City Council Meeting 12-22-25

and others.

Welcome to tonight's regular meeting of the Everett City Council. Before we call the roll, this is also our last meeting of 2025 and the last meeting of the 2024-2025 term. So, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

Van Campen, President Martins, 11 members present.

Please join us in saluting the flags.

We pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,

We also have counselors elect Vivian Nguyen and Michelle Capone joining us. Thanks for being with us. Councilor DiPierro.

I'm sorry. Thank you. I just would like to ask my colleagues to join me in a moment of silence for Mr. Ralph Fea that recently passed away. He was an absolute gentleman, father to former councilman Steven, and Robert Fea, and we express our sympathies to the family. And before we do that, Councilor Rogers would like to mention someone as well.

Councilor Rogers. Thank you. I'd also like to extend that to Michael Mackey, who was a manager for Everett Football and Basketball.

Can you please join us in a moment of silence?

Thank you.

Madam Chair, I move to suspend the rules and take item number eight from the calendar.

Second. Motion has been made and seconded to suspend the rules and take item number eight off the calendar. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Mr. Clerk, please read item number eight.

Item number eight is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins as president. An order requesting approval to promote Nicholas Chiariello from private to lieutenant on the Everett Fire Department. Favorable action.

Second. Motion has been made and seconded for favorable action. On the motion, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

Alcide-Jabouin.

Yes.

Councilor DiPierro. Yes. Councilor Garcia.

Yes.

Councilor Hanlon. Yes. Councilor Marchese. Yes. Councilor Matewsky. Yes. Councilor Pietrantonio. Yes. Councilor Rogers. Yes. Councilor Smith.

Yes.

Councilor Van Campen. Yes. Council President Martins.

Yes.

11 yays, zero nays.

Congratulations on your promotion. Thank you. If you'd like to join us.

It's okay.

I, Nicholas Chiarello, solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me. All the duties incumbent upon me As a Lieutenant As a Lieutenant In the Everett Fire Department In the Everett Fire Department According to the best of my abilities According to the best of my abilities And understanding and Understanding. Agreeably to the rules. Agreeably to the rules. Regulations. Regulations. Laws. Laws. Ordinances and Charter. Ordinances and Charter. Of the City of Everett. Of the City of Everett. So help me God. So help me God. Aye. Aye. Nicholas Chiarello. To solemnly swear. To solemnly swear. That I'll bear true faith and allegiance. That I'll bear true faith and allegiance. To the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. and I'll support the laws and Constitution of the Commonwealth. So help me God. I, Nicholas Chiarello, do solemnly swear

That I'll bear true faith and allegiance To the United States of America And I'll support the Constitution Of the United States So help me God Congratulations Lieutenant

Just a couple minutes.

Yeah, we're going to do the pinning. If there's anybody that wants to take some photos, you can come up this way.

If the family would like to approach to take some pictures, you're welcome to do so, or any of the colleagues.

Thank you.

After the pinning, we're gonna take a brief recess so we can take pictures with the families up here.

Ready?

Now if the family and chief would like to come up here and the councilors, if you would like to join for a quick picture.

Motion for a five-minute recess. Second.

Motion has been made and seconded for a five-minute recess for pictures. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. We're going to take a brief recess for pictures.

Okay, if all the councilors could please return to their seats. We would like to continue with the council meeting. If we can please have silence in the chambers. Thank you. At least once. Hi, everyone. We're back from our recess.

Motion to take public participation.

Second. Motion has been made and seconded to open for public participation. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. We have open for public participation. We're starting with agenda items. And the speakers will have two minutes to speak on the item. And if you could please just state your name and address for the public. and then we're going to have non-agenda items after the agenda items. All right, and our first speaker.

Our first speaker, Madam President, is Paula Stridi. She is on agenda items. She happens to also be the only one on agenda items, just so you know.

So you can... We'll give you the first two minutes, and then after the two minutes expire, then you can do your two minutes on on-agenda items.

Good evening, Paula Street, Hunter Cleveland Ave. My first item would be, besides accepting the report by your attorney, I believe we should continue to go after the $180,000. I think it's important for people to realize that no one is above the law. Next, I hope that any new spending or any borrowing is tabled until the new administration. I think after the assessments that came out last week, I think it's prudent to wait to see where we are financially and set our priorities so that things that need to be done be done as opposed to nice-to-haves.

The $100,000 for the trees watering, it's a little odd, but instead of, I think the DPW has a tree department, so I'm not sure why they're not watering the trees already. but why don't we take the $100,000 and offer it as a service so that homeowners can adopt trees on their street and be responsible for them and use the 100k to basically help them get through the winter months especially. The spending on the homecoming, Peggy has brought up the fact that the mayor found money for the homecoming, but as you can see on the agenda items, we're still receiving donations to pay for the homecomings. What Peggy was told was that $150,000 was taken out of the DPW budget to pay for the homecoming. Isn't that illegal?

If it's true, What are you guys are going to do about it? The speed bumps. I'm not sure how that's not a campaign finance expense because they went in right before the election and they came in before the election and were taken off right after the election. The old roof, you approved a new roof, but you didn't get a new roof. Again, what are you going to do about it?

Thank you. That concludes the two minutes on agenda items, and you now have two minutes on non-agenda.

I'm sorry I missed the assessment meeting. I hope none of you were surprised. None of us were. We've been wanting you for years. Our taxes have doubled over the last 10 years. Do you know how long it would take Encore to double what they pay with the original $25 million? Almost 30 years at 2.5%. So while our taxes have doubled in 10 years, it will take them 30 years to double what they originally started paying at $25 million at 2.5% a year. Does that sound like a good deal? That's why people voted for change. That's why if you talk to people, they don't think the casino was a great deal because they all think we got screwed. And not only did we get screwed originally with the deal the mayor provided, When he had the opportunity to change it, he passed.

So they didn't have to renegotiate. Again, what are you guys gonna do about it? You have liquor licenses, you have lodging licenses, stop them. if they don't want to renegotiate their hosting agreement and pay their fair share, pulled the license for the liquor, pulled their license for the lodging, play hardball. They're playing hardball with the residents. You guys voted to ban animal testing completely. When that happened, I asked you what businesses would come to Everett, and you said not to worry, some would come. How many have come? Any? We've lost more businesses than any public city in Massachusetts in Greater Boston. Chelsea, Somerville,

Revere, Malden have gotten life sciences businesses while Everett gets nothing because They see Everett as anti-business and that tax approval proved your point. Thank you. Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Madam President, our next speaker is Tom Philbin.

Mr. Philbin. Sorry, your microphone is off.

Sorry, yes. Good evening.

Hello? Hi, I'm Tom Philbin. I'm the conservation agent with the City of Everett. I live at 6 Planter Street, Salem. Thank you for having me here tonight, Madam President and Council. I'm here tonight to speak on the agenda item number five, the $2 million for the boathouse construction. I want to give you a little bit of background and then I'd like to have some of our partners come up. And we have alumni and we have coaches and we have students. But I'll be very brief. So we've been very frugal with the money that you've given us in the past so far. We have $74,000 left in the 22 account and 1.332 in the FY24 account. So the construction of the boathouse is $3.4 million.

We have 98% design. We're just waiting to do some borings. We have a donation in the value of $50,000 approximately for an easement for the property and for utilities and for storage from Encore. that's in perpetuity so it's basically giving us that to build the boathouse on I want to let you know that we've got a lot of grant money for design and permitting. Canoe and kayak launch was $50,000 to do the work for that that we didn't have six years ago. The crew dock design and permitting was $100,000 from our State Delegation, Joe McGonigal, and Sal DiDomenico. Crew dock construction and installation was another $100,000 that was done. and we've had trailers, launches, crew boat, equipment and coaches with our partnership from Mystic Valley.

They provided all those things on top of what we provided was the area for for our students. So I want to let you know that the money's been well spent so far and we appreciate it and we hope you'll vote tonight if you could for the two million so we can get started on this.

Mr. Philbin, so during public participation each speaker has two minutes but since we actually have your item on the agenda if you want to stay for the item then the members can also invite you up if they have any questions but if you have the next speaker we'll have two minutes for the next person.

Okay. Well, I'd like to invite... It's Rick and Rich you had as the next speakers.

Awesome. Thank you.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Rick Vayu. I'm the Assistant Superintendent of Finance for Mystic Valley Charter School. We're a K-12 school. We have 1,700 students, and we're located in Malden. We've been a longtime partner with the City of Everett with our participation as a member of the varsity hockey co-op program for the last seven years. We currently have nine students that are part of the Tide team, Go Tide. For the past six years, with the approval of the Mayor's Office and working in conjunction with Tom Philbin, we've assisted in the cleanup and setup of the river access. with our primary goal to have a place for our students to participate in a crew program by partnering with Everett Public School to form a co-op crew team. To that end, we've provided crew boats and equipment, a temporary rented storage unit to house the equipment. We've also provided coaching support, as Mr. Philbin said. I'm here tonight to voice support for the $2 million bond appropriation for the construction of the boathouse.

But more importantly than that, I'm here to voice support in the form of committing dollars to this initiative. Mystic Valley Charter School would like to pursue a long-term lease for the use of the boathouse for our combined crew team in the fall and spring. The lease payments could be allocated to help reduce the bond payments if you decide to move forward with tonight's request. Mystic Valley did something similar with the City of Malden to help support the South Broadway park improvements in exchange for a long-term lease to use the field and tennis courts in the fall and spring. We hope we could do something similar with the City of Everett to help reduce the bond payment that would come with the approval of the $2 million request before you tonight. Thank you for your time and consideration.

In the next speaker.

I guess I don't have to push anything. Hi, my name is Rich Whalen. I am program director for Gentle Giant Rowing Club. GGRC was founded in 2002 with the goal of bringing rowing to the underserved communities around the Mystic and Malden Rivers. We have helped to establish teams in Somerville, Malden, Medford, and the Everett High School team most recently. We also provide support to the team as needed with equipment when they need equipment. with coaching launches and other support. I'm here to voice support for the Boathouse, but also to talk about why it's important for the rowers and what it does. Rowing is the ultimate team sport. There's no other team sports like it. You depend on each other in a rowing shell in a way that you don't in other sports. There are no all-stars. Everyone must work together to succeed. That gives accountability to the rowers. They have to depend on each other. to succeed. They have to depend on each other. They're going to work hard. It's unlike any other sport in that respect.

To succeed, you really need to work as one. Through that, you get a community. These rowers become friends. You get a support system. They really depend on each other and support each other when they succeed. They also learn to push themselves beyond perceived boundaries. I have several stories of rowers discovering that they could achieve more on the water and then that relates to their schoolwork and what else they can achieve in life. It's really a sport that is unique and I think it's great that the City of Everett does have it. I grew up in Everett. I wish Everett had it when I was a resident here. I want to just really quick go through something I found online about rowing. Rowing is a funny thing. It's not just a sport. It's an outlet for pain through pain. It's a teacher of discipline and determination. It takes you to your breaking point and teaches you to bend rather than snap. It marries grace and power. It makes you strong.

It gives you family. It's your psychologist, your second home. On occasion it's been known to save someone from themselves. Rowing is a funny thing.

Thank you. Thank you for your time. We have one last speaker.

Which is Denny Brennan.

Hi, quick question, anyone here ever heard of Dragon Boat? Amazing. Dragon Boat. So I don't want to undermine anything that he said about Gentle Giants because they have totally saved our bacon when we had an accident earlier this season and they got to tow us home. Dragon Boat is a really unique sport. It's the second fastest growing water sport in the United States. It is essentially a canoe that you paddle with your 20 best friends, a steerer and a paddler. In my case, my best friend and husband is my steerer. I am a coach for the team Living Root, which currently hangs out. at this particular park, and I'm here to speak on behalf of the Boathouse. Because what we bring is something that, I don't want to undermine what was just said about crew, but we're also really big on synchronicity. Your paddle goes in, the person in front of you paddle goes in, you stay in time. What makes us special and unique

is not only the fact that we are able to bring this community together and that we're able to get the mental health, the physical health, all of this stuff in this area, but it's a unique sport, especially in a time right now where diversity is super important. Our team is the most diverse in Boston. We are the only North Shore. Feels weird to call us North Shore, but that's what we are. We are the furthest North Dragon Boat team in Massachusetts. Dragon Boat is a sport that originated in China. 2000 years ago. It's an awesome sport, but it brings together a bunch of different community groups from all across the city. In addition to that, it also has a really important role in the cancer community, which most people aren't aware of. It is incredibly important for cancer survivors in Boston and we are blessed to be able to have this space in River Garden Park. We'd be super excited to have a boathouse because that would enable us to expand, it would let people have access on the T and then be able to change It would let us be able to be on the water later because we'd have a safer place to go.

