Malden City Council 05-19-2026

Okay, so waste, toxics, lead. How's my battery doing? Oh, yeah. Plenty.

O'Hare,

Wow. Waste, Toxics, Thank you all so much.

Thank you.

I know, she is. But she's coming late. Which one is yours? This one? And this one too? Okay. Okay. So this, like this? Okay. And then... And then we're going to go third. Clap it.

So that's just a mic. So just make sure that when you're speaking, you angle it right towards you. Here, try saying your name into that really quick.

Mike.

All right, cool. Yeah, that's pretty clear. Awesome. But if you were turning to me, it wouldn't pick up on you as well. So just make sure that you speak a little bit towards the mic when you speak. Make sense?

All right. So Lydie's going to go second. You were third. We're going to go third. Emma's going to be late. So, are you okay with going second? Hey, what's up, Caduceus? How you doing, man? Good, bro.

Huh? Are you ready? Huh? Am I ready? Are you ready? I'm so ready. I was born ready, bro.

What are you doing?

What are you doing? I have to do the thing for the waste team. Because there's only one person coming.

Okay? Lead second, and then waste, and then climate last? Okay. Sounds good. All right, let's have this here.

What did you hear from Emma?

She said she'll be here right around... Okay, let's do that then.

Let's move Clyde up.

Should we just, do you want the voice recorder or do you want me to read it?

I think reading is not great.

I think let's put Emma away.

The council will come to order. Can you even hear that? That seemed really quiet. all rise and salute the flag. Oh, there it is, okay. Okay, thank you. 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. That's OK. please remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of our veteran service members and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. 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. Clerk, will you please call the roll?

McDonald, Councilor O'Malley, Councilor Sica, Councilor Simonelli, Councilor Taylor, Here. Council Winslow. Here. Council President Linehan.

Here.

Okay, so we have nine.

Okay, we have nine tonight. So 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 meetings. So do be aware that there will be audio and video recordings of tonight's meeting. Is there anyone else present tonight who's recording in addition to Uma? Okay, thank you. One gentleman has identified themselves. Next on to our first order of business.

Student representatives from Malden High School's Afterschool Development Program in conjunction with Clean Water Action will appear before the council to present their project on water safety.

Okay, please welcome yourselves to the podium and please introduce yourselves. Thank you so much and welcome.

Good evening, my name is Caduce Degue and I'm one of the alumni supports. My name is Adrian Aguilar, I am also one of the alumni supports at YAC. Youth Action Collaborative is a year-long after-school program hosted by the Clean Water Fund and co-facilitated by one of Malden High School's beloved environmental science teachers, Miss Kathleen Maglio. We meet once a week and we learn about different climate issues and connect with different climate activists in our community. and best of all, we work on local city campaigns and equip ourselves with the skills that are vital and necessary for our future. And so now I'll pass it on to Talia and the TOCSICS team to present on their presentation.

Hello, everyone. My name is Talia Latour. I am an alumni support of the Youth Action Collaborative. And today, I'm going to be representing I'm going to be representing the TOXICS team. They unfortunately were not able to make it today, so I do have a recording of them presenting what they have prepared for you all.

Hello everyone, my name is Tenzin and I'm a junior at Malden High School with Delmi and Kayla. We will be telling you about our research on PFAS. PFAS is a dangerous chemical that is found in all our bodies. It is known as a forever chemical because it cannot be broken down.

Malden is a city built on community and the families to support it. But it's difficult for people to support others when their own immune system is as strong. PFAS has several major effects on a person's health ranging from organ damage to neurological disorders to extreme diseases such as cancer. It is most unfortunate that it can be found in most common liquid tap water. Though we praise the City of Malden for having a nearly non-existent level of PFAS, and our water supplies, companies are still allowed to distribute PFAS contaminated household products such as Self-care products, non-stick items, and children's toys. In hopes of educating the community and the dangers of PFAS, our group has gone through a few obstacles.

Our first idea was to partner up with the CHA Health Alliance in the high school to get free PFAS testing for students. However, not only will we need A grant that exceeds this program, but we'd also need to consider whose insurance supports the testing for free, considering that they could cost hundreds of dollars. We later learned that the firefighters' gears, foam and foam, had PFAS in it. but the idea to create a petition to end the purchase of these uniforms died soon after learning that they had already been in an active effort to remove the gear from fire stations by 2027. By the second week of our planning, we finally landed on the door knocking idea and created a postcard that you now see on the screen. With these cards, we were able to gather a few signatures for opposition regarding our demands that PFAS has been removed from kids' toys.

So I do have a copy of the postcard that they have made, and I will share it with you all.

Watch your step, honey.

Okay, so on the postcard that I have shared with you all, there is a QR code on the back side. It's under the Take Action, and we ask that for the youth, We would really ask for you all to sign the petition, which is found through this QR code. It is through the Toxic Free Kids, a statewide ban on PFAS and children's products by signing this petition. Thank you.

