City Council

METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2022 @ 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM Chair Beauregard called the regular meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Members present: Saba, Saffie, Simard, Zeigler, DiZoglio, Faretra, Finocchiaro and Chair Beauregard. Councilor McCarty was absent. Acceptance of the Agenda MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Saffie to accept the agenda. MOTION BY: Councilor Simard, seconded by Councilor Saffie to move consideration of appointments and promotions to follow Item 6, Correspondence/Proclamations. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) MOTION BY: Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by Councilor Saba to move Public Participation to be the Item before Presentations. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to move TR-22-2 as the item before Public Service. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Simard to accept the agenda, as amended. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to invoke TR-20-14 to provide for the continuity of government via remote meetings. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Faretra) 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) Pledge of Allegiance/Invocation Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and remained standing for the Invocation given by Councilor Zeigler. Acceptance of Minutes MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie seconded by Councilor Faretra to waive the reading and accept the minutes of December 6, 2021 regular meeting. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) 1 present (Clr. Finocchiaro) Consideration of Appointments David DiNatale – Zoning Board (Reappointment) MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Simard. Councilor Finocchiaro noted she was unable to find the CORIs on the next few appointments. She asked if that is something Council is in possession of and she didn’t receive it. Chair Beauregard said not that he is aware. Council only has the backup information received from the administration which is also online. METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2022 @ 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM MOTION BY: Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by Councilor Simard to table this item until Council receives the CORI check. She noted there was a resolution passed in 2018/2019 that requires Council to have that in hand before they accept any of the appointments. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Faretra) 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) Nicholas Boucher – Zoning Board (Alternate) MOTION BY: Councilor Saba, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. MOTION BY: Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by Councilor Simard to table until Council receives the CORI check. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Faretra) 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) Stephen Smith – Forest Lake Commission MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. MOTION BY: Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by Councilor Simard to table until Council receives the CORI check. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Faretra) 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) Methuen Police Department Sergeant Joseph Rynne to Permanent Police Lieutenant MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. Chief McNamara said to put forth names of well qualified individuals is a special day. These are vacant and budgeted positions and will fill a critical need within the police department itself. All of the promotional candidates are well-qualified and are based on a straight civil service exam. There was no assessment center involved. He went straight down the list hiring in order. Sergeant Joseph Rynne who is up for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant. Sgt. Rynne was born and raised in Methuen and now serves the community as a Sergeant for the Methuen Police Department. He is a nineteen-year veteran of the police department who holds the position of patrol sergeant on the midnight shift. After serving 12+ years in Patrol, Sgt. Rynne joined the Community Outreach unit until he was promoted in 2017. After his promotion he went back to the patrol division and then onto the Sergeant of the Community Outreach Unit. Until this past year Sgt. Rynne has taken part along with several other members of the department with the Tenney St. Park youth Basketball League as a coach and referee. The league is run as a partnership with the Methuen Police Department and the Methuen Arlington Neighborhood (MAN) Inc. Sergeant Attended Methuen Public Schools until going to high school at Central Catholic and then went on to achieve a bachelor’s degree from UMass Lowell’s in Criminal Justice. He was a member of the Methuen Police Special Operations Units as well as a member of the Northeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Counsel and Regional Response team. He recently attended frontline leadership training that’s, completed the trilogy training METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2022 @ 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM for supervisor, command, and executive leadership institute. In 2014, Sgt. Rynne received the Methuen Exchange Club Officer of the Year Award. In 2015 he was awarded the life-saving award. He resides in Methuen with his wife of twelve years, Chrissy and his seven-year old daughter Kaylee. Councilor Simard said he filed a 2623 with the City Clerk’s office for the appearance of a conflict with Sgt. Rynne who is a neighbor and a friend. He will vote present on this. Councilor Finocchiaro said over the course of the past five years, she has gotten to know this candidate and has seen him do a lot of community outreach in particular substance abuse and many other related community issues in the Methuen Arlington Neighborhood. He has exemplary service. She is proud to support this. