City Council

METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING 1. Roll Call - All members present – Chair Marsan, Vice-Chair Soto, Clr. Campagnone, Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra, Clr. Pesce, Clr. Saffie, Clr. Surillo and Clr. Valley 2. Acceptance of the Agenda - Motion to accept by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Pesce – unanimous – Motion to amend agenda by moving Proclamations- Correspondence after Public Participation by Clr. Faretra, seconded by Clr. Campagnone – unanimous. 3. Pledge of Allegiance/Words of Wisdom/Moment of Silence – Vice Chair Soto said, “Today's quote is ‘Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?’ by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” 4. Public Participation - None 5. PROCLAMATION/CORRESPONDENCE - Citation for Shane Eason (Req. of Clr. Faretra) – Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Faretra. He said, “We invited Methuen High School senior Shane Eason here tonight to honor his stellar High School football career. So, into the record, I'd like to read the citation that we're going to give him tonight from the Council. ‘The Methuen City Council wishes to honor Methuen High School senior Shane Eason on his stellar football career. Shane has amassed over 5,500 total yards from scrimmage, has scored 87 touchdowns, and has thrown four touchdown passes in his career. In 2024, Shane rushed for over 2,000 yards, was named Eagle Tribune Offensive Player of the Year, selected to the Boston Globe and Boston Herald's All-Scholastic Team and the MHS FCA All-State Team.’ Mayor Beauregard said, “I have a citation as well. On behalf of the city of Methuen, I offer congratulations to Shane Eason in recognition of your outstanding four-year football career at Methuen High School and for being named Eagle Tribune Offensive Player of the Year. We also congratulate you for being named to the Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic Team as well as the MHS FCA All- State Team. It is with our grateful appreciation we extend this commendation to you for all your outstanding accomplishments given this 21st day of January 2025.” Clr. Faretra through Chair Marsan asked the Methuen Athletic Director to the podium.” Coach Tom Ryan said, “As an Athletic Department, we got Shane this football with all those wonderful statistics that Councilor Faretra talked about. On one panel is his career and another panel was what he did this season --- 2,000 yards. The most incredible statistic --- He averaged a first down and a point in his career every time he touched the ball. That’s one of the biggest stats you'll ever see in Massachusetts METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING history, and I guess that's why we're here --- because he's a great player. We also got him a plaque for the Most Valuable Player of the MVC. Congratulations.” Chair Marsan asked Mr. Eason to the podium to say a few words. Shane Eason said, “I just want to say thank you to everyone. I really appreciate it. It means a lot. I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without my parents. They pushed me to do everything I do. They always make sure I'm successful and they always want the best for me and of course, thank you to Coach Ryan as well.” 6. Organizational Business To appoint KP Law as City Solicitor on a temporary basis until such time as a permanent City Solicitor can be selected and appointed by the City Council – Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Soto - Discussion – Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Faretra, “All right, where to begin on this one? This is wrong on so many levels. What should be on the agenda tonight is the job description for the city solicitor with a pay scale. That's what should be on the agenda tonight so we can post the position first of all. With us not reappointing the solicitor means we should be posting the job --- that we’re looking for somebody. Second, Chapter 278, which was put in place due to the numerous scandals in the city that put us into debt, comes into play here. We have no contract; we have no financial impact statement; we have no rate; we have no idea how much this is going to cost. So, knowing what happened back in 2017-2018 we're just going to say, ‘yeah let's guess what it might cost us for KP Law and we'll just figure that out down the road.’ Many councilors in this room are on record saying we wanted to get away from KP Law as far back as 2016 if you go back and watch meetings --- how they wanted to bring stuff in-house. We are no longer a legal department of one; we are a legal department of three. If we didn't want to wait and go through the process of posting the position, carrying over our solicitor until a new solicitor was appointed, we have a capable legal department in-house that could handle our legal matters without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars --- could be more --- without doing that. To put this on the agenda without even posting the position and having no financial tie to it --- just blindly throwing money out the window without giving an opportunity for 1. posting the job or 2. keeping it in-house with our own legal department is flashbacks to 2017-2018 all over again. I thought we moved past that and why we have numerous resolutions and ordinances on the books --- we're breaking our own laws but if this passes tonight, we are breaking everything that was passed after the issue with the MOU with the superiors, with the school deficit, everything we passed is being broken if we appoint KP Law without any signed documents.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Saffie, “I'll be quick. I just want to say that I actually agree with everything that Clr. Faretra just stated.” Chair Marsan METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “Thank you. I don't know what budget we're taking this out of. That's a question that I think I would like to ask the Chair as his role is technically reporting to the City Council. Where are we finding the money to pay for this without allocating funds to it?” Chair Marsan said, “KP Law is under contract already with the city. We've approved of that in the past. They've agreed to just extend that contract on a short-term basis until we appoint someone. How the City Council wants to go about that --- we can have a discussion about that --- we should post this job, and we should put it out there if that's what the council wants --- I say yes --- if that's what we decide.” Clr. DiZoglio continued, “So, Mr. Chair, the question is yes, they have a contract with us for solicitor services. Where's the budget coming from for this, is the question. Because we are utilizing a budget that we approved for KP Law for certain services not to exceed a certain amount and I don't know how much is left in that account. This is a question that should be diverted to the CAFO. How much is left in the account and what's outstanding for us to pay leaving us whatever that grand total is to what would be allocated to KP Law? Because I'm not going to be asking for services if there's no budget for this. And if we have to allocate and move money to that line item that also has to be done in a resolution. Which means we can't appoint tonight. Here's the question to the CAFO --- how much is left in that line item for professional services for the KP Law budget?” CAFO Maggie Duprey said, “First I want to apologize for my voice. The contract itself does not have much if anything is left in it. As far as the amount that we had allocated --- meaning the last contract I think was for $75,000. We've used most of that if not all of it. So, we would want to do another contract with them regardless of this --- but just for those outside professional services. That's something that will need to happen regardless. As far as the budget for this line --- for professional services --- there's a substantial amount remaining in that line.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “And do we owe KP Law anything that would deplete that? Because the argument here is if we have a budget for it, we don't have a contract for it. If we don't have a contract for it, do we have a budget for it? It's going back and forth. The CAFO just stated that we do need a contract for this. If we're going to extend it, then that should be also done within a contract extension --- which should be in front of us --- before we agree to appointing. If there is no budget, then we have to allocate a budget which we can't appoint if we don't have a budget.” CAFO Duprey said, “There's $20,000 remaining in the professional services line. Just my opinion, as I would suggest doing a transfer to move some of the money from the City Solicitor line to the professional services line to cover whatever portion we would need for these services for the short term. You would need to do a resolution.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “I would like to make a motion unless there's someone else that would like to add something. We can't appoint KP Law without a resolution to move the money METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING into an account to pay for this. We're going to pay $240 an hour. I'm pretty sure we're going to deplete $20,000 pretty quickly. Do we owe anything to KP Law?” CAFO Duprey replied, “That’s after that.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “That's $20,000 after we owe. I mean if we think we're going to make this decision pretty quickly with $20,000. I'm leaving it to the council to make that decision, but we have to approve a budget for this and have a substantial amount of money left over because it can take a while to on-board a person here if we're going to go out to search. I'll pause there and if no one wants to speak I will motion to table.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Campagnone, “I just have a question --- what is in the line item left in the City Solicitor’s budget? CAFO Duprey said, “$71,000. I also want to note there's also $70,000 in the damages and incidental line left as well so that could be moved. The $70,000 in the damages and incidentals line would not have to go through a resolution.” Clr. Campagnone said, “So we could use that. Thank you, Maggie, and thank you, Mr. Chair.