Hello, thank you all. We are the lead team of YAC, and my name is Angela, and I am in alumni support.

Hi, my name is Mike. And my name is Wadley. Malden family are still at risk of exposure. Lead exposure is affecting pregnant women and children the most. We are happy to read about the grant for lead replacement but there is still more work to do.

And we have a member that wasn't able to make it today but we have a recording of her part.

and I am a part of the YEC alumni group. Starting in 2024, the YEC lead group at the time wanted to find a way to help protect residents, especially renters and other vulnerable and marginalized groups from lead poisoning. After learning about the grants, we wanted to do something to help vulnerable people to learn about the ability for the city to pay for lead pipe replacement. We designed this flyer and began to plan to distribute it in areas with lead service lines by door knocking. We're proud of the final product, but before using it, we learned that there had already been some flyering and Doorknocking and Malden on this issue and that we wanted to better collaborate to make sure that we were not working at cross purposes to other efforts and confuse people in the process.

So then we decided to take new approaches. We knew we wanted to target rented homes since residents aren't directly in control of their own plumbing. and Pipes, and because some landlords may be difficult to contact due to them not residing in or around Malden, So we thought about making a registry of buildings and landlords that still haven't had lead service line replacements. But then we heard from Councilor Kerry McDonald that that one was already in the process. And so now we are currently trying to find a way to help during that process.

Most recently we learned that the city replacement led services is a construction project to save a lot of money. While we understand this strategy, we want to stay involved to make sure vulnerable households get their lead pipe replaced as quick as possible. So we ask to get access to the construction schedule so we can educate neighborhood. We want to give filter to pregnant women and child in daycare. that need replacement. And we would also like to contribute outreach efforts such as door knocking and flyers campaign with the city. And let's work together to make Everybody in Malden have safe water to drink. Thank you.

Hello, City Council. I'm Emma, and this is Alumni Adrian from the Waste Team. As you can see on the photo, this is the Waste Team, Alumni Adrian, me, Krystalyn, and Riley. On the photo there, we were attending the Malden Green Fair where we volunteered and helped people throw away their things that they didn't need such as textiles and plastics where they could be transformed into new things like benches. Unfortunately, today, as you can see, some of my teammates weren't able to make it, so allow me to play a voice recording of rally on the subject of our environmental contest. Sorry, on the subject of our project.

Environmental consciousness needs to start now. Waste is a huge issue, not just in the city of Malden, but across the world. Many times when you walk down the street, you notice trash all along the sidewalks and trash all along bodies of water. Oftentimes, trash and recycling are not properly differentiated. The best way to make a better future is by establishing habits within the youth. This is why for our project, we decided to make a poster that informs Malden High students about the appropriate recycling habits in Malden. We focused on educating inside of Malden High School because we believe if we start having students implement proper recycling habits, hopefully students can carry this information with them and begin to enact them in everyday life.

By using post-it designs that are not only informational but also concise, we hope that the visual images can help educate students within the split-second decision of whether the disregarded items should be thrown in the recycling bin or the trash can. Before applying the posters, we collected data across ten classrooms. We plan to come back in around two weeks to collect data again and compare the changes implemented by the posters. With this knowledge, we decided if information awareness can actually spark a change within students or if the underlying issue of waste comes from a lack of care of its impact within the world. We hope you can join us on June 2nd at 5 at the YMCA to see a longer presentation and find out a conclusion of the project. Thank you.

We will now pass it on to the climate team.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Aldona Abraham, and I am a senior at the Malden High School. And I'm Adam Abraham, a freshman at Malden High. And we are part of the Youth Action Collaborative. In classrooms across America, kids' grades K through eight are learning about the water cycle and the food chain. But there is a glaring silence when it comes to the most defining challenge of their generation, climate change. Currently, nearly a quarter of US middle school teachers report zero class hours on climate instruction. We are failing to give our youngest leaders the tools they need to understand their changing world, leaving them anxious about the future without empowerment of education.

That is where Love for Kids Club at Malden High comes in. We believe that literacy is the strongest foundation for action. In a powerful partnership with Malden Reads, which we are grateful to have had many of the council members attend events for, we are moving beyond the classroom to engage our community directly. By combining the joy of storytelling with the urgency of environmental science, we are bridging the gap for Malden's youth. This June, we're hosting a flagship event that brings this mission to life. We'll be gathered outdoors where the environment isn't just a topic, but our current surroundings. Our members will be reading themed books to children like Grow Happy, showing them that one person's ingenuity can change an entire village's ecosystem.

But we aren't just reading, we are doing. This event features a hands-on planting workshop where kids will get their hands in the dirt planting the literal seeds of change. While the children are playing and connecting with the earth, we are addressing the adults. We will be presenting a vital petition to parents and community leaders to support the passage of the Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy Bill in Massachusetts. which we also encourage you all to participate in. Please feel free to take out your phones and scan the QR code here to show support of this petition. We are asking parents to sign on to ensure that what happens at our event becomes a permanent part of every K-8 education system. Join us this June in Malden. Let's read, let's plant, and let's pass this bill for our kids' futures. Thank you.