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 present (Clr. Simard) 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) Lieutenant Rynne thanked the Council, the Mayor, the Chief, his coworkers and his family. He looks forward to a new beginning with the new Chief. Working together we can get a lot of things done. Provisional Sergeant Matthew Mueskes to Permanent Police Sergeant MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Saffie. Chief McNamara stated Matt is well qualified. He has been with the Methuen Police Department since 2005, started as a reserve officer and was a police dispatcher before becoming a full-time officer in 2022. He has been assigned as a patrol officer, K9 handler for the department bloodhound (Duke), assigned to the traffic unit and community outreach, worked as a field training officer and member of NEMLEC Regional Response Team, NEMLEC K9 and Methuen Special Operations Unit. In June of 2021 Officer Mueskes became a Provisional Sergeant and was assigned as a patrol supervisor for the early night shift. He is currently assigned to Professional Standards and Accreditation working on the department-wide effort to achieve certification and accreditation. Sergeant Mueskes Attended Methuen Public Schools as lifelong resident and graduated from Methuen High School. He achieved a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University and a Master’s degree from UMass Lowell. He recently attended frontline leadership training and accreditation manager training. In 2018, Sergeant Mueskes was awarded the Life Saving Award. He also volunteered as a hockey coach for Methuen Youth Hockey for the past four years. He resides in Methuen with his wife of twelve years, Jessica, his ten year old son Jonathan, and his four year old daughter Anaya. Councilor Simard said this is a long time coming and he as a city councilor appreciates Matthew Mueskes taking the high road in the past and waiting for this moment. Methuen is lucky to have you as a supervisor. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) Sergeant Mueskes thanked the Mayor and City Council and citizens for their vote of confidence. He said it is an honor for this promotion. He looks forward to working together to METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2022 @ 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM move the department forward. He thanked Chief McNamara and Mayor Perry for ensuring that this process was fair and transparent. Patrol Officer Derek Licata promotion to Permanent Police Sergeant MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Saffie. Chief McNamara said Derek Licata joined the Methuen Police Department in 1988 as a member of the Methuen Explorer Program. He moved to auxiliary officer and then the Reserve police officer in 1993. Derek became a full-time Patrolman in 1994 and has been assigned as a Patrol Officer, Field Training Officer, School Resource Officer, and was a member of the Marine Patrol Unit and Mountain Bike Unit. For the last seven years, he served as the Training Coordinator and Social Media Specialist for the department. He is a trained department photographer and is also a member of the Methuen Police Honor Guard. Officer Licata attended Central Catholic High School and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Service (Criminal Justice) and Western New England University with a Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice Administration. He has completed the FBI LEEDA Public Information Officer and the Master Public Information Officer class. Officer Licata has completed the Massachusetts Police Training Council (MPTC) Instructor Certification course and is a certified MPTC instructor in Legal Issues and Firearms. For the last 20 years, he has been an instructor for Northern Essex Community College (NECC), teaching various courses for the Criminal Justice program. Officer Licata is also an instructor at the NECC Police Academy teaching Criminal Law at the Recruit Academy along with Legal Update and other various courses at the Veteran Officer In-Service Update. Officer Licata has been a volunteer at Debbie’s Treasure Chest since inception in 2007. For the last 8 years he has led the Methuen Police Department’s Toy Drive in addition to the department’s first annual Coat Drive in 2021. He has volunteered as a coach and board member for Methuen Girls Softball and as a coach for the Methuen T-Ball program. Officer Licata is a resident of Methuen where he lives with his wife Robin of 28 years, his daughter, Jessica who is a registered nurse and Julianna a college student studying engineering. Councilor Faretra said as someone who goes back with Officer Licata to those Methuen softball days, this is one of his prouder moments that he gets to vote “yes” of this appointment. It is very well earned. Councilor Simard commented he has worked along side Officer Licata for many years and he is a man that wears many hats within the police department. He is a constant professional. Councilor Simard said he is glad Derek Licata is going to be a supervisor for our police department. