Malden City Council 01/13/2026

Okay, the council will come to order. All rise and salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of our veterans, service members, and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. At this time, Councilor McDonald is going to share an additional moment of silence.

Thank you, Council President. I just wanted to ask for a moment of silence to observe the tragic killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis this past week. This is an incident that has affected many communities. It's been very affecting across the country. and I think we feel that very acutely here in Malden, Massachusetts where we have such an immigrant heavy community and this tragic death is very much tied to and the current operations around immigration actions in the Twin Cities. So I think it's been a week of grief. I've heard from many of my constituents about their concern in our communities. and the just hope that we can help keep each other safe here in Malden.

So we pray for the family that, we pray for her family and we pray for the people of Minneapolis, that they also may be safe and their rights respected.

Thank you. Okay, at this time I will read our land acknowledgement. We honor and acknowledge the Massachusetts, Pennacook, and Pawtucket peoples whose ancestral lands we now call home and on which we gather today. We express gratitude to the indigenous peoples who have cared for this land for generations predating European colonization and continuing to the present. Moving forward, we are committed to ensuring that the histories, voices, and contributions of indigenous peoples are recognized and respected in the life of our city. Now, will the Clerk please call the roll?

President Linehan.

Okay, under the provisions of the open meeting law, for those of you in attendance, please be informed that UMA, Urban Media Arts, will be recording this evening's meeting, so just be aware that there will be audio and video recordings of tonight's meeting. First order of business. First order of business is public comment. Public comment is allowed under council rules. Each speaker is limited to the subject matter relevant to our evening's agenda, and everyone must keep their comments to two minutes or less. Clerk, do we have anybody signed up for public comment?

We do not, but we received three emails today. Three emails.

Okay, can we go ahead and read those emails?

These are all in regards to paper 364-25. Dear members of the Malden City Council, I am writing to express my strong support for docket 364-25, particularly the funding for a permanent boathouse as part of the Malden River Works project. I am a recent graduate of Malden High School and a former member and captain of the Malden High Rowing Program. My first three years on the team, we practiced four days a week out of the Malden Boathouse. Its location along the bike path made the sport accessible to students without cars, allowed teammates to travel together after school, and provided a consistent home base where we hosted regattas and practiced alongside other teams. This past year, we lost access to the boathouse. Our water practices were reduced only two days a week and the rest were held on land. The impact was immediate. Limited water time made it difficult to build team cohesion and translate training into performance.

Practices also became far less accessible What once had been a short walk became over an hour on foot. I was the only team member with a car and a license, and I drove teammates to every water practice. If I could not attend, no one could go. That is not a fair or sustainable model. nor one that supports equity or long term program stability. While we are grateful to Medford High School for temporary access to their facilities, this arrangement is not a viable long term, especially now that I have graduated. Despite these challenges, our team reached the state tournament for the first time in four years, placing eighth overall. A permanent boathouse would expand access, strengthen student opportunity, and ensure future Malden students can benefit from rowing on their own river. I strongly urge you to support docket 364-25. Respectfully, Mac Keating, Lebanon Street, Malden.

The second one goes on to say, dear members of the Malden City Council, I'm writing to express my strong support for docket 364-25. in the funding to construct a boathouse as part of the Malden River Works project. I am a Malden resident and the parent of a junior at Malden High School who rose for the school team. Over the past year, the lack of a boathouse has made participation far more difficult. The team has had no permanent home base and boats have been stored off-site and outdoors under temporary arrangements. This year, Medford High School generously allowed Malden students to use their boats and a Malden senior often transported the team. While we are grateful, this is not a sustainable solution and adds unnecessary challenges for students, families and coaches. The Malden River is a tremendous asset to our city. When Malden High previously had a nearby home base, it greatly strengthened the program. Visiting teams often remark how fortunate Malden students are to train on a river rather than a pond.

Regattas also bring visiting families who support local businesses, benefiting the broader community. Most importantly, our boats need a permanent, secure home. A dedicated boathouse is essential for protecting equipment and ensuring the long-term success of the rowing program. This project is an investment in future generations of Malden students and equitable access to athletics. I strongly urge you to support docket 364-25. Respectfully, Eden Garhart Smith, Cory Road, Malden. Dear members of the City Council, I am writing this email in support of docket 364-25, which would fund the Malden River Works project, including a boathouse on the Malden River. I am a current Malden High Junior on the rowing team, and I have experienced both having a home boathouse and not having one. In my freshman year, I was able to independently get to the boathouse for practices all week as it was only a 20-minute walk from Malden High. It also served as meeting points for Malden River Works events.

Then, in my sophomore year, we lost access to the Malden Boathouse. It took weeks into the session to organize a place where we could practice on the water, and we could only practice on the water two days a week. and sometimes less due to the weather. Another issue for the team was transportation to the Medford facility. Most of our team last year had no access to a car and walking or taking the bus took about an hour. So we relied on one senior that could drive. If he was not able to go, the whole team could not go. Despite the challenges of not having a closer boathouse, our team has seen growth in our rowing. such as winning scrimmages and placing eighth overall in the state tournament. Having more access to the water would greatly improve the skills of our crew team. Having access to a permanent boathouse would allow Malden students to grow in the sport rowing at home on the Malden River.

Therefore, the support of DACA 364 will greatly benefit the Malden community and the Malden crew team. Thank you. Yaowen Zhao, Coleman Street, Malden.

Thank you to our Clerk. That was really awesome. I just want to say that was great that those youth wrote in. I didn't actually know a lot of that. I know some of us are on the Municipal Building Committee that's going through some of the proposals for the new boathouse, but I'm not sure I really understood fully kind of the struggles they went through.

Yeah, and congratulations on this standing.

Yeah, really. I mean, I think that's amazing. That was really, if any of them are watching, just thank you for taking the time. That was pretty cool. Okay, our next order of business is the consent agenda. This evening's consent agenda consists of four sets of meeting minutes to be approved, as well as three petitions to be referred to the License Committee, Does any Councillor have a desire to remove any of these items from the consent agenda for the purpose of further discussion? Okay, hearing none and seeing none, I have a motion from Councillor Sica to approve the consent agenda, seconded by Councillor Taylor. All in favor? Okay. The agenda is approved. Next order of business.