And it would also enable us to open up training season round. My team operates from January to October. We'd be able to put ergs in the boathouse and we'd be able to allow cancer patients access to proper training, people from 18 to 100. It's a great team. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

Do you have any more? Motion to close public participation.

I move to allow it. Okay, so motion has been made and seconded to allow an extension so the next speaker can have the two minutes as well. And I'm sorry, your microphone is off. The right button when it turns green.

Okay, name is Kelly Downing. I'm a cancer survivor, so I've been dragon boating for 10 years. I came, moved from Lexington to Medford and found this second dragon boat team called Living Root. When I moved from Lexington, I was going to Concord for my, you know, the nature and, you know, enjoy. And I said, where's my oasis here in Medford? And I found it in Everett. So thank you. I found the Dragon Boat team second. Team, I've gone to Chicago, Montreal. I actually went to Italy last year. World Cancer Survivor and competed World Dragon Boating. So this brings a lot to the community. A lot of my friends from around this area growing up in Medford wants to join, wants to try it. It definitely brings people together.

makes people strong, the health, and it keeps you going within like the whole year. The exercise, the community. There's a lot to say, but you know, when I'm 10 years out, of being cancer free. So it's like you're still making yourself healthy and you're helping other people through things. I just want to say, please consider this. We would love to have the Boat Club. We're training different places in the winter, but we'd love to just keep it in one place. And I know the meetup on Facebook and all the social media have attracted a lot of people to it. we've had a few people over the summer come and they love it and they've stayed so if we can get a boathouse that probably would like generate people staying even more too with the social media Thank you.

Thank you. Motion to close public participation.

That motion has been made and seconded to close public participation. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. We have closed public participation. Motion to suspend the rules and take five out of order.

Second.

I'll retract my motion.

So as is stated in the beginning of the meeting this is the last meeting of the term and as such we have some members that will be DePierro, moving on with the results of the election. So at this time, I'd like to invite Councilor DePierro to do a special presentation to one of our council members that is moving to a different seat.

And we have the citations on the podium. Then.

After the presentations, we'll go back to the order.

Thank you very much. First want to begin by wishing my colleagues, the people here in the audience, and the folks at home a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Season, I'm delighted to present this congratulatory citation to Councilor Wayne Matewsky for his many years of service to the residents of Ward 1. Counselor Matewsky will be joining us again in the new year, but as an at-large counselor. He gave up what many assumed would have been a safe seat for him, but he had the courage to step up and run at-large and a desire to serve the community in an at-large capacity. Like myself, Councilor Matewsky's career in public service began at a young age. His strong will to ensure his neighborhood had a voice as it was climbing out of his industrial past is something he has carried throughout as many years of service to this community. He not only has given his youth to our community, but has dedicated his entire adult life to it.

In the over four decades of service to this community, he served on the Common Council, Board of Aldermen, as Everett State Representative, now as City Councilor. and lastly I just want to mention Wayne's beautiful mom. We all know Marion. She's a staple in this community and they say you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his mother. and the love and care Wayne gives to Marion says it all about him. So, Councilor Matewsky, if you'd like to come forward and say a few words and accept this award. Citation. Not as good as the speech when you nominated me for president, but right up there. So be it hereby known The City Council, in his honor the Mayor, offer this sincerest congratulations to Councilor Wayne Matewsky in recognition of serving the residents of Ward 1 with pride and distinction.

The entire City Government extends its very best wishes on this memorable occasion and expresses the hope for continued good fortune going forward given this 22nd day of December 2025 sponsored by myself and the entire City Council. Congratulations.

Thank you, Councilor DiPierro. That's much better than I expected, I'll tell you. But it's true, you know, you take a chance when you run citywide. I did leave Ward 1. And to be honest with you, I wasn't going to run again. And, you know, at 67, you want to do something different in life. And then my mother said, no, no, you have to run. I said, all right, Ma. Not a problem. Where am I going to go? But, and she's watching tonight, along with her girlfriends at the house on Lewis Street. But you know, Ward 1 is the biggest ward in the city. It's where most of, if you look at the agenda tonight, 80%, 90% of all businesses, any agenda takes place in Ward 1. It's very active. But Ward 1 is in good shape with Councilor Michelle Capone, who received, I think it's 83% of the vote.

Maybe even better. But her and I have collaborated over the last few months. We've known each other forever. Her mother, Camille Simeone, was a good friend of mine. and I want to congratulate our new mayor-elect Robert Van Campen, who is a gentleman. And I said it two years ago, he was the best president. I've served with, I think, 40 different presidents. Of course, I was president three times, but Bob Van Campen, Mayor-elect, did such a wonderful job. And he's a gentleman. I know the city's going to move forward in a positive direction. I want to thank our staff. Sergio Canelio, Mr. Burley, and Mr. Mangan, and former Councilman Sire, who's the Sergeant of Arms here. Running citywide was a little more difficult than I thought this particular election.

I've done it before and very, very successful, but... You know, as you get older, you lose a few of the people that have supported you over the years. But Ward 1 has been so good to me since the age of 21. I've served Ward 1 and my heart is there. The people of Ward 1 have been very good. But thanks to my friends in Ward 3 and 4 and 2 and throughout this community, I'm still in business. and I believe in helping people if you call me I will point you in the right direction that's what I'm good at and I like helping people and I want to thank you for those kind words on behalf of my mother and I wish the new council coming in all the best and thank you for supporting me over the years.

It's the second for the official photo. Okay, and at this time, I'd like to invite Councilor Rogers for the presentation of the next citation.

All right, and this next citation is for Councilor John Hanlon, former mayor, who I have had the privilege of knowing my entire life. So I will read it aloud. Be it hereby known to all that the Everett City Council and his Honor the Mayor offer their sincerest congratulations to Councilor John F. Hanlon in recognition of representing the residents of Everett with pride and distinction for well over 50 years as a City Clerk, City Councilor, and Mayor. The entire city government extends its very best wishes on this memorable occasion and expresses the hope for continued good fortune going forward given this 22nd day of December. Councilor, if you want to join us and say a few words.

Thank you. Councilor Hanlon will now join us to say a few words and receive the citation.

Thank you very much all.

When Mrs. Rogers took my picture, she doesn't remember the first time we took a picture, she was wearing a diaper. It was so long ago that we've known her. But anyway, it's funny to say goodbye, but I'm not really saying goodbye, I'm saying so long because I'll be going somewhere else. There's not, you just can't hold a good man down because I'll be, I have lots and lots of things that I have to do. You know, they say when your pie is empty, but mine is still full. and I have so many things that I can do. Now we can put a little bit more time and effort into those things. My wife is very happy. but you'll probably see less of me now because I'll be going out a lot more you know but I am grateful for the City of Everett for everything they've done for me grateful for the council I'm grateful, no one ever says it, but the Board of Aldermen, which was an organization that we had before the city council came into effect. And it goes back quite a while. And my duty as a city clerk was It's just a wonderful, wonderful job.

Oh, I'm jealous of you. I'm jealous of this guy here. But he does a great job, too. But it's sad to be going. but it's also you know you close one door and you open another the doors are wide open lots of them for me to go so I have no problems in wanting to do things that I want to do and it's about time I guess that I've been doing some of these things I've left off especially my place in Vermont which we who was our pride as a family. Now we can get up there and maybe chop down some trees as big as the one that we have in the square. So anyway, thanks again for everybody. Appreciate it. Take care.

Okay, after the last presentation, we'll do a big group picture. So for the next presentation and a really special one, I would like to invite Councilor Pietrantonio up and Councilor Smith.

All right, this is for, you guys will figure it out as I read it. First I'm gonna do the speech. From your days as an alderman to your time on the council, stepping into the role of mayor-elect and soon to be mayor, you have always brought experience, institutional knowledge, and a steady presence to the floor. For me personally, you're more than just a colleague. You're a partner in crime, a sounding board, and a tremendous asset when the moments were tough and the stakes were high. You understood the rules, respected the process, and never lost sight of the fact our job was to serve the residents first. Whether we agreed or disagreed, I always knew the conversation would be honest, thoughtful, and grounded in what was best for the city. your leadership wit and willingness to step in when it mattered most made this council better. You took the presidency, I believe your first year back, which were very,

Very grateful for, and while your seat on this floor will be missed, I have no doubt the city will continue to benefit from your experience and dedication in your new role. And while you may be leaving the Council floor, don't think for a second you're getting off easy. We fully intend to keep your new administration on its toes, asking the hard questions and holding you to the same standard you always expected of us. consider it a continuation of our partnership, except from the other side of the chamber. Thank you for your years of service, your friendship, the countless moments of teamwork that made even the hardest days manageable. I wish you nothing but success as mayor and look forward to continuing to work together. And now, Councilor Pietrantonio is going to say a few words.

Just a few. I didn't know how to say a speech, but... I've known Rob for almost 35 years. When I worked for the city, he was an alderman or a councilman at that time. He left, I left. I went to Melrose. He was at Melrose. So I worked at Melrose for another 12 years. But you had a fun time over there. He left Melrose, I left Melrose. We end up hooking up two years ago, two and a half years ago, and we said, hey, you run for council. I go, no, you run for council. We said, no, we'll both run for council. and then I get a call from Marchese, you guys gotta run, you guys gotta run. So me and Van, we worked it out. We decided to run together. Unfortunately, he's leaving me, but we'll still have our battles because you're only going right down the street here. You ain't going to be too far. So we should have a lot of fun. I guess this will be the last time we laugh together. I would think. Right, Mike?

You think the last time we laughed together? But Rob, you've shown me the way. You kept me calm at times. You hit the gravel a few times. You taught me some things up here, but I appreciate your friendship. You're loyal to the city. You are a loyal man, smart man. And I know you'll do a great job at the corner office. And thank you for your support. Thank you.

and at this time I'd like to, oh no, she's over here.

Yes, be it hereby known that all of the Everett City Council in his honor of the mayor offer their sincerest congratulations to Councilor Robert J. Van Campen, in recognition of representing the residents of Ward 5 for the past two years as their City Councilor. Best wishes going forward as the newly elected Mayor of the City of Everett. Thank you.

So I don't know if anyone picked up on Councilor Pietrantonio's reference to my Melrose nickname. They used to call me Vanny in Melrose. Let's not start that here in Everett, Peter. I do want to I want to thank the City Council for two great years of collaboration, deliberation, and getting things done. And I stand here. Frankly, as someone who had expected to be with you longer than two years. And sometimes life puts you in positions and calls you to certain tasks. And so I consider myself blessed that I spent the last two years on the City Council.

I do want to thank the people of Everett for putting their trust in me as the mayor-elect, and I am looking forward to a continued partnership with the City Council. We will continue to laugh, Councilor Pietrantonio. Councilor Smith will continue to hold the administration accountable, which she should, and to the 10 other members of the City Council. hold me accountable hold me responsible for operating the day-to-day affairs of this community that's your job and I have my job but at the end of the day Our friendship, I hope, will continue. I hope you will invite me into the chamber on occasion. I'd like to come see you guys. And I hope that we can continue to make the great progress that we've seen in this community over the last several years. I also do want to thank my predecessor, Mayor DeMaria,

for his 18 years of service as mayor, for his own lifetime of service, although he's a young man, to this community. I want to thank him for the years he spent with me on the Board of Aldermen and some others up here on the Board of Aldermen many years ago. and I talk about his legacy of transformation and I do mean that I want to continue that and I want to take it to higher levels in our community so I want to thank him as well for his service and I want to thank the folks who come here for public comment every meeting to express your concerns, express your frustration, express your support for All of the matters that come before the City Council because everything we do up here at the end of the day affects every single person in this community. I see Chief Hickey here and Sergeant Gaff and others. Look forward to working with our incredible public safety departments during this transition. I've had great meetings with all of them. and I look forward to continuing to invest in public safety, continuing to ensure that the people of Everett are protected.