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Pesce, “So, a couple questions. Maybe I'm not fully understanding. We have KP Law right now on retainer for outside legal counsel if needed? Chair Marsan said “Yes.” Clr. Pesce continued, “Okay, so we still have that whether or not we designate them for a very specific role for filling in with this vacancy. We also have the Assistant City Solicitor filling in for an active role at our council meetings.” Chair Marsan said, “Yes, the Assistant City Solicitor is here to do his job, yes.” Clr. Pesce said, “Okay, do we have, or do we need another contract? Are we looking to go over and above that already existing outside legal counsel agreement that we have with KP Law? If we already have an agreement --- if we need an outside legal opinion right now --- we can go to them.” Chair Marsan agreed. Clr. Pesce continued, “And my last question is you said that they agreed to extend to help us at this particular time. How did they do that? Was it a verbal agreement?” Chair Marsan replied, “It was a verbal agreement. They don't want the contract, per se. The City wants the contract with them so that we know what we're paying them.” Clr. Pesce continued, “They're a law group. It makes me a little nervous if they don't want to commit something to writing. I thought that was going to be an easy fix. Honestly, I thought I was going to have that in front of me because I didn't see it as a big deal. Again, regardless of whether or not we do something very specific tonight, we still have them as outside counsel. They are our safety net regardless of if we need it and then if we get stuck after, over and above what we've allotted for KP Law, then we can always come back to the table if we haven't found a replacement by then.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “Another point to add. If the goal here is to appoint someone --- so there is no holdover --- then let's just say that. If it's not the case, then there shouldn't be a rush here to post the position. We have a solicitor for the holdover and then go through that. I don't understand why we're paying outside METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING counsel. If you don't want to holdover, then we have a capable interim solution with our current Assistant City Solicitor and Assistant Assistant City Solicitor. I'm completely in full trust of our legal team, if we went that route. KP Law is $240/hour that we're going to be paying of taxpayer dollars. I highly recommend you don't touch the city solicitor's salary because if we're going to open this up, I don't want to deplete the salary. Especially if we have someone filling this role this year which is the goal, I would assume and hope. And if we can touch incidentals, then sure move the money cover it that way. But please do not touch the salary of the solicitor to cover this because that is going to put us in a tight situation when we bring that person in before the end of the year. If we want to move this forward, great. If not, I'm going to make a motion to table. If it passes, it passes, if it doesn't, it doesn’t.” Motion to Table by Clr. DiZoglio, seconded by Clr. Faretra – ROLL CALL - 6 yes, 3 no (Clr. Soto, Clr. Campagnone and Chair Marsan) 7. Reading and Acceptance of Minutes from Previous Meetings: December 19, 2024, special meeting and January 6th 2025 regular meeting. Motion to accept by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by DiZoglio – 8 yes, 1 abstention (Clr. Surillo) and January 6th, 2025, regular meeting - Motion to accept by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by DiZoglio – unanimous. 8. Consideration of Appointments: None 9. PRESENTATION/PROJECTS/DEPARTMENT HEAD - None 10. Mayor’s Report • An update on the Recycling Dividends Program Municipal Grant received to support municipal recycling programs, specifically with public education initiatives. (Request of Clr. Valley) • Is the administration considering the possibility of hiring a Grant Writer? (Request of Clr. Valley) • What is the status and timeline for establishing the advisory board required under the shared Public Health Grant in collaboration with the City of Lawrence (Request of Clr.Valley) Chair Marsan recognized Mayor Beauregard, “Thank you Mr. Chair. I'll dive right in. I want to share a quick update regarding our schools. I know that this has been a significant topic in our community over the past several weeks. Regarding the schools, my plan is, first of all, just to recap. We brought in a cleaning company, as I've mentioned before, to deep clean the Timony School during the holiday break and the plan going forward is to deep clean the Tenney School during the upcoming February break. My plan going forward is to have the Marsh School deep cleaned during the April break. In the meantime, we're METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING going to be continuing to conduct inspections of the schools on an ongoing basis to ensure that the issues that we've identified are being addressed going forward. And, speaking of the Marsh School, since our last City Council meeting, the inspection report from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health was completed and it's now posted online at methuen.gov/schoolsafety right at the top so if you're interested in checking that out, it’s online. Regarding our efforts to combat rodent issues at each of the schools, I went ahead and had Pest End install outdoor rodent control systems, I should say, at all four grammar schools plus the high school with the goal of doing all that we can to address these issues outside before they enter the school building. I think these are small but meaningful steps that we're taking --- long overdue steps --- and I'll continue to keep you all posted. At this time, I'll share some updates regarding the recycling dividend program from MassDEP. I'll address the Harvey trash ordinance and ticket distribution question simultaneously. Regarding the recycling dividend program, just for some background, we apply each year in the spring and receive three thousand dollars per point, as they're called. Based on our recycling and waste reduction activities criteria from the prior year. In the latest 2024 round we received 12 points which are worth $36,000. Awards are typically made in the early fall, but it turns out that MassDEP was delayed in distributing their most recent award. We received that award only recently and it's currently before you tonight for acceptance as TR-25-4. These grants can be used for activities, supplies and equipment that promote recycling, materials reuse and waste reduction. In the past year, we've used these funds for staff training, a Mass Recycle membership, printing of the infamous ‘oops’ tags, a bike reuse clinic at the library and signs also at the transfer station. One of my main priorities going forward is to take steps to simply improve trash pickup services and combat litter. That's kind of a basic need that we have as a city. We'll be proceeding with a plan that we're going to bring before you in the coming weeks to begin the process of hiring a sanitation program coordinator. The goal of this person would be to help ensure that the city maintains a clean, safe and environmentally responsible waste management program. The goal is to have a point person for my administration that works closely with Harvey and any other contracted waste management vendor to monitor their performance --- to make sure that they're actively complying with contractual agreements, mainly with the goal of ensuring service quality and efficiency. The coordinator would also develop and deliver public education initiatives. Clr. Valley, I know this was a key point of this item here. But also address any issues related to non-compliance with the trash ordinance and collaborate with other city departments to tackle other trash related problems such as the issue of litter. The objective would be to at least partially fund this new position using this grant at least initially but ultimately regardless of the grant, trash pickup is a tremendously important issue that we'll always need to address so I’m hopeful that this strategy will equip us to make some meaningful progress starting in the very near future. I’ll move on to the question regarding bringing on a grant writer. To provide some context, Mayor Perry and the CAFO had allocated funds in recent budgets to hire a full-time METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING grant writer but despite significant efforts to recruit even one qualified candidate, I guess we could say, the city didn't have any luck finding a person for that role. For that reason, rather than trying to beat a dead horse, so to speak, the line item isn't in the current FY’25 budget but we're currently in the process of reimagining the role of grant writer because it's a major area of need for our city. I think we've all acknowledged that in the past and so as we approach the period when I’ll be working with CAFO on developing the city's operating budget for FY’26. We're thinking outside the box, Clr. Valley. As you know I’ve been in touch with Mayor Barrett of Haverhill, and she informed me that they've implemented two grant writing tracks in their city. Her administration recently brought in a Washington DC based company to assist them with chasing after federal grants and they work with the local grant writer to collaborate with each department to identify funding needs and pursue other grant opportunities, especially grants for various capital projects. I'm a big fan of looking at success stories in other municipalities and finding ways to replicate them to meet our needs here in Methuen. So, long story short, when it comes to identifying grant writing services, that is very high on my list given our financial needs that we have going forward. Before I go too much further, did you have any other questions regarding the grant or grant writer topic?” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Valley,” Through you, Mr. Chair, to the Mayor, I would like to ask you --- is that company Merchant McIntyre?” Mayor Beauregard replied, “Yes. That's the company that Mayor Barrett is working with.” Clr. Valley continued, “I think they're paying $80,000 a year and they have all kinds of professionals who have expertise on applying for these different types of grants. Also, I attended a MA DOT webinar, and I saw a whole bunch of grants that we're not taking advantage of, and they have a deadline for the applications for these grants in March and at the end of February. So, I contacted one of the supervisors and they stated that we don't need a grant writer to apply for those grants. I’m more than happy to provide you with the list to see if the city can apply for some of those grants.” Mayor Beauregard replied, “Absolutely. Right now, our grant writing system is what I’ll call ‘fragmented’. It's spread across numerous departments where each department typically has someone who will take care of their grant writing operations. So, I think this conversation that we're having about a grant writer and hiring a grant writing service will help us to streamline a lot of that. Nevertheless, we still have the capability to chase grants now so we can definitely follow up on that. I’d like to have access to that information.” Clr. Valley agreed to forward the list to the Mayor. Mayor Beauregard continued, “There's a request for an update regarding the advisory board for the shared public health grant with the City of Lawrence. Through the Assistant City Solicitor, I propose to have a seven-member board with three voting members from each community and a neutral seventh voting member. We'd have one member appointed from the Methuen Board of Health, either me or a designee appointed from the administration and our CAFO. On the Lawrence side, they'd have a member appointed likewise from the Lawrence Board of Health, either Mayor DePena or his designee and their CAFO. Both cities would appoint one alternate voting METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING member of peace to step in, let's say if a member's absent, and then for the seventh voting member, I reached out to Dr. Abha Agrawal, the CEO of the newly merged Lawrence General Holy Family organization and asked her to serve as the seventh member. She's excited about the opportunity to join this collaborative effort to administer the grant and ensure that we're providing outstanding public health services to the residents of Methuen and our neighboring city, Lawrence. So, we're at the one yard line as it relates to getting this settled and having it in place. I know the administration in Lawrence has tentatively agreed to the makeup of the board. We're still sorting out the final details, but I expect that we'll have definitive news to share by the next meeting. Thank you.” Chair Marsan said, “Any other questions for the Mayor on his report?” Mayor Beauregard added, “One last thing. Coming up this week and I hope you'll stop by the event in support of Jimmy McLaughlin of the Methuen Fire Department --- that's on Friday night at Michael's Function Hall in Haverhill. On Saturday, there's a Veteran Support Bocce Tournament that'll be held in the morning at the Methuen Sons of Italy and also, mark your calendars, for the State of the City Address. We'll be holding it at the Senior Center on Wednesday, February 19th at 6:00 PM. I hope you'll be able to join me as I share some important updates along with my plans and vision for the year ahead --- That's on February 19th and with that I will see you all at Requests of Councilors. 11. CAFO Report Chair Marsan recognized CAFO Maggie Duprey, “ • A detailed line-item breakdown of the grants received in 2024, including: The amount for each grant, allocation details (amounts and purposes), and current funds available for city initiatives or projects (Req. of Clr. Valley) • Based on research provided from Assessor’s office on condominium units, what would be the cost to include 2,634 individually assessed condos for recycling First, I just want to follow up on one thing that the Mayor just talked about which was the recycling dividends. I passed out some more information. The first page of it is just a summary of what we've received for the last five years and what we have left. These funds don't run out, so they just continuously roll over until we use them. Just to give you an idea of where we've come from and how we've utilized it so far. Attached to that, is appropriate uses of the funds. I know the Mayor gave a list as well. This is the technical backup for all of the different things that we can use it for. They're very stringent about not accepting other requests so this is a pretty inclusive list. I also passed out a document that's long --- it's a 10-page document. The Mayor just talked about a point system and how that works. It is very complicated but I provided it to everyone for anybody who is super interested in digging into that --- this has all of the details of where we can earn points and where you wouldn't get METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING points, etc. So, just information to get out there and we can answer questions as necessary down the line. As for my stuff, I also passed out a document that looks like this --- this is the request for the breakdown of the grants for FY’24. I gave you an accounting here of all the city special revenue funds, not just the grants. Included here are local, state and federal grants but also revolving funds and other special revenue funds. That way you have all the balances for all those different funds. You will see some negatives here --- some of these grants are reimbursement-based, meaning you spend them first and then they reimburse you for those. You have to request reimbursement. I’m not going to go through every single one of them, but I did note and label which type of fund. Revolving funds and then it lists underneath it, state grants, etc. School information is not on here. This is specific for city special revenue funds. There is a separate one of these for schools. I would be happy to provide that, but the question was specific to the city, so I just wanted to keep it as specific as possible. I know I had emailed this to Councilor Valley earlier, but I just gave this to everyone so happy to answer questions now or at the next meeting or offline as well. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that you had that before I moved on.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Valley, “Through you Mr. Chair to the CAFO. I just have a question and I’m new to this. Does the grant expire? Do they have an expiration date? Do you have a deadline to use that money?” CAFO Duprey said, “Each grant has a different deadline --- some don't and some so you can roll them over. Some grants are fiscal year grants. Some grants might have a September or December timeline. It's very specific to which grant you're talking about.” Clr. Valley said, “What happens if the funds are not used?” CAFO Duprey said, “They have to be returned to the state or federal government. The other handout that I gave answers the question about recycling with condo units. I want to start by saying that this is a very rough estimate, rough draft and I'm really bringing it forward to make sure that I’m going in the right direction --- that this is encompassing everything that we've talked about. If this is going in the right direction, then we can continue to move forward and solidify some of these numbers. But, before I did that, I wanted to make sure that I wasn't going down the wrong path. I'm going to take two minutes to just walk through quickly what I did and then I can answer any questions. What I did here was try to provide FY’24 and FY’25 numbers because FY’24 we have a full year of data on and FY’25 we don't. So, I wanted to make sure that we encompass the new rates for FY’25 but acknowledge the fact that we don't have data for the full year. That's where I came from. There's also two pieces to the recycling trash contract --- one is a base cost --- there is a $3 million price tag that we pay E.L. Harvey for recycling and trash pickup. That's spread out over 12 months but that's the gist. So, in FY’24 it was $3,046,000. In FY’25 it's $3,144,800. What I tried to do here was say okay, break it down by how many units we have and try to get an METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING individual cost estimate so we could then figure out a very rough estimate of what it might cost for the recycling piece for the 2,634 individually assessed condos. That top half is doing that. That top half ---the $274,000 and the $283,000 that is just for that base contract. The second piece of the contract is tonnage --- the actual use --- what we are actually throwing away as a city. What I did here was I took the average monthly tonnage that we had from FY’24 and in FY’25 because, again, it's cyclical. Some months just run light, and some months run heavy --- and because I only have four or five months of data for FY’25, I wanted to make sure that we were using a fully encompassed year so that's where we came up with that. And I used that tonnage for both years just to show you a picture of the range. The cost per ton is coming off of the contract. So, in FY’24 it was $100/ton for recycling and in FY’25 it's $105/ton. So, I annualized the estimated cost and then, again, similar to what I did up top, I divided it by the total amount of units that I used. I just want to take a second --- the units I used were the amount that the contract was based off because that's what we bid for and that's what was included in the contract. So, that may be up or down based on the fluctuation of the units that get pick up at this point. But I wanted to, again, be consistent and so I used what was actually bid out and in the contract. Again, multiplied it by the individual assessed condos and came up with a very rough estimate of tonnage would be for those condos. So, then, the total at the bottom is basically the total of the recycling from the top and the tonnage from the bottom and that's kind of the direction that I was going in. But I wanted to make sure, Councilor, that I'm answering your question and that I'm going down the right path and that this also makes sense. I'm happy to have feedback or if anybody has questions or wants to go in a different direction, I'm open for feedback.