City Council · CivicPulse

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Meeting Title: City Council
City: Somerville, MA
Date Published: 2025-09-25

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AI Disclaimer: Summaries and transcripts above were created by various AI tools. By their nature, these tools will produce mistakes and inaccuraies. Links to the official meeting recordings are provided for verification. If you find an error, please report it to somervillecivicpulse at gmail dot com.

Time & Speaker	Transcript
Lance Davis	Calling this meeting to order, it is Thursday, September 25th. This is a meeting of the City Council. I am Lance Davis. I use he, him pronouns. I will be presiding. Pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025, this meeting of the City Council is being conducted via remote participation. We will post an audio recording, audio, video recording, transcript. or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Somerville website in local cable access government channels. For those looking for information on this meeting or future meetings, you can register at the City Council website. The Zoom information is at the top of the agenda for any given meeting. And individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication, as in CART or ASL, written materials in alternative formats or reasonable modifications and policies and procedures in order to access the programs Activities of the City of Somerville to attend meetings should contact Adrienne Pomeroy at, you can call the main number and ask for Ms. Pomeroy. The extension is 2059 or email ada at somervillema.gov. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?
Clerk	This is roll call. Councillor Wilson.
Lance Davis	Present.
Clerk	Councillor Ewen-Campen.
SPEAKER_08	Here.
Clerk	Councillor Scott.
SPEAKER_08	Present.
Clerk	Councillor McLaughlin.
Unknown Speaker	Here.
Clerk	Council Burnley.
SPEAKER_08	Here.
Clerk	Councilor Sait. Here. Councilor Strezo. Present. Councilor Clingan. Present. Councilor Mbah. Councilor Davis. Here. With eight councillors present and two absent, we have a quorum.
Lance Davis	Okay, two extra things. First, pursuant to our rule 32, let it be known that this City Council salutes the flag of the United States of America, and let us recall our oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth to the best of our abilities and understanding. Councillor McLaughlin is attending a big family event this evening, and Councillor Mbah is in New York City for UN Climate Week. They both send their regrets and will follow up. I wanted to note that since Councillor Mbah serves as the Vice President, to the extent that I need to step down and speak to any issue, as the next most senior in age, Councillor Scott, according to our rules, would sever the place. So if he steps up, that's why we're doing it that way. Good? OK. All right, we begin our meetings with a moment of silence. Are there any councillors wishing to say a few words about members of our community tonight? All right, seeing none, would anyone in the chambers please rise as you are able for a moment of silence? Thank you. All right, Madam Clerk, first item.
Clerk	Item 1.3 is approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of August 28th, 2025.
Lance Davis	Seeing no objection, that is approved.
Clerk	Item 2.1 is a citation by Councillors Clingan, Strezo, and Wilson, commending the Somerville firefighters for their life-saving actions in summer 2025.
Jesse Clingan	Councillor Clingan. thank you mr president through you um it is my honor to bring this citation forward uh co-sponsor actually the mayor's office had reached out as well uh to see to it that um the firefighters were recognized for their heroics that day so this is a joint effort um myself counselor Strezo
Lance Davis	Councilor Clingan, just so we can make sure everyone can hear you, let's give the folks, the firefighters themselves, a moment to come into the chambers here. Okay. Usually there's a little bit of noise if that happens, so I want everyone to be able to hear your words. So I'll do a quick song and dance while we're waiting for everyone to join us, and then you can continue on. All right, Councilor Clingan.
Jesse Clingan	So Mr. President, through you, as I was saying, it is my honor to bring forward this citation. Myself and other, and Councillor Strezo were reached out to by actually, it was a joint effort between the mayor's office. We all wanted to make sure that the firefighters of Somerville were recognized for the heroics on the day of July 6th. So I'm gonna read a little recap of that day. I'm gonna read the citation and... So let me just begin by saying I was on the scene that day, as was Councillor Wilson, and on that afternoon of Sunday, July 6th, during a severe heat advisory, a devastating fire broke out on the third floor of a triple-decker on Wheatland Street. The blaze spread quickly, and despite the best efforts of tenants and neighbors, soon engulfed much of the building. The fire's intensity forced the evacuation of not only the triple-decker, but also the adjacent property, leaving a total of 27 Somerville residents displaced. Somerville Fire Department units arrived within minutes of the alarm and immediately went to work under dangerous and exhausting conditions, battling both the blaze and extreme heat. Firefighters acted with speed, precision, and courage, aggressively working to contain the fire and prevent further loss. Their response was supported by multiple companies called to the scene, coordinating seamlessly to protect lives, neighboring homes, and the community as a whole. The incident did draw a large crowd of onlookers, many of whom witnessed firsthand the bravery and professionalism of the Somerville Fire Department. In the face of chaos, our firefighters demonstrated the highest level of dedication to public safety, reminding us of the extraordinary commitment they bring to their work every single day. We honor the men and women of the Sunwell Fire Department not only for their actions on Wheatland Street, but for the tireless service they provide to our city. Thanks to their courage and skill, an even greater tragedy was averted, and our community is deeply grateful. now i just want to add that that was my first in experience like i said this was a joint effort because we had a number of fires around the city including one in ward seven uh who which is why council Strezo wanted to make sure that there was recognition but of course i mean i know we all appreciate the efforts of our fire department and uh there was just it was just a bad fire uh excuse me summer for fires and uh and our uh firefighters responded accordingly every single time making sure that loss was at a minimum, and just putting themselves out there in harm's way. As I said, I was on the scene of the Wheatland Street Fire, and it was a very chaotic scene. I do want to say that we as a community really didn't know how to come together. regular citizens, making sure that all the firefighters had water. I mean, this was a community effort, but it was led by the bravery of the men and women of the Somerville Fire Department, making sure that they saved a cat. I mean, there was multiple amazing deeds done that day. So we wanted to make sure that for the summer and just in general, and certainly for the Wheatland Street, Thurston Street, and the town of the housing in Clarendon Hill, that we recognized the firefighters of Somerville for their bravery and their commitment to our community. So that said, I'm gonna read the citation. I don't, unless, should I let colleagues speak first or should we just go right to the citation? Okay, all right. So, citation reads as follows. Somerville, be it hereby known to all that the City of Somerville, I'm sorry, that the Somerville City Council and the Mayor offer their sincerest commendations to the Somerville firefighters. for the heroic actions in summer 2025 providing swift and life-saving response to protect life and property in large fires on wheatland street powderhouse avenue and thurston street offered this 25th day of september 2025 signed by the entire council and her madam mayor and with that i'd like to present this to the president of the union whoever would like to step forward please and or all of you if you want to
SPEAKER_00	you all want to take some pictures all right let's we'll do a we'll do a five minute recess so we can take some pictures yeah absolutely so please go ahead just hit yourself real quick mike jefferson president some will file local 76 uh to the council thank you we appreciate that we appreciate the respect uh that the men you give the men and women of the sun will fight apartment um to everyone in the room that was working those fires uh until all the other fighters that work will continue to work um i'm extremely proud to represent them uh they do a phenomenal job stuff i saw um on the boulevard you know was just um beyond what i can explain people going above and beyond um thurston street i wasn't there but what i heard uh wheeling street i wasn't there but the things that i heard uh i'm truly honored to represent these men and women and i just want to thank you all again thank you
Lance Davis	Before we take some pictures, I see the liaison. Hunter would like to say a few words.