I see my friend Senator DiDomenico as well. I want to thank him for, who I've known for Probably 25 years, Sal. At this point, you had dark hair, and I had a lot of hair back then. But I do want to thank Senator DiDomenico for his partnership, and I look forward to working with him going forward. The City Council staff. I want to thank you all so much for everything you do. You've done for me the last two years and even some of you years ago when I was on the Board of Aldermen at the time for all the support you provided. to the board at that time. So I've had some great memories in this chamber. I look forward to having more great memories in this chamber. And my lasting words to you would be please hold your mayor accountable. Thank you very much. Happy holidays. Merry Christmas.

Smith.

At this time, I'd like to invite Councilor Smith and all the female members of the Council to come up here, except for Councilor Martins.

So tonight we just wanted to take a moment to say thank you and goodbye. Not just in title, but in recognition of a term that will be remembered as one of the most turbulent, challenging, influential and historical in this council's history. Serving as city council president during this period was not easy and it was never meant to be. It required balance, ensuring the public's voice was heard loudly and clearly while also protecting the integrity of this chamber by limiting theatrics and upholding the rules that allow us to govern fairly and effectively. That balance mattered because democracy only works when passion is paired with order and when disagreement is handled with respect. Under your leadership, this body weathered moments of division, intensity, and real public frustration. Yet through it all, the process held. Residents were heard, and debate happened, and the City Council continued to function.

as you step away with the gavel and we do so with gratitude for your steadiness, fairness, and your commitment to letting every voice be heard without letting the work devolve into chaos. We look forward to having you back on the floor where your voice and experience are critically important, continuing to fight for our small businesses, advocating for diversification, and helping to shape a city hall that works for everyone. Thank you for your leadership, your resilience, and your service to this council and your community. The gavel may change hands, but your impact will never be forgotten. Thank you. So we have this plaque. City Council President Stephanie Martins has served the Everett City Council for the year 2025 with her gavel.

Thank you. I promise it's shorter than Wayne. I don't cry easily, but that was deep because it's been quite the rollercoaster. But I'm extremely grateful to have served with an amazing city council with a majority that was unified in doing what was right for the people of Everett. I want to thank each of my colleagues for allowing me the opportunity to show the people of Everett what I'm made of. It's my hope that by taking that seat I can inspire Future generations to know what's possible. MLK says that the time is always right to do what's right. And to me, it feels like it was meant to be that I was in the I was the right person in the right place at the right time when the call for action was to do what was right for the people of Everett.

During my six years on the City Council, I tried to fix a lot of the issues from the ground up, and when I wasn't getting results, I realized that we had to fix it from the top down. As Council President, I'm proud to have led from a place of service and collaboration. Leaders eat last. I'm excited for the future of Everett and the new leadership. I'm excited for this wave of change to continue making its rounds. And I'm looking forward to serving with my Existing colleagues that got re-elected and my new colleagues coming in. I'm going to miss my partner in running the meetings, Mayor-elect Robert Van Campen, as he becomes the new guy in the coroner office. and another person that was in the right place at the right time. I wish you the best and I trust you will work hard to restore respect, accountability and regard for public funds. I hope you never forget your why and the people that elected you.

I'm going to miss Councilor Hanlon, who was the first phone call I received last year in support of my presidency. Thank you so much for taking me in, and thank you for your 50 years of service. Thank you. And as I return to my regular seat next year, I return with a sense of pride and the hope that I made Everett proud. I hope you can be proud of your city government. and that we can continue to write the history of Everett together. I want to thank our staff for all your support. My colleagues again, I thank God for his protection in this opportunity. It was an honor to be your council president. Thank you.

All the councils would like to join us up here with the secret group picture with the citations. Thank you again. It's my last night and the night that I can't speak English anymore. Hanlon, if you'd like to join us with your citation, Councilor Smith, and our staff as well, let's take our 2024-2025 term picture. What?

What happened to me? Guys, when you go in the middle, air elect in the middle.

Thank you all for your time. We're now going to return to the regular order of the meeting and I believe we had a motion to suspend the rules and take item number five. Do we have a second? So motion has been made and seconded to take item number five off the calendar. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. Mr. Clerk, please read item number five.

Item number five is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins as president, an order requesting the approval to appropriate by borrowing the amount of $2 million for the construction of the boathouse.

Van Campen.

Thank you, Madam President. I'd like to move Madam President to refer item 5 back to sponsor. I don't do that because I oppose the measure. I support the construction of the boathouse my concern is because of the glitch we had at our last meeting this matter hasn't been properly vetted through committee I would like the opportunity as mayor to present this to the City Council I will do so in January So I'd like to at this time refer this back to sponsor, at which time I'm publicly committing that I will resubmit it in January.

Second. Which has been made and second to refer the item back to sponsor. All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. The item has been referred. Thank you. And we have some department heads.

Move to suspend the rules, take item number three, please.

Second. Motion's been made and seconded to suspend the rules and take item number three. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Mr. Clerk, please read item number three.

Stephanie Martins as President. In order, requesting approval to accept and expend the grant from the Executive Office of Public Safety in the amount of $469,030.80, For the Everett Fire Department to be utilized for equipment, training, and overtime with a nexus to hazmat operations within and for the city. Van Campen.

Thank you, Madam President. I would like to move favorable action on this piece tonight, and I also would like to just say publicly to Senator Sal DiDomenico, who was here, he's worked on this at the state level on our behalf. There's a time sensitivity to the expenditure of these funds, so delaying it any further could potentially jeopardize our ability to access these grant funds, so I'd like to move favorable action.

Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second.

Second.

Second.

DiPierro, Garcia, Hanlon, Marchese, Martins, Matewsky, Pietrantonio, Rogers, Smith, Van Campen, Martins, Teniers, Zerones.

The order has been approved.

Move to suspend the rules, take items 1 and 11 collectively.

Second. Which has been made in session to suspend the rules and take items number 1 and 2. 11. 1 and 11 collectively. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. The Clerk will now read items number 1 and 11 collectively.

One in order requesting the confirmation of the reappointment of Holly Garcia to the Youth Commission for a term of three years, expiring December 8th, 2028, and 11 in order requesting confirmation of the reappointment of the following individuals as members of the Transportation Advisory Board for a term of one year, expiring December 31st, 2026. Derek Schuster, Andrea Porras, Aya Ulau, Jared Evanson, and Joe Altma. Favorable action.

Motion has been made and seconded for favorable action. Items number 1 and 11. One second. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilor, I'll see Jabouin.

Alessi, on the reappointment of Holly Garcia and the members. Yes.

Councilor DiPierro. Yes. Hanlon, Marchese, Pietrantonio, Rogers, Smith, Van Campen, Martins, Yes. Nine yays, zero nays, Madam President.

Madam President, move to suspend the rules. Take items. 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14 collectively. They're all donations.

which has been made in seconds to take the donations collectively. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. Mr. Clerk will now read all the order for donations collectively. And I'm sorry, Council, if you could...

I think so. Item number two is an order. They're all orders offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins as president. Two, an order requesting approval to accept an expending donation in the amount of $1,000 from Suffolk Construction, integrated at Works, LLC, in support of the City of Everett's Homecoming Celebration. 4. In order requesting approval to accept a donation from Everett Supply and True Value Hardware of the use of a U-Haul rental truck for the purpose of picking up toys purchased for the city's annual toy drive, the value of this donation is $100. 7, in order requesting approval to accept an expended donation to the City of Everett from Encore Boston Harbor, valued at $5,984 to decorate Route 99 and Broadway.

9 in order requesting approval to accept and expend donations from Everett Bank of 60 $25 McKinnon's gift cards totaling $1,500 and Graybar Electric of $25 $20 Market Basket gift cards totaling $500. In order requesting approval to accept an expended donation from the Shavo Club of $50, $25 gift cards to McKinnons for the Holiday Assistance Program, totaling $1,250. Hold on, I think I have a couple more, Mr... Van Campen. Thank you. 12. An order requesting approval to accept and expend donations from Stephen S. Luongo to the Council on Aging in the amount of $500 to the Office of Human Services in the amount of $500. 13.

in order requesting approval to accept and expend the donation from the Eagle Bank in the amount of $1,299 to support the tree lighting celebration and 14 in order requesting approval to accept and expend donations totaling $145 from the City of Everett employees during the month of November for the 2025 toy drive.

We have a motion for favorable action. We have a second. The motion has been made in second. On the motion, Councilor Smith, did you have a question?

Oh, no, I just wanted to be recognized next.

So motion has been made in the second of the favorable action. On the favorable action, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll on all of those items.

Councilor, I'll see Jabouin. DePierro, Garcia, Hanlon, Marchese, Martins, Matewsky, Pietrantonio, Rogers, Smith, Van Campen, Everett, Van Campen. Yes. Council President Martins.

Yes.

Tanniers. Zero nays, Madam President.

Zero nays. The orders have been approved. I believe we also have members of the traffic commission.

We'll just suspend item six from the calendar.

Second. Motion has been made and seconded to take item number six of the calendar. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Mr. Clerk, please read item number six.

Item number six is a resolution offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins as President, a resolution to invite Sergeant Gaff of the Everett Police Department and Chair of the Traffic Commission and City Parking Director Adriana Andresano before the City Council to present updates for the 2026 Residential Parking Program.

Move to invite those guests before us.

Second. Which has been made and seconded to invite the guests. All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Good evening. Thanks for joining us at the last meeting that was canceled in today. And I believe the microphone is off. Good evening.

Good evening. For those who don't know me, my name is Adriana. I'm the parking director for the city. Over the past three years, the parking department, Everett Police Department, and Traffic Commission have implemented changes to help some of the parking challenges we face in our residential neighborhoods. We've broken it down into different phases. Phase one is when we evaluated the handicap parking program and we also eliminated Uber and Lyft. drivers to get passes. Phase two, we separated commercial plates with a different color sticker and we raised the cost. We minimized the visitor pass program and we also eliminated handing out special placards for individuals who brought home company vehicles.

Now we are on to phase three, and these are the changes that we are making in 2026. The first one is we are eliminating the mass mail-out of resident stickers. You must either go online to City Hall systems, you must either call 3-1-1 or you can call City Hall Systems which is the vendor that we use for the resident stickers or you can come in to City Hall and 311, Reno and his staff will be helping out residents apply for their sticker. The process will stay the same once you do apply. You have to be in good standing to get a sticker. If you are, it will automatically get mailed to you once you apply. I also will be going to the Conley Center on January 7th.

and January 28th to help the seniors order and give out their resident stickers along with another new program that we are starting with the senior meter stickers. The second change is we are only giving out one commercial sticker per household. and then the third change is Lower Broadway. We typically right now are giving every individual who gets a sticker also a visitor placard, but now they'll only be getting one placard per household. And the last change that we are rolling out is the senior meter sticker. You must be over 65 years or older You need to come into City Hall to the collector's office with your license and your registration. It is only one per person. The sticker is free.

And like I said, I'll also be going to the Conley Center to issue those stickers as well. In the future, we plan on, we did, I don't know if you wanna talk, Sergeant Gaff, about the, we did form a committee.

So thank you. Yeah. So we formed the committee with everybody that we could get. And we had two folks from your council join us. We held four meetings. It was the traffic commission members, it was city council members, it was engineering department, it was ISD, it was planning, it was transportation, and it was legal. We had everybody we could to get in there to see how far we wanted to go with each step we wanted. We took this step that Adriana just explained because we want to see, we've been almost told by the company we use, that we might see a reduction of up to 10,000 stickers applied for. So instead of making a huge change, which if we need to make that change next year, will we restrict how many stickers are per household?

which is a major major undertaking because right now a couple systems in the in the building doesn't speak to each other so we're trying to work on that you know do we give it per apostle do we give it per household do we give it per apartment So that is the next big step that on the next phase we will see that we can do. But this phase that we see here, we believe we'll see a reduction. We are still going to push for people to use the Driveways as much as we can and continue the enforcement that we've been doing. So it wasn't just a few selected. made up this decision. I personally want to thank the Traffic Commission. Some of them are here today. They're a non-paid board. They go out, they look, they work really hard. They're a great group of Folks that I have on that committee and they really do a great job. They go out they talk to people and they're just Wealth Information for each ward, and it's been great.

