Newton City Council - October 5, 2026

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Alright everyone, if we can grab our seats. Or at least get to our desks because we're going to launch right into the pledge. Councilor Lucas, if you wouldn't mind leading us?

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.

Thank you, sir. Just a couple of housekeeping items before we get into first call. We are being both audio and video recorded Joining us online from the Council, we have Councillor Wright. For those of you in the room who are using laptops or other devices, please make sure you're muted. We can do without the feedback tonight This evening, between first and second call I think everyone is aware we will have the long-term financial outlook. presented not only by our CFO, but Mayor Laredo. We also have just upcoming presentations again that are starting early. We have the CIP scheduled for Monday, the 19th of October, that is. That'll also start at 7 p.m.,

Again, between first and second call. We also have the annual tax classification hearing which is a public hearing on Monday November 16th that will also start at 7 p.m. Tonight we have one item on second call and I will introduce that item when it comes around. So let's get rolling with first call. Councilor Kelley for land use.

Thank you, Mr. President. Happy October everybody. The Land Use Committee report starts on page 196 of your booklet. We met on September 29th and we took up item number 208-26 which is a request to allow five attached single family dwellings in two buildings with associated dimensional and parking relief including reduced open space Reduce lot area, reduce side setbacks and parking within the front and side set backs at 83 Lexington Street. This was the second time it was before us and it was approved 8 to nothing. Next item was number 227-26, a request to exceed FAR and facade ratio at 22-24 Mechanic Street. That was also approved 8-0.

and our final item that night was number 304-26, a request to allow a combination of retaining walls exceeding four feet in height at 696 Dedham Street and that was a proved nothing. It was a really easy night. I do have- Don't jinx it. I know, I just have to acknowledge it. It smooth and quick and we were thrilled to be out of there before 10 or 11 o'clock I would like to request some public hearings.

Please proceed.

Thank you. I would The first one would be for item 309-26, which is a request to allow reduction in lot area and frontage at 62 Miller Road. Number 310-26, a request to allow retaining wall exceeding four feet in height at 9 Nardale Road. and finally, item number 311-26 which is a request to amend Special Permit 179-21 to allow valet parking oversized directional signs and a non-accessory directional sign at 777 Winchester Street. Some of us know that as the two life opus building, and that concludes my report. These are on page 202 by the way if your book thank you

Thank you. For Zoning and Planning,

Thank you, Mr. President. The committee report is on page 197. There were two items before us. One was acted on but still requires finance to vote so I won't report that and the other item was held.

Thank you, Mr. President. The report begins on page 197.

First two items were held. . Item 266-26, the appointment of Valerie Pontiff to the Newton Commonwealth Foundation was approved by a unanimous vote of five to zero. Item 267-26 the appointment to the Newton Commonwealth Foundation was approved by a vote of 6-0. And number 272-26, the appointment of Susan Eaton to the Human Rights Commission was approved 7-0 with that I would move the report.

Thank you, sir. For Public Safety and Transportation, Councilor Lucas.

Thank you President Oliver. The report begins at the bottom of page 198 The Public Safety and Transportation Committee met on September 23rd. The first item, 6226 that's on second call We then heard 275-26, John Ryan appeal of traffic council decision TC 15-26. that was approved as amended 6-1-1. The other two traffic council items were held and that concludes the report, thank you.

Thank you for public facilities Vice President Kalis.

Thank you, Mr. President. The report begins on the bottom page 199. The Public Facilities Committee met on 9-23-26 and we covered Item 273-26, Request to Revoke the Two Foot Rule Regarding Gas Company Non Emergency Grants Location. was held, 5-2. And then 298-26 request authorization to enter into an intermunicipal agreement public facilities approved 7-0 Grossman, and I think Finance will also talk about that one.

Thank you. Mayor Redekopff, Thank you, sir. For Finance, Councillor

Thank you, Mr. President. The report begins on page 200 and the committee met on September 28th. Our first item 252-26 was the CPC recommendation to appropriate $35,032 for the installation of permanent bike share infrastructure on two recreation sites that was approved eight to zero. and then item 298-26 requesting authorization to enter into an intermunicipal agreement for coordinated solid waste contract negotiations. That was approved eight to zero, and with that I move the report.

Thank you. For real property reuse, re-use. Councilor Malakie?

Thank you there is no report. Thank you can we get a roll call vote please

Albright. Aye. Councilor Baker? Aye. Bixby? Aye Block? Aye Charm? Aye Dahmubed? Aye Farrell? Aye

Aye with the exception of 275-26, which I vote no.

