City Council

METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING 1. Roll Call - All Members Present – Clr. Valley, Clr. Campagnone, Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Marsan, Clr. Pesce, Clr. Saffie, Clr. Soto and Chair Faretra 2. Acceptance of the Agenda – Motion by Clr. DiZoglio, seconded by Clr. Pesce – Upon Vote - Unanimous 3. Pledge of Allegiance/Words of Wisdom/– Vice-Chair Soto said, ‘“Not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed unless it is faced.” by James Baldwin.”’ /Moment of Silence - Chair Faretra said, “I'd like to ask everyone to remain standing, please, for a moment of silence. The Methuen community lost a great mentor this week with Hall of Famer Coach Bill James who passed away, so I'd like everyone to take a moment of silence in memory of him.” 4. Public Participation: Isreal Morales – “I live at 20 Howe Street and the corner of Cornelie Road. We’ve been having this problem since last year. There’s an overflow of cars from Washington Place Apartments parking on both sides of the parking lot entrance. The Methuen Police Department installed “No Parking to Corner” signs because trash and delivery trucks were having a hard time getting in and we were having trouble getting in and out of the entrance. This street is the last street on the right before the entrance to Route 213 coming from the CGS School. It’s hard enough to get out onto Howe Street without all the traffic, never mind, with heavy traffic and cars parked on the street. It’s extremely hard and usually takes a 3–5-minute wait to get out of Cornelie Road. We addressed the situation with the people who were parking there and they were told that the management office said they could park there. I called management and the lady that answered the phone said that people could park there as long as they were following the rules. Then they parked in front of our mailbox. My wife went out to address the situation and very nicely asked that they not park in front of the mailbox so they could get their mail and was met with the man using severe profanity. That’s what brought my wife and I here today. They also reached out to Councilor Soto on September 9th at 7:50 PM. While they were there showing Councilor Soto the problem, a car came and parked practically in the middle of the street and walked toward the Washington Place apartments. They have to put up with this day after day. They have the support of the Methuen Police Department which is great. But we’re still having trouble there – they’re threatening our neighbors and constantly screaming at us. We’ve come before the council to see if there can be some type of resolution because I’m not sure how this winter’s going to go. Having all these cars parked there all of the time. There’s a commercial truck from Boston and a school bus that parks there all the time. They park side by side, in the middle of the street and at the corner. I’ve forwarded some of these images to Councilor Soto. We need help because that overflow of cars is affecting our daily lives. Thank you.” METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Mike Welch – 8 Nelson Avenue, Methuen. “Last Spring of 2023, I started questioning if Nelson Avenue was going to be fixed. I reiterated my concerns that have been reiterated at many City Council meetings. That’s when I found out about the Unaccepted Roads Committee. And I’ve been digging in and doing a lot of work with comparisons and investigations. However, in August, I requested the cracks on Nelson Avenue repaired. In October, the Mayor & City Council agreed to fix the cracks on Nelson Avenue. In November, I was advised that it wasn’t the right time to have the cracks filled. Now I’ve been asking all year when the cracks would be filled. Then I got a list of streets that would be repaired, and Nelson Avenue is not on the list. I was told by people at the DPW not to worry – that they would get it done. Then I checked with Assistant DPW Director Felix, and he said that the cracks would not be filled this year. Maybe next year? I am asking the Council – you agreed to fix this – I asked to hold off in November so we didn’t waste money by filling something that wouldn’t last and now it’s been pushed off. We have a beautiful week here – I’ve been riding my bike all week. Can we get someone out to fill the cracks? It’s a days’ worth of work. Call them up and tell them to come get the job done. In addition, I’m going to stick around because you’ve got your Old Ferry Road and Old Ferry Drive discussion. I’ve collected a lot of information regarding the unaccepted Old Ferry Road and the accepted Old Ferry Drive and all the backup material. I will be here if you need me. Thank you. 5. Organizational Business 6. Reading and Acceptance of Minutes from Previous Meetings: October 7, 2024, Regular Meeting – Motion to Approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Soto. Upon vote - Unanimous 7. Proclamations/Citations/Correspondence 8. Consideration of Appointments 9. Presentations/Projects/Department Updates: 10. Mayor’s Report – Chair Faretra recognized Acting Mayor Beauregard, “Thank you Mr. Chair. Today marks one month since the passing of Mayor Perry and my transition into the role of Acting Mayor. I dove right into the work and we’ve had an action packed month. We will continue to roll out new initiatives in the coming weeks but right now, I’d like to update you and the public regarding 2 recent developments of significant interest in our community. Early this morning there was an incident in the Boston Street area. For residents that are unfamiliar with this area of town – it’s in the Prospect Street and Swan Street neighborhood. There were reports of shots fired and there were multiple injuries. It appears it was an isolated incident and there is no danger to the public. An investigation is underway by the Methuen Police Department. Before tonight’s meeting, I was briefed on the latest by MPD Captain Eric Ferreira who is with us. If there are any questions from a law enforcement standpoint, the Captain is here to answer them. At this time, I will ask the councilors if there are any questions or METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING concerns regarding this incident from that perspective to ask of the Captain.” Chair Faretra recognized Captain Ferreira to step up to the podium. Chair Faretra then recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “Thank you, Captain, for being here. We're not going to impede on an investigation, but the rumors are out there that the juveniles involved in this.” Captain Ferreira answered, “Yes, several of the potential people that are involved in this are juveniles. At least two of them were injured.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “And were any of them students or former students of Methuen High School?” Captain Ferreira said, “Some of them are former students of the Methuen High School, yes.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “So these types of acts and I don't want to, again, bring it back to the ordinance that was on the table, but things like this would teach children and students a lesson. I know it's a former student, but that former student has younger probably idols or people that look up to him or did look up to him, and those are the people that are going to be impacted. So, things like that going forward are reasons why those ordinances should be on the table and voted on by this Council. Thank you, not to take the opportunity, but again another call from multiple residents from the Swan Ave. Prospect St. area this morning because they also heard it overnight. Thank you.” Mayor Beauregard continued on the Mayor’s report, “Thank you, Mr. Chair. That was just one aspect of the report, and I'll continue. Our residents should have received or are in the process of receiving an update regarding our new Community Choice Power Supply Program in the mail. I have an update, though, about electric utility rates. Last week on Wednesday, the Healy Driscoll administration announced an agreement they reached between Mass Health, the Department of Transitional Assistance, commonly known as the DTA. The five statewide utility companies will deliver automatic discounts on utility bills for Massachusetts residents receiving Mass Health as well as residents receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children and emergency aid to the elderly, disabled and children. Mass Health and DTA clients will automatically receive discounts of up to 42% on electricity expenses. We confirmed today with Colonial Power that these are distribution company discounts, and all qualifying customers of our new Community Choice Power Supply Program will