I thought the committee did a great job with everybody we had, brought, you know, many, many discussions. We had up to two-hour meetings down at the EPD on this. and there was a lot of stuff thrown up against the wall and what stick and what didn't stick and what we could enforce and what was best and we this is what we came up with at the end when we voted all everybody and See where we have to take it to the future. To take away 20,000 parking spots from somebody right now would be really tough to do. But let's slowly redo it. We're seeing reducing amounts with what we're doing, and it's helping. I don't know what will ever help some areas. I mean there's just so many houses and so many people living there. That's something we'll take on next. But that's how this all came about with some great energy and work by a lot of people that came together as one.

This time we're going to take questions from the councillors. Councillor Marchese.

How are you tonight? On the one commercial per house, would that person also be eligible for a regular sticker for a car? So they have more or less have two?

Yeah, so if there's a commercial vehicle, register that house, and also, you know.

That's a complete house, three family, whatever, right?

Yep, so it would be per unit. So if it's a three-family house, Unit 1 could have one commercial sticker, Unit 2 could have one, and so forth.

So you're putting three commercial stickers into a three-family?

Yes, one per unit.

I think you better re-look that one, because that's more or less what we have right now.

Right now it's unlimited. They can get unlimited stickers. So that's why we kind of went with just a one to start.

I thought we had one time we banned the commercial plate from being on the street.

In the 90s, the only thing that can be commercial. So the biggest problem we're facing right now, Councilman, is that we are facing, it's not the big trucks that we faced back in the 80s and 90s. I remember doing those overnight taggings on an even parking and and doing commercial motor vehicles that are six wheels or more, you know, 10,000 pounds, 2,000 pounds or more. One ton or more or six wheels, that's still on the books that you cannot get. These are commercial vans. It's the painters. It's the guys that do the floors. It's the carpenters. They still pick up a pocket spot. They do. But right now, they can have an unlimited amount of...

We should revisit that. I mean, I drive down to my house and I look at Bridge Street and I see the massive three families out of there and think of the fact that in each house and apartment, most likely there's three different regular stickers times three, nine, then they're gonna give one, two, three commercial plates. So it's for disaster is what this says right here. You would have to go. No commercials, but you can't do one for each apartment. That's crazy. I'm just letting you know. I know what it's like down there. I came down Bridge Street the other day. They're on both sides of the street, parked. And I know where I live at a dead end there, maybe 10, on a dead end. So, I mean, I would really look at that again. I know the effort is there in what you're doing, but this ain't going to fly out of the city. It's not like it was before. Every unit will have a commercial, whether it's under their name or not, but there'll be one.

We do plan on meeting back in April, and seeing some of the data and results that come in over the next several months. And then based on that, with the committee, we can make further changes.

All right. Good luck with it. It's not going to happen. But good luck.

Councilor Pietrantonio? Thank you guys for appearing tonight. A couple of things. So we're not going to mail the stuff out. Are we going to have extra staffing?

We are mailing them out. So you're just not automatically mailing them out. So in the past, if you were in good stand-in, you automatically got the sticker in the mail. But you have to apply for it now online. but the process will still remain the same. You don't have to come pick it up or you don't have to come You know, into City Hall. The only people that should be coming into City Hall to get their sticker is anyone down lower Broadway or up by the hospital. Only because those have different restrictions.

Okay, so we're still going to mail them out. Okay, so what about how do we identify the, you know, when they build these apartment buildings, they have this TDM where we don't give out permits. How would we identify the unit that doesn't get a permit? How is, out in your office, how do you do that?

So basically what happens is we get together with planning and they have a spreadsheet of each building that got approved. and what their parking regulations are. Then I physically go into the back end and I block or if they say, oh, they can only have two stickers for that particular unit. then I go in and I put in the minimum or maximum number of stickers that they can get. I also print out spreadsheets and I give it to the collectors office. I email the assistant collector and also give her printouts and they have them displayed.

So if they go into the collector's office, we have to make sure they have the list and you have the list. So it's going to be multiple people looking at this list. It's not going to be just like you. Checking it, it's gonna be multiple people.

Right, so then what will happen is if somebody does come in and they get a sticker and they're like, well, why can't I get it? And they have to either call me or the Assistant Collector to unblock an address. We can't just have everyone have access to that. As long as we get the information from planning, then it goes smoothly.

Do we know how many Addresses we have that are blocked?

There's quite a few.

There is, okay.

Yeah. Okay. I can share if you would like that information.

No, I just want to make sure we abide by that and we don't give these stickers out. That's what worries me.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay. Just two more things. Sure. Just two more things and you can go. So, one sticker per unit No.

For commercial?

Just commercial. Residential, you can, if you have three cars, four cars, you can get, as long as they're registered in Everett, you can get stickers for them.

Correct, and in good standing. They have to have their X size and no parking tickets. As long as everything is paid, they can get a sticker.

But the nice thing that we have gone into this system now, is we've collected data now with the registry, with the company that we use. If we see a three family that is 18 stickers to it, We're flagging them and we're going to bring the owner to us. We've done that already in the past that we found where people are renting cars out of their houses and they've gotten 10, 12 stickers. and we see that it's there, we revoked them. We bring them up in front of the city, you know, up in front of the traffic commission and we say, you're done. So we revoked them. So we are going to take a look at that to see if there's a three-fam that has, you know, For three family, you might have nine stickers. If you have 12 to 15, we're going to red flag it. We're going to ask the owner to come in and see what's going on up in that area. So there's going to be some checks and balances. with what this program is now that we have high data and we can actually see each possible land, what is getting what. And that was one of the biggest things that came out of this committee. So there is some checks and balances.

If the house has 20 stickers, we're going to bring them in and ask them why. And then we can do some follow-up with that, with the PEOs, with the traffic division.

Okay. And just one more question. Line painting. I know me and you talked about this. When we do a new street over, we have to line paint it now, put parking spots on it. Will we be losing spots when we do that, gentlemen?

We are losing a couple spots, but we're also gaining a few spots. So it's a tricky question. I don't mean try to get away from it. Because now, if we put two spots in front of a house that might have three, because people can't get out of their driveway... But that same area, you might have a car that might park in the middle, wait for someone else from their family to come home, move their car up, now they can't fit too. So in the long run, it's making our life so much easier. because we're moving the spots one foot from the driveways so people can get in and out of the driveways. So in the long run, you might lose one spot. But I think you also might gain a couple spots because people have to park legally. So we did the first street we did with Swan Street used to be really, really a nightmare for us. We don't get any complaints because of that. Bellingham, we haven't gotten any complaints. So the streets that we're doing with... are getting very, very good responses on it.

If one car is parked taking two spots out, will the parking, if it's seen by the parking clerks, will they ticket them?

Yes, because you're not within It's on the ticket book, so now you have to park within a designated area, so you can't take up two spots or three spots with one car or two cars to move them around. That's a big plus for us too, and it helps the PEOs driving around to see where, who parks. But the comments so far have been pretty positive with people trying to get out of their driveway and overhanging. Blocked driving away is probably one of our biggest call-in complaints.

Okay, and just on Mike Marchese's point, Councilor Marchese.

You told her only two questions. See, I knew I should have taken you over and under.

Just on his point, so on commercial, we will watch that commercial. If we have to adjust his program, we can adjust it, correct?

We can adjust everything next year. We did see numbers come down from last year when we raised the number. The price drove the number of stickers down by quite a bit. Now we're hoping this will do it too. We're also hoping this will solve one of the other big problems we have. where people have three or four stickers for vans and their workers are showing up in the morning. We've taken those spots over and they're leaving. So now we're hoping that the workers cannot come to the people's houses in the middle of neighborhoods take the spots at the vans we're at and move out. So those are some of the things we are looking at. Is this a perfect world, the situation? It's revolving every year with people coming and going. Yep. But these are the concerns that have been addressed to us that we are taking on is the number of stickers in multi-house family homes and the commercial with people showing up, dropping their workers off with four cars and then jumping in four vans leaving one neighborhood. So this should help.

Rogers,

Thank you, Madam President. Thank you for joining us tonight. And a lot of the councillors already touched upon some of my questions. I think getting rid of the automatic mailing is a great start. That's something we received a lot of complaints or comments about people that moved or no longer have cars automatically getting stickers. So that's definitely perfect. As far as the senior program, That entails them having free meter parking with the sticker all year round? Correct. Okay. And will the senior sticker be free all year or is that subject to the same timeline if they apply in the summer? Because I know the fee... They're free all the time. Correct. And for a regular resident, the fee starts in March if they don't apply in time? Okay? And you all already touched upon flagging houses that are saying getting an excess of stickers, say they're getting 18 stickers. How do you do that? It comes up in the system because you see...

Yeah, so we get like a data report and it tells us like, you know, which address and how many stickers they get. So we look into it like, is it a three family? Is it an apartment building? Is it just a one family? And then we investigate. We'll send them a letter. We'll give them a call. They'll come in and we'll talk to them and see what they have. And then we make a decision whether, you know, what's happening in the home, if they can get that amount of stickers or we only say, you know, you can only have three.

So how frequently does this issue occur? Would you say there's maybe, I mean, I don't know if you have the data off the top of your head, but do you think there's 100 houses right now that are getting an excess of stickers, or is it a couple?

I think it all depends who you talk to. If you give one house one, they think it's too many. But it's a magic number. If it's a three bedroom, you have three stickers. So if you have a three family, it technically should be nine stickers. But if they got 14, but this is where it I think the board and it was important to get everybody on board when we did this over the summer now we have code enforcement building department with us and they understand what we're doing so if we are getting this many 18 19 stickers in the three family We have partners that go in and help us too and identify why we're having this. So other problems are coming out of this and this is why we're working together and that's why it's been a huge success. up to this point for us to work with other departments in City Hall so we can all work together to try to not just take care of parking but if it's overcrowding or if you have rooms that are being rented out per room It kind of snowballs along.

But if we see that there's a double amount or if there's 15 in a two-family, then it sends up red flags. Does that answer the question, I hope?

It does, absolutely. Yeah, that's a great start. And just to reiterate, I probably am sounding, you've probably heard a million times, but just because there was so much confusion for people at home, the process this year is that they have to call and request their sticker, but it will still be mailed to them. They do not have to show up. at City Hall. They do not. OK. So that will help the residents at home. And I think this is a great start. Let's see how it works with reducing the stickers that we know we don't need. My other recommendation for the future is if we do have to weed them down, I would recommend per bedroom. And that's my only comment. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President. At this time, I was just going to have you say that one more time, but now it's been said three times, that you can apply online. Call. you get your sticker mailed to your home because there was confusion about that. I would also suggest that we're just really advertising the senior program. I think that's fantastic. I want to make sure that it's getting out to them and it's great that There's no cap on that. It's free around. But maybe get it in the Golden Times, the newsletter. Perfect. Yeah. Perfect. And get a copy of Thank you for everything. You guys work hard. I've been to a lot of your meetings, you know.

Thank you, Madam President. I did have some questions, but... Pietrantonio asked them and one of his 13 that he asked so I don't want to take more time from this council but I do just want to say that I've had some meetings with Sergeant Gaff and Director Indersano as part of the transition process and I appreciate the briefings they've given me on this issue. I didn't realize that The City of Everett has just shy of 10,000 on-street parking spots and I believe 30,000 resident stickers issued. and I think the people of Everett at home need to understand the challenge we're facing that this is a multi-phase multi-year process to try to get us to a point where we incentivize people to use their driveways multi-unit homes that have 15 or 20 stickers.

You folks understand my priority in terms of also interfacing with code enforcement to make sure if we've got an overcrowding issue, we're gonna deal with that as well. and I just want to thank you for the hard work you've put in over the last few years to get us to this point and I'm looking forward to working with you, with the Traffic Commission, with the committee to make sure that we get to a point where you know parking which has become we all know this a critical quality of life issue in this community one of them is parking the most frustrating thing I didn't realize you can't even park around City Hall during the day is trying to solve this problem. It's going to take a while. It's going to take a lot of effort. It's going to take a lot of collaboration. It's going to take a lot of community input. But I just want to thank you for the work you're doing and looking forward to next year and working with you on that as well. So thank you. Thank you.

