City Council

METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Chair Marsan called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members present: Clr. Campagnone, Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Pesce, Vice-Chair Soto, Clr. Surillo, Clr. Valley and Chair Marsan Acceptance of the Agenda MOTION BY: Councilor Campagnone, seconded by Councilor Valley to accept the agenda, as amended. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS Pledge of Allegiance/Words of Wisdom/Moment of Silence Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and Words of Wisdom given by Vice-Chair Soto written by Mia Angelo “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time”. Public Participation Paula Gagnon, 23 Sugar Hill Circle spoke about the petition for Council consideration to pave five streets. She explained she found out about this last year when a neighborhood street was re-paved, and she requested to have their street added. That was when they found out it was an unaccepted street. They have lived at their location for 25 years. Her husband’s parents were the original owner. Neither did they or his parents who lived there for 25 years realize that they were living on an unaccepted street, nor during the process of purchasing the home. There is only one other original owner living on the street. The other original owner recently died, and the house is up for sale. One of the concerns is last year they did a significant renovations to their home and have had cracking in their walls because of the trucks, the buses, and the people traveling down the street are hitting potholes. Originally the only source of heat was for electric when people originally settled on that street. When they purchased the house 25 years ago, they decided to convert to gas and other neighbors did the same thing. Every time there is a new patch and then a new patch, etc. She does not know if she has the correct language, but they have been told by their paver who did a new driveway for them, their street has the original binder since 1972. It is distressing. Since they did do significant renovations and they continue to have cracks in their walls. Its concerning. It is her understanding that the committee is going to pave/or accept five streets per year to be accepted. Then they would be okay to possibly repave. She and her husband travelled down one other street that they knew of that is listed and have found that street looks better than their street, which is a significant hazard. They have buses that pickup students and all the other services being provided as a courtesy by the city. They appreciate that but need a new street to be paved. Some of the information that she has learned over the past year is that there are more than 200 similar streets that are listed on the unaccepted ways. If she had not reached out to the city to say “oh, could you add our street to the list to be repaved”, she probably would not have known. Are there other streets where people are unassumingly living there that are wishing the same thing “could we have our street repaved?” Al Gagnon, 23 Sugar Hill Circle, added that when a FedEx, UPS, a bus, and Landscaper trucks come in front of their property on the street, there is a large patch for a gas main which is sinking in. He asked if it is his responsibility to call the gas company or 1 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING does the city present that to the gas company. He especially wanted to thank Councilor Valley who was assisting them last year amid their remodeling. She came to their house and they walked the street and saw what was happening. It is not fair to them. If anyone wants to go over their house to see the cracks in the walls and see what is happening Councilors can do so. Paula Gagnon also said it is a long process but would like to have some resolution to this. There is a need to have other residents who are using their street know that they are driving or walking on unaccepted ways. Alejandro Baez, 152 Center Street, spoke on TR-25-65 establishing procedure and naming the second-floor conference room for Councilor Joyce Campagnone. He believes Councilor Campagnone deserves to be recognized for her years of service. All schools are still considered municipal property. The resolution would go against the idea of separation of powers and the common practice that the school committee usually have the authority to name buildings, establish memorials and closely aligned matters with, which this district already does. He suggested an amendment to distinguish from Methuen public schools’ properties and city use properties for the matters of naming them. Vice-Chair Soto read an email received from Bob Defusco, 191 Maple Street, regarding the Maple Street and Hampstead Street intersection: “According to City Council meeting agenda dated November 4th and November 18th 2024 Councilor Marsan requested an update on Maple Street and Hampstead Street intersection. Please move stop sign and paint stop line to the intersection and blackout stop line thirty feet before the intersection. It was a request by the Chair, Councilor Ron Marsan. It has been a year and the situation above still exist. Mr. Mayor, is there a plan to correct the situation? I would appreciate your response.” The email was also sent to the Mayor and there has not been a response. Organizational Business - None • Reading and Acceptance of Minutes from Previous Meeting: - Wednesday, November 5th, Regular City Council Meeting MOTION BY: Councilor Campagnone, seconded by Councilor Surillo to accept the minutes of November 5th regular meeting. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS PROCLAMATION/CORRESPONDENCE Citation for Chiropractor – Frank Rondinelli, M.D. (Req. of Clr. Pesce) Councilor Pesce read and presented a citation to Methuen Chiropractor on behalf of Frank Rondinelli. His wife accepted the citation. Citation for VIP Beauty Center Denise A. Ceballos (Req. of Clr. Surillo) Councilor Surillo read and presented a citation to Denise A. Ceballos of VIP Beauty Center. MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to declare a recess. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS 2 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Chair Marsan declared a five-minute recess. Upon return, members present: Clr. Campagnone, Clr. DiZoglio, Clr. Pesce, Vice-Chair Soto, Clr. Surillo, Clr. Valley, and Chair Marsan. Consideration of Appointments – • Thomas Giarrosso CATV – Community Advisory Board MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS • Wanda Santos – Commission on Disability MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS • Alejandro Baez – Cultural Council MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON VOTE: 6 yes, 1 abstention (Clr. Valley) • Mansour Chaya, Esq. – Zoning Board of Appeals (Alternate) MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS PRESENTATION/PROJECTS/DEPARTMENT HEAD - None Mayor’s Report - None CAFO Report – Use of Abandoned Developer Bonds/Deposits – Request that the CAFO confirm whether the developer bonds, surety bonds, or guarantee deposits, now abandoned by the Developers and currently held by the City, can be used to begin the street acceptance process for these 49 state-approved streets (Req. of Clr. Valley) Maggie Duprey, CAFO, said she does not have too much tonight. She addressed the question about the developer bonds and deposits. She is still waiting to hear back from the state on whether they believe we can use those things. In the meantime, she is trying to dig into individual bonds to see if there are certain ones that are old that we can consider to be abandoned. We are digging in on our side a little bit about those. The state still has not responded as far as her question to them. Councilor Valley questioned what account would be used to transfer bonds once the CAFO hears from the state if it is allowed. CAFO Duprey said if it is allowed and she would probably need it to be an act of Council is right now it is stilling in our guaranteed account, which is a holding account, because normally these come in then once the project is complete, they go out. What she would probably ask at that point is that the Council issue what ever ones that we figure out that we could use and move them into a Capital Projects fund so that those are specifically 3 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING for those, so those would roll so that if those projects don’t happen in one year, it could continue in a different year rather than spend it right out of the guaranteed deposits. Chair Marsan asked if the funds are specific to the project they were supposed to do like when some of them do a residential development they give us this money that we have and we hold it there and it’s for improvement in the area. Sometimes they specify that at the Community Development Board when they have their hearing. He is unsure if we should be looking into that too. Maggie Duprey said absolutely. In fact, she was just talking to the Solicitor about that board and they may be a useful tool as far as digging into some of these as far as whether those projects are abandoned or not. Yes, we have them listed out specifically. If she says Toll Brothers because she knows we have some in there. Toll Brothers landscaping bond or Toll Brothers the different project. It will specifically say what it was taken in for, who it was taken in for, and what the property was. She did check. These five that we talk about later in the agenda are not knew streets and not new developments. She did check them to see if any of those were on there and they are not. The bonds are very specific as to what they are for. Vice-Chair Soto recalled a member of the Council had requested a list of revolving funds and the CAFO provided them to Council. Councilor Soto asked if the CAFO could provide the Council with an updated list with balances. The CAFO responded yes. Councilor Soto said the follow up question when Council has that in hand is going to be “can any of those be used for something else?” aside from the question of Councilor Valley on the abandoned bond conversation. Second to that, since you mentioned the resolution with the five streets, there is a street on that resolution that we have been receiving funds for from Chapter 90 dollars. But it is on our unaccepted ways. A question she had today and later the report, she will be giving a report on the committee that met today at 3:00. We may in writing through the Chair to the Mayor request the CAFO’s attendance at that meeting so that she could elaborate if there is any way she could tell the amount of dollars on the particular amount of streets that are accepted by the state, yet not accepted by the city, what those dollars look like in the tenure of its time. She feels that Council needs that number because it will help expedite the importance of getting some of those streets accepted and the ones that are not going to be accepted to be rebutted that we shouldn’t have them accepted. We do not want them accepted. One of those streets particularly is receiving, falls at the state level under Chapter 90. Request of Councilors (no updates) Mayor absent • MUNIS Update (Req. Clr. DiZoglio) • Charter Review