Thank you so much. That was fantastic. I already see a couple of lights, so I'm going to go to Councillor McDonald first.

Thank you. Well, thank you all so much for being here. This is a really good presentation and I've been lucky enough to come and visit with this group for the last two years and to just see how thoughtful you are about trying to make actual change and not just taking something and running with it because it seems easier. It's the first thing you think of, but really trying to figure out what will have an impact. I think that's such an important skill. So I want to commend you for that. and say thank you for these clear asks. I think we can work on those. I'm gonna make sure I sign these petitions. Many of these are supported Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that. And I just want to give you a little bit of credit. So on the

You know, the issue around lead pipes and trying to figure out how to reach out to people so they know what to do to get lead pipes out of their own homes. So we talked about that when I was able to join you this year, but we had also talked about it last year. And in between those two years, This council passed a new ordinance that required that rental registry, which is now being implemented. But one of the reasons that we wanted to move it forward was because we had heard from groups like Clean Water Action and like the Youth Action Collaborative how important this work is. even though you may not have done it for your project this year, I just want to draw the through line that like some of those conversations did influence what we talked about at the city so that we could put the infrastructure in place with our inspectional services and health departments and so on to actually make that a citywide policy that's now in process. So just wanted to appreciate you for that.

Thank you, Councilor McDonald.

Councilor Taylor. Thank you. I just wanted to say how impressed I was with this presentation and all the work that you did, not just on the climate issues, but the process that you took and the way you explained your process and you looked at things and said, well, they're doing that. How can we help here to really get to the end goal? That is something that most adults can't do. And with that shows just amazing potential for where you are all going. And I am I'm so excited to have you here before us tonight. The asks that you had were very clear and aided in your mission. and I already signed the petition and filled out. I scanned all the QR codes. Thank you so much for doing this and giving us specific asks and I'm just really excited to see what you guys do next because it's impressive.

Thank you, Councillor Taylor. Councillor Winslow.

Yeah, no, it's great to see this generation coming forward. We're at a moment at our national level where people are trying to undermine the very work you're trying to do. So you have that responsibility to carry forward. You know, I know my career, I've worked on getting the lead out of gasoline. I mean, one of the things I worked on getting elected as counsel is to make sure that as we focused on lead lines, that we focused on areas where the most school kids were, and often that's in the rental areas. So it's great to see you all taking and pushing us even for more action and really as for us, some of us are gonna have to pass it on to the next generation. So I hope you're all getting ready to take some great science courses like I did and dedicate yourself to the work it is.

This work comes and goes, but it's necessary to have determined folks like you working on it. So thank you for coming here and keep at it. And it's very rewarding. And I always think of, you know, the whole thing is think globally, act locally. The great thing that I've learned in working with people on the council is The great difference you can make here locally is not only good for the environment, but it's good for you and our community. So thank you for coming forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Winslow. Councilor O'Malley.

Yeah, I just want to thank the students in Clean Water Action for all your work. as a community and as Clean Water Action has come so far since I remember Morio came to Malden with Clean Water Action and we were like first organizing getting the word out and to see how far it's come since those days is just kind of really amazing Kudos to all the hard work that y'all have been doing. So I think we should give a great round of applause for all the great work y'all have been doing. And it's really amazing that you know exactly kind of where to look. So as Councilor Winslow had mentioned, he and the chair of our Conservation Commission had an idea about how to prioritize and focus where we put our resources based on where children are living. and the fact that he did that with that idea really helped remove a lot of lead service lines that were affecting students. And so the ideas that you have are great and can be implemented.

and you really know where you're looking because another really important thing when you talk about the engineering schedule for construction of roads, that is a huge low-hanging fruit and you're 100% right. There were times where we would have money to repave roads and we would just repave the roads but not do the lead pipes, not do the infrastructure under the ground. And so you're basically having a circumstance where you're investing millions of dollars but not doing the road properly. So maybe a couple of years down the line, you'd have to rip all these holes up and then it was actually a disincentive to replace the lead service lines. So however we can do to help get the resources that you need and access to that, you have no idea how much your advocacy actually affects public policy. So thank you so much for everything. I really appreciate it.

Thank you, Councilor O'Malley. Councilor McDonald for the second time.

I'm so sorry. I am really enthusiastic. I just wanted to point out that I want to make sure that everybody knows that in the climate action plan that this council adopted, There is an entire strategy on promoting community climate education, and it explicitly names working with Malden High School and the Clean Water Action Group. So you all are not only doing amazing work, but it is actually written into the plan that we are trying to support as a city. and so thank you for helping make that real. This is not a plan that's gonna sit on the shelf and you're proving that. So I just wanted to uphold how integral your work is to that bigger city-wide plan across all the work that we're trying to do.