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Soto, “So, one of the questions that I'm not clear on is the 308 units that was referenced in the email from the Assessor's office, I think you were cc’d on that. If that number is still part of the 2,634 units.” CAFO Duprey agreed. Clr. Soto continued, “Okay that's my understanding as well but I wanted to clarify that because if not that's going to change everything you're doing it is to some extent.” CAFO Duprey agreed. Clr. Soto said, “So, 2,634 units is the total amount of units that are condos in the City of Methuen that are owner occupied --- so they have their own, under condo laws, there's a master deed and that's what we got from the Assessor's office. So, for context we've had this conversation on this floor from the eight developments that we're getting recycling pickup for about 20 years. Then the new developments that fall under the new zoning law and then there's this discrepancy within all this of the duplexes in town that are also condos, who have individual owners that are still getting recycling services. So, in essence, the reason for this is how do we fix the mess on the table? Then, one follow-up to that, is the $71,921 which would be $75,000 in FY’25 --- that's giving it to all of them.” CAFO METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Duprey agreed. Clr. Soto continued, “Last year that number was like $500,000. Do you foresee that number being that high?” CAFO Duprey replied, “So, it really again, I don't have that in front of me right now, but I would assume that that would have included the base piece, but I would have to check that. I can absolutely check because if you include the base piece, then it is that higher number, but I think we also have a different number here for the individually assessed condos, but I will check that and see what the difference in that calculation is. I really don't know exactly what it's going to be because there are many assumptions here and estimates are based on tonnage that could fluctuate ---condos may have more or less than the households. Do you know what I mean? So, my next step in even broaching this, in my opinion, would be to then take this direction and go to E. L. Harvey and actually ask about adding trucks or adding routes or what the capacity of that would be. Because this assumes the same amount of trucks; this assumes you know the same routes; And it assumes that they're going to abide by the contract as it stands. If we change things and they may need to change things --- there's a lot of assumptions here, but I didn't want to go to the point of having that conversation with them directly if I wasn't going down the right road.” Clr. Soto said, “We also have one line item now that has both on there on that contract --- both trash and recycling. Moving forward is that a request that we're going to separate them so that we can better understand these numbers or they're still going to be lumped into one line item?” CAFO Duprey said, “So, we put them as one line item because the way the contract is written the base amount is a lump amount and so it includes both. We track it --- the DPW tracks it; community development tracks it by type, so we have a spreadsheet that has school pickup and landfill and recycling, so we have all of the backup details to that one item. We used to have it separately --- in two because we had two different vendors doing it and that's why we combined it. As the Mayor said, the budget season is coming up so if we want to figure out how we can separate that and look at it that way I’m happy to have that discussion.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “Thank you Madame CAFO. The 2,634, does that also include potential condos that are in the current recycling program or are these all 2,634 not receiving any recycling services from Methuen.” CAFO Duprey said, “It’s my understanding is it's all individually assessed condos. Clr. DiZoglio said, “So, they are not receiving services --- so all 2,634.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “So, that number is inflated, in my opinion, the 358 then in 2025 because we're already going to be paying some of that to condos that are in the program today, correct?” CAFO Duprey said that was a good question.” Clr. DiZoglio continued, “Because what I really want to know is how much is it going to cost for the eight or so condos that received it before? And then, if we need to tackle it along the way on whatever HOA wants to vote on adding a program, we can tackle that. But these eight should have METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING been grandfathered in. There are other condo associations that have it in their agreements that they're going to get their own services. But where I’m going with this is that not everyone's going to be using this. Is there a way which, by the way, we have a contract negotiation coming up with this company in the coming months. Instead of doing barrels why don't we just order a dumpster for this group? What would it cost us to get a dumpster for these facilities which would be cheaper than going around picking it up one pickup --- boom done --- and it's an outsource managed service provider. I’m sorry, like we've been around this carousel Ferris Wheel for the last year and a half. Let's close the book on this. Instead of having meetings, let's find the number out because here, all due respect, thank you for the work that you did on this, but this number is inflated in my opinion. It's including both services that we're probably already providing and potential services down the road. Also, it's including if we were paying for trash, too, for these folks. So, we're paying, in this piece, it says total cost estimate base includes trash and recycling.” CAFO Duprey said, “And then I took out --- then I divided it in half.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “But is E.L. Harvey? CAFO Duprey said, “Well that was one of the assumptions.” Clr. DiZoglio continued, “And that's where my mind is going --- is E.L. Harvey’s going to say well, if we're doing recycling, we're probably going to want to do trash for these guys too. So, it's like we're probably going to have to do trash services AND recycling for this group if we go down this route. But again, contract negotiations are coming up. We have a Council that's very much, I think, on the edge of their seat on if this is going to pass again and we don't have any contract extensions left, do we?” CAFO Duprey said, “We have two.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “We have two, which might be the route we end up going here. All due respect, this needs to be part of that conversation, but I don't think we need to give a barrel to each of these condo units. I think if we go the route of getting a recycling dumpster for them, I think they would be just as eagerly happy to meet in the middle, here. I would like to see if we can make some progress on that. Get some real numbers --- not saying this isn't --- but this is inflated. It might not cost us $358,000; it might actually cost us $60,000 because we're already paying potentially the $200,000 for it. Let's get those numbers. Let's see if E.L. Harvey will sit down and talk about a dumpster --- one visit boom boom boom --- and then let's see if the condo associations, those eight, first, are happy with this. If they're not, then let's see where we go with the next step. But I think they might be happy if there's a middle ground.” Mayor Beauregard said, “Just to chime in, I think at this point, all options should be and are on the table for us to consider. And, I will also add, as the CAFO referenced, the whole point of this exercise has been to try to develop a framework to put together an estimate. This isn't definitive and I think that this will open us up to have the opportunity for that follow-up conversation with E.L. Harvey. I just wanted METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING to get a sense of the framework that the Council was looking for, the calculation.” Clr. DiZoglio added, “I think with this Council, all due respect, not to speak for every single one of them, but we've been hearing this for almost two years --- two different councils. Let's get these eight condo associations taken care of --- put the dumpster out there and see if they'll do that. Get a total and let's close the book. Anyone that wants to come back to the table, show us your HOA agreement and if it says something on the grounds that will provide it, great. If it doesn't and then it's private, let's not talk about it. Thank you.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Faretra, “So, just to follow up, they don't want the dumpsters. I hope maybe they'll change their mind. I just had a conversation. I remember mentioning that earlier. So, condo associations now that have recycling, most of them have those dumpsters on site and when I mentioned that to them, they were not on board with that but that's their call. So, the one question I had on this that I think is going to inflate these numbers greatly is if you are going off that 2,634 number, they need bins, correct? And those are by my last recollection was $88 per bin --- so 2,634 times $88 --- ($231,792) who's paying that? You add that to the one-time fee as well. Just something to remember that as this goes forward. Because I think these estimates are great and CAFO Duprey --- hats off --- these contracts were based on 14,612 households. If you add 2,634 pickups that contract is moot because now, you're bringing it up close to 17,000 pickups. That 3,144 number is out the window and if we're going out to bid again because we're in an option year, that three million number, you can throw that out the window because that's gone. That 358 number easily has you at a half a million plus because now you've got to supply 2,300 more bins at $88 apiece and now you've got to pick up 2,300 more households which is more manpower and more vehicles and you got to figure out routes to now pick up 17,000 households not 14,000 households --- and yeah they're all together but it's still more vehicles and more manpower and you have to pick that up. This sounds like that's it but it's going to be much more than this number because you have to figure out --- it's not just picking up one area, it's picking up all these households all the time and it's now a new contract. It's not just we're going to go off these terms and just pick up 2,300 more houses and not change the terms of the contract on you. I think most of us want to go back out for a bid because I think we're not 100% sold on E.L. Harvey. Now, you’re talking about 17,000 households would need to be picked up not 14,612 --- and that base number is going to increase because now the number of households is increasing. And don't forget, if you decide to make it 2,364 what are you going to do? Grandfather it in again? And then with the MBTA Act just being passed. Now, condos going forward in 2025, those guys can't get it so you're going to make a grandfathered clause. So, what do you do? Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Pesce, “It's interesting to me because METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING I think we've been inflating this number, and I appreciate at least somewhat number based in something coming before us --- this is the first time I’ve seen an actual number --- with numbers as high as like millions thrown around. So, at least we have some basis for something. I know it's not exact. I’m a little confused by it. So, it's my understanding again, though, to agree with Clr. DiZoglio. It's still seemingly inflated. You've got the 2,634 --- on top of that there might be condos that are already in the program ---on top of that ---- not all of these people are going to participate. We're lucky if a third of these people are even going to participate. I think there are two different issues --- you're talking about condos --- every condo in Methuen. That's not a fair discussion. If you want to offer it to every condo, great, that's a discussion. But then, the separate sub-tier discussion are these eight condos that had it for whatever reason through whatever program had it taken away. You're talking about buying bins --- it's my understanding they had to give up their bins so if we're talking about buying bins, they should get their bins back. They're two different discussions in my opinion and you can't lump them all together. This is my first time on the City Council, but I’ve watched many meetings and I’ve seen condo developers, especially Toll Brothers, come up here and they built with the knowledge that those condos would not have this as an option. In fact, Councilors said this will never be an option. Do will you abide by this? Yes, and I own a Toll Brothers home. And guess what? It was documented; It was presented; They all knew they weren't going to get these services. So, if it's something we decide to do as a city, then we offer it to everybody. But I would take it even further --- why only condos? Why not every home in Methuen that has private trash pickup? There's another slippery slope there, right? Then we need a number on all of those. How is that fair? What's the line there that you're crossing? So, to me, in my opinion, it's great to get this number but I think we need a number for every private street in Methuen and perhaps it's something that we can allocate --- like a shared sort of funding or something like that, almost similar to an abatement, right? They don't pay the full cost but whatever the city deems fair, if it makes sense as a city, to offer this to every private trash pickup owner currently in Methuen. Now, the second argument, again, are these particular condos that have come before the board as long as I can remember since I've sat on it. Those particular units had it for over two decades. They had it for whatever reason --- should they be grandfathered in? Absolutely, they should at least have some delineation between what happened with them and what we're doing now for everybody else. I don't think they should be on equal footing. And I don't think we should speak about the dumpsters because, as far as I know, I don't think they were ever offered that. So, I wouldn't necessarily take it off the table. I don't know if they'd accept it or not, but I think we should look at all of it as at least some sort of means of middle ground. And see what we come up with. I just want to be careful that everyone understands that METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING this 2,634 isn't an actual number to keep multiplying. And again, thank you to the CAFO. She's trying to ground some numbers. We don't know what that actual number is so I just I want to be careful to further inflate this and make it seem like it's out of the realm of possibility. Because now we've inflated this number, and we've got all these people. So, I just wanted to keep it kind of rooted again in the smaller number. Do we have the number? I should know ---- of those 308 condos --- Maybe Clr. Soto would know --- Do we know how many even opted in for recycling? Of those eight condos --- the ones that had it for so many years and had it taken away --- do we know how many opted in out of those 308 participated in recycling.” Clr. Soto said, “The 308 is completely separate from the eight complexes. There are 760 units, and I believe they said it was a percentage of 20 something percent of that 760 and so that's 140 units give or take that participate in recycling.” Clr. Pesce replied, “Thank you so much. That's what I’m looking at. All I’m saying is of 2,634, some of which are already in the program, that we have to extract out. If we take 20% of that number, we're dealing with 500 condos. It just makes this number much less. So, I just want everyone to keep that around in their head. Thanks Councilor.” Chair Marsan recognized Mayor Beauregard, “Just very briefly just to guide the conversation. I totally understand the nuances that we're discussing about the numbers. In terms of the assignment, so to speak, we're just going off the request on the agenda. This is certainly a conversation we're happy to have and expand upon this. But, just to reiterate, we're just trying to follow the request on the agenda. That's all. Thank you.” Chair Marsan recognized CAFO Duprey, “I was looking for direction and I’m not sure where to go now. I got a lot of feedback but I’m not sure if there's a next step that I should be following.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Faretra, “I think I would like to see, out of this 2,634, how many are currently getting town trash and recycling pickup because if there's a three family that's considered condos -- - they're probably getting curbside pickup. If we can whittle that 2,634 down to a number that aren't getting town services, I think that'd be a good next step.” Chair Marsan said, “I think Clr. Soto has that approximate number.” Clr. Soto said, “That number is 308 that are currently getting both trash and recycling that are under condos.” Clr. Faretra continued, “All right so that's so that 2,634 minus 308.” Clr. Pesce said, “Can we get the number of condos that participated? Just the math on that --- from the eight that had their trash revoked, just to see what that number actually looks like --- of the ones that participated? And then, a cost of the total number of units within those, understanding that not all of them will participate. The gross number and then the cost of who participated last time because more people might opt in. Thanks.” Chair recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “Can we also remove toll brothers from that number too? Because, if they've already agreed not to be a part of the program, we can have a discussion with them in the future. But I think those METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING are also conversation pieces to have again. I want to zero in on the eight here first and we can talk about the growth of this program down the road. These eight have had it for 23 years. So, just going to throw that out there --- unpopular demand probably.” Clr. Faretra added, “Point of information. Didn't we already have other associations, besides those eight, come to meetings in public participation and ask for recycling? That snowballed and this is why we have this discussion --- because during public participation, other condominiums, besides the original eight, spoke up and the original eight said we'd be on board with that, so that's how we got to this point where it blew up --- from the original eight to everybody because there was another condominium complex asking for recycling and they joined forces that night. Saying oh, we'd be on board with that and that's how we got to the point where we are now. So, that's what happened. That's, I think, why we're at the request we're at tonight.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “I don't disagree with you, but we have a bigger fish with the eight than we do with condominiums that have contracts in place that again, I don't get into legal conversations, there's contracts. There's nothing for these people. There's nothing in their HOAs, those eight.” Clr. Faretra continued, “So, that's why I think Clr. Pesce's request was perfect. Let's get the numbers for those eight and go from there.” Clr. DiZoglio agreed. Chair Marsan recognized Vice Chair Soto, “Thank you Mr. Chair. The opportunity I see here is we can have an opt-in program where if, because let's be honest, if your resolution has a fee on there, it might be cheaper for them to stay with whom they're already recycling with. So, if it's an opt- in, it's messier for us. If you were to assess, for example, the bins directly to that association and they have to pay for their bins and then you have an annual renewal, or I don't know. I think that's the work of your office, Mr. Mayor, but what I’m saying is they can opt in because what I see, like Clr. Faretra pointed out. Here we go. I was gung-ho on the eight last year. I didn't hear any support here last year. And I wanted that to happen. Now, these guys come to the forefront and now it looks like we're all ducks --- but they're pink because they're older and we're yellow but you're not treating us the same. That's the analogy I’m using. It's a duck --- it's a condo. Whether it's in their bylaws or not, so now you go look at other municipalities next to us and read what they've provided. They have stipulations in there or should I say opt-in is one of them; They talk about 60% ownership or more to be able to come in. I mean you can make this however you want. The thing is this --- this is my recommendation, of course, I’m only one vote here. Just roll it out if we're going to do it, for all those that want to opt in, can opt in. My train of thought is some may stay with who they're having services with because it may be even more cost efficient. You can't compare a larger complex with the 13 complex and what they're being charged. So, that's just my take on that Mr. Chair. Thank you.” Chair Marsan said, “All right. We've kind of beat this tonight. How about if we send your request METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING to me, through the Chair, and we'll get actual requests into the CAFO to see what the next step is and how we move forward. If you have a request and you want to say I want this many --- I want to know what this option is --- and what this option is --- just put it in writing. We can get it to the CAFO and that'll be the next step. Thank you.” Chair Marsan invited CAFO Duprey to finish her report. • CIP Report Update “On the Capital Improvement Plan and the ARPA reports, I provided those at the last meeting and I’m happy to answer any questions that might be out there.” Mayor Beauregard added, “Very briefly, I just I want to give a shout out to the CAFO. This is something that came up at the last meeting. • ARPA Report Update The report regarding ARPA. Over the next couple of months, I’d imagine we're going to start hearing about municipalities that perhaps didn't allocate all of their ARPA funds in time by the December 31st deadline. And thankfully, Methuen is not one of them. We've had it right from the start and so I’d like to acknowledge the work of the CAFO and her team as it relates to ensuring that every penny of ARPA funds has been allocated by the deadline, and it'll be interesting when we start seeing the other municipalities perhaps that didn't accomplish that task. Thank you.” Chair Marsan added, “Just a point of information --- Clr. Faretra kept asking, meeting after meeting, have we spent all our money? He was the advocate also to say and keep you on your deadline. You did it but he was after you at every meeting to make sure that we allocated every dollar.” • Free Cash Update CAFO Duprey continued, “The only other thing for my report is Free Cash update. At the very end of last week, we started receiving questions from the state. So, they've reviewed it and so now we go back and forth but it still has not been certified but it's on the cusp. Because once we start going back and forth, we can answer their questions and then it's pretty close afterwards. So, not yet certified but on the verge. Thank you.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Faretra, “It was reported today that the Commonwealth was fined $2.1 billion by the federal government for misuse of unemployment funds, I think through COVID money. I don't know if you saw that report. OK, okay I’ll wait for you to read it and see if there's going to be financial implications for municipalities going down the road. I know it's going to be paid out over 10 years but if we think that's going to hurt us. So, if you can look into that and see if there's going to be budget implications, that would be great.” 12. Request of Councilors • Update on School Audit (Request of Chair Faretra) - Chair Marsan recognized Mayor Beauregard, “First on this list is an update on the School Audit. At the last METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING meeting, I indicated that my goal was to have before this council by the end of January the school audit contract, as well as, and we'll get to it, the Old Ferry Road engineering contract. I’m happy to report that we have, for your consideration on the agenda tonight, a contract with CBIZ Advisors, formerly known as Markham. Markham was bought out by CBIZ. This is for an operational audit of the Methuen Public Schools. And this is something that I think is absolutely critical for our city to embark upon as soon as possible. And I am hopeful that we'll get this passed tonight. I do want to point out though, as the CAFO just referenced, we are waiting on the Free Cash piece and I understand that that has been a sticking point with the City Council as it relates to TR-24-82. But I want to point out regarding that resolution, which would transfer the funds to pay for the audit out of Free Cash, that there is a provision in that resolution that if upon state certification, if the amount is above $14 million, then the resolution takes effect, and we have our funding source. However, for some reason, if it's not certified for that amount or more, the resolution is voided and will be brought back to the Council for review. In the event that the number is not what we think it is, and we're pretty darn sure that it's going to be just fine there, if it's not though, the resolution is voided. What I would do at this point is my strong recommendation is of course to support, if it's the will of the body, the school audit contract but also, I think it's appropriate to approve the funding source as well. Of course, with that caveat if free cash isn't what we think it is, then the resolution is void and we will be coming back to you. But, nevertheless, I think we're in a spot where it's time to move forward and get this done. TAKE OFF AGENDA • 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) • Update of Building status on Old Ferry Road - (Request of Clr. DiZoglio) Mayor Beauregard said, “So, we have two items on the list regarding Old Ferry Road. I’ll dive into that --- all-encompassing at this point. So, we went out to bid for engineering services for Old Ferry Road and we received three proposals back from that process. We have on the agenda also tonight a contract with McClure Engineering. At this point, what their work would entail is, in essence, a comprehensive study of this road which is a critical route for industrial and commercial traffic. And it's key for us to address a lot of the existing issues that are there and enhance the infrastructure there to better support local businesses in the community. I know that we have questions also about this building that's at the top of Old Ferry Road. We've had some engagement with the Assessor's office. I don't really have a ton to add about that but what I do have to add, of course, is that we're moving forward with this engineering piece pending support from the Council tonight.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “The question that I think that was out on the status of Old Ferry Road of the building was is it still owned by the same owners and is it assessed now at the new tax rate? If we didn't get that, let's put it on the agenda for the next meeting. But I would like to know what that status is of that building --- who's owning it and if their tax alignment is correct now because it was supposed to be updated at the end of last quarter.” Mayor Beauregard said, “That that clarification's helpful just because on the agenda it just asks for status so METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING the specifics regarding the request. That'll be helpful, in terms of guiding what we provide to you. Thank you, Councilor. We'll define it better at the next meeting. KEEP ON AGENDA – change to status update on ownership & tax alignment on building for next meeting agenda. • Update on Harvey Trash Ordinance and ticket distribution (Req. of Chair Faretra) - Mayor Beauregard said, “So, we've discussed, of course, the E.L. Harvey situation. I think Clr. Faretra, anything to add?” Clr. Faretra said, “Mr. Chair, I'd like to take this off the agenda for now and then I’ll bring it back for the first meeting in March if we don't have a contract in front of us to put it out to bid. Thank you.” TAKE OFF AGENDA • Request to discuss Route 110 and 495 Interchange Construction Project – please repaint lane lines on road or at least the dotted line for the left lane to go left, the middle lane to go to 495 N and then the right lane to have it going straight (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio) - Mayor Beauregard said, “We've had the next item on the agenda for some time now regarding the state roads. I made that introduction to Dan Fielding from MA DOT. Clr. DiZoglio, I don't know if you heard back from him.” Clr. DiZoglio replied, “No I haven't heard back.” Mayor Beauregard said, “It might be worthwhile to send him an email and ask for some time to talk.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “I did, okay. I haven't seen anything from that. And, just to add to it, there's been three additional accidents in the last two weeks in that area --- where one man took a left going in the wrong side of the road to take a U-turn into the on-ramp. So, again, it's becoming a problem in this area. We could take it off the agenda. It’s in city jurisdiction; we should be pushing the state to do something with this road and in this area. We have a public safety meeting coming up where I am going to be providing the Chief's numbers on both accidents --- both fatal and serious injury within the mile and a half radius of this location and again it's compelling for all of us to really own this because if the state's not going to push it, we should really have the Secretary of Transportation here and MA DOT sitting there for 15 minutes to see the amount of traffic violations that go through that intersection.” Mayor Beauregard said, “If I may offer a suggestion, you know we also have certain state representatives and state senators who could probably be helpful to us in terms of connecting with these various agencies at the state level. I'd suggest, Councilor, respectfully, keeping on Mr. Fielding but also one of our representatives and perhaps our senator can be helpful as well.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “100% Mayor. Council Chair, we can remove it from the agenda. I just don't want anyone from the Mayor's office to think I’m bypassing them in any way and setting up any meetings. If any meetings are created, I’ll gladly send invites. But, if we're going to own this individually, then I will take it upon myself to meet with MA DOT and I’ll invite whoever wants to come from the mayor's office or the public safety.” Chair Marsan said, “So, you're looking for input from Mr. Fielding is the actual request because it says just to have lines repainted.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “I think that the literal conversation of what needs to happen to that road was taken out of context on what I said is wrong with the road. But there needs to be a traffic pattern change in this area --- and it's not just this area it's this whole Route 495, Route 110 to Route 213 interchange. I mean, Councilor, you live in that area. You probably see it as well ---- METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING this area is becoming a real problem to not just the east district but the visitors of Methuen and I’m waiting for something unfortunately bad to happen here. Mr. Fielding got an email from me. He said he would follow up. Sent another email saying let's connect. This was in the last week or two and I haven't heard anything.” Mayor Beauregard said, “So one last thing to follow up, if I may, just to clarify with the various requests. We take the requests literally and so I don't mean to understate the concern regarding the traffic issues there and the accidents that have happened. The item itself on the list is referring to the repainting of lines on state roads. I'm just trying to address these one by one but doing so in a literal sense. Perhaps if the conversation, as the Chair referenced, is follow-up regarding these safety concerns to Mr. Fielding but also perhaps our delegation, I think that it is probably going to be the more productive.