Smith.

Thank you. As you guys know, this is my baby, near and dear to my heart. I did this first analysis in 2024 and brought it to you guys about the number of parking stickers and you've been working with me ever since. I just want to thank you. President Martins and I were a part of the committee where we spent a multitude of hours arguing about what this should be like and I just want to let my council colleagues know that this is not the end. What we agreed to as this committee was that we would take a baby step and see how far we can get. But the data now is going to hopefully show us I think we're all in agreement it's never going to be perfect, but you guys have done a lot of good work. We will get there and just want to commend you and the Traffic Commission. I know we have Mr. Pisano, Mr. Lavecchio, Mr. Caffazzo here, am I missing anyone else? Thank you guys for all your hard work on this.

And I look forward to meeting again in April and looking at the data and seeing what it is. And hopefully this will help the city. I think it definitely will. So thank you.

Marchese.

I also commend you on what you're doing. It's a hard job. It really is. What is the actual resident parking? When does it start? It's four or five nights. What is it?

So enforcement starts Sunday night. So we have P.O.s that start Sunday night and they go Sunday night to Thursday night. So we don't have residential parking on Friday and Saturday night. That was something that started. Way back when when it first started through the City Council had it that has not changed. We've looked at that change but A lot of visitation that comes. A lot of people visit. So that was something that was brought up on that going seven days a week. And at this point, you know, you'd have to look at manpower, hours. Vehicles. I mean, that's something that was on the discussion. But right now, it's Sunday night, starting at 11 o'clock Sunday night.

10.30.

10.30, and then going right to Thursday morning.

And what is that? Is that 6.30 in the morning?

So they work 1030 to 6.

No. For instance, Main Street doesn't have any... There's really no enforcement there because there's no meters or anything. Right? So- At night? Even during, they say after 6.30, I come from mall, then I park my car, they take a bus in there. There's really no enforcement on that.

Well, Main Street, we look for bus stops, you know, parking too close to the corner, parking a hydrant.

Well, if somebody's parked there legally, is what I'm saying there. So another city person can park there. You know, I heard of business a little bit. Is there any way of maybe moving, say, Main Street to 830? You know, it seems crazy, but people come to work, 6.30, park the car, take a bus to town, come back to get it. No one's going to bother them. Maybe at 8.30, 9 o'clock. You can enforce it. No parking.

I think earlier on, I think earlier on that was one of the big issues a lot of people have in Everett Square. Parking their cars in Chelsea Street and the lots. We don't get too many complaints about that, really. We don't.

Because there's no beaters in those places. No beaters on Main Street.

But you also have street sweeping during, you know, last half, you know, street sweep, you know, and then so that helps get rid of the cars. But if we do have cars that are regularly parked there, we have residential at night. You have to be a resident to park on the main street, so that helps. But we really haven't seen too much issues with the people parking on Main Street and jumping on buses.

Thank you Madam President and thank you to both of you for all the work that you do and everybody else that's involved in parking. I know Sergeant Gaff, this is like so close to your heart and you've been a breath of fresh air since you've been in parking helping everybody, helping the community understand what needs to be done so they won't get told you know ticket and I appreciate that I love the fact that you guys start doing lines and no parking here at the corner that's been working very well As far as the new constructions, I know we were told none of them will get any parking stickers. Are there some that are getting Limited parking stickers for their tenants or absolutely not? Because we were told none of them will get any stickers.

There's some that under the permitting, I think under the TMZ or through TDM, they have a certain amount they're allowed that we can't change as traffic commission. That's through the building and zoning that was given. But it's only two or three. It's not a lot.

It's very minimal. Very minimal. And the amount of stickers that I think the most on that list that these buildings can get is like four. But majority of them cannot get anything.

and the system in place is working with someone from any of these units comes in and you're able to tell

Yes, so I, before starting now the 2026, I had, you know, reached out to Matt and his team and also to, um, and Sergio about like any illegal like Airbnbs and the planning to provide me with an updated list in which they did and I went and made sure they were all blocked. accordingly. And like I said, I did share it with the collector's office as well, just to make sure.

Have you been getting any requests from buildings that are not supposed to receive them?

Just one, but no, none others. I'm sure we will once January comes and they try to get a sticker.

Thank you. And again, thank you for all the hard work that you guys do.

Just I don't want to stay too long. But one of the biggest things I think that has really changed the way we do things, changed the game the way we do things in Everett right now is the pre-meetings. Like when building department, when building comes up or someone wants to build in Everett, they meet with the committee now. They meet with, you know, Police, Fire, Transportation and we go over their plans before so they're not wasting time going up and we tell them what we want done and it's really been tremendous under the building department Matt, the time's been doing is organizing these meetings and it's saving us so much time pre-building and pre-going in these meetings. They already know that I'm a stickler on parking right and transportation is they want something else so this is where we work together and it's it's been huge for us to have these pre meetings with these building with these construction buildings coming in. It's been probably now two years and it's really worked really well for us.

Great. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you. I just want, I finally got my computer to work, but back, I wanted to get some data points. So back in 2024, when I first pulled the data before any of the systems talked to each other, There was 735 houses which equated to 2,700 bedrooms that had 4,400 stickers. So by using the data, 700 houses had 4,400 stickers. But using this data and having the systems talk and now flagging, this goes down. And I just want to make the point to the residents that are complaining about why stickers are not being mailed out to you. This is why. Because you have to apply for stickers now, we will no longer mail out this amount of stickers. And again, this was back in 2024 when we first started Phase 3. But I just wanted to, I know a lot of residents are complaining about why can't you just mail it out like you used to? Why do I have to apply? This is why. 700 houses having 4,400 stickers. is why we can't just mail them out and everyone has to apply. So I just wanted to put that out.

And again, thank you for your help in making the systems connect.

I have Councilor Pietrantonio for the second time. But before you go, I have Councilor Matewsky speaking for the first time. So Councilor Matewsky.

Thank you, Madam President. Every neighborhood is different. And where I live, I know Councilman Marchese brought up the fact that commercial vehicles There's only going to be one allowed per unit?

That's correct.

Okay. Well, you know, as you brought up earlier, the problem is, and I've heard this on Summit Street, all over the city, that these contractors... have their employees show up and they all... I mean, respect is out the window on this issue. And I don't know how you fix it, but... It's pretty disappointing that, you know, it's a gaffe. No one sent it. But I mean, I mean, there's no respect, you know, and you look out your window and you see the guy. and the commercial vehicle lease. But I think one per unit is more than sufficient. As a matter of fact, I think more than three permits per resident is more than enough. I have a neighbor that has four cars in one apartment. But we get along and all that good stuff, but...

and I'm fortunate to have a driveway. I have caregivers coming and going, which brings me to the compliment, if it's okay, that I'd like to give the Parking Director, Ms. Derisano, I've gotten a few calls from caregivers, nurses, Whittier Drive area, and you've accommodated them in such a nice way that they called me back Wayne, thank you so much. I got the 30-day permit or the one-week permit. for my nurse to come in, and it's because of you. And these people, I never met three or four of them, but they called me and I want to thank you for that. You know, I've never had an experience When nurses and caregivers don't have a spot and they're only in there for a few hours or four hours. But for that, I want to thank you and I really appreciate it. And Sergeant Gaff.

I know we discussed a couple of meetings, well a meeting ago, the need for a little extra for the crossing guard at the Hampshire and the Broadway. So any consideration for that young lady? She's been crossing kids for 33 years. And they're aiming the car over there. And as we all know, there was a terrible accident just a block away. of the Dragon Ship, more or less, and some maniac going the wrong way on Broadway, destroyed the life of a 62-year-old woman who was brain damaged in all nine yards. But that's it. Broadway is like, they're banging you. He's in the middle of the street. I've never seen anything like this before. But the city is getting packing under control. And thanks to you two, mainly. I, for one, appreciate it, and I wanted to thank you.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Just to clarify for my colleagues here, everybody has to apply for a sticker. No more sending them out automatically. Just want to make sure the residents understand that.

It is also in the January water bill, there is a slip going to every home that the same instructions that they have to apply. And when you apply, it will get mailed to you. Great.

I was just checking my time.

We're hoping, Councilman. We're hoping to save 10,000 stickers.

Get into the senior... Park. Not that I'm a senior, not that I want one, but is it going to be a different color? Because you're saying that if you get free parking with the senior one, so it's going to be a different color. It's going to be a different color. Okay. Thank you guys.

Councilor Garcia. I thought you had your hand up. No? Okay. Second. The motion has been made and seconded to excuse our guests. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Merry Christmas.

What is your pleasure? Thank you again.

If you have any other questions or issues, just don't hesitate to reach out to us. And again, thank you for everything, and especially all the people that are on that committee. It was an amazing experience. Thank you.

Thank you. Motion's been made. Do we have a second to refer back to sponsor? All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. We have referred back to sponsor.

Madam President, can we suspend the rules and take item 43 from the agenda? Second.

Okay. Motion has been made and seconded to suspend the rules and take item number 43 of the calendar. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Mr. Clark, please read item number 43.

Item number 43, Madam President, is a resolution offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins, Councilor Pietrantonio, and Councilor Stephanie Smith. that the Facilities Maintenance Director provide an update on the status of the old Everett High School roof project and when tenants will be back in building.

Thank you. Can we invite the facility maintenance director and I know he brought a couple of people along with him and I'd like to thank them for waiting through the past... Two and a half hours. Second.

Second. Motion's been made and second to invite our guests. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Good evening. Thanks for waiting.

Good evening, Councils.

Thank you. I'd like to, I know this is new business, I'd like to thank you for coming before us. I know you brought some people with you.

Yes, representatives from the Everett Old High School roofing project, owner's project manager, John Supak, and the general contractor, John Tremaya.

Thank you.

Any specific questions about the roofing project?

Yep, I have a few questions. One, are all the tenants back in the building now?

Yes, ma'am. Wednesday, December 17th, the Elliott Family Resource Center opened their doors. to the public. And this past Saturday, December 20th, was the grand opening of the Wellness Center.

And is... The project complete. Did we do the metal?

We are about 95% complete, the roofing project. There's some edge metal, cornice and copper work, and some punchless items. Again, any other specific, but pretty much... All eight levels have been the membranes on. More than 95% of the roof is completed. Any specific questions? Again, the owner's project manager is here and also the general contractor.

Perfect. I know we had... Rain on Friday, I believe. I was there Saturday for the opening, and the places that were leaking didn't seem to be leaking, so it seems that those are all patched up. So that was good to see. I do have a question about... The bid, I don't know if someone can answer it, but what was scoped out in the bid? Was that the work that was actually done on the roof? Or was there any additional findings? Did we do it a different way?

No, it's a replacement, complete replacement of the roof.

So we took the roof off and put a new one back on?

Absolutely, 114,000 square feet of roofing, eight different levels.

So we took it all off and there was a new roof back on.

Removed. So the front portion towards Broadway, that was built in 1913, I think it was, something like that. and then and that which is a wood decking and the the rear section where the the Webster school extension on to the where the gym is the steel decking which was built in 1976 and it was actually more replaced some rotted decking, more on the steel decking than there was wood decking replaced. But everything's been replaced. We've replaced all the roof drains. Those were compromised. A number of things. Brought everything up to code.

And was there anything that we found that wasn't in the bid that we had to do work on?

I believe, John, would you want to? I think everything was covered on the bid.

just come up and sorry speak to the microphone sorry so the public can hear so just to repeat the question so wanted to know if there was anything additional outside of what was covered under our spec was found.

Nope, everything on the specification was covered. We identified items that possibly could have been there as well too and ultimately certain situations they weren't there and others that they were. So everything was covered.

Okay, perfect. No further questions from me. Okay, Councilor Rogers.

Thank you, Madam President. So I was just going to also ask about the status of any unexpected expenses. It doesn't seem like there were any.