Paper 30-26, Council Reappointments, Kathleen French, 596 Highland Avenue, Malden, as a member of the Board of Assessors, term to expire March 1, 2028, and to commence upon confirmation by the City Council.

Okay, so we need a vote to refer this to the personnel and appointments to committee. Hang on one second. Councilor Crowe, is this one that you want to refer?

Actually, I would like to approve on the floor. We've been doing this with reappointments, you know, like with people that have been doing these things. So I just want to make a motion to approve her appointment.

Okay, fantastic. On a motion by Councilor Crowe, seconded by Councilor Sica. Oh, we do need a roll call on this. Okay, one moment. Councilor McDonald, did you want to speak to this? Okay, you have the floor.

Yeah, thank you. I just had a question. How many terms has Kathleen French served on the Board of Assessors? A long time.

Does anybody want to hang on one second, Councilor Crowe?

Actually, that's a very good question. But she was an employee, and now she serves on that. So between those two things, She's been working on this stuff for a long time, but I don't think that she's been on the board of assessors.

Is the question because are you McDonald, are you asking if she exceeds our practice of automatically

More just that I don't feel the need to interview folks who are going to be reappointed. I just want to know what we're evaluating and deciding to go ahead and proceed with the reappointment. do we ask the, I know that I have a better sense actually of how the mayor's staff does it. Like I know that his team will, will contact the individual. They'll contact the chair and ask just how things are going and if this person wants to continue to serve and go through that. And I just want to know, I'm just curious. I don't know Kathleen. have nothing but good things to think. Just that I was curious what, if any, process we're just using to kind of make sure that we're checking in on these reappointments, that's all.

Okay, thank you, Councilor McDonald. Councilor Condon. Yes.

Thank you. Kathleen's very knowledgeable, and she worked up in that assessor's office. for a long time, and she always responded to any questions by any councilors. Extremely.

Thank you, Councillor Condon. on staff. OK. OK. Oh, Councilor Colón Hayes.

Oh, thank you. I'm glad you asked that question. So I think I remember Kathleen French, too, I know from working with her. I'm sure she's great. I wanted to, I'm trying to remember what we decided as a council that we were going to, I don't want to take up time and interview people, I don't want to do that, but I couldn't remember where we landed with were we going to, interview, reappointments, and just where that was at, just to make sure we're following what we decided a couple of,

My recollection was that 20-year appointments we were going to automatically go put forward for interviews. And so what I'm hearing is that this person does not meet that, but that combined their time, right, that threshold. in this appointment, but that maybe they have years of staff time so that what we're hearing is that there's years of experience is substantial, but that they don't exceed the 20 years on this appointment.

Okay, that makes sense. Just if that would have been like, yeah, right out of the gate. I just wanted to, I do know that we said, you know, we set a standard and I couldn't remember what it was.

Okay, thank you. Okay. Thank you, Councilor Colón Hayes. So we do need a roll call, correct?

We do.

Okay, let's move the question.

So on Councilor Crowe's motion, seconded by Councilor Sica to confirm this reappointment, Councilor Colón Hayes? Yes. Councilor Condon? Yes. Councilor Crowe? Yes. Councilor Luong? McDonald, O'Malley, Sica, Simonelli, Taylor, Winslow, President Linehan.

Yes.

Okay, she's reconfirmed unanimously.

Okay, next order of business.

Paper 31-26, order that the outstanding council items be carried forward from the 2024-2025 biennial session to the current session. and attached to this paper is the list of all of the outstanding papers we have.

So you should all have an attachment at the end of your agenda to review. All the papers have a recommendation in red from the Clerk. So if there's any discussion or proposed amendments, we can take that up. I think I will refer questions to our city clerk. But if there is any discussion, hang on one, I see a couple lights. I will take those in order. I see Councilor Winslow first.

Yeah, I just note the first four papers. The recommendation is then is for these three papers to be placed on file. I think it should say four papers. So that's papers 65-24 and 99-24, 270-25 and 33-25. Is that? As a matter of fact, Council Winslow,

It's correct by saying these three papers should be placed on file because that last paper, 333-25, was added after the fact. And in fact, that paper was taken up in the Finance Committee. If you remember over the summer, we were going to do a council meeting to talk about this paper that was sponsored by Council of Spadafora. We decided to not take it up in the council but rather have it discussed in detail in the finance committee. So this was a cleanup where I just made a final paper for paper 333-25 and council president Linehan actually signed it this evening. So this is not something that's coming back to the full council. That should not have been on this. That should be taken off this list. The three papers we're talking about here, 65-24, 99-24, 278-25.

Maybe just the first three papers. It just was confusing to me.

Yeah, I'm sorry about that fourth paper. We cleaned that up administratively.

All right, yeah. So I just note that. That's great.

Okay, thank you, Councilor Winslow. Councilor Colón Hayes.

Yeah, thank you. I actually just asked you this same question. I'm going to see if I can ask it again so that the public can hear. So I was trying to pull that up, but it's regarding the paper. There are two papers on there talking about short-term rental policies. One that came forward from community members that we ended up, I think we tabled it. And then a second one that was sponsored by me that will be moving I just want to make sure I'm saying that right.

278, which is what's on this we're looking at right now. Paper 27825, that was the one that came forward through a constituent initiative. without a sponsor. There was some discussion back and forth about how to proceed. It ended up being tabled. And you, Councilor Colón Hayes, put in a clean paper, fresh paper, that's in committee which we will discuss later on this list. This is the paper 278 that should probably be placed on file because it's been replaced.

Okay, I just wanted to make sure if the folks who put this forward are watching that we're clear on what's going on.

The paper's not dying, it was just resubmitted in a different format with the sponsor.

Okay, thank you so much.

Okay, Councilor O'Malley.