be eligible to receive them. This means that on top of the roughly 20% savings Methuen residents will see this winter, compared to National Grid’s current residential basic service rate, qualifying households in Methuen that receive Mass Health and DTA assistance will see additional savings of up to 42% through Governor Healey's latest agreement. The timing of this could not be better. All households will be experiencing savings this winter through our new aggregation program and qualifying low-income residents of our city will now receive even more help than they otherwise would have, thanks to our state partners. Lastly, regarding just a specific update, I want to give special kudos to Steve Angelo, Cory Wheeler, that whole crew for a great Fall Festival this past weekend on Saturday. And at this point, I look forward to providing additional updates once we get to the Request of Counselors portion of tonight's agenda where I'll address specific items that have been brought forward by the body. Thank you, Mr. Chair.” Chair Faretra asked, “I have a question on the item you brought up about individuals that are eligible for that 42% discount. How would individuals go about getting that discount? Is that going to be an automatic piece, or do they need to apply?” Acting Mayor Beauregard replied, “My METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING understanding, from the from the information I received from the administration, it is automatic. There's no need for those individuals to sign up. Thank you.” 11. CAFO Report, CIP Report & ARPA Report - Chair Faretra recognized CAFO Maggie Duprey for the CAFO report, “So, I provided the reports last week. I'm not sure if anybody has any questions right off, but just a couple of things I wanted to point out. When it comes to ARPA, just a reminder that we have until the end of December to obligate these funds. We are working our way to ensure that that happens. There is an agenda item on tonight's agenda in the resolutions TR-24-68 that repurposes some of these projects to other projects that have come in larger, more expensive than we had thought. And we're really getting down to that point of --- what can we get done and what can't get done and what can we get obligated by December? So, we're making some tough choices and that's reflected in that specific resolution. We've made the decision to use ARPA funds to complete 2 projects that have come in above budget and defer 2 projects to future capital improvement plans and we could talk about that more as we get there. But I just wanted to note that you can see where those balances come from on that chart that I gave at the last meeting. As far as the Capital Improvement Plan, we're working with Acting Mayor Beauregard on that FY’2025 CIP. It is later than obviously any of us would have wanted, but we are having those conversations and hopefully we'll get something to you all shortly. You will also see TR-24-64. So that's the second read of repurposing of capital project funds. You'll see a contract that's out of order on the agenda. And we did that intentionally. That's because that contract is dependent on whether or not the transfer is approved. So, if the transfer is approved and then is the JJ Phelan and Sons Company contract – C-25-42. If that transfer is not approved, that contract will not have funding. So, I just wanted to say that out loud to make sure everybody understood why we were doing it that way. That's really all that I have but I am happy to answer any questions that you might have.” Chair Faretra asked, “So I have a request. For the November 4th meeting, can we do a deep dive into the ARPA funds to give us an idea where we're going to be come 12/31/2024?” CAFO Duprey replied, “Yes, absolutely.” Chair Faretra continued, “So, just so the body knows well, the public hearing for the tax rate is going to be November 18th at 6:00 PM. Thank you.” 12. Requests of Councilors • Merrimack Street Corridor Sidewalk and Street work Update (Req. of Clr. Soto) - Regarding the Merrimack Street Corridor, sidewalk and street work update for Vice Chair Soto. I have been in touch with Dan Fielding. He is our contact at MA DOT. I've heard some concerns from residents and business owners regarding the work that's being done on the sidewalks, and I've conveyed those concerns directly to Mr. Fielding. Dalia, who owns One Spot Lounge, mentioned to me that some damage was done to a new sign they installed in front of their building near the sidewalk by the MA DOT crew. So, I've been helping them, in essence, navigate that issue and some concerns were raised by residents about curb placement. MA DOT is aware of the questions that are being asked. And I will continue to follow up with Mr. Fielding METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING as necessary until the project is complete.” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. Pesce, “Thanks. My office is obviously on Merrimack Street. They have coned everywhere on Merrimack Street, which I actually think is a great effort. They did not cone where they started doing work by my office. Now I am unsure if there are other places like that, but I will tell you my experience. My muscle memory has driven the same Street for 17 years --- going into my office --- and this probably goes to curb placement. They have come out an extra, I would say, 2 feet on the street. So, when I was taking my turn out of muscle memory with no cones, not knowing that they started doing the work at 7:00 in the morning while it was still pretty dark that day, I fell right into the hole and my tire popped. Now, I also know for a fact, that when I am coming out of my office, I have seen two other cars drop into this hole. So, I am addressing that issue with MA DOT. However, they need to be more prudent placing cones. I understand I've actually received complaints from residents about the coneage, but I actually think that is more important. You know, someone actually ran over a cone and they said that caused damage to their car. But again, I'd rather see that happen than no coning or barricading. Are they also taking into consideration with the curb placement. Are they still making sure? They must have rules or standards regarding street width that, they have to abide by, right? So, what do we know what that street width is? Can we find out? I'm just curious about my particular street. It's really close. I was actually thinking of Old Ferry Road when I was driving there because I was coming out and a car was coming in and they went right into the hole next to me and I said oh geez, cause the clearing doesn't look possible.” Acting Mayor Beauregard replied, “Yes, I will get in touch with Mr. Fielding about these concerns and I'll follow up with you regarding the specifics.” Chair Faretra recognized Councilor Marsan, “So I guess mine's the other end of the spectrum. McKay is the contractor out there. I've had three separate issues. I spoke to John the foreman there, and he's addressed every issue for me. We walk over to the site whether you can't get into this business, and he makes sure he puts a sign up that says this business is open. If they had multiple openings, and we didn't like the pitch of the sidewalk or the hot top after the sidewalk --- He cut it back further and addressed it. So, I have the other end of it. Where I go talk to the foreman right there and they handle the situations while I'm standing there. That's the good side of it. I stopped and I get out of my truck and talk to him.” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “You know, I'm going to say the same thing that Councilor Marsan said. McKay is doing a much better job on that side of the highway than the other contractors that's doing it on the other side. The amount of road disruptions going from the I-495 interchange toward the East Street Fire Station has lasted all summer long and it continues. The quarter mile that McKay has done has been a lot faster than what the other contractor has done. So, I have to give props to McKay. They're clean and they're picking up. They're not putting cones in the middle of the road like the other contractor is. I have a different perspective; I see cones in the morning. I drive in the middle of the left bound side going up towards Dunkin’. So, I see the cones when they're working in the area. But where I'm getting at is the contractors are night and day from both sides and how and why not one contractor’s doing that whole street is a different conversation for another day, but it should be the same outcome. It should be the same product being METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING provided, and I think McKay is doing a heck of a lot better than the other contractor. The sidewalks aren't even going up East Street, so I just want that to be addressed. That's something that Mayor Perry and I were talking about. If you walk down some of these side streets where they're building the curb cuts, there is no curb for them to go up. It is an asphalt pathway to the curb. And it's going to crumble. It's going to completely ruin the whole project. But McKay, I’ve got to give them props for doing it. One Source is also doing a good job on the bridge. I have to say that at nighttime, they're making it easier for travel as well. So I just want to give props to that side of the road. Thank you.” Chair Faretra said, “Safe to say, we'll leave this on the agenda.” Acting Mayor Beauregard replied, "Sounds great and the feedback is very helpful. Thank you.” Chair Faretra recognized Vice Chair Soto, “No, thank you. One particular constituent continues to call me on it. So if we could leave it on the agenda, I would appreciate that, Mr. Chair.” • Update on Eversource (Request of Chair Faretra) - Chair Faretra recognized Acting Mayor Beauregard, “Regarding the update on Eversource and the paving schedule, Mr. Chair, this was your request. The Eversource Street Restoration list for 2025 is in. They're going to be tackling areas such as the Merrimack Street Bridge over Interstate 495, Riverside Drive, the Pleasant Valley Street Bridge, among numerous other areas of the city. The full list can be published online if the Council wishes as public, but I wanted to alert you that we did receive that list, Mr. Chair.” Chair Faretra replied, “I received that e-mail, and I just request that Eversource works with Mr. Garcia and his group. You know, I think when you and I spoke earlier, there was this discussion of Tenney Street --- in that area --- and my concern is if they do repairs down there it might get torn up again when we do that water-sewer project. I'd hate to see resources go into a project that's going to be ripped up soon. It seems like Peter Bowman and Eversource have really made an effort. I know this whole group got an e-mail last week with a list of projects. So, I'll forward this list to the Council and then we can take this off the agenda. • Update on School Audit (Request of Chair Faretra) – Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “Thank you. Regarding the school audit --- Chair Faretra, this was your request as well. The bid opening date for the operational piece of the school audit is tomorrow. We'll have more to share about that at the next meeting. But I will keep the Council posted in the meantime once we know more about the bids we receive.” Chair Faretra said, “We should have that contract in front of us, if all goes well, for the November 4th meeting for the financial piece or the operational piece.” Acting Mayor Beauregard replied, “It would be the goal to get that before the Council as soon as possible.” Chair Faretra said, “OK, thank you. We'll leave that on the list for now.” • Update and status of the new warehouse on top of Old Ferry Road, storage facility on Old Ferry Road & any traffic studies or concerns with the usage of that road to tractor trailers (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio & Clr. Pesce) - Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “Regarding Old Ferry Road and the new warehouse, in particular, on Old Ferry METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Road --- this was a request from Councilors DiZoglio & Pesce. I mentioned during the last Council meeting that there would be an internal meeting to sort through where we've been and where we're going relative to all the issues surrounding Old Ferry Road. Since that time, 2 internal meetings have occurred, thanks to the work of my Chief of Staff. We believe that we are close to finding the answer regarding whether the road is accepted after reviewing records going back to the year 1795. We have not been able to definitively establish acceptance of the road, but the plan at this point is to confirm the information we have with the State House Library, and we will go from there. We're also taking a look at the warehouse situation, but I don't have anything to report on that just yet. It would be good to keep this item on the agenda as we roll out specific solutions to the issues we're discussing over the coming weeks.” Chair Faretra asked, “I just want to ask if the Council has had any follow up questions to that before we moved on.” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “We need to move this forward because the longer we wait, that barrier is going to get pushed off a cliff so and or someone leases that building that we just don't have any control. So, I would like to put a resolution forward in the coming weeks on a travel ban for certain tonnage going up that road. And if that helps speed this up a little bit so that we can get an understanding of what we need and an ETA and timeline because I don't want to also waste money that we're not supposed to be wasting on this if it's not an accepted road either.” Acting Mayor Beauregard replied, “That's the impetus of getting that determination as soon as possible, so we'll keep the conversation going.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “And I don't want to use the word waste. I apologize. Money that we should be spending because it's state and tax money that we're not supposed to spend on unaccepted roads. Thank you.” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. Pesce, “You said you had two internal meetings. My only question is, do we have another?” Acting Mayor Beauregard replied, “One scheduled, yes. So, we've been meeting, in essence weekly, as it relates to this so that we can get a resolution together.” Chair Faretra said, “So we'll leave this on the agenda, obviously.” Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “That would be great.” • Update on signage at the transfer station (Request of Chair Faretra) - Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “Regarding the update on the transfer station signage. Mr. Chair, this was your request as well. The new signage is up, and director Bower is working with our sign people to replace all the old signs with new ones such as signs that identify the transfer station’s hours of operation and the like. So, I would consider that perhaps checked off and we can remove that.” Chair Faretra replied, “If, for some reason it's closed during a snow emergency again. And when it doesn't snow, we can bring it back.” • Howe Street – Toll Brothers’ trailer (Request of Clr. Pesce) - Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “Regarding Howe Street - this is the Toll Brothers trailer that was raised by Clr. Pesce, I've been informed by Joe Giarusso that Toll Brothers will be decommissioning the trailer and once the site is cleaned up, they plan to sell the lot.” Clr. Pesce replied, “We can remove that from the list. Thank you.” METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING • Update on Searles Estate (Request of Clr. Soto) - Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “Vice Chair Soto requested an update on the Searles Estate. We're set to close on the Searles estate on Tuesday, November 12th. Everything is on track in terms of that date. Technical experts, inspectors, landscapers, police, fire, DPW and department heads have all conducted extensive walkthroughs of the property. The city's legal counsel is still working on the access easement agreement, but we don't anticipate any issues with that, so things look good at this point, and we will keep the Council and the public up to date as the process continues to unfold.” Chair Faretra said, “With the closing being on November 12th, Vice Chair Soto, we should probably keep this on the list.” Vice Chair Soto agreed. • Update on Charter Review Committee (Request of Clr. Soto) - Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “We have a meeting scheduled with former Councilor Saba who will be chairing the new charter group that will be happening this week on Thursday. I don't have much to add here, since the process was initiated earlier in the year, and nothing has changed. Mayor Perry had made his appointments. The Council's appointments were made. It's been slow moving, but it's moving. And I'm sure if you'd like to add more insights, feel free, but the plan is to get the show on the road as soon as possible.” Chair Faretra said, “Steve Saba was the joint appointee between myself and Mayor Perry. As the chair of that committee, he has a few questions on how to proceed going forward, so he's going to meet with the Mayor and myself. Once that meeting is done, the Assistant Clerk is going to be the point person through the