstances to quantify numerically as best they could. Those circumstances in this letter, there’s a tacit if not implicit threat of litigation so we shouldn’t say a lot about any of this. It may be that we refer this to Kopelman & Paige and we ask Kopelman & Paige if they think it necessary to come down here and hold an Executive Session and leave it at that. Mr. McCarty said his second two remarks were no relative to the letter, just personal remarks. He said he has known everyone on the Council for about 38 years of his life and it really struck a nerve when he left and he went back and forth for the past two weeks whether he was going to vocalize it or not but honestly felt that he should. He said we were applying because under that category it said McCarty Associates would be the builder of this project, so that it was in fact it was related in his opinion. Councillor Bodanza said he hears his point but as a result of this letter we should leave it there. Mr. McCarty said we are not looking to be in opposition because we want to have a long relationship. Councillor Bodanza said once we start getting lawyers involved the whole thing shifts to a different arena and that is not where we are at down here. Councillor Marchand said you were mathematically out of the equation before you began. Mr. McCarty said he was 18.9. Councillor Marchand said you are talking about 2.4 so even if you added .6 that would only put you at 19.5. So if right across the board you got a 3 in that category you’re still 19.5. So the point is the difference was 21. Mr. McCarty said no, not necessarily because you are assuming that the other applicants met the so proclaimed minimum criteria. Councillor Marchand asked so you don’t feel that the scores by Legal Affairs and Ways & Means reflected the right score for the other applicants? Mr. McCarty said no, he said he thinks two of them should have never been scored to begin with. Councillor Marchand said even if you got a 3.0 in that category it is still below. Councillor Freda said Councillor Bodanza has a point that there is a legal situation that we are going to encounter we shouldn’t say a whole lot more. Henry Hauptmann of 30 Patriots Circle and co-founder and former sole owner of High Tech Precision Molders, Inc., spoke in favor of this petition and asked the Council to reconsider. No one spoke in opposition of this petition. HEARING ADJOURNED AT 7:41 P.M. AND CONTINUED TO AUGUST 8, 2016 AT 7:00 P.M. ________________________________ Lynn A. Bouchard, City Clerk and Clerk of the City Council HEARING BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016 Hearing opened at 7:41 P.M. with Councillor Freda, Clerk of the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, presiding. All members were present except Councillor Dombrowski. Present at the hearing was Glen Canario. This hearing is continued from June 13, 2016. The following PETITION was the subject of the hearing: 62-16 Glen Canario/Southwin Limited: Amend the license for 272 Nashua Street to allow the storage of 12 above ground storage tanks, with a total of 191,000 gallons and 250,000 one gallon bottles of Class IIIB combustible liquid. Mr. Canario said at the last meeting they were waiting to hear from Mr. Knuth from the Board of Health and he sent a letter explaining that there isn’t anything they can do to improve leak protection like they originally thought. Councillor Freda read another letter from the Health Inspector, which is on file in the City Clerk’s office. She said that clarifies the position that they were concerned about. No one in the audience spoke in favor of the petition. No one in the audience spoke in opposition of the petition.  5 HEARING BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016 Councillor Marchand asked if the Council was confident that the safety plan was in place that was the issue at hand. Councillor Freda said the Fire Department was okay with it. Councillor Freda read the letters from the Fire Department and the department of Public Works and is on file in the City Clerk’s office. HEARING ADJOURNED AT 7:47 P.M. ________________________________ Lynn A. Bouchard, City Clerk and Clerk of the City Council REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016 Meeting was called to order at 7:32 P.M. Attendance was taken by a roll call vote; all members were present except Councillor Dombrowski. A recess was called at 7:32 P.M. to continue hearings and to hold a public forum. Meeting reconvened at 8:54 P.M. The following COMMUNICATION was received, referred to the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE, given REGULAR COURSE and referred to the Mayor. C-1 Dean J. Mazzarella, Mayor: Approve the CDBG Budget/Action Plan for Year 42. The following COMMUNICATION was received, referred to the FINANCE COMMITTEE and given REGULAR COURSE. C-2 Relative to the appropriation of $70,400.00 to the Cemetery Salary & Wages account; same to be transferred from the Cemetery Perpetual Care-Income Account. The following APPOINTMENT was received, referred to the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE and given REGULAR COURSE. Retirement Board – Douglas Farwell – term to expire July 25, 2019 Upon recommendation of the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE, the following PETITIONS were given FURTHER TIME. Vt. 8/0 67-16 Robert A. Cornetta: Renew the license for two pool tables at Miranda’s Pub located at 488 Lancaster Street. 