So I was just going to ask about 9924, which is related to 15 Ferry Street. So I know it's been on the agenda for a long time, but just so everyone knows, I believe tomorrow the planning board is going to be meeting to discuss 15 Ferry Street and provide a recommendation to the council. And then we will potentially be taking up some redevelopment that is being proposed in that area. So I would just ask that we don't table this until that whole thing has been resolved, because there is still potential for us to figure out an alternative use. if it does get tabled I can always put in a new paper in the same format but if it's already there I think just moving it forward it should be resolved I think in the next couple of Weeks, maybe a couple of months, but now would be the time to kind of reactivate that conversation. Thank you.

So are you making an amendment, a proposed amendment, or I'm sorry, let me put your light back on.

Yes, sir. I would like to move 99-24 forward. To roll forward. Yeah, just that one. The other ones that are in public properties I think can die. I think we can do it with just this one. Thank you.

Okay, Councilor McDonald, one second. Okay.

Just a point of order on that. I don't have a problem with rolling over that paper, although I feel like it's not great to roll over a resolve. like it's because it's not substance. It does not take a substantive action on behalf of the council. What happens to the papers that roll forward? Are they just waiting to be scheduled for further action? because what I don't want is to then have things end up immediately back in the tabled section of the agenda where this was living, that's all. But moving forward, it just doesn't show up on the agenda until it is added to the agenda, correct? Is that correct?

To our Clerk. For all of the papers that roll forward. I actually have the same question. Is your specific question to this one, does this go back on the table because that's where it last was on the agenda?

Yes. I think I have both questions then.

I think we would procedurally keep it off the table until... It is Councilor O'Malley is ready to have it posted to the agenda. But you should know that you've got 30 days once we take this vote. So we can't let this paper Go for like another year and a half. It will expire on its own if you don't take it up within the next 30 days.

And that's true of everything?

Correct.

Okay, understood. Thank you.

It's not going to be on the table. It's just going to be rolled forward so that you can take it up in 2026 when you're ready, well, when Council O'Malley's ready.

Yes, of course. So everything that we... that we don't carry forward expires in 30 days, but the ones that we carry forward continue.

No. Everything that you don't carry forward tonight will expire and I will clean up those papers administratively and place them on file tomorrow in my office. what you roll forward, you'll need to take action on in 30 days time.

My understanding is us carrying it forward is what allows us every all papers die within the 30 days. but us carrying it forward is what allows us to take action on it beyond 30 days. That's how we've always operated.

That's not how we did it two years ago.

I can't comment on two years ago, but I do know that since I've joined the council, that's how we've operated.

Okay, we're consulting the rulebook. In this case, it is also a resolve, though, so I'm not sure it really makes a ton, ton of difference.

Noted. Thank you. Okay, so it says 703. All other papers not finally acted upon at the end of the biennial session shall be placed on file unless the council votes within 30 days of the beginning of the next biennial session to hold over said paper, provided that no matter shall be carried over for more than one biennial session. Any dormant papers that have not been acted upon or carried over shall be placed on file and a new paper of the same subject matter shall be required. in the absence of a vote within 30 days of the beginning of the next biennial session any papers shall be placed on file. In the absence of a vote within 30 days of the beginning of the next biennial session any papers shall be placed on file.

So we're voting tonight to roll it over. And then in the absence of a vote within the next 30 days from tonight, the papers shall be placed on file. So you've got 30 days to vote to roll the papers over at the top of the paragraph. and then at the bottom of the paragraph you've got 30 days to take action on what you did move forward.

I'm going to let Councilor O'Malley respond and then go to Councilor Winslow, okay?

My understanding is that's the same 30 days. So like So it's the vote to carry forward. So in the absence of a vote to carry the papers forward within 30 days of the beginning of the biennial session, which was when we were inaugurated, then everything will be placed on file. What we're doing tonight, if we didn't do this for 30 days from when we were inaugurated, everything would be placed on file, we'd have a clean slate. But anything that we are voting to move forward gets carried forward into this new session. But yeah, I won't belabor the point. Thank you.

Okay, thank you, Councilor O'Malley. Councilor Winslow.

Yeah, my recollection is what we're talking about when we move it forward, we can't move it forward twice. papers from this past session can go carry forward into this new session. If we can't, the next council can't take those papers forward. That's kind of I think that's how it has worked. That's my recollection.

Right. That's a separate point altogether. That's one, two, three, four, listed on the sixth line of that first paragraph.

So, I mean, I guess that's just my recollection of how we've handled that.

That's part of the rule, but I don't think it speaks to what Councilor O'Malley is discussing right now.

Okay, so, yeah.

Are you all set, Councilor Winslow?

Yeah, yeah, I just, my understanding is the vote here is papers that we don't, we file, we don't put on file and vote to carry forward are active for this session until... That's my understanding. I haven't looked back at the language, but that seems to be how I remember we've been operating. Because I know that particularly, I think, Back about four or five years ago, Councilor O'Malley made a real point. There was a lot of mess on this, and we really cleaned up a lot of stuff. There was a lot of stuff that had not been... We had gone through this process formally, so we started it back up. there was a lot of things that were not filed or carried over. It was a mess. So I know there was an effort. I don't know if you were, maybe it was Debbie DiMaria and you were head of rules and ordinance, but you made a big effort.

I can tell you in the last two biennial sessions the rules as the way I just explained them is the way this body handled outstanding papers. Right.

Okay. Thank you, Councilor Winslow. Councilor Crowe.

And I understand that your passion for 15 Ferry Street. I do think it's, you know, as Councilor McDonald had mentioned, It is a result, and I do think if we're waiting for the planning board to do something, then a different paper should be, because it's not really a huge action. It's the wish of the city council, and if that's as a resolve, but there's not a huge action to be taken. So I think that if it is after tomorrow night, then there's an actionable paper that goes forward. So I think this one should be placed on file knowing that your passion for this.

OK. Thank you, Councilor Crowe. I have next, Councilor McDonald.

I just wanted to add, like I see the point of how you're interpreting this, Councilor O'Malley, and I would just ask slash recommend that when you, Council President, are considering edits that we maybe to clean this up. At a minimum, this rule is redundant, but I think it is unclear about what it's referring to, and so.

