City Council · CivicPulse

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Meeting Title: City Council
City: Somerville, MA
Date Published: 2025-08-28

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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	It is Thursday, August 28th. My name is Lance Davis, presiding. I use he, him pronouns. 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 Assembly website and local cable access government channels. Let it be known that pursuant to our rules, this council salutes the flag and reaffirms our oath. In the event of emergency, we must evacuate the building. Please locate nearest emergency exit, including the one behind me. All means of egress must be kept clear throughout the meeting, from objects and persons, et cetera. Looks like a short crowd tonight, so I don't think we'll have to worry about that. Would the clerk please call the roll to establish
Clerk	This is roll call. Councilor Wilson.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Present.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen.
Ben Ewen-Campen	I don't think it counts if you don't do the hammer thing, but I am here.
Clerk	Councilor Scott.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Present.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin. Here. Councilor Burnley.
SPEAKER_16	Present.
Clerk	Councilor Sait. Here. Councilor Strezo. Councilor Clingan.
Will Mbah	Present.
Clerk	Councilor Mbah.
Will Mbah	Present.
Clerk	Councilor Davis.
Lance Davis	Here.
Clerk	With nine councilors present and one absent, have a quorum.
Lance Davis	Okay, thank you. After the remembrances and public hearings, we do have a citation. Actually, I guess we'll pick that up before the public hearings or the agenda. And then I want to let folks know there's a number of items we're gonna take out of order. Could be a good chunk of the agenda tonight. So we will do 4.10, 7.31, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.8, then 7.1, there's then an executive session. Wait, I think I got that wrong. Executive session is somewhere in the middle there. It is, okay. Then 5.1 as well as 5.2 through 5.5, then 10.3, then 10.4. All right. If you've forgotten that, then we'll depend on the clerk to lead us in the right order. Do we have any remembrances this evening? Okay, hearing none, would everyone please rise as you are able for a moment of silence. Thank you. All right, clerk, please read the next item.
Clerk	The next item will be item 1.3, approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of June 26th, 2025.
Lance Davis	Seeing no discussion, that'll be laid on the table for approval.
Clerk	Then we're gonna go to the first item we're taking out of order, which is item 10.1, a citation by Councillors Clingan and Wilson, commending Stephanie Estrella for leadership and support during a recent house fire.
Lance Davis	Councilor Clingan.
Jesse Clingan	Thank you, Mr. President, through you. I just, I want to say before I read this little recap that we've had a really trying summer with fires, and I know there are plans to recognize other folks, but this was brought forth by myself and Councilor Wilson, who were on the scene of the Wheatland Street fire, and so this comes out of that, but many people have suffered over the summer with these fires. This is just one story of a situation that I wanted to share. On the afternoon of Sunday, July 6th, during a severe heat advisory, a significant fire broke out on the third floor of a triple-decker on Wheatland Street. The blaze spread rapidly, ultimately displacing all occupants of the affected building, as well as residents from an adjacent property. In total, 27 tenants were displaced. Some of the fire units arrived within minutes, worked aggressively to contain the fire, supported by multiple companies, including other cities. responding to the scene. The situation drew a large crowd on the street of onlookers while the arrival of the Red Cross usually takes some time, you know, creating an urgent need for immediate coordination of the displaced residents. At this critical moment, Health Inspector Stephanie Estrella arrived on the scene and quickly took charge of victim coordination. She organized residents away from the danger zone and out of the intense sun, gathering them safely under a nearby tree while firefighters continued operations. Inspector Estrella worked swiftly to collect critical information, ensuring that all displaced residents were accounted for. Despite language barriers, the emotional distress of the residents, and overall chaos of the scene, Inspector Estrella's communication remained clear, professional, and effective. She also demonstrated persistence in contacting the property owner to secure the site following the completion of firefighting efforts. Her actions provided vital support for both residents and emergency personnel, ensuring that victims received assistance in a timely and organized manner. Inspector Estrella's leadership and professionalism exemplify the City of Somerville's commitment to public safety and community well-being. So that said, I just wanna say from a personal standpoint, as a councilor, I've been on the scene of a few fires since I've been on the council, and one of the things we've kind of struggled with as councilors is sort of what is the protocol around having city representation on the scene of a fire to do just this. I mean, this was a Sunday afternoon, and I understand that based on a lot of advocacy, there is protocols, but that does not take away from the fact that the individual who showed up was critical in making sure that these folks had the resources they need and were in touch with Red Cross. So that's why I, myself and Councilor Wilson, just recognize the immediate need on the scene and the fact that the right person came. You need somebody that's able and ready and able and willing to take charge and do the job that needs to be done, not just kind of stand around and try to figure out who's who. You need somebody who really shows leadership. And that's why I'm presenting this this evening to Inspector Stephanie Estrella of ISD. and I'll read the, actually Councillor Wilson as my co-sponsor may wanna say a few words and then I'll read the citation and we'll present it.
Jake Wilson	Dr. Wilson? Yeah, Mr. President, our colleague from Ward 4 put it beautifully there. I'll just say, if you were there with us, if you saw what it was like before and what it was like after Inspector Estrella arrived, you'd understand why this is being put in. The impact was remarkable. And I'll just say, you know, having a personal connection to one of the families impacted by this, hugely, hugely appreciated by the victims of the fire.
Jesse Clingan	Thank you, and I just want to double check. I heard a rumor that the Mayor may want to say a few words. That's what I heard.
Lance Davis	I also heard that. I was looking back. Did you want to say a few words as well? So happy to sponsor you, Madam Mayor, to speak on this item.
Katjana Ballantyne	Thank you, good evening everyone, Honorable Council. Thank you, Councillor Clingan and Councillor Wilson for sponsoring this item. Stephanie has been serving the city of Somerville for 16 years, taking on roles in parking, treasury, DPW and ISD. And it's extremely important that staff get to be recognized for the skills and hard work that they bring to their roles every day. And I'm glad to see that Stephanie is being recognized this evening. And I also want to acknowledge Stephanie's leadership in our largest union. And thank you for your service to our residents and your colleagues. Thank you.
Jesse Clingan	Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Mr. President. And with that said, I'll just read 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 Stephanie Estrella, for displaying professional, clear and calm control and gathering critical information during a recent house fire. Stephanie's proactive leadership prioritized safety and wellbeing and provided critical support to both residents and emergency personnel. The councilors and the mayor offer their sincere gratitude for these outstanding efforts offered this 28th day of August, 2025, signed by all council members, including the mayor. That, I would just say.
SPEAKER_22	I just wanna thank everybody for acknowledging the hard work that ISD Health does do. When there are fires and there are emergencies, it is critical for ISD Health to be on scene. We do deal with a lot of international and bilingual people, so we do have services that help us guide our communication to them as well. with Red Cross I really appreciate Red Cross with all the volunteers that come out and help us we try to rush it a little bit and get the information for them and try to calm the situation down as best as possible try to accommodate and see if we can get some housing for them and then carry on with referring them elsewhere but I do appreciate the acknowledgement and hopefully the fires less this year and going forward, but we at ISD Health are looking forward to help any residents that are in need of any assistance.
SPEAKER_15	So I thank you.
Lance Davis	Okay, shall we move on to the public hearings?
Clerk	The next item, Mr. President, is item 3.1, a grant of location from Cambridge Network Solutions to install a total of 88 feet of conduit in South Street from manhole 44 over 464 to a point of pickup at an existing manhole at the intersection of South Street and Earl Street.
Lance Davis	Very well, I now declare the public hearing open. Is there anyone to speak on this item? Please step forward. Just give your name and address for the record, please.
	Okay.
SPEAKER_12	Good evening. My name is Jeffrey Harrington. I am the construction manager for Cambridge Network Solutions. And thank you very much for allowing us to propose this new underground conduit that will join two cables that are in two separate manholes along Salt Street.
Lance Davis	Thank you. Anyone else here to speak on the item? Yes, thank you for the reminder. So anyone who's online and would like to speak to this item, please use the raised hand icon and we'll be happy to recognize you. Give you a minute to find that, should be in the. Not seeing any. Going once. All right, there being no one further to speak on this item, I declare the public hearing closed. Is there any discussion? All right, seeing none, that is laid on the table. Thank you.
Clerk	The next item will be item 3.2, a grant application from Eversource to install a total of approximately 49 feet of conduit in Howard Street from utility pole 183 over one to a point of pickup at 29 Thorndike.
Lance Davis	I now declare this public hearing open. Is there anyone here to speak on the item? Jackie Duffy.
SPEAKER_17	Hi, how are you tonight? And we would like to install 54 feet of conduit in Howard Street to provide a new service for an electric vehicle charging station at 33 Thorndike Street.
Lance Davis	Anybody in the room get that that needs to get that? All right. Thank you. Is there anyone else to speak on this item? Does anyone in the audience please use the raised hand icon in the virtual audience? In no further hands, I now declare the public hearing closed. Is there any further discussion on the item? All right, seeing none, that'll be laid on the table for approval.
Clerk	Thank you. Have a nice night. And then the next item that will be taken out of order is item 4.10, a resolution by Councilor Mbah that Somerville establish a sister city relationship with Pryluky, Ukraine.
Will Mbah	Councilor Mbah. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. It's this past, a few weeks ago I was in D.C. and this is like the first time that I actually met like a lot of people like from Ukraine and I mean the shared joy that they have really took me off guard because when I was interacting with them I asked the question about like what is the situation in Ukraine because I know that it's like the war zone, they actually came like to this conference and Yet I could see that dim in their faces that said, hey, nothing has changed. They've just become so normal to them that this is just part of their life. So I left that place feeling really moved. I said to myself that a city like Somerville has always long prided itself on being a welcoming and globally connected city. And we are committed to fostering cultural exchange, mutual understanding, and international friendship. So sister-sister relationship will strengthen people-to-people connections, create opportunities for cultural, educational, and economic exchange, and reaffirm the values of solidarity and cooperation. So the city of, you know, Pryluky, you know, shares common values of community resilience, innovation, and civic pride. So, and is seeking to deepen international partnership during a time of great challenge and rebuilding for Ukraine. and establishing a sister city relationship with Pryluky will allow Somerville to stand in solidarity with Ukrainian people, provide opportunities for cultural and educational exchange, and strengthen Somerville's commitment to democracy, peace, and global cooperation. Madam Clerk, would you please read the resolution?
SPEAKER_19	Okay, do you hear us well?
SPEAKER_02	Can you hear us?
SPEAKER_19	Okay, let us know this, you can hear as well.
Clerk	The city of Somerville has a longstanding commitment to fostering global connections, cultural exchange, and solidarity through its sister city relationship. And whereas people of Ukraine, including the residents of the city of Pryluky, have demonstrated extraordinary resilience, courage, and commitment to justice and democracy in the face of adversity, And whereas Pryluky, an historic city in northern Ukraine, represents a community whose values of perseverance, cultural heritage, and pursuit of peace align with Somerville's own dedication to equity, justice, and human dignity. And whereas the city of Somerville recognizes that international partnership, strength, and mutual understanding provide opportunities for cultural, educational, and economic education. change and reaffirm our shared vanity. And whereas counselor Wilford was inspired to submit this resolution by his colleagues, residents of the region whom he met at the certificate and public leadership conference in Washington, DC as a symbol of the personal connections that bridge our communities. Now, therefore be it resolved that the Somerville city council hereby declares to establish a sister city relationship with Pryluky Ukraine as a demonstration of solidarity, friendship and mutual support with our communities and be it further resolved, we have Somerville will work collaboration with community leaders, residents and partners in both cities to foster programs, cultural exchange, educational partnership and mutual support initiatives that strengthen this bond and be it further resolved that copies of this resolution sent to the mayor of Pryluky, the Ukrainian consulate in Boston and representatives of the Ukrainian American community in Boston to affirm Somerville's commitment to international friendship, justice, and .
Will Mbah	Thank you, Madam Clerk, and thank you, Mr. President. With your permission, I would like to sponsor the Mayor of Pryluky, who will be joining us online, Mayor Olga Popenko, to speak to this resolution. Thank you, Councilman.
