City Council

METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING 1. Roll Call - Members present - Chair Marsan, Vice-Chair Soto, Clr. Campagnone, Clr. Pesce, Clr. Surillo and Clr. Valley (Absent – Clr. Campagnone, Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) 2. Acceptance of the Agenda - Motion to accept by Clr. Surillo, seconded by Clr. Soto – Discussion – Clr. Soto made a motion to amend the agenda and move C-25-62 deliberation to be after public participation on the agenda – seconded by Clr. Pesce – unanimous (Absent – Clr. Campagnone, Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) – motion to accept the agenda as amended by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Pesce – unanimous - (Absent – Clr. Campagnone, Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) 3. Pledge of Allegiance 4. Public Participation • Leslie Lima – 4 Booth Road - I'm here today as a resident of 4 Booth Road following up on a concern I raised at the September City Council meeting regarding ongoing parking issues caused by the patrons of One Spot Bar and Lounge at 165 Merrimack Street. While we appreciate the city's effort to assist in the business in securing additional parking spaces at 166 Merrimack Street, the situation remains unsolved. Despite the added parking spaces, the business continues to operate with insufficient parking. The City Certificate of Occupancy was issued under a 1955 zoning regulation which mandated a ratio of one parking spot for every four customers with a maximum capacity of 90 guests. However, this is not adequate for the volume of traffic the business generates, and the current arrangement is not alleviating the problem. Simply put, people do not carpool as the ordinance suggests. The business has placed A-frame signs promoting the additional parking lot but there is no way to ensure that customers are actually using it. We have seen parking on our street while the additional lot remains empty or partially used as well as when both lots are full and they overflow onto our street. Given that tables are booked in advance, the venue knows when they are reaching maximum capacity, yet we rarely see any police details or any additional enforcement on those nights. On nights when the establishment is at full capacity, it's almost guaranteed that we will see cars parked on our residential streets parking illegally at the corners where there are no parking signs and creating safety hazards. We have had neighbors and ourselves call Methuen Police Department to patrol and ticket illegally parked cars and have even set off our own car alarm to get a patron who is idling in our driveway after using it to turn around. Mind you, this is at midnight --- It's not eight o'clock or nine o'clock. While the business has provided us with a sign at my request to encourage patrons to park elsewhere, this measure places undue pressure on our neighbors since they do not have similar signage. Frankly, although the sign helps, it surely singles us out and creates tension within our community. Lastly, I want to address a concerning incident that occurred on New Year's Eve. The police visited our home in response to an alleged stabbing at the corner of Booth Road and Merrimack Street requesting camera footage of any details or details from anyone who was entering or leaving our house and may have noticed something. While this may have been a coincidence, it's noteworthy that the establishment had an METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING event that night and it seemed to be drawing a crowd that may not be in the best interest of our neighborhood. The incident was incredibly embarrassing for us as residents, especially guests visiting our home at this time. I urge the City Council to revisit this matter and consider further action to address these ongoing issues. The additional parking spaces and signage have not proven effective, and our neighborhood continues to face significant disruption. I hope the City Council considers working with the business to acquire more additional parking, possibly at 160 Merrimack Street, at the alternative healthcare plaza and encourages the use of police detail or has a business directly hire a parking attendee. We ask for your help in finding a solution that ensures the business operates in a manner that does not negatively impact the residents of Booth Road. Thank you for your attention to this matter. • I am Gil Rodriguez. I live at 11 Pine Tree Drive at the Regency at Emerald Pines in Methuen. I have one brief comment is to applaud the City Council for the work that you did on this resolution that's coming before us tonight. I think it's a big step forward for all the condominiums and I hope that we get a favorable vote. Thank you. • Hi my name is Charles Coppola. I live at 4 Sierra Court in the Regency at Emerald Pines and I want to echo what Mr. Rodriguez said concerning the recycling resolution. For the 55 and older condominiums in Methuen, I believe we generate well over six million dollars in property taxes and one of the most significant parts of the budget we will never access and that's public schools which is about 53 percent of the budget. Now that being said, we support public schools in the 55 and older community. A couple of years ago, one of our residents who passed away was a substitute teacher in the school system. Several of us started a foundation a 501c3 in his name exclusively to raise money for scholarships for students in Methuen. Last year we awarded seven five-hundred-dollar scholarships to graduating seniors from the city of Methuen. This year we hope to give out at least four thousand dollars in scholarships to graduating seniors. We do support the schools. Many of our seniors volunteer at the schools. I go to almost every sports because I have grandchildren. Many of us do attend almost every sporting event --- wrestling, baseball and football. You'll see me there with many other seniors that do support these efforts. We support fundraisers for youth baseball & youth football. So, the point is that while we don't access the school department budget, we certainly do support education. One of the budgets that we do access is public safety and we appreciate it so much. The compassion, the professionalism that we see in the firefighters and the police officers here in Methuen and it means a lot to the senior community. What we're asking for is for us to be involved in the recycling program. It's not going to mean a great deal of money to us, but it will show that we've adopted the city of Methuen. Many