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 absent Sergeant Licata thanked Chief McNamara, Mayor Perry, and the Council for their confidence in him. He also thanked his family, who without their support, he would not have this opportunity. He said he looks forward to serving the department in this leadership role. METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2022 @ 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM Officer Kevin Dzioba promotion to Permanent Sergeant MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. Chief McNamara read that Officer Dzioba started his career in law enforcement in 1989 as an auxiliary police officer and as an intermittent dispatcher for the Methuen police department. In December of 1995 he was appointed as a reserve officer and in February of 1997 started fulltime and graduated from the Lowell Police Academy. Officer Dzioba is currently assigned to the patrol division. Along with being assigned to patrol he is also part of the Drone unit which is a Faa Certified drone pilot, member of the ATV unit and the Honor Guard for the past 25 years. He was previously assigned to the following units: special operations unit, detective’s unit, sexual assault unit and NEMLEC Regional Response team where he traveled to Washington DC for the Presidential Inauguration where he was part of the Presential Protection Team twice for President Bush and once for President Obama. Officer Dzioba attended Methuen Public Schools and graduated from Methuen High School. He eventually went on to Western New England University where he graduated with a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration. In 2013 Officer Dzioba was awarded the Life Saving Award. In 2014 he also received the Marathon Bombing Award for assisting in the manhunt for Dzhokhar on April 19, 2013. Officer Dzioba has coached the Methuen baseball, softball, and basketball. Officer Dzioba still resides in Methuen with his wife Wendy of 27 years, 23 year old son and Marine Reserve Tyler and 20 year old twins, Tiffany and Andrew. Councilor Simard said he has worked with Kevin for many years and one thing with Kevin, not only himself but the colleagues he works with, when they heard he was getting promoted they were very happy for him saying his is a standup guy and he is going to do the right thing. Councilor Simard said he is happy for the men and women of the department who will be supervised by Kevin. Councilor Faretra congratulated Officer Dzioba and noted it has been a long-time coming. He also wants to give a shout out to Chef McNamara making sure that these candidates get full recognition that they deserve and the whole community knows it isn’t just a one or two year thing, the amount of time that these fine men have put into the City of Methuen and this department will recognize. He is glad they are all getting their day. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 absent (Clr. McCarty) Sergeant Dzioba thanked the Mayor, Chief McNamara, and his family for their support. If not for his family he wouldn’t be sitting here today. He looks forward to his new job as a Sergeant to help move the department forward with the Chief and to serving the community as best as he can. Chief McNamara noted if this meeting was live, we would have pause and take a moment to acknowledge the families and take pictures, etc. That is not possible in this format so they do hope to recognize these candidates properly, formerly, hopefully within the next week or so. That is something that will involve a little bit of coordination with both the Mayor METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2022 @ 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM and the Council over the coming days. They strongly hope to have that day soon so the families can enjoy the moment with their loved ones. Firefighter Tracy Blanchette promotion to the rank of Permanent Captain MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Faretra. Chief Sheehy congratulated Matt, Joe, Derek and Kevin on their promotions with the Methuen Police department. They are all well-deserved promotions. Chief Sheehy tonight I come before you to present firefighter Tracy Blanchette to the position of Permanent Captain. Firefighter Blanchette was born and raised in Methuen and is a life-long resident. Her husband Dave recently retired from the Lawrence Fire Department after 30 plus years of service to the City of Lawrence. Congratulations Dave on that. They have two children: daughter Gordan a senior and Nathan is a sophomore in High School. Tracy graduated from St. Mary’s High School and has an Associate’s Degree for fire science from Northshore Community College and graduated the Massachusetts firefighter Academy in 1995. Through her career, firefighter Blanchette has served on the ambulance as an EMT. She has worked on the Methuen Fire Department Engine One assigned to group four at the Central station. In addition, she has also served on group four on Engine 3 at Methuen’s west end fire station for the past eighteen years as a firefighter. She is working there now and is watching. She is not on the Zoom call but is watching this. He thanked her for working tonight. Firefighter Blanchette also has a long history of service to the fire department. As a second generation firefighter, her father Dennis Ouellette, served on the Methuen fire department for over thirty years until his retirement as a Lieutenant. Chief Sheehy respectfully requested that firefighter Blanchette be promoted to the position of Permanent Captain on the Methuen fire department and also as the Chief stated they will be having something at a later date whether he joins with the police department when they do their ceremony or do it with some of the new firefighters. They may wait until June at the Firefighter Memorial Sunday. They will have a ceremony for Tracy also. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 absent PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Linda Soucy, 10 Kirk Street, congratulated all the men and women promoted this evening. Well deserved. They have always been very professional at all the outreach events they’ve attended at Methuen Arlington Neighborhood and have always been great with all the kids. The Methuen Arlington Neighborhood would like to say a big thank you to many organizations, businesses, individuals and city entities that helped to adopt a total of 263 children for the holidays and provide a beautiful Christmas party for 51 families. They purchased gifts and food baskets through the holiday programs. They cannot thank everyone enough for helping the families during this very stressful time of the year during this pandemic. It meant so much to these Methuen families to see the happy faces of their children on Christmas morning. Thank you to all of the Councilors. In regards to the reorganizational METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2022 @ 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM proposal from Chief McNamara, a lot of time and effort was put into this proposal. She believes that the previous audit on the police department is being addressed in this reorg and the officers and civilian employees that work for Methuen Police Department are all committed to doing the best job possible for the residents of Methuen and are always very professional. She was very happy to see both diversity and community policing addressed in the reorg. Community policing is very important to the citizens of Methuen. She agrees that it has to be a department wide philosophy and believes that some neighborhoods experience a disproportionate amount of criminal activity. Through community policing some of these issues can be addressed proactively. She looks forward to seeing the changes going forward. She also thinks that part of the reorg, she has spoken to the Chief about this, even during the interviewing process, would be the hiring of a part-time or full-time grant writer to help offset some of the costs of the reorg. She is sure that that the Chief has plans to look into them both state and federal community policing grants and other grant opportunities going forward. She is glad to see that diversity is being addressed in the hiring of the next wave of officers in the police academy. In regards to the audit of the DPW, the employees of the DPW are also committed to doing the best job possible for the residents of Methuen. The only thing she did not see in the audit was addressing the diversity and the staffing. This is something that needs to be addressed and knows that Mr. Bower is committed to making sure that this is addressed. She appreciates the grant that was written to help those most vulnerable in our communities to get to doctors’ appointments, food shopping, pharmacy, post office, bank, etc. This will be a big help to the residents of Methuen. Maybe we could use the Methuen Police Department’s sign boards at different locations throughout Methuen like Methuen Housing and Elderly Housing are located to let them know how to go about utilizing this service and maybe put the website on there so they could find out more details, also in lower income neighborhoods it would be beneficial to have these signage boards giving the information. She will be providing it in their newsletter and on their website. She just thought to get more out to the rest of Methuen would be great. Andrew Hildebrandt, 40 Greendale Street, Methuen, spoke on behalf of the Methuen Rail Trail Alliance tonight. They would like to bring to the Council’s attention the horrible state of the platform at the Depot on Railroad Street and the deterioration particularly of the roof of the Depot. They have been searching for years to try to get that repaired ever since the Rail Trail paving project ended. The money that was left over from that project seemed to have mysteriously vanished and nobody at city hall could provide an answer until today when Joe Cosgrove finally was able to track it down. Apparently there were available funds left over from that grant, part of which was actually earmarked to the restoration of that building to the tune of $421,000. Little bit of history the building itself was a gift of Mr. Searles to the City of Methuen to allow the executives at the time to go in and out of Boston easily and in comfort. He tapped Henry Bond who was the same architect that built the great Music Hall and also the Searles Building which is now City Hall to do this and back in the past unfortunately the building was sold and more or less piece meal. The Laborer’s Union owns the south section of it METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2022 @ 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM including the awning. The VFW owns the north end of the awning. It was planned during the paving project that the restoration of that whole platform and awning was to be part of that project. He met with Bill Buckley who is the Director of Community prior to the pandemic. There were plans apparently drawn