Lance Davis	I would like to sponsor Mayor Popenko from Pryluky, Ukraine. Madam Clerk, do you have the Mayor online?
SPEAKER_19	Okay, can you hear as well? Prove that you can hear as well. Can you?
Lance Davis	We get the volume in the chamber turned up a little bit so that members can all hear the good mayor.
SPEAKER_19	Okay, shall we start our speech?
Lance Davis	One moment, please. We want to make sure we can hear you all. Thank you so much for joining us. I know it's probably very late there.
Katjana Ballantyne	Okay, we'd like to meet you here.
Lance Davis	Shall we start our speech? The floor is yours.
SPEAKER_25	Dear Mr. Mayor Somerville, dear colleagues, dear friends from the United States of America, it is a great honor for me today to greet you on behalf of the community of our native city of Pryluk, which is located in Chernihiv region, in the heart of Ukraine.
SPEAKER_19	Dear Mayor of Somerville, dear colleagues, dear councillors, dear friends from the United States of America, it's a great honor for me to greet you and for us, all of us of our community, to greet you today on behalf of the community of our town, Pryluky, that is located in Turehi region in the very heart of Ukraine.
SPEAKER_25	Our city has a long and great history. The ruins were first mentioned in 1085. That is, we have more than nine centuries of life, experience, struggle and development. But the unchanging people of our city remain the same. We have always preserved our dignity, culture and love for freedom.
SPEAKER_19	Our city has a long and magnificent history. Kraluki as a city was firstly mentioned in 1085, which means we have more than nine centuries of life, experience, travel and development. During this time, our city has witnessed the birth of Kevin Ruth. and the turbulent Cossack era, different periods of imperial survival in the 20th century with its dramatic challenges. But you see that our own dignity is in our people who defend our land and who have always cherished their dignity, culture and love for freedom.
SPEAKER_25	Today, Prihluky is known not only for its history, but also for its cultural heritage. We have theaters, museums, educational institutions. We are proud of our architectural temples and architectural monuments, rich in literary and artistic heritage. But the greatest wealth for us is our people, hardworking people, talented, sincere and hospitable.
SPEAKER_19	Prilyuk is known to be not only the city of history, but it is a cultural heritage. We have theatres, museums and educational institutions. We are proud of our churches and architectural monuments, our rich literary and artistic heritage. But the greatest treasure of our city is people who are hard-working, talented, sincere and hospitable.
SPEAKER_25	Today, our country is going through an extremely difficult period in its history. We are fighting again for our right to exist as a free, democratic country. In this struggle, we are once again realizing how important it is to have friends and partners in the world. Today, Ukraine is going through the most extremely difficult period in its history.
SPEAKER_19	We are fighting for our very right to exist as a free, democratic state. In this struggle, we are becoming increasingly aware of how important it is to have friends and partners in the world. That is why this online meeting with you is not an official event for us, but it is also a sign of great hope for freedom, independence, and close friendship.
SPEAKER_25	We know very well that the American people have always been fighters of democracy. The history of the United States is the history of standing up for freedom, equality and human rights. Your country has always supported the peoples who wanted independence and fought for their future. Ukrainians value Today, when our people bravely stand against aggression, we feel your support and solidarity. And this gives us strength and confidence in victory.
SPEAKER_19	Dear friends, we know well that American people have always been champions in democracy. The history of the United States is a history of defending freedom, equality, and human rights. Your country has consistently supported nations striving for independence and fighting for their future. Ukrainians greatly appreciate this legacy, and today our people bravely stand against aggression. We feel your support and solidarity. This gives us strength and confidence in the victory.
SPEAKER_25	We are eager to have the cooperation between Pryluky and Somerville.
SPEAKER_19	to become a shining example of partnership between two communities which share the same values. These are freedom, democracy, development and respect for human beings despite having distance of thousands of kilometers.
SPEAKER_25	We see great prospects in our partnership. Let me outline the specific areas that could be the basis of our cooperation. Education and youth exchanges. Our children and students should have the opportunity to see the world, get acquainted with other cultures and exchange experiences.
SPEAKER_19	We see great potential in our partnership. Let us outline a few areas that could form the basis of our cooperation. The first one is education and youth exchanges. Our children and students should have the opportunity to see the world. learning about their cultures and other cultures and exchange experiences. We believe that joint exchange programs for pupils, teachers, students and scholars will open new horizons for both communities.
SPEAKER_25	Culture and art. Culture is a universal language that builds bridges even where there are barriers. The next stage that is important for us, this is culture and art.
SPEAKER_19	Culture is a universal language that builds bridges even where there are even barriers. Joint exhibitions, concerts, theatre productions and virtual art festivals can become a platform for dialogue and mutual understanding.
SPEAKER_25	Economic and innovation. We want our partnership to help create conditions for the growth of the business, to carry out innovations. Ukraine has many talented young people in the field of IT and technology, enterprises, cooperation and Somerville is known for its active
SPEAKER_19	Speaking about economy and innovation, we want our partnership to help create conditions for business development, start-ups support and innovation. Ukraine has many talented young people in the fields of IT, different technologies and entrepreneurship.
SPEAKER_25	Cooperation with SolarVille, known for its active urban economy, can be a powerful impetus.
SPEAKER_19	Speaking about humanitarian and social projects, we should say that this topic is particularly relevant for Ukraine today. We are grateful to all our international friends for their support in the humanitarian sphere, from helping distant and displaced people to rebuilding infrastructure. Joint social projects could become an important part of our cooperation.
SPEAKER_25	Dear friends! We are convinced that our communities, different in size and cultural context, will be able to learn from each other. Because the essence of partnership is mutual exchange. And we not only receive, but we also share.
SPEAKER_19	Dear friends, I am more than convinced, and we are more than convinced, that our communities, which differ in size and cultural context, can learn much from each other. Because the essence of partnership is mutual exchange. We don't only receive, but we also share. It means that Ukrainians are ready to share culture, work, stories and unyielding spirit.
SPEAKER_25	We hope that this online meeting will be the first step towards a strong and long-term partnership between our cities. In the future, we will be happy to meet the Somerville delegation on our generous, friendly, native Ukrainian land. And we hope that our delegation will also visit the city of Somerville, because personal meetings are always We hope that this online meeting will be the first step towards a strong and long-lasting partnership.
SPEAKER_19	In the future, we will be happy to welcome guests from Somerville to Pryluky, and I believe that our delegations will also be able to visit your city. Personal meetings always make friendship closer and more sincere.
SPEAKER_25	Dear friends, we support the resolution about our partnership, about the partnership between our city of Krylokiv, which is located in our region, and the city of the United States of America, Somerville. And we will be glad to meet you, we will be glad to share our experience, and, of course, we are glad today that we have such friends in the United States of America.
SPEAKER_19	Dear friends, thank you for your strong desire to turn a new page in the relations between our communities. On behalf of the entire community of Poluki, we wish you peace, prosperity, and new achievements. May this cooperation symbolize the world's capability to unite with goodness, freedom, and mutual support in such difficult times to Ukraine and cooperate with the United States of America.
SPEAKER_25	We will once again say that we support the resolution and we hope that our friends from the United States of America, friends from Somerville, will also support and approve the resolution for our cooperation, for our friendship.
SPEAKER_19	Dear friends, dear councillors, we support the resolution about cooperation and partnership of town sisters and we are ready for cooperation. We are ready to implement the relations of town sisters between Somerville and Trilokin. Thank you for attention.
Lance Davis	Mayor Papenko, thank you for your words. I look forward to seeing how this relationship can grow and find mutual ways that the exchange can benefit both cities. Councillor Mbah.
Will Mbah	Yes, thank you, Mr. President and Mayor Olga. I just... I want to let you know that our Honorable Mayor is also here, so she has a very tight and busy schedule, but she actually makes time to be here. So I will welcome the Honorable Madam Mayor Ballantyne to speak to the resolution.
Lance Davis	Councillor Mbah would like to sponsor Mayor Ballantyne to speak. I'm happy to recognize Councillor Ballantyne. Sorry, Councillor, listen to me. Mayor Ballantyne. Mayor Somerville would like to speak on the resolution. Please go ahead, Madam Mayor.
Katjana Ballantyne	Good evening. Thank you, Councillor Mbah, for sponsoring this resolution and for the opportunity to establish a bond between our cities. First, I would like to welcome our virtual guests who have joined us from Pryluky, Ukraine. Mayor Pompanko, most of us cannot fathom what you and your community have faced during this relentless war, but I do hope this step makes clear that our community wants to know you are not alone. I have no doubt that this partnership will strengthen our shared commitment to lasting and just peace for all, and to standing up to authoritarian regimes that threaten our safety and our democracy. As some in this chamber may already know, I was raised in a household with generational war trauma. This experience is woven into my visceral opposition for all war. My parents lived through World War II as youth. We are a family of immigrants carrying not just the history of our ancestors with us, but also the memory of war and destruction. My earliest years were spent among people who were still putting themselves and their countries back together from the ravages of that war. Even after the passage of decades, I know firsthand how war scars its survivors and how the weight of a thing that happened before you were born can be looming presence in your life. Earlier this summer, I was deeply saddened to read about a drone attack on the city of Pryluky. that claimed the lives of multiple family members of one of your firefighters. It was a heartbreaking reminder of the devastation this horrific war continues to cause. The city of Somerville looks forward to learning more about your resilience, and we hope to share how we at home are fighting our own little battle to safeguard democracy. Again, I want to thank Councillor Mbah for initiating this partnership and for the council supporting it. Our city looks forward to our future as your sister city, both as an opportunity to celebrate our communities and cultures, as well as to bolster our roles as a place of peace and progress. Thank you.
Lance Davis	Thank you very much. Sorry, should I pause for a translation?
SPEAKER_19	Thanks a lot for the speech and support that we have just expected from you, and we are hoping that everything will be in progress in the future. Thanks a lot.
Lance Davis	Okay, thank you. Councillor Clingan would like to sign on, did you want to say? Councillor Scott would like to speak as well, sign on? Yeah, finish right up.
Will Mbah	Thank you, guys. Thank you, colleagues. I just wanted to thank the mayor for, you know, just for your support really underscored the importance of this partnership and the shared commitment of both our cities, you know, to resilience, democracy and community pride. So thank you.
Lance Davis	First, let me just get anyone who wants to sign on to this council opinion. Friendly. Councillor Ewen Campin, I think we've already got Councillor Wilson, I'll sign out as well.
J.T. Scott	Councillor Scott. Thank you, Mr. President. . I just want to thank my colleague for bringing this matter, thank the mayor for supporting it, and also to to bring to our attention the valor and courage of the residents of Pryluky. In the last days of February 2022, it was near Pryluky that a column of Russian forces was destroyed, both an armored column and a fuel convoy, leading that to be the farthest that they incurred in the Chernihiv region at the time. Chernihiv directly borders Russia, and as we heard from the mayor, the threat is ever present. But to you, the residents of Pryluky, I say that it is clear that the strength of both of our communities is in the courage of our residents, And I look forward to supporting both the residents of Perluki and all of Ukraine to the most that we can. Slava Ukraina!
Ben Ewen-Campen	Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, I want to echo the immense gratitude to Councillor Mbah, to the Mayor. This was very moving to hear directly from our colleagues in Ukraine. I think all of us know that it can feel like we have no power to influence international events, but I very firmly believe that actions like this can have a really meaningful effect. Growing up in Cambridge, there was a sister city relationship established with a village in El Salvador in the immediate aftermath of a brutal war there. As the populations of small villages were returning to the places that they had been made refugees from, they established sister city relationships. Cambridge has one with a place called San Flores. It's now been in operation for 35 years. There have been delegations almost annually. There are really deep and meaningful relations. They, in some cases, have been able to, you know, work with the State Department when things have been difficult. I really believe that things like this can make a difference. So again, through you, Mr. President, I want to thank you, Councillor Mbah. And also, during the speech from our colleagues in Ukraine, my colleague next to me pointed out that it is 2.30 in the morning where you all are. So that speaks to how moving this was. So thank you all. That's it.