of us didn't live in Methuen before we bought our condos. We came to Methuen because we saw it as a city that we wanted to live in and what we're asking back is for some sort of acclimation that we did make the right choice in coming to Methuen. We believe we did, and I hope that the City Council supports this resolution. Thank you very very much. That's all that signed up. Chair Marsan suggested a 5-minute recess to help Councilor Campagnone join the meeting remotely. Motion to take a 5-minute recess by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Pesce – unanimous. METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING 5. Organizational Business - none 6. Reading and Acceptance of Minutes from Previous Meetings: January 27, 2025 special meeting – motion to accept by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Pesce – ROLL CALL – 5 yes, (4 Absent – Clr. Campagnone, Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) - and February 3, 2025 regular meeting – motion to accept by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Surillo – 5 yes, (4 Absent – Clr. Campagnone, Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) 7. Consideration of Appointments: none 8. Mayor’s Report – Chair Marsan recognized Mayor Beauregard, “Thank you Mr. Chair. I'll begin regarding a letter I sent today to the Chair of the Department of Public Utilities condemning the excessive gas delivery charges imposed by Eversource. In my communication I noted that while the company's CEO earns nearly 19 million dollars annually, hard-working families and small businesses in Methuen are being fleeced by exorbitant gas delivery charges ---19 million dollars. Something is wrong with this picture. The people of this city cannot afford these outrageous increases, especially folks who were living on fixed incomes and already struggling to stretch a buck. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The pillaging of Methuen's residents by greedy utility companies must stop now. • On the agenda tonight, moving along, we have the first step in authorizing approval of the proposed fiscal year 2025 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) which prioritizes infrastructure upgrades, school cleanliness and safety initiatives, and public safety enhancements. Key projects include road repairs, facility improvements, and investments in essential services. There are a few tweaks we plan to propose between the first and second reads. Assuming we'll be able to take a vote on this tonight, we're able to scale back the anticipated cost of the backhoe purchase for DPW and we're looking at moving some additional funds into the FY’25 plan for the athletic field lights project for instance. But I think this is a good first step for us in terms of addressing our most pressing capital needs during the current fiscal year. The administration will continue working closely with the council to ensure the efficient allocation of our city's resources as we move forward. • At a time when we are seeing a lot of labor-related issues in cities and towns across the Commonwealth, I'm pleased to report that the school district here in Methuen has made huge progress in partnership with the Methuen Education Association and Collective Bargaining Talks. On Thursday evening, a tentative agreement with units A and C was reached. We're in the process of hopefully having Unit A and C agreements ratified on both sides. I'll be able to share additional details once that process is completed, but I will say that this agreement represents a positive step toward properly supporting our educators and maintaining a high standard of education for our students. I'd like to give a shout out to our Superintendent, Dr. Kwong, and her team for the work with the union and the school committee in getting this tentative agreement into the end zone more than a year after negotiations first began. We're moving forward in our city and it's a good thing. We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm excited about our progress. METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING • The city has partnered with PlanetAid to launch a textile recycling program that will provide residents with a convenient, no-cost option for recycling textiles through a new curbside collection service. This will be available to all residents in our city and the program will begin on Saturday, March 1st. Residents can schedule a free pickup by visiting the city website or by calling 508-893-0644. Pickups will take place on the first and third Saturdays of each month and residents are simply asked to make a scheduled pickup online or through that number at least two days in advance. Items should be placed curbside in plastic bags by 8 a.m. on the scheduled pickup day. Acceptable items for collection will include clothing such as men's, women's, and children's apparel, outerwear such as coats and jackets, accessories like shoes, sneakers, purses, hats, belts, and ties, and additional miscellaneous items such as backpacks, sleeping bags, bedding, towels, small toys, stuffed animals, and even DVDs. In addition to reducing waste, the agreement I signed will generate revenue for the city. Planet Aid will pay the city nine cents per pound of collected textiles, turning waste reduction into a financial benefit for our community. • I'm pleased to report that four new police officers, giving a shout out to the Chief back there. Four new officers have successfully graduated from the Police Academy and joined the Methuen Police Department. These officers will play a vital role in ensuring public safety and strengthening our law enforcement presence in the city. • Regarding the ARPA projects, a pre-construction community outreach meeting was held with residents of the Arlington neighborhood on February 11th. It was attended by representatives from DPW, Woodard and Curran, and Albany's. The overall project scope was discussed, and they presented a preliminary schedule and a meeting with affected business owners will be scheduled in the near future. For the Westside inflow and infiltration project, camera work and preliminary cleaning have been completed and reviewed, and a meeting is scheduled for Thursday to finalize the installation schedule for that project. A pre-construction meeting was held for the Lowell Street drainage project and a traffic control meeting with the police and fire departments will take place on February 26th. Regarding the Granite Street pumping station and water main project, project design is complete and has been submitted to DEP at