Thank you, Councilor McDonald. I will just briefly say from the chair, I will echo what a lot of my colleagues have said. Super impressive presentation. I want to say as someone who does like communications and design in this space for my day job, That pamphlet that y'all showed, I like better than the one that the city puts out. I think we should steal some of this and use it. It is legitimately better than how we try to communicate about this. I think, as others have said, you have found a way to really drill down into what the key issues are and then identify also what the solutions are, which is extremely impressive. I also just want to elevate that I'm recognizing a couple of faces of folks who were at the Metro Mayor's Climate Summit this past weekend, which was a gorgeous Saturday. These youth spent the day probably the most beautiful day that we've had all year indoors learning about how to make change in climate policy which is pretty outstanding. There's a lot of things that they could have probably been doing with that beautiful day. So this is I think the future of what our

our city and country is gonna be sitting in this room right here. So kudos to you for the work you've done. Thank you for bringing this to us tonight. I hope our community watches this presentation and I think y'all are gonna go far. So thank you for bringing this to us tonight. Thank you so much. Okay, our next order of business is public comment, but I don't believe we had anybody sign up for public comment in person or by email, is that correct? Okay, so we're gonna move on to our consent agenda. Our consent agenda tonight consists of meeting minutes to be approved, three appointments to be placed on file, and two petitions to be referred to the License Committee. Does any Councilor have a desire to remove any of these items from the consent agenda? I see Councilor Winslow.

Yeah, I just, I had some comments on the minutes from May 12th, so that's items 26926, just an additional addition to that. So I'd just like that off the agenda so we can make that amendment.

Okay. Do you want to take that up? We can take up that amendment now.

Sure, yeah, so that paper related to what we were talking about there was, let's see, oop. I just wanted to add the fact when I made comments on that paper that was related to the parking, city-wide parking call by Councilor Taylor. I just wanted to point out and that as I, I wanted to include my statement that I made that, according to our charter update in January, our traffic commission is being replaced by a transportation commission. the Transportation Commission will have to do that. So that was my basic comment. So I did send that along to Councilor Linehan and the Clerk just to make that clear. Addition, just to put it on the record.

So that would be my motion would be to add my comment into that section of the minutes.

Okay, we do have that language. Do we have a second to that motion by Councilor Crowe? all in favor of amending the minutes as stated by Councilor Winslow?

Aye.

Okay, that passes. So do we have a motion to approve the minutes as amended? and seconded by Councilor Taylor. All in favor? Aye. Those minutes are approved. So let's get back to the consent agenda itself. Any other items that folks would like to remove? Okay, hearing none and seeing none, do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved by Councilor Luong, seconded by Councilor Winslow. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, the agenda is approved. Next order of business.

Paper 275-26, order. The mayor will submit the fiscal year 2027 annual appropriation orders for the Water Sewer Enterprise Fund, Community Preservation Fund, and Cable Access Fund.

Okay, Councilor McDonald. just very briefly I'm gonna ask for a motion to refer this to the finance committee of course. So these are the other three budgets that we typically approve at this time of year alongside the general fund appropriation order. because these are restricted segregated funds. And typically these come down at the same time as the general fund budget, the main budget. but because that was so accelerated and we got that earlier, this is actually the normal time to get this budget. So we have these three remaining budgets. We'll make sure we have some time to talk about them in finance before we take a final vote. and I would just ask that we refer to the Finance Committee.

Okay, so that's a motion by Councilor McDonald to refer to Finance, seconded by Councilor Taylor. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, that carries. Next order of business.

Paper 276-26 be it ordained by the Malden City Council that Sections 12 and 32 of Title 12 of the Code of the City of Malden are hereby amended as outlined in the body of this paper regarding data centers.

Okay, Councilor Taylor.

Thank you. So this is, we discussed this a little bit in economic development and where we did pass the moratorium. This is just some language that we need to change in our zoning to make sure that data centers are in there, so there can be a moratorium on them. Currently they are not in the zoning, they're not defined, so this is just defining them. And both OSPCD and our city planner, Michelle Romero, worked on this. so I'd like to have this referred to a joint rules and ordinance and planning board to. Great.

Okay. There was a motion by Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor O'Malley to refer to... I just had... Oh, I'm so sorry. Councilor Winslow, go right ahead.

Yeah, no, I looked at the language. The staff came up with Councilor Taylor. I think it's clear enough, and this is a focus of moratorium. So I think it's fine if the intent here is for it. We may want to come back and revisit this in more and more detail after that moratorium happens. I'm fine with sending this to Planning and Rules and Ordinance as the focus on some you know, a moratorium to consider this more fully. Thank you, Greg.

Okay, thank you. And I see Councilor O'Malley's light as well.

