Minutes
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TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 7, 2025 President Letterie calls Town Council Meeting to order at 6:30 PM in the Harvey Hearing Room ROLL CALL Present: Councilor Tassinari, Councilor Costigan, Councilor Munson, Councilor DeMarco, Councilor Swope, Vice President Belcher, President Letterie Absent: Councilor Aiello, Councilor DaRos PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilor DeMarco MOMENT OF SILENCE New Orleans Victims The Death of President Carter Mary Mahony-Former WPD Chief Delehanty’s Mother MINUTES Motion by Vice President Belcher to Approve the Approval of Minutes of December 17, 2024 as circulated. 2°4 by Councilor DeMarco Motion Passed GENERAL INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS -Council President State of the Town — Please see copy on Town Website -Collins Center presentation of the Classification and Compensation Study-Please see copy on Town Website PUBLIC HEARING Open Public Hearing Town Council appropriate $30,000 from Retained Earnings in the Rink Enterprise Fund/Extraordinary Repairs & Maintenance Discussion Close Public Hearing PUBLIC COMMENT -Jack Dowd P1-Comments on the survey for the Middle School Site. Requests a copy of this to be shown at the next Town Council Meeting. Comments Massport/MWRA Mitigation Contracts-Requests a consultant be hired -John Stanley-Believes the School Override and Fire House should have one Election. Two separate elections would be costly. -Marci Hamilton P2-Requests update on the flooding work done on Tileston and Girdlestone Rd. -Todd Sacco P2-Comments on the Compensation Presentation -Shannon Poulos P3-Complete support of election for both the School Override and Fire House Debt Exclusion -Karin Chavis P2-Comments that she does not believe people were not aware of previous ballot of school election. There were plent of precinct workers and instructions on this question. Believe one election is sufficient for both the School Override and Debt Exclusion CORRESPONDENCE 215 Residents signed a letter in favor of the School Override COMMITTEE REPORTS- Vice President Belcher reports on the Finance Committee meeting motion that will be heard in old business and was voted on with a positive recommendation. Rules & Ordinance — meeting will be rescheduled. TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 7, 2025 PAGE 1 SCHOOL DEPARTMENT REPORT Council President reports the topic of the meeting was the Override Question, reviewing and preparing for the Town Council to review. Two student athletes, Talia Martucci and Philly Boncore received their 100 points over their hockey careers, great accomplishments. TOWN MANGER REPORT Please see attached ... Councilor Swope comments on flood insurance coverage and make sure you are aware of your policy. Councilor Munson comments on the terms of the Union Contracts. ADU’s include parking regulations. These will be discussed further. Comments on the estimates for work to be done on Tileston and Girdlestone Requests information on update from Massport regarding the noise reduction and why only several homes? Vice President Belcher reports they are soundproofing homes prior to 1997 Massport does pay upfront costs, but the FAA reimburses them. Councilor Munson would like to be on record that he would like Massport to attend a council meeting. Councilor Munson would also like on record that once we have all the firm numbers on the quotes for the engineering work for all three different projects to have a discussion for the Capital Assets. Councilor Tassinari requests the ADU’s be reviewed at further Town Council meetings. UPDATE CDICR & POLICY MAKING COMMITTEES None to report OLD BUSINESS Motion by the Finance Committee with a positive recommendation that the Town Council authorize and appropriate the