the state level for review. • Tomorrow at 6 p.m. I'll be delivering the annual state of the city address at the Methuen Senior Center. The address will provide an overview of our achievements over the past year and outline key priorities for the future, including public safety, infrastructure improvements, and fiscal responsibility. So I encourage all counselors and residents to attend. We'd love to see you tomorrow. • The Dollars for Scholars Telethon will take place at the high school on March 18th and 19th. It's an important event that helps raise money to support local students as they pursue a higher education, and I encourage the whole community to participate and contribute to this cause which directly benefits Methuen families. • Lastly, tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. there will be a community store dedication ceremony at the new Starbucks location on Broadway in the Arlington neighborhood and they're looking forward to welcoming us all to join them at that event. That concludes my updates for this evening. I'm happy to answer any questions. If not, we'll see you on the other side at requests of counselors.” METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING 9. CAFO Report • CIP Report Update – Chair Marsan recognized CAFO Maggie Duprey, “I'm going to take my time here to just quickly go through the FY’25 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP.) I'm just going to walk through quickly the different projects and then I will talk about the debt ratio. What we have here in front of you is a CIP plan that is about $6.7 million. What we tried to do in the last few years ---we've done CIPs in FY’22, FY’23, FY’ 24 and this is our fourth year doing it. The amount that we normally do is between $9 and $12 million. That's the amount that we're trying to keep it between in order to get us on track for our debt ratio which I'll come back to in a minute. The reason why we kept this CIP to $6.7 million is because we're trying to take into consideration that we are also bonding for the Searles Estate. So that was $3.5 million. So those two together puts us a little over $10 million, so we're keeping that in mind. With the timing of the CIP, later than usual, plus the Searles Estate, we went at this a little bit differently than we have in the past. Normally, we present a CIP that's five years outlooking. This year, we focus really on FY’25 projects that are critical, timely, things that can't wait until the next five-year plan which we are putting together right now for FY’26. And we'll present that during the FY’26 budget process. What you have in front of you here are projects that are, again, timely and critical to the departments for different reasons. I'm going to walk through them quickly. I’m happy to answer questions. Just stop me. At City Hall, we need to replace the boiler here at the Searles building. We need to replace the front-end loader at the DPW. We included in this $250,000 towards parks. Normally we've been doing $500,000 each year so we wanted to continue to make the progress that we've been making. However, understanding it's already February and so we're going to be putting that higher amount that you have seen consistently for FY’26, but we still wanted to be able to get after what we can in the meantime. So, we put $250,000 there. Similarly, we put $1 million on the CIP for road improvements. Normally we've been putting $4 million in order to get after all of the road improvements that were long overlooked and that we just can't get after with Chapter 90 funds alone. Instead of the $4 million, we've put in for $1 million so that we can continue to get after those projects in between the FY ‘24 and FY’26, as well as sidewalks.” Chair Marsan said, “One question. I'll pass the gavel for a minute. So, we're putting $1 million into that account. I know we spoke about this. We carried over $800,000. Can we try not to carry it over? Everybody complains about their roads and I'm sure everybody, Mr. Mayor, so that in the next fiscal year, try to expend all of that for the whole capital improvement plan, just because people say, well, how did we not spend that money when we had it there? And now we're carrying it anyway. So please just be cognizant of that. That's all.” CAFO Duprey continued, “Absolutely. And thank you for bringing that up. We did have $4 million set aside in FY’24. We have $800,000 remaining after all of the contracts that the council has approved and the work that we've been able to get after with that $4 million. There is still $800,000 remaining, which will go with this $1 million to continue to get after those roads as a long-term plan. And we'll look at that too, as part of FY’26 CIP. If we still have excess, then maybe we don't do $4 million. Maybe we'll look at something lower, but we'll continue to look at that annual amount. Building improvements at the water treatment plant --- we have a critical need at the water treatment plant right now. We've lost two of the gates and intake screens for the water METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING treatment plant. And this is a huge undertaking, because they must go underwater to work on this project. And the equipment that's needed to replace it has a 22-week lead time. So, it's not even something that we can turn around and do quickly. However, it's extremely expensive as well. What we're trying to do here is put it on the FY’25 CIP so that we're able to order that equipment and get moving with that project. Also included here is a backhoe. The amount that's on that right now is $450,000 --- we're going to reduce that by $200,000. And, so, we will have that changed for the next council meeting when we present this for the second read. Whether we decide to move the $200,000 or remove it completely, we'll have those conversations.” Chair Marsan added, “If we just put it into the road fund, it would be okay. Just put it over there. It would be an expensive backhoe at $400,000.” CAFO Duprey said, “Yes, exactly. Phase two of the HVAC system at the Fire Department. The Nevins library is in is in critical need of a new HVAC system. Their current system is past its useful life and really hanging on by a thread. And so, this amount would allow us to support them in conjunction with them also going towards this project to replace that system. Also on here is a system called a shot spotter for the Police Department, which allows, and the Chief could probably speak better to this, but allows us to track the location of actual real time gunfire within the