office, and she's going to assist Mr. Saba with setting up meeting times, reserving meeting rooms and so on and so forth. This meeting is on Thursday, hopefully we're all on the same page. And then that committee will start meeting soon after that.” Chair recognized Vice Chair Soto, “Yes, Mr. chair. Thank you. So that document that established the Charter committee --- weren’t there 2 meetings referenced on that document that didn't happen? Do we need to do any updating to that document to make sure that we're in proper compliance or we just pick a new date?” Chair Faretra said, “I don't believe there was any dates involved with that. We decided that resolution was just to allow who was being picked by which body.” Clr. DiZoglio replied, “Yes. We can put for this time this year, but because of certain events, we have come and gone past that.” Chair Faretra replied, “I think we can pull that resolution up if you were the author, correct?” Clr. DiZoglio replied, “Yes.” Chair Faretra said, “If you could pull that up and forward that along just to make sure. I think what happened was I was under the impression the mayor's office was handling the communication and then once the mayor passed, I was informed that they thought we were handling it. I had a list of who his nominees were, but I didn't have any contact info for those nominees. So, once the Mayor passed, they acted. Mayor got me that contact info and that's where the ball started rolling after that.” • Update on Sound System (Request of Clr. Soto) - Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “Lastly, we had a request for an update on the sound system from the Vice Chair. MCS is nearing the end of what they had originally planned for the project, but they are still reviewing opportunities for improvement. I spoke with Karen Hayden and METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING she'll be happy to attend a future Council meeting to provide a more comprehensive update from a technical standpoint. The sound, I think we can agree, is much better here in the hall compared to how it was. I think at least the listening devices seem to work well and MCS hasn't received any complaints. That's a key part here that I want to note --- if there is any feedback, now is the time to share it and we can have any other questions or concerns addressed when Karen joins us at an upcoming meeting and of course, regarding these issues and any others, I'm always happy to answer questions.” Chair Faretra asked, “Can you follow up on that? Can you set up a time for Karen to come to a meeting and then this body can have questions ready for her? So, if you want to reach out to her and see if she's available to come to one of the meetings in November and that way she can give us an update from herself and then anyone on the body could follow up with questions. I know they've added a new camera. I can see that directly in front of us.” Acting Mayor Beauregard replied, “I'd be glad to do that.” • Chair Faretra said, “Are there any future updates that the Council has that they'd like to add for the future Council agendas?” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. Marsan, “Thank you. On my intersection of Hampstead and Maple, we got the blinking light. It's excellent. We have stop signs. I'm just waiting for the DPW --- heading eastbound on Maple, there's a stop sign. There's a stop line and a sign that's about 30 feet away from the intersection. We talked about it --- to move it up so that it was at the intersection. They put a separate stop sign, but the line is still there and it's confusing to people. We got to black out one line and just put one stop line at the proper spot to stop because everybody knows the next person, the line goes and it just makes it confusing. So, if we could just get on the make one line. Thank you.” • Chair Faretra said, “I have two requests for the next meeting. One - If we can get an update from Harvey on the Trash Ordinance to see if they've actually given out any tickets. If we can get some sample footage from them hitting those neighborhoods that are supposedly the scofflaws, as the mayor, used to call them. I'd love to see that. And two, at the intersection of Park Street and Lawrence St. Down at the bottom of the road. If there has been any recent traffic studies or if we can start one down there. That'd be great. I know that the gentleman from public participation has been in touch with the Vice Chair, but maybe looking into that Cornelie Road situation a little bit more.” Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “That's on my list for tomorrow. What he said was crazy that that's happening.” Chair Faretra said, “Yes. So maybe the Vice Chair can share some of the information and the pictures with you. So, we can look into that for that for that family. 13. Other Officers and Committee Reports - Chair Faretra said, “OK, I was speaking to the solicitor. Obviously, losing the acting mayor off the Council has thrown a little bit of a monkey wrench into some of the some of the committees. After speaking to the Solicitor, if the if the former Councilor, now Acting Mayor Beauregard was on a committee of four that committee will run with three now. The Acting Mayor cannot sit on a committee as a voting member because he's an Acting Mayor. If the committee METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING had three and I wasn't sitting on it, I'm going to go on that committee temporarily until after the December 10th election. And then that committee, if the Acting Mayor becomes the permanent mayor, then we'll look to fill that seat permanently with somebody. The Finance Committee right now has only Councilor Valley and myself. So we're looking for a third member so we can keep that committee going because the Acting Mayor was the 3rd member of that, so we lost him. We need a third member in order to keep that committee going. If there's somebody interested, they want to shoot us a message afterwards. Please do so. And then also I sent out messages to some of the subcommittees over the weekend. Summer is over. Just trying to get back on track of scheduling those meetings. The assistant clerk is going to be the point person for that. She'll assist in getting MCS and room and time available for you, so if you are chair of a committee, please reach out. Just please reach out to your committee members if you are the chair and just get those meetings scheduled. So, let's work together and get those meetings back on the books. 14. Public Service: A) Grants B) Licenses C) Contract(s): C-25-40 - Agreement Between the City of Methuen and Methuen Middle Management Association July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2027 (FY25-27) (2nd Read) – MOTION TO APPROVE by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Soto – Discussion – none – ROLL CALL - UPON VOTE – 7 yes, 1 no (Chair Faretra) C-25-41 - Bobrek Engineering & Construction, LLC, 100 Conifer Hill Drive, Suite 204, Danvers, MA 01923 for Engineering Consultant for sidewalk repairs and ADA improvements at Hampstead Street (Between Howe Street and Maple Street) - $45,000.00 (Requested by Acting Mayor and Director of DPW to be funded through Chapter 90 State Funding) – MOTION TO APPROVE by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Valley – Discussion – Clr. Saffie left the room - Chair Faretra recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “How far a road is this? Just to get an idea.” Chair Faretra asked Assistant DPW Director Felix Garcia to the podium. Assistant DPW Director Garcia answered, “It’s 3/4 of a mile or 3,000 feet.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “Are both sides of the road going to be done?” Assistant DPW Director Garcia said, “We're going to look only one side of the road, which is on the Northeast side.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “Are we looking to start this in the Spring?” Mr. Garcia said, “Once this is approved, we're going to start the survey work as soon as possible. We'll be doing the design this winter season and then get the specs ready January, February and go out to bid like around March.