City Council

Ward Councilors Councilors-at-Large Ward 1 – Mark A. Vital Sean A. Navin Ward 2 – David Doucette Mark A. Oram Ward 3 – Robert Preciado Michael H. Ossing Ward 4 – Teona C. Brown Kathleen D. Robey Ward 5 – John J. Irish Ward 6 – A. Trey Fuccillo Ward 7 – Donald R. Landers, Sr. Council President Council Vice-President Michael H. Ossing Kathleen D. Robey CITY OF MARLBOROUGH CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2025 The regular meeting of the City Council was held on Monday, February 10, 2025, at 8:00 PM in City Council Chambers, City Hall. City Councilors Present: Ossing, Vital, Doucette, Preciado, Brown, Irish, Fuccillo, Navin, Oram, & Robey. Absent: Landers. Meeting adjourned at 8:16 PM. Motion by Councilor Brown, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Minutes of the City Council meeting, JANUARY 27, 2025, FILE; adopted. Motion by Councilor Irish, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Proposed Amendment to Municipal Aggregation Order No. 19-1007578B, referred to the FINANCE COMMITTEE; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Appointment of Brian J. Doheny as City Comptroller/Treasurer for a 3-year term effective March 31, 2025. In addition, pursuant to Chapter 125 “Personnel”, request to start Mr. Doheny at Step 7 of the Comptroller/Treasurer salary schedule and grant an additional weeks’ vacation, referred to the PERSONNEL COMMITTEE; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Appointment of Douglas E. Philpott to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a 5-year term to expire from the date of Council confirmation, referred to the PERSONNEL COMMITTEE; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Appointment of E. William Baker to the Community Development Authority as the Tenant Representative for a 3-year term to expire from the date of Council confirmation, referred to the PERSONNEL COMMITTEE; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Appointment of Ann M. Maichin to the Council on Aging for a 4-year term to expire May 7, 2029, referred to the PERSONNEL COMMITTEE; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Reappointment of John Valade as Principal Assessor for a 3-year term to expire from the date of Council confirmation (February 10, 2028), APPROVED; adopted. IN CITY COUNCIL 2 FEBRUARY 10, 2025 Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Reappointments of William Brewin, Nena L. Bloomquist, Samantha M. Khosla, Rustin Kyle, Janice Merk, Alfred Haas, Thomas Abel and Robyn Ripley to the Library Board of Trustees for staggered terms to expire on the following dates: William Brewin, September 9, 2027, Nena L. Bloomquist, January 7, 2028, Samantha M. Khosla, April 2, 2027, Rustin Kyle, September 24, 2027, Janice Merk, February 2, 2027, Alfred Haas, January 7, 2028, Thomas Abel, January 7, 2028 and Robyn Ripley, February 1, 2028, APPROVED; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Reappointment James Griffin to the Board of Health for a 3-year term to expire February 1, 2027, APPROVED; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Reappointments of Edward Clancy, William Dunbar, Allan White and David Williams to the Conservation Commission for staggered terms to expire on the following dates: Edward Clancy, April 26, 2026, William Dunbar, April 26, 2027, Allan White, March 26, 2026, and David Williams, April 24, 2027, APPROVED; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Reappointment of Joseph Delano to the Board of Registrars for a 3-year term to expire April 1, 2027, APPROVED; adopted. Motion by Councilor Robey, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Communication from the Planning Board, re: Unfavorable Recommendation on the Proposed Zoning Map Amendment, to include 1 Maple Terrace, identified as Map 70, Parcel 274 in the Marlborough Village District (MV), FILE; adopted. Motion by Councilor Oram, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Communication from the Central MA Mosquito Control Project, re: Proposed Budget Notification for FY26 and Compliance Certification Policy, FILE; adopted. Motion by Councilor Robey, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That there being no objection thereto set MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2025, as the DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING, on the Application for Special Permit from Attorney Brian Falk on behalf of GR Development LLC, d/b/a