Minutes
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TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 6, 2026 President Letterie calls the meeting to order at approx. 7 PM in the DeLeo Senior Center ROLL CALL Present: Councilor Tassinar i , Councilor Costigan, Councilor Dimes, Councilor Romano, Councilor Swope, Councilor Reardon, Councilor Millar, President Letterie PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilor Swope GENERAL INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Citation: Stella Pelletier and Scott Beuoy on Becoming Eagle Scout’s the Highest Ranking of the Boys and Girls Scout’s. There have been 130,000 million Scouts, less than 2% become Eagle Scouts, this is a great honor and also an honor as Stella is the first female Eagle Scout named in our community. PUBLIC COMMENT John Morgan P4- Welcomes all new Town Councilors and invites all to the Commission on Disability Meetings which he is a member on. The next meeting is on Jan. 14, 2026, in the Harvey Hearing Room Mark Sennott P2-Asks all councilors to review the flooding areas in the town, though they have only been a councilor for an hour, please do so as soon as possible and thanks all… Celese Ribeiro Hewitt P1-Discusses a formal request the Climate Commission sent to the Town Council of which she reads memo sent of a recommendation of their Climate Action Plan of Winthrop Flooding Hot Spots. This committee has worked hard on this Action Plan and ask the Town Council to review and commit to a vote on a proposal to set aside funding for Morton St. They will be suspending meetings and activity until hearing from the Town Council. Erin Barcellos P5-Extends an invitation to all new Councilors and anyone interested to attend their group on the Town Bridge on Sat. mornings. CORRESPONDENCE Letter from Karin Chavis, read into the record. COMMITTEE REPORTS Noe SCHOOL DEPARTMENT REPORT Council President reports that the School Committee just met after the swearing in ceremony to vote on a Chair and Vice Chair for the Committee. The new Chair of the Winthrop School Committee is Layne Petrie, and the Vice Chair is Gus Martucci, and he congratulates all newly elected. Union negotiations are still in process and open to the public. UPDATE POLICY MAKING COMMITTEES- None TOWN MANGER REPORT-Please see attached copy of report. Council President wishes Town Manager a speedy recovery on his accident. Town Manager explains the current property tax bill and how this was calculated. The School Override could not be included in this invoice as we had to wait to set the new tax rate. Residents received their first two quarter bills based on last year’s rate of which your home value may have been increased. The full increase for the school override, averaging about $950 dollars to $1000 dollars, this amount will be added to the last two quarters, which will level out. When FY27 comes out the increases will be included and evened out. In hindsight a letter of explanation should have gone out. These bills do not include any Fire Station Bonding increases. These costs will be billed in stages. The demolition of the old middle school will begin this week. The dredging at Fishermen’s Bend will also begin this week with N.E. Mosquito control. TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 6, 2025, PAGE 1 Councilor Tassinari asks if there has been a response in reference to the earmarked $2,000,00 from the State. Town Manager Marino reports that this will be going in, but there could be an issue with the town not being in compliance with MBTA 3A. OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS Motion by Councilor Romano that the Town Council consider all Interns of the Town of Winthrop, Special Municipal Employees 2 nd by Councilor Tassinari Discussion Interns that work for the town also work for the state and are not allowed to be employees of the town. They must be considered a Special Employee. Motion Passed Unanimously Town Council Nominate and Vote on Town Council Vice President Council President Opens Nominations Motion by Councilor Dimes to nominate Councilor Swope as Town Council Vice President 2 nd by Councilor Romano No Other Nomination Nominations Closed ROLL CALL VOTE Yes: Councilor Tassinari, Councilor Costigan, Councilor Dimes, Councilor Romano, Councilor Swope, Councilor Reardon, Councilor Millar, President Letterie PUBLIC COMMENT Wendy Millar Page P2-Notifies residents that the Christmas Tree string lights are being collected at the DPW. PUBLIC RELATIONS / UPCOMING EVENTS Committee Openings: Board of License-Board of Appeals-Conservation Committee-Board of Registrars Please submit an application to the Town Council Council President would also like to appoint Town Council liaisons on policy making committees to allow the Town Council more information on each committee. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn by Councilor Romano at 7:20pm 2 nd by Vice President Swope Motion 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 6, 2025, PAGE 2