City Council

City ojrraunton ~unicipa{ Council ~eeting ~inutes City Ha{(, 15 Summer Street, rraunton, !il(;t In the Chester~ ~artin ~unicipa{ Council Cliam6ers ~inutes, - Octo6er 18, 2022 at 7:13 O'cfoc~/P.~. ~gufar :Meeting :Mayor Sliaunna £. 0 'Conne{{presiding CJlrayer was offerea 6y tlie :Mayor CJlresent at ro{{ ca{{were: Councifors ©ooner, ©uarte, c.Borges, :M.cCau~ Coute, Sanders anti Quinta{ Councifors <Pottier ana<Poste{{were a6sent. Record of preceding meeting was read by title and approved. So voted. Opportunity for input by the general public. Mayor O'Connell stated that there was no one signed up for public input this evening. Hearings: NONE Communications from the Mayor: Mayor 0' Connell stated they are postponing the community EMS presentation. They will be putting this back on for another agenda. Mayor O'Connell asked everyone to join her in congratulated Jennifer Leger, the City Clerk, who was sworn in on Monday afternoon. She thanked everyone for joining in on the Liberty & Union Festival on Saturday to celebrate the 248th year and the 1st raising of the Liberty & Union flag. This was a wonderful community event. They are thankful for Katie MacDonald and everyone on her team at the Old Colony History Museum. She also thanked all of the vendors and the community organizations that participated and just made it a very wonderful and proud day for our community. This Thursday, October 20th at 6:30 p.m. the Taunton Diversity Network will be hosting its 2nd Annual Domestic Violence Vigil located on the Taunton Green. This is a really important event for the community to come in and show their support for the survivors of domestic violence, get more educated about this and learn how they can get more support here in our community within their own neighborhood. There will be guest speakers, resource tables and also some great music. Appointments: Reappointment of Paul Arikian, Director of Technology for a term of three (3) years expiring October 18, 2025. Motion was made to move to approve. So voted. Mayor O'Connell stated Paul is a valuable team member and they highly recommend him and his reappointment. Paul has been instrumental in helping them stay connected through Covid with doing things they have never done before such as Zoom and connecting them  2 at home so they could work remotely. He took this all in stride and did a fantastic job. He was also instrumental in helping them move into their beautiful new City Hall and connecting everyone here. He is a real multitasker and a problem solver. He can work on multiple projects at the same time with his team and is very collaborative and a good communicator. Right now he is working with setting us up with our new Munis system, he just did PermitEyes and just revamped out website. They are thrilled to have Paul on the team and congratulated him on his appointment. The City Clerk then swore in Paul Arikian. Communications from City Officers: Com. from the Chairman of the Board of Assessors requesting to pay four prior year invoices totaling $313.35 to Stericycle. The invoices were sent to a disabled email address of a former employee. The company failed to address the problem in time for them to pay them in the last fiscal year. Motion was made to refer to the Committee on Finance and Salaries. So voted. Com. from the Director of the Human Services requesting to accept a television donation that was given by an anonymous donor which will be used for educational and entertainment purposes at the Senior Center. Motion was made to approve. So voted. Com. from the First Assistant City Solicitor requesting that the Municipal Council declare parcel 24-47 at 1200 Bay Street surplus so it can be disposed of by the City. This vacant lot believed to have been the location of a school at one point. The parcel is 45 x 45 or 2,025 sq. ft. and has been an assessed value of $5,000.00. The parcel is a small plot of land that is surrounded on both sides by property owned by another. It is too small to utilize for any City purposes. As such it should be sold and returned to the tax rolls. Motion was made to refer to the Committee on Public Property. So voted. Com. from the Chairman of the Taunton Planning Board notifying of a public meeting and hearing for a site plan review for 100 Revolutionary Drive & Prop. l.D. 119-17, 119- 18 and 119-64. This is for construction of a 234,260 sq. ft. building (222,508 sq. ft. warehouse use and 11,752 sq. ft. office use) with 334-parking spaces, 34-loading spaces, and 59-trailor spaces submitted by NorthBridge Partners. Owned by Cifton Realty LLC, Taunton L&U LLC, Cotley Street Realty LLC and Revolutionary Drive LLC. This scheduled meeting for this petition will be on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 9:15 a.m. in the Taunton Planning Board Office at 141 Oak Street to be reviewed by the DIRB. The Taunton Planning Board will review this on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall located on 15 Summer Street. Motion was made to receive and place on file. So voted. Com. from the Chairman of the Taunton Planning Board notifying of a public meeting and hearing for a site plan review for 81 Taunton Depot Drive for parking lot improvements