SPEAKER_11	Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to acknowledge, as Councillor Killeen mentioned, this was a joint effort with the mayor's office. Unfortunately, the mayor is ill today and could not be here, but she wanted to make sure I came up here and said on her behalf, thank you to all the firefighters. Really grateful for the efforts over the course of the summer and the bravery displayed. It's part of what makes our community so lovely, as the Councillor said. So many people coming together, all of our staff and our wonderful firefighters. So thank you on behalf of Mayor Ballantyne.
Lance Davis	All right, let's take a brief recess to take some pictures.
SPEAKER_03	Sorry, I can slide it back.
Clerk	I didn't move fast enough. I'm not sure I can, so. And then.
Ben Ewen-Campen	You're all dressed up, I'm on duty.
SPEAKER_10	I'll take one for us.
SPEAKER_15	No, we gotta zoom out.
Clerk	All right, a couple of people like come over here. We're close, I promise, but we're not quite there yet. Maybe get in front. Y'all, this is a lot. All right, we got you.
SPEAKER_15	All right, no, I don't got you. Gotta zoom out.
SPEAKER_10	Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_15	Stay there, stay there.
SPEAKER_01	Thank you.
SPEAKER_15	Thank you. Nice work. Nice work. Perfect.
SPEAKER_10	Thank you. Thank you.
Lance Davis	All right, I'll call this meeting back to order. Thank you. Madam Clerk, the next item.
Clerk	The next item then will be item 3.1, a grant of location from Eversource to install a total of six feet of conduit in Warwick Street from utility pole 357 over 2 to a point of pickup at 13 Warwick Street.
Lance Davis	All right, I declare this public hearing to be open. Is there anyone here to speak on the item?
Clerk	I have Jackie Duffy.
Lance Davis	Jackie Duffy.
SPEAKER_07	Hi, how are you tonight? Can you hear me?
Lance Davis	Jackie, go one more time.
SPEAKER_07	Hi. It's Jackie from Eversource.
Lance Davis	There we go. Perfect.
SPEAKER_07	OK. We'd like to install six feet of conduit in Warwick Street to provide electric service to 13 Warwick Street.
Lance Davis	Is there anyone else to speak on the item? I see no one to declare the public hearing to be closed. Any discussion? I see none. That item is approved.
Clerk	Thank you. Item 3.2 is a grant application from Eversource to install a total of 68 feet of conduit in Cedar Street from utility pole 55 over 4 to a point of pickup at 33 Cedar Street.
Lance Davis	I declare this public hearing to be open. Is there anyone here to speak on the item?
SPEAKER_07	Jackie Duffy. Jackie Duffy, Eversource. We'd like to install approximately 68 feet of conduit in Cedar Street to provide electric service to 33 Cedar Street.
Lance Davis	All right. Anyone else to speak on the item? All right, seeing none, I declare the public hearing closed. Is there any discussion? No, all right, that item is approved.
SPEAKER_07	Thank you. Have a nice night, everybody.
Lance Davis	Thank you. Next item.
Clerk	Item 3.3 is a grant of location from Verizon New England to install a grant, excuse me, to install a total of 305 feet of conduit in Somerville Avenue from existing manhole 44 over 42 to a point of pickup at existing manhole 44 over 33.
Lance Davis	Is anyone here to speak on the item? All right. Declare the public hearing open. Anyone speak on the item? Sir, please introduce yourself for the record.
SPEAKER_12	Yes, good evening, councillors. My name is Alexander Lassie Marrero, M-A-R-R-E-R-O. I'm a resident sent in Cross Street, Marlboro, Massachusetts. I'm an employee of Pike, P-A-K-E, Telecom and Reunions LLC, an authorized contractor for Verizon New England Incorporated, and I'll be representing Verizon on the matter before you this evening. I see you by petitioning to place one new four-inch Conway starting from existing manhole 44 over 33 located at the intersection of Bow Street and Somerville Avenue And to run approximately 305 feet along Somerville Avenue ending an existing manhole 44 over 42 located at the intersection of some of real Avenue and Hawkins Street Okay, is there anyone else to speak on the item
Lance Davis	Okay, seeing none, I declare the public hearing to be closed. Any discussion? All right, seeing none, that item is approved.