Committee update (Req. Clr. DiZoglio) • Update on litigation regarding the consolidation of the School and City IT Departments (Req. of Clr. Soto) • Update regarding the status of the RFPs for garbage and recycling services (Req. of Clr. Soto) 4 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING • Howe Street abandoned property where Toll Bros. had their site trailer (Req. Clr. Pesce) • Trash & debris issue near Burnham Road ball fields behind KFC and Route 110 (Req. of Clr. Pesce) • Identify any potential funding for the Homestead Acres Tennis Courts (Req. of Clr. Soto) • Update on School Audit (Req. of Clr. Campagnone) • Update on Schools’ upkeep/cleanliness (Req. of Clr. Campagnone) • Update on “Blue Envelope Program” to Support Residents with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Interactions with Law Enforcement (Req. of Clr. Campagnone) • Request to DPW – Update on Unaccepted Roads Map – Request that DPW provide an update on the unaccepted roads map, including the expected completion date and what information will be published on the City website (Req. of Clr. Valley) • Request to City Solicitor – Process to Accept State Approved Streets Request that the City Solicitor Provide the legal process and required steps for the City of Methuen to officially accept the 49 streets that have been accepted by the State but remain unaccepted by the City, and whether this is the same process previously discussed for other unaccepted streets. (Req. of Clr. Valley) • Discussion and Request for Determination City Maintenance Responsibilities on Hampstead Street Easement (Private Property) (City Solicitor) Documentation will be provided on the easement Councilor DiZoglio requested Old Ferry Road be added to the Request of Councilors. He was told the plans had been approved (a few weeks ago) or at least engineering was done and completed. He has not seen an update on that. Also, we can remove the Charter Review Committee. MUNIS update is probably a lost cause at this point. With two meetings left he is not sure if they will solve MUNIS. Chair Marsan said the Charter Review Committee is still trying to get something to the Council before the end of the year. They just got the comments back from the Collins Center and they must have a meeting before it comes to Council. They are trying to work that into the schedule. He said he Old Ferry Road plans are not complete. There was a meeting up there at the building Wednesday this week to discuss that with the owners. The plans are being finalized now but are not complete. We’ve asked them to look into a couple of other options on the street, to add a few things to see if it is cost effective before we go and refurbish the whole street and to see what extent we want to do it to, like adding sewer or different drainage or types of different things. It is not complete but due any time. It was supposed to done by now, but it is not. Councilor DiZoglio thanked the Chair. PUBLIC SERVICE: A. Grants: None 5 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING B. Licenses: None C. Contracts: C-26-50 TEC, Inc. 282 Merrimack Street, 2nd floor, Lawrence, MA 01843 for Oakland Avenue over Methuen Rail Trail superstructure Replacement in the Amount of $100,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS C-26-51 Stertil-Koni USA, Inc., 200 Log Canoe Circle, Stevensville, MA 21666 for Vehicle lifts: 1-ST-1085-2FWA set of 4 at 72,000 lb. Capacity and 2-JS M8F 18,000 lb. Capacity MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS C-26-52 Addendum to 10 Ditson Place Lease Agreement (Req. of Superintendent Kwong) MOTION BY: Councilor Campagnone, seconded by Councilor Valley to approve. Councilor DiZoglio questioned the need for the amendment. CAFO Duprey responded it was to expand the amount of space. Councilor DiZoglio asked if that includes remodeling for the expanded space. Council approved the original agreement that they would be taking over this property in certain locations, remodeling it, and doing what they need to do. Now it is an active building with active people walking in and out. “Are we going to continue to lease out space and they’re going to continue to remodel it or are we giving the “as is”?” CAFO Duprey said she does not have the answer to that. Councilor DiZoglio said he would like to know if there are plans for that because the original lease agreement allowed for anything that we gave them to be able to be remodeled. “Are we going to be remodeling the rest of the expansion?” CAFO Duprey said all the terms and conditions of the original lease stand, which means yes this would also fall into that category. That is how she read and understands it. she will double check that. Councilor DiZoglio said his is a one read item. Chair Marsan agreed. Councilor DiZoglio asked if this is time sensitive. CAFO Duprey said she did not know. Councilor DiZoglio said he would like to table this with the understanding, he just wants to be mindful, they came here with a plan with the original lease. Here they are expanding. He would like to know what it is for. He is in support of it but wants to make sure we have an answer for it. Chair Marsan said they took a permit to fix the roof and we made it clear when we signed that lease that they have to come here with a blueprint plan to tell us what they are doing and how they are renovating the space and that has not happened. We said that was part of the stipulation. 