Councillor Gordon? Aye. Councillor Golden? Aye Councillor Greenberg? Aye Councilor Grossman? Aye. Councilor Irish? Aye with the exception of item 275-26, which I vote no. Kalis, Kelley, Krintzman, Leary, Lucas, Malakie Micley, Councilor Roche? Aye. Councilor Silber? Aye Councilor Wright? Aye President Oliver? On this motion, the ayes are 23. One member is absent there are exceptions noted on item 275-26 two members voting no.

Motion carries

I wrote down 275, 26 and 255. Did I get that wrong? It's both 255? Both 275. Okay, just making sure. Right? All set? All right. Apologies for that. Alright, so I'd like to entertain a motion to suspend our rules so we can allow Mayor Laredo and CFO Lemieux inside the rail. May I have a motion to suspend our rules? Great, need a second? Fantastic, thank you. All those in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. Could I ask Councillors Grossman and Bixby to bring in our guests please? and while they are heading over to the mayor's office to bring them into the chamber,

I'd also like to invite, I think I saw Superintendent Nolan as well as anyone from the school committee to join us inside the rail as well.

Good. I love being back up here. I'm ready to use my gavel and everything, so good evening. Tonight, I am pleased to present Newton's fiscal year 2028-2032 five-year forecast and at the same time our fiscal year 2028 to 2037 long range financial plan. As we prepared these documents, My team and I remain guided by three key goals that define our mission. Providing an excellent education

for every single one of our children, delivering outstanding city services and continuing to build a strong and connected community. To achieve these goals, we grounded our work in prudent fiscal management. Last year during the development of the 2027 budget We implemented three actions that continue to shape this plan. First, we committed to forecasting approximately 99% of anticipated revenues This is a disciplined approach. Forecasting too aggressively risks mid-year freezes and cuts,

forecasting to conservatively risk under-investing in essential services. By budgeting at 99%, We preserve stability while ensuring we have the resources to invest in our schools, our people and city services. We took swift action to pursue authorization for pension obligation bonds, a strategy that could provide flexibility in our operating budget while ensuring long-term Pension Stability. With this city council's overwhelming support, for which I am very grateful for the partnership Senator Cream and Representatives Lawn, Sangiolo and Schwartz have been advancing this request on Beacon Hill.

Once we get this authority We are tracking interest rates carefully. And when the time is right, we'll return to the city council for approval to issue these bonds. Again, let me be clear. We are coming back before the council and we're only going to do it at a time when interest rates are favorable. That's why this third Everything that we did last year is so important. We extended the full funding schedule for the Newton Retirement System to 2035, Working with the board of trustees or the retirement plan, we supported a measured increase in the COLA base to ensure fairness for retirees and the city council voted to approve that increase.

This adjustment has proven to be quite beneficial, it provided roughly five million in budget relief helping us fund our ongoing pension obligations responsibly, but also gave us the flexibility to wait. to issue pension obligation bonds until the time is right to do so. Combined, these steps allowed us to submit a historic increase to the Newton Public Schools budget for fiscal year 2027. and properly fund our core city services. Those investments are now built into our budget baseline thereby strengthening our foundation for the years ahead.

As we developed our long-range financial plan, we focused on what matters most because after all, our budget reflects our values. We are committed to preparing our children for success with excellent academic programs robust extracurricular opportunities and a safe, inclusive school environment. We are equally committed to delivering reliable effective services for our residents. Our plan provides the resources needed for public safety, infrastructure maintenance, trash and recycling

resilient climate planning and implementation, safe multimodal transportation, and well-maintained parks and public spaces. This plan also supports technology investments that make us more efficient and expand the role of using data in our decision making. At the same time, we are enhancing our support for our vibrant business community, arts and culture, parks and recreation, and the important work happening at the Cooper Center for Active Living to strengthen the fabric of Newton. But robust economic development in arts and culture are not just critical to the fabric our great city,

but they also serve as an important vehicle for supporting city finances. Strong economic development, vibrant arts and culture is good for the city's budget and that's one of the many reasons we're gonna continue to actively promote that work. But, that's not all. As we complete our most recent construction work with a renovated Horace Mann Elementary School up and running. And for those of you who haven't been there yet, please go! It is amazing and we are gonna be opening a new Franklin and Countryside Elementary Schools this winter. At the same time, we are turning to the next round of building projects as we must.