No, they're not. Budget-wise, we have a healthy balance, and I don't see any issues whatsoever with the closeout.

Perfect. And I suppose there's no chance that we actually came in under budget, saved any money?

Absolutely. I mean, it was ARPA money. If you recall, Councilors, it was $10 million in ARPA, and we came in at around... just under 6.2, 6.3 when everything was all finished and done. Excellent.

And do we know any status about the rest of the buildings, floor two, three, and four, about what's going on with that?

that is so the build out that that's that's another it's a completely different project which is in in the works you know and already being Disgust, Working Through Procurement. Hopefully, it'll come to your table, your desk, to approve and to move forward with that, with the build-out of the to continue construction and rebuilding of the old high school building itself.

Great, so that's being worked on.

Development, yes.

Excellent. Thank you. That's it.

Councilor Alcy Jabouin.

Thank you, Madam President. and thank you to both of you guys and also yourself. My question is, do you know how we ended up getting a leak after we got a new roof?

It's... over 114,000 square feet of roofing, which is quite a large area. There's still some flashing. You talking about the drip that was found? It was a heat pipe and some flashing that was still getting replaced. but the The final inspection hasn't even been done yet, but that's what a punch list is. That'll be conducted when everything in the parapet and cornice work is done, all the copper work that you'll see. You'll see copper cornice around the... Building. But that's what they're looking for. They scan. There's a... A third party that comes in and actually does scanning to see, once the job is completed, to see if there's anything that was missed, any flashing, anything that, a seam that's open, whatnot, but...

I know you said it was completely redone.

Yes, completely replaced. I could have been wrong. Stripped to the bare deck.

Okay, I could have been wrong, but I don't think I saw any dumpsters. to remove the debris.

There's been dumpsters, trucks. I actually printed Just since you have that question, because I know this, I've heard somebody say that earlier that the roof wasn't replaced. I don't know where that information comes from, but I actually printed some color. And it's also accessed on the... The project as it's been as it's going along and I can provide more copies if you want but the There's been removal of asbestos, there's been removal of debris, wood, steel, glass, piping, you name it. John, have I missed anything? There's cranes. There's actually still a crane, you know.

I saw that before.

But there's dumpsters. We don't keep... The dumpsters are kept in the alley, in the back alley. We've kept the fencing around. The fencing is down on Maple Eye, but fencing, we've tried to minimize... and keeping any dumpsters or any dumping not along the streets. So I don't put it on Broadway or on Maple Lab when it's public, but more inside the alley. So maybe that's why you didn't see it. Okay. We've had a considerable amount of debris removed, which was actually early on, you know, early on in the project, which was June 13th when it actually started.

And my last question is with the change of the administration, do you know whose decision it was to have tenants move back in before the new mayor takes place? whose decision was that to have people move back in?

From what I understand, the tenants themselves wanted to get back in as soon as possible. As soon as it was safe to... as soon as it was safe and the project is 95% complete, which was, again, they came back in now this past weekend.

I totally understand that, but I think the whole purpose of fixing the old high school and trying to make space was for the kids. Maybe that's not a question for you.

The kids from the school you're talking about? Yes. The school started back in on September. We had it prepped and ready. The front section of the building was finished. and prepared so when the kids came back on September 3rd,

that came back to the field.

Yep, fully, yep. The Webster School Extension had all the kids in place. We had an alley, protected alley, for the bus, the school bus to go in. Teachers had off-site parking. But that was a priority to make sure that the school was going to be uninterrupted.

All right. Thank you.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Councilor Pietrantonio.

So Angel, so this sort of whole project end up costing us $5.7 million. Correct. And that's the number they bid it for. That's the number we're paying. It didn't go up. It didn't go down.

with some change orders and whatnot. It was roughly, John, was it 6.8? Three, yeah, 6.5. Okay, so there was additional work being done. Originally, when it was all scoped out, the ARPA money that the city received was $10 million.

Correct. And we came under. Right. So there was additional work, because you're telling me now it's six point something. Correct. Okay. So where is the balance of that money?

That would be a question for the Treasury Department. You don't have any money in your accounts? No. It's ARPA money. It's not taxpayer money. It's ARPA.

ARPA money is taxpayer money. It's all taxpayer money. ARPA money doesn't come from the sky. It's still taxpayer money. My second question is, you talked about the downspouts all inside the building. All the roof drains. Correct. The roof drains that are all inside the building. Did we check them? They were all compromised and we replaced them. You replaced all the ones inside the building, all the down spots, because everything obviously pitched inside the building, outside the building, correct? So they're all good, none of them leaks?

They were undersized. And they had to be brought back and brought up in a boat so that the pipe wasn't just the roof frames, it was all the piping associated with it, both horizontal and vertical.

Yeah, inside the building. Correct. So you updated all that stuff. All the piping. Correct.

Yeah. Okay.

All right. Good. All right. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilor Marchese. Hi, Angelo. How are you? Angelo, I think a big question is... Yes, sir. I know it came out of bid, the $10 million. I don't know how the APA money is appropriate if it comes under, if there's a balance, if it goes back into a... Committee to allocate it again. I'm not sure, Council, my case.

Again, I think it would be a question for the... for the Treasury Department, CFO, financial area. I don't know exactly.

It's not like sitting in my account. Let's put it that way. Improve that building. if we have the extra $3 million to go through and do what we can inside there with that money, if it can be done. That was just one. The second one, I think, what Councilwoman was asking regarding the people moving back in, I think she was trying to say, why did they move back in if we're trying to make this place a school? That's what I think you were trying to say, Councilor. Maybe I'm wrong. You know, the idea is I didn't know what direction we were going with that school. I thought we were going to make a school out of it. I know we're going to go back to what we did.

I don't know where the status on that is. I just know that there were There were three tenants in that building. The Webster School Extension, which came back September 3rd. The... The Elliott Family Resource Center, which helps individuals, constituents in Everett. And then the Wellness Center that had members that had When the project began, they suspended the membership. But there was never, from what I understand, there was never a plan to not have them back. I mean, in the future, yes, I understand that there was discussion if the building has ever been built out and it becomes a school.

I just was curious why we're working on something and then we put the people back there. Why aren't we just working on the school? I believe because the project hasn't begun yet. But how do you... Remove people that were already removed. Well, it kind of didn't make sense. They found a place to go, and now we have them back in there. Not that I have anything against them at all. We're going to make a school out of it.

I don't think they found anything I think they had a temporary location that they were using until they could come back and the wellness center Again, it's a gym and wellness center for the constituents. I understand that.

But I was just wondering...

I don't know the details I don't know the exact details on the process of the tenants Did they have leases?

They don't have leases, do they? I'm not certain. Thank you very much. I'm just curious about the remaining opportunity. What can be done with it? Does it have to be returned and be reappropriated? Can we just Mike Casey, I just don't want to give the wrong answer on that.

I think it's a financial problem. Yeah, I believe it's more of a financial question. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Councilor, just to answer very quickly that question. So I've been meeting with the finance team about the ARPA funds that are going to be unexpended but have been allocated. So what will happen with the high school roof project We had allocated $10 million for that project. The difference will have to be reallocated. That will be by a vote of the City Council. that has to occur before December 31, 2026. Just so you're clear. So there's going to be some community input about how do we use those unexpended funds that we've already allocated. Council President Martins.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks for addressing that point. And to Councilor Marchese's point, we only, as a council, as I recall, we only voted to approve the appropriation of $10 million because we were told the story that We were only doing it because the school was going to be reactivated as a school. So that is our request for the next mayor. and also my ongoing question, especially as somebody in real estate that sells some developments, How can you spend $6 million on a roof? You can build an entire building with that amount. So if you have, and I know you don't have any of the documentation with you right now, but if from the top of your head you could just give us a breakdown of how

to build out the entire building, to rebuild the old Everett High School?

No, so you spent, I mean, this project spent $6 million, but it's only a roof. With that amount of money, you can build a building. So how can we spend $6 million on a roof?

Well, we had to, if we want to maintain the integrity of this building, we had to start somewhere. We had to stop the leak. We had to make it waterproof. We now have a brand new roof. Now, I mean, there's a school in there. The Webster School Extension is their number one. So there's been people in the building. The majority of the building is... Off-limits, but there is a small percentage of the building that is used. And over the years, since Everett High moved, you know, since they built the new Everett High School, that building has been in We've needed a new roof many years ago. And the more years that came by, that was the whole point. It was to stop the leaks, to stop the deterioration of the building. We have to start somewhere.

It's a considerable amount, and again, you can maybe speak on that a little more, but $6 million is... is a micron to build out that entire building. It's a massive building.

Right. Well, that we knew when we visited the building, and it's really decaying, but I'm just having trouble understanding what is so expensive about the roof that costs $6,000. $6 million, because I would think maybe $800,000, $900,000. Why $6 million? What is so expensive about that structure of just the roof?

I can add on to that. I'll defer to the general contractor. In one sense, we're talking about multiple roofs at different levels, different elevations or so. So while several of them are the exact type or so, it requires... certain time frames to get to those particular areas, accessibilities. So it's not as simple as just coming in one day Clear off the entire roof and putting a new one because of the size of 115,000 square feet. We have to kind of go in. and many more. I do understand and appreciate the budget on the project and that's what I've been working towards to keep it in line.

And so are you stating that the bulk of the budget was spent on wages because you had to work multiple days and phases? No.

No, just spent to complete the project.

All right, thank you.

Thank you. Councilor Rogers.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just for context, so I know Councilor Garcia and I both went to that high school when we were younger. and the and Councilor Smith and a few of us I think all here but at that time the roof in the gymnasium was constantly leaking like we had to have gym classes canceled all the time so this now addresses and finalizes that. There's not going to be any leaks by any means. And when is the last time that an undertaking this large was made to fix the roof. Was there any before this?

Or was it always past work? No, this was the origin pretty much I think in 19, I don't know exactly what year, the newer section where the gym was, there was, yeah, so that's how far back.

It was gravel, tar, that no longer is used.

Everything was completely ripped up, craned off, right to the decking. Right to the steel and wood decking portions of the building. and then replaced completely. You want to mention the material? I mean, everything's up to code now, but it's a different type of membrane. It's not the same. Roofing material that was before. And again, as John was explaining, it's eight different levels. It's 115,000 square feet of roofing. It's a massive, massive building.

just to add on top of that we have been working on a daily basis with the manufacturer the ones who specified the materials for the roof so they are on the project Every so often to ensure that the installation is going per the specifications and per the manufacturer's instructions in order to receive the 30-year working warranty.

Great. I'm glad to hear. I'm glad to hear that there's a one and done solution because I know that there was patchwork during our time that obviously didn't last. So this kind of opens opportunity for

the rest of that building. That's what a lot of it was, was patchwork because it was so expensive. So it was from small Contractors to us, the facility maintenance team, going up there with cognac and literally patching areas. But as, you know, just like any other building, with time, weather... The material contracts. New areas open up. It got to a point where it was beyond repair.

I'm glad we did it. One and done. And it should be solid for a long time to come. Absolutely. Thank you.

Just to address the Councilwoman's questions about how could a roof just be so expensive. This was a stone ballast roof. We had companies come from New Jersey with huge vacuum trucks. that had to go ahead and vacuum all of this stone off of the top of the roof. On top of that, there was all this exterior ductwork that was no longer, that was full of asbestos. that had to be completely removed and done per the DEP regulations. and then on top of that we had the rebuilding of the whole exterior cornice which is now going to be a signature element of that school when you see the copper element

right on Broadway and down Maple and I forget the other the road but Linden Linden that's going to be another signature element of the school of this project that will ultimately resignate and illustrate a picture of its significance. It was really deteriorated. and we've now rehabilitated it and brought it back to life and have replaced all the wood blocking and you're going to see a brand new nice new copper cornice all the way around three sides of that building.

Okay, thank you. Are there any other questions?

Motion to excuse our guest.

Motion is made. Second to excuse our guest for the customary thanks. Thank you very much for appearing. It's your pleasure. Thank you.

to refer the item back to sponsor? Second.

Motion is made and seconded to refer item 43 back to sponsor. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Chair will entertain a motion to suspend our rules. Take items 15 to 19 and 21 to 29 collectively.

So moved.