Willie Burnley	Council Burnley. Thank you through the chair. I wanna echo my colleagues thanks to Councilor Mbah for bringing this forward and for the mayor for taking whatever future steps necessary to establish this relationship. And I want to make sure that the folks in Ukraine know that when we walk around Somerville, we see your flags. We see them on homes. We see them in cafes. We see them painted on fences. Because the people of Somerville... are the world. We have people from all over this beautiful world of ours who are connected to your community and many others. And so I'm really grateful to see this act because it reaffirms that connection from our community to yours. It makes clear a truth that is self-evident if we can all look it in the face, which is that We, all of us, are strengthened and our communities enhanced by having relationships in communication with people across the world and beyond our own borders. That does not stop at our country's borders, it does not stop at our Commonwealth's borders, and it does not stop at our city borders. We are better for connecting culturally and educationally to the experience of those even and especially who are different than us. So I'm grateful for your presence here, and I'll try not to speak too long because I know maybe you could use some sleep. But I'm grateful that Somerville, again, leads the way on confronting issues, whether big or small, local, statewide, or international. Thank you.
Lance Davis	Any further discussion? Okay, that item is approved, and do we want to send this to committee for, or do you want to, I know that the administration plans on having, on advancing the conversation, as my understanding, as is for the more typical process for these. Okay, I'll get the Councilor Sait in one sec. While we hear from Councilor Sait, the Council, Councilor Mbah, let me know if we want to, sorry. Well, that's the option. I was going to ask you if you wanted to have it to go to committee as well. So think about that. Let's hear from our colleague from Ward 5. Councilor Sait, go right ahead, please.
Naima Sait	Through you, Mr. President. First, I want to thank Councilor Mbah for bringing this resolution forward and thank Mayor Ballantyne and the mayor from Pryluky. And I just want to say I look forward to our relationship. Thank you.
Lance Davis	Thank you, Councilor Sait. So typically this type of a process would come to us with, My understanding is historically, the administration would have put a lot of work and laid some groundwork, and then we would approve it. This is an entirely appropriate way for us to start the conversation. There is, of course, work to be done to lay the sort of formal processes to build out the relationship. My understanding is the administration, as we've heard, is certainly excited to move forward with that. Councillor Budd, do we want to... do we want to send this to committee so that the council has a sort of a formal process to participate in that conversation? We certainly could do that without it being in committee as well and we can put a new item in to send a new item in when we're ready for the formal procedure. I think that's probably the way I'd lean, but Councilor Mbah, I'm happy to hear any other preferences.
Will Mbah	Yeah, no, thank you, Mr. President. I think this unanimous appetite, I think I would just approve it, copy it to the mayor's office. I don't, you know, or maybe send it to legislative and then copy it to the mayor's office.
Lance Davis	Okay, thank you. I think I'm inclined to agree with your initial thought, which is we'll approve this this evening. We'll put it in the hands of the administration, and when we're ready for any future council action, we'll look forward to an amendment. So thank you again. To the folks overseas, thank you again very much for being here, Mayor Papenko, and all of your colleagues. We appreciate your words, and we look forward to advancing our relationship.
SPEAKER_19	We are really grateful to your help and to assistance and to everything you do for the community. We are looking forward to cooperating and we hope that our relations will be closer day by day.
Lance Davis	Very good. Thank you and good night. Good morning. All right, Madam Clerk, would you please read the next item that we will take out of order?
Clerk	Indeed, Mr. President. That is item 7.31, a communication of the mayor proclaiming that the week of September 12th through September 21st, 2025, is Welcoming Week.
Lance Davis	Well, Madam Mayor, good to see you in the chambers. You have the floor.
Katjana Ballantyne	Thank you. Good evening, councillors. Tonight, I'm honored to present a proclamation recognizing Welcoming Week in Somerville beginning September 12th, 2025. Welcoming Week is a national celebration that reminds us that when communities are inclusive and open, everyone thrives. As you all know in Somerville, we don't just talk about diversity, we live it. Our neighborhoods are homes to people from across the globe and our cultures, schools, and economy are stronger because of it. But welcoming week is also about courage. It's about choosing connection over division, compassion over fear, and love over hate. At a time when too many voices across our nation seek to divide us, Somerville will always stand firm in our belief that every person deserves dignity, belonging, and opportunity. And while we officially mark Welcoming Week this September, the spirit of this week goes well beyond a single set of days. In Somerville, welcoming is year-round. It is embedded in how we treat our neighbors, how we shape our policies, and how we build a future where everyone belongs. I thank the Council for joining me in lifting up this moment. this important week and for standing with me as we say clearly, Somerville is and will remain a welcoming city. Thank you.
Lance Davis	Thank you, Madam Mayor. Any discussion? Seeing none, that item is placed on file. Yes, we've landed the table to be placed on file at the end of the meeting. Thank you.
Clerk	And the next item, Mr. President, is item 7.2, a request to the mayor, requesting approval to appropriate $1,238,000 from the Open Space Stabilization Fund to pay additional costs of purchasing the parcel of land known as 217 Somerville Avenue and Kelly Park.
Lance Davis	All right, is there anyone from the administration to speak on this? I think the item is fairly straightforward. We have Attorney Secretary.
SPEAKER_20	Yes, Mr. President, I'm here to answer any questions that the Council may have. I did send a memo, which hopefully folks were able to receive, and if not, I'm happy to explain what was in the memo.
Lance Davis	Sorry, could you just start over? It just took us a minute to get the volume up in the Chamber here. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Go right ahead. Thank you.
SPEAKER_20	I just wanted to say this is a pretty straightforward matter. The eminent domain taking, it was settled by the agreement of both parties. I did send a memo to council, which hopefully folks had a chance to read. If not, I'm happy to go through the contents of the memo and explain how we got to the number that we arrived at for the final value of the property.
Lance Davis	All right, thank you. Any questions, any discussion? Council Strezo?
Kristen Strezo	Thank you, Mr. President. Can you summarize it for the public as well?
Lance Davis	All right, the request to just summarize how we got to this point?
SPEAKER_20	Sure, absolutely.
Lance Davis	Summarize the number that is attached to the item. Yes, please, if you would.
SPEAKER_20	Very good. Thank you. When the City took the parcel, a pro tanto payment of $1.3 million was paid for the parcel. The price was based on the prior owner having paid $1.2 million for the parcel within the prior year, and in part on what the planned use of the property was, which was for a two-story office building. When you go to eminent domain, the measure of the value is the highest and best use. So not just how the land was at the time it was taken, but what was the possible highest and best use for which the land could be used. It was a 7,000 square foot irregular shaped parcel. Each party had their own appraisers look at the value of the property. They both agreed that the highest and best use was for mixed commercial and residential. a five-story building, which would have been permitted under the prior zoning and perhaps under the new zoning as well. And they came up with a value that was $2,350,000 was our appraiser, $2,760,000 was the other appraiser. They met in the middle for a final value of $2,555,000. and the amount being requested will bring it up to that agreed upon total. Also, when a case has been in litigation for several years, parties can request, the plaintiff can ask for pre-judgment interest, and in consideration of the city's agreeing to settle this case, they waived all the pre-judgment interest that would have been owed on the taking.
Lance Davis	Okay, thank you very much.
J.T. Scott	Councillor Scott? Thank you, Mr. President. This is, I appreciate that summary, and I wanted to call out a couple things, one of which is that this is, I want to, this is a moment to celebrate, because the 217 Somerville Lab Park had its ribbon cutting just last week, and is already a very welcome space. It is some of the first, It is, I believe, the first public park that's been created by the city by taking property by eminent domain in at least 20 years. So it's an incredible act. It's also one that was driven by the city council. I can remember back in 2018 putting in the... the item calling for the eminent domain at the time for 1.2 million because that's exactly the price that was paid for this parcel. So tonight we are closing the door on Osaka. I certainly don't disagree with any of our legal strategy, but it does strike me as hard to swallow when the owner of this property has made a tidy $1.4 million profit for owning it for less than a year off the backs of the residents of the City of Somerville. So with that said, I thank all the staff that worked to make this acquisition happen and to work through settling this lawsuit. And I hope to see everybody down there in the King Kelly Park. I'll be the one sitting on the Rose Caterino bench. Thank you.
Lance Davis	Thank you, any further discussion? We need to call the roll on that.
Clerk	On the item, the appropriation of $1,238,000 from the Open Space Stabilization Fund. Councilor Wilson?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Scott?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin? Yes. Councilor Burnley?
SPEAKER_16	Aye.
Clerk	Councilor Sait? Yes. Councilor Strezo. Yes. Councilor Clingan.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Mbah.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Davis.
Lance Davis	Yes.
Clerk	With 10 councilors in favor, none opposed, that item is approved.
Lance Davis	All right, very good, thank you. Next item.
Clerk	The next item will be item 7.3, a request of the mayor, requesting approval to appropriate $591,190 from the Capital Stabilization Fund for information technology equipment relating to workstation setups, network devices, and other hardware.
Lance Davis	Do we have anyone from the administration to speak on this? Very good, step right up. Thank you, you have the floor. Yeah, one should be on. State your name for the record and then let us know what we're considering here.
SPEAKER_01	Good evening, Dave Goodridge, IT Director for the city. During the budget for fiscal 26, The auditing department decided to move the funds for the computer equipment line to the capital stabilization fund. So that's the direction that I had, but we're just looking to be able to use those funds to purchase computer equipment.
Lance Davis	I believe that there's a memo attached to this item. I'm not quite sure about that. This is one that had a memo sort of laying out the history of what had happened. Members of the public wanted to take a look at that. Now I'm not so confident. I believe this was the item that had a memo attached. Or was that a memo that was submitted to,
SPEAKER_21	Through the Chair, thank you for the question. I don't believe there's a memo attached to the item. We did share it with Councillor Wilson and to you, Chair.
Lance Davis	Oh, that was explaining to me what was happening. It wasn't memo attached. All right, thank you.
SPEAKER_21	But we're happy to submit it as an item for the next meeting, if that's helpful. That memo is on our website as part of our budget book. So it is on a public page.
Lance Davis	Yeah, and it essentially just recounted the history of the discussion during the budget process. As a reminder, for now, I remember Councilor Wilson and myself. My apologies for my misremembering that. Any questions? Councilor Burnley, go ahead.
Willie Burnley	Thank you, through the Chair, to our Director, great to see you. I don't usually get to talk to IT face-to-face, sometimes not even computer-to-computer, but I was curious, based on this procedural change, just like Does that mean moving forward for each piece of new computer equipment that your department seeks to acquire, you'll be coming before this council? Will each one be coming with a memo? Or do you see this as something that is relatively rare moving forward?
SPEAKER_01	I believe this is something that's rare. I think it's because of the financial condition or situation that we have. I believe that's why auditing decided to zero out our computer equipment line and put it into the capital stabilization fund. So that's somewhat out of my hands as far as how to proceed on that. I just take direction from the auditing department on that.
Lance Davis	Any other discussion? If I understand correctly, it's the fact that we have to move the money from the capitalization fund to the reason why we have to take a vote on this. Otherwise, it wouldn't be the case. All right, we'll see. No discussion then. That will be laid on the table. Do we have a roll call? We'll do a roll call right now. Very well.
Clerk	On the item appropriating $591,190 from the Capital Stabilization Fund, Councilor Wilson?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen? Yes. Councilor Scott?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Burnley?
SPEAKER_16	Aye.
Clerk	Councilor Sait? Yes. Councilor Strezo? Yes. Councilor Clingan?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Mbah?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Davis? Yes. With 10 councillors in favor and none opposed, that item is approved.
Lance Davis	Thank you, next item.
Clerk	The next item then will be item 7.4, a request of the mayor, requesting approval to appropriate $73,750 from the salary and wage stabilization fund to the Department of Public Works school custodian's other lump sum payments account to fund the retrospective portion of a memorandum of agreement with the service employee's international union local free school custodian.