Yeah, I apologize for seconding so vigorously and quickly. it's the correct thing to do so you know as we've kind of discussed you know when we refer things to a joint ordinance and planning board hearing and it gets noticed in the newspaper that is when we can hold people to the new, it's kind of like pausing and it gives us the flexibility to work on it. So even if we decide in the future to do something different and put in a new paper, it at least kind of holds it as the status quo. And so I appreciate you putting this through and look forward to working with you on it. Thanks.

Thank you. And just before we call the vote on the paper, as one of the original co-sponsors, I just want to underscore that under Councilor Taylor's leadership, this is as we've all been saying, a way to put our stake in the ground on wanting to drive the bus here, not to mix metaphors, which I guess I just did. in charge of our destiny here and wanting to make sure that we understand what it is that we want and that we have sensible definitions and this gets us there. So thank you for doing this. So I had a motion by Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor O'Malley to refer to joint planning and ordinance. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Seeing none, that carries. Next order of business.

Paper 277-26, the City Council will address the open meeting law complaints submitted on May 13, 2026 by Bruce Friedman of 8 Marvin Street, Malden, against the council related to the executive session held on May 12th, 2026.

Okay, I'll invite our legal department to join us at the podium.

Good evening, everyone. Prasanna Rajasekaran, Assistant City Solicitor. We just received this open meeting law complaint, so at this time we'd just be asking City Council's permission to investigate the complaint. I believe we would have to give a response by June 3rd, because it was submitted on May 13th.

Okay, thank you. Any questions? be looking for a motion to refer this to the legal department for response. Oh, okay, everybody's very excited. I think it was Councilor Simonelli, seconded by Councilor Crowe. Oh, Luong, okay, thank you. It happened so fast I couldn't even keep track. Okay, so we just need a voice vote on this. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Present. President, Councilor O'Malley. Okay.

Oh, let me put your, oh, might as well put my microphone on. I just wanted to clarify, you said that the due date is June 3rd.

Yes.

The next council meeting would be June 2nd. I see. So that would be one day... Oh, I'm sorry. I have my dates backwards. Can you come back and present to us on the second so they can vote in time for the deadline of the third?

Yes, we've done that.

My apologies. We have done that before when I didn't confuse my dates.

So, thank you. I see what you mean. Okay, we're all good. Sorry. Okay, no, no, it's better to be safe than sorry. Okay, next order of business.

Committee Report, 278-26. I'm sorry, I hit your button at the same time. 278-26, the Standing Committee on Rules and Ordinance, to whom was referred, Paper 197. Series of 2026, having considered the same, make the following report. Committee recommends this paper out favorably to the full council.

Okay, so we don't have Councilor Colón Hayes here, but I'm gonna go to Councilor Winslow to receive the committee report on a motion by Councilor Winslow, seconded by Councilor O'Malley to receive the committee report. All in favor? Aye. Let's read the paper.

Paper 197-26 be it ordained by the Malden City Council that the Code of the City of Malden 6.08.070C2 Licensing of Marijuana Establishments is hereby amended by inserting provided that no fewer than five marijuana retail licenses shall be made available after Mass General Laws Chapter 138, Subsection 15.

Okay, Councilor Winslow for the committee report.

Yeah, this was a recommendation both from the CELAC and also sponsored here by Councilor Colón Hayes. When we adopted the ordinances related to having marijuana establishments We sort of went under the assumptions that we would have five based on the number of liquor licenses we had. that actually has fluctuated so it's put us below what I think we all anticipated so the thought was you know we sort of created a cap you know we don't even need to have a cap so but we couldn't put it and so on. So it's just that clarification.

The committee discussed that and made a favorable recommendation for that change. So our recommendation is that we basically have a, you know, offer no less than five new licenses for retail establishments.

Thank you. Okay, thank you, Councilor Winslow. I have a light by Councilor O'Malley.

Yeah, so this really wouldn't be changing the status quo from when we implemented this. you know, we put it at 20% and like Councilor Winslow said, it fluctuates. And so just to provide consistency, I believe it's 20% or no less than five. Correct? Yeah.

Oh, hang on, let me put your light back on. Go ahead. Oh, did it not go? Okay, sorry.

Yeah, so the law says we can't reduce it below 20%. but then we can't have it above 20%. So the law says we can't have it below 20%. So that is the effect. So yeah, thanks.

And then one of the things that's important about that is say if we give out more liquor licenses, we could potentially be required to put out more than five. But the fact that it was dipping below when we were already in the process of licensing and you could be in a circumstance in the future that there are five licenses and all of a sudden it dips below the 20%. And then the question is, well, are all these licenses valid? So this I think provides consistency. So thanks for helping move this forward.

Okay, thank you, Councilor O'Malley. Seeing no other lights, do I have a motion to enroll? Motion to enroll. Okay, so moved by Councilor Winslow. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Councilor O'Malley. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, that is enrolled. Next order of business.