A new police headquarters substantial renovations to Newton South High School, a new ward and a new Underwood Elementary school. plus working with the school committee to lay the foundation for an MSBA supported new Brown Middle School. While any future major building initiatives will require debt exclusion overrides, Debt exclusion overrides also serve a salutary purpose in connection with our operating budget. Because quite simply, money that you would otherwise spend on leaking roofs are old boilers in really buildings that have outlived their useful life. can be used instead to support our operating budget.

So, instead of taking those funds and kind of putting them in the old buildings we get to use those same funds to support out operating budget Now we do all of this work while constantly, constantly, consistently reviewing how we can deliver city services more efficiently and effectively including using technology and, where appropriate, AI. We are committed and I'm gonna say this again, we are committed to ensuring that our residents' and businesses' tax dollars are spent wisely and carefully. Let me close with this before I turn this over to Chief Financial Officer Lemieux. A well managed

Fiscally sound city is essential to delivering the high quality services our residents expect. It allows us to support our schools, maintain safe neighborhoods, grow our local economy and invest in our infrastructure responsibly. We will continue to make smart, sustainable financial decisions We will remain vigilant stewards of every single taxpayer dollar entrusted to us. And we will invest thoughtfully in Newton's future with care, integrity and a deep commitment to the people of this truly great city.

With that, I'd like to turn this over to Chief Financial Officer Maureen Lemieux. Thank you.

Did you want to go?

Good evening, everyone. Mayor Laredo, President Oliver, Vice President Kalis, President Emeritus Baker, all of the members of the City Council, Superintendent Nolan, members of The School Committee people in the audience here and people who are at home watching What we hope is really a very informative evening. It is always my pleasure to stand here in October to talk about what our five-year financial forecast looks like and our long range plan. and so I will get right to it. What are we going to cover tonight? We're gonna talk about, you just heard the mayor talking about his three overarching goals Those are the tenets of his administration. I do expect that you will hear these three goals mentioned often over the next few years. We'll talk about our fiscal 27 budget initiatives and where we stand with how those have played out.

We will talk for a few minutes about understanding our revenue forecast, Funding our expenditures and what we will be doing as we move forward over these next few years. Our three overarching goals, as the mayor said, providing excellent education for all of our children. It absolutely always has to be the top goal for any city if we're expecting to bring forward a sustainable, viable well-run community. Providing outstanding city services are also absolutely critical and building community So let's talk about for a minute, if we may what happened when we put our fiscal 27 budget together. What our initiatives were

how we expected them to institute long-range substantive change, these three different initiatives, how they will factor into the forecast that will be in front of you and really everything that we do over Budgeting 99% of our anticipated revenues, requesting an extension of our pension liability fully funded date to 2035 and securing authorization to sell a pension obligation bond. So understanding our revenues. What did we do when we put the 27 budget together? We took a hard look at our reserve for abatements and overlay. a highly respected assessing department here in the city of Newton. We have very, very few property owners who file for abatements.

And so we lowered our expectation in that budget to only three quarters of 1% of the tax levy, that we set aside for all people who might question and their tax assessments. Per our financial management guidelines, we added $1.5 million worth of free cash into our budget that is something that we have going forward in each year of this forecast we increased our interest income budget by a million dollars to something that is, we think reasonable. It's aggressive but it's reasonable and it's responsible. We increased our motor excise taxes we increased our building permit revenues. All of these increases that we did are now baked in to our forecast as we are moving forward. We are building on all of these, and so while we were able to see an increase in our fiscal 27 a bit more of jump in the percentage

increase in the budget. Now these are all baked into it, so they're part of the base. We won't see these increases as percentage growth over the next few years but their part of our base. When we forecast our revenues, what are three of the most important things that we look at? Interest income from our investments. In fiscal 23, we saw a significant uptick in what we were receiving for our interest income. That number peaked in fiscal 24 at $14 million. If you look back, we have more than a decade when we had practically no interest income from our investments. We are now looking at that number. We saw it decline to 12 million in fiscal 25, to about 10 million in Fiscal 26. We were expecting it to drop a little bit further this year.

However, we have adjusted our forecast the yellow line on all of these slides are this year's budget, the blue line is if we have changed our forecast to date based on the actions that were taken by the Federal Reserve Board a few weeks ago with their quarter of a point percent increase and the expectation that they may do something similar again before 26 is over. We have adjusted our forecast for our interest income For the following five years of this forecast, though, we are forecasting $7.5 million per year. Again, as I say it's aggressive but it's responsible. The Fed has been talking about and we will watch this very, very carefully. But the goal is to have 2 1⁄2% interest rates

We have about $300 million that we invest on a daily basis, that the investment income goes to the general fund. $300 at two and half percent is seven and a half million dollars. Hopefully, as I said we will watch this if we see any signs that interest rates are declining faster than anticipated. We will work very quickly to adjust this number. Our building permits are one of the other key numbers that we look at. We have had very strong building permit numbers over the past several years, you can see since fiscal 22 we have been at or above $12 million in each of the years for our building permit revenue. That includes our electrical permits, our plumbing and gas permits so it's the whole group but we have been hovering at or above 12 million dollars a year.