69-16 Andrew Rome for Classic’s Pub: Approve the License for one pool table at 285 Central Street. (Hearing set for July 25, 2016 at 6:45 P.M.) 70-16 Josh Longtin for Rye & Thyme: Approve the License for one pool table at 14 Monument Square. (Hearing set for July 25, 2016 at 7:00 P.M.) Upon request of the WAYS & MEANS AND LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, the following PETITION was given FURTHER TIME. Vt. 5/1, Councillor Feckley opposed. Councillors Chalifoux Zephir and Nickel abstained due to a possible conflict of interest. 52-16 Mackie Barch, for DO Health Massachusetts, Inc.: Consider and issue a Letter of Municipal Support or Non- Opposition relative to the siting of a Medical Marijuana Facility at 30 Patriots Circle. Upon request of the WAYS & MEANS AND LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, the following PETITION was given FURTHER TIME. Vt. 8/0 53-16 Peter Campobasso, Esquire for Alternative Therapies Group Inc.: Request a local letter of non-opposition to locate a Registered Marijuana Dispensary in the City of Leominster. 54-16 Edward J. Bartlett, Jr., CFO for Middlesex Integrative Medicine: Request a letter of support or non-opposition to operate a registered marijuana dispensary at 25 Mohawk Drive. 65-16 Pat Scorzelli-Agent for Prime Wellness Centers, Inc.: Request a local letter of municipal support and non- opposition for the siting and establishment of a Registered Medical Marijuana Dispensary in the City of Leominster on Locke Drive.  6 REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016, continued A recess was called at 8:33 P.M. to speak with Mr. Whitney regarding the amendment. Meeting reconvened at 8:34 P.M. Upon request of the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, the following PETITION was AMENDED. Vt. 7/1, Councillor Chalifoux Zephir opposed. Amended to remove “503-3-5”. Recommendation from the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE to give FURTHER TIME did not pass. Vt. 4/4, Councillors Freda, Chalifoux Zephir, Feckley and Lanciani opposed. A Motion to GRANT was DENIED. Vt. 5/3, Councillors Chalifoux Zephir, Feckley and Cormier opposed. (2/3 vote required to pass) 50-16 James Whitney: Rezone parcels 503-3-1, 503-3-2, 503-3-3, 503-3-4, 503-3-5 at the entry-way of Southgate Business Park to mixed use (MUI) from Industrial. Upon recommendation of the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, the following PETITION was GRANTED. Vt. 7/1, Councillor Nickel opposed. 62-16 Glen Canario/Southwin Limited: Amend the license for 272 Nashua Street to allow the storage of 12 above ground storage tanks, with a total of 191,000 gallons and 250,000 one gallon bottles of Class IIIB combustible liquid. Upon recommendation of the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, the following PETITION was GRANTED. Vt. 7/1, Councillor Cormier opposed. 71-16 Marco L. Bangrazi for the Leominster Conservation Commission: Install and enforce no parking signs on the west side of Bassett Street. Councillor Bodanza, Chair of the FINANCE COMMITTEE, read the Financial Report for the City into the record. Account balances are as follows: Stabilization Account $14,001,474.15 Free Cash $ 170,074.00 Emergency Reserve $ 100,000.00 Upon recommendation of the FINANCE COMMITTEE, the following COMMUNICATION was GRANTED and ORDERED. Vt. 8 “yeas” C-120 Relative to the appropriation of $75,000.00 to the Gallagher Building Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Gallagher Building Revolving Fund. ORDERED: - that the sum of Seventy Five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) be appropriated to the Gallagher Building Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Gallagher Building Revolving Fund. RE: Operating Expenses for FY 2017 Upon recommendation of the FINANCE COMMITTEE, the following COMMUNICATION was GRANTED and ORDERED. Vt. 7 “yeas” and 1 “nay”, Councillor Chalifoux Zephir opposed. C-121 Relative to the appropriation of $1,084,740.00 to the Street Resurfacing Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Highway State Aid Receipts Reserved for Appropriation Account. RE: FY 2017 Grant Award A motion was made by Councillor Marchand and seconded by Councillor Feckley to have the City Solicitor attend the subcommittee meeting to hold interviews with Alternative Therapies Group, Inc., Middlesex Integrative Medicine and Prime Wellness Centers, Inc. for medical marijuana facilities and dispensary and to discuss 52-16. Vt. 8/0 Councillor Bodanza would like to solicit an opinion relative to the comments made by Mackie Barch, DO Health Massachusetts so he will be able to address it at the same time. Councillor Marchand said they have a problem in Ward 5 and not sure if everyone is aware of it. There is an issue on Nelson Street with a gas leak. The Fire Department had to respond to 911 calls