city. Also, here for the Police Department is a new records management system. What you have here is it says $475,000. That's for year one. We can only put on the CIP year one of the implementation of a new system. That's what you'd see here. The effect of that would then be to see additional funds budgeted in outlier years to support the maintenance of that program. Similar to the roads, every year we put money in the CIP for new line cruisers. And so normally we've been trying to get six to eight. And so, what you see here is cutting that in half and trying to get three or four. Again, with a plan to have additional funds in the FY’26 CIP. And then also on here is a feasibility study for the public safety building. We have funding for the DPW feasibility study that is in ARPA and so along the same lines, the need for Fire and Police is also absolutely critical at this point. And so, trying to get after that as far as seeing whether or not different areas are appropriate for us to look into and getting more information on what's appropriate there. There are also three projects for the school department. I know everyone here is aware of the inspection reports that we've had that have come out on some of the school buildings. Part of those inspections were related to the cleanliness. And by reviewing all of those reports, we found that the school carpeting is a critical place that goes towards the cleanliness of the buildings and needs to be replaced really at every school. What we're trying to do this year is start the process of replacing carpets in each CIP for each year, similar again to the roads and the cruisers and things of that nature. So, what you see here is $800,000 to replace the carpeting at one of the schools and then we'll go to the most critical school and then we'll go forward from there. And try to replace a different school each year. Also, on here for the schools is to replace the Marsh School boilers. This is beyond the end of life. They're not reliable. The School Department is struggling constantly with keeping them going. And so, this is an expensive and critical project that we need to get after. And then also on here are additional expenses for school safety improvements. Something that we've been trying to get after multiple years as well there. So, trying to continue that project. So overall, $6.7 million. $1.2 million is from the enterprise funds and the remaining amount would be from general governmental funds. So not to bore METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING anyone, but quickly, I sent out this spreadsheet here along with my impact statement and I'm not going to go through all of it because it's cumbersome and I'll save you from that. I want to direct your attention to the ultimate purpose of what this is doing. So, a good measure of healthy financial levels is analyzing the ratio between debt service as a percentage of the prior year revenue. So that's kind of our barometer of trying to figure out whether we are where we need to be as far as debt goes. People hear debt and it's scary, but it really is a critical piece to the review of our bond rating. Too much debt shows that we are dependent on debt in order to get by year to year. Too little debt shows that we have a lack of proactiveness and planning towards critical maintenance. That's where we have fallen. We have too little debt. And that is something that has worked against us as far as our bond rating goes. So, aside from obviously getting the maintenance and maintaining all the city's assets, part of the reason why we want to issue debt for the CIP is to get our debt to a healthy level, not to an outrageous level and not to a level that we can't afford. And to do it slowly and carefully so that we can afford it. But our best practice is to have that ratio between 5% and 10%. And right now, we're at 2.9%. So, and that is a positive direction that we have been going in. We've made progress, slow progress, but progress. In FY’22, our ratio was 2.26%. Over the last few years, we've been able to increase it to almost 3%, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it's balancing that increase with making sure that we can afford the additional debt service each year. And so that's what this is showing here. Our goal is to get to 5% over the next 10 years. And this plan is my projection of how we can get there. And we can go over that more in depth when it gets to the budget process. And when we look at the five-year plan, I just wanted to provide it to you as a reminder that debt's not bad in moderation.” • Free Cash Update – Chair Marsan asked if the Councilors had any questions for CAFO Duprey and then asked the CAFO to continue on her report. CAFO Duprey continued, “Free Cash update, I heard from her this morning. I was really hoping I'd be able to come tonight and say that we got it. But unfortunately, I haven’t gotten that email yet. So I'm very hopeful that we'll get it tomorrow or the next day. And as soon as I get it, I will make sure that I share that with the council. • What is the current balance of the sidewalk repair/replacement funds, and what are the specific allowable uses for these funds? (Req. of Clr. Valley) CAFO Duprey continued, “As far as the sidewalk repair and replacement funds, Councilor Valley, I know I sent this to you just before the meeting, so I'll say it out loud. In total, specific to the sidewalk projects, we have just under $94,000. We also have funds in the $800,000 for roads and sidewalks that can also be used for sidewalks, but specific set-asides for sidewalks, we have $93,685. And I did send you a breakdown of that, but again, it was right before this. So that's all that I have, but I'm happy to answer any questions.” Chair Marsan recognized Vice Chair Soto, “Thank you, Mr. Chair. Through you to the CAFO. So you just said $800,000 remaining in FY’24. Was that from the street projects we were doing?” CAFO Duprey agreed. C-25-62 – Methuen Lawrence Public Health Partnership – Inter-Municipal Agreement between the City of Methuen and the City of Lawrence for the Public Health Shared Services Grant - $1,754,541.18 (Grant previously approved by the City Council in Order # 5915) - Motion to approve by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Campagnone – METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Discussion – Chair Marsan asked Patrick Henry from DPH to the podium. Mr. Henry said, “My name is Patrick Henry. I am a Program Coordinator at the Department of Public Health in the Office of Local and Regional Health. I am colloquially the Field Administrator for the Northeast Region of the Public Health Excellence, or PHE, Shared Services Grant, of which this inter-municipal agreement is a part of. So, thank you for having me tonight, and I'm happy to answer any questions that you have.” Chair Marsan said, “So, just so that we all know that we've already accepted the grant. This is just for the paperwork part of it to get it moving forward.