Minutes
Town Council · from the Town's website · 4 pages · 664 KB
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TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MARCH 18, 2025 President Letterie reopens the Town Council Meeting to order at 6:30 PM in the Harvey Hearing Room after the Executive Session ROLL CALL Present: Councilor Aiello, Councilor Munson, Councilor Tassinari, Councilor Swope, Vice President Belcher, President Letterie Absent: Councilor DeMarco, Councilor Costigan, Councilor Daros PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilor Tassinari MOMENT OF SILENCE Norma Gobiel MINUTES Motion by Vice President Belcher to Approve the Approval of Minutes of March 4, 2025, as circulated. 2"4 by Councilor Munson Motion Passed GENERAL INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Director Whitney Morgan & Attorney Delehanty General Council of the Metro North Regional Emergency Communications Center MMNRECC) Both Ms. Whitney and Attorney Delehanty give an update on the MNRECC and the addition of Chelsea to this Center which will help with grants available and funding..... Please visit their website for all updates: https://vww.mnrecc.org/ Town Council President asks the Town Council to take out of order under New Business that the Town Council vote to approve the Town Manager signing the MNRECC Contract including Chelsea. Town Council Passes Motion by Vice President Belcher that the Town Council vote to approve the Town Manager signing the MNRECC Contract including Chelsea.... 24 By Councilor Swope ROLL CALL VOTE Yes: Councilor Aiello, Councilor Munson, Councilor Tassinari, Councilor Swope, Vice President Belcher, President Letterie Absent: Councilor DeMarco, Councilor Costigan, Councilor Daros PUBLIC HEARING None PUBLIC COMMENT Phil Ronan, VA Coordinator of Winthrop, thanks the Town Council for approving memorials requested. Cassie Witthaus P6- Asks the Town Council and our residents to support our 4-5-25 Election and everyone please vote. Ken Woodward P3- Asks the Town Council and our residents to support our 4-5-25 Election and everyone please vote. Arina Vyana P4- Asks the Town Council and our residents to support our 4-5-25 Election and everyone please vote. Tom Derderian P3-Asks all to review the Adopt a Tree Program the community will be offering. TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MARCH 18, 2025 PAGE 1 Jack Dowd P2-Requests information about the bus shelters and when and if they will be installed? Julia Howington P5- Asks the Town Council and our residents to support our 4-5-25 Election and everyone please vote. Also includes the benefits to our town with properly funded schools and a new fire station. Betty Peabody P4- Reports vandalism at Hannaford Park and asks for a gate at closing time. Sebestian Lamieux P2- Asks the Town Council and our residents to support our 4-5-25 Election and everyone please vote. : Diane Sands P5-Comments on a police officer in the Harvey Hearing Room during the Town Council meetings and does not agree. Believes that if there is an officer present what could they possibly do but “shoot them or arrest them” Police officer is not the solution. If someone is frightened, “they can stay home, participate on zoom” as a taxpayer would not want to pay for a police officer. Ann Ferreria P3- Asks the Town Council and our residents to support our 4-5-25 Election and everyone please vote. CORRESPONDENCE None COMMITTEE REPORTS Rules & Ordinance Vice President Belcher reports they are reviewing the Town Council Rules & Procedures Appointments, Commissions & Committees Memorial Items all passed with a positive recommendation. FHBC Continue discussion of election. Have had multiple coffee hours, very informative. SCHOOL DEPARTMENT REPORT Town Council President reports on the win of the Squirts Hockey winning their championship. WHS Hockey has won their first State Championship in 49 Years There will be a joint meeting with the School Committee and Town Council to celebrate the WHS Boys Hockey Team... TOWN MANGER REPORT Report Attached... DPW Director gives an update on the TIP’s Project...please see all updates on the Towns Website Councilor Swope discussed attending the Tree Committee Meeting and passed along information on a Cool Corridor Grant program...granted to communities of what exactly are town is interested in doing right now. with our trees and hydration. Vice President Belcher requests a modeling