amour of $30,000.00 from Rink Retained Earnings Fund 672 for the purpose of continued rink repairs and maintenance of equipment as well as operating costs due to the extended operating season; or take any other action relative thereto. No 2™ Needed ROLL CALL Yes: Councilor Tassinari, Councilor Costigan, Councilor Munson, Councilor DeMarco, Councilor Swope, Vice President Belcher, President Letterie Absent: Councilor Aiello, Councilor DaRos Motion Passes. NEW BUSINESS Town Council President refers the following to the Finance Committee for review and schedule a meeting: Town Council Vote to Authorize Unpaid Bills of Prior Year Town Manager Contract MWRA PILOT Contract Capital Waste Contract Town Council nominate a Vice President for 2025 Motion by Councilor Munson to nominate Councilor Belcher for Town Council President 2°4 by Councilor Tassinari No Other Nominations Nominations Closed Nomination Accepted ROLL CALL Yes: Councilor Tassinari, Councilor Costigan, Councilor Munson, Councilor DeMarco, Councilor Swope, President Letterie Absent: Councilor Aiello, Councilor DaRos Abstain: Councilor Belcher Motion Passes Town Council 2025 Sub Committee Appointments Town Council President will announce the Standing Committee within the week and notify the Town Councilors TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 7, 2025 PAGE 2 Special Town Council Round Table Meeting-Jan. 14, 2025 6:00 -Harvey Hearing Room-Middle School Discussion Middle School Discussion Fire House Building Committee Please notify Town Council President or Council Clerk if interested Town Council February Meeting Schedule Motion by Councilor DeMarco to suspend Town Council Rules and alter February Meeting schedule to Feb. 11" & 25" 2" by Councilor Munson Passed Unanimously Advisory Committee on Affordable Housing-Town Council President names this new policy making committee Cassie Witthaus, Chair of Committee Kathleen Riley Cappuccio Scott Mahoney Wright Vice President Councilor Belcher Chair, Darren Baird or Representative Board of Appeals Chair Chris Boyce or Representative Planning Board Town Manager Tony Marino Representative Town Manager Office Discussion-Election Date for School Override and Fire Station Debt Exclusion Election Comments on date of election, information needed for the state for a local election. Earliest at this point date could be March 11, 2025 All Precincts will be located at the Old Middle School Gym Question is still being reviewed with further information Town Council discusses election dates, wants to make sure public has enough education on election, makes sure this election Notifies all the residents of the date and make sure all are aware of any information given. PUBLIC COMMENT -Jack Dowd P1-Comments on the MWRA Contract -Celeste Ribeiro Hewitt P1-Question on the Flood Information Requests information on the School Override to just state yes or no for the election Thanks Councilor Belcher for her work on the Council as well as all Councilors -Kathleen Cappuccio P5-Discusses the Fire Fighters living with no heat. This is unacceptable they are treated like this. -Jack Dowd P1-Discusses the School Override Election. Questions number of days to allow a re-vote. Would like an Override to be on their own ballot. -Bill Schmidt P5-Feels the cost of another election of approx.. $18,000 is a small amount of money. -Cassie Withause P6-Investing in our community future, with School and Fire House...we need the best for our community. -Scott Mahoney Wright P3-We must get this election right. These two questions should not be on the same ballot. Residents needs more information. Other communities have not used the same ballot. -Shannon Poulos P3-States the Town Council should not be looking towards committees for information. It is up to the Town Council to make decisions. -Diana Veins P2-Comments on the