Clerk	Item 3.4 is a grant of location from Verizon New England to install a total of 385 feet of conduit in Bow Street from existing manhole 44 over 32 to a point of pickup at existing manhole 44 over 33.
Lance Davis	I declare the public hearing to be open. Anyone here to speak on the item? Go ahead.
SPEAKER_12	Alexander Marrero, Pike Telecom, Verizon contractor. Verizon is hereby petitioning to place one new 4-inch PVC conduit from existing manhole 44 over 32 located at the intersection of Bow Street and Walnut Street and running 385 feet towards and terminating an existing manhole 44 over 33 located at the intersection of Somerville Avenue and Bow Street.
Lance Davis	All right, thank you. Anyone else to speak on the item? All right, seeing none, I declare the public hearing to be closed. Any discussion? All right, that item is approved. Thank you.
SPEAKER_12	Thank you.
Lance Davis	All right, so we have a few items that we're going to take out of order, but one of the key folks that we'll need for that isn't going to be available until about 7.30, so we're going to continue with the regular order of business, and around 7.30 or so, the clerk is going to throw something at me so that I know it's 7.30, and we will take items 7.1, which is an executive session, 6A, and then 7.4 and 7.7 in that order. the executive session shouldn't be that long so uh at least not that's what i'm told doesn't seem like it will so hopefully that won't be a big interruption and we'll be back to the regular business but for now we'll continue with the regular order business so that we can accommodate the folks who are going to be able to join us remotely at 7 30. good next item next item is item 4.1 in order by councillor Strezo that the director of health and human services inform this council which school buildings have menstrual products available and which school buildings have inoperable menstrual product dispensers and when they are scheduled to be replaced councillor Strezo
Kristen Strezo	Thank you, Mr. President. Back at it about menstrual products, because the boxes that are to dispense free menstrual products are jamming or are non-usable, and the students have to stick their hands way up there into the... cogs and levers and to actually get the products or you don't get one so the free products are just sitting in there we've had this discussion before nothing's been done since it was discussed last year so let's talk about it again can you please send us to the buildings committee
Clerk	school building facilities and maintenance i'd like to sign on councillor wilson would like to sign on council site and that'll be referred to approved and with a copy sent to school buildings facilities and maintenance next item item 4.2 is an order by councillor Strezo that the commissioner of public works discussed with this council the recent snagging of overhead wires by a semi-truck that took out the electricity in ward 7 and what plans have been put in place to prevent a similar occurrence
Kristen Strezo	Oh, curses, purses, the name of the streets which were on the original order aren't on this one, but we'll talk about it. So what the traffic patterns, because mobility should be discussing this as well, I believe. So last month, a semi-truck, I mean, this is a CVS semi-truck that was about to make deliveries in Davis Square, took a shortcut through a very, very tiny side street. And along the way, along the side street tiny turn, which a semi truck can't do on a tiny street, took out an electric pole and the electricity of the neighborhood. And I'm sure you colleagues, you all knew about this, because we've all heard about it. And so what we've ascertained through all this is that the semi truck was using a different traffic pattern, of course, was going down Broadway. and not going the main street road that you would assume it would take to make a delivery of a semi-truck amount of delivery to Davis Square. And there are numerous impacts on this, including the fact that the residents have to pay out of their own money to get things back in line and back in service and their electricity and things back up, and that's going to be an ongoing situation for them. So the impact of the neighborhood is still going to happen and I'd like to discuss this to just send it on to committee So public utilities Public Works It's all right All right.
Lance Davis	Very well. That is approved to the copy set to public utilities. Oh, I'm sorry councillor Stratton councillor clean.
Jesse Clingan	Go ahead Thank You mr. President through you. I just want to add to this that There is a phenomenon to whereby the wires when it's really windy they can get stretched. I'm not saying this is a situation in this in but on my street, one of the garbage trucks that go down my street every single week, all of a sudden, one day, grabbed onto one of the wires. That hadn't been changed, nothing had happened except I believe the wind had sort of stretched them out just enough that it snagged the truck. So just something for everybody to be mindful of that these wires do, you know, they can, become lowered on their own through wear and tear of wind and other natural forces. But nonetheless, it ripped the pole right off my landlady's house. And we didn't lose power luckily, but it's just one of those things that I feel for those people that we were lucky in that situation, but certainly trucks coming down our streets and low hanging wires are a bad combination. So happy to talk about it in committee. Thank you.
Kristen Strezo	Thank you, Mr. President, through you to Council Clean. Thank you so much for recognizing the ongoing pattern of the dangling wire saga and bringing it on to 2025. Yes, there still are plenty of dangling wires that aren't addressed, some low-hanging, some windy, and then just get linked, and some that construction sites and subcontractors just don't do a good enough job respecting our community and doing the right thing and lifting them higher, et cetera.
Lance Davis	Thank you. All right, so that is approved to the Copy to Public Utilities, Public Works. Next item. All right, let's do the next one. This is the last of Councillor Strezo's items, and then since she's all wound up and ready to go. I'm all ready. Have at it.
Clerk	It was on alert.
Lance Davis	Next item, please.
Clerk	Thank you. Item 4.3 is a resolution by Councillor Strezo that the administration discuss with this council its recent press release announcement of a home rule petition to expand procurement opportunities for disadvantaged businesses.
Lance Davis	Thank you.
Kristen Strezo	I know we're going that the administration will be discussing this with us And we saw the press release in our inboxes this week. I wrote this this Agenda item so that we could continue on the conversation and learn more about the implementation of this in housing and community development me that was my goal to write this to keep the to make sure that There is continued intention and a strategy and an actual plan on how we're going to implement this. And I'd like the directors of the departments to come to Housing and Community Development to talk about it.