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Valley, “This is to the Mayor. Do we have a dispute resolution process in place in case a disagreement may arise between the two municipalities?” Mayor Beauregard replied, “Well, thankfully now, as part of the makeup of the proposed advisory board, we do have Dr. Agrawal from Lawrence General Hospital, who is, in essence, a neutral party. And now, because of her presence, we have an odd-numbered board, which would, I would expect, prevent any ties from taking place. With the exception, I guess, and Solicitor, feel free to weigh in, unless maybe a member or two were absent and that resulted in there being an even-numbered group during any particular meeting. That is probably the only instance in which I could envision that arising. But, if there is anything I'm missing there, Solicitor, feel free to chime in. But, I think, given the fact that we have an odd-numbered board, I think we're in pretty good shape.” Acting Solicitor Paul O’Neill said, “The board also has two alternate members. So, the Board of Health appoints two voting members and two alternate members from each community. So, there would be folks to step in to likely prevent that from happening as well. It's a seven-member board right now with three members from each community and then the President and CEO of Lawrence General Hospital. And there's two alternate members, one from each Board of Health. So, there's nine members, seven voting members, two alternates.” Clr. Valley replied, “Thank you very much.” Chair Marsan said, “I have a question. So, we're the lead municipality in this grant. Correct? And it says that we're supposed to hire the Shared Services Coordinator. So, we have to supply that person? We have to have one on our payroll?” Mr. Henry from DPH replied, “Correct. Yeah. So, the way that it's allowed through the DPH grant is, and what DPH recommends, is this lead municipality, in this case, the City of Methuen, would hire the Shared Services Coordinator. That's the only required position in the grant and through the Intermunicipal Agreement. But the grant funds pay for the salary and all the benefits of this person, as well as any office equipment they need or equipment to do their job. So, they would sit in the City of Methuen, be a City of Methuen employee, be subject to all your HR policies, but the grant funds are what provide the funding for this position.” Chair Marsan said, “So, a portion of our $750,000 goes to the salary of that lead coordinator?” Mr. Henry agreed. Chair Marsan continued, “And it's a three-year grant, as of right now?” Mr. Henry agreed. Chair Marsan said, “So, this employee is only here for three years?” CAFO Duprey said, “Yes. So, when we post for the position and when we hire for the position, it's made very clear that it's a grant- funded position.” Chair Marsan said, “So, we’ve just got to make sure that that's known, so that I know we're advertising it that way, but for the people to say we're accepting this grant and the money's coming to pay for that person out of it, that it's a temporary, so to speak, position.” Mr. Henry agreed. – ROLL CALL – 5 yes, 3 absent (Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) – 1 abstained (Clr. Surillo left the room) METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING 10. Request of Councilors – Chair Marsan recognized Mayor Beauregard. • Update on School Audit (Request of Chair Faretra) – Mayor Beauregard said, “We have first the update on the school audit. The operational audit of the school department is underway. The folks from CBIZ will be conducting a mix of interviews, whether they be remote or in-person, remains to be seen, as well as questionnaires so things are moving forward with the audit. KEEP ON AGENDA • Ownership and assessment update regarding storage facility on Old Ferry Road (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio & Clr. Pesce) – Mayor Beauregard said, “The old ferry road warehouse. I don't have anything particularly new to report tonight regarding that, but perhaps we could follow up. Maybe with folks internally and get you something else. I just don't have anything new tonight. Not sure if you have any other questions or specific things you want me to follow up on.” Clr. Pesce said, “No, mayor. Thank you. I'm hesitant to remove it from the request of counselors, especially with Clr. DiZoglio is not here. And I think our main concern now is just making sure that that property has been reassessed, you know, that's all moving slowly. And then to see if anything happens in regard to having that warehouse utilized and then having more stress put on that road. So, I'm just hesitant to remove it right now.” KEEP ON AGENDA • Request for a Joint Meeting with the School Committee (Clr. Faretra) - Next, we have a request for a joint meeting with the school committee. We're aiming for Monday, March 17th at 6 p.m. here in the Great Hall. That would be just before our regular city council meeting. And that way, the school committee will come to us rather than having us go to a school committee meeting. I think that's appropriate. And that'll take place, as I mentioned here in the Great Hall. We'll take care of posting that on our end. And I think we'll just need a subsequent or simultaneous posting from the city council side. KEEP ON AGENDA • Update or plan to address the ongoing traffic issues on Pelham Street towards Marsh Grammar School. (Clr. Valley) & Request for information related to a traffic study conducted at the Marsh School. (Clr. Valley) – Mayor Beauregard said, “We have now an update or plan to address the ongoing traffic issues on Pelham Street toward the Marsh Grammar School. This is from Clr. Valley. I want to point out that Chief McNamara, Deputy Chief Haggar, Lieutenant Gunter, and Officer Hatem, along with Kathleen Caldwell and Joe Cosgrove from DECD, met this afternoon with representatives from the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission regarding this particular area of Pelham Street. The folks from the commission presented two preliminary design concepts, and the city has requested a comprehensive cost estimate from