SPEAKER_02	All right, I see Attorney Sergo here. Good evening, good evening, councilors, council president, through you. This is to fund the retroactive component, as the item says, of the custodians wage re-opener MOA that the council funded over the summer during the special session. So this is not a successor contract for the custodians, but the wage re-opener provision from the previous contract that the city reached an agreement with custodians to satisfy. So this will be essentially a wage boost for fiscal year 2020. Thank you, any questions? Excuse me, fiscal year 25.
Lance Davis	Fiscal year 25, any questions? All right, seeing none, we need a roll call on this one as well, I believe, okay.
Clerk	On the item appropriating $73,750 from the Salary and Wage Stabilization Fund, Councilor Wilson? Yes. Councilor Ewen-Campen? Yes. Councilor Scott?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin? Yes. Councilor Burnley?
SPEAKER_16	Aye.
Clerk	Councilor Sait? Yes. Councillor Strezo. Yes. Councillor Clingan.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Mbah.
Lance Davis	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Davis. Yes. With 10 councillors in favor and none opposed, that item is approved.
Lance Davis	All right, thank you. Next item.
Clerk	Next item then is item 7.8, a request of the mayor. Requesting approval of a transfer of $448,180 from the salary contingency account to various departmental salaries accounts to fund fiscal year 2026 non-union employee step increases.
Lance Davis	Let's see, Director Mastroboni.
SPEAKER_07	Mr. President, good evening. Mike Mastroboni, budget director. The request before you is to transfer funds from salary contingency to the individual departments as we were developing the fiscal year 26 budget. The step increases for non-union employees, grades, sorry, yeah. Pay bands one through four, I'm gonna get my terminology right. Pay bands one through four, two steps. That was discussed at budget time. This is the transfer to effectuate that. It happened really late in the budget process. We didn't want to re-import a full list of 1,500 employees, so we reserved the resources there and we're making this transfer now to make those departments whole for those adjustments. All right, thank you.
Lance Davis	Any questions, discussion? All right, seeing none. Peter, we'll call on this one as well, all right?
Clerk	On the item transferring $448,180 from salary contingency, Councilor Wilson.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Scott.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Burnley.
SPEAKER_16	Aye.
Clerk	Councilor Sait.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Strezo.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Clingan.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Mbah.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Davis. Yes. With 10 Councilors in favor and none opposed, that item is approved. And that brings us to item 7.1, a request of the mayor, requesting that this council convene an executive session to discuss techniques for incentivizing tenant recruitment to vacant laboratory spaces.
Lance Davis	All right, thank you. Do we have anyone from the law department to confirm that this item is appropriate for executive? Closer is here online. Closer Amara, you're able to unmute. So just to understand what we're waiting for, it historically had been the practice and it is still my understanding. I'm here from the law department. There we go. Excellent. We have Solicitor Amara. So I was just explaining proper procedure, as I understand it, is to have someone from the law department advise the council as to whether this item is appropriate for executive session. Could you please advise us as to that?
Naima Sait	I believe that this item is appropriate for executive session under Exemption 6.
Lance Davis	Very well. We'll call it on executive session.
Clerk	On the item, Councilor Wilson.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Scott.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin.
SPEAKER_16	Yes. Councilor Burnley. Aye.
Clerk	Councilor Sait. Yes. Councilor Sait.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Strezo. Yes. Councilor Clingan.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Mbah. Yes. Councilor Davis. Yes. With 10 councillors in favor and none opposed, that item is approved and this council will executive session.
Lance Davis	Okay, we will return to regular session as soon as executive session is over.
	Thank you.
SPEAKER_15	Left to go do that.
Lance Davis	All right, I call this meeting back to order. Would the clerk please call the roll to establish a quorum.
Clerk	This is roll call. Councilor Wilson.
SPEAKER_16	Present.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen.
SPEAKER_16	Here.
Clerk	Councilor Scott.
SPEAKER_16	Present.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin. Here. Councilor Burnley.
Kristen Strezo	Here.
Clerk	Councilor Sait. Councilor Strezo?
Kristen Strezo	Present.
Clerk	Councilor Clingan? Present. Councilor Mbah?
Lance Davis	Present.
Clerk	Councilor Davis?
Lance Davis	Here.
Clerk	With nine councilors present and one absent, we have a quorum.
Lance Davis	Thank you, Madam Clerk. I would like to take items 9.23 and 10.4 out of order now, if you don't mind, and then we'll go back to our previously planned out of order for 5.1 through 5.5, so.
Clerk	Mr. President, item 9.23 is a public communication from former Mayor Eugene Bruin, former Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay, and former Alderman Jack Conley, submitting comments regarding Chapter 53, Section 18B of the Massachusetts General Laws. And item 10.4 is an order by Councilor Mbah that the City of Somerville hereby accept the provisions of Chapter 53, Section 18B of the Massachusetts General Laws.
Will Mbah	Councilor Mbah. Thank you, honorable Mr. President. This item was brought to me literally a few days ago by my friend and constituent, Harriet, who has joined us this evening. I'm gonna just make it clear what the intent is. And this is the unmet need that she actually says she brings this to me is the timely distribution of a plain language summary of changes to the city charter. which will be on our November 4, 2025 ballot, you know, as a ballot question. This distribution of the summary of the charter changes needs to be not only available on the city website, but it needs to be sent out in normal and even large print, print, as well as Braille and Bose copies in all languages in which the city usually makes information available. Without this, the city voters will be voting blind. So the way to make this kind of information mandatory over the years, the council will need to adopt mass general law Chapter 53, Section 18B. And at this point, I would like to, with your permission, Mr. President, I want to sponsor Harriet to speak to this policy order.
Lance Davis	Councilor Mbah would like to sponsor Harriet Remig to speak. Seeing no opposition, just to be clear, it's not my permission, it's the will of the body, as long as there's no objection. Hello, would you just please repeat your name and address for the record, please?
SPEAKER_04	My name is Harriet Ranvig. I live at 5 Lester Terrace in Davis Square. And I just came to speak on this matter as a matter of having a well-informed electorate because... Having time to read through these documents is very important, and to have a summary of the changes, considering there's been no changes since 1899, it feels to me that it is our duty to make this available to every voter in Somerville. And we went through a very difficult experience last year because, naturally, Secretary Galvin had the little red book sent out at least two months before the election. Whereas the Braille edition, because of various complexities of bureaucracy, was only presented to blind folks at the poll. And no fault of the poll workers, but having no experience of Braille, The two volumes was only one volume here and there. There was not a complete in the six polling places that I went to. So this is kind of to try to get a jump on it, number one. And number two, I am eager to read plain language summary of those changes because they will affect our city and how it moves and works for us. And this is also a part, after some research, of the Chapter 53, Section 18B of Mass General Law. How that interacts with the home rule petition, which I've been told, I haven't read it for myself, is already in the Legislative House of Massachusetts. I do not know that interaction. And I just know that I think that everyone in this room is devoted to an electorate that has the information they need to vote intelligently and well concerning the charter. Thank you very much.
Lance Davis	Thank you very much. Councilor Mbah? Any further?
Will Mbah	Yeah, thank you Harry for speaking to this and back to you Mr. President.
Lance Davis	Thank you very much. Any discussion? Councilor McLaughlin?
Matt McLaughlin	President, I know there's an item conveying an update to the charter. Thank you, Mr. President. I do believe there's an item with an update to the charter. Maybe we could take that out of order and get an update at the same time.
Lance Davis	So I think, Council McLaughlin, the item that has an update to a charter relates to some largely non-substantive changes that were made at the direction of the House Committee. Those have been made on the version that was passed by the House Committee. I think this issue is, while... those and any other changes that, all of the rest of the changes are subject to the request here to provide that information in every accessible way we can. I'm not sure I want to take those up right now, because I think this item is substantively a little different, unless there's a strong objection. It's also my intent to send this one to Legislative Matters to make sure that we get the legal part of it squared away with a copy to the administration with a request to you know, advise us hopefully at the first discussion of legislative matters as to where we are with this and if there's any concerns or challenges with being able to comply. Is that satisfactory?
Matt McLaughlin	That's fine, Mr. President. I'll just give people a quick update that it has passed the House and we'll have to go to the Senate and then the Governor and hopefully get to us in time to be on the ballot. Very good.
Lance Davis	All right, seeing no further discussion on these two items, I'd like to send them both to Legislative Matters. I'd like to send that communication along with committee just so folks have that reminder of the context. As I said, though, I'm speaking to Director Neha. It's so late. And I see you nodding your head, so I appreciate if the administration, obviously given the time sensitivity, I don't want to delay this, but I do think the actual substantive adoption of this law is appropriate for discussion in committee, but certainly we all recognize that there are some timing concerns, and so if the administration can take a look at those, take a look at the request, and as soon as reasonable, be able to speak to that in committee, that would be very much appreciated. All right, so seeing no further discussion, these two items are approved and sent to committee. Let's see who matters. First one, yes, thank you, thank you, thank you, because I put these together, my bad. Yes, first one placed on file, second one approved and sent to committee. And thank you, Harriet, for being here and speaking this evening. I always appreciate your input. All right, let's go back to our regular order of unregular order.
Clerk	Exactly right, which means the next item is item 5.1, a request of the mayor requesting ordainment of an amendment to sections 764, 765, and 768 of the Code of Ordinances to reduce displacement of tenants and update relocation payments.
Lance Davis	All right, so as a reminder, and could we take up 5.2 through 5.5? We waived the reading of those four items, but take them up at the same time? Okay, so the 5.2 through 5.5, our communications that we received about item 5.1, we received all of those prior to our last meeting before recess. We did keep this item laid on the table, so these are the entirety of the unfinished business. That was, I believe it was Councillor Wilson initially, but a number of folks had, the folks who had written in and communicated about this change to the ordinance had requested more time for folks to be able to provide input. My understanding is that the Council has not officially received any further communication beyond these ones that are here, but I did want to keep these all together to have the full context. And because there were a few potential issues raised in those communications at the time, I asked through the Intergovernmental Affairs. It's getting late, folks. Through the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, I had asked for someone in the administration to just take a look and be able to speak to us. We have Director Galgani here. Director Galgani, if you could just give us a quick sort of summary of your conclusions, if you have any concerns or if you feel like, or sort of your thoughts on some of the issues that were raised here, I won't us to have that context so that we can, if we decide to move forward, do so with full information.
SPEAKER_06	Thank you, Mr. President. Your question a month ago was, generally speaking, is this going to have a detrimental impact on our residential housing market? Are we going to see less homes constructed as a result? And is this going to increase costs for developers? Yes. Will this result in less homes being built? Possible. The real question is how many, and what is the scale of the problem, and what is the scale of what we're trying to solve? It's hard for us to quantitatively estimate what the impact, it might be some slight impact. Is this something that's going to collapse our residential market? We definitely think not. There are relatively few condo conversions that happen. Most of them that happen are with existing buildings. Some of them do result in demolitions and then larger units being built, but we don't see this as having a catastrophic effect on residents. Necessary thing that we need to do in order to protect our residents.
Lance Davis	Okay, so if I understand, to the extent there may be an impact, if I understand what you're saying, it would only be to that less than 100% conversions where there was then subsequently, or prior to converting or creating condos, it would be where the building is demolished and a new building is built with potentially additional units. That certainly, as you said, is not, it's not the majority of conversions, and I don't know what the percentage is, but the number of units wouldn't necessarily be impacted where a current X number of unit rental property was converted into the same X number of units condominiums. It'd be obvious that if X remains the same number, it's the same number of units, correct?
SPEAKER_06	Correct, it's gonna cost developers more money. It's gonna cost them more time, which equals more money. That will increase the cost of development, but we don't think it's gonna have such a detrimental impact that we should forego these changes. I think these changes are important, and I think it will make a difference for the people that we're trying to make this for.
Lance Davis	Okay, well, thank you for taking a look at that and for getting back to us on those questions. Councilor Ewan-Kampen?