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “And I'm not against this, of course, because it's for sidewalk repairs and ADA improvements, but just I want to be mindful of schools. At the CGS gets a little busy and then I also want to make sure with all the other road work that's happening in that area that it's not going to button up against Eversource, One Source and all of the above.” Mr. Garcia replied, “Today I had a meeting with the METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING AAB -Architecture Access Board - and they want to get this done as soon as possible. But then they wanted a hard day. I told them I can't give them a hard day until I speak with the consultant. I'll bring that up to the to the consultant that there are schools nearby. So, we'll see when it is best to do this because we don't want to disrupt children going to school. I will talk to the consultant once this is approved, then I'll let the AAB board. I'll let them know by 30 days.” – UPON VOTE – 7 yes, 1 abstained (Clr. Saffie) C-25-43 - Learning and Literacy Foundation: 10-year School Lease of 10 Ditson Place with for the purpose of youth and workforce programming – MOTION TO APPROVE by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Soto – Discussion – Chair Faretra recognized Acting Mayor Beauregard, “Mr. Chair, I just wanted to point out that the Superintendent is here to answer any questions regarding this process from a school committee standpoint.” Chair Faretra asked Superintendent Kwong to the podium. Chair Faretra recognized Clr. Marsan, “If we're going for a lease, what type of improvements are they making? Do we know what they're doing for improvements to fit their use? I know it's a 10-year lease.” Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “So yeah, it is obviously 10-year lease, and it includes only a portion of the gym and the and the top floor in the gym. In essence, as you alluded to, we're not receiving any lease payments from the vendor. However, the contract provides for the lessee providing substantial infrastructure improvements to the premises in an amount no less than $500,000. So that is in place of a lease payment and those would need to be undertaken and paid for by the lessee. And I want to point out and I'll circle back with the Superintendent while she's here and she can fill the Council in regard to additional specifics. This has been in the works for some time before Mayor Perry's passing. I want to point out that the lessee's also going to be paying the proportional share of utilities and maintenance of the building that starts after the first full month of occupancy. And what this will do for the city is in essence help to alleviate a portion of the full cost that we currently pay through the annual budget. I’ll now pass it off to the Superintendent, relative to specifics regarding where we've been from a School Committee standpoint and provide further clarity regarding your question, Councilor.” Superintendent Kwong said, “Thank you Mayor. A couple of answers and then there's some vagueness as well. So, I want to be really clear about that. We want to be able to move this project forward and this is the first step in doing that to actually have much more detailed conversations about having youth programming in the city of Methuen, which many of you know, has been happening for 10 plus years. We've seen lots of different iterations of it. I know in my time having these conversations. The type of work that we are expecting this group to do is the work to actually have students back in that building. So, they are not going to be allowed to completely demolish or reconstruct that building. It's really about renovations. There’s painting and we definitely have some roof repairs that's going to impact them actually moving in. We have had some conversations about priorities for upgrading the bathrooms. There are bathrooms on each floor and the bathrooms on the 2nd floor. We'll probably need some renovations to have additional students in the building and the larger issue is going to be security. So, it's really going to be upon the vendor to make sure that the building is ready for youth programming as is, so we have the Adult Learning Center downstairs. We have city offices down there so that's been our conversation going into this. They know that walking into this and all of that has to happen with us. It cannot happen singularly. It has to happen through Bruce Stella, METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING our facilities manager, and myself. So, they can't just go in and just start walking around and painting and doing all that because we have to orchestrate that because there are occupants in the building as well. So, Bruce will be the one overseeing it.” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “Thank you. And I first want to thank the Superintendent for reaching out this morning to alleviate some of the concerns I had originally on this. The one thing that I do want to bring up is there's some institutional knowledge to this whole project. This has been a conversation for over 11 years. We spent $50,000 that was originally earmarked to bring in a Community Center here back in 2014, around there, to have the conversation, and there were a lot of folks involved --- former mayors, former city councilors, school committee, etcetera. It was going to be utilized as a piece of land over by the High School in between Holy Family Hospital and the high school parking lot. That was the original site plan --- earmarked money, grants --- all of this was discussed with a gentleman that was going to bring this to Methuen. That didn't happen. And I give kudos to then State Representative DiZoglio, who then became senator and now also gave us $1.5 million earmarked money. That money, by the way, is the same money that they're going to be using for that lease. Just so you know, this company isn't coming out and taking $500,000 out of their pocket and going to put into renovations, the $1.5 million is going to be utilized that is earmarked for their usage. Now that roof alone is probably going to cost them a few million dollars. So, there’s going to be fundraising, and I know this is for us to agree tonight. So, there are other conversations that need to occur, but I'm concerned about those conversations. I am, because what happens if they back out of the deal? We still lose this money. And again, they're utilizing the second floor in a gym. It's for our youth. I'm all for it. I'm going to vote yes, but there's a lot of risk here that we need to be paying attention to, and I am actually very surprised when we look at buildings in the city that we want to take on responsibility of. We're looking at the Currier, we're looking at Pleasant Valley, which I think are two buildings that the city should consider bringing on and moving away from the schools. Where are we with this building for long term --- for 10 years? Are we going to use it for municipal offices downstairs? Are we going to renovate this first floor? Are we going to utilize this for just the youth center and future Community Center? There's a lot of discussion that needs to occur here, and I don't think it's just the School Committee or the School Department that should be having that, especially if the city is putting offices in there for the MFD, DPW and Parks and Rec. Department. So, I know that building has been domain for educational use. Is that true solicitor? If is there that's only used for educational use, correct?” City Solicitor Ken Rosetti said, “It is to be used for educational purposes, but that's not an exclusive usage. That goes back to the prior conveyance a little after the turn of the century. So, it's our belief that function continues if you have a youth center in place, to mentor youth, to guide youth or location for youth to do homework and location for youth to learn about professions, a location for youth to play sports, learn physical fitness that would still advance the educational purpose that's required to.” Clr. DiZoglio asked, “Does the playground outside count?” City Solicitor Rosetti replied, "I have to confess I haven't thought about the playground itself, but certainly the building within that would be occupied by the Youth Center facility, should this pass all approvals, would be an educational purpose.