which will include increasing the drive-up stalls to 24, adding 1-2 light poles, one 12' solar-powered drive-up beacons, 24 directional post with panel signs (one at each stall) team member curb ramp, crosswalk and necessary stop control (as needed) for access to drive-up parking areas, design will provide 6' walkway between parking stalls for team member access to each stall. Submitted by Target. This scheduled meeting for this petition will be on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 8:45 a.m. in the Taunton Planning Board Office at 141 Oak Street to be reviewed by the DIRB. The Taunton  3 Planning Board will review this on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall located on 15 Summer Street. Motion was made to receive and place on file. So voted. Com. from the Chairman of the Taunton Planning Board notifying of a public meeting and hearing for a site plan review for 400 Winthrop Street to allow change in traffic flow for a change of use from convenience/liquor store to Cannabis Dispensary submitted by Bask, Inc., owned by Peter Cullen. This scheduled meeting for this petition will be on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. in the Taunton Planning Board Office at 141 Oak Street to be reviewed by the DIRB. The Taunton Planning Board will review this on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall located on 15 Summer Street. Motion was made to receive and place on file. So voted. Com. from the Chairman of the Taunton Planning Board notifying of a public meeting and hearing for a proposed zoning change dated 10-4-22, to add the "East Taunton MBTA Commuter Rail station on County Street" shall be comprised of assessors parcels 107-48, 107-51 through 107-62, 108-1, 108-2, 108-4, 108-5, 108-8, 108-9, 108-11 through 108-19, 118-7, 118-8, 118-39, 118-40, 118-41and126-5. To remove TOD West consisting of assessors parcels 55-760, 55-759, 55-761, 55-762, 55-763, 55-764. Also, to remove TOD East consisting of assessors parcels 65-347 through 65-359, 65-779 and parcel 65-780. Chapter 440 Article 17 - Transit-Oriented Development District - Sections 1701-1708. The Planning Board will be holding a public hearing on this proposal on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall located on 15 Summer Street. Motion was made to receive and place on file. So voted. Com. from the City Clerk in regards to the appointment of three (3) permanent full-time Firefighters. A list of candidates was provided. Motion was made to refer to the Committee on Fires and Wires. So voted. Com. from the Chief Financial Officer requesting to give a presentation on October 25, 2022 in the Council as a Whole regarding the Public Safety Facility project. He would be inviting the Owner's Project Manager and the Architect to provide the Council and City residents with an update on the project as well as an overview of the next steps and anticipated program completion date. Motion was made to refer to the Committee of the Council as a Whole on October 25, 2022. So voted. Com. from the City Solicitor requesting for an executive session with the Committee on Public Property to review the potential acquisition by the City of two buildable lots in the Ashleigh Estates (Phase II) Subdivision (Assessors' parcels 80-45 and 80-47). Motion was made to refer to the Committee on Public Property and add to next week's agenda. So voted. Com. from the City Solicitor regarding recent change in Law governing Host Community Agreements. On July 28, 2022 the Council approved a Host Community Agreement for Lunar Xtracts, LLC for a marijuana product manufacturer establishment to be established at 144 West Britannia Street. Thereafter in August, a new law was passed by the Massachusetts legislature amending M.G.L. c. 94G which contains new requirements for HCA's. Among other things the law has been changed in ways related to HCA's. A list of changed were given. Perhaps most notably HCA's are no longer to mandate a specific percentage of gross sales as the community impact fee. Going forward, the fee must  4 instead be based on actual, documented costs incurred by the municipality due to the establishment. (The law does not address the statue of HCA's instituted prior to the change and that remains an unsettled legal issue arising from the new law.) Submitted herewith is a revised HCA with Lunar Xtracts, LLC. A separate packet was submitted in a "tracked changes" format so that the revisions are visible. It has been revised to comply with the new law. It does not mandate a specific community impact fee but instead bases the fee on documentation costs incurred by the City as a result of the establishment operations. Because of the intervening law change and revised nature of this HCA compared to prior HCA's, he is requesting that the Council vote as to whether to approve this HCA with the new terms. Motion was made to refer to the Committee of the Council as a Whole. So voted. Communications from Citizens: NONE Petitions: NONE Committee Reports: Motion was made for Committee reports to be read by title and approved. So Voted. Recommendations adopted to reflect the votes as recorded in committee reports. So Voted. Unfinished Business: NONE