This year, and so as again we're aggressive in what we're looking at going forward but we think we're being very responsible. This year again the blue line you see has increased. We know that we have many projects that are beginning to come to fruition. They are working their way through the permitting process, we're not at the point where we're seeing new growth yet from them but we know that we have Northland. We have 11 Florence Street, we have 528 Boylston Street, 78 Crafts Street, Riverside, 38 Crafts and several other substantial projects not of the same magnitude as some of these, but they're substantial. And so these are all incredibly important and so we are optimistic that while we've put a forecast together that we think is still conservative enough, we are optimistic that we will have good solid revenue numbers in this area.

The third revenue that we look at that we take incredibly seriously is the increase that we receive from new growth or redevelopment. We are virtually a fully built out city, so all of our growth here comes from redevelopment. This year, our new growth number was just certified a couple of weeks ago. It was actually at 1.36%, which is the lowest that we've had in the last 14 years. Now, I might be worried about that except for the slide that I just showed you. And so what we are forecasting at this point in time is a 1.3% increase each year in new growth from redevelopment we have all of these other projects that are out there. We don't know, things can change on a dime really with the feds increasing the interest rates some of these projects could slow a bit

They may happen in 27. They may get their permits in 27, but not be as aggressive in their construction. We don't know those things, but what we do know is these projects are going forward We are confident in especially Northland 78 Crafts, 38 Crafts Boylston Street, Florence Street. We've seen the construction happening at those sites and so we are very optimistic that there will be room for improvement in our forecast as we move forward based on all of these projects. The reason this is all so important is because for those of you who have been around for a long time, you know that whenever I put together a forecast I am always incredibly aggressive in trying to see how much we can appropriate for whether it's the Newton Public Schools, our departments.

The work that we can do in pensions, what we can with our debt service and we have to at this point in time always be conservative with what we're looking at for the revenue growth. This is what pushes us to really do the best job that we can. And so it's important that as I'm... sharing this with you tonight that we know that we have certainly upsides to these forecasts. That was all part of our initiative about revenues, 99% of what we are anticipating. The second initiative that we had during our FY27 budget preparation was extending the pension funding schedule That move provided $5 million worth of relief when we put our fiscal 27 budget together. that's again the yellow line. We took that budget relief, that is now again baked into our forecast.

The funding schedule that the retirement board has set is now as we move forward a 3.6% increase annual increase in the pension funding. That is certainly far less of a challenge than the 6.6% was prior to this spring, but it's certainly still a number that increases every year. The one highlight that I will point to on this is when the retirement board took their vote, they wanted to make sure that they weren't just fully funding the pensions for 2035 but they wanted just in case our investment assumptions didn't materialize for our pension funding. And so there's a significant buffer in fiscal 35

We may not see any relief in the next few years with this, but if our investments hold true there may very well be some budgetary relief in a few years. depending on what happens with our investments. Our third initiative was securing authorization for a pension obligation bond. Obviously, I'm sure you all recall in fact it was the night that we presented the budget. In the spring, you all voted to support us seeking a special act so that we would have the authorization to issue a pension obligation bond. Since that point in time, we've been working with Senator Cream and Representative Sangiolo, Schwartz, and Long to move that through Beacon Hill. We're still waiting for the final resolution on that. It has not made its way completely through Beacon Hill,

However, even if we were to find out tomorrow that we had the authorization to move forward with our pension obligation bond, unfortunately The current market is such that a pension obligation bond is not viable at this point in time. It is a taxable bond, and so where we just sold our bonds for Franklin and Countryside a few weeks ago, and we sold those at 4.21%, These are taxable bonds, and so we would need to add a point to a point-and-a-half onto that number. Which means we would be paying well probably at least 5.5%, if not even more, for a pension obligation bond. We need to know that there is room between our revenue assumptions for our pension system and what we would be earning on our are paying for our pension bond.

So they are not viable, the state would not approve it even though after we get the enabling legislation we still need approval from the Secretary of Administration and Finance at the state level, they would not give us approval at this point in time. However we are cautiously optimistic that within the next couple of years there will be a time when a pension bond makes sense. And so in the meantime, we still have a tremendous amount of work to do. What we will be doing is once the city secures the authorization we will be working hand in hand with our financial advisors so that we are teeing everything up. We will also approach the state and start having conversations with the state, so that the city of Newton is ready when it's time for us to move forward that we will be ready to come back to you as a council. You will still have one more bite at this apple to approve it but we will have, we will teeing everything up over the next year or so.