6 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Councilor DiZoglio said he wants to make sure we are not giving up city space for storage. We could use that space for other means. The lease is basically zero dollars. He wants to make sure we are using the space adequately. Councilor Valley said she would like to see the original lease attached to the amendment. She asked if the grant amount would be the same or increased. CAFO Duprey said she read that it was not going to be increased. Chair Marsan said there is no increase of the amount of funds coming to the city. It is just giving them more space. Councilor Soto said, to Councilor Valley’s point, she believes this falls under the privy of the school department because when this first came before Council she recalled Brandi Kwong was in the audience. When Council is making an amendment and she had this concern previously on the floor we get half produced documentation, which does not allow this body to make an informed decision and it happened more than once. She had to dig through all her paperwork this weekend and she found the original contract and found an update contract with edits. With that being said, to your point, she read: “the Lessee shall use the premises for an agreed upon initial lease time of ten years in the amount of $500,000 that may include but not limited to roof repairs, interior painting which may include deleading, asbestos abatement which she recalled was an issue, addition of restrooms as needed and additional security measures in lieu of a monthly payment.” She is assuming they need additional space. There is no clarification on the repairs. That question is valid to ask and get an answer on and, we are going from (by the way she supports them getting more space). She just wants it done right. They are going from the original space was 7,200 square feet and now we are at 20,135. We are tripling the space with the same $500,000. MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Surillo to table. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS OTHER OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS Vice-Chair Soto provided an Unaccepted Ways Committee report. The unaccepted way committee met today. They are blessed to have Pat Bowers and Mike Welch which is an extraordinary asset to the city and this project that we are doing. Methuen has 1,242 records: 648 are accepted, 202 are unaccepted, 71 are private, 58 are paper streets, 51? and 22 should not be on the roster. The 22 have no properties on there. Mr. Welch’s recommendation is that they be removed. She wanted to point out that in 2024, he did 44 corrections, 7 have been completed to date and then there are 14 more that are not resolved that he is currently working on. It was interesting to her today when they met, they also had public participation. They had a constituent come forward on Hampstead Street and they were able to have the discussion about that road and how that fit. Mr. Bower went over there right after the meeting to look at the condition of that. In essence, what that committee is trying to achieve, through this body, is to give you recommendation and to Councilor DiZoglio’s point a meeting ago or two, that we not only accept those that merit to be accepted but that we actually get more of those streets on the Chapter 90 dollar. That is the role of that. TR-25-61 which is a resolution that we unanimously passed. Asking for these streets to be paved was vetoed by the Mayor. The ordinance follows that work. She knows that this is going to go into the next Council when they become a member here. But, 7 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING in essence, the work that Pat Bower and Mr. Welch are doing is imperative. But it means nothing if this body does not push forward some of those initiatives. Lastly Councilor Valley placed on the floor a request to Pat Bower which they are already working on to develop maps through our website but also the GIS system where now, you as a constituent, can go on line, type in your address and you’ll be able to tell if it is accepted or unaccepted. She thinks that is huge for this community and it will push us forward as well. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Resolutions: TR-25-62 - A Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of a $99,968.80 Grant on Behalf of the Nevins Memorial Library for the Implementation of a Digital Equity Plan (Requested by the Nevins Memorial Library) MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS TR-25-63 - Resolution Requesting a Full Accounting and Updated Inventory of all Artifacts and Furnishings at the Searles Estate (Sponsored by Clr. Neily Soto) (remove from the table) MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to remove from the table. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS MOTION BY: Councilor Campagnone, seconded by Councilor Surillo to approve. Chair Marsan said he, the Solicitor, the CAFO, Jack Wilson, the Mayor, and a photographer went on a tour today. They went through the list of 46 items. 45 of them are there as they are supposed to be. 5 of them are at the Gatehouse as it says in the RFP. The rest of them are all there in place as they are supposed to be. There was one on their list which was not on the list they had today which was one knife. That is a sixth item that is at the Gatehouse. All items are there. Everything is accounted for. We do not need to move forward with any type of an audit or anything. We have an appraisal, sort to speak, of what we put on it at the time when we went out for the RFP. He is hoping Council can dispose of this resolution. If everyone is happy with that and we can conclude this. We do not need the resolution to update the inventory. It is 100% complete. Councilor Valley requested an update list. Chair Marsan said it is the same list and he will provide an update list to Council. MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo seconded by Councilor Campagnone to table. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS TR-25-61 Vote to Overturn Mayoral Veto - Resolution Recommending the Paving of the Five Unaccepted Roads in Poor Condition for the Safety and Wellbeing of the Public Chair Marsan explained this is a resolution Council adopted unanimously and the Mayor vetoed. Solicitor O’Neill stated that the veto posting did not make the 48-hour posting requirement. It is a day late. Council cannot vote on it right now. It would be a violation 8 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING of the open meeting law because it is not 48-hour notice. It would have to go on the agenda for the next meeting. Vice-Chair Soto pointed out that the veto did not come to the Council with the reason for it to be vetoed. Under the Charter, if this body receives a veto, she has the verbiage of the language in the Charter. If you do not give me a reason why you are vetoing the resolution or the ordinance, it is her understanding per the Charter, the resolution or the ordinance is valid. She does not think the Council should vote on anything this evening. Solicitor O’Neill disagreed. The Mayor did not give a reason. The Charter does speak of the Mayor providing his reasons for veto and he did not do that in this instance, but it would not necessarily make it in effect. The Council would still need to vote to override that to put the resolution into effect. Council can’ t does it this meeting. It would have to be the following meeting. Councilor DiZoglio questioned discussion on this. The Solicitor stated Council should not be discussing it. Vice-Chair Soto said she asked for a legal opinion on that matter. Solicitor O’Neill said on whether Council required a veto message. Vice-Chair said under 3-6 of the Methuen Home Rule Charter, her email to the Solicitor stated if he could please provide a legal opinion on the language and how the Charter reads: where the Mayor is supposed to provide rationale and inform the body of why he is vetoing and that is what satisfies the Charter’s legal standard. We did not get to have that conversation. He did not reply. She went directly to the Charter for that. She does not have a problem putting this on the next agenda. Chair Marsan said they will get clarification and put it on the agenda for the next meeting. Ordinance(s): TO-25-17 - An Ordinance Amending Chapter 9.75 Related to “Solid Waste and Recycling” to Authorize Curbside Recycling Collection for Eligible Condominium Associations (remove from the table) Chair Marsan noted there is no new information on this. No Motion TO-25-19 - An Ordinance Amending Article IV, Sections 16-28 and 16-29 Temporary Repairs and Reconstruction of Private Ways and Unaccepted Ways - Funding Options (Sponsored by Clr. Neily Soto) (remove from the table) MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to remove from the table. Vice-Chair Soto stated that the language has not been completed. That is something that was discussed at the Unaccepted Ways Committee meeting. We need to fine tune that along with the previous item for December 1st. UPON VOTE: 6 no, 1 yes (Clr. Valley) NEW BUSINESS: Resolutions: 9 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING TR-25-64 A Resolution Establishing an Official YouTube Channel for the City of Methuen to Stream All Public Meetings as a Secondary Source of Public Access (Req. of Clr. Surillo) MOTION BY: Councilor Soto, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to approve. Councilor Surillo said this gives resident who are not at home to review the meetings. There is more transparency and allows people to be more engaged in local government. Councilor Pesce asked who would be monitoring this and if they are okay with. Luis Santiago, IT Director, responded yes. He agreed there is no cost. He asked about Item 3 of the resolution “the city shall ensure the meeting recordings are publicly accessible for six years and are properly labeled by date, board/committee name, and agenda title and topic. That last “agenda topic” is not going to be possible. this is a live meeting. Adding agenda topic to the video requires more like a producer, nothing here is like script, where you stop at a designated. He recommended that Council to remove “and agenda topic” from the YouTube Channel. YouTube has an automatic transcript option where you can go and just click on the words they are listening to and go directly to the video. Council should remove those two words from the resolution. MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Surillo to strike “agenda topic” at the end of Section 3 and it be said “and are properly labeled by date and board/ committee name.” UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS Councilor DiZoglio said he assumes MCS will be involved. Luis Santiago said MCS will turn the signal on and off. It goes from here to MCS to YouTube. MAIN MOTION as amended: UNANIMOUS TR-25-65 A Resolution Establishing the Procedure for Naming or Dedicating City Facilities and Assigning Review Authority to the City Council and Dedicating the 2ND Floor Conference Room in Honor of Councilor Joyce Campagnone (Req. of Vice-Chair Soto) MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Soto to approve as amended. Vice-Chair Soto said noting the public participation earlier regarding the school buildings, she did not take that into consideration. So, paragraph 5, where it states “Whereas the Methuen City Council wishes to ensure a fair and transparent process for naming and dedication of city owned and use spaces, excluding Methuen School use property” Councilor Surillo said he would leave it the way it is because at the end of the day school committee votes it still must come back to the Council for a final vote. Chair Marsan and Councilor DiZoglio disagreed. Solicitor O’Neill suggested changing paragraph one review authority to just say “that the full city council shall serve as a review and approving body for any request to name or dedicate any city facilities other than school facilities”. 