Yep, I think that's a valid recommendation. I do want to just also note, though, are getting a little far afield from just needing to vote on these papers. I think we can take up the notes on the rules and I think, Councilor O'Malley, I will let you speak one more time to this, but I think we have, a motion to amend the Clerk's recommendations regarding this resolve that I haven't heard a second to. So after Councilor O'Malley speaks to it, I want to make sure that we move that amendment, that proposed amendment. Otherwise, I think we're going to get a little bogged down in the weeds. We actually don't need to resolve this question about the rules in order to vote on this. So having said that, I'll go back to Councilor O'Malley.

Yeah, I agree. I think that the 15 Ferry Street is now the lesser concern that I have. So I do think after this meeting, we should resolve the procedure and the only thing I'd recommend is if the city clerk could go back to the first meetings or the meetings that we had in January at the beginning of biennial sessions previously, because then it would show in the record when we were carrying papers forward and what the intent was.

So I've done that. That's how I prepared this paper, by looking back two years ago and four years ago of how we did it in the past, and it's the same exact form.

If I could just clarify. Sorry. Not the last couple of years, but like more than a couple of years ago. So the way in which, I think it might have been a misunderstanding of what, if that's what we were doing the last couple years from the city clerk's understanding, I think it was a misunderstanding between the council and the city clerk's office. because I think we were all into understanding that we were carrying them forward for the entire session. So I would just say that we should go back and look at how it used to be done, not in the last two terms, but prior to that. because that's how at least those of us who have been up here for a longer period of time were understanding us doing that. When it comes to 15 Ferry Street, I understand the point. Whether it stays on the docket or not, I'm fine. But all these other papers that people might want to carry forward and take action on. It's not reasonable to expect people to do it within the next couple days or weeks. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor O'Malley. So I have a motion on the floor to amend the Clerk's, I wanna make sure I get this worded right, vote to amend the Clerk's recommendations. Do I have a second to Councilor O'Malley's motion? Okay, so the motion is withdrawn. Given that, do I have a motion to approve the paper accordingly?

Yeah, how did we do it last time? I made notes of what the councilors wanted and then we took one final vote at the end to just approve based on the amended recommendations.

Okay, that's true. We didn't even get that far. Okay. Any further discussion? I did not mean to quash folks' ability to discuss stuff other than that rule or 15 Ferry. Okay, on a motion.

We're in agreement with the City Council papers.

What I'm hearing is that we're in agreement with the entirety of the list, yes?

Is there anybody who wants to change any of the recommendations for the rest of the entirety of the list? You ready to vote on the whole paper?

Okay. I have a motion by Councilor Crowe, seconded by Councilor Colón Hayes. Do we need a roll call? Sorry, I keep flipping back and forth. We can do a voice vote, okay? All in favor? Aye. Okay, that is approved. Next order of business.

Paper 32-26, Committee Report, the Standing Committee on Finance, to whom was referred, Papers 364 and 467, Series of 2025, haven't considered the same, make the following report. Committee recommends vote these papers out favorably to the full council by unanimous vote.

Okay, on a motion by Councilor McDonald, seconded by Councilor Taylor to receive the committee report. All in favor? Aye. Okay, the committee report is received. Will the clerk read the first paper?

Paper 364-25, order authorizing the City of Malden to borrow $1.5 million from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development or any other entity associated therewith to support a second phase of construction for the Malden River Works project. This was sponsored by Councilor McDonald as chair of finance.

Okay, Councilor McDonald for the paper.

Thank you so much. So this is the paper that we received those public comments on. and this is phase two of the Malden River Works project that we have already voted to support for phase one and this specific loan it's important to note as a section 108 loan is not paid out of the general fund. It is instead paid as part of our community development block grant federal funds every year. So it's a loan through HUD the federal housing and urban development department. They allow you to apply for loans and then I think do they bond it out or they somehow borrow the money to cover all the loans. So this is a program that we've used in the past it's a program that many cities use to fund CDBG approved projects. So those that are helping our most in need neighborhoods of which is the majority of Malden.

and so this, so I just wanna clarify that. This is, we've obviously been having a lot of conversations about the city budget. This does not affect the operating budget. It does create a liability for our CDBG grants. Those grants, because I know folks have often asked questions about federal grants are not discretionary. So the federal government cannot decide to award them or not award them based on you know competition or someone they are determined by law and by statute and I do want to just reassure folks that our city staff and legal department have been very diligent in ensuring that we can and should receive our grants that we are entitled to year over year and we've had positive signals in that for this year as well. So that's the background on the funding. This will cover not the full cost is my understanding of the Salt Shed and the Boathouse. I just think that's fun to say, the Salt Shed and the Boathouse.

Boathouse and Salt Shed, it's your preference. These two, it will not cover the full amount of construction here, but it's a key funding piece. Our city staff have been really excellent at finding funding sources for this project, state sources, federal sources in the past. and this is a federal loan at a good interest rate. So the Finance Committee unanimously recommended this favorably and we really wanna see this project move forward promptly and I know our city staff are eagerly waiting for this vote will be able to apply for this grant and move this project forward. We've already appointed members to the building committees to oversee construction, which requires us to pass this paper so that we can get the money to do it. and so that's my summary. Thank you.

Great. Thank you, Councillor McDonald. I have a few lights already. First up, I've got Councillor Simonelli.

Thank you, Ms. President. Thank you. I don't know who do I ask this to. I don't see anyone standing up here, so I'll just refer it over here. But the CDBG allotment, do we know how much we're actually getting and how much money we're going to have to pay out from that allotment? to cover this 108 loan, and what have we used for collateral for the 108 loan?

Alex, do you want to thank you so much for coming up?

Everybody, I believe the number that we have for this coming year is 1.436 million. Don't quote me on that. I think that's the number. That might have been last year's number, but that's generally the range that we see for CDBG. We don't know yet what the amounts will be. We know what the principal will be. It's the 1.5 divided by a 15-year term is what we owe in principal. We don't know what the interest will be until we actually make the borrowing. Generally, we have done a pretty good job of keeping the Section 108 loan payments within a healthy range so that we still have money in the rest of the CDBG budget for our standard CDBG projects, which we expect to continue to be the case. As we have projects kind of fall off or we make payments down, it increases our ability to borrow without greatly reducing the CDBG funds available for those other projects. Specifically, I think the public improvements, park projects, things of that nature that I know you all Care About Greatly. So we don't try to do 108 loans often.