exemption case of Winthrop having to comply with 3A. An answer should be filed with the AG office by 1-20-25. -Todd Sacco P5-Need more specifics on this School Override. People need to be more informed. It is time for the Fire Fighters to receive what they have been waiting for and needing. PUBLIC RELATIONS / UPCOMING EVENTS Public Skating Sundays at Larsen Rink 12:40 to 1:50pm for $3. Time to Renew your Parking Sticker & Dog License online on the Town of Winthrop Website DPW will be providing pickup of Christmas Trees on your trash day weeks of Jan.6th & 13th TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 7, 2025 PAGE 3 ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn by Vice President Belcher at 8:50 pm 2" by Councilor DeMarco Passed Unanimously Public Documents used in the meeting are available at Town Managers Office. Documents Used in this Meeting: Handwritten Notes / Committee Openings Documents Roll Call Log Written Motions / Verbal Motion Respectfully submitted. Denise Quist Town Clerk Council Clerk TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 7, 2025 PAGE 4 TOWN OF WINTHROP OFFICE OF THE TOWN MANAGER Town Hall, 1 Metcalf Square, Winthrop, MA 02152 Telephone: 617-846-1077 Anthony Marino Town Manager Town Manager Report 1-7-2025 e Department Budgets are starting to come in for the FY26 budget season. We continue to plan for our normal budget cycle with nominal COLA increases in line with past budgets. However, I need to stress that if the Schools do not receive additional funding via an override, substantial cuts across every department will be required from the Town side of the budget to assist the schools. We will not be able to give the schools the entire 3.5 million dollars that the schools will need for the FY26 budget but will need to offer up more than we normally do to spread the cuts throughout the entire town and to be prepared to highlight the service level drop off and any staff reductions that will occur. Superintendent Howard and I will meet in the coming weeks to prepare an FY26 budget without a school override and determine what services will be reduced for both the Town and the Schools. e We continue working with Dylan Cook, our CFO, to prepare the Fire Station floor repair RFP. Pending funding, we plan to start the work in the spring of 2025. We will also apply for Green Communities funding in March 2025 for the new mini split heating and AC units required to replace the steam boiler. e Union Contract negotiations start this week with the library union, and next week, we start with both Police Unions. e The first round of sandbags was delivered and installed, as discussed with the homeowners at Morton and Banks, to assist in alleviating some of the flooding they continue to experience. We expect the second delivery to be next week (1- 13-25) and will finalize the installation. Special thanks to our DPW crew, who did an amazing job installing the first delivery of Sandbags! e Town Attorney Jim Cipoletta continues to work on creating a draft Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance to comply with the new State ADU zoning law that goes into effect on February 15, 2025. This new draft ordinance will allow us to comply with the law but put into place as many protections and limitations as possible to protect Winthrop residents and property owners. PRESIDENT LETTERIE STATE OF THE TOWN JANUARY 7, 2025 TO THE CITIZENS OF WINTHROP, AS OUTLINED IN THE WINTHROP TOWN CHARTER, IT IS BOTH THE RESPONSIBILITY AND PRIVILEGE OF THE COUNCIL PRESIDENT TO ADDRESS THE TOWN EACH YEAR. THIS ADDRESS SERVES AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT ON THE PAST 12 MONTHS AND CLEARLY DEFINE OUR GOALS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD. I WANT TO BEGIN BY EXPRESSING MY HEARTFELT GRATITUDE TO OUR TOWN MANAGER, TONY MARINO, OUR