Town Council

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 1, 2024 President Letterie calls meeting to order at 6:30 PM ROLL CALL Present: Councilor Tassinari, Councilor Munson, Councilor DeMarco, Councilor Aiello, Councilor Swope, Vice President Belcher, President Letterie Absent: Councilor Costigan, Councilor DaRos PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilor Swope MOMENT OF SILENCE Hurricane Victims Councilor DeMarco requests Moment of Silence for the Middle Eastern MINUTES Motion by Vice President Belcher to Approve the Approval of Minutes, September 17, 2024, as circulated 2nd by Councilor Tassinari Motion Passed GENERAL INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS White Cane Month- Resident John Morgan presents information. Winthrop Board of Health Members of the Board of Health, Jeanne Maggio, Marylou Cooney, Christine Reilly and Lisa Stefano Discuss the new meeting dates, rules & regulations, guest speakers, and review future meetings. PUBLIC COMMENT Jack Dowd P1-Request’s Intragovernmental Strategies committee to have a meeting. Tippie-Collen Costa-Jim Smith-Nick Atri- P2-All are very concerned with the flooding on Fairview, Morton and Banks St. It is only getting worse, and something has to be done. Rain or shine, you never know when you will be flooded. The town must do something, sandbags will not really help at this point. Asks the town what will be done. Nothing is not an answer anymore, victims of this flooding have lost furnaces, appliances, etc….Will we receive grant money, when will this happen? CORRESPONDENCE Scott Mahoney Wright-Urges Town Council to write to Winthrop Transcript to restore civility in our town regarding MBTA 3A Zoning John Nuzzo- Robert Paci- Aks the Town Council to Vote No in reference to Seal Harbor being a designated zoning area for MBTA 3A Corina Boncore-Nicole Grayan-Tracey Tallent-Asks about Yirrel Beach and what the plan is. The beach is in desperate need of revitalization. COMMITTEE REPORTS Town Council President instructs each Chair to schedule a meeting as soon as possible.: Economic Development Public Works -Positive Recommendation for the Somerset Ave Air rights request TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 1, 2024 PAGE 1 SCHOOL DEPARTMENT UPDATE Enrollment is approx.. 2008 students. Numbers keep increasing. Override Discussion Staffing is up to date. TOWN MANAGER REPORT • Update on the Storm Water Design-Tileston, Girdlestone Pico, Morton, Banks St. • Town Council has approved beginning funds for the hydrology Phase I to begin. Still waiting for more information on current grants applied for Phase II-This will also include Pico Ave Seawall to get to same height all the way down to help with the water. • NE Mosquito Control-Update-Waiting to hear from Army Core in reference to the dredging work to be done in the marshy area that will help with flooding. • Yirrel Beach, have draft plan on Beach Design, meeting has been set up to review this with DEP. This will begin with the design, there is still more work to be discussed. • Will have a meeting on why we did not receive the MVP Grant • There have been 370 responses on the Fire Station Survey, 55% Pauline St. Location, 45% Basketball courts location-Will keep survey online for several more weeks. Council President asks DPW Director for time frame on Flapper Valves in marsh area. The DPW Director states it is very time consuming identifying each location. Hoping by the end of month will have an idea of where work will be. Councilor Swope-Asks if the citizens will soon see relief from flooding. Councilor Aiello-Asks about the costs of these projects so all can have a more comprehensive thought of these costs. Requests that the gates at Governors Park be closed after construction. Is there anything that can be done about the speeding on Morton St. Vice President Belcher-There is a lot to think about with these future costs. Would like a review of each one. Councilor Munson-Requested roll call opinion on where the councilors would like the location of where they would like the Fire Station to be located. All councilors agree, they would like to expedite anything that can be done to help these citizens with this flooding issue. CDICR Had a successful event at the library. UPDATE POLICY MAKING COMMITTEES See Attached OLD BUSINESS Motion by the Public Works Committee with a Positive Recommendation to approve the Air Rights Approval-50 Somerset Ave. (Overhang Roof) Discussion Councilor Swope is concerned with the variances that the town is giving, especially with the parking and would like this discussed at a later meeting. Councilor Aiello would like this to be a non-precedent setting. No 2nd Needed Roll Call Yes: Councilor