Lance Davis	Okay, so Council Chauzada, I think the HRP itself is in legislative matters, so I'd be inclined to keep these together. Well, we do have the, you know, the homework petition itself is in legislative matters, so we'll be talking about the issue there.
Kristen Strezo	to listen to an argument that also sends a different argument. Mr. President, I'm always ready for that. So the goal of this is getting into more of the weeds of, okay, we have the home rule petition in legislative matters, sure, and that's really important. But on the other side of that, the goal of this is the longer conversation of What is the strategy for this next six months, year implementation? And this wasn't designed to be discussed immediately in HCD. I have no intention of putting this on the agenda until, of course, after it passes the State House through the AHRP. But it was more just a bookmark to come back to the conversation when it does. No?
Lance Davis	Yeah, I hesitate just because for no other reason just to avoid confusion from members of the public who might care deeply about this item to make sure that they're not expecting there to be a conversation and then we have to wait for a homework petition. I do think that certainly if and when a homework petition is granted, then yeah, a conversation about it in that committee makes perfect sense.
Kristen Strezo	If you really feel that strongly about it, we can place it on file and I can resubmit it. That's fine. I'm afraid that I just don't with ongoing changes happen. This is an important conversation and an important issue, and I don't want it to get lost in a shuffle. So the goal was really to make sure that it is bookmarked, that we will in time come back to it because we have to. It's an agenda item now. I do not intend to put it on the agenda. in hcd in the next couple of months it is certainly until it is but your call
Lance Davis	MR. Thank you, Madam Clerk. I agree. Given the nature of the way this is worded, I just want to avoid confusion. We have our legislative liaison here. This administration has made a note of the desire to have that conversation. If we have a homework petition by the end of the calendar year, then great. If not, anything that was submitted would expire anyways and we'd need to resubmit something. So either way, it might be an opportunity to put a more precise item about the exact issues when that discussion is ripe and we can send it to that committee at that time if that's okay with you. I really don't want to send two items that have to do with the homework petition to two separate committees. Put it that way.
Kristen Strezo	Mr. President, that's the way your brain must organize that. I respect that.
Lance Davis	Thank you. I appreciate your understanding.
Kristen Strezo	Absolutely. I will write a note to resubmit it at a later time. And I am excited about the conversation on this item. Thank you.
Lance Davis	All right. Very good. Thank you. So we'll mark that approved. Okay, so we will now take item 7.1 out of order, and just as a reminder, this is an executive session. I don't anticipate, and I'm told from others that they don't anticipate this to be a very long executive session, so don't go anywhere. Clean up your dinner dishes, maybe get another beverage out of the fridge, come on back. We're going to be back here before you know it for the rest of our exciting agenda, at which point we'll take up the Finance Committee report, item 6A, and then items 7.4 and 7.7 out of order and then go back to our regular items. Do we have someone from the law department here to speak to the appropriateness of going into executive session for this item? Thank you, please approach.
Clerk	Mr. President, would you prefer that I read the item first?
Lance Davis	Yeah, it probably makes sense to read the item first so people know what the heck we're talking about.
Clerk	Item 7.1 is a request to the mayor requesting that this council convene an executive session to discuss the proposed settlement of opioid litigation involving the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case.
Lance Davis	The council speaks. Introduce yourself for the record.
SPEAKER_03	Thank you. Through you, Ms. President, Jason Peek, Assistant City Solicitor, this would directly impact the settlement negotiations of ongoing litigation in which way discussing it in an open session would be detrimental. So, yes, it would be appropriate for executive session.
Lance Davis	All right, very well. Have a roll call vote to go into executive session. On the motion, Council Wilson. Yes. Yes. Yes.
SPEAKER_09	Aye. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Lance Davis	All right, we'll be back in a flash, hopefully.
Unknown Speaker	I don't have the specific language yet, but it's on my rear, and I have no opposition.
Unknown Speaker	Signatures.
Unknown Speaker	Thank you.
Jake Wilson	It's a common thing in the town.
Unknown Speaker	Yeah, yeah.
Unknown Speaker	Thank you.
SPEAKER_10	Thank you.
Lance Davis	All right. I call this meeting back to order. We'll do a roll call for attendance.
Clerk	This is a roll call. Councillor Wilson.
Lance Davis	Present.
Clerk	Councillor Ewen-Campen. Here. Councillor Scott.
SPEAKER_09	Present.
Clerk	Councillor McLaughlin. Here. Councillor Burnley.
Unknown Speaker	Here.
Willie Burnley	Present.
SPEAKER_11	Councillor Sait.
Clerk	Present. Councillor Strezo. Here. Councillor Clingan. Present. Councillor Mbah. Councillor Davis. Here. With eight councillors present and two absent, we have a quorum.
Lance Davis	All right. No votes were taken in the executive session other than the vote to adjourn from executive session. We will now go to the next item that I've taken out of order, which is 6A, I believe. Madam Clerk.
Clerk	Item 6A is a report of the Committee on Finance meeting on September 23rd, 2025.
Lance Davis	Councilor Wilson.
Jake Wilson	Mr. President, the Finance Committee met on Tuesday, September 23rd with four of five members present. We took up a 23-item agenda over a 55-minute meeting. In addition to the minutes from our September 9th meeting, we recommended that you approve tonight a $50,000 grant for OSE, six pretty small dollar figure prior to your invoice items. two related infrastructure and asset management items, a $4.3 million bond for the Morrison Avenue storage sewer separation project, that's an important one, the extension of a contract with Eastern Bank for banking services, and four legal items related to 299 Broadway that hopefully pave the way to a start on the work there here this fall. We then talked about the update that we received on two of Councillor Burnley's items on UASI grants and strings that have been attached to those by the federal government. In a nutshell, we're still in wait and see mode with the state about some parts of that, but the committee members were united in agreement that our values are not negotiable, and that we should be absolutely clear with the public that any recent approval of UASI grants have come from prior fiscal years, and therefore they did not have any of those problematic requirements attached to them. So we did keep those two items in committee just for further updates since it is still a fluid situation. And finally, we got the requested report from the Director of Finance on stabilization funds, but we kept that order in committee as well just so its originator, Councilor Mabau, could participate in the discussion. So I'll ask the committee report be accepted as submitted.