Orders, Ordinances and Resolutions: Ordinance for a third reading to be ordained on a roll call vote AN ORDINANCE RELATIVE TO LICENSING RECREATIONAL (NON- MEDICINAL) MARIJUANA ESTABLISHMENTS Part II: General Legislation Chapter222 Recreational (Non-Medicinal) Marijuana Establishments Be it ordained by the Municipal Council of the City of Taunton and by authority of the same as follows: Chapter 222 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Taunton, as amended, is hereby further amended by striking and replacing Section entitled §222-l(E) as follows:-- §222-1 (E) Number of Recreational Marijuana Retailers The total number of marijuana retailer licenses which may be issued pursuant to this chapter shall be nine (9). All ordinances or parts thereof inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon passage. Motion was made to be ordained on  5 a roll call vote. On a roll call vote, seven (7) Councilors were present, five (5) Councilors voted in favor (Councilors Quintal, Sanders, Coute, McCaul and Borges). Councilor Duarte voted as present. Councilor Dooner was opposed. Councilors Pottier and Postell were absent. Motion passed. So voted. New Business: Information only, Councilor Sanders commended the African American Students Club, particularly the President Condoleezza Dwuye who ran a very successful awareness walk on Saturday for sickle cell disease. Together the group was able to raise over a $1,000 to contribute to research and treatment of this terrible illness that is genetic and shortens the lives of millions of people around the world. He wanted to say to Condoleezza and the rest of the group, it was a job well done! Mayor O'Connell added that these are some wonderful students. Condoleezza has been an intern in her office and she does fantastic work. She's such a nice girl so Mayor O'Connell expressed she is not surprised to see her doing something great like this for the community. Meeting adjourned at 7:30 P.M. A true copy: Attest: erk K~ JLL/KLD  6 City of Taunton Municipal Council October 18, 2022 4 The Committee on Finance and Salaries The m~eting was held at Taunton City Hall, 15 Summer Street, Taunton;. 02780 iJ!lhe , Chester R. Martin Municipal Council Chambers. \ ~ ~ .··:.~~ Present were Councilor Phillip Duarte, Chairman and Councilor McCaul. Cfilmcilor P~ier was - ~ :z: :·. absent. -< :r: U ::.:: :·1; c.-') .__ , I .-• ' r- ,,.. ty _.,., , The meeting was called to order at 5:36 PM .. i _, w 1. Meet to review the weekly vouchers and payrolls for City departments. MOTION: Approve the payroll warrant in the amount of $3,901,058.96. So voted. MOTION: ·Approve the accounts payable warrant in the amount of $7,320,872.44. So voted. The meeting was adjourned at 5:38 PM. Respectfully submitted, CITY OF TAUNTON .~{ G&-4v OCT 1'8 2022 Maggie E. ·Clarke Clerk of Council Committees IN MUNICIPAL COUNCIL .RE ORTS ACCEPTED. RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED. L{.~  7 City of Taunton Municipal Council October 18, 2022 \ The Committee oil Public ProQerty . . . \ JC' ~ ,• ,., The meeting wa~ held ~t ~he Taunto1:1 City Hall, 15 Summer Street, Taunto~ MPS 027~ in the Chester R. Martm Mumc1pal Council Chambers. n ~· a Present were: Councilor Christopher Coute, Chairman and Councilors Borg~, ~au~oone+~~·, and Quintal. Also present was First Assistant City Solicitor Peter Winters. i_ ~ >+, . _.J The meeting was called to order at 5:40 PM. 1. Meet to discuss proposed donation of land on Eqwards Avenue (Map 46, Lot 356). Councifor Coute asked Attorney Winters for the opinion of the Law Department on this matter and Mr. Winters indicated that the Law Department had consulted with the City Engineer and found no City need or use for this property. Councilor Coute suggested there is always the possibility that the. property will end up in tax title. Attorney Winters . pointed out that this parcel may be most valuable to the abutters and that, perhaps, the property owner should offer this to the abutters. This would benefit the City by keeping the property on the tax rolls. He stated his recommendation not to accept this gift. Councilor Coute suggested the Law Department send a letter to the owner to ask her to offer the land to the abutters. Councilor Borges suggested putting this on hold until the letter is sent. Councilor McCaul made a motion: MOTION: Go by the recommendation ofthe Law Department and deny this gift. Councilor Dooner indicated that she would rather reach out to the abutters first. Councilor Sanders expressed his concern that the property may become neglected and overgrown and he does not want this to become an eyesore. Councilor Borges agreed that the Law Department should direct the property owner to contact the abutters in the area. She would like to table the discussion until the letter is sent. Councilor Coute agreed that they should reach out to the abutters. MOTION WAS WITHDRAWN. MOTION: Law Department to reach out to the property owner and request that she reach out to the abutters aiid let her know that the Council thinks that is the best option. A copy of the abutters list should be included with this correspondence. So voted.  