them that includes upgrading each of the four crosswalks in that area, to raise crosswalks, with high visibility signage and additional signage and striping as part of the overall project design. And we're also asking the commission to work with us to explore potential funding opportunities, such as the Safe Routes to School Program and the Signs and Lines Program to help mitigate costs associated with that. So the full cost estimate should be arriving within the next 10 to 14 days. That's specific to the Pelham Street issue. We're also going to be launching a new Safe Streets for All initiative that will include a working group dedicated to addressing not only the traffic concerns on Pelham Street, but across the city. And I'm thinking that this could also be the setting for the METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING rollout of the new speeding enforcement initiatives and the 25-mile-an-hour initiative that will be underway this year. So that's the latest there. I could certainly provide an additional update once we get the estimates.” KEEP ON AGENDA • Update on Murphy's Farm Project. (Clr. Valley) Mayor Beauregard said, “We have next the update regarding Murphy's Farm. Again, this involves ongoing litigation.” Clr. Valley said, “That can be removed from the agenda because I received an update in the previous meeting from both the solicitor and you as well. Thank you.” REMOVE FROM AGENDA • Update on the fiscal transparency page that was due to be posted on the website to give real time updates to all city accounts (Clr. Faretra) – Mayor Beauregard said, “We have an update regarding the financial transparency page. It's online, as I've mentioned, but we're still building it out. The next update with real-time data for FY’25 is in the works and should be online shortly, certainly before the end of the month is the expectation for that.” KEEP ON AGENDA • Update on plan for the Searles Estate property and the process the city is following for real property disposition. (Clr. Surillo) – Mayor Beauregard said, “We have a request from Councilor Surillo relative to an update on the Searles Estate property. The advisory group, as we know, held their first public meeting a couple of weeks ago, and we're still receiving and reviewing public input. I still get at least one message from a constituent on a daily basis with ideas, and since anything that's ultimately done next will require Council approval, we're going to be coming to you once a specific path forward has been determined, but I don't want to put the cart before the horse and definitively come to you with something until we've received public input to the extent possible. Happy to leave it on. KEEP ON AGENDA • Update on SeeClickFix for missed trash and recycling 9/1/24. List of COLA increases from 2008 to 2024 --- percentage increases only. (Clr. Faretra) – Mayor Beauregard said, “Okay. Councilor Faretra requested an update on See-Click Fix. On that platform for missed trash and recycling going back to September 1st, 2024. I ran the report on See-Click Fix. There have been 323 missed trash and recycling tickets submitted going back to September 1st, 2024. Sixty-nine of those tickets were submitted during this calendar year. This is an ongoing internal discussion, but my initial plan at this point, I don't want to, again, put the cart before the horse here, but my initial thinking at this point is to consider going out to bid for trash pickup services to make sure, A - we're getting the best deal and optimal service, and I'll say this. I think we all can recognize and agree that Harvey has got to do better, and we're going to keep on him. But I wanted to point out that in response to Councilor Faretra's request. For the coal increases, we're still in the process of compiling all the information going back to 2008. That was Councilor Faretra's request, so I'd recommend keeping it on the agenda because we'll have more to share at the next meeting. I have that information going back actually to 2005 from the School Department, but I want to make sure that that request is covered METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING comprehensively, so we'll have more to share next time. We'll leave it on for him for the next time. KEEP ON AGENDA 11. PUBLIC SERVICE: A) Grants: None B) Licenses: None C) Contracts: C-25-61 – BMI Mechanical, Inc., 2 Linden Street, Exeter, NH 03833 – Repair High Service Vertical Turbine - $29,887.00 – C-25-61 – BMI Mechanical, Inc., 2 Linden Street, Exeter, NH 03833 – Repair High Service Vertical Turbine - $29,887.00 – Motion to approve by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Valley – Discussion – Chair Marsan recognized Vice Chair Soto, “I have a question, Mr. Chair. Was this sent out for repair and brought back because it wasn't able to be repaired, or something had to be done elsewhere?” Chair Marsan recognized DPW Director Patrick Bower, “Basically, what you see, Councilor, in that report is the complete rebuild of that pump. We had had it pulled and decided that it needed to be rebuilt, so then we had to go out to bid because the expense of that would trigger the procurement laws. We had it looked at, and decided it needed to be rebuilt, so that's what we're doing.” Clr. Soto continued, “Okay, so the $65,000 from Riley, Lombard & Company, is that? That's where I was confused because I read an email saying the pump is back, it was disassembled, and now we need you to put it back together. So, my question was, was it sent out, they couldn't figure it out?” DPW Director Bower said, “So we had a problem with it.We took it apart, sent it out, but now we need to have it completely rebuilt. You’re seeing the list of things that need to be done, all of the equipment that needs to be done, and then it's going to be basically sandblasted and repainted. So, we obviously can't do that, so we have to hire somebody to do that, so we'll have them come and rebuild it so that we can replace the pump.” Clr. Soto said, “Thank you for educating me on that.” DPW Director Bower said, “Actually, what I like to do, when we get new councilors, is to invite them to come and tour the water treatment plant, so it's a good opportunity. If you want to see where those pumps are, that invitation is open to everybody. We obviously have to meet in groups of two, but I'm happy to do that. Just contact me and we can do that whenever you like at your convenience.