Lance Davis	All right, thank you. On the report, Councillor Burnley.
Willie Burnley	Thank you. I just wanted to go a little bit more in depth on the UASI grant items that I submitted that we discussed. The council received a memo from law regarding where we currently stand on those. Essentially, the federal administration has added new national priorities that potentially could require pending litigation, Illinois v. FEMA. require communities that take these federal grants to put at least 10% of that money toward cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. I wanted to ensure that we were not obligated to do that, which we are not thus far. As I mentioned before, there is federal litigation pending to determine whether that leveraging is legally viable. to if it turns out that it is, there's a couple of different pathways forward. I mean, there's three acceptable ways to comply with that, one of which is through information sharing, which through BRIC, the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which the city is already participating in, potentially could already be, you know, satisfy those requirements kazuntite although you know which is not to say frankly that information sharing through brick is harmless either but i just want to make it very clear that if if these funds are requiring our community to violate our own sanctuary city laws um is that is a conversation that this council should take very seriously um and determine through the ministry with the administration what our strategy for that will be and that's a conversation that should include the council the administration rjpoc and be holistic about what information sharing we're already doing and what would be required under these new in positions from the federal administration. So just to be clear, it's not happening yet. I imagine that we will get an answer on this relatively soon. So just wanna put that out there.
Lance Davis	Okay, thank you, Council Burnley. I see no discussion on the report. The report is approved and that puts five items before us for a roll call.
Clerk	That is correct, Mr. President. Four of them are related generally to 299 Broadway, and if the council is so inclined, can take those up together.
Lance Davis	Any objections to taking the 299 Broadway financial items up together? I see no objection. Let's do that.
Clerk	So these are items 25-1382, the discontinuance of a portion of Sewell Court. Item 25-1383, the partial termination of the city utility easement on Sewell Court. 25-1400 an order of taking for the acquisition of lot three at 299 broadway for municipal purposes including parking and item 25-1433 temporary and permanent easements over lot three of 299 broadway in favor of 299 broadway property owner llc on those items council wilson yes Councillor Ewen Campin.
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Scott.
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor McLaughlin. Aye. Councillor Burnley.
SPEAKER_09	Aye.
Clerk	Councillor Sait. Yes. Councillor Strezo.
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Clingan.
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Mbah. Councillor Davis. Yes. With eight councillors in favor, none opposed and two absent, those items are approved. And the next item now before this council is going to be item 25-1411, a bond of $4,300,000 to appropriate for the design of the Morrison Avenue Linear Storage Sewer Separation Project. On that item, Councillor Wilson.
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Ewen-Campen.
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Scott?
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor McLaughlin? Aye. Councillor Burnley?
SPEAKER_09	Aye.
Clerk	Councillor Sait?
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Strezo?
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Clingan?
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Mbah? Yes. Councillor Davis? Yes. With eight councillors in favor, none opposed, and two absent, that item is approved.
Lance Davis	All right, very well. Next out of order items, I think 7.4 and 7.7 we can take up together, although we need to take a vote on one of them separately. Do I have that right? All right, so let's take those up together.
Clerk	Item 7.4 is a request of the mayor requesting approval to appropriate $2,286,090 from the salary and wage stabilization fund to the police department other lump sum payments account. to fund retroactive payments in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement with the somerville superior officers association and item 7.7 is a request of the mayor requesting the appropriation of 97 160 from the salary contingency account to various police department personal services accounts to fund a collective bargaining agreement with the somerville police superior officers association
Lance Davis	All right, very well. I see a representative from the solicitor's office here to speak on those items. Do you need to introduce yourself for the record?
SPEAKER_17	Yes, thank you, Council President, through you. This, as the item says, is money to fund the retroactive components of the three-year agreement reached with the Superior Officers Union over the beginning of the summer, the prospective component appropriated in July over the special session of the City Council. So if there's any questions about this financial component, I'm here to answer them.
J.T. Scott	Councillor Scott. Thank you, Mr. President. Just one question. I just want to be sure that these, so this is catch-up pay on settlement of contracts. I just want to make sure that this does not include the salary bonuses for body camera policy.
SPEAKER_17	Is that correct? Councillor President, through you, yes, that's correct. They are not wearing body cameras yet, so there is no supplement for that. All right. Thank you very much.
Lance Davis	Appreciate it, Mr. President. Any further discussion? All right, we need a roll call on 7-4, I think, is that right?
Clerk	Exactly right. On item 25-1496, $2,286,090 from the salary and wage stabilization fund to the police department other lump sum payments account. On that item, Councilor Wilson?
SPEAKER_09	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen?
SPEAKER_08	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Scott? Yes. Councilor McLaughlin? Yes. Councilor Burnley?
SPEAKER_08	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Sait? Yes. Councilor Streisand?
SPEAKER_08	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Clingan?
SPEAKER_08	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Mbah? Councillor Davis.
SPEAKER_08	Yes.
Clerk	With eight Councillors in favor, none opposed, and two absent, that item is approved.
Lance Davis	All right, very well, thank you. Back to our regular order, please.
Clerk	Item 7.7. Oh, 7.7.
Lance Davis	So without any discussion on 7.7, seeing none, that item is approved.
Clerk	That does indeed return us to the regular order of business, which is item seven point, excuse me, item 4.4, which has been requested to be withdrawn and will be reflected in the minutes. It was submitted late for the agenda.