We try to do it for those transformative projects that we would not otherwise be able to do without that large sum of money. But we don't anticipate that it would significantly constrain our ability to Do the park projects that we do on an annual basis.

Before you go on, can I just, for folks watching at home, can you just introduce yourself with your name and title? Hi, I'm Alex Pratt. I'm the director of OSP City. Thank you so much.

I'm Chris Simonelli, City Council Ward 7. Thanks. You're welcome. How long is the loan for? I believe it's 15 years.

I think we have the flexibility to go up to 20. I believe it's 15.

I'm good, thank you. You're all set.

Okay, thank you, Councillor Simonelli. Councillor Colón Hayes.

Thank you so much. Could you stay up there for a second? Thank you. So this project is just going to be transformative. It has been already for Malden. I'm so excited about it. I sit on the Waterfront Access Committee and the Malden River Works and the site plan review for it so I know how hard everyone has been working on this and I just one part of it that I'm not sure people may not know about but Could you talk to how hard we've been working to hire diverse, like something that we're trying to do that really is going to be groundbreaking and helpful for Malden so people understand how intentional we're being on it?

Sure, I could talk about that subject for an hour. I'll try to do it in 30 seconds.

Yeah, we're going out to dinner. Yeah, exactly.

I don't want to stand between you and your meal. So state law, state procurement law has pretty strict rules about, you know, you have to hire the Lowest Qualified Bidder, so the qualified bidder who comes in at the lowest price. There are also rules around diversity in hiring, diversity in procurement, and we've been working with the state supplier diversity office to see how we can ramp those things up. We've also started notifying, the state keeps a list of diverse vendors, those are small business enterprises, those are veteran owned businesses, women owned businesses, minority owned businesses, immigrant owned businesses, there's a whole list. They have a database that they keep, and we have started notifying that database whenever we do anything really related to procurement. So that's one way that we're trying to both increase competition and increase participation among those disadvantaged vendors. and then something else that we're working on is trying to identify because there are sometimes barriers to those businesses getting certified even because the state makes them jump through some hoops.

So we've also allowed businesses to self-certify and then we will notify them as well. and we're probably gonna be stealing or borrowing some lists at other larger communities that have more capacity to do this. Use those lists as well to get the word out. And the intention there is we want to use our dollars, our limited dollars, as best as we are able. And we can do that when there's more competition. So the more work we do to increase knowledge and awareness of these procurement opportunities, especially among disadvantaged businesses, can only help us.

Thank you so much. I think that's really important. And yet last night we actually were on a call with somebody from the state who gave big kudos out. They were like, we haven't seen somebody work like a city work this hard to try and not just check boxes, you know. and do what we think is right. So appreciate all the work. I can't wait to support this. Thank you. That's great to hear. Yeah.

I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to Becca McPheeters in my office who has been managing this project, managing the money for this project as well as working on the oversight of the procurement issues and the DEI questions as well as the construction management stuff. So she's done a terrific job. Absolutely.

Okay, great. Well, thank you. I next have Councilor Condon.

Thank you, Council President. How much are we applying for for this 108 loan?

It's $1.5 million.

1.5 million. How many outstanding 108 loans do we have? And what's the total?

The total outstanding, I'll have to get back to you on We have the Roosevelt Park loan, which we'll be using for the Roosevelt Park construction and plan to begin later this year. That's $1.2 million. We did a Section 108 roads loan, I believe it was 2018 or 2019, for some neighborhood roads. That was under $2 million. They're all generally in this value range. I can get you a summary.

Are we close to retiring some of this debt?

We either just retired or are about to retire Lincoln Commons. A couple years ago, I think we retired. There was one we did for what is now the Senior Center and the Mayor's Housing Task Force, which was under Mayor Howard. Those either just came off or are about to come off. We feel comfortable at this time that we're using it like a credit card in a safe, revolving way and not stacking it too high.

All right.

Thank you, Alec.

Okay. Thank you, Councilor Condon. Councilor Winslow.

Yeah, no, I think it's great to see, you know, having done some of the early work along the river and having people discover the river, having a boathouse where boats can be secure and and our young athletes can go out there and ride right on the river. I mean, people who have gone out definitely say this is a great spot, a training spot. So to really be putting are our foot forward. And really, even talking about master planning, focusing on the river, getting more activity and focus is important. So very supportive of this project and great work to everybody who's Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Winslow. Councillor O'Malley.

I just wanted to clarify. So you said there was one for Roosevelt Park. So this isn't the one with the arbitrage. This is a separate. One. Remember we had the discussion where you had to like use it for a different thing?

That was the, I think that was the CPA bond.

Okay.

Yes. Yeah, that was the CPA bond. Is that right, Dan?

Okay, so this one is still dedicated to Roosevelt?

Yes, exactly. And that is how we are funding the work to come this year on that project.

And what was that number again?

That was 1.2 million. Okay, thank you.

Okay. I think you're all set, Alex. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

So seeing no other lights, we do need a roll call vote for this. Do I have a motion? Okay. All right, I have a motion by Councilor McDonald. I'll take a second by Councilor Crowe. Will the Clerk please call the roll?

Councilor Colón Hayes. Yes. Councilor Condon. Yes. Councilor Crowe. Yes. Councilor Luongo. McDonald, O'Malley, Sica, Simonelli, Taylor, Winslow, President Linehan. Okay, the order is adopted.

And the next paper?

467-25, order that the sum of $50,000 is appropriated from available cable access, retained earnings, to be used for capital expenses specifically to upgrade the playback system at the Studio of Urban Media Arts.

Okay, Councilor McDonald for the paper.