Paper 279-26, Committee Report. The Standing Committee on License to whom was referred Papers 218 through 223 and Papers 242 through 251, Series of 2026, having considered the same make the following report committee recommends these petitions out favorably to the full council committee further recommends paper 84 series of 2026 which was originally granted as a conditional 90-day license be extended until December 31st, 2026.

Okay, on a motion by Councilor Condon, seconded by Councilor Taylor to receive the committee report, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, here we go.

Hang on one second.

I didn't put your light on. That's my fault.

Do you want me to read them first, or do you want me to give you a report first? Did you want me to read them first into the record?

Yeah, sure.

Paper 218-26 Petition Open Air Parking Lot TJ Automotive Corporation 315 Pleasant Street 20 Spaces Renewal Paper 219-26, Petition, Pool Tables, Club 24, Inc., 787 Salem Street, 2 Tables, Renewal. Paper 220-26, Pool Tables, Italian American War Veterans Post 16, 40 Oakland Street, 1 Table, Renewal. Paper 221-26, Pawnbroker, Ock, Cow, Jewelers, and AC Loan, 56 Pleasant Street, Renewal. Paper 222-26, Petition, Secondhand Dealer, Ock, Cow, Jewelers, and AC Loan, 56 Pleasant Street, Renewal. 223-26 Self Service Gas Station Speedway 2504 at 214 Broadway Renewal 242-26 Bowling Alley Town Line 10 Pin Corporation 665 Broadway 48 Lanes Renewal Paper 243-26, Exterior Vending Machine, Water Stores, Incorporated, 159 Highland Avenue, Renewal.

Paper 244-26, Livery Company, Line, Black Car Services, LLC, 54 Cleveland Street, One Vehicle, Renewal. Paper 245-26, Livery Driver, Jeffrey Jacks, 54 Cleveland Street, Renewal Paper 246-26, Lodging House, BREC, LHP, LLC, 155 Clinton Street, Renewal Paper 247-26, Outdoor Parking, Reganos Incorporated, 1176 Eastern Avenue, 15 spaces renewal. Paper 248, Pool Tables, Malden, Veterans of Irish Ancestry Incorporated, 177 West Street, two tables renewal. Paper 249-26, Pool Tables, Town Line, Ten Pin Corporation, 665 Broadway, 15 Tables, Renewal. Paper 250-26, Secondhand Daler, A.M. Design Jewelry, 664 Salem Street, Renewal. Paper 251-26, Self-Service Gas Station, Wash Depot, Inc., 333 Eastern Avenue, Renewal. End Paper 84-26, Petition.

Class 2, Malden Auto Center, LLC, 189 Eastern Avenue, 34 vehicles. New.

Okay, Councilor Condon.

Thank you, Council President. As I said, all these licenses were visited by our compliance people. And everything seemed to be in order. They had no problems whatsoever granting these licenses. So I would make a motion that they be granted.

Okay. On a motion by Councilor Condon, seconded by Councilor Simonelli, to grant the petitions, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Those petitions are granted. Next order of business.

Paper 280-26, Committee Report. The Standing Committee on Personnel and Appointments to whom was referred, Paper 241, Series of 2026, make the following report.

Okay, so moved by Councilor Crowe, seconded by Councilor Taylor to receive the committee report. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

Paper 214-26, Mayoral Appointment. Paul Myers of 433 Fulton Street Medford as Director of Public Works to fulfill the unexpired term of Robert Knox and then be appointed for a three-year term expiring April 22nd, 2030, which shall commence upon confirmation by the City Council.

Crowe.

Thank you, Madam President. So we met with Mr. Miles earlier this evening and also last week in finance and really just talked about how he sees this department working and some of the changes he's doing. he's been with the city for a couple of years and was the assistant director for a short time. Now he's doing an interim thing. So he really hit the ground running. And fortunately we had snow. right when he took over as the interim director. And he really talked about sort of some of the work that he's doing around technology to upgrade some of the things sort of operationalize some of the ways that overtime is being assigned. And it comes from a varied experience from other communities, so it really kind of helps them give a broad perspective talked about the salt shed and sort of some of the things that he's doing to kind of really pull this department together and all the people in it.

So I'll make a motion that we approve his appointment.

Okay, on a motion by Councilor Crowe, seconded by Councilor Luong, we do need a roll call to confirm this appointment. So will the Clerk please call the roll? That is correct, we do.

Condon, Crowe, LeJuan, McDonald, O'Malley, Simonelli, Taylor, Winslow, Linehan, Okay, so that appointment has been confirmed.

That appointment is confirmed. Okay. Next order of business. Oh, hang on, Councilor O'Malley, I see your light.

I'd like to take paper 153.26 from the table.

Okay, we just need a voice vote to remove that. Sorry, do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilor Winslow. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, that is removed from the table.