All in favor? Aye. Those ayes have it. Mr. Clerk, please read items 15 to 19 and 21 to 29. They are all renewals.

Mr. Chair, items 15 through 19 and 21 through 29 were all petitions offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins as president. They were all petitions and licenses. 15, a petition requesting the renewal of a Redemption Center license for Lee Redemption Center at 74 Spring Street. 16, a petition requesting the renewal of a Redemption Center license for Dan's Redemption Center at 107 Hancock Street. A petition requesting the renewal of a Class II motor vehicle deal license for European motor auto sales at 511 2nd Street. 18. A petition requesting the renewal of a Class II motor vehicle deal license for MYM Auto Motors at 1993 Revere Beach Parkway. 19, a petition requesting the renewal of a Class II motor vehicle deal license for Auto Tech Pro at 146 Main Street. 21, a petition requesting the renewal of a lodging house license for the Marlboro at 51 Chelsea Street. 22, a petition requesting the renewal of a Class 2 motor vehicle deal license for Bostonian Body Inc. at 141 Bow Street.

22, a petition requesting the renewal of a Class 2 motor vehicle deal license for Emporium Auto Body Shop Inc. at 367 3rd Street. 24, a petition requesting the renewal of a Class 1 motor vehicle deal license from McGovern Honda at 100 Broadway. 25, a petition requesting the renewal of a Class 2 motor vehicle deal license for E&C for an auto repair LLC at 29 Argonne Street. 26, Petition requests the renewal of a Class 3 motor vehicle license for 2nd Street I&M Metals at 285 2nd Street 27. Petition requesting the renewal of an inholder license for Broadway and Main Hotel at 13 School Street. 28, a petition requesting the renewal of a Class II motor vehicle deal license for Vega Diesel Injection Service at 2 River Green Drive. And 29, a petition requesting the renewal of a Class II motor vehicle deal license For Boston Freightliner at 2 River Green Drive.

We thank our auctioneer for that reading.

It was a pleasure.

Motion is made a second for favorable action on items 15 through 19 and 21 through 29. Clerk will please call the roll.

Alcide-Jabouin. DiPierro, Garcia, Hanlon, Marchese, Martins, Matewsky, Pietrantonio, Rogers, Smith, Van Campen, Everett, Van Campen. Yes. And Council President Martins. Yes. That would be nine yeas, zero nays, Mr. Chair, on all items.

Zero nays, you have passed the orders. Clerk, the next order, item 20.

Steffi Martins. Item number 20. Mr. Chair, as a petition offered by Councilor Steffi Martins as president, excuse me, a petition requesting the approval of a special one-day alcoholic beverage license for the city of Everett to serve at the reception for the mayoral... Excuse me, the Mayor's inaugural ball occurring on January 10, 2026 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Connolly Center, 90 Chelsea Street. Please note that the Licka Licensing Board has already approved this as of two weeks ago. Second.

which has been made in Secretary Blacksheen, Mr. Clerk.

Yes.

Please call the roll.

DePierro, Garcia, Hanlon, Marchese, Martins, Martins, Madam President. Yes. That's okay. Ten yeas, zero nays for item number 20.

Okay. The petition has been approved. Councilor Garcia.

I was just going to say motions to suspend the rules and should we approve our minutes from the previous meeting? We haven't done that yet.

The motion has been made and second is to approve the minutes of the prior meetings of September 29th, October 14th, October 27th, and November 10th. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. We have approved the minutes. Now, item number 30.

Item number 30 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins as president, an order requesting approval to accept an expending grant from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation in the amount of $100,000 to be used for watering trees.

Matusky.

This is still a mystery to me. Is there somebody here?

I believe Mr. St. Louis responded to Councilor Smith in committee as well. I'm not sure where Councilor Smith is. I might have it on my email.

Is this for the DCR trees that I mentioned a couple of minutes ago?

So I'm not sure if Councilor Smith is in the back.

Madam President, I can answer that. Councilor Pietrantonio? Yeah, this is for all city trees, not just DCR. These are all for city trees. The watering, the money, $100,000, it's for all city trees.

So they're going to be manually by a truck? Yes. I noticed there was water trucks before.

The city has a big 250-gallon water container, one that they have on the back of a truck, on the back of one of the bucket trucks. Matter of fact, I've seen it on the back of one of the bucket trucks, that they're going to water all city trees.

Well, see now it's a grant and it's not costing the taxpayers money technically. I'll be in favor of it then.

Councilor Smith?

Did you want to say something?

Oh no, sorry. I thought we were doing licenses that I had to excuse myself.

Okay, so we're in watering trees in the DCR grant. Councilor Alcy Jabouin?

My dad's license is on there.

So I actually have... Councilor, do you have your... Because I have the answer from...

I wanted to make a suggestion for the $100,000. I was wondering if there's a way some of that money could be put towards helping homeowners that have trees on their properties that are an issue but cannot afford to pay someone to cut the trees. If that's even possible or legal.

Councilor Smith.

So my understanding of this grant, it specifically has to be for public trees. So it cannot be on someone's property, and it is to help offset the cost. It is specific to watering public trees. So it actually is not just we're taking it because you have to use it to water trees so it can pay for additional overtime. It could pay for a landscaper that we're paying to water trees. It has to be It can pay for the water for the trees. It has to be for watering trees, public trees.

So I have the answer from the tree warden, and he said, so the main question was the location of the trees, whether they are newly planted ones on Gateway or the trees along Route 16 in Tilly Circle. The trees to be watered are public shade trees along city streets. It includes some recently planted trees such as those along Franklin Street and some planted on Some planned spring plantings such as Lexington Street. It may include trees planted in Gateway Mall, but street trees are the priority with this funding. I believe these were questions by Councilor Smith. So why is this being paid and why we haven't heard of a tree watering charge in the past? Watering has been paid with grant funding in the past. It is typically included in tree planting and maintenance. Is this a new grant or do we get it every year? So he says the City of Everett has received the grant funding in FY 24, 25, and 26. The grant is managed by the Department of Planning and Development.

DPW does not manage the grant distribution. Is this a matching grant or is it free and clear? This is a reimbursement grant. We expended the funds with internal money and then we submit invoices for reimbursement to the state grant administrator. How will this be tracked? periodic reimbursement requests are submitted to the state grant administration with invoices with the charges and then so we're primarily intending to hire contractors city staff watering is much cheaper than contracted so some funds may be used for DPW overtime watering if equipment and staff are available. Tree on city streets such as those planted on Franklin Street this fall and streets planned to be planted on Lexington Street Only the trees capable of shading and cooling will be eligible for watering under this grant. Watering has been closed for the season. This year, city trees were Watered on overtime by DPW staff with grant funds and by state staff under their Greening the Gateway Cities Fund. And that's it.

Councilor Pietrantonio.

Yes. Yeah, I talked to the operations manager about this whole situation with the trees and the money reimbursed. So they were watered under overtime from the DPW. The money was never reimbursed. I know the tree warden talks about the money was reimbursed to the DPWs over time. It never was. So just want to make that clear that the DPW took it out of their budget. They never got reimbursed for it. So I don't know what the tree water is coming up with. The city got reimbursed. It didn't go back to the DPW overtime. So I just want to make that point.

Council Rogers? Thank you, Madam President. So I understand that this is an expense that we do have to address regarding trees. It's obviously an interest that's near and dear to my heart. I did request and adopt a tree program over a year ago and that didn't really take off but in the meantime I do go around and personally clean up a lot of the tree pits so I hope that along with the watering that this can also address some of the cleaning of the tree pits themselves. and perhaps even planting some pollinators in those pits. But just this summer, I particularly remember going down Sherman Street and there was dead rodents. It was disgusting. what was in these tree pits. So just that with the watering, I hope that there's a little bit of cleanup that goes involved with this too. And the other thing, since we are on the subject of trees,

There's many trees throughout the city that the wires are tangled into and they need to be addressed and I kind of get the runaround with that because the city There's liabilities that get involved when they get entangled in wires, but we do need to address them because it's not getting addressed. So cleaning the trees, watering the trees, and also pruning the trees. Thank you.

Also Garcia on the grant.

Thank you, Madam President. I'm actually going to make a motion that we accept the committee report. Favorable action.

Okay, motion has been made and seconded to accept the report. And for favorable action, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

Alcid Jabouin.

Yes.

Councilor DiPierro. Yes. Councilor Garcia.

Yes.

Councilor Hanlon. Yes. Councilor Matewsky. Pietrantonio. Yes. Councilor Rogers. Yes. Councilor Smith.

Yes.

Councilor Van Campen. Yes. Councilor Martins.

Yes.

Ten yeas, zero nays, Madam President.

The order has been approved. Item number 31.

Item number 31 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins as president in order to request the approval of an additional $455,000 be appropriated by borrowing for the Everett Police Station roof improvement projects.

Motion to accept the committee report.

Second. Second. Second to accept the committee report on favorable action.

Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

Alice, DiPierro, Garcia, Hanlon, Martins, Matewsky, Pietrantonio, Rogers, Smith, Van Campen, Martins, Teniers, Zeronese.

Madam President, can we take items 32 and 33 collectively, please?

Second. The motion has been made and seconded to take items number 32 and 33 collectively. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. Mr. Quirk, please read item number 32. Items number 32 and 33.

Items 32 and 33 are both orders offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins as president. 32, an order requesting the confirmation of the appointment of Elizabeth Cordero to the Food Policy Council for a term of three years expiring November 30th, 2028. and 33 in order requesting the confirmation of the reappointment of Christina Knees to the Food Policy Council for a term of three years expiring November 30th, 2028.

We'll accept the committee report and favorable action. Second.

Before we do that, I'm sorry, just because one of them is a new appointment, can we... We'll just suspend the rules real well?

Motion to suspend the rules. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. On the motion, Councilor Alcy Jabouin.

On the motion, just a question. For the reappointments, are we opening them up to the public in case someone wants to apply? Are we automatically reappointing people because no one knows there's an open position?

I can't answer that, but a reappointment doesn't mean there's an open position. That person is just being reappointed. There is no vacancy. The new one would be the vacancy. That's why the new person was hired. There was a vacancy.

If there's a reappointment, that means at one point the appointment is fired.

But that doesn't give you a vacancy. You serve until your successor is qualified. So you never vacate the seat unless the mayor removes you or you resign. So there's never a vacancy in a reappointment process. That goes for city council seats. If you never get sworn to your duties, the prior city councilor is the city councilor until your successor is qualified. It's under Mass General Law, our city charter.

But these are appointments, so the mayor gets to appoint people. So if someone's appointed for two years and that two years is up, We should open it to the public in case anybody else wants to apply and not automatically. This is not personal to this. specific position, just in general, we should be opening them up for the public in case someone else wants to apply. And if no one applies and that person, the current person, wants to reapply, then they get the position. Just my two cents.

Yeah, you can discuss it with the new mayor. It will be a policy decision.

In case we have a motion that has been made and seconded for the favorable action on the appointment and the reappointment, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

Alice, DiPierro, Garcia, Hanlon, Martins, Matewsky, Pietrantonio, Rogers, Smith, Van Campen, Yes. Council President Martins.

Yes.

Ten yeas, zero nays.

Ten yeas, zero nays. The appointment and reappointment have been approved. Item number 34. Oh, Councilor DiPierro.

Thank you. Just on a quick point of privilege, I had realized that earlier when we were doing the presentations and mentioned our staff and thanked them for how hard we worked, we neglected to mention Mr. Flood. and I'd be remiss for not mentioning him and thanking him for all his hard work in keeping this body organized. Thank you, Mr. Flood. I know you're watching.

We appreciate you.

Okay, item 34.

Item number 34. Madam President, it is a resolution offered by Councilors Wayne Matewsky and Stephanie Smith that the City provide an update in regards to the vacant lot on Summer Street.

Smith, and I believe we received a response that should be on everybody's desks. Councilor Smith.

Thank you. So we received a response where they said community outreach was done with the residents and the residents want Housing. I don't know what residents they talked to, but no residents I talked to on that street actually want additional housing. So I'm going to refer this back to the sponsor and we'll take it up with the new administration as to what becomes of that vacant lot. Second.