This was another one that had unanimous support in the finance committee. And it's important to understand that the cable access fund is a restricted fund. that we get from the fees that we all, well, actually don't subscribe to cable. So I don't pay into the cable access fund. But if you subscribe to cable TV, you pay as a part of your bill, so charge into the cable access fund. that is the core funding for Urban Media Arts and there is their operating budget and then they have an addition, they have additional basically reserves that can be used for capital expenses. They worked with the controller's office to come up with a proposal to replace some of their most outdated equipment, equipment that is used for broadcasting these meetings. and making sure that that is updated with some good technology so that it is more reliable and better quality experience for our viewers.

I understand this is badly needed replacement and so that will be a combination of money they already have in their budget for this year for equipment purchases. And they also wanted to ask for an expense from the reserve here. I believe the balance in the reserve is between $300,000 and $400,000. Yeah. Before this. before this appropriation would take place. So we were all very happy to support Urban Media Arts moving forward with this strategic capital purchase. It is part of a strategic capital plan that they have. put forward in the outline for us and have discussed with the mayor's team. So as I said, we recommended that favorably, unanimously to approve this expense from the Restricted Cable Access Fund.

Okay, thank you, Councilor McDonald. Any discussion? Questions? Oh, Councilor O'Malley.

I just want to speak in favor of this. Obviously, MATV and local coverage of public meetings is so essential. McDonald, and as Councilor McDonald indicated, you know, more and more people are cutting their cable because it's just ridiculous how expensive it is. And, you know, actually, Harold, He always used to have the sign, he helped fix the door. He actually told me that antennas are now cool. And you can actually get an antenna and get all of the TV that is pretty much what you're watching for free over the air. and the fact that we live in Boston means that we have a ton of radio waves. So you can get a lot of free high quality like 8K TV over an antenna, a digital antenna.

you can get it at Walmart, it's like $20, it's crazy and you save like hundreds of dollars so I think that MATV needs the help and I do know that Councilor Colón Hayes and Councilor Taylor were also working towards getting some laws passed to get new funding for MATV. They absolutely need it because as more people go to streaming online or getting it through the airwaves, they're losing their funding. So fully in support of this and hopefully we can also help get them more funding as more and more people cut the cord. Cable, thank you. Oh, and donate. Taylor is recommending we donate.

Thank you. Point well taken. Thank you, Councilor O'Malley and Councilor Taylor. Okay, seeing no other lights, let's see, we can... We need a motion and we need to do a roll call for this as well. So do I have a motion to approve this? To adopt the order, thank you. Okay, motion by Councilor Simonelli, seconded by... I'm going to take Councilor Taylor. Okay, will the Clerk call the roll?

Councilor Colón Hayes. Yes. Councilor Condon. Yes. Councilor Crowe. Yes. Councilor Luong.

Yes.

McDonald, McDonald, O'Malley, Sica, Simonelli, Taylor, Winslow, President Linehan. Yes. That order has been adopted unanimously.

That order is adopted. Next order of business.

33-26 Committee Report. The Standing Committee on Finance to whom was referred paper 434 series of 2025. Having considered the same, make the following report.

Okay, on a motion by Councilor McDonald, seconded by Councilor Taylor to receive the committee report. All in favor? Aye. The report is received.

Paper 434-25, order. that during the City of Malden special municipal election to be held on February 10th, 2026, the following debt exclusion ballot question be included. Shall the City of Malden be allowed to temporarily assess an additional $36 million in real estate and personal property taxes through a debt expenditure exclusion for the specific purpose of paying for the construction of the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational Technical School for which the monies will be used for the fiscal years beginning July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2052. A yes vote would support a temporary increase in real estate and personal property taxes beginning with fiscal year 27, which is July 1st, 26 to June 30th, 27 until fiscal year 2052. which is set July 1st, 2051 to June 30th, 2052. A no vote would make no change to the current tax structure. Sponsors O'Malley, Colón Hayes, Winslow.

Okay, Councilor McDonald for the committee report.

Yeah, thank you. So the committee voted unanimously to recommend this paper unfavorably. And the discussion in the committee I think was good about the issue that this paper had raised. which is about the additional financial burden that the city has had to take on because we have supported the construction of the Northeast Metro Tech new high school, so the new vocational technical high school. that is a cost that's shared by all of the communities that send students to the VOC and it's divided up by how many students we send and when we approved this back in 2023, is that what it is, 2022? we didn't have any way to pay for that. So it is just baked now into our operating budget every year. And if our enrollment changes, because voc enrollment has been very popular with our students, it's a great program,

then actually our liability might even go up in future years. We intentionally scheduled and I through my authority as the chair of the finance committee intentionally scheduled discussion and vote about the override, the operating override last year to schedule a special election first before considering this. This paper is not an override, which would raise the minimum tax base a certain amount and then continue in the future. It is instead an additional charge outside of that tax minimum for a specific purpose. that's what a debt exclusion is, in this case to pay down, to cover the costs that we estimate for supporting this debt that the VOC has taken on and that they bill us for every year.

So there was, I think, an understanding that this is a financial burden on the city, but also a lot of discussion about how the fact that we're already going to the voters to ask for additional money to ask them to consider raising their taxes to help us get to a stable sustainable budget that already does include this payment to the VOC that it would be both against that process that we've already worked on and very confusing to voters to try to get all of these things on the same ballot. So the consensus of the Finance Committee was to not approve this at this time. This paper was submitted during that set of discussions, but now that we have the override on the ballot, there's not a desire to add this additionally on top of that. So I think it is my... Anyways, let me... Let me stop there.

I think that captures the sense of the Finance Committee about our determination about this paper. The one other thing I just want to clarify is the reason that we have brought this back to the full council is because it relates to the special election. We really wanted to make sure that there was clarity to the clerk's office who needs to prepare the election about what is or is not on the ballot. This is just kind of hanging out there. So we really wanted to make sure that the council took an action one way or another on this paper so that we can proceed with the production of the ballot and scheduling the details of the special election, which is set for March 31st.

Okay, thank you, Councilor McDonald. That was very helpful. I am going to take the paper's lead sponsor first, Councilor O'Malley.