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Valley, “I have a question, Mr. Chair. I noticed on the quote; it said the pricing does not include the laser alignment. So, my question is, will that impact the pump's performance?” DPW Director Bower replied, “No, so we'll have to do that alignment either in-house or we'll have somebody else do that.” Clr. Valley said, “How much will that cost?” DPW Director Bower replied, “I can get that information for you, Councilor.”– ROLL CALL – 6 yes, 3 absent (Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) 12. OTHER OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Unaccepted Ways Task Force Committee – Chair Marsan recognized Vice Chair Soto, “Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, the Unaccepted Ways Task Force Committee met on February 10th. We have a community member, Mr. Mike Welsh, as part of our committee. And he has established a task force through the mayor's office that will be working on the discrepancies on our streets from the one we hold and the one that we have for plowing. And he's going to basically work with the state, our DPW department, and our committee and solicitor to see how we can solidify that and from there bring further work to that task force. So that's good news there. Also, under Councilor Faretra's leadership last year, we were able to identify that we'll be working through our solicitor and our community development team to see if we can approve six potential streets to accept it. And so that's what we've been doing on that committee. Economic Development Committee – Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Pesce, “Thank you, Mr. Chair. We met on February 11th. I was happily elected the chair to this subcommittee, and this was the first time that we met with the new members, including myself. We had a great discussion. We were talking about the business directory, and we're hoping to update that in the very near future. We also had a great discussion about the potential increase in traffic that's going to be generated by the casino in New Hampshire and trying to potentially leverage some businesses on those affected roads that have increased traffic. We also began discussions on the Searles Estate ordinances that were before this council. We're hoping to have some information on that that we can bring back to this board as well. And lastly, we started discussions about working with community development to help give some insight to a master plan that will actually boost the economy in Methuen. And that's it for now. We hope to have another meeting relatively soon. 13. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Resolutions: TR-25-7 Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of a Fiscal Year 2025 Shannon Community Safety Initiative Grant (Requested by Mayor and Police Chief) - Motion to approve by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Pesce – Discussion – Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Surillo, “What's the amount of the grant?” Mayor Beauregard said, “The total grant is $310,467. However, this is a joint grant with the City of Haverhill. Methuen's portion of the grant is $56,875.50.” Chair Marsan said, “With the bulk of that going to the Arlington neighborhood, isn't that true?” Mayor Beauregard replied, “We're going to pass through $36,475.50 of that portion to the Arlington neighborhood. So overall, it's a matching grant, but the amount received by the PD of $20,400 is non-matching, which means that we're not going to need any additional funds to participate in the grant.” ROLL CALL – 6 yes, 3 absent (Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) TR-25-8 Resolution Authorizing Use of $175,000 from the Public Safety Stabilization Fund to Provide for Additional Funding to the Fire Department Personnel Services Operating METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Budget (Requested by Mayor and Fire Chief) - Motion to approve by Clr. Surillo, seconded by Clr. Pesce – Discussion – Chair Marsan said, “I had a question for the CAFO before the meeting. I was under the impression that we set this up for ambulance, right? And that was my question to you. So, you're saying that we can utilize it for any aspect of the Fire Department?” CAFO Duprey said, “Yes. The funding is from the Ambulance Certified Public Expenditure Program. The ultimate purpose long term is, yes, to fund trucks and ambulances for the Fire Department. However, when we set up the fund, we did make note that it was for fire, ambulance, and capital expenditures. So really making sure that those funds raised from that ambulance program go back to the Fire Department. And so, it is allowable under that. I say that with a caveat. It is still a reserve account. And so, we look at it from still that one-time perspective. And so, when we looked at this specific situation, we do believe this is a one-time situation because of the things, and I don't want to get into detail only because of the nature of people, but there were circumstances that really do make it an outlier year as far as overtime goes. And the other option for us would be to take an ambulance off the road, and that's not something that we want to do. This does seem like an appropriate use for these funds. ROLL CALL – 6 yes, 3 absent (Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) TR-25-9 Order Authorizing an Amendment of Order No.5754 Borrowing to Pay Costs for the Fiscal Year 2023 Capital Improvement Plan to reclass $340,000 between enterprise capital projects (Requested by Mayor and DPW Director) - Motion to approve by Clr. Surillo, seconded by Clr. Campagnone – Discussion – Chair Marsan recognized Mayor Beauregard, “Mr. Chair, briefly. This kind of brings things full circle. We have this amount going to this project relative to water treatment. The other part of it is in the capital improvement plan. So, coupled with the capital improvement plan funds for the water intake infrastructure, this deals with that project that will help us ensure that we are protecting our drinking water and ensuring reliability for years to come. Thank you.” Chair Marsan said, “And this is because the water tower came in under budget. You might as well give kudos to yourself for that one. We got it under budget. So it's not often we get something in under budget. So that's why we have this excess.” ROLL CALL – 6 yes, 3 absent (Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) Ordinances: None 14. NEW BUSINESS Resolutions: TR-25-10 – Resolution Requesting the Mayor to Develop an Opt-In Recycling Program for Condominium Associations, Business Owners & Homeowner Associations (Requested by Councilors Marsan, Soto, Pesce and Valley) - Motion to