10 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING MOTION BY: Councilor Soto, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to amend “that the full city council shall serve as a review and approving body for any request to name or dedicate any city facilities other than school facilities”. UPON VOTE: 6 yes, 1 abstention (Clr. Campagnone) Councilor Valley questioned the cost and who would pay for that. Vice-Chair Soto said we are. She is going to raise the dollars. She put in the resolution “by the city council”. If there is no money in the budget, she will raise the dollars. Councilor Valley asked what the cost would be. Vice-Chair Soto said she needs a plaque, a picture, or a painting. The plaque is not that expensive (about $79 plus shipping). The picture is a couple of hundred dollars. If it is a painting, she has not quoted with an artist. It is under $500. Councilor DiZoglio said this is a great idea, one that we put something in place for future dedications. He has to say that he has had the pleasure and privilege of working with Joyce for over 15 years and he will jokingly tell the truth on this, “she used to write me love letters on the School Committee” and send it over and be like “Nick” and he’d send it back, public record, feel free to ask for those letters. He could not be happier retiring with her from the Council, after 15 years. Chair Marsan thanked Joyce Campagnone for all the service she has done for the city over the years. She is well respected in the city. People appreciate what you have done for our city and he is sure we all thank you for your service you have given to the city, the School Committee and all you have done for the City Council. Thank you UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS TR-25-66 A Resolution Authorizing an Expenditure from the Castle Fund for the City of Methuen’s Veterans Day Parade (Requested by the Commission on Trust Funds) MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Soto to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS TR-25-67 A Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of a Commonwealth of Massachusetts Fiscal Year 2026 Federal Municipal Road Safety Grant in the Amount of $54,870 (Requested by the Mayor and Chief of Police) MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS TR-25-68 Resolution to Repurpose Debt Authorization of Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical High School (Request of Vocational School) Vice-Chair Soto read: Motion to approve the request of the Greater Lawrence Technical School District to Amend the Purpose of the Previously Authorized 4 million dollar bond initially approved for acquisition of the Elks Lodge property at 652 Andover Street, Lawrence, MA. That said, funds may be instead be used for the design, construction, furnishing and equipping of an addition to the district’s existing facility located at 57 River Road, Andover, MA. Said amendment to be consistent with the intent 11 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING of the original authorization which was to expand the district medical and health related educational programs and further that this amendment shall increase the total amount of borrowing previously approved. MOTION BY: Councilor Surillo, seconded by Councilor Campagnone to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS Superintendent Lavoie thanked the Council for their support. It means a lot to the students and the schools. They truly appreciate the confidence in their work and having this opportunity to expand their programs in the medical field will really benefit our community and allow them to expand the areas that they do not teach right now. But are in areas that are extremely in need in their community. In working with the Lawrence General Hospital in particular, they have helped design and focus where their new pathway should be. They really appreciate Council’s vote. Methuen is the fourth approval and allows them to move forward and start doing some design work. He will keep Council updated on the progress and send reports to the Council. Councilor Surillo thanked the Superintendent. He requested for those who did not get the opportunity to go to the groundbreaking for the aviation program if they could visit as well as visit the new sites that your looking to establish. Superintendent Lavoie said he would love to have any Council member who would like to come over. They could probably have lunch. He could show them some of the new facilities that are done at the school and where this new addition is going in. he could also give them an idea where it is going and what its going to look like and you will get to see the impact it will have on their facility. Chair Marsan said he would get in touch with the Superintendent or his assistant to co-ordinate that. Ordinance(s): TO-25-20 An Ordinance Requiring the City Council to Vote on Whether Mail-in Ballots will be Permitted in Local Elections Each Time it Votes to Call a Local Municipal Election (Req. of Clr. DiZoglio) MOTION BY: Councilor Campagnone, seconded by Councilor Pesce to approve. Councilor DiZoglio said he brought this up in late August, early September, that this was going to be coming up in a few communities and he did not think Methuen needed it now. But there is a difference between absentee and mail in ballots. Absentee comes with a reason. Mail in is just ambiguous. We have also seen that in Massachusetts we have an “opt in” and “opt out” option of mail in ballots. What this is doing is the day that we call for the election, you will also, as a Council, or the current Council in play, for local elections only, will have the ability to say “do we need it?” or “do we not?”