Thank you. So there are a couple things. So I'm not under any delusions. This will not pass tonight. But I will say, you know, more importantly, that I understand that the chair of finance used discretion to not schedule a meeting about this last year but like for anyone who's on the finance committee if that ever happens again and it's like your paper or another paper that you want to talk about a majority of a committee can schedule a meeting and can put things on the agenda so it's not just the chair we did put that in our rules just so that there isn't you know any type of I'm not saying it was wrong, I think it was wrong in this circumstance, but I'm not saying that the majority of people think it was wrong in this circumstance. But if a majority of a committee really wants to talk about something and a chair will not put something on the agenda,

the majority of the committee can put that on the agenda. Just a lesson. And I'm just mentioning it because that was part of why we're talking about this tonight and we didn't talk about it during the Prop 2 1⁄2 override discussion. I will say that I do still support this. We talked about what the average cost would be for an average single-family home, homeowner of a single-family home. You know, the cost of this proposal here for the debt exclusion, for the VOC debt, would be in the $90 range, whereas for the $5.4 million that would be $353 a year and the 8.5 would be $532. So it's a lower cost solution that I think would also have a benefit. I don't personally think it's too confusing.

I think that our residents are very intelligent and would be able to figure out how to vote on three questions. But that's, you know, I'm not going to belabor the point. so yeah I think that in the future I would appreciate if my papers could be heard you know in a more timely manner but I understand politically why it was done but I think it's important for to know if you would like to ever hear something in committee, you do have a mechanism to do that. I wasn't on finance, so I couldn't do that. With that, I would just move to adopt, but knowing that it's not going to pass, so no hard feelings, y'all. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor O'Malley. Councillor Colón Hayes. Thank you so much. Actually, Councillor O'Malley, you said a lot of the stuff I was going to say. But I am also not delusional. This is not going to pass. I realize that. I'm not on finance this year, so I wasn't able to vote in committee. And I do understand why some people might think that this was too confusing to put on the ballot. I realize that. But I'm going to vote yes because I think it's a great idea. I definitely learned a lot. and I'm glad that Councilor McDonald had just said that they made that decision. I learned a lot about maybe how I would handle that differently to try and get it before all of this discussed because now it looks like it's so late it does seem silly now but if we had discussed it earlier I think it may have had a different thing but it's all in the past but I am going to still vote yes for it and hoping that also what we discussed in finance was that

let's say this you know things don't pass we could always bring this up and when I say things I mean the two and a half all right if nothing passes maybe this is something that we could look at again so Learning all about this was good, and talking about it is a good thing. And again, I know where this is headed, but I am still going to vote yes, and I appreciate it being brought forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Colón Hayes. Councilor McDonald.

Well, thank you all for your shade about my committee cheering. But I do want to correct the record to say I did schedule this for a hearing in December. We just ran over from the previous committees and we didn't have time to talk about it. But I just want to be clear, I did schedule it as I promised I would do. And I wanted to say that the reason that we did this was to honestly pay respect to the mayor and the finance team and to the many people who came out to discuss the proposal that was before us. I did not think we could start having a round-robin discussion of multiple types of ballot proposals at the same time and actually have transparent, authentic public engagement. that so that was I just want to say that that like my priority was to make sure that we were actually having a substantive conversation about the things before us. And it's OK if you disagree with that determination. but that was the reason that we couldn't talk about everything all at the same time.

That's really bad for public transparency and engagement. And this came up late in the process, well after We had already been having hearings on the other thing. Anyways, just wanted to state that. And then also just state, if we vote this down today, the motion that Councilor O'Malley made was to vote to approve. if we do that, we vote it down, we cannot reconsider it for six months. So if the hope is that this is something that we could return to in the future, if override does not pass as a kind of like regroup plan B to consider, My recommendation would be to put forth a motion to place it on file because then it would not trigger that six month limit. So that is my offering of goodwill after you have, you know, questioned my judgment. to just say if that's something that you would hope to do, I think that's probably a better procedural move. But I defer to you, Councilor O'Malley, what you would propose for a motion on the paper.

Thank you, Councilor McDonald. Councilor Winslow.

Yeah, no. I appreciate that Councilor O'Malley put this paper together, and it was good to have that one of the cards we could take off. I mean, I think as we discussed the override and that type of thing, I felt and I asked this in committee of that was consideration of this debt that we have part of the baseline discussions of the override. It is. So I do think it is. If we had a choice, if we sort of did it a la carte, this might have worked, but we decided to basically say you have this choice of meal A or meal B. and that's sort of what we had and this is in basically a debt we owe no matter what, whether we choose A, B, or neither. So I think that there was actually some very good discussions about what this debt we have and actually it's unusual.

that this can depend upon how many students we have and that type of thing. It was a good discussion, so having this paper go forward. But I just think for simplicity's sake, I can't support putting this on the ballot. I think we have two strong proposals we're putting out there for the voters to consider and I think at this point this would just not make clear and those two proposals did consider the debt we owe and the baselines that were there. So thank you, Greg.

OK, thank you, Councilor Winslow.

Councilor Colón Hayes for the second time. Yes, that's fine. and then I'm done here. So I think that it was a great discussion and we should be questioning everything. So I'm sure my, I don't know what the right word is, but sad to hear that you felt that it was shade. answering to constituents who were asking why this was out late. And I was really glad that you addressed that, how it came out and why it wasn't discussed with everything. So it's just a different way of Handling Things, and it's fine. So we'll move forward, and we can just roll the vote. Thank you.

OK. Thank you, Councilor Colón Hayes. Councilor O'Malley for the second time.

Yeah. The only thing I'd say is I need a second, so I would appreciate that. And if it does fail, which it will, I... We can always suspend the rules. If we need to take it up again, we can always suspend the rules. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor O'Malley. Councilor Condon. Sorry.

Thank you. Thank you very much. I happen to be one that Councilor McDonald handled the conversation very well. And when I already We're not sure how we're even going to do on the override. And by sticking The public, with something else as complicated as it is, you could be blowing all of it. So you can't bite off more than you can chew. We've never had an override in this community. and this is the first time we're going to try our best to pass it because we need it. There's no question. But no, I think our chairman did a great job in handling it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Condon. Councilor Simonelli.