Ben Ewen-Campen	Thank you very much, through you, and thank you, Director and the administration, for continuing to push on this. I remain extremely supportive of this, and I just want to focus in. So we got one letter from the Chamber of Commerce that outlined why they were opposed to it. They say their objections are based on substance and process. The first thing that they mention on substance, they say the quote, the city's stated goals are to create more housing units of all kinds. As Somerville has little in the way of vacant land on which to build new housing, existing structures will have to be demolished in order to build more. This entails removing tenants from those existing structures with the goal of having more tenants in the new structure. So the stated reason for opposing this is that they want to make it easier to remove tenants. Those are our constituents. Those are the people literally who elect us. The idea that it is the city's stated policy that we want to make it easier to remove tenants from their homes just makes my blood boil. I almost can't put into words that they would have the first reason to us is that we want to make it easier to remove tenants from their existing homes. It boggles them up. I agree we need to build more housing. The types of condo conversions that I most frequently see, they're not adding units. They're taking a triple-decker, evicting everybody, and turning them into three condos. It is not the city's policy that we want to displace as many tenants as possible, and I just wanna state that for the record. And in those situations where tenants are going to be removed, because we can't prevent it fully, they deserve to land on their feet with reasonable relocation expenses and with a reasonable amount of time to find a new place to live. They're getting evicted. So that is why I remain extremely supportive of this, and I'm thankful, honestly, for this argument being made in such clear terms.
Lance Davis	Okay, any further discussion? Motion. Council member Scott-Moose to approve item 5.1. We'll need to approve and roll it in. I should have noted a moment or so, actually during the previous item, the Councilor Sait he did rejoin the meeting almost immediately after we started, so we'll add three votes.
Clerk	Exactly right, Mr. President. Starting with approval of item 25-1237, ordainment of an amendment to sections 764, 765, and 768 of the Code of Ordinances for Condo Conversion. On approval, Councilor Wilson.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Scott.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Burnley.
SPEAKER_16	Aye.
Clerk	Councilor Sait.
	Aye.
Clerk	Yes. Councillor Strezo. Yes. Councillor Clingan.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Mbah.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Davis. Yes. With 10 councillors in favor and none opposed, that item is approved. On enrollment, Councillor Wilson.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Ewen-Campen. Yes. Councillor Scott.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor McLaughlin.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Burnley.
SPEAKER_16	Aye.
Clerk	Councillor Sait. Yes. Councillor Strezo.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Clingan.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Mbah.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Davis. Yes. With 10 councillors in favor and none opposed, that item is enrolled. And on ordainment, Councillor Wilson.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Ewen-Campen. Yes. Councillor Scott.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor McLaughlin.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Burnley.
SPEAKER_16	Aye.
Clerk	Councillor Sait. Aye. Yes. Councillor Strezo. Yes. Councillor Clingan.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councillor Mbah. Yes. Councillor Davis.
Lance Davis	Yes.
Clerk	With 10 councillors in favor and none opposed, that item is ordained.
Lance Davis	All right, very good, thank you.
Clerk	One more item being taken out of order, Mr. President.
Lance Davis	So, Madam Clerk, if I may, Councilor Burnley, do you have folks here to speak on item 10.3? Yeah, okay, well then in that case, let's take that up in the regular order.
Clerk	Indeed, so that will return us to the regular order of business. And item 4.1, communication by Councilor Davis in his capacity as president, conveying this council's updated standing and special committee assignments and commission appointments for 2025. So place that on file. Place that on file, thank you. Item 4.2 is an order by Councilor Strezo that the Director of Mobility appear before this council to discuss how the city may apply for the state's Microtransit and Last Mile Program grant, which is being funded through the fiscal year 2025 Supplemental Education and Transportation Funds, but. Strezo.
Kristen Strezo	Thank you. I am suggesting this as one way to create a way that we could somehow work with, say for instance, future community benefit agreements or partnerships with our community partners. And there's this, one of my dreams is to have a eight-seater, 100% EV microtransit little bus that can get Somerville residents around the community. And so this grant program came up. I think it's a wonderful way that we can alternate between getting people out of cars and finding solutions, and I want to take a serious... It's 10.30. What time is it? It's late. I'm pretty wiped, and I patiently waited for my first agenda items to be addressed, so I'm pretty tired. Anyway, I want to talk about it in committee, and I want to take this seriously. I want to find ways that we can bring this to Somerville. Thank you.
Lance Davis	Little buses that can go up and down the hills. Councilor Clingan.
Kristen Strezo	Eight seater, eight seater electric little itty bitty buses.
Lance Davis	Brilliant. Councilor Clingan would like to sign on, I'd like to sign on. Councilor Burnley, Councilor Bos. Councilor Mbah. Housing community development.
Kristen Strezo	Let's go, and you know what else? I want our community partners, I want these big corporations that are doing so well in our community, I want them to be more Somerville-centric and help us and have them be better, I'm sorry, be wonderful community partners and neighbors, thank you.
Lance Davis	Help us out with this, y'all.
Kristen Strezo	Help us out.
Lance Davis	So that will be sent to Community Development. Oh, Councilor Sait, I keep forgetting to look up at the screen there. My apologies, Councilor Sait, go right ahead.
Naima Sait	Mr. President, I would like to sign on.
Lance Davis	Sait would like to sign on, very good.
Clerk	Item 4.3 is an order by Councilor Strezo that the Director of Emergency Management and the Mayor inform city councilors in real time when emergency events are occurring in the city, such as fires or emergency evacuations.
Lance Davis	We're here, Councilor Strezo.
Kristen Strezo	This idea, notion, concept is not the first or even possibly the third time that city councilors have requested, asked, begged, Anything to in real time know when our constituents are in trouble, when there is a massive fire or possibly two fires like this month, a very, very scary one in West Somerville, that is still, that residents are still grappling with and gluing together and will be for a while putting together their lives from. And then in, what was that, Ward 4? The Ward 4 as well. We don't learn about it. always in real time. In fact, most of the time we don't, or if our constituents call us, But then we hear about it, and I think that's really unfair. And I want the administration, actually there are numerous tiers that this goes through. IGA is supposed to be telling us, and we aren't hearing about it as well. So let's talk about it in committee, and let's get some actual commitments that we can be engaged in this process as well, which I think is a pretty fair request. Help us serve our constituents.
Lance Davis	Councillor Wilson would like to sign on, Councillor Clingan and myself as well, Councillor Burnley.
Willie Burnley	Thank you, through the chair, just really quickly on this. Through you, thank you to Councillor Strezo for bringing this back up. This is, to her point, something that multiple councillors have put orders in over the years on. I believe there was a like half did one with someone where it was to the ward counselor and then I was like well the at-larges would like to know as well quite frankly that was a few years ago and I remember at the time the next fire that happened actually near me unfortunately I was alerted by the city so I know this can happen because it has happened once or twice before but it seems as though We start to move forward on this and then either people forget or it gets lost in the hustle bustle of running a city and unfortunately the need for this is really present. I mean we've talked about, we've mentioned two fires thus far that just happened recently. I also like to uplift that there was a fire on Thurston Street which caused soot to rain from the skies. I remember seeing it from afar because I live in the area. These are real people's lives. These are homes that are being destroyed or potential homes and future homes. And even if, you know, I'm not saying every counselor is going to swoop in and try to, you know, run the show or do anything to that order, but I think it is very helpful when constituents see that their government is responsive and caring in those very difficult moments, so thank you.
Lance Davis	I see Director Singh has something, go right ahead.
SPEAKER_21	Through the Chair, thank you so much for allowing me to speak. Thank you so much, Councilor Sato, for bringing this item and sponsoring this item. I just wanna first say that I know there's been a lot of conversations about what is the protocol, what is the process when there is an emergency. So the intergovernmental affairs team has started conversations with our director of emergency management to talk about how we can come to the council, maybe come before public health, public safety, to start having these conversation and talk about what actually happens when there is an emergency, what are the departments that are either onsite or respond right away to help our constituents. On the specific issue of notification to city council, I do wanna say that IGA, although we're not perfect, we do our best to notify and the ward counselor as soon as we hear of the emergency. It's not always in real time because in that moment, the departments that are onsite are focused on addressing the emergency. As soon as they are done addressing the emergency, IGA gets a notification and we reach out to the ward counselor right away. Just this morning, I reached out to a ward counselor at seven in the morning, and I know some of you have heard from me late at night as well. Although our current protocol is not to reach out at large, I'd be happy to have conversations about what process works for everyone. So I just wanted to say that. Thank you.
Kristen Strezo	Thank you, Mr. President. So the way that I heard that the tier works in the talking of when the emergency management director came and spoke before the task force discussing ADA accessibility and updating protocol with that is that emergency management gets it gets the information and then I forgot the second tier and then it's supposed to go to IGA but again I'm still confused as to why at-large counselors aren't included in the conversation And while I understand that it is important that ward councillors are aware that this is happening within their ward, say for instance Ward 7, which is kind of rogue right now, we don't have a Ward 7 councillor. And I've gratefully taken on a lot of former councillor Pineda-Newfield work in her ward, and I'm grateful to do that. But I do want to know and I don't want to leave our constituents just out in the cold and I still don't understand why at-large counselors aren't included in this process and I don't want to hear about it in a press release from the mayor's office in five days because I think it's really unfair. I know that in real time is a possibility because in a previous administration it was a very simple protocol that happened. And if it's the fire auxiliary that is giving a call or a volunteer that is giving a call to us, I think that's a very basic, basic request that we can ask for. So on record, I'm asking that all counselors are informed when fires are happening in real time, just as you are aware of it, that we are aware of it as well. I would really like that and let our constituents know that we're there for them and they can see us. Because I have heard from constituents, where were you? No one was there. Nobody cares. I remember one story of a constituent saying that they actually came to City Hall. to the mayor's office after a fire. And this was only a couple of years ago. A fire just destroyed her unit and a couple of units in the building. And she was hoping that somebody somewhere in the city could guide her to resources basic resources after Red Cross left because then they were gone and and and she knew that that this was a possibility because she she had lived in Somerville all her life and I heard about it eight months later. And she carried that burden and that trauma that nobody cared. Nobody in the city of Somerville cared for over eight months. We were able to direct her to resources and gratefully there was a really happy story that ended from it. But it shouldn't be that. It should never be that. We shouldn't leave our residents, our constituents out in the cold. Thank you.
Will Mbah	Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you to the large council for putting this, I think. I also want to thank Director Sink for the work you do. I know, you know, I can only imagine what you deal with every day, but I think there was a fire on North Street myself, you know, and I did not hear about it. This is something that, you know, when you mentioned that you will, you know, the protocol is to follow up with the ward councillor. Like councillor Strezo said, we don't have a ward councillor in ward seven. And yet there was a fire that occurred. I don't know like who you communicated that fire to. Like we were all left in the dark. So I think it would be good to I don't know if it's an ordinance that needs to be put in place for us to get information. I'm not sure, but this is something that is just basic, you know, courtesy that we need to be having timely information so that we can be there for our residents and our neighbors. Thank you. I'd like to approve the copy to Public Health and Public Safety.
Clerk	Item 4.4 is a resolution by Councilor Strezo and Davis that the mayor commit to and provide funds for installing a winter ice sheet for the 2025-2026 season at Founders Rink for all some of our residents who engage in winter activities such as hockey, curling,
Lance Davis	Councilors Wilson, Ewen-Campen, Scott, McLaughlin, the whole council would like to sign on.
Kristen Strezo	Thanks, colleagues.
Lance Davis	Very good.
Kristen Strezo	That's super. I'm wondering, Mr. President, if we should send this to committee, but I really just want it to happen, so part of me just wants to send it on through to request, ask, beg, hopefully convince the administration to make our dreams a reality.
Lance Davis	I agree, we've certainly heard this in other contexts, the exact same request as it came up in the context of other items. I think it's pretty unequivocal where the council stands, pretty unequivocal where a portion of the community stands. Very much hope that you hear good news. Councilor Clingan?
Jesse Clingan	Yeah, just one comment. Ice, ice, baby.
Lance Davis	Here we are, it's not even 10 o'clock yet. Any further discussion? I think we can, I'm not sure, well, I don't know. We're either gonna hear that there's a plan to do this or we're not, so to the administration, let us know, please, hopefully it's a yes. I apologize for opining well at the chair here. So that item is approved.