Which has been made and seconded to refer this item back to sponsor. All in favor? I oppose, the ayes have it. Item number 35.

Item number 35 is a... Stephanie Martins, that the administration provide information on the process to ensure APA funds distributed to local organizations are being properly advertised and distributed in accordance with each application and intent.

I believe the last update was on December 8th, but it's my personal knowledge that they started receiving the checks. Councilor Alice Jabouin, do you have any?

No comment.

So I will entertain a motion to refer back to sponsor. Second. So motion has been made and second to refer the item back to sponsor. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. Item number 36.

Stephanie Smith, that the administration and the traffic commission provide answers to the attached list of questions in regards to newly installed speed bumps.

Councilor Smith. And thank you. So we did receive a communication back. I just wanted to let the public know some facts about it. So we spent about $63,000 on the speed bumps. That's not including the personnel to install it as that was done on city time under city payroll. They were done to help reduce speeding. They were taken up because it is the winter time and there will be plowing. They did not identify that there's any additional street repairs that need to be done by placing the speed bumps and they're going to be working with the New Administration to determine what is the usage of speed bumps going forward because these speed bumps that were actually placed down were parking lot speed bumps other than Towson Street and they were not street street speed bumps. so technically they were not even being used in the right manner. So they're gonna work with the new administration to determine what is the best way to

Approach speeding in the city going forward. So I refer back to sponsor.

Second. Which has been made and seconded to refer the item back to sponsor. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. The item has been referred back to sponsor. Item number 37.

Is a order referred back to Councilor Stephanie Martins as president. Excuse me. In order confirming the appointment of Erica Cobelli to the position of Commissioner of Veterans Services for a one-year term ending November 1st, 2026.

I make a motion to discharge from committee.

Second.

Second.

which has been made in section to discharge from committee all in favor aye opposed the ayes have it motion to refer back to sponsor motion has been made in second second to refer the item back to sponsor all in favor aye opposed the ayes have it the item has been referred back to sponsor item number 38

Number 38, Madam President, is a resolution offered by Councilors Stephanie Smith and Holly Garcia that the administration provides an update on for when the overflow trash day this year will be and as discussed during budget hearings. Councilor Smith.

Thank you. So we received a partial communication from the administration about the Trash between November and December. So residents are allowed to place an extra bag out or put additional cardboard out during the holiday season and that will be picked up. The administration failed to inform us about the overflow trash day, but I did talk to the operations director and there's going to be a new process for overflow trash day starting in 2026. There will be two overflow trash days that residents will have to apply for a sticker to Put out your overflow trash so this will stop the illegal dumping that has happened in the past. And if you want to get five stickers, you go down to the DPW, you ask for five stickers, they confirm your address, and you'll get your stickers. This will be one in the spring and one in the fall. So I'd like to... Thank the Operations Director from the DPW for working with us.

As they know, it is important. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get it in for this year, but we're going to continue to work with them so that Memorial Day weekend, we will have a... Overflow Trash Day for the residents to get ready for the summer. So I'd like to refer this back to sponsor.

Garcia.

Yes, thank you. Just to clarify, you can put out an extra bag after Christmas and New Year's because I know that question is going to be asked on social media multiple times. So, yes. Have your Thanksgiving feast or Christmas feast. Put your trash out. It's okay.

It's only bags, not things right now. Furniture, bags. Okay. Councilor Pietrantonio?

Carboard.

Yeah, just to clarify my colleague, yeah, so after Thanksgiving, from Thanksgiving to January 9th, you can put one bag out. And I want to thank the operations manager, Scott Martinelli, for all that information that he gave us about the overflow, about the trash, about the speed bumps. I just want to thank him for all the information.

We have a motion that has been made and seconded to refer the item back to sponsor. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. The item has been referred back to sponsor.

We're now under business, Madam President. Item 39 is a resolution offered by Councilor Wayne Matewsky that the police chief authorize the use of the orange safety cones at the intersection of the Broadway and Hampshire Street crosswalk for the safety of residents and children.

Councilor Matewsky.

Thank you, Madam President. As I brought up briefly with Sergeant Gaff, we discussed this situation. The trap, everybody knows, right across from the high school. Hampshire, and Broadway is a very dangerous intersection. As a matter of fact, the one at Hancock Street, I think every crossing guard is a little afraid. So any extra tool that they can get It could be those plastic children that they have that are glow-in-the-dark or whatever they are. Or even a cone can save somebody's life or save somebody from getting injured. We should provide that assistance. This crossing guard person told me that there might have been an issue, but I did talk to Sergeant Gaff, and he said that he would try to accommodate that crossing guard person.

He's been there for 33 years without any incidents. and I'd like to refer this to the Police Chief and Sergeant Gaff. Thank you.

The motion has been made and seconded to refer the item to the Police Chief and Sergeant Gaff. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. The item has been referred. Item number 40.

Number 40. Madam President, this is a resolution offered by Councilor Anthony DiPierro, a resolution requesting the Traffic Commission to consider the attached petition to make the Housing Authority's portion of Russell Street a one-way. Councilor DiPierro.

Thank you. This is the result of a few residents that have been on me for some time about this. The main problem really is the bend when you come from Gled Hill closest to Broadway, that section of Russell Street. It's very tight, and this may not be the solution. Maybe we have to rewrote Gledhill or something, but I've talked to Sergeant Gaff about this. He's aware, and they're going to work to try to come up with a solution, whatever it may be. So I'd like to refer it to the Traffic Commission.

Second. It has been made a second to refer the petition to the Traffic Commission. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. Item number 41.

Number 41, Madam President, is a resolution for the Councilor Anthony DiPierro. Resolution requires that the Department of Public Works and every public school install a bicycle rack at the Webster School.

Councilor DiPierro.

Thank you. This came at the request of a resident. I've already spoken to planning as well because they are involved in that process and actually have the ball rolling. So with that, I would like to refer this to DPW and planning as opposed to the school department. They'll work with the school department.

Notions made and seconded to refer the item to DPW in planning to work with the school department. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. The item has been referred. Item number 42.

Item number 42. and Wayne Matusky. That the city accept the eagle carving by Gerald Frew dedicated to Edward Everett and to be placed in an appropriate location in the city.

House Matusky. Thank you Madam President. This eagle was donated by this carvest, Gerald Fu, who's a lifelong resident of Everett. And Mayor DiMaria accepted it on behalf of the city two or three weeks ago. So I'd like to refer this back to sponsor. And I want to thank Mr. Frew. It's a beautiful eagle. It's over five feet long. It's going to go in the lobby of City Hall, and Mayor-elect Van Campen is also aware of that. And I hope you have a dedication when it is actually put up.

Second. Motion has been made and seconded to refer the item back to sponsor. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. The item has been referred back to sponsor. Item number 44.

Item number 44. is a... and Peter Pietrantonio, that the Assistant Director of Youth Development provide an update on the status of the gym at Old Everett High School when it reopened, how it will be cleaned, staffed, and funded.

Thank you. The assistant director of YDE is out on vacation right now. We do not have a director, but the gym was reopened on Saturday. There's no funding in our budget for this. is actually people that have been hired to work this with what funding, I don't know. The city is supposed to be cleaning it. Again, we did not provide them any funding for overtime for the facilities to be cleaning it. I hear that there's interns right now that are working the front desk. Residents do have questions about are they getting refunded? Are they getting free gym for the gym that was closed? So I'm going to... One, I'd like to say there's also no classes being run at this gym, so it's just opened. And it looks great, so I'd like to thank the team that actually, the facilities team and Rich Rowland and his team for putting the gym together.

getting it opened under distress, I should say. There's equipment that is broken, but the gym is open. So if you want to go for a walk around the track Use some of the equipment, then go for it. I'm just really disappointed with how this happened. Again, it didn't come before us. If the city is going to fund this, last time we had this discussion, it was $800,000 funding. That's why we outsourced it. We now are no longer outsourcing it. I guess we're putting it back out city run with no funding. So I'm going to refer this back to the sponsor and work with the new administration as to... How are we going to clean it, staff it, fund it for the future? Because I don't know how they're paying for it right now.

On the motion to refer back to Sponsor Council, Pietrantonio.

I just want to echo my Councilwoman's concerns because it was opened, which is great, but There was no planning in opening this gym. It was like, let's open it. We hired one person to run it, put him in there with no plan in place. Personally, the gym probably should have never been open until there was a plan in place. I mean, I've never seen something open, open, open. Nothing in place. Just want to echo that. Thank you.

Okay, so we have a motion that has been seconded to refer the item back to sponsor. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. The item has been referred back to sponsor.

Madam President, to make a motion to take items 45 and 46 collectively.

Motion has been made. Do we have a seconder to take items number 45 and 46 collectively? All in favor? All in favor of taking collectively? Aye. Opposed? in favor or opposed?

Anybody? Okay. There you go.

The ayes have it. Thank you. So, Mr. Clerk, please read items number 45 and 46 collectively.

45 and 46, Madam President, are both resolutions offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith. 45, that Encore provides an update on the number of Everett residents employed, the number of subcontracts retained with the local businesses including women-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses in Everett and the itemized report with the amounts of vouchers and gift certificates purchased from Everett businesses Businesses, as per the Community Host Agreement, Section 2, Subsection B and C. 46, that the Encore provides a report of the number of local, cultural, and arts programs it has hosted, as per the Community Host Agreement, Section 5, Subsection C.

Thank you. So I reviewed the host agreement. I tried to find these documents from the city. We did not have them. I know they're due every January, so I'd like to refer to Encore Boston Harbor. to provide these documents to the new administration and I will be putting an item on in February to see if we have received the documents yet.

Okay, motion has been made and second to refer the items to Encore with the hopes that we receive recommendation that can be discussed in February. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. And our last item for the night, item number 47.

Item number 47 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Martins as president to accept as the final report prepared and conducted by MDD of payments made by the City of Everett to Mayor DeMaria for the period of 2016 to present.

Van Campen. Madam President, can I request a motion to add me as a co-sponsor so that I could speak on this item?

Second. Motion has been made and second to add Councilor Van Campen to this item. All in favor? Opposed? The ayes have it. You are now part of the

Thank you, Madam President. So I just wanted to explain this. Again, as part of the transition process, the city's FY24 audit, which has yet to close, is unfortunately being impacted by the issue of around receipt of payments by the mayor and the review that the city council conducted this year, which was done through MDD. Unfortunately, what I've concluded is a vote of the City Council is probably not going to close the loop to get the FY24 audit completed. So I request that the City Council simply refer this back to sponsor. I've already met with the city's outside auditors. I've met with Our Outside Council, I've met with MDD, I've met with Council President Martins, and we will deal with this on January 6th. So I just ask that you refer this back to sponsor.

Has been made a second to refer the item back to sponsor. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. And I believe Councilor Garcia had an announcement. Councilor Garcia?

Thank you, Madam President. Yes, just before we adjourn, I did just want to make an announcement. For anyone in need of somewhere to go on Christmas, Immaculate Conception Church across the street will be holding a Christmas dinner. following the 10 a.m. Mass. So this is open to anyone who just needs somewhere to go for the holidays. We'll be there with warm meals prepared by the parishioners.

I'd like to say happy holidays to everyone at home watching. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. And I know it's most people's favorite holiday. Some families are going through a tough time losing their loved ones closer to the holidays. And if there's anybody, a neighbor, a friend, a loved one that you know that cannot celebrate this because of a lost loved member of their families. Please reach out to them. It's an important time to make people feel that you value their friendship, you love them, just extending a call, a text, saying that you know you're thinking of them. Thank you.

Happy Holidays. Thank you again, members of the Council for your service. Thank you to the people of Everett. Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your president. Councilor Marchese, did you have something to add?

Not just before we go, I'd just like to wish everybody and Everett happy holidays. Merry Christmas. That's gone I believe. Kwanzaa's coming up and I enjoy the holidays and I just hope everybody enjoys it and everybody comes back with a clear mind after the holidays and this council also. I'm looking forward to working next year with a new mayor and I hope we can right a lot of wrongs and we can get some work done.

Thank you. So motion has been made and seconded to adjourn. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you. Congratulations, Mr. Mayor. On to 2026.

What time tomorrow? 6.30 or 6?