Lance Davis	And then I- The withdrawal was submitted before the agenda confirmed. Correct. Very good. And I'll note from Councillor Bayh that his intent is to resubmit that with some adjustments so that we didn't have to do it live.
Clerk	Item 4.5 is a communication by Councillor Mbah conveying a report of the affordable housing trust.
Lance Davis	Councillor Mbah asked me to lay items 4.5 and 4.6 on the table so we can take those up when he's back here since he's at the climate week.
Clerk	Great. Item 4.7 is an order by Councillor Ewen Campin and Councillor Scott that the director of mobility develop and install quick build safety infrastructure at the intersection of Webster and Prospect Streets.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Councillor Ewen Campin. Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, obviously, to the Ward 2 counselor for co-sponsoring this. This is the second, third, fourth, I don't know, you know, this intersection has been a nightmare forever. It is just the worst part of many, many, many, many people's commutes. It's not safe for driving, walking, or cycles. Several years ago, we got close to having quick build. But my understanding, there were just kind of capacity issues of actually getting that implemented. There have been accidents recently, and I think we just really want to light a fire under this. We can't wait until we're ready to do the proper final reconfiguration of this. We need to get safety infrastructure in there really as soon as possible.
J.T. Scott	Thank you. council scott uh thank you mr president and of course thank you to my colleague from board three uh for this i couldn't have said it better this is we have tried to get action here over the years and just to make it clear it's not just the intersection prospect and webster it's kind of that's kind of a bad description because concord feeds into there and newton feeds into there and i believe it was just last night or two nights ago that there was a pedestrian that was struck there so this is
Lance Davis	long overdue and hopefully we can get to it very well counselor wilson would like to sign on any further discussion council brandon like to sign on all right so that item is approved do you want to send that to the committee or uh yeah can we please send that to traffic and parking good parking
Clerk	Item 4.8 is an order by Councillor Ewen Campin that the Director of Mobility install a pedestrian light signal at the intersection of Vinyl Avenue and Highland Avenue.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Councillor Ewen Campin. Thank you, Mr. President. Let me begin by acknowledging all the work that has gone into making this crossing safer. This is obviously where high school students cross, but tons and tons of people cross. And I know that my colleagues on the council have also been uh carrying this load along with me is the word three counselor so uh there is now a crossing guard there there are flex posts there is a no left turn coming out of the high school all of those are major improvements and yet it is still really really really dangerous the traffic is just extremely bad in the morning and the and the evening and when school is being let out and i can't really think of a solution except some kind of light there, whether that's the thing where people press the button and it blinks yellow, or whether that's a hawk signal, or whether we could actually get in a button-activated red light that truly stops traffic. It's just, you know, every day I think there are near misses, and occasionally, as we know, there are also not misses. You know, people have been hit there. So I'd ask that this please go to traffic and parking as well. Okay. Councilor Schezo?
Kristen Strezo	Thank you. Yes, I believe that I spent over, what, a year talking about trying to get a crossing guard on this very intersection, and I'm very grateful that a crossing guard, yes, is there now. There was a temporary crossing guard, and it looks like there's a more permanent crossing guard there. One thing that can be helpful if anybody has actually, like, Seen the intersection in primetime when this is happening when school is happening There is bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way up and down Highland Avenue and it is very much like Frogger and Teenagers being teenagers don't always cross at the crosswalk that is painted they often cross at the part of the other side of vinyl and Going toward the high school that doesn't have the crosswalk so teenagers are coming from or maybe not just teenagers Pedestrians all pedestrians sometimes are just crossing at both ends of that one thing that I do think would be helpful is lowering the no turning left signs because I've heard from constituents that they don't see the The no turn left sign. So I think affixing the no turn left sign to the actual stop sign could help because visually to the eye There's about 20 different things that you can look at the same time and in the construction happening with the with the memorial The veteran memorials that with the fenced off area. There's a lot to view at the same time So I do think lowering the signs will help But it is a bumper-to-bumper traffic area presently. And additionally, I think what could be helpful is at second crosswalk, at least acknowledging that people are still going to come from both sides to cross.
Lance Davis	Okay, thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, do you want to send that one to committee as well, Councilor Young-Kampen?
Ben Ewen-Campen	Yes, this could go to committee. I'd be interested in hearing a response.
Lance Davis	All right, that is approved and sent with a copy sent to traffic and parking.
Jesse Clingan	Mr. President, waive the readings of items 4-9 and 4-10 and just with a copy to Mobility Department.
Lance Davis	All right, seeing no objection, waive the readings of 4-9 and 10 with a copy to the Mobility Department. Approved and sent with a copy to Mobility. Got it.
Clerk	Item 4.11 is an order by Councillor Clingan that the Director of Mobility install a solar-powered digital Your Speed Is display sign on Shore Drive westbound.
Jesse Clingan	Councillor Clingan. Thank you, Mr. President. Just send a copy to, I'm sorry, Traffic and Parking, please.
Lance Davis	All right, Councillor Estrella would like to sign on. Seeing no discussion, that is approved to the copy of Traffic and Parking.
Clerk	The next item is going to be item 6B, a report of the Committee on Land Use, meeting on September 18th, 2025.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Councillor Ewen-Campen. Thank you, Mr. President. I submit the committee report as written. Any discussion on the committee report?
Lance Davis	I see none. That item is approved.
Clerk	Item 6C is a report of the Special Committee on School Building Facilities and Maintenance, meeting on September 15th, 2025.