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “Because what I think needs to occur, and this is a long-term discussion, is there should be an assessment value on all these buildings that we have as a municipality. We should know how much these buildings cost METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING offhand. And if we don't? We should think about having an audit. But, to the point of this is we're giving a building a 10-year lease that may have some programming competition with our YMCA, which is also a lessee of the city. And there's going to have to be some collaboration there because you're going to literally have people going back. And I know they're two very different, but they're going to compete against each other. And the Youth Center wasn't supposed to be a Youth Center. It was supposed to be a Community Center. Could that be what it becomes down the line? Sure. But I'm not going to have that argument today. We're going to agree to a 10-year agreement with no road map tonight because we have to do this as a technicality for the school department to have that conversation. What should have occurred was this should have been probably built in that we took on. It was responsibility and the collaboration still with the School Department because a lot of the Community and Youth Centers around Methuen are city run and not privately outsourced to a nonprofit. So, I mean, the dream was there, the dream is still there, but it wasn't what it was 11 years ago. Those people have come and gone. So, I do think that we need to keep an eye on this in the long term, but again I don't agree that this lease or should be the school department and all due respect, if they're not going to be taking on any of the responsibilities anymore of that building in our city, municipal offices are going to be in that building along with a non-profit, it should be considered under city property and under this jurisdiction of potentially the mayor and its department. And not, so much, the schools. So that's my only two cents into it. Let's see where this goes.” City Solicitor Rosetti said, “The city technically owns title to the property, but in owning that title, it also has to satisfy the requirement of the deed that the building have an educational purpose to it. That explains the School Department’s involvement because the School Department has jurisdiction over school use. And I invite the Superintendent or the Mayor to correct me on that. But that's why this deal is structured in the manner it is, and it requires Council approval because the building is titled in the name of the city. And there's also a question about the conveyance of an interest below fair market value because it's an open question of 500 grand over 10 years as a market rate or not for the space that would come to be occupied by the Youth Center assuming all approvals are secured.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “But that's $500,000 and not coming from that company. It's coming from the earmark. So that $1.5 million suffices that $500,000, or are we saying that 500,000 will be coming out of their pocket before 1.5 million is given to that company?” City Solicitor Rosetti said, “I think that's an apples to oranges comparison, respectfully. I was simply making the point that the dollars involved may not necessarily equate to a market value for 10 years of use of that property at the dimensions the property will be used for. It's not to cast dispersions or say positive and negative things about different funding sources.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “I'm all set. We're going to vote on this. We're all going to probably say yay.” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. Pesce, “Quick question for the Superintendent. I was actually on the School Committee when this idea was tossed around by the then Senator. We did have that $1.5 million that was secured. It was my understanding, I believe, it expires at the end of this year. Yes, or no? Superintendent Kwong said, “Correct.” Clr. Pesce continued, “Does it need to be spent by the end of this year?” Superintendent Kwong said, “It's my understanding that the place, location and infrastructure, because that's what the funds were earmarked for --- it was in infrastructure development that it needs to be earmarked. We need to have an actual location where the money is going to be spent. There's no way we can spend that money before. Yeah, it's the METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING fact that we have an actual location for the youth center is the most important part that they need to actually receive the additional funds.” Clr. Pesce said, “OK. And no less than $500,000? Are we assuming that that full $1.5 million though will be earmarked for this use?” Superintendent Kwong said, “That's my understanding, yes. And that was what they supplied to us in the RFP, the bid when we awarded the bid.” Clr. Pesce said, “Just out of curiosity, why are we doing no less than $500,000? So, we're doing no less than $500,000, assuming that it's going to be much more than that. But why wouldn't we have just included the higher $1.5 million?” Superintendent Kwong said, “It was something as we were generating the RFP that we needed to put out and that was the agreement between our legal counsel and the city's legal counsel that that seemed to be the right number to put in there.” Clr. Pesce said, “OK. But we have the school's assurances that that $1.5 million will be earmarked for this and utilized. I just don't want to lose it. There was a lot of hard work that went into getting the $1.5 million.” Superintendent Kwong said, “It's not the schools, so I just want to be really clear. The schools do not have any of this money. It's not going to the schools. It's not going to the city of Methuen. This money is actually going directly to this 501-C, this nonprofit organization, and I do have to make one correction and I'm very sorry because I just realized it, but I'm happy I realized it. It's actually the Leadership and Literacy Foundation. And so, I apologize for that deeply. I just want to make sure if the vote happens tonight that it's voted correctly by title. So, I apologize for that in the lease. But the money is actually secured in that organization. That's what we received in the BID award, which also made this feasible.” And Clr. Pesce said, OK. And they've provided assurances that this $1.5 million…” Superintendent Kwong said, “They've provided assurances that they have the funds secured to date and that after this gets voted through, they will be able to go to get the release of the remaining funds. OK, but there's at least $500,000 already in place for us ---waiting to be utilized.” Clr. Pesce said, “OK, thank you.” Superintendent Kwong replied, “I hope I answered that correctly, I'm sorry.” Chair Faretra recognized Vice Chair Soto, “So in essence, this organization is going to do repairs that this building so well needs to be functional and operational and have these programs in there. So I'm grateful for that.” Superintendent Kwong agreed. Clr. Soto said, “And then secondly, looking at the RFP, does the programming compete with what we offer right now or will it like provide programing that’s out-of-the-box --- because we don't have cooking classes.” Superintendent Kwong said, “It will be things a little more outside of the box, sort of exactly what you just said. You know, we have an after-school program in each of our grammar schools that runs until 4:30 or 6:00 PM. The YMCA has a program. For the amount of students that we have in the district, there aren't enough seats in some of these after-school opportunities for our students. And it will provide something different. I think that's what the impetus of a lot of these conversations has been --- is that this is going to provide something different ---primarily for our older students who aren't just there for after school care, but actually are there to select interests, right and actually drive a community of middle school and high school students. We need to start this process and try to get it off the ground with this group --- it's not me running it. The School Department isn't going to be running this program. It is a completely separate organization that is running the youth program. We will support it, it's our youth. But one of the things that we are hoping to be able to collaborate on as this youth center gets off the ground is that workforce development, there's a lot of state funding within that area of workforce development. And METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING with our CTE programs at the high school. It's harder to get into Greater Lawrence Tech that there's just going to be some potential for that kind of collaboration that will look, you know, as sort of a separate division if you would of this group. There's been ideas about that, and that has been part of, you know, our conversations over the past 16 months or so as we've been trying to develop this and get it in a place where we're standing here in front of you getting this approved tonight.” Clr. Soto said, “Thank you for that.” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. Campagnone, “Is the DPW department still in there?” Superintendent Kwong said, “Yes.” Clr. Campagnone continued, “And the plan I think is still for them to stay in those offices, correct?” Superintendent Kwong replied, “Yes. So, the first floor right now is completely occupied. The central building, the tenants in place, the Central School has two full school classroom floors and then a basement floor that has some office space to be occupied. And the first floor of 10 Ditson Place is fully occupied right now, with the adult Learning Center on 1/2 of the 1st floor. And then we have DPW, the recreation department and the fire department are actually in the basement as well. There's 12 classroom spaces and office spaces up on the top floor. There's nothing occupying those spaces, there's nothing in that space.” Clr. Campagnone said, “My concern is with DPW being in there, you know, with their offices and stuff, and they are in and out of there with their vehicles. Now we're talking about a youth center with children there. And is this going make a problem for our DPW if we have to go there, you know, with the trucks while our youth out there playing or whatever --- is there a safety issue? That's what I'm getting at.” Superintendent Kwong said, “Yep. And you bring up an excellent point. And these are all conversations that we are going to get to --- operational planning once we have the people in place, I think these are all things that we've started to talk about ---safety and security --- as I just said, is going to be one of the costs that this group is going to have to incur to make sure the 2nd floor is separated from the first floor. So, we all know those conversations are coming and what needs to be done first to get it operational. So, all of what you just said will be part of our operational planning to make sure that that building, the adult Learning Center classes.” Clr. Campagnone said, “We want to save for the youth, but now we have our DPW in there and you have to consider them also --- with the safety issues and I'm sure parents will be asking the same questions. I just wanted to know, are we going to run into some problems there? And the other thing is, what about the handicapped accessible and all that? Superintendent Kwong replied, “All of that operational planning, I just, we can't get to that conversation until we actually secure the building with this group and it's formalized.” Clr. Campagnone continued, “But these issues need to be addressed sooner rather than later.” Superintendent Kwong said, “That will all be part of the conversation.” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. Saffie, “Thank you. Just confirming, the correct name is Leadership and Literacy Foundation.” Superintendent Kwong said yes. Clr. Saffie continued, “Should we be amending this on the lease agreement because the lease agreement also says learning and not leadership.” Superintendent Kwong replied, “It does, and I that's what I said. I just realized that, and I don't know what is on the actual agenda, but the lease actually says leadership. It says learning and literacy to leadership and literacy, and I severely apologize because I can't tell you how many eyes were on this lease a lot.” Chair Faretra said, “I'll defer to the solicitor on that.” Solicitor Rosetti said, “The body could --- move on the floor to amend the Scribner’s error that the body has been alerted to by the Superintendent or the body could table it and take it up at its next meeting either way.” Chair Faretra said, “I METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING know tabling it is kind of --- we're under the gun here, so I think if we wanted to have a motion to amend to learning to leadership, I think that probably be the cleanest.” Solicitor Rosetti said, “Just to correct this Scribner’s error. Sure.” MOTION TO AMEND by Clr. Saffie, seconded by Clr. Soto – change title of program from Learning and Literacy Foundation to Leadership and Literacy Foundation - Approved Vote, 8 yes – Unanimous – MOTION TO APPROVE, 8 yes - Unanimous 15. Unfinished Business Resolutions: TR-24-63 Resolution Declaring Surplus Equipment and Authorizing Auctioning of Surplus Equipment (Request of Acting Mayor and CAFO) – MOTION TO APPROVE – Motion by Clr. DiZoglio, seconded by Clr. Campagnone – Upon Vote - Approved Vote – 8 yes, Unanimous TR-24-64 Order Authorizing an Amendment of Order No.5831 Borrowing to Pay Costs for the Fiscal Year 2024 Capital Improvement Plan (Acting Mayor, CAFO, and Recreation Department) – MOTION TO APPROVE – Motion by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Campagnone – ROLL CALL – Upon Vote – 8 yes, Unanimous Ordinance(s): TO-24-11 An Ordinance Amending the Wage and Salary Classification Plan, Unaffiliated, to add the new position of HR Generalist (Requested by the Mayor and Director of Human Resources) (remove from table) – MOTION TO REMOVE FROM TABLE – Motion by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Soto – 8 yes – Unanimous – MOTION TO APPROVE – Motion by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Valley – DISCUSSION - Chair Faretra recognized Clr. Pesce, “So we had this discussion last time and the difference was the reclassification versus the new position and the fact that the Acting Mayor that was the only authority that he lacked as Acting Mayor was the hiring of new positions or filling of new positions, new permanent positions. So has this changed it all?” Acting Mayor Beauregard replied, “This is relative to an existing employee, so it wouldn't involve the onboarding of a new hire.” Clr. Pesce said, “I get that. I guess this is a question for the solicitor, so I totally understand what's going on here and I understand that we have an existing employee who is probably doing much more than what they should be doing right now. It's unfortunate because in my opinion it's collateral damage from a very unfortunate loss of our mayor. And that's not my intent. What I'm more concerned with is setting precedent as explained to us from the first memo. This was a very big distinction from mayor to acting mayor. So for me, my discomfort resonates from the fact that I feel like we're making a bit of a de minimis, you know, distinction. Albeit maybe legal, but just because we know the particular fact scenario of what this employee is doing and that makes me nervous for a whole bunch of reasons, even maybe later on down the line. If we do this, what's to stop another new hire or to stop another new position from being permanently filled. Again, we have to be wary of saying well, we're only temporarily filling it until the mayor comes in full capacity and then he can, or she can permanently appoint that person. I just feel like we're pushing the envelope on this one.” City Solicitor Rosetti said, “So yes, let me METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING just try to unpack that if I can, and I'll defer to the CAFO and the mayor and the HR director in terms of all the work that went into getting us to this point, even going back to the prior fiscal year. But, as Acting Mayor Beauregard succeeds to all of the powers of the mayor's office, except the ability to make a permanent appointment. That means, in my view, he can make and is lawfully authorized to make temporary appointments. So, and my understanding is that this ordinance creates a position or formalizes a position. What's not before you is the appointment of an individual, a permanent appointment of an individual to a position which at this point the acting mayor is not able to do, but under the Charter, after the passage of 60 days, Acting Mayor Beauregard will be able to make permanent appointments because under the Charter that prohibition goes away if the mayor, who has been replaced, is not coming back to office. So, after the 60 days Acting Mayor Beauregard is authorized to make permanent appointments.” Clr. Pesce said, “So, then, I would feel more comfortable in that situation if it were after the 60 days, because again, for me to say this it is a temporary appointment when we all know it is not and it shouldn't be --- someone's doing the work, we know they're doing the work, they should be compensated and titled appropriately. Again, for me it's just collateral damage and it's not the right way of doing it. So, I don't feel comfortable with this. I get it. I wish it came back. I wish it were the 60 days. Again, for me, it's more precedence and I hope they understand.” Chair Faretra recognized CAFO Maggie Duprey, “So I just want to clarify --- I just want to make sure we're all talking about the same thing -- - because this is not an appointment. We're not asking to put anyone in right now. We're happy to wait and I have the HR director here and the mayor. We're happy to wait to put this person in until this position is finalized. We're asking to create the position that was approved in the budget that Mayor Perry put on this agenda. He put this on in September and it's been tabled since. So, he's the one --- when it says the mayor --- requested by the mayor, it's Mayor Perry, and it's supported by this Acting Mayor. I just want to be very clear about the