Clerk	Item 4.5 is a resolution by Councilors Strezo and Davis that the administration direct all relevant departments, including Health and Human Services, to appear before the City Council to discuss and update on current and unhoused outreach efforts. Strezo.
Kristen Strezo	Thank you, Mr. President. We'd send it along to a committee.
Lance Davis	Public safety, discussion, all right. Who's happy to public health public safety?
Clerk	Item 4.6 is a resolution by Councilors Strezo and Wilson calling on MassHealth to enforce existing administrative regulations and statutory authority pertaining to the provision of applied behavioral analysis services.
Lance Davis	Strezo.
Kristen Strezo	Okay, I wouldn't mind if Madam Clerk read it, but I'm also going to summarize it quickly because it gets really technical real fast. But if you know the language, you know. Anyhow, some of the We first, 1 in 36 children have a form of Autistic Spectrum Disorder, ASD, including here in Somerville. And some of the first steps once a diagnosis is established with an autistic child is to help this child get basic life I wouldn't say life experiences, but life training. And some of that work is through BCBA, ABA, early intervention, which happens here in Somerville. And so with that, There's a list of providers that, a long list of families trying to get to providers for autistic support. And sometimes it is staggeringly long. And then don't even get me started on insurance companies and where that plays in, where you can get services, even just the simple diagnosis of autism. if you've talked to your constituents, can be a year and a half, two years to wait to get to the right behavioral pediatrician specialist or department. It's a waiting game. And despite the fact that it is a very common diagnosis or it's becoming a more commonly diagnosed, it's not super common, but you know what I mean. Because of that, we should have more providers, we should have more services available, and yet we don't. So what this resolution is essentially saying is that there's an opportunity through MassHealth, a lot of children with autism may receive MassHealth. It opens up the process with this resolution if we can open up more opportunities levels of service providers to support autistic children and families that love support and care for them. We can do that if MassHealth and insurance companies can collaborate and if the state of Massachusetts will allow that. So just really quickly read this. The first years of life are the most consequential in human development. We know that. And despite everything we know about early intervention for children with ASD, Massachusetts has an acute shortage of key practitioners who are crucial in the provision of ABA services. which, like I said, ABA applied behavioral analysis, BCBA, resulting in a wait list of 2,000 to 3,500 children aged 2 to 5 years old at any given time. And the average age of a diagnosis in Massachusetts is 5.3 years old. I'm not even talking about girls and the gender differences with that. Boys typically get diagnosed fastest. Girls can be diagnosed far later, if even at all at times. Massachusetts operates under a two-tier delivery model of ABA services rather than a three-tier delivery model like in California or Michigan. And what this resolution is fighting for is to open up to a three-tier model and with MassHealth's acceptance of that and insurance companies' acceptance of that, that could be possible. So that's a brief 945 p.m. summary of this. And I am requesting that this be sent to the governor's office and our state delegation and that they advocate and fight for this as well.
Jake Wilson	That's awesome. Yeah, Mr. President, I want to thank our colleague at large for Getting this order, the resolution in, for summarizing it nicely, I'll just be quick, because it's late, and just say it's shown that this three-tier delivery model, it works. We should do it. It could make a world of difference, this early intervention could make a world of difference for Somerville families, for Somerville youth. So yes, let's do this.
Lance Davis	All right, very well. So did you get the request for, yes? No committee, just the copy's out now. We'll hopefully hear good news from another conversation. Very well, thank you. The next item, Madam Clerk.
Clerk	So that one will be approved and the next item is an order by Councilor Mbah that the Director of Finance provide a comprehensive accounting of all stabilization accounts that have remained unspent for three or more fiscal years and provide a report for each fund. Mr. Mbah.
Will Mbah	Thank you, Mr. President. As we all know, funds are drying up at the Job Creation and Retention Trust and also the Affordable Housing Trust. And we also have a lot of stabilization accounts that there are funds there that have been sitting there for years. So just getting that information will be helpful. And I would need the information or the report should contain original contribution to the account, the balance currently held, whether they remain payments, purchasing, or work that will be put the money to use, and if not, whether there will be any impending law, you know, or contractual obligation that will prohibit the council from withdrawing and repurposing the funds. So I would like it to be sent to finance. Discussion?
Lance Davis	Is that approved?
Clerk	Item 4.8 is an order by Councilor Mbah that the Director of Economic Development provide a report to this council on the impact of Greentown Labs, including job creation, local economic activity, community engagement initiatives, climate and sustainability contributions, equity and inclusion out.
Will Mbah	Thank you, Mr. President. I don't know if you guys, we are feeling, it's so interesting how Greentown Lab, it's a very unique place. It's widely regarded as one of the nation's leading climate technology incubators and has brought both recognition and opportunity to the city of Somerville. But it would be nice for the council that we don't receive any comprehensive report on the measurable local impact of its presence. So I was there recently. I've also begun this conversation. I met with the CEO at this conversation, but I said I'll be submitting a formal policy order. So as Somerville continues to advance its goals, for economic vitality, climate leadership and equity. It's important to assess how Greentown Labs operation align with this priority. You know, and such an assessment will allow us as a council to recognize the successes, identify areas for improvement, and ensure that the presence of Greentown Labs continues to advance some of its vision of an innovative, sustainable, and inclusive local economy. I would like this to go to Open Space Environment and Energy, so I can invite them to come, we continue the conversation. Discussion?
Lance Davis	All right, that's approved, the copy to treat open space, environment, and energy. Next item.
Clerk	The next item is item 4.9, an order by Councilor Baha that the Director of Parks and Recreation install a clock on top of the Dillboy pool building.
Will Mbah	Thank you, Mr. President. Again, we all know that, you know, Dear Boy Pooh is a popular recreational facility that serves residents of all ages from across Somerville and our surrounding communities. So this addition represents a small but meaningful way to improve the overall experience for residents at one of Somerville's most widely used public amenities. Open space, okay.
Lance Davis	All up in committee. This is approved to the copied open space environment.
Clerk	Item 4.11 is a communication by Councilor Mbah, conveying a report of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Will Mbah	Councilor Mbah. Thank you, Mr. President. I guess, like the good councilor last said, the hour is late. But at the August 14 meeting of the Somerville Affordable Housing Trust, all the trustees welcomed the newest members, Abba, Solis, and approved the July 10 meeting. Financial reports show approximately 2.3 million available in CPA account, including the fiscal year 2025 allocation, 11.8 million in non-CPA account, and 50,000 in early action acquisition fund. The CPC approved returning 264,000 in CPA interest earned between fiscal year 2019 to 2025 to the trust. So the staff recommended allocating up to 400,000 in CPA funds for fiscal year 26 housing assistance program through a competitive RFP with evaluation criteria based on past program success, organizational capacity. So the trustee recruitment continues with interviews for the banking and finance, that was a seat that was open. And so they are scheduling an interview for that. They scheduled that already, I think August 20th. And there's some of the nonprofit seat also. There's a seat that's been opened. That seat has been re-advertised for mid to late September. It has the report be accepted as submitted. All right, thank you. That is placed on file. Next item.
Clerk	Item 4.12 is a communication by Councilor Mbah conveying a report of the Job Creation and Retention Trust Fund.
Will Mbah	Mbah. Thank you again, Mr. President. August 21st, the Job Creation Retention Trust voted to issue an RFP inviting job training and career counseling providers to compete for four or five grants of approximately $200,000 each, supporting ongoing programs for Somerville clients through fiscal year 2026 and into 2027. The trustees committed $1 million to this RFP despite concerns that with no new construction projects expected until the real estate market improves, spending now will be reduced to the trustee reserve to less than $2 million for a future period that could extend five or more years, potentially threatening its sustainability and the community organization it supports. So that's why I actually trigger the previous order in finance for those funds to look how we can subsidize and repurpose funds from the stabilization account. So I ask that this committee report be accepted and submitted. That item is placed on file.
Clerk	Item 4.13 is an order by Councilors Ewen-Campen and Ed Wilson that the Director of Health and Human Services create a summer job in the Mayor's Jobs Program by which youth can travel by bike to water public trees around the city.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Councilor Ewen-Campen. Thank you, Mr. President. Myself and Councilor Wilson received an email from a Ward 3 resident who's a student at Tufts. And she had just spent the summer working for the Cambridge DPW on a program where summer interns, they bike around the city and they fill up the tree water bags. They're taught how to connect to fire hydrants. And it happens kind of in addition to whatever is done, the contracts to keep the trees watered, which can always be supplemented. So we've filed this order to ask the mayor's office and DPW to look into including a program like this. It really, it sounded like a just totally wonderful experience where they were just showered with appreciation from all the people who live there. They were increasing the tree canopy. You know, it's a win-win-win. And so I'd ask that this please go to committee so we can follow up on.
Jesse Clingan	Councillor Clingan. Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, I'd like to sign on and I'd like to just say that I did talk a few years ago to Dr. Bukele about this. I didn't follow up with an order. I probably should have because this was around the time when we were having a drought and we were asking residents to use their own water, which, you know, we still do. But, you know, I just thought that was, you know, with the water rates being there and so on, this was a great idea. I hope we can make it come to fruition here in Somerville. So I do support it. Thanks.
Lance Davis	So we are in yet another late summer dry spell. I don't know if we're officially in drought yet, but certainly there. Councilor Wilson and then Councilor Sait.
Jake Wilson	Yeah, thanks, Mr. President. Yeah, I appreciate Councilor Ewen-Campen for putting this in and for the constituent who brought this to us. I feel like we're always looking for interesting ways to get more out of the Mayor's Summer Jobs Program, and I feel like for especially older teenagers that we have in the community this could be a particularly good opportunity you know take it beyond you know sort of what you typically see a lot of kids at parks and rec programming be great to offer more experiences like this so I think it's a great idea and I'm all in on this that's a site
Naima Sait	Through you, Mr. President, I would like to thank Councilor Ewen-Campen and Councilor Wilson for bringing this forward. This is great. As our schools are moving into project-based learning, this would be a really nice project for an educator to do with their students and maybe collect data somehow. So, yeah, we'd love to see more of this.
Lance Davis	All right. Councilor Mbah, would you like to sign on? All right, open space environment energy. That's not right. Oh, sorry. My brain is melting.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Air from the windows hasn't quite reached me yet. Mr. President, Councilor Clingan only thought about putting in this order years ago. We actually had the gumption to do it.
Lance Davis	I thought he might have an opinion on the committee. All right, that is approved with a copy to open space environment energy.
Clerk	Item 4.14 is an order by Councilor Ewen Campin that the Director of Mobility install a left turn signal for vehicles turning left from Somerville Avenue onto Bow Street.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Thank you Mr. President. Normally I wouldn't take time to talk about an order like this, but I just want to clarify what I mean. When you're driving on Somerville Ave, right before you get to Gracie's, there are two lanes of traffic. One of them almost everyone wants to turn left. the right lane, everybody wants to go straight. That signal has been really screwed up. There have been a bunch of kind of inadvertent changes made. I've gone back and forth a lot with the mobility department. But it's a very long red right now. And that red is intended to keep people from going straight when there's a red light 100 feet ahead of them. But it causes a huge backup for people that just need to be turning left. So I really think that there should just be a left turn arrow right there so that people obviously would still have your walk cycle. But for people turning onto Bo or Warren, just keep the traffic flowing so that it doesn't back up so far on Somerville Ave. So if this could go to traffic and parking for follow-up, I'd appreciate it. All right. That is approved. Cocked traffic and parking.
Clerk	Item 4.15 is a resolution by Councilor Ewen-Campen that the mayor explained to this council why the community process for a redesigned Highland Avenue appears to have been postponed indefinitely, despite repeated statements that it was to begin during summer 2025, including the introductory statement on the city's dedicated Highland Ave redesign website.