for the gas leak a dozen times or better over the course of the last few months. National Grids position is to come up, they put a band aid on it and close it up and basically perforated the street. If you ride by tonight you will smell gas. He said the Fire Department went up this afternoon again and the levels were extremely high. National Grid was contacted and the response is they will get to it by a certain date. It is unacceptable especially when you have a house right next to it when they have the window open on a nice night and the gas is coming through the window into your bedroom. I can’t even imagine kids having some fun with some matches, what could possibly happen. The frustration is that National Grid has not prioritized this as an emergency because there are other areas that are worse and will get to the replacing of the entire line when they can. He said Nelson Street was just repaved. Not only did the second coat not go on yet and delayed, but if you go up to the upper entrance to DiMassa Drive the first coat has worn down to the original road. The City is in a position that they can’t put the second coat on, can’t deal with the sidewalks that need to be put in or the cuts that go into private property. It’s a disaster. He would like to bring National Grid down here on that particular matter.  7 REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, JULY 11, 2016, continued A motion was made by Councillor Marchand and seconded by Councillor Chalifoux Zephir to bring National Grid down to discuss the line issue and pavement on Nelson Street. Vt. 8/0 A motion was made to request a list from the DPW on streets to be paved. Councillor Nickel said regarding a petition we granted concerning public safety and talking about the Lassie League field. It’s frustrating to know that we sent letters of referral to two different emergency departments in the City and never to get a response. A motion was made to send a letter be sent to the Fire Chief and the Police Chief expressing what we went through tonight trying to come up with alternatives and voting on something we are not really sure of as see if they can do something to improve the process and to ask why no response. Upon recommendation of the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE, the following ELECTION ORDER was CONFIRMED. Vt. 8/0 CITY OF LEOMINSTER STATE PRIMARY ELECTION ORDER SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 ORDERED:-that the City Clerk be and she hereby is authorized and directed to notify and warn the voters of the City of Leominster to assemble in their respective polling places in the several wards and precincts of the City, designated by the City Council as follows: WARD 1A SKY VIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL, 500 KENNEDY WAY WARD 1B SKY VIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL, 500 KENNEDY WAY WARD 1C SKY VIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL, 500 KENNEDY WAY WARD 2A FRANCES DRAKE ELEMENTERY SCHOOL, 95 VISCOLOID AVENUE WARD 2B FRANCES DRAKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 95 VISCOLOID AVENUE WARD 2C FRANCES DRAKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 95 VISCOLOID AVENUE WARD 3A FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES HALL, 456 LITCHFIELD STREET WARD 3B FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES HALL, 456 LITCHFIELD STREET WARD 3C FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES HALL, 456 LITCHFIELD STREET WARD 4A SENIOR CITIZEN DROP-IN CENTER, 5 POND STREET WARD 4B LEOMINSTER VETERANS’ QUARTERS, 100 WEST STREET WARD 4C LEOMINSTER VETERANS’ QUARTERS, 100 WEST STREET WARD 5A AUDITORIUM, CITY HALL, 25 WEST STREET WARD 5B AUDITORIUM, CITY HALL, 25 WEST STREET WARD 5C FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF LEOMINSTER, 23 WEST STREET On Thursday, the 8TH day of September 2016, then and there for the purpose of giving in their votes for the election of candidates for the following offices; Representative in Congress – 2nd District, Councillor – 7th District, Senator in General Court – Worcester & Middlesex, Representative in General Court – 4th Worcester District, Sheriff – Worcester County And it is further ORDERED:- that the polls shall be opened at 7:00 A.M. and closed at 8:00 P.M. and that notice shall be given by publication of this order in a conspicuous place in the office of the City Clerk. Per Order Leominster City Council True Copy Attest: Lynn A. Bouchard, City Clerk Councillor Freda, Clerk of the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, moved that the following PETITION be removed from the table and placed on the calendar for action. It was so voted 8/0. Committee reports as follows: 36-16 Mackie Barch for Do Health Massachusetts: Grant a Special Permit to open a medical marijuana cultivation and dispensary facility at 30 Patriots Circle, as shown on Assessors Map 499, Lot 50. PETITION GIVEN LEAVE TO WITHDRAW. Vt. 6/0, Councillors Nickel and Chalifoux Zephir opposed. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:41 P.M. ________________________________ Lynn A. Bouchard, City Clerk and Clerk of the City Council