history of this. This has been on here for months and has just, you know, because of everything going on has been tabled, but no one is going to be put into this position until we have a permanent, which is what we're doing across the board if, unless we have something that says from Mayor Perry that he approved it, we're not putting someone in those roles until we have someone in this as a permanent position. So I just wanted to be clear because I know we're kind of walk talking about appointing --- talking about putting people in positions. This is just to create a position that was put in the FY’25 budget and approved by this Council. So I just want to make sure we're all talking about the same thing.” Acting Mayor Beauregard said, “And just to reiterate what the CAFO said, there's a there's a difference. Just of note, I think between an appointment which I'm not able to make on a permanent basis and an amendment, an ordinance amending a wage and salary classification plan, that had already been, in essence, budgeted as part of our FY’25 budget process and so, just in my mind, the difference is between appointment and say the passage of an ordinance that would bring into effect the change made as part of the budget. But of course, this is up to the Council. I just wanted to state I think that's the key difference. Thank you.” Chair Faretra recognized HR Director Gina LaGreca, “Yes, thank you so much. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there in person tonight, but I do want to speak on this. As you may all remember, during my budget presentation, currently the position is labeled HR Confidential Secretary and my concern for the department is that that's not really what we need. Right now, if you look to the job duties that are assigned to the HR confidential secretary. They're very, very limited. And what the department really needs is somebody to serve as a backup, METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING particularly for our benefits manager and also for the ADA DEI coordinator. Those two positions right now operate in isolation. If you look to the job description that I provided, I added 12 duties to this position and I made it more current. I did have the support of the Council at the time of the budget, which I'm very grateful for. The position is budgeted fully, there are no changes financially, this just creates the position such that when the mayor is able to create or, I'm sorry, to make permanent appointments, we can do that. Then this is not going to be a permanent appointment. It's just the creation of the position so that I am able to fill that role when the 60 days has passed. Currently, I don't even have HR confidential secretary in my budget anymore. I have HR generalist, so this is me putting a job description forward. I added numerous duties to it. I made it something that would function for the benefit of the department as a whole and I'm just asking that you approve it so that when the mayor is able to make permanent appointments, I can move my current secretary into the role of generalist.” Chair Faretra recognized Clr. Pesce. “I guess you just reiterated my position but thank you for that. So, my whole thing is for me mentally, it's the difference between reclassification and a brand-new position. This is a new position. And again, it's even more uneasy for me to say that we're making this position, and we have no intention of filling it until the acting mayor has the power to actually appoint someone temporarily or permanently to that position. So again, for me it's putting the cart before the horse. I think it's wrong procedurally. So, I totally get what you guys are trying to do. If Mayor Perry were sitting right there and I get it, I wouldn't even blink at this. It's just completely all about procedure for me. So again, I hope you understand my position. I think that's why I tabled it the first time. I'm hesitant to make another motion to table because I don't know if we can indefinitely table until the 60-day appointment is ready. I just don't want to have to keep tabling this every single meeting, but I don't know what you're feeling. It was like halfhearted something motion? I mean. I guess I'll make a motion to table.” Chair Faretra said, “Alright, so the motion to table has been made. The discussion’s over.” – UPON VOTE - Motion to Table – 7 yes, 1 no (Chair Faretra) C-25-42 – J.J. Phelan & Sons Company, Inc., 120 Lumber Lane, Tewksbury, MA 01876 – Field Improvements at Francis Morse Park (Burnham Road) - $569,000.00 - (Requested by Acting Mayor and Director of DPW to be funded through CIP) – MOTION TO APPROVE – Motion by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Saffie – UPON VOTE - Approved Vote, 8 yes – Unanimous New Business: Resolutions: TR-24-66 - Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of a $21,500 Fiscal Year 2024 Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Emergency Management Performance Grant (Requested by Acting Mayor and Chief of Police) (1st Read) - MOTION TO APPROVE – Motion by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Pesce – UPON VOTE - Approved Vote, 8 yes – Unanimous METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING TR–24-67 - Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of a $11,400 Fiscal Year 2024 Massachusetts Department of Fire Services SAFE and Senior SAFE Grant (Requested by Acting Mayor and Fire Chief) (1st Read) - MOTION TO APPROVE – Motion by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Pesce – UPON VOTE - Approved Vote, 8 yes – Unanimous TR-24-68 - Resolution to Repurpose $5,822,442 of Approved Eligible ARPA Funding from Multiple Projects to the Burnham Road Pump Station Project (Requested by Acting Mayor, CAFO and Director of DPW) (1st Read) - MOTION TO APPROVE – Motion by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Saffie – ROLL CALL - UPON VOTE - Approved Vote, 7 yes, 1 no (DiZoglio) – Unanimous Ordinances: 16. Any Other Business for the Good and Welfare of the Community – • Councilor Marsan asked to add update to 10 Ditson Place to request of Councilors list. • Chair Faretra said, “I just have one thing to share from the city clerk. So just a quick update. So, nomination papers are due to her office tomorrow (October 22, 2024). There are two candidates for the Acting Mayor's election. Those two candidates are both certified. So, any papers that come in tomorrow will just be in addition to signatures as backup. At 5:00 PM Thursday on October 24th, the ballot position drawing will be done. At 5:00 PM on Saturday, November 30th, 10 days before the election will be last day for people to register to vote. The hours will be from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the City Clerk’s Office. Seven days before the election, which is Tuesday, December 3rd is the last day to post the published warrant --- 5 business days before the election, is the last day to receive vote by mail applications. Also, if you checked that you wanted to receive all ballots by mail, that will include the special election. Voting on that day will be from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM on December 10th’s special election. And then we will look into putting it on the ballot for the MBTA. We'll look into that starting tomorrow. This is by request by Councilor Pesce. They’ll let us know probably before the meeting on November 4th because we will have to start acting quickly. • Councilor DiZoglio said, “I think we still need to iron out the details of the Council's next steps too, because I did get the e-mail. I'm not going to get into the e-mail, but I am so confused by the future of this Council and mayorship based off of what I read I just wanted to have a true conversation about this going forward before people start challenging anything.” Chair Faretra said, “OK. Can you please put in an e-mail what you're looking for and maybe we can add something to the next agenda to discuss it. We could put it on there for the November 4th or November 18th City Council agenda because we have a few METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING meetings before then, Councilor.” “City Solicitor Rosetti said, “I'm happy to help. I'm happy to follow up on the communications I've already furnished, but sure, I'd be happy to present.” • Motion to Adjourn – Motion by Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Campagnone – meeting adjourned at 8:29 PM. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Yarid Ferry Assistant City Council Clerk I do hereby certify that at a meeting of which a quorum was present, the foregoing minutes were approved by the Methuen City Council by a unanimous vote on November 4, 2024. Linda Gagnon COUNCIL CLERK