Tassinari, Councilor Munson, Councilor Aiello, Councilor Swope, Vice President Belcher, President Letterie Abstain: Councilor DeMarco Absent: Councilor Costigan, Councilor DaRos Motion Passes TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 1, 2024 PAGE 2  Release and abandonment of a Certain Right of Way (Summit Ave)-Referred to the Economic Development Committee Councilor President reiterates this has been discussed in the past. Opens up to discussion Vice President Belcher, agrees this has been discussed and Public Works Committee never had chance to meet. The council did get a list of all public ways and maintenance schedule. She would like to complete the work of the committee meeting and discussing as she is cautious on how public ways will be maintained. Though she does believe this particular public way needs an extraordinary amount of work to be kept up. Attorney Kucinski speaks on behalf of the applicant for this public way located at 76 Summit Ave. Motion by Vice President Blecher to allow Attorney Kucinski to speak 2nd by Councilor Tassinari Discussion This is only needed during public comment Motion Passes Councilor DeMarco discusses walking this path everyday, and it would be taking history away from Winthrop if we allow this. We should not lose any walking paths in our town. Councilor Swope walked path and it seemed fine to her. She would also like to further review this. Councilor DeMarco uses Council Privilege to continue until the next meeting. Morton St / Banks St.-Discussion continues on the flooding issues. NEW BUSINESS Motion by the Council President to refer to the Finance Committee that the Town Council appropriate $1,100,000 to pay the cost to replace water meters, exercise water valves…. Motion by the Council President to refer to the Finance Committee that the Town Council appropriate. $980,000 to pay the cost of replacing lead water service line… Motion by Council DeMarco to suspend council rules and have a meeting on October 29th instead of November 5th and then the scheduled meeting on November 19th 2nd by Vice President Belcher Motion Passes PUBLIC COMMENT Denise Preston P2-Had sent correspondence but believes it was bounced back. Has frustration about the flooding issues and has questions on why town did not receive MVP Grant? Would like to know who to talk to about timeline of when help will come their way. Jim Smith P2-Requests police to help with the speeding on Banks St. Maureen McAdams P5-Discusses the flooding on Fisherman’s Bend and this seems to have been forgotten that this is quite a problem with flooding. The town needs to help with this problem. When will help come? This limits her selling of her home as others. Collen Costa P2-Can we at least begin to get some work done to help this issue of flooding? Lisa Pelletier P2-Believes this could also be an EPA issue if boilers are being destroyed during the flooding and oil is leaking. TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 1, 2024 PAGE 3 Jeanette Wright P2-Concerned on Flooding issue on Banks and Morton, have seen dead fish, garbage floating, boats, its ridiculous Jack Dowd P1-Consider speed bump on Banks St. Annie Ferrara P3-Discusses the School Override and thinks it very important for more information to be available for the public on this Override Question. Council President polls Town Council on Fire Station Location Councilor Tassinari-Walden St. Councilor Munson-Walden St. Councilor DeMarco-Walden St. Councilor Aiello-Walden St. Councilor Swope-Nothing to add. Vice President Belcher-Walden St. President Letterie-Walden St. The Middle School can still be used for economic opportunity for the town. PUBLIC RELATIONS / UPCOMING EVENTS • 10-3-24 Winthrop Recovery Event at Town Hall 5:30-8:30 • 10-5-24-Flu Walk In Clinic 9am – 1pm Winthrop Senior Center • Flu Vaccinations-Tuesdays 9-5 EB Newton (Call to Registrer Encouraged 617-53-5837) • 10-6-24 St. Johns Episcopal Blessing of the Animals 5:30pm • 10-12-24 Parks & Rec Fall Fair Craft Show 11am-3pm Ingleside Park • Oct 13 & 27 Winthrop Farmers Market Dates: Last Dates-Inglesdie Park 9am-1pm • 10-19-24 Early Voting Begins at Town Hall-Business Hours including Sat. Oct. 19th and Sat. Oct. 26th • 10-15-24 Town Council- Fall Forum-Sr. Center ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn by Vice President Belcher at 8:18 pm 2nd by Councilor DeMarco Passed Unanimously Public Documents used in the meeting are available at Town Managers Office. Documents Used in this Meeting: Handwritten Notes / Committee Openings Documents Roll Call Log Written Motions / Verbal Motion Respectfully submitted. Denise Quist Town Clerk Council Clerk TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 1, 2024 PAGE 4