approve by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Pesce – Discussion – Chair Marsan recognized Vice Chair Soto, “If I may, Mr. Chair. Resolution TR-25-10 was a conversation that was born between Clr. Pesce, myself, and Chair METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Marsan and Clr. Valley. Regarding this ongoing conversation that we have here about recycling. We have 12 condo associations that were previously receiving services from the City of Methuen with a story of they were asked, there was some sort of verbal agreement, maybe not, and then later to where that service was taken away due to cost. That's the understanding. So, knowing that these condo associations have come before us for now previous to this Council to reinstate that service, and understanding that the happy medium looks more like all, not just some, we came up with this resolution to throw this back on your table. My apologies, Mr. Mayor, but there's so much that we can do on this floor when we don't have full numbers and the disposition of your personnel to kind of come up with the best way to solve this. This resolution mentions these 12 associations because they were previously receiving the service, and then it comes further in saying we'd like you to come up with a solution, and you mentioned earlier in the meeting that you may be looking at new contracts for our garbage disposal, and that may also include, or may not, recycling. So, understanding that, we'd like you to take that opportunity as well to look at the recycling for all. Now, the one thing that I'd like to amend from this resolution, and I'd have to ask my colleagues, is that we remove the reference to “business owners” because in conversation with a solicitor, I may have talked about the differences in multifamily units and if those were turned into condos, and maybe that word slipped out that was not meant to be on there. I would like to make that friendly amendment if that's allowed by my colleagues. But this resolution does put this on your table. It does give you a timeline of April, and I'm hoping that I know you and your staff can get that done because you're all competent. So, understanding that, I'd like for TR-25-10 to pass tonight so that you can work in allowing a recycling program where our constituents can opt in and feel that their tax dollars are to work. Thank you.” - Motion to approve by Clr. Soto, seconded by Clr. Pesce - Motion to approve with amendment to delete reference to business owners - ROLL CALL – 6 yes, 3 absent (Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) – Motion on Main Motion to approve as amended - ROLL CALL – 6 yes, 3 absent (Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) TR-25-11 - An Order Authorizing a Borrowing to Pay Costs for the Fiscal Year 2025 Capital Improvement Plan (Requested by the Mayor and CAFO) - Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Soto - ROLL CALL – 6 yes, 3 absent (Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) TR-25-12 - A Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of $96,360 for the Fiscal Year 2025 Commonwealth of Massachusetts Critical Incident Stress Management Grant Program (Requested by the Mayor and Chief of Police) - Motion to approve by Clr. Campagnone, seconded by Clr. Soto – Discussion – Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Surillo, “I have one. Is there a match for this grant? And is it budgeted?” CAFO Duprey replied, “There is no match.” Mayor Beauregard said, “The grant does end on June 30th, so the PD had originally requested after the deadline, an emergency preamble. So, if it pleases the council, it might make sense to perhaps amend the language regarding the 30-days.” Chair Marsan said, “After the second read, METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING at the next read on the next meeting, I'll amend it so that it is effective upon passage.” Clr. Soto asked for an explanation of a matching grant. Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Surillo, “When you get grants there's usually matches that come up along with it, so we accept the grant, and we don't have the match we're on the hook for that match, so we need to know what it is and we have a match that goes with a particular grant and is the department budgeted for that grant? If not, then we have to figure out where we're going to get the money to put that match money in.” CAFO Duprey said, “That’s perfect. If I could just add to that --- for example there's a lot of grants out there that'll say we'll give you $100,000 for project X but you have to give $50,000 of your money too. We're going in it together and it's part of the grant requirements so that comes from budgeted funds or reserves. Whatever the City decides to do, but it's a requirement and it's right in the language as far as that goes. What I try to do is put it right in my financial impact statement whether there is a match or even if there's not a match --- I'll say it right in there. That way the expectation is if there is a match then I should have something in there that says how we're going to fund it and if there's not then I'll say it's not and we don't need additional funds.” Chair Marsan recognized Clr. Surillo, “It's hard for a lot of departments when they're going out for grants after the budget has been passed to know what they are going to need. So, knowing as the CAFO just explained, there is a match, this is where the funding is going to be coming from because once we accept the grant we have to pay for it.” ROLL CALL – 6 yes, 3 absent (Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Faretra & Clr. Saffie) Ordinances: None 15. ANY OTHER BUSINESS FOR THE GOOD AND WELFARE OF THE COMMUNITY – Chair Marsan recognized Vice-Chair Soto, “I wanted to mention again the Methuen scholarships. I am going to reach out to my colleagues here and see if we can participate in the Methuen Dollars for Scholars program. Finally, I'd like to publicly thank Mayor Beauregard, the Police Department, and the ADA Commission. We had a family of an autistic child call us for some signs and they just texted me tonight that those signs are up. Thank you so much for that work. I truly appreciate it.” Chair Marsan made an announcement for First Church Congregational’s 143rd Annual George Washington Birthday Dinner on Saturday, February 22nd from 4:00 to 6:30 PM at First Church. All are invited and tickets are available at the door. RSVP to our assistant clerk but if you show up, I'm sure they'll feed you.” 16. ADJOURN – 8:18 PM Respectfully submitted, Lisa Yarid Ferry