COUNCIL CLERK, DENISE QUIST, ALL OF OUR DEPARTMENT HEADS, THEIR STAFF MEMBERS, AND OUR APPOINTED BOARDS AND COMMITTEES. OUR TOWN WOULD NOT FUNCTION WITHOUT THEIR DEDICATION AND HARD WORK. THEY ENSURE OUR SAFETY, EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, MAINTAIN THE CLEANLINESS AND BEAUTY OF OUR COMMUNITY, AND CREATE WELCOMING PARKS AND RECREATIONAL SPACES. THEY ALSO CARE FOR OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND STREETSCAPES. IN SHORT, THEY PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN SHAPING A COMMUNITY THAT I AM DEEPLY PROUD OF, GRATEFUL FOR, AND HONORED TO CALL HOME. ONE COULD NOT SHARE A REFLECTION ON CALENDAR 2024 WITHOUT MENTION OF MBTA 3A ZONING. IT WAS AN ISUUE WHICH BASICALLY WAS ALL CONSUMING AND MONOPOLIZED THE CONVERSATION FOR EVERY MONTH OF THE YEAR. THE PLANNING BOARD WAS TASKED WITH AN ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE REQUEST, AND AFTER AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF WORK ON THEIR PART THEY PRESENTED A PLAN WHICH AFTER RECOGNIZING THE OFFSET UNITS FROM PRIOR ZONING IN THE CBD, ENABLED THE TOWN TO CREATE A NEW ZONING DISTRICTS. ONE BEING SEAL HARBOR AND FORT HEATH, WHILE THE OTHER BEING GOVERNORS PARK. WITH THERE DILIGENCE, THEY OFFERED UP A PLAN TO COMPLY WITH AN EXTREMELY CONTROVERSAL LAW WITHOUT POTENTIALLY ANY INCRESED UNITS. CITIZENS OF THIS GREAT TOWN CAME OUT IN FORCE TO SHARE THEIR OPINIONS BOTH PRO AND AGAINST, AND ULTIMATELY THE COUNCIL, ALONG WITH 31 OTHER MUNICIPALITIES, REJECTED COMPLYING WITH THE CONTROVERTIAL LAW. IT IS PROBABLY A GOOD ASSUMPTION TO STAY TUNED FOR MORE ON 3A AS 2025 PROGRESSES. A FEW OTHER ITEMS THAT WE WHERE ABLE TO COMPLETE INCLUDED, SETTLEING A FIRE UNION CONTRACT WHICH WILL RUN THROUGH JUNE 30, 2027. THIS NEW CONTRACT INCLUDES A PARAMEDIC PAY SCALE AND MONIES AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PARAMEDIC TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION FOR INTERESTED FIREFIGHTERS. THE LON TERM BENEFIT OF THIS ADDITION IS THAT WE WILL HAVE PARAMEDICS AVAILABLE WHEN WE ARE READY TO OFFER AMBULANCE SERVICE TO SUPPLEMENT SERVICES OFFERED BY ACTION AMBULANCE, WITH THE GOAL BEING TO PROVIDE MORE AMBULANCE SERVICE TO THE RESIDENTS OF WINTHROP WHILE REDUCING WAIT TIMES. WE HIRED A NEW FINANCE DIRECTOR, SARAH JOHNSON, TO FACILITATE OUR CFO WHO HAS TAKEN ON MORE RESPONSIBILITIES AS THE SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGER. SARAH HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS ADDITION TO THE TEAM. INCREDIBLY KNOWLEDGABLE AND SO PLEASANT TO WORK WITH. AFTER A LONG SEARCH WE HIRED AN ASSISTANT TOWN MANAGER FUCUSED ON PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO REPLACE OUR PLANNING DIRECTOR. WE ARE VERY HAPPY TO HAVE CHERYL MCCORMICK ONBOARD AND LOOK FORWARD TO COLLABORATING WITH HER FOR YEARS TO COME, WE ALSO ADOPTED NEW FLOOD PLAIN REGULATIONS REQUIRED BY FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS THAT ALLOWED WINTHROP RESIDENTS TO BUY FLOOD INSURANCE THROUGH FEDERAL PROGRAMS. THE TOWN COUNCIL APPROVED ELECTRIC AGGREGATION AND MOVED FORWARD WITH DIRECT ENERGY AS OUR TOWN SUPPLIER BEGINNING THIS MONTH. TWO NEW APPOINTMENTS TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT INCLUDED THE NAMING OF JOHN GOODWIN AS OUR NEWEST POLICE CHIEF ALONG WIOTH STEVE ROGERS REPLACING JOHNS’ VACANT DEPUTY CHIEFS SLOT. BOTH JOHN AND STEVEARE INCREDIBLY DILIGENT WORKERS AND WE ARE VERY HAPPY WITH BOTH. THE CHIEF POSITION BECAME AVALABLE AFTER OUR BELOVED FORMER CHIEF, TERRY DELAHANTY, STEPPED DOWN AS CHIEF. TERRYS UNBELIEVABLE PASSION, LOVE, COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION TO THIS TOWN WHICH HE LOVES SO MUCH WILL BE SORELY MISSED, AND WE WISH HIM ALL THE BEST! LASTLY IN RECOGNITION OF 2024 I WOULD LIKE TI DISCUSS THE SCHOOL OVERRIDE ALONG WITH THE MUCH OVERDUE POTENTIAL