8 Page Two October 18, 2022 ·The Committee on Public Property - Continued 2. Meet to discuss proposed donation of land on Glebe Street (Map 73, Lot 123). Attorney Winters gave the same recommendation for this prope1iy. He indicated that while this is not a small parcel, the City Engineer sees no value to the City for this land-locked piece of property, Councilor Coute pointed out its location in the middle of the woods. MOTION: Do notaccept this gift and the Law Department to advise Mr. Lincoln to offer it to the abutters. So voted. 3. Meet to discuss the request to hold public auctions for tax possession properties and disposal of properties through the Abutter's Lot Program. Attorney Winters indicated the City's desire to hold public auctions for parcels 66-457, 130- 20, and 46-196. This would commence after confirming that no City Departments have a need for these properties. Ccmnciloi Coute questioned when this would happen and Attorney Winters advised likely early next year or later this year. MOTION: Approve the request of the Law Department to ·move these forward to public auction. So voted. · Attorney Winters explained the request to dispose of parcels 77-516, 105-25, 31-396, and 92- 248 through the abutters lot program. He further explained that these lots could be combined with lots of abutters. Again, City Departments would be consulted before proceeding. MOTION: Move parcels 77-516, 105-25, 31-396, and 92-248 into the Abutter's Lot Program thiough the Law Department. So voted. . . Parcel 44-110 (355 Norton Ave), which had originally been included in tlie list of properties earmarked for the Abutter's Lot Program was removed from the list. The meeting adjourned at 5: 59 PM. . Respectfully submitted, CITY OF TAUNTON '/11l1A . ~<\__,,.~/ {~1 [{p,~lcc . (\ 0 Maggie 'E. Clarke OCT 1' 8 2022 Clerk of Council Committees l_N MUNICIPAL COUNCIL  9 City of Taunton Municipal Council October 18, 2022 The Committee of.the Council as a Whole \1, "' N . i :.~ :~ .i 'l · The meeting was held at the Taunton City Hall, 15 Summer Street, Taunton, ~ 0.;278cfm the~, - Chester R. Martin Municipal Council Chambers. -< ; u nI >'~ N --- Present were Council President Phillip Duarte and Councilors Dooner, Borges~cCaul, e,gute, Sii Sanders, and Quintal. Councilors Pottier and Postell were absent. Also presenfwere BolJ-l Pirozzi, Building Commissioner, Attorney Blake Mensing, and Haskell Kennedy of Medicine Man Solutions. The meeting was called to order at 6:01 PM. 1. Meet with the Building Commissioner to discuss issues at 46 Harrison Street Building Commissioner Bob Pirozzi gave some background on the events at 46 Harrison Street. He indicated that in August of 2021 he first received a complaint from a neighbor regarding shrubbery that had been removed. Mr. Pirozzi asserted this was a property line dispute and not within his jurisdiction. On February 3, 2022 the permit was issued for construction. In August, 2022 several different complaints were received. In September Mr. _Pirozzi indicated that he visited the site, took photos and wrote a violation notice of section 350, the Property Maintenance Ordinance, which was emailed. He later learned that the requirement is for the notice to be sent certified mail so that is what he did. He indicated that the property owner has hired a landscaper and since has made some improvements on the appearance and cleanliness of the site but there are still piles of debris to be removed. He can begin sending fines after 10 days of receipt of the violation notice. Councilor Coute asked Mr. Pirozzi if there had been any activity on the site since the foundation went in and Mr. Pirozzi indicated the he did not believe there had been any activity and that he did not know why construction had stopped. He questioned if the permit would be revoked and Mr. Pirozzi indicated that after 6 months with no activity the permit would expire. Mr. Coute asked Mr. Pirozzi ifhe is confident that the site is safe and Mr. Pirozzi indicated that he is not concerned with safety since the foundation has not yet been backfilled. Councilor Coute asked Mr. Pirozzi ifhe did deem the site unsafe what could be done. Mr. Pirozzi sugg~sted that temporary fencing is not needed yet. Mr. Coute asked at what point action would be taken with a just a foundation and Mr. Pirozzi indicated there likely would be no action as it is. Mr. Coute further suggested that a fence could help with people congregating on the property and Mr. Pirozzi asserted that he does not believe it is within his purview to require a fence. Mr. Coute recommended suggesting a fence. Councilor Borges indicated that she's seen people congregating there and Mr. Pirozzi suggested that the Police might be able to help to address that issue. Ms. Borges shared that she has driven by and thinks the site does look a little better.  