Washville Car Wash to construct and operate a new state of the art car wash facility to be located at 223 East Main Street (former Bank of America location), referred to the URBAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE & ADVERTISE; adopted. Motion by Councilor Doucette, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Minutes of following Boards, Commissions and Committees, FILE; adopted. a) Conservation Commission, January 9, 2025. b) Municipal Aggregation Committee, January 30, 2025. c) Planning Board, December 2, 2024 & December 16, 2024. d) Traffic Commission, December 18, 2024. IN CITY COUNCIL 3 FEBRUARY 10, 2025 Councilor Irish reported the following out of the Finance Committee: City Council Finance Committee February 3, 2025 Minutes and Report This meeting convened at 7:00 PM and was held in the City Council Chamber and open to the public. The meeting was televised live on WMCT-TV (Comcast Channel 8) or Verizon/Fios Channel 34) and available for viewing on their website, https://www.wmct-tv.com. The meeting may be viewed on the city’s website, www.marlborough-ma.gov, home page, graphic link, Agendas & Minutes. Voting Members: Chair Irish, Councilors Fuccillo, Oram and Vital; (Councilor Brown absent). Non-Voting Members: Councilors Ossing, Robey, Doucette arrived at 7:15 PM, Preciado arrived at 7:33 PM. Present to address the Orders: Mayor Dumais; Acting DPW Director Ted Scott; City Auditor Diane Smith; City Engineer Tom DiPersio; Principal Assessor John Valade; City Solicitor Jason Grossfield and Building Commissioner Tin Htway. Order No. 25-1009350: Communication from Mayor Dumais with Mid-Year Transfer Requests totaling Nine hundred twenty-eight thousand, eight hundred twenty-eight ($928,828.00) Dollars from various departments for FY25 moving funds from and to accounts as outlined in the transfer sheets. After lengthy discussion and on a motion by Councilor Vital, seconded by chair, the Finance Committee voted to recommend approval of the Mid-Year Transfers from various departments for FY25 moving funds from and to accounts as outlined in the transfer sheets. Vote 4-0 (Brown absent). Order No. 24-1009191: Communication from Mayor Dumais re: Capital Improvement Plan, FY24 – FY28. After lengthy discussion and on a motion by Councilor Fuccillo, seconded by chair, the Finance Committee voted to accept and file the Capital Improvement Plan, FY24 – FY28. Vote 4-0 (Brown absent.). Motion made and seconded to adjourn; the meeting adjourned at 7:57 PM. Councilor Robey reported the following out of the Urban Affairs Committee: City Council Urban Affairs Committee February 3, 2025 Minutes and Report The meeting was broadcast live via WMCT-TV (Comcast Channel 8 or Verizon/Fios Channel 34) and available for viewing on their website, https://www.wmct-tv.com. The meeting may be viewed on the city’s website, www.marlborough-ma.gov, home page, graphic link, Agenda and Minutes. Urban Affairs & Housing Committee voting members present: Chairman Katie Robey, Councilor Doucette, and Preciado. (Councilors Navin & Landers were absent). Also present were Councilors Fuccillo, Irish, Oram, Ossing and Vital. IN CITY COUNCIL 4 FEBRUARY 10, 2025 Reports of Committee Continued: Order No. 24-1009305: Communication from Justin Maillet, Trustee on behalf of 1 Maple Terrace Real Estate Trust, re: Proposed Zoning Map Amendment to include 1Maple Terrace identified as Map 70, Parcel 274 in the Marlborough Village District (MVD). It is currently located in the Residence C (RC) Zone. Present for applicant was Mr. Maillet. The chair opened the meeting recognizing absent members. She noted members had a copy of the Public Hearing report (Dec. 16, 2024) as well as the letter from Planning Board with their negative recommendation. She read through the letter which explained their reasoning for the negative recommendation on a vote of 5-0: • The consensus of the Board was that the proposed development shown by the proponent is in keeping with the character of the surrounding neighborhood however, the Board had concerns because the Marlborough Village zoning code would allow for higher density and higher allowable structure height than what is being proposed; • In the Planning Board's opinion, the developer established that the proposed development wouldn't be overly burdensome to the neighborhood, but did have concerns on parking. However, the Board agreed the proposed zoning change would allow for changes that could negatively