. That also comes with the advice of the City Clerk, which by the way if we had this option here in the last election, we may have caught an error or two that was on that ballot that went out originally. The second part is “would we even require it at that moment?” The future is unwritten on this as many states have legal and legislation on the table on how to secure this or make it better than what it is today. Wisconsin, alone, is going to be requiring you to submit the ballot with the last four of your social. Illinois is looking at your license being attached to it, a copy of the ID. At that point, where are we going with your vote being 12 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING your vote and it now being publicized? For him and for over 250 years going to the voting place on election day, your ballot, your vote was your own business. With this, its not anymore. And there is an entrepreneur in New York City right now working on a new mobile app which may also help in the future for local elections to vote by app. This document is just to put it in order on what the current livelihood happening at that time. This is not to ban or suppress anyone from voting. This is just making the relative news involved in that time frame discussed and make it an option. Solicitor O’Neill clarified that the way that it works now nobody is looking at your ballot. They come in and you do sign the outside of the ballot, but when they are counted, they are separated, and nobody is looking at them or comparing them or anything like that. He knows people think that is the case, but it is not the case. Its not the way the process works. He understands what is being said, but people do sign the outside. That is why there are several envelopes. No one is making any list on how people are voting or anything like that. Chair Marsan said their vote is not a public document. The Solicitor agreed. Councilor Soto said at first when they spoke, she saw Councilor DiZoglio’s perspective and then she reflected on it and thought well, okay she’s assuming and he didn’t say this so she is asking if the reason for him doing this is because other surrounding communities have already done it. The other question was, she thought he was questioning the integrity of the Clerk’s office. to her, when we are limiting our voter pool that’s already low or less people, maybe you want them to physically go into the voting poll. “Is there some process in your head or understanding or maybe knowing of something that make that process compromised?” That was where she went. But then she read the Eagle Tribune and when she read the Eagle Tribune. These are quotes from conversations with different people. Councilor DiZoglio and the Clerk are mentioned. It discussed the integrity of the mail-in vote. The Solicitor just stated that is not compromised. Nobody knows who anyone is voting for. That is not compromised. What was really interesting to her is that even though you brought this forth and the Clerk in a statement did support the argument, the Secretary of State made several comments about the fact that she defended the mail-in voting should persist. And that towns that usually go after mail-in voting do it to save a dollar. But you already cut $15,000 from that line item so she knows that was not his reasoning. This is the loopholes she goes down when she is analyzing stuff that is put on the table. She said that is not what he is trying to do here but so to the point of what the Eagle Tribune printed, you know missing information on a number of ballot applications turned in by a candidate and a city flyer with an inaccurate date led to multiple complaints with the Secretary of State inferring passions of already tense political environment. despite the complaint the Secretary of State said voter fraud is incredibly rare in the United States, this comes from their office, voting by mail is also considered to cure. Secretary of State, Debra O’Neil, said the department does not recommend opting out. In doing so before election can cause confusion amongst voters that might not understand the different between what an absentee ballot is and the no excuse mail-in voting. Local elections run by a municipality are seen by the state. And she quotes “if we believe there was an issue, we would have sent investigators just we did in neighboring towns”. She is questioning why 13 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING Councilor DiZoglio feels this is needed in Methuen when we already have a very low voter turnout. This says that our voter pool is down to 24% less. Councilor DiZoglio said 8% that were absentee. Councilor Soto said the state did praise that any concerns that were arose were diligently taken care of not only by the Solicitor but also the Clerk’s office. To her, seeing that there is no issue and that we are limiting the pool of people that can come out to vote, she does not think this is necessary. She does see that maybe you are trying to do this before you go. She can see that he