So I apologize, this is going to be complicated. because there's a lot of different things that we need to like incorporate into the conditions for this. All of the attachments have been uploaded thanks to the city clerk. to the paper. They're not necessarily all reflected in the physical copy you have in front of you, but they are all there on the digital copy. And so after a lot of back and forth between myself, National Grid, the building commissioner and the property owner, We are generally in agreement that the electrical equipment will be moved away from the sidewalk. It was originally going to be put on the south side of the property. but they can't put it there because of underground stormwater storage tanks. It now has to go to the northern portion of the property. as part of that, they are gonna be doing some screening to like, cause these are very big, ugly things.

So they're gonna be putting in some wooden, like cedar fencing around the equipment, around the dumpster, and they have agreed to do cedar wooden fencing around the north and west sides of the property to help with like buffering, noise and visibility of these ugly things. they have submitted a landscaping plan. There's a fencing plan that's included. And then there's a third thing, which is the final electrical equipment plan. which you don't see on your physical paper here. So what I would like to do is I would like to approve this petition with all the natural normal conditions that we put and that it will be per the plans when it comes to the landscaping, the fencing in the final electrical plan, subject to minor modifications

based on the reasonable review and approval of the ward councillor. Because trying to get all of these three plans to like be a final thing is kind of a work in progress. And the city clerk can attest that we just got the most recent plan a couple hours before this meeting. And so by making them conditions, I also talked to Michelle Romero, the city planner and our building commissioner We're also going to maybe start trying to put these entitlements into EnterGov so that when you look up a property, you can kind of get a full capture of everything. Because usually these type of things are in like a special permit or a site plan review or a building file. But we also grant things that have conditions. And so trying to capture that all in one place when I'm no longer here and the city clerk's no longer here,

Our current system depends on a lot of institutional knowledge and we kind of take it for granted that people are going to be here forever. So that would be my motion. My motion would be to approve with the traditional conditions that we put and that they will be according to the landscaping plan, the fencing buffer plan, and the final electrical plan subject to the minor modifications and the review and approval of the ward councillor.

Second. All right, so I'm going to read the whole thing, the usual. So what we typically would say would be a voice vote to grant the petition with the following conditions. Number one, that the engineer be called when DigSafe is notified. Number two, that the streets and sidewalks be restored to the satisfaction of the Director of Public Works. And then we'll add, number three, per the landscaping, fencing buffer, and electrical plans subject to the minor modifications and subject to the final review of the ward councilor.

Yeah, and I think the only thing when you say fencing, I would say wooden cedar fencing Plan. Just call out the specifics.

Wood and cedar fencing.

Yep. On the north and west side of the property.

Okay. Does everybody understand exactly what the vote is? Yes. Okay. and we can do a voice vote on this. So all in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

Thank you all for that.

That is granted. Great. Any personal privilege? Councilor Winslow.

Yeah, I just wanted to thank everybody who came out and made our fifth annual Maplewood Fest on Saturday very successful. Thanks to the Malden Cultural Council for sponsoring the grant. that our Maplewood Association helped put together and all the volunteers who helped that. Our Public Works ISD, Malden Police and Parking to get all the things to make it work well and be safe. and also the Malden Fire Department to be ready when there was a medical need there. So thanks to all that. Just a few other things. Just wanted to say to all the families of veterans who passed away, just that we send our sincerest regards related to Memorial Day coming up. I'm sure Councilor Crowe will have something to mention on that. And we want to thank all the volunteers who came out and helped our Veterans Service Department put flags in our cemetery.

So, you know, please go out and visit them and remember our service members who have come and served our our state and our city and our nation well. And it's really beautiful out there. So and then just for Ward 6 residents, just to give you a heads up, We are going to have our Independence Day celebration on July 3rd, which is a Friday from 9 to 1 at our regular time, but it's just going to be a day before 4th of July. So just get ready for that and reach out to me if you'd like to volunteer. and help out, thanks.

Thank you, Councilor Winslow. Councilor Simonelli.

Thank you, Madam President. Just two things. One is I just wanted to congratulate the Bambino family at the Italian Citizens Club this past weekend. This is the fourth annual event that they've had for their son who passed away four years ago with leukemia. So Paul was there. So it's a really big event, nice event the family does every year. We work with that family and we're also going to be planting or putting a bench at Harvard Street, Miller Park, whoever you want to call it. this summer in memorial for the son's name. The other thing is we have a tradition in Malden, particularly in Ward 7, on recognizing people who have grown up in that neighborhood and has made an impact in that neighborhood. And on May 31st, we'll be honoring a Rose Garden. Did we say what your name was again?

What name do we have for you to decide what name? I know we did. Today we just decided the name of it, but it's a tribute to women. Rose Garden at the corner of Henry, and Cross Street at the Lincoln Commons. I've been working alongside with the DPW, both Councilors Long and Taylor, and some of my other colleagues up here putting this event together. It should be a wonderful event. Rooted in Service is the name of the Rose Garden. So there were some good names, too. There were some really good ones, but I liked that one. But anyway, the three recipients are going to be Sue Thompson, Karen Anderson, and Bailey Weiss. Three people that had a lot of impact, a lot to do down in Ward 7. So we thought it would be a good tribute. to the people, the recipients and their families.