Jesse Clingan	Councillor Clingan. Thank you, Mr. President, through you. All members were present. of both the school committee and the city council. A number of items were discussed. There were some great memos attached to the agenda. I'll just go through a few highlights. The items regarding the pool, there was a few, there was three. So Chief of Staff Spencer has been working with Parks and Rec to address the pool issues. Also with the contractor that we use, there was a recommendation that the pool will be closed one day a week, or they're proposing the pool be closed one day a week to allow for necessary adjustments and maintenance. The day of closure is still being determined to minimize disruption. Director of Operations Yanni Sigridis is exploring options to expand weekend hours to make up for that day. The memo also outlined updates to lifeguard manual, including new procedures for testing pool chemicals, Chief of Staff Spencer also addressed the chemical spill in June caused by human error while refilling a tank of muriatic acid. The Department of Public Works has since installed a shutoff valve on the water hose to reduce the risk of leaks. You know, we had the Director of Emergency Management there who also was able to weigh in, who has really been kind of hands-on on a lot of different types of issues. Of course, that issue, a memo did go, you know, an email did go out to parents saying that there was a essentially a chemical spill which wasn't totally inaccurate all the necessary precautions were taken to make sure that student safety was put first and foremost so there was no fooling around with oh you know how bad is this or it was handled um very seriously with regards to um you know it being chemicals and all so um the pool is somewhat of a work in progress. There's a lot of attention being paid to it. Like I said, they may or may not. They're looking at closing one day and expanding hours on the weekend. The other issue was regarding a contingency plan. If a school building wants to go down, There is a great memo, I mean, it's a plan. It may not be an awesome plan, but it's a plan, and the plan would be that the TAB building, all the staff in the TAB building that's currently there, would be moved out, and that would be made into a school, which it already is set up for as a school. So there you have it. I don't know if they'd go to, you know, if everybody's not working from home, or if people would go back to certain areas like the annex, but we asked for an emergency plan, and one was, So that would handle that. A few of the other issues, items we kept in committee had to do with, with a plan to accommodate several public school students to mitigate disruption to students, families, and staff if a school building is unavailable. A lot of those items are being discussed as part of an MOU with the school committee. So we kept those in committee until the MOU is completed. And... That's it, I ask that this report be accepted as submitted. Actually, I'm sorry, there's a great update also if anyone watches the video on the MSPA process and where we are and there's a great timeline attached. The Mayor's Office did do a great job of putting together a really visual and nicely laid out timeline. I ask that this report be accepted as submitted, thank you.
Lance Davis	All right, very well. Thank you. I just want to note and echo what the good chair said. The report, which I've now seen twice, having sat on the third of the school committee and in this committee, on the things that have been done so far is really impressive. And so I want to extend my gratitude to everyone in the administration that's been working hard to keep up on the preventative maintenance and hopefully help us avoid to get into the type of situations we've been in. Counselor Clayton?
Jesse Clingan	Thank you for sending it back to me. I should have mentioned that a good portion of the meeting was sort of a presentation by the DPW as well as IAM on what they accomplished over the summer months, which is when you talk about the summer, I shouldn't even say months, it's basically like six weeks. It was an immense amount of work. They have a punch list. You can see all the different things that they were able to do. And so that was on full display. We got to really kind of hear and appreciate everything that's been done. That was one of the highlights of the meeting that I meant to mention. Thank you for bringing that up, by the way.
Lance Davis	Of course. The slide deck for that is attached. It's great. So credit where credit is due. All right. Any discussion? All right. Seeing none, that item is approved.
Clerk	The next item then will be item 7.2, a request of the mayor, requesting approval of a home rule petition to raise the maximum amount of fines for violations allowed by Mass General Law Chapter 40, Section 21D.
Lance Davis	Hear, hear. That'll be sent to Legislative Matters.
Clerk	Item 7.3 is a request of the mayor, requesting ordainment of an amendment to Section 7 and Section 1-11B of the Code of Ordinances to require notification to tenants of parking permit restrictions in transit areas.
Lance Davis	Refer to Legislative Matters.
Clerk	Item 7.5. Councillor Wilson.
Jake Wilson	Yeah, thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to move to waive the readings of items 7.5, 7.6, and 7.8 to 7.14 and ask that those be sent to finance.
Lance Davis	I see no objection. Those items are sent to finance. Councillor Young-Kampen.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Thank you, my name, yes. I would like to refer 715. We're waiving the readings as well? We're waiving the readings as well, thank you.
Lance Davis	715 to 722 and 726 and refer those to confirmation of appointments please and 723 24 and 25 uh to recommend approval tonight all right so 715 through 722 and 726 um counseling captain moves to approve this evening no no those go to committee please i got it backwards sent to committee thank you set to committee uh see no objection those will be sent to confirmation appointments and wave the readings of 723 24 25 we want to hear those Why don't we hear them?
Clerk	Item 7.23 is a request to the Mayor requesting confirmation of the reappointment of Richard Scanlon to the Board of Assessors.
Lance Davis	Move to approve. Seeing no objection, that item is approved.
Clerk	Item 7.24 is a request to the Mayor requesting confirmation of the reappointment of Michael Flynn to the Board of Assessors.
Lance Davis	Move to approve. Seeing no objection, that item is approved.
Clerk	Item 7.25 is a request to the Mayor requesting confirmation of the appointment of Nick Pittman to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Lance Davis	Move to approve. All right, seeing no objection, that item is approved.
Clerk	Item 8.1 is an officer's communication from the city clerk conveying block party licenses issued.
Lance Davis	Block parties. Anyone want to call anyone out? No? Go look at the list. We love block parties. If you're not on the list, apply for a block party. They're great. That is placed on file.
Clerk	Item 9.1.
Lance Davis	Council Wilson? Nope, sorry, Council Bradley.
Willie Burnley	There we go. Through the chair, I'd like to move the item 9.1 go to license of permits and waive the readings of items 9.2 through 9.7 as well as 10.3 and ask that they be approved tonight with one shout out to Zinnia Smith for keeping poetry alive in Somerville.
Lance Davis	Hear, hear. All right, so Council Bradley moves to waive the readings of 9.1 and 10.3 and approve those this evening. Seeing no objection, those items are approved and then sending 9.1 to committee. All right, seeing no objection, that is sent to license and permits.