10 Page Two October 18, 2022 The Committee of the Council as a Whole - Continued Councilor McCaul recalled many issues from that site and stated his strong belief that a fence should be installed. He made the following motion: MOTION: Put fencing up now to secure the property for safety reasons. Councilor Borges asserted that the Council does not have the authority to force a fence and Mr. Pirozzi again indicated that he does not believe that he has jurisdiction. Mr. McCaul suggested bringing this to the Law Department to deterinine the jurisdication. Councilor Coute asked if Mr. Pirozzi could have the City put up a fence ifhe believed it was unsafe and Mr. Pirozzi indicated that is allowed on unsafe ·structures. Councilor Coute suggested that one could make the argument that this is unsafe and Mr. Pirozzi again emphasized his belief that it is not unsafe until it is backfilled. Further, he asserted that it is in the owner's interest for the construction to continue. · Councilor Sanders expressed his support for Mr. Pirozzi and his professional opinion on the matter. He further suggested that this could become precedent setting and that requiring a fence for this construction site could lead to the development of an ordinance for all construction si~es. He stressed that this is private property and asked ifthe enforcement is ·different on construction sites vs. private property and Mr. Pirozzi indicated ·that there is not · a difference in the Property Maintenance Ordinance, a violation is a violation. Mr. Sanders indicated his belief that the City has no legally defensible role to take yet. Councilor Borges stressed that this was brought to the attention of the Building Commissioner less than 120 days ago and improvements have been made. She has spoken with the neighbor who is happy to see progress being made. Counc'ilor Coute stressed that any responsible builder should be checking on their property and would not leave a foundation sitting, exposed for over a year and, while Mr. Pirozzi does not deem it unsafe, the abutters think differently. · Councilor McCaul withdrew his motion. Councilor Coute mad~ the following motion:. MOTION: The Building Commissioner to send a certified.letter to the property owner requesting that, if he does not intend to start construction by the end of the year, he erect a  11 Page Three October 18, 2022 The Committee of the Council as a Whole - Continued fence for safety purposes until he does start construction and the Building Commissioner is to report back in 30 days. So voted. 2. Meet to discuss proposed Host Community Agreement for Medicine Man Solutions, LLC for a marijuana retail establishment at 597 Winthrop Street. · Attorney Blake Mensing and Haskell Kennedy gave a presentation on the proposed retail marijuana establishment at 597 Winthrop Street which is in the Highway Business District and meets all of the current zoning requirements for cannabis. The presentation included details on the proposed location, security plans, and project timeline as well as information on Mr. Kennedy's background including his social equity status. They further explained some of the changes that were made to the laws on HCAs and social equity.· Mr. Mensing explained that the CCC will require municipalities to create processes to prioritize licensure of social equity applicants. For cornn1unities who host a social equity business, an additional 1% will be paid from the State Treasurer for each social equity retailer. The original 3% impact fee will need to be substantiated based on impact costs incurred. Councilor Sanders emphasized that the Law Department will have to negotiate the HCA with Mr. Kennedy. He expressed his opinion that parts of the new laws only restate the original expectation that impacts are itemized. He indicated his support for Medicine Man Solutions. Councilor Coute asked Mr. Kennedy a few questions about his background and experience and about his expected construction timeline and Mr. Kennedy indicated that he hoped to start construction in the spring. Mr. Coute asked if the neighbor outreach had occurred and Mr. Kennedy indicated that he plans to schedule as of tomorrow. · Councilor Coute, while supportmg this HCA, is concerned about approving before completing public outreach. Councilor Borges suggested adding the condition that neighbor outreach be completed within a certain timeframe. She inquired about the building which she indicated was quite large and Mr. Kennedy conveyed that there is currently a tenant who occupies about half of the building who he hopes will stay. Councilor Borges indicated her comfort with this HCA vote with the attached condition of having public outreach within 4 weeks. Councilor Dooner indicated that she would reluctantly support this HCA and appreciates Mr. Kennedy's realistic timeframe with full confidence in Mr. Kennedy. Councilor Coute further emphasized his belief that it is preferable to have the neighborhood meeting completed firstto be consistent with other applicants.  12 Page Four October 18, 2022 The Committee of the Council as a Whole - Continued Councilor Duarte clarified that this is vote is.a preliminary approval authorizing the Law Department to enter into negotiations. MOTION: Allow the Law Department to negotiate an HCA with the provision that the neighborhood outreach meeting happen on or before November 15 prior fo the final vote. So Voted. The meeting was adjourned at 7:09 PM. Respectfµlly submitted, CITY OF TAUNTON ri~~ {. (A;lA_)_e_,_- Maggie E. Clarke OCT 1'8· 2022 Clerk of Council Committees IN MUNICIPAL COUNCIL PORTS ACCEPTED. RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED. RK;(~