Lance Davis	I'd like to sign on to this. Councilor Wilson, Councilor Scott, Councilor Burnley, Councilor Strezo, Councilor Mbah. Councilor Sait, well, that's clinging very well. Where are we going here? So, Councilor Clingan. Councilor Ewen-Campen, I'm joking. I pointed to Councilor Ewen-Campen and said Councilor Clingan as a joke because I screwed their names up.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Thank you, Mr. President. In October of 2021, the city held its first community meeting about redesigning Highland Ave to make it safer. And when the city first held that meeting, this was under the previous administration, I was incredibly naive because I really genuinely thought that that was the beginning of a design and construction process. That was four years ago, and quite literally nothing has happened since then. A few months after that meeting, when the current mayor was inaugurated, there was basically a pause put onto all the major capital investments while the new administration developed their own priorities. I was very strongly publicly opposed to that pause as it pertained to this project. We were quite literally digging up Highland Ave at that time for utility work. And I remember I had worked with the incoming mayor when she was a counselor as the co-sponsor, kind of calling for protected bike lanes on Highland Ave. So I was already frustrated. This was in 2022, 2023. I fought really hard to make sure that despite that pause, there was still momentum. And indeed, when the current capital investment plan was put out, Highland Ave redesign was included there. And again, I must have been really naive because I thought that that was real. And for anyone who has been following this process, the line, has been that this process is going to start the summer of 2025. The city has a dedicated website. If you Google Highland Ave redesign, it has a dedicated website. The most recent update says, we can expect, and I quote, design and outreach funding for Highland Avenue available as soon as July 2025 and construction services funding starting July 2026. I believe that. I really, I didn't think that that was a misdirect. July 2025 has now come and gone. Obviously, that community process has not begun. From what I can tell, it is not planned to begin. I have not been given any timeline or any commitment. Instead, what I have been told is that the mayor's office is aware that I would like to know when the Highland Ave community process is going to begin. What I find really, really, really frustrating is when I feel like I am being misled. It is really hard to work together to find common ground when I feel like I am not being given honest answers from the mayor's office. This is not directed at the mobility department or anyone else. This is about the mayor's office who is responsible for making the big decisions around capital priorities that cost a lot of money. And when we mislead the public for years at a time, it breaks the trust that we all have to work so hard to build up with residents, and it is incredibly difficult to rebuild, and it does not need to be this way. It has been generically explained to all of us that we are in really brutal economic forecasts. This has made it necessary for us to rethink what are the expensive things that we're gonna pay for. I get that. Okay, say that. Tell us that you are changing the priority and that you're going back on the commitment to redo Highland Ave or that it's being delayed five years or whatever. Tell us what the plan is. Instead, what we're getting is there are statements made in public in meetings on the website repeatedly that are just not true. And it is honestly driving me insane. I would just respect it a whole lot more if the mayor's office said, look, we're not doing Highland Act right now. Instead, what we just get is this like silent non-response every time this comes up. And the deadlines come and go. One of the things that I hear the most about, about the community path, now that it is open, is that there are way too many bikers going way too fast. And that is obviously true. I have little kids. You basically can't take little kids on the new parts of the community path because there are people biking like psychos. The way to get people off the community path is to get a bike lane on Highland Ave. For the commuters, there needs to be bike lanes on Highland Ave. So I'm just begging the mayor, prove me wrong. Tell me that I've got it all wrong and that I'm being passive aggressive. Just show me that you're actually gonna start this community process and I will stop talking about this. But from where I sit, it's just been all talk. It's just been years and years of misleading me and the public about that we're actually gonna do this. I don't think this needs to go to committee. I think I've made myself clear, but I would really like to see some action.
Lance Davis	All right, that item is approved.
Clerk	Item 4.16 is an order by Councilor Sait that the Director of Mobility update this council on when the speed limit signage and no motorized vehicle signage will be installed along the community path and at.
Lance Davis	Councilor Sait.
Naima Sait	Mr. President, I put in an order last fall about this, and there has been no update since then. So I'm hoping we'll get an update this fall, since it's been a year. And fall 2025 was the date that was mentioned during that meeting. So, yeah, looking for an update here.
Lance Davis	All right. Very good. Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, that item is approved. Councilor Sait, would you would like that to go to committee for follow-up or are you just looking for?
Naima Sait	Oh, yes, please, traffic and parking. Traffic and parking for follow-up, okay.
Clerk	Item 4.17 is an order by Councilor Sait that the Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management update this Council on when the school buildings maintenance project website will be available to the public.
Naima Sait	Councilor Sait? Through you, Mr. President, this is another request that was made during one of the school building facilities and maintenance, and I'm asking for an update. It's the beginning of the school year. On the agenda tonight, we do have some communication from DPW and IAM about work that was done to prepare the school buildings. But again, this is different. This is parents have been asking for years now that we have a dedicated website for all of this. So this is another formal request.
Lance Davis	Okay. Seeing no further discussion, that item is approved.
Naima Sait	I would like to send it to actually school building facilities and maintenance, Mr. President.
Lance Davis	Very well.
Clerk	Item 4.18 is an order by Councilor Sait that the Commissioner of Public Works clear the overgrowth on the sidewalk at 19 Elm Street and that the Director of Inspectional Services cite the property owner accordingly. Sait?
Naima Sait	Mr. President, I have been, just very briefly, this is, everyone knows this property, just abandoned, a lot of overgrowth, rodents, and a lot of the neighbors have been reaching out to me since I got, since now it's been almost two years, and I would like this item to be approved. I have been in communication with ISD. Yeah, but again, this is an abandoned property issue. Yeah, just be approved.
Lance Davis	Okay, thank you. So the discussion item is approved.
Clerk	Item 4.19 is a resolution by Councilor Sait that the administration release the report on the school department composting pilot program and that the commissioner of public work update this council on any plans to reintroduce composting in the schools.
Lance Davis	I'd like to sign on to this one, Councilor Sait.
Naima Sait	Mr. President, I would like to send this to school building facilities and maintenance. We had this conversation I think back in the spring and no update regarding the composting pilot program. So this is a formal request to release that.
Lance Davis	I saw sign-ons from Councilors Wilson, Raise your hands again. Wilson, Scott, Burnley, Strezo, Council Ba. Council Ba, you want to speak to the item?
Will Mbah	Yes, thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, this is, if the good councilor will also allow if we can send a copy of this to Open Space Environment and Energy. It's been very frustrating that you know, there's always, like, the good councilor up on Ward 3 said, like, we have plans, and this thing started in 2018, this composting idea. Like, when we got on the council 2017, 2018, Councillor Hirsch and myself, we all, you know, began this whole thing, and then this has been how many years later, we still, you know, pounding the pavement. So it will be nice to see where we are. Thank you.
Lance Davis	and I will hold it personally against the good Counselor-at-Large for not forgetting that I was very much involved in that discussion. I think we generally send things to one committee, and so since we've been having the conversation and we regularly have the folks that are responsible for maintenance of the school buildings in the school building facilities and maintenance, that seems like a perfectly appropriate place to be. I think open space environment entry also would be a perfectly appropriate place to discuss it. Is there a strong preference one way or the other?
Naima Sait	Mr. President, school facilities only because this needs to also be shared with the school committee. Sorry, can you start that again?
Lance Davis	I'm happy to recognize you, but I missed the beginning of it.
Naima Sait	Oh, sorry. I was just saying I think school building facilities and maintenance just because the report needs to also be shared with the school committee.
Lance Davis	an excellent point and another factor. So I kind of agree as does Councilor Mbah with the raised thumbs. So we'll send the, this is approved with a copy to school buildings, facilities and maintenance and thank you for that.
Clerk	The next item is gonna be item 7.5.
Jake Wilson	Mr. President, can I move to waive the readings of item 7.5 to 7.7 and 7.9 to 7.26 and ask those be sent to Finance.
Clerk	Item 727 is a request of the Mayor, requesting confirmation of the appointment of Olivia Mobiah to the Zoning Board of .
Ben Ewen-Campen	This be referred to confirmation of appointments, please.
Clerk	Item 728 is a request of the Mayor, requesting confirmation of the appointment of Suzanne Warner to the Urban Forestry Committee.
Ben Ewen-Campen	We recommend approval.
Clerk	Item 7.29 is a communication of the mayor conveying an update regarding work completed during summer 2025 on Somerville Public Schools building. Item 7.30 is a communication.
Lance Davis	I'll do one better, Harriet, I apologize, and I'll turn my mic on, which will make it work better. I forgot to turn it back on last time. So let me recap. We just waived a bunch of financial items that you heard the clerk read. Those were sent to finance. And we sent... Let's see. We... We sent a nomination for zoning board of appeals to confirmation appointments. We approved the appointment of a member to the forestry committee and we sent a copy of the mayor's communication on updates to school building facilities committee to school buildings facilities and maintenance. My apologies.
Clerk	And item 7.30 is a communication of the mayor conveying an update on the status of the charter for the city of Somerville.
Lance Davis	discussion we heard earlier this evening. A quick summary from Councilor McLaughlin. This item just goes through some changes that were made, primarily non-substantive for the most part, that were made based on the House Committee's recommendations. Those have been made. As you heard earlier, the House has approved it and it's been sent to the Senate where it will need to be approved there and then by the governor. Then we'll get the vote on it if hopefully that all happens. All right, so that is placed on file.
Clerk	Item 8.1 is an officer's communication from the city clerk requesting approval of her public official's bond.
Lance Davis	Discussion? That item is approved.
Clerk	Item 8.2 is an officer's communication from the licensing commission requesting the acceptance of Mass General Laws Chapter 138, Section 12D to allow current wine and malt beverage license holders to apply to convert to a non-transferable all forms alcohol license.
Lance Davis	Any discussion, Councilor Burnley?
Willie Burnley	Can we, if it's appropriate, could we send this to committee?
Lance Davis	I think it would be appropriate and we can make it up in legislative matters. Mr. President, we could send it to license and permits and have them discuss it. We could. I think I'm more inclined to send a matter that involves considering master and laws to legislative matters. We generally have the folks there that are also addressing those types of things. So just for no other reason than efficiency. Will do, sir. Thank you. So that is a copy of legislative matters.
Clerk	Item 8.3 is an officer's communication from the city clerk conveying block party licenses issued.
Lance Davis	Woohoo block parties. There's some good ones in here. Take a look. I do miss the reading out of all the block party licenses, but for the sake of efficiency, this one is based on five. But check it out and go to block parties and apply for your own. They're great.
Clerk	Mr. President, at the risk of dramatically overstepping, block party kits are now available in order.
Lance Davis	The block party kits are now available for order, so if you wanna have a block party, or you're planning a block party, talk to the clerk's office, and you can get some stuff to help out and make it even cooler than it already is. Thank you, Madam Clerk.
Clerk	The next item before this council is item 9.1.
Willie Burnley	Councilor Burnley? Yes, through the chair, I'd like to waive the readings of items 9.1 through 9.4 as well as 9.8 through 9.19 and ask that they be approved with just a few quick highlights to the point of efficiency um we have an amazing event coming up i i could see counselor wilson's eyes so i imagine he might be thinking the same event i'm thinking um gilman square arts and music festival coming september 13th uh 1 p.m through 5 p.m no yes no yes Yeah, I'll say that. And it is going to be amazing. This will be the second annual Gilman Square Festival. Please come down to enjoy your neighbors, some music, some good food, maybe a few beverages, which one through five. Yes, correct. Wow. Did that from memory. As well as there is. Wanted to highlight the Forever Fluff events coming September 20th, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Seems like we have evolved from a fluff festival to being Forever Fluff. This is like our final form in Pokemon, so please come down, get you some sugar that you will never be able to take back, and enjoy yourselves. Thank you.
Lance Davis	Excellent. I will also note, because some of these sound wicked cool, as always, the Somerville Foodie Crawl, Hollapalooza, which sounds delicious, and, of course, the Several Homes Coalition 5K Road Race coming up in October, and the Garden Club Plant Set, where you can get some really great plants for really low, small dollars and build out your garden to be perfectly fabulous. Any other discussion on those? Okay, so those are all approved. Back to.
Clerk	Item 9.5, which is a new extended operating hours license for Mint Indian Eatery for in-store takeout and delivery until 4 a.m.