up and agreements that were apparently signed. Someplace a little over two years ago with the former city council executive session, the whole thing was voted down. We would suggest to the city that as it sits right now, it is a danger to the citizens because it is literally falling to pieces. There are slats falling and the posts that are holding it up in places by lally columns by the Laborers Union. It is also a shame to let what is a historic structure in the historic district go to literal pieces when during the paving and planning it was planned to be the gateway to the city and also a site and venue for public gatherings, the farmer’s market and things of that nature. They do have word from Brad Boucher, who really spearheaded the project through Ground Works, Lawrence. The plan all along was to restore that and indeed the north section of the platform actually got concreted but somehow that just never happened. When he spoke with Bill Buckley, both two years ago and six months ago in June before he left the city employment the plan was for doing a full historic restoration on that building and that the funds that were there are part of that, around $250,000 was going to be done and he actually had an architect who specialized in historic restoration. As members of the Rail Trail they have been very active in terms of a) getting the trail in place and b) pushing to improve and maintain the trail. A large part of the grant was pushed by our state representatives through the DCR. Because we have such a strong following in the community on the trail since it got paved. It just seems a shame to let the centerpiece of what is the entrance to that area and could be the gateway to the downtown area if rightly handled go to pieces. The first thing is, I presume the Mayor is on the line, they will be approaching the Mayor about pushing the appropriation forward. The second thing they would like the Council to do is to release the minutes of the executive session so that whatever things that Bill Buckley had already done become public and if we go to move forward with this, we won’t be reinventing the wheel. They will be approaching the Council he is sure, again at another time to do this. Genevieve Marks, 4 Bramble Hill Road, said Andy did a marvelous job explaining the issue and their concerns. While they understand the VFW is involved in the Laborer’s Union and the city may be more peripheral in this. The city is also liable and records from she didn’t know how many years ago showing the concerns regarding that particular area. If someone decides to sue, they are not going to pick and choose. They are going to feel that the city is also liable. She knows the people in the city are proud to be a part of Methuen. The Depot is part of Methuen. The Rail Trail is used extensively now. That area is a hazard and it has to be dealt with. Vice-Chair Zeigler read from Dan Shibilia (attached) Presentations/Projects/Department Updates METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2022 @ 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM Department of Public Works Audit (attached) – Raffelis Consulting – Jonathan Ingram and colleague Ben Kittleson provided an overview of Agenda, “Who is Raftelis/TNCG”; Project Goals Overview; Work Completed to Date; Survey & Benchmarking Overview; Respondents by Division and Position Type (68% response rate); Overall Agreement by Survey Category (nine categories); Employee Engagement; Work Environment; Management Accountability; Professional Development; Communication; Communication Preferences; Strategic Direct; Diversity; Performance and Data; Key Findings and Recommendations included in the report. Ben Kittleson provided the following review - Benchmarking Overview Analysis and Findings; Benchmarking organizations similar in budget and population (Town of Billerica, Town of Arlington, City of Peabody, City of Waltham, City of Haverhill); Staffing by Function; Miles of Water and Sewer Main per FTE (City of Methuen, Town of Arlington, City of Waltham); Equipment Maintenance and Fleet Assets (Town of Arlington, City of Waltham, City of Methuen); Lane Miles of Street Maintained per FTE compared to staffing (City of Waltham, Town of Arlington, City of Methuen, Town of Billerica, City of Haverhill); John Ingram spoke of the Key Findings and Recommendations Focus Areas: Performance Management and Work Planning; Asset Management (informed decision making in the planning process); Work Planning and Performance Measurement (prioritize in a seamless way); Structure and Staffing (additional staffing as suggested in report); Personnel Management (standards of accountability and discipline); Safety Training, and Standardization (develop a comprehensive safety program, standardize employee uniforms and professional dress); Purchasing (one officer- DPW 75% of purchasing); the need to create a purchasing officer dedicated to DPW; provide clarity and understanding of purchasing procedures; Fleet (need to develop and fund a vehicle replacement plan due to age/outside storage) and Facilities (develop and fund a facilities investment plan); Highway Maintenance (review snow plan for safety, implementing shift periods, utilizing additional contractors if necessary to make sure there is a twelve hour rotation) Transfer Station (city is subsidizing, establishing some revenue goals (open transfer station to other contractors). Ben Kittleson spoke about Environmental Management Highlights 1:26:23 Methuen Police Department Proposed Reorganization Plan – Chief Scott McNamara