So we'll look at it on March, I'm sorry, May 31st, 11 a.m., which is a Sunday at that corner of Lincoln Commons. Everybody's invited to come on down. We have a coffee truck and some cannolis and all of us. and Councilor Luong has been working hard too in the language that I retail to Councilor Taylor has been providing to provide Blacks down there, so people that are waiting for the bus or hanging out around there can look at the impact that a few women have made in the city of Malden and particularly down in Ward 7. and I want to thank the DPW because they've been down there getting the benches ready and repointing the bricks and cleaning up the place and we still got a lot of work to do and we've but we're getting it done within two weeks.

So stay tuned, we'll send out some more stuff and I'm also doing my Fourth of July on the 3rd. Friday the 3rd, July. I think we're going to be doing ours later in the afternoon, but stay tuned. I'll post it. But I think we're going to be doing ours later in the afternoon instead of early in the morning. So they can come to both of ours if they want for that day. So thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate it.

Thank you, Councilor Simonelli. Councilor LeWong. Thank you so much. I also wanted to just remind everybody Porchfest May 30th and the Malden Lions Club will be having their mobile iMobile on City Hall Plaza. so that you can get a blood pressure check. You can get an eye screening. And I encourage everybody to come. It's free. And you can also, they'll have other information about the other things that the Lions is part of, from diabetes research on over to just general eye care. And also, if you have any eyeglasses that you would like to donate, you can also drop those off as well. Thank you.

Great. Thank you, Councilor LeWong. Councilor McDonald.

Yes, Porch Fest. I just wanted to share a few more highlights for our favorite citywide free community music festival. We have... We have performers and porches and sites all across the city in every ward. And just wanted to shout out a couple of the spots you can check out. There are six different block parties I see this year. And we have a lot of community collaborators who are hosting PorchFest sites, including Bike to the Sea at the Bike Kitchen, First Lutheran Church, in Malden, Idle Hands Craft Ales, Bread of Life, First Parish Malden, the Forestdale Community Church, Malden Pride Coalition is hosting a stage, There will be a stage at City Hall, as Councilor Long said, where we'll have youth performers and family performers. Our Bay State co-housing has a stage. and the Malden Irish American Club and Hugh O'Neill's also are hosting performers.

So go ahead and make sure you get out there and meet some neighbors. 12 to 6 on Saturday, May 30th. Hope to see you all out there. Thank you. Councilor O'Malley.

It was a busy weekend, y'all. I saw so many of you. and there were so many different events going on from the Haitian flag raising. And so I just wanted to thank to all the community groups that were making such a lively, a lively weekend, you know, Maplewood Fest, and also one of the coolest ones, they were all very cool, but one of the coolest ones was the Historical Society reenactments at Bell Rock Park. It was just so cool to see that, the smells, The sounds, it was like, you know, it was like very, very all encompassing. And so I just want to say thanks to all the community groups that make Malden such an exciting place to like go out and have fun on the weekends. So thank you to everyone.

Thank you, Councilor O'Malley. Councilor Winslow, one more time.

I just noticed what our animal control officer had dropped off, so I think this is a good announcement. Rabies clinic, this coming Saturday, May 23rd, from 10 to 1130 at the Malden Central Fire Station. So please come out if you need your animal vaccinated for rabies.

Okay, thank you, Councilor Winslow. And I am trying to find, my husband's going to kill me. I can't find the, the Malden Historical Society is doing an event on Memorial Day that my husband, who is a board member, is basically planning and hosting. It's at the Oh my God, he's literally gonna kill me when he gets home because I can't find the information. Okay, this might play a video and if it plays, I'm so sorry. Okay, it is Monday from four to six at the Rising Eagle Public House in Melrose. which was part of Malden at the time of the revolution before everybody gets upset about why it's happening in Melrose. They are going to be celebrating the 250th by reading Malden's town instructions. There's also going to be apps, trivia, and guest speakers. It's totally free and open to the public, and it's being hosted by the Historical Society. They're putting a lot of work into it, and they're looking forward to it, so come on down and have fun. if you're so inclined, it's going to be a blast. Seeing no other lights.

You do have, oh man, now last call and then everybody's got another idea.

McDonald, just two other things that I know are on our community calendar before our next event, our next Council meeting. One is the Memorial Day recognition, which is 10 a.m. at Forest Hill Cemetery. and the other is the Malden Pride flag raising, which I believe is 6 p.m. on Monday, June 1st at City Hall Plaza.

So, so important. Thank you for mentioning those. Okay, last call. Seeing no other lights, do we have a motion to adjourn? Okay, so moved by Councilor Simonelli, seconded by Councilor Luong. All in favor? Aye. We are adjourned at 8.18. Thank you, everyone.