impact the neighborhood and stressed the unknowns. • In the Planning Board's opinion, the developer did not establish that the proposed Zoning Amendment would provide a use not found elsewhere, however, the Board agreed the City would benefit from additional housing; • The Board concluded, without a comprehensive understanding on why this parcel was excluded from the original Marlborough Village zoning change it would be hard to judge if the proposed zoning change is in keeping with the intent and purposes of the City's zoning ordinance. The chair stated that members had received a copy of the map provided at the Public Hearing when Marlborough Village was first discussed which shows the delineation around the business zone while skirting any residential zones, members discussed their concern for what could be built with a zoning change and that there was no guarantee a project shown would be built. Councilor Doucette moved to deny the zoning change; it was seconded, and vote carried 3-0 (Landers & Navin absent). This will be reported out at the Feb. 10 council meeting with a request to suspend rules to vote that meeting so that if this fails, petitioner can look into options for what else can be done on the property. Councilor Doucette moved to adjourn; the motion was seconded; the vote carried 3-0 (Landers & Navin absent). The meeting adjourned at 8:21 PM. IN CITY COUNCIL 5 FEBRUARY 10, 2025 Suspension of the Rules requested – granted. Motion by Councilor Robey, to move the recommendation of the Urban Affairs Committee to deny the following, seconded by the Chair: ORDERED: That the Proposed Zoning Map Amendment to include 1 Maple Terrace, identified as Map 70, Parcel 274 in the Marlborough Village District (MV), DENIED; adopted. THAT, PURSUANT TO § 5 OF CHAPTER 40A OF THE GENERAL LAWS, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MARLBOROUGH HEREBY ORDAINS THAT THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MARLBOROUGH, AS AMENDED, BE FURTHER AMENDED BY AMENDING THE ZONING MAP, SECTION 650-8, AS FOLLOWS: That the land on Maple Terrace owned by 1 Maple Terrace Real Estate Trust, shown on Assessor’s Map 70 as Parcel 274, presently zoned “Residence C (RC)”, be rezoned as “Marlborough Village District (MV)”. Motion by Councilor Robey, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED: That the Application for Special Permit from Attorney Christopher Flood on behalf of Anibal E. Guillermo Sacor, to convert an existing two-family residential property to a three-family residential property at 30 Maple Street, POSTPONED TO THE FEBRUARY 24, 2025, CITY COUNCIL MEETING; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, to move the recommendation of the Veterans Affairs Committee to approve the following, seconded by the Chair: ORDERED: That the Mayor shall submit to the City Council, an annual report from the Commissioner of Public Works regarding the state of the city’s public cemeteries. Specifically, the report will provide a general update on city owned cemeteries detailing current conditions, current and future needs, staffing plan, and outline regular maintenance and repair priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. The report shall provide a specific update on the state of good repair for all veterans’ gravestones in city owned cemeteries, including the number of graves in need of repair, work completed in the prior fiscal year, work to be completed in the upcoming fiscal year and plan for how the Department of Public Works will accomplish this work. The report will provide critical financial information related to all of this work including but not limited to, a review of cemetery finances, amount of money spent in the previous fiscal year, projected expenditures for work to be completed in the upcoming fiscal year, balance of the Perpetual Care Trust Fund, and plans to use funds generated by the interest in the Perpetual Care Trust Fund in the upcoming fiscal year. The following conditions shall also be met: 1. Establishment of written guidelines indicating how the funds can be expended. 2. Establishment of a program for the tracking of repairs to stones and plaques. The report shall be submitted annually to the City Council by April 1st each year. APPROVED; adopted. Motion by Councilor Navin, seconded by the Chair to adopt the following: ORDERED There being no further business, the regular meeting of the City Council is herewith adjourned at 8:16 PM; adopted.