wants to get that done. She thought the option is still available if the next body wanted to do that forty-five days prior to an election. She printed all that the Clerk brings in front of Council when we are going into an election. Councilor DiZoglio said the paper is saying the ballots that came in this election were mail-in by ballot which if we were able to survey them, they probably all would have been able to get an absentee ballot which comes with additional protections based off of the law. When it comes to absentee ballots, we are not suppressing that. Anyone can go and get an absentee ballot. Mail-in ballots were created during COVID. It was used to protect people from going to the polls. We are past that now. Going to the polls is an election day thing. We have ability to do absentee and early voting. Early voting was something that Mayor Perry really pushed in Methuen early on in his tenure before COVID even really took place. You talk about confusing people. The next local election is in two years. This is an ordinance that requires you to look at the current time and is it necessary. Again, mail-in ballot was created during a time that was a hardship for people. We are not in a hardship anymore when it comes to voting. Going to the polls is something that is doable. And if you cannot, if you are disabled, if you are traveling, if you are military personnel, you can get an absentee ballot. All this is doing is saying “Can we do it?” or “Should we do it?” Then that puts it on the Council to make that decision at that time. “Why is it a waste of time to put it on there?” It has nothing to do with him going out. It has to do with the fact that it is a reality today, yeah, so a local community had something happen. We had multiple applications submitted for one or two people that came up here. He has been told that a father got his daughter and son who are in college absentee ballot or mail-in ballot and signed it for them because he’s the parent and he could just fill out for them and send it. so, if those two students could not come here to vote then why should their votes be counted? He is not sure if that is true, but by the law of the mail-in vote he could sign for his son or daughter or family member. The Secretary of State is reading off talking points that are given by a democratic party that he is a part of, that likes mail-in ballots. He will openly say that he is a democrat, a blue registered democrat. Its talking points. The integrity comes from the fact that you go to the polls and vote. if something can be questioned, their integrity is questioned, and we are not the only city. We are not the only state that is question the situation now. All he is saying is think about it. Councilor Surillo said the Secretary of State is not questioning the validity of mail-in ballots. Whether we chose and adopt it moving forward, the next Council, that is something they can do. He is not going to support this because you completely lost me in the argument. You had me for a minute but then you lost me. Whether its Democrats at the table or Republicans it really does not. This is about the integrity of the voting for the people and if we are going to start limiting the voting for the people, you’re right it started 14 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. GREAT HALL, SEARLES BUILDING with COVID, but now it is something that is maintained by the state level for us to keep getting people to vote. We have a very low turnout as it is. “Why start limiting people to not vote?” Councilor Pesce said the way she read this is its merely allowing us or the body, the City Council, to vote on it as it becomes available. It is not a vote on whether we are going to have mail-in ballots. It is a vote to put it before Council if we deem it necessary at the time. She is in support of it, because, again, it was designed for COVID. We might face something else in two years and we would never get rid of that right to perhaps have it, but she does not necessarily know that we need it. She thinks that it makes sense to at least have the option to re-evaluate it when the time comes. She feels like the conversation is more centered around whether we should have mail-in ballots and that is the conversation that will be put before the Council in two years if Council votes to pass this. She is in support of it because it gives Council the option to re-evaluate it at that time. Councilor Soto said she hears what the body is saying, but if that is the case, we should get rid of working from home. There are tons of people that do it in this building. That should be the next resolution or ordinance in front of this body. Personally, she feels like there are reasons why people work from home and there valid and they are allowed. That is her correlation. Just like we have a chance to do that later, we also have a chance to do this with the new body. Councilor DiZoglio – Point of Clarification – The City of Lawrence must do this too, every local election. this puts it in resolution stance that you could or not. So instead of going through the process, this is now a process that is implemented, and you do not have to file a resolution to do it. this is not banning anything. Councilor Soto: Move the question UPON VOTE: 5 yes, 2 no (Clr. Soto, Clr. Surillo) ANY OTHER BUSINESS FOR THE GOOD AND WELFARE OF THE COMMUNITY - None Adjourn MOTION BY: Councilor Pesce, seconded by Councilor Surillo to approve. UPON VOTE: UNANIMOUS At a meeting where a quorum was present, the foregoing minutes were approved by the Methuen City Council on December 1, 2025 by a vote that was unanimously approved. 15