Clerk	Item 9.8 is a public communication from Katie Pilat, submitting comments regarding bike lanes.
Lance Davis	That item is placed on file.
Clerk	Item 10.1 is an order by Councillor Burnley that the director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs discuss with this council the most critical content to include in an immigrant defense know your rights document and how best to make it available in the preferred languages of residence.
Lance Davis	Councillor Burnley.
Willie Burnley	Can you read the following item as well?
Clerk	Item 10.2 is a resolution by Councillor Burnley that the mayor allocate funds for a citywide immigrant defense know your rights mailing and make this document available in Somerville's most prominent languages.
Lance Davis	Council Burnley.
Willie Burnley	And through the chair to the clerk, if you would not mind, if you could also pull up the attachment.
Lance Davis	While we're doing that, so just as a general reminder, not to this specific point, with supplemental items, we're going to really try and follow the rules of open meeting law, meaning if something was unanticipated, then it's appropriate for supplemental matters. Or if there's a timeliness to it being approved, then it's appropriate for a supplemental item. If not, we don't want to take any, I'm going to encourage that we don't take any actions on items that were in the supplemental agenda. In this case, if we're referring these to committee, then they will be properly noticed on a committee report. The public can see and read them, so no objection there. From my standpoint, assuming that that's the direction we'll end up going, then that's going to be our approach, just as a reminder. I still would like to generally sort of move away from the practice, but certainly with this topic, I would imagine there's always a degree of urgency. And so, as I said, no objection, but I will recommend that these go to committee just so they can be properly noticed before we dispose of them in one way or the other. We have the attachment up? Very good. Council Burnley, back to you.
Willie Burnley	Thank you. Through the Chair, as the first item notes, My goal is for there to be a discussion on these items with the director of Office of Immigrant Affairs, who I have at least briefly discussed this idea with. There's another one in English of what we're seeing on the screen as well, but these are images of Know Your Rights mailers that were sent out to every household in Providence, Rhode Island earlier this year, back in June, as an attempt to equip their residents with the necessary knowledge to protect their constitutional rights. Those rights are changing by the day, it seems, and quite... They feel under attack, frankly. I think it's really important that every member of our community feels equipped with this knowledge, that they know the best practices as to what they're allowed to do, how they're allowed to respond if federal agents ask them questions stop them as has been the case in somerville far too often as of late and that they know what their rights are when they see such actions happening in our community these examples from rhode island from providence are In English and in Spanish, they contain some information about people's rights. They even, if you look in the bottom left-hand corner, contain a portion of the document that can be cut out and slid under a door in case there is someone on the other side of that door who a community member does not want to let into their home or isn't worried may deprive them of their rights. including their right to due process. I've been making some noise about this for a while now. I think it's really important that we try to make sure that every person in our community is aware of their rights and I think the best way to do that would be through a citywide mailing to every household as was done in Providence. Now the content of that mailing I think is very debatable, what should be in there, what would be most helpful, what information should not be in there. I would love for this council to discuss that with our Office of Immigrant Affairs so that they and some of their, with their legal and personal experience can help advise us on what that would be. And I've been told thus far that, you know, could be a good idea. Let's get communications in here as well. So I want to send this off to committee, want there to be a good conversation about it, but I think it's important that there is an allocation for this effort within FY26. Thank you.
Lance Davis	Council Wilson and Scott would like to sign on. I'll sign on as well. Any discussion? Council Ewen-Campen would like to sign on. Discussion? Council Said sign on? All right, very well. So equity committee? All right, very well. Those will both be approved and referred to the equity committee. Any objection to approving them and sending them along? No? Okay, let's approve those and send them along to equity. Thank you.
Clerk	The next item will be item 10.4, a public communication from Bill Valletta, submitting comments regarding item 24-1344, in order that the director of finance provide a comprehensive accounting of all stabilization accounts.
Lance Davis	That is placed on file. Do we want to copy this finance? It's already in finance.
Clerk	Okay. Item 10.5 is a public communication.
Lance Davis	Sorry. You want to copy the comments to finance to go along with the item that's related to it? Yes, very well. Let's have a look. Yeah. On that. Speak on that item. Council Scott.
J.T. Scott	Thank you. Normally, we do just place these on file, but I wanted to highlight this. It was an absolute corker of a 17-page memo. from prestigious brick bottom ward to resident Bill Valletta. I thank him for his service and his expertise here. And I certainly hope it can go into finance for just some discussion of both the incredible documentation there and also some of the courses of action he recommends. So just wanted to give a big shout out. Thank you. Very good. All right. Copy to finance.
Clerk	Got it. And item 10.5 is a public communication from Crystal Huff, submitting comments regarding items 25-1445 and 25-1446, orders regarding immigration and customs enforcement and ShotSpotter.
Lance Davis	All right. Happy to do that. We'll send a copy to Public Health and Public Safety.
SPEAKER_15	Is that where those items are?
Lance Davis	It's probably, they're probably in my slide, Matt. Checking where the related items currently says are both in finance, but I'm both in finance Mr. President, I think those are cancer Burnley's two orders.
Jake Wilson	I'm guessing those numbers look right the ones we kept in finance and We can send it to finance. I guess I would just say I'm not sure if we're gonna get an update before the end of the year. We have only a few meetings left, which could just result in this being discarded at the end of the year. Just naming that as a possibility here.
Lance Davis	I'm inclined to follow the general practice that if comments are related to a specific item, the comments, if they're gonna go anywhere, ought to follow that item or those items. In this case, let's send a copy to finance and come what may. All right, any further items?
Clerk	That brings us to the end of the agenda, Mr. President, and I see no further items before this council.
Lance Davis	All right, very good, short and sweet. Folks, Council Wilson moves to adjourn. Seeing no objection, this meeting is adjourned.