Willie Burnley	Council Burnley? Through the chair, please take that item and items 9.6 and 9.7 and send them to licenses and permits, please.
Lance Davis	Would you like to waive the ratings of 9.6, 9.7? Okay.
Clerk	I will flag, I think we just approved 9.7, and it can be approved, so if we want to add to 9.5 and 6 in licenses and permits.
Lance Davis	Councilor Burnley, I also started my cross out a little late, thought that we hadn't done 9.7, but I will take the clerk's word for it. Okay with that? So we have 9.7 as being approved, that was as you intended?
Willie Burnley	All right, I will highlight for the public, this is an outdoor goods license from a martial arts center, so be careful what you buy.
Lance Davis	That's what I'll leave that at. Fair enough. All right, so item 9.5, we have the reading 9.6, we heard 9.5, and those will be sent to, very good.
Clerk	The next item will be item 9.20, a public communication from the Massachusetts Attorney General issuing a determination regarding item 25-0105, open meeting law complaint filed against council by Laura Ortiz on January 11th,
Lance Davis	All right, thank you, and I will note that attached to this item is the entirety of the records that were responsive to this request, so they are available to the public through the Legistar platform. Entire responses there, all of the records that were asked.
Clerk	Thank you, Mr. President.
Lance Davis	All right, that item is placed on file.
Clerk	Item 9.21 is a public communication from Jonah Abrams submitting comments regarding Davis Square.
Lance Davis	Item is placed on file.
Clerk	Item 9.22 is the public communication from Thuy Jones, submitting comments regarding bike lanes. Missed placed on file. Item 10.2 is an order by Councilor Burnley that the Director of Engineering respond to the Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee's recently released walk audit and how the city will implement its short-term recommendation.
Willie Burnley	Council Burnley. Thank you. Through the chair I'm holding today, as I do during these meetings, the Somerville Times. The front page, first item on the Somerville Times as of this week is Committee Recommends a Safer Union Square. And that is a direct result of the good work of the folks at PTAC, pedestrian transit advisory committee who did a walk audit in Union Square that I know a number of my colleagues were there for as well as the mayor, at least for portions. There are some great recommendations in there. There are short-term and long-term goals. I am not unreasonable I don't think that we're going to get a report from the administration that we're gonna Institute these major street changes including widening of sidewalks within the next few weeks that would be incredible but there are some short-term goals including signal changes that can be made at some of the Union Square intersections that can increase safety based on the assessment of PTAC. So I would just like to see this conversation flourish and probably in Councilor Sait's committee.
Lance Davis	And so Councilor Wilson would like to sign on as Councilor Ewen-Campen and then Councilor Mbah.
Ben Ewen-Campen	Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to co-sponsor this. I'm very excited about this. And I would also ask you, Mr. President, if the report itself, which is 10.14, if that could go along with this, the traffic and parking.
Clerk	Item 10.14 is a public communication from the Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee, Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets, the Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Groundwork Somerville Green Team, and Union Square Main Street, submitting comments regarding the Union Square walk audit.
Will Mbah	Thank you, Mr. President. That was, the good counselors stole my thunder, but I want to sign on to this, and also I was part of the Davis Square audit work. Yeah, these are amazing folks that are doing amazing work that should be commended for their effort. Thank you.
Lance Davis	All right, so those two items will be sent to Chapman.
Clerk	Item 10.3 is a resolution by Councillor Burnley in support of innovation in East Somerville.
Willie Burnley	Councillor Burnley. Thank you, I'm gonna try to be brief with this one, but there is a bit of history and it's an interesting case. 161 Broadway currently is a automotive garage and used car dealer right on Broadway. It's very public. It's actually a building of historic significance as it's been around since the time of Ford and some of the earliest car shows. We have an opportunity right now to see that space be a hub of innovation through the partnership and sharing of space with a local company that makes sweaters automatically, automated sweater manufacturing through Topologic. If you read the resolution, the information's all in there, quite frankly. city staff reached out to me as chair of licenses and permits and spoke to me about the potential opportunity to create more jobs in the community to all have civic space in our great community as if this Contract goes through, after hours the space would be open to the public for socializing and what events the community would like to see. It sounds really good, I would like for us to have more conversation about it, but the real sticking point is the fact that this is currently a business that is licensed as, again, a used car dealer and a garage. The owner of this building would not like to give up those licenses while the startup is operating in that space. Even if they're not actually filling the space with cars, they want to be able to have the ability to do so if this startup does not last for eight years, for example. Typically the process is, as anyone who's been on license and permits knows, we approve licenses every year when they get renewed. And in order to assuage this business owner, they would like to know that we will continue to approve those items while Topologic, this automotive sweater company, is operating in the space. Now, of course, no councilor can make judgments for future councils or future councilors, but based on conversations with city staff, this seems like a great opportunity to bring some needed energy and excitement into East Somerville. And I just wanna bring it to my colleagues to say, We have the power to make this possible and to make it happen.
Lance Davis	One moment, Councilor Burnley. Councilor Strezo. It's probably hard for folks to hear in the room. I wouldn't mind.
Willie Burnley	So, long story short, we have licenses that we can renew every single year, even when they are not being actively used. If we were to do that for this space, we could make a business move in there that is, purports itself to be better for the environment, would employ more people, would allow for civic space in the space, and would essentially better utilize historic building without actually having it have to be the mess that sometimes car dealers can be. I know there's probably some questions here, so I wanted to pause to let people get off their thoughts. But please, if you haven't already, read the resolution because it basically goes into the details pretty straightforwardly.
Matt McLaughlin	Councilor McLaughlin. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to move this to Housing and Community Development with no vote taken.
Willie Burnley	To the chair, I'd like to actually see this in license and permits, because it's more relevant to licenses.
Matt McLaughlin	If I may, Mr. President, this is more of a economic development issue, and there's no licenses being discussed on that committee, and I know that the chair will include me in those conversations.
Lance Davis	Seeing no further discussion, I think, as the good councilor at large noted, we don't have the ability to issue a license for longer than we have, so I think, and I understand that there have been some conversations going on, so my view is that Housing and Community Development's an appropriate place for this, so we'll send a copy of this to Housing. Through the chair.
Willie Burnley	Through the chair. Council Bradley. I would just note again, this deal does hinge upon licenses being,
Lance Davis	by your own acknowledgement we only have the ability to issue licenses for one years as you said this involves something well beyond that um you're talking about innovation in a part of the community to me that sounds like community development it sounds like and it happens that the word counselor sits on housing community development that seems like a perfectly appropriate spot to have the conversation of course if there's some process to change our licensing um structure then well, that might go into election matters, I suppose, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it. But my opinion is that this belongs in housing and development. I see the chair and audience, so.
Clerk	The next item is item 10.5, an order by Councilors Wilson and Scott that the Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management and the Director of Public Base and Urban Forestry update this council on the status of Art Farm and the funding for the project.
Jake Wilson	Councilor Wilson. Yeah, thanks, Mr. President. The stormwater storage tank at Poplar Street, the pump station, it's complete, being covered. I was asked about this by a constituent this week. What's the status of Art Farm, right? This open space to be constructed above that tank. I would love to get the latest and greatest information on that. I'll request this either go to finance, given the capital investment element there, or to open space. on both of those, so I don't really care. Officer Scott, did you wanna?
J.T. Scott	Just as a co-sponsor. Absolutely, sir. I always love a good discussion of underground infrastructure. And while I believe that this project has been very fully funded, it does leave me concerned when I hear about other projects that have been committed to by the administration being left in limbo. Let's have a good talk about underground infrastructure and hopefully get the thumbs up that everything's moving along quickly.
Lance Davis	Councilor Burnley would like to sign on. Councilor Mbah. Any thoughts on appropriate committee? Councilor Mbah's environment energy sounds good. Councilor Mbah's collecting a nice little collection of subjects to talk about over there. Very well.
Clerk	Item 10.6 is an order by Councillor Wilson that the commissioner of public works update this council on the policy for mattress recycling for residents of buildings with seven or more units.
Jake Wilson	Mr. President, if you live in an apartment building, it's typically six or fewer units, you get your trash picked up and then you're recycling by the city of Somerville, our contractor, and you can follow instructions then on the city website to put your mattress out for recycling. This came in, I think, a couple years ago. But if you don't live in one of those buildings, if you live in a larger building with seven or more units, what then? I was approached by a constituent this week who lives in one of those larger buildings and they wanna know what to do with their mattress. So I offered to come and pick it up for her and dispose of it myself, but that's not really a solution. I think it behooves us to have good info out there for folks in those situations. So let's make sure we have that and that we get that out to folks. Further discussion?
Clerk	Item 10.7 is an officer's communication from the director of emergency management conveying information about the recent local recovery resources.
Lance Davis	That item is placed on file.
Clerk	Item 10.8.
Lance Davis	Councilor Burnley.
Willie Burnley	Licensing and permits, if possible.
Lance Davis	Could approve it?
Willie Burnley	I do.
Lance Davis	Is that a committee? Any discussion? That is referred to license permits.
Clerk	Sorry, okay, so now that we did not waive the reading, I'll read it. Item 10.8 is a new dog kennel license for a pup yard at 321 Somerville Ave for 30 dogs, commercial boarding and training.
Lance Davis	Thank you, Madam Clerk.
Clerk	Item 10.9.
Willie Burnley	I'd like to waive the readings of, we already did these.
Lance Davis	I think we had left 10.8 and 10.9, so apparently, per my.
Willie Burnley	Through the Chair, I'd like to waive the ratings of 10.9 through 10.12 and ask that they all be approved.
Lance Davis	Apparently moves to waive the ratings, seeing no objection, discussion?
Clerk	Item 10.13 is a public communication from Scott Peterson, submitting comments regarding.
Lance Davis	It's placed on file.
Clerk	Item 10.15 is a public communication from Ruth Burns, submitting comments regarding sidewalk.
Lance Davis	Item is placed on file.
Clerk	Item 10.16 is a public communication from Nicholas Elton, submitting comments regarding balcony solar.
Lance Davis	That item is placed on file.
Clerk	Item 10.17 is a public communication from Christopher Beland, submitting comments regarding item 25-1311, Eversource applying for a grant of location to install, total of approximately 49 .
Lance Davis	It was placed on file.
Clerk	And that brings us to the end of the agenda, Mr. President.
Lance Davis	Are there any late items?
Clerk	No further items before this.
Lance Davis	We have one late item, Madam Clerk. This council congratulates Clark Kim Wells on her.
	Oh.
Lance Davis	All right, with that, we have some votes to take up off the table.
Clerk	A whole host of them, in fact, yes. On approval of items 1.3, 3.1 to 3.2, 4.2 to 4.10, 4.13 to 4.19, 7.28, 8.1, 9.1 to 9.4, 9.7 to 9.19, 10.1 to 10.2, 10.5 to 10.6, and 10.9 to 10.12. And to place on file, items 4.1, 4.11 to 4.12, 5.2 to 5.5, 7.29 to 7.31, 8.3, 9.20 to 9.23, 10.7, and 10.13 to 10.7. Councilor Wilson. Could the clerk read that? No, just kidding.
Jake Wilson	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen. Yes. Councilor Scott.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Burnley.
SPEAKER_16	Aye.
Clerk	Councilor Sait.
	Aye.
Clerk	Yes. Councilor Strezo.
SPEAKER_16	Yep.
Clerk	Councilor Clingan.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Mbah.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Davis. Yes. We have 10 councillors in favor and none opposed. Those items are approved and placed on file as indicated.
Lance Davis	All right, there being no further business before the council, Councilor Mbah moves to adjourn.
Clerk	And on adjournment, Councilor Wilson.
Lance Davis	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Ewen-Campen.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Scott.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor McLaughlin.
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Burnley.
SPEAKER_16	Aye.
Clerk	Councilor Sait. Yes. Councilor Strezo. Councilor Clingan?
SPEAKER_16	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Mbah?
Lance Davis	Yes.
Clerk	Councilor Davis? Yes. With 10 councillors in favor and none opposed, this council is adjourned.