on changing Health Insurance for solutions. Councilor Tassinari discusses a delay in bidding for the Fire Station Floor. Discusses some research Acts of 2018 , provides an earmark Section 8000.35.02 of $10,000,000 for the Winthrop Fire Station. We can request this funding if this Fire Station is approved. TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MARCH 18, 2025 PAGE 2 Councilor Munson congratulates the hockey teams...It is a great effect on all. The election on 4-5-25 is for the entire town, not just the schools or Fire House.... Asks how to go about adopting a Tree... Town Manager reports there is a form online you can complete. OLD BUSINESS Town Council Rules & Procedures-Vice President Belcher reports this is continued Motion by Appointments, Commission and Committees that the Town Council approve Memorial Committees Memorial Street Signs, Sgt. Lyng, PFC Evans, LTCR DeGregorio Sr. & Include Coach Robert DeFelice Name to Miller Field No 2" Needed. Passed Unanimously NEW BUSINESS -Town Council review Accessory Dwelling Unit Draft- Town Council President refers to Rules & Ordinance -Town Council approve a new Fee Cost to our current Fee Schedule to include Utility Public Hearing(s)- Town Council President refers to the Finance Committee and Rules & Ordinance PUBLIC COMMENT -Lisa Howard Superintendent of Schools-Congrats the Hockey Team and all involved -Jack Dowd P2-Discusses the Pauline St. Fire Station Floor and has questions on bids -Kaitlyn Burroughs P1-Reminds all of election dates and Vote YES... RE I [ NG EVEN 3-19-25 Commission on Disability presents Transitioning into Adulthood -Shapiro Auditorium 6:30 ~ 8 PM 3-19-25: Voter Registration -High School 11AM 3-26-25: Last Day to Register to Vote 3-31-25: Last Day to apply for a Vote by Mail Application 4-5-25: Town Election 7AM to 8PM 4-15-25: Town Spring Forum-Sr. Center ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn by Vice President Belcher at 8:20 pm 24 by Councilor Munson 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 MARCH 18, 2025 PAGE 3 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 3-18-2025 e Department Budgets have all come in for the FY26 budget season, and I continue to work with the Finance team to balance the budget to accommodate increases in Health and Property Insurance along with COLA increases for union and non-union personnel. The Capital Plan is also being updated, and we continue to work with Town Council members on the Economic Development and Capital Assets Committee to update the plan to create an adaptive five-year capital plan for the FY26 Budget. e As we approach the Spring Season, our tree committee is developing a Tree Adoption program to help us regularly water our newer trees. They created a form that has been posted on the Town Website, and we have placed advertisements about the program in the Town Manager report and on social media. e We have received the FY26 Health Insurance Rates from GIC and the increase is higher than anticipated. The increases for the individual plans range from a high of 17% to a low of 7.5% on the retiree plans. We are updating our employee spreadsheet with the plan increases and anticipate that our blended increase over all the plans will be in the range of 13-15%. We will know more next week after the report is updated. This increase is substantially higher than the 10% increase that we had last year. We continue to work on balancing the budget, however, this increase complicates matters for the Town and the School Department. e The IFB for the Pauline Street Fire Station Floor Repair is out, and the bid due date has been extended to April 10, 2025. Potential bidders have sent us follow-up questions, and we are waiting for the structural engineer to respond. Proper notifications have been sent out. e Weare planning a Spring meeting to update Residents and Business Owners about the Revere Street TIP project and the upcoming Spring and Summer Construction Schedule. We will announce a date and time for this meeting in the next couple of weeks, but we anticipate hosting it at the Senior Center on a Saturday in April 2025. e Lastly, Union negotiations continue to move forward. I have an upcoming meeting with the Police Union this week, and we will continue to work with the other unions. Please contact me directly if you have any questions about the items listed above or any other issues. Thank you. Anthony Marino Winthrop Town Manager