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “100% agree Mayor. I don't want to take it too literally here, but the request is to discuss route 110 and 495 interchange construction project. The ‘please repaint lines’ was a quote from my statement on options that we're put into the minutes. I mean the actual project is a bigger project than just painting lines so if we want to take literal let's take the first six words here in the sentence and go that route. But again, it's a public safety concern. We have the public safety committee looking at a different part of this route next month. I will follow up with Mr. Fielding. We can remove it from the agenda. I will keep you, Mr. Chair, in the loop, if any meetings come from it. And if the Mayor's office would like to be a part of it, that's fine. But I will start pushing to potentially have the DOT Secretary come out and look at this location. Thank you.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Soto, “If I may, in regard to your request, the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission and their transportation contact may be a good resource, Councilor. So, if you'd like me to bridge that for you.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “Please do.” Mr. Mayor, may I ask if you have met with them yet as in your new role?” Mayor Beauregard said, “I had a meeting with Gerard Whitten, the Executive Director of the MVPC on Thursday so we're in touch with them as well.” Clr. Soto said, “It's my understanding that as a member of the MVPC we get 70 hours or so that we could potentially use to help aid Clr. DiZoglio on that project for a traffic study.” Mayor Beauregard said, “That's something that we could certainly turn to them for. I know, just in terms of the conversation up to this point, we've been talking about trying to reach out to various state stakeholders. So, we've been in touch with the MVPC about several other trouble spots in the city as it relates to traffic concerns so that's something that’s certainly on the table.” TAKE OFF AGENDA • Request to obtain the Greater Lawrence Vocational Technical Schools’ Superintendent Lavoie’s most recent employment contract (Req. of Clr. Faretra) – Mayor Beauregard said, “Next, I have referenced for the past couple of meetings, the issue with the GLTS superintendent contract. It's not in our wheelhouse in the city. There is an autonomous school board that's elected that deals with these issues and of course the GLTS is in and of itself technically a school district. I don't know if Clr. Faretra has more to add. This isn't in my wheelhouse but certainly I'll pass the floor to him.” Clr. Faretra said, “Thank you and I'm not sure this is the right place to keep this anymore. I'm not sure where to put it but to say the superintendent and the rest of his administration hasn’t been forthcoming with information would be an METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING understatement. I received an envelope full of papers that did not include all the documents we requested. There was a three-year gap in the documents provided. There was nothing from 2018 to 2021. All the documents I had just showed you know a couple percent COLA raises and a couple of merit-based raises. There is no way for him to get from $115,000, his original salary in 2010, to over $330,000 currently. The contracts I had were not current; they were not complete. Everything I've been told is his contract has an enrollment clause where he gets not only merit- based increases but he's also in he gets raises based on enrollment. That was not included as part of his contract, so I've reached out to the MA Attorney General's office. I've started reaching out to DESE. I've asked them numerous times to share information electronically; they have not shared. That request was made last week. No answer from his office or from him so I've started reaching out to state agencies. I'm going to start reaching out to member districts as well. If three out of four towns vote no on their budget, then their budget does not get approved. If the superintendent does not want to answer questions or he feels that he can go around that's fine but I'm not playing anymore. The information I'm getting is that his six- year contract ends with him making over $500,000 in 2030. I’ve gotten this information from the people that have seen his contract --- the one he's not sharing.” Chair Marsan asked, “Is there anything I can do to help you? I don't know how; I'm just asking. Do you want me to set up a meeting with the superintendent?” Clr. Faretra replied, “Or can he share the information digitally like he was asked --- all the information, not just bits and pieces. Because I've asked him to share it with the Mayor and the CAFO so, that way, everybody can see the information together, not just bits and pieces. And Methuen’s members of the GLTS School Committee were included on that email. I'm not sure what the holdup is on why we're not getting the information. We’re a district who sends more money than any of those other districts and the fact that we can't get straight information after a month is disturbing. There’s no other way to put it. It's sad that we can't get straight answers from a district that we send over $5,000,000 a year to.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Pesce, “So, you just answered my question. That's what I was confused about. I had assumed you had reached out to the Methuen elected representatives. I'm shocked that those school committee members for GLTS haven't got back to us on this. I would assume that they would have the contract in their hands.” Clr. Faretra replied, “So, the contract that I received has the Methuen representative as the Chair of the GLTS School Committee on it, but it mentions nothing about the clause that was signed this year with the enrollment piece --- which is he gets bonuses based on enrollment -- - which is the biggest escalator of that contract. And that wasn't part of the packet that I received, through the Chair, at the meeting last Monday.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Surillo, “It wouldn't be the superintendent who would come before us to answer our questions. That would be our members on that board, which would be the Chair and whoever is the other Methuen representative to come before us. Because at the end of the day, the Superintendent answers to that district committee. Those are our representatives that need to answer to the City of Methuen and looking at the best interest for the city. So, that's where the question should be sent. I could definitely facilitate a meeting whether either the Superintendent or those METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING members if need be.” Clr. Faretra said, “My request of councillors to make to have the two representatives of Methuen on the GLTS School Committee in front of this City Council to answer questions.” Chair Marsan added, “And you're more than in your rights to do that --- as long as you give them 48 hours’ notice --- then they’ll have to come. That will be on the agenda.” TAKE OFF REQUEST OF COUNCILORS BUT PUT ON AGENDA • Request for a Joint Meeting with School Committee (Clr. Faretra) - Mayor Beauregard said, “Next on the list is request for a Joint Meeting with the School Committee from Clr. Faretra. I could certainly coordinate that as a Chair of that body, not to mention, I think we are required to hold two meetings annually anyway but nevertheless we'll get on that. LEAVE ON AGENDA • School Bus Service and Pick up (Request of Clr. Soto) - Mayor Beauregard said, “Next on the list is a question from the Vice Chair regarding a school bus service and pickup. We had a conversation about this today, Vice Chair, of course. And this is an issue I know. We're also in touch with other members of the School Committee. That's a big concern that you raised regarding service and efficiency along our bus routes. And this is something that we can certainly continue to dig into and not sure we want to keep it on the council request list but nevertheless something that I'm happy to continue working with you on this.” Chair Marsan recognized Vice Chair Soto, “If I may, thank you. I want to commend Marybeth Donovan from the School Committee. She reached out when she saw this item on the agenda and had a conversation with me. She provided the contact so I feel that this can come off the agenda as it's something that they have a subcommittee for and they're already working on it. And again, that goes on that side of the world, so I feel comfortable. Kudos to her.” Chair Marsan added, “Isn't there an app you can have on your phone that all the parents have and can see what the bus schedule is and who's on time?” Mayor Beauregard said, “And I think the concern centers mainly on gaps in that service. So, that’s something that the transportation subcommittee is trying to deal with but also, just overall, as a school committee that is absolutely critical for us to get right so that we're ensuring that there aren't any gaps in service.” TAKE OFF AGENDA • Mayor Beauregard said, “At this point, do we have any other requests that I should be aware of for the next meeting?” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Faretra, “Just my request but I don't think that's for the Mayor.” Chair Marsan replied, “I'll put that as a separate item on the next agenda.” Clr. Faretra said, “If we can just get an update on the fiscal transparency on our website for the next meeting.” Mayor Beauregard agreed. Clr. Faretra said he would send an e-mail with exactly what information he is looking for. • Chair Marsan recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “Just one other thing I would like to add. If we can get your policy and stance on a hybrid model that you have for City Hall. I have heard some rumblings that it's been hard to communicate with some members of City Hall recently and I just want to make sure that there's a policy in place by your office because I'm not sure if it's a holdover from the last administration on what hybrid models look like or if it's a complete return to work policy --- if you're METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING supposed to be in the building, be in the building, if you're supposed to be outside the building, be outside the building --- Do your job. But, I have been hearing rumblings that it's been hard to get a hold of certain departments in the city. I've asked them to reach back to the Mayor's office or the Department Heads directly or provide me information further. But again, some of these people are worried about the blowback that that may cause from a cultural standpoint. So, what I'm looking for is what is our current stance on hybrid models? What should the response rate of city employees be? And are we working to make sure that you, Mayor, are creating your culture here and not a previous culture at Methuen City Hall.” Mayor Beauregard replied, “So I'm happy to have that conversation but I want to point out that the staff in this building works extremely hard. There are numerous requests that come in the direction of our city employees --- numerous issues that they're dealing with in a timely manner. But I just want to point out, for the sake of the public, that the people in this building work extremely hard and they're doing a great job, and I don't want to discount that. Thank you.” Clr. DiZoglio continued, “Mayor, I'm not trying to. I’m just looking at what the stance is and how to defend it. I've always defended Methuen, the School Department, but when you have enough people coming up to you and asking, ‘what's going on at City Hall’ and ‘what's going on in our schools’. When do we just take a look in the mirror and say where's our new leadership going?” Mayor Beauregard replied, “What's going on at City Hall? What's going on in the schools is extremely vague. And I’d appreciate, perhaps, if you could share in writing some of the concerns that you're hearing so I can address them rather than responding to the question of what's going on. I can say that the people in this building are working hard and doing a great job and if you have any further concerns feel free to communicate them with me. Feel free to ask any questions that you'd like.” Clr. DiZoglio said, “100%.” Chair Marsan said, “Councilor, would you just put it in writing specifically what you'd like on the next agenda?” Clr. DiZoglio said, “Yes, Mr. Chair. And then could you let us know if any vacancies that are going to be coming up through the ladder as a request? Any resignations, any retirements, things that are going to need to be backfilled should also be probably added to the next agenda?” Chair Marsan said, “Just please just give me a detailed list and I’ll put it on, and I'll relay that to the Mayor. Thank you.” Mayor Beauregard said, “We do have one transition that is in the works. I didn't want to come out and share that preemptively before there's been conversations but I'm certainly happy to update you on that but that's in one instance. It's not something where we're having mass resignations in the city.” 13. PUBLIC SERVICE: A) Grants: None B) Licenses: Vehicle for Hire – Elkhoury’s Transport, 50 Milk Street, Methuen, MA 01844 (renewal) - Motion to renew by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Vice-Chair Soto – unanimously approved. METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Vehicle for Hire – M & M & I Transportation, LLC, 34 Sugar Pine Lane, Methuen, MA 01844 (renewal) - Motion to renew by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. DiZoglio – unanimously approved. General Application – Billiards Parlor, Barbara Vinciguerra, Vinny’s Billiard, 689 Prospect Street (renewal) – Motion to renew by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Saffie – unanimously approved. Secondhand Dealer Application – GameStop #3596, 184 Haverhill Street, Methuen, MA 01844 (renewal) – Motion to renew by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Surillo – unanimously approved. C) Contracts: C- 25- 55 Bargaining Agreement (cost of living) for Council Clerk – Linda Gagnon (second read) - Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Faretra – unanimously approved. C –25- 56 Bargaining Agreement (cost of living) for Assistant Council Clerk – Lisa Y. Ferry (second read) - Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. DiZoglio - unanimously approved. C-25-58 Agreement for Professional Engineering Services between the City of Methuen and McClure Engineering Company in the amount of $267,205.00 - Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Vice Chair Soto - unanimously approved. C-25-59 City of Methuen Agreement with CBIZ Advisors, LLC, 100 Westminster St., Suite 500, Providence, RI 02903 in the amount of $140,000 - Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Faretra – unanimously approved. D) Vote: 2025 Preliminary Municipal Election Date – Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Vice Chair Soto – unanimously approved. 14. OTHER OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS The Housing Committee met on Thursday, January 9th, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. (see attached) – Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Valley, “Thank you Mr. Chair. The Housing Committee met on January 9th and we discussed the new ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) Law and the housing shortage problem in Methuen. The city plans for ADU requirements, and the committee made recommendations to the Planning Department as well. Thank you.” METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING 15. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Resolutions: TR-24-82 Resolution Authorizing Transfer $140,000 from Free Cash, to be transferred to Accounting Expenses to fund an Operational Audit of the School Department, pending completion of state certification (Requested by the Acting Mayor) (Remove from the table) - Motion to remove from the table by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Faretra – unanimous – Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Faretra – Discussion – Chair Marsan recognized Clr. DiZoglio, “So, Free Cash is still not certified but you're going to transfer the money? Is that what it was or we're just going to wait until it's certified?” Mayor Beauregard replied, “As I mentioned previously, what's going to happen is if free cash is certified for less than $14 million, this resolution shall be void and brought back to the council for review. There is like a failsafe built in here.” CAFO Duprey added, “Just to piggyback on that, if I could, we're not going to spend the money --- we are not legally able to spend the money until it is certified to do so. It will take this direction and it will pause until free cash is certified.” Clr. DiZoglio asked, “Can you send us a memo once that is certified?” CAFO Duprey agreed. Chair Marsan said, “So, we're just using this as a placeholder. By taking this, we're not going to spend the money until it's certified.” – unanimously approved. TR-25-1 A Resolution Requiring Proof of Required Licensure and Certification Upon Appointment and Reappointment by an Elected Body (Requested by Councilor Faretra, Councilor Saffie and Mayor Beauregard) – Motion to approve by Clr. Saffie, seconded by Clr. Campagnone – Discussion – Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Faretra, “Just to follow up on Clr. DiZoglio's point at the last meeting. This is to the Mayor. Hopefully, I'd love to see you replicate something like this and bring it to the School Committee so we have a standard across the board when it comes to hiring procedures.” Mayor Beauregard replied, “I actually shared this legislation with a member today with hopes that we'll have a sponsored policy on an upcoming agenda.” - unanimously approved. TR-25-2 Resolution to Adopt the City of Methuen 2024-2029 Housing Production Plan Sponsored by the Mayor and the Director of Economic and Community Development - No Motion – Remains on the Table TR-25-3 Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of a $220,000 National Historical Publication and Records Commission Grant (Requested by Director of Nevins Memorial Library, Historical Commission and Mayor) – Motion to approve by Clr. Faretra, seconded by Clr. Campagnone – unanimously approved. TR-25-4 Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of a 2024 Sustainable Materials Recovery Program- Recycling Dividends Program Municipal Grant for $36,000 (Requested METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES AMENDED 1/14/25 @ 4:22 p.m. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING by Director of Community Development and Mayor) – Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Faretra – unanimously approved. Ordinances: TO-25-1 An Ordinance Amending the Wage and Salary Classification Plan, AFSCME A, to add the new position of Building Maintenance Worker (Requested by Director of Council on Aging) – Motion to approve by Clr. Faretra, seconded by Clr. Saffie – unanimously approved. 16. NEW BUSINESS Resolutions: TR-25-5 A Resolution Urging the Massachusetts Legislature to Honor the Vote of Its Constituents on Question 1 (Requested by Councilor Faretra and Councilor Saffie) - Motion by Clr. Saffie, seconded by Clr. Campagnone – Discussion – Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Faretra, “I know ultimately this doesn't have a ton of teeth, but this has been a two-month long saga at this point. Since 75 percent of our constituents voted for this to happen, I think all of us want this to happen and hopefully our state delegation sees this and helps push this forward a little bit and lets our state auditor do what the people want them to do which is for her office to do this audit so we can see the insides of the Legislature. That's all, just can be a little more public --- a little more out there --- and just look to do what the people want them to do.” - unanimously approved. Ordinances: None 17. ANY OTHER BUSINESS FOR THE GOOD AND WELFARE OF THE COMMUNITY – Chair Marsan recognized Vice Chair Soto, “If I may ask that we post our meeting dates for 2025 on our social media for both School Committee and the City Council. We did it last year, but we didn't do it this year.” Chair Marsan agreed. 18. ADJOURN – Motion to adjourn by Clr. Faretra, seconded by Clr. Campagnone – 9:01 PM. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Yarid Ferry Assistant City Council Clerk I do hereby certify that at a meeting of which a quorum is present, the foregoing minutes were approved by the Methuen City Council by a unanimous vote on February 3, 2025. Linda Gagnon COUNCIL CLERK