Thank you, Madam President. Well, I just want to say that I am on the Finance Committee. We did meet earlier today in the subcommittee, and it was unanimous that this paper didn't go forward. not that it's not a good paper, and it's not that it's something for us to look at down the road, but I have to, you know, say I think that Councilor McDonald did a fantastic job with it, and, you know, We're all heading for some tough times moving forward here. We already know that. And I think if we continue to add more colors to the painting, it just becomes distorted after a while. And I think people are going to go out there and look and if you give them too many questions, you know, they're just not going to go for it. It becomes too confusing to explain to the constituency.

for all these other plans that are moving forward. So I just think that it was just a little too much, too late, and I think we should just stick with what we have and move that forward and educate our constituency the best way that we can. I think it's just to keep it simple. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Simonelli. Okay, so seeing no other lights, we do have a motion, and I heard a second from Councilor Colón Hayes on the floor. So I will just say from the chair, my preference is an agreement with Councilor McDonald, who I feel handled this in a timely manner. The amount of business coming through finance this fall was unbelievable. This was filed in, at least to me, in mid-November. We moved it immediately through the council and to the finance committee. I have no issues with how this was handled. My preference would have been to place this on file, but we do have a motion and a second on the floor. So I'm going to take up that vote. So that would be a motion to adopt the order. And we need a roll call, correct?

Yes, we do.

Okay. And it needs a two-thirds majority to be adopted.

We need eight votes to pass. So this is to adopt, which would put the question on the ballot.

A yes would put it on the ballot, a no would not put it on the ballot. You have a question, Councilor O'Malley?

It's not going to make a difference, but why does it need two-thirds?

That's what state law says on these kind of questions.

because when I asked that question for the Prop 2 1⁄2, we were told it was a simple majority.

This is a different kind of question, and I would confirm that with the Treasurer's Office today, that debt exclusion question. This is not an override. This is a debt exclusion. So it requires a different vote.

Interesting. See, we learn things every day. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Okay.

Thank you. Okay, so we're going to take a roll call.

We need eight votes. So a yes vote puts the question on the ballot. A no vote... Let's the paper fail. Councilor Colón Hayes. Yes. Councilor Condon. No. Councilor Crowe. No. Councilor Luong. No. Councilor McDonald. No. Councilor O'Malley. Yes. Councilor Sica. No. Seminelli, Councilor Taylor, Councilor Winslow, Council President Linehan.

No.

So that paper fails two to nine.

Okay.

So that is not adopted.

Not adopted.

Okay, next order of business is personal privilege. Councilor Winslow.

Yeah, I just wanted to take, I have a moment of silence and some good news too. So I just first wanted to take a moment of silence. Barbara Rogers of the Rogers family was very well known. I know Chris knows them very well. Okay, I'll stand.

Thank you.

And then just I wanted to wish Maidu, a longtime Malden resident and business owner, a happy 50th birthday. So she's having a... Happy 10th birthday, so just wanted to acknowledge that. Well, happy birthday, Sifu Mai. All right, great. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Winslow. Councilor Colón Hayes. I was just looking for the flyer.

Sorry, do you need a minute? That's okay. No, no. It's again, I've been saying it almost every meeting. We're going to have, I'd love to invite everyone, city councilors, the school committee, our public, to join and celebrate Martin Luther King Day. Especially now during these times, it's great to come together as a community and celebrate this great man. And that would be, come on, I've got it. This would be Sunday. Here we go, okay. Sunday, January 18th from three to six. It's going to be at the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Malden. We have a great keynote speaker. We have two youth speakers. one from Malden Catholic, one from Malden High, and Malden Reads will be there, so you could bring your kids. There's gonna be a separate room upstairs for those of you who have gone before, you know, it's the same process as last year.

They'll be able to pick and read books so they'll be occupied because this goes a little bit long because there's a lot of great speakers and it's something that's very important for us now. And then Malden High School Love for Kids will also be there and the Friends of the Malden Public Library will have books that you can purchase for very inexpensive during that day. So please come. It's important to celebrate in community. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Colón Hayes.

Councilor McDonald. I just wanted to let folks know that we did talk in the finance committee about earlier today about having community education forums about the city budget and the issues that have led to the override. These are not debating the ballot measure but rather to make sure that voters can be informed with key information about our city finances and about the decision to place this on the ballot. So we're looking at a couple of different sites possibly at schools across the city and an online meeting as well so folks can join virtually. We're thinking about interpretation. Want to make sure folks understand the ballot and give resources to other counselors so they can take them to other places like senior buildings and other community organizations. So we just, I just wanna let folks know that we are talking about that, working closely with the mayor's team about that to make sure that our voters are informed and know about this election and have the information they need to make up their minds. And I also just wanna wish My son, Julian, a happy birthday.

Yesterday, he turned 11 and he had a very sweet and lovely birthday.

So happy birthday, Julian, if you're watching. Thank you, Councilor McDonald. Councilor O'Malley.

Thank you. As has kind of been mentioned, I want to wish everyone a contemplative and active MLK Day. I think peaceful, nonviolent civil disobedience is what has changed our nation. And I think it is important that if you're doing that, just be safe and be smart. But that is your right in going out and protesting. and petitioning your government is what we are all fighting for. Whether you're on the street or you're Senator Mark Kelly who's being prosecuted for speaking the truth and the law. it's very 1984 out there right now so you know there's a reason why we read these books as children so that we can recognize it in real life and you know walk into it with full eyes open If anyone is interested in understanding a little bit more about the whole tabling and the carrying forward of papers, I did a little research.

And this is from the time when our longtime city clerk, Karen Anderson, was still here. There was a paper to create a community preservation committee, and that paper came up in 2015, and it was not finally acted upon until November of 2016, which is what created the CPC committee. and the paper number is 611-15. So anyone who's interested in seeing a paper that was from a previous biennial session that then was carried forward and taken action beyond 30 days, that's an example. Dash 15. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor O'Malley. Okay, do I have a motion to adjourn? Okay, on a motion by Councilor Sica, seconded by Councilor Simonelli. All in favor? Aye. We are adjourned at 8.21.