NEW FIRE HOUSE. FIRST ON THE FIRE HOUSE, WE PUT A QUESTION FOR A DEBT EXCLUSION ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER OF 23, WHICH DID NOT PASS, BUT WE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL FROM. WE LEARNED THAT THE TOWN AGREES THAT THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT WINTHROP NEEDS A NEW FIRE STATION. OUR CITIZENS UNDERSTAND THAT OUR FIREFIGHTERS NEED A FACILITY THAT OFFERS THEM A HEALTHY ENVIROMENT, PROVIDES THEM TRAINING FACILITIES, ADEQUATE AND PROPER SHOWER FACILITIES, DECONTAMINATIONS ROOMS, PROPER FACILITIES FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, AS WELL AS OTHER STATE OF THE ART ITEMS. WE UNDERSTOOD THAT ALTHOUGH IT SEEMS THE CITIZENS ARE UNITED ON THE NEED, THEY WHERE NOT CONVINCED ON THE COST AND LOCATION. WE LISTENED AND HAVE MADE ADJUSTMENTS ON BOTH COST AND LOCATION. AND THE COUNCIL VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO PUT A NEW FIRE HOUSE ON THE BALLOT THIS SPRING WITH A NEW LOCATION AND A $5 MILLION DOLLAR REDUCTION IN PRICE WITHOUT SACRIFICING ANY PART OF THE FACILITY. WE ARE VERY OPTIMISTIC THAT WE CAN FINALLY SUPPORT THE FIREFIGHTERS THAT PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE FOR US WITH A MUCH-NEEDED NEW FIRE HOUSE, THE SCHOOLS REQUESTED AN OVERRIDE BE PUT ON THIS PAST NOVEMBERS BALLOT TO HELP SUPPLEMENT THEIR FUTURE BUDGETS TO MAINTAIN THE GREAT STRIDES WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS. UNFOIRTUNATELY, IT DID NOT PASS. HOWEVER, THE NEED IS VERY MUCH THERE. AND THE SCHOOLS ALSO LISTENED TO THE CITIZENS AND ARE COMING BACK WITH A SIMILAR REQUEST, HOWEVER ADIING AN OPTION FOR A REDUCED AMOUNT. MOST MUNICIPALITIES IN THE COMMEN WEALTH REQUEST OVERRIDES ON A 4-7 YEAR CYCLE TO HELP MAINTAIN WITH THE UNFUNDED MANDATES IMPOSED BY THE STATE, ALONG WITH INCREASED COST OF PROVIDING A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE EDUCATIOON FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. THE WINTHROP SCHOOL SYSTEM WAS INCREDIBLY ABLE TO GO 15 YEARS WITHOUT GOING TO THE CITIZENS FOR THAT REQUEST. THAT CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THE LIMITS OF OUR TAX BASE, WHICH SHOWS THE SEVER NEED WHICH THEY ARE IN. WE ARE HOPEFULL THAT OUR CITIZENS WILL GET INVOLVED, ASK QUESTIONS, GO TO MEETINGS, LEARN ABOIUT SPECIFICS AND SUPPORT OUR CHILDREN AS WELL AS OUR HERO FIREFIGHTERS. I MYSELF WILL BE HOLDING WEEKLY MEETINGS TO HELP PROVODE QUESTIONS TO THE PUBLIC, AND 1 AM SURE THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT AND FIRE CHIEF WILL BE ALONGSIDE TO SHARE THEIR KNWOLEDGE. IN 2025 AS WE ENTER THE 20 YEAR MARK OF OUR FORM OF GOVERNMENT I HAVE COME TO REALIZE THAT BEING COUNCIL PRESIDENT REQUIRES AND DESERVES A FULL TIME COMMITMENT TO ENSURE THAT THE CITIZENS ARE GIVEN EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO SEE TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT, TO HAVE PEACE OF MIND, AND TO CONTINUE TO BE PROUD AND BLESSED TO BE A CITIZEN OF WINTHROP. WE AS A COUNCIL HAVE MAD A COMMITMENT TO CONTINUE THE PROCESS OF ADRESSING THE FLOODING ISSUES AT GIRDLESTONE, TILESTON AND PICO. WE WILL CONTINUE TO FIND THE RIGHT SOLUTIONS TO HELP THE RESIDENTS OF MORTON, BANKS, AND THE SURROUNDING STREETS TO REMEDY THE FLOODING ISSUES. WE WILL WORK TOWRADS A SOLUTION WITH THE OLD MIDDLE SCHOOL SITE, AND IN FACT WILL HOLD A SPECIAL ROUND TABLE MEETING NEXT TUESDAY TO CONTINUE DISCUSSIONS. I SINCERELY HOPE AND EXPECT THAT THIS COUNCIL IS WILLING TO PUT IN THE EXTRA TIME AND EFFORT TO ENSURE WE KEEP WINTHROP MOVING FORWARD, THAT WE MAINTAIN WINTHROPS SMALL TOWN FEEL, THAT WE KEEP WINTHROP LEAST CONGESTED AS POSSIBLE, THAT WE KEEP WITHROP INIQUE, THAT WE KEEP WINTHROPS VALUE, THAT WE KEEP WINTHROP SPECIAL AND THAT WE KEEP THE STAE OF OUR TOWN STRONG! THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS OUR TOWN...