So what ended up happening, just to conclude with our initiatives for substantive change? Well the budgeting at 99% gave us $5 million more in revenue on our 27 budget. Moving the funding schedule for pensions to 2035 gave us $5 million worth of budget relief, which enabled us to put forward the budget that we did last spring. Our pension obligation bond at the moment is not viable. However, as I said we are gonna continue to work on that because if we are able to secure a pension obligation bond, we will hopefully see as much as $10 million a year in budget relief. And so that certainly is a big piece of what we are trying to accomplish going forward. preparing our expenditure forecast. Again, our three overarching goals providing excellent education, outstanding city services and building community

and so what have we done on the education front? As you know, we said it in the spring. The mayor mentioned it again. Mayor was able to bring forward a historic increase in the Newton Public Schools budget we were able to bring forward a $21.6 million increase over the actual budget for 26 We all had conversations about what we use free cash for and what we didn't in 26, but the actual increase in the budget was $21.6 million or 7.38%. So what are we looking to do in this forecast? We are certainly looking to use the NPS Educational Stabilization Fund over the next few years. We will be coming to you sometime in the next month or two or three to look to add more money to our stabilization fund because that has been a very good option for us to be able to support the Newton Public Schools.

We are looking at, so we have the 7.38% for fiscal 27. The mayor has committed to the school department to increase their appropriation by 4.9% in each of the next two years and then as we get further out into our forecast, right now we're assuming 4.5, four and a quarter and 4% as we got further out in our forecast In addition to those numbers, we are planning to work. We've had conversations with the superintendent and the school committee. We are planning together with NPS so that we can address their $2.5 million carry forward issue where they actually take two and a half million dollars of the budget that they received this year, and more or less have to save it to be used next year.

It's not a great practice, it's not something that we ever should be doing and so we are committed to working with the Newton Public Schools to eliminate the carry forward over the next three years. Our city services, providing outstanding city services. As the mayor said commitment to our values that's what you will see as we're moving forward throughout the forecast providing unparalleled public safety, maintaining our infrastructure, encouraging robust economic development, offering a wealth of community services assuring financial stability, providing transparency in all that we do and treating each and every resident with respect and dignity. Moving forward, what can you expect to see? What will we be doing in the background? First thing we will be doing is we will do everything we can to optimize our financial stability. New growth from redevelopment is always, I've said this every year.

I think in the 17 times now that I've done a forecast in front of you for anyone who's been... Councilor Baker, you've been here over the 17 years. Councilor Albright, you have too. You've heard me say this every year. New growth from redevelopment is the most important number that we track every year Moving forward with our pension obligation bond, we will be teeing it up so that we are ready to go when it makes sense for the city. We will communicate with you clearly and candidly on everything that we're doing and we clearly, we want to do so much. There's always only so much money but we will make every effort that we can to really communicate with you everyone knows what's going on. We will be realistic and we will be transparent, we will strive to make continuous progress on our three overarching goals

We will implement cost-saving strategies wherever we can, and we will spend every taxpayer's dollars wisely. That is our commitment to you. That is what we will be focused on. I hope you enjoy the forecast, we have shrunk it down a bit so that hopefully people will be able to actually read through it and get through it. And really, this is a snippet of what you will find in that booklet. We really hope that you'll be able at least skim it and look at the charts and really understand where it is that we think we're going over the next few years. And with that, Mr. President I thank you for giving us the opportunity to present this.

Councillors, if we could escort our mayor and CFO out of the chamber. Thank you. And we're just going to take a couple minutes to reset before we get to second call. Thank

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

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Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, if we could grab our seats please. Are you really going to make me use the gavel? They're gonna make me

That's fine. In theory, we're supposed to. We were supposed to at the first item. So it's fine just asking questions simply because...

Fair enough. Sorry folks, can we grab our seats please? All right, we have one item on second call this evening. And I think the easiest way to roll with this Councilor, you're going to be reading this into the full record anyway right? The full item. So I'll just turn the microphone over to you sir. Councilor Lucas

Thank you, President Oliver. Welcome, everyone. We're going to talk one thing about the overnight parking ban. It's been three years since this item last appeared at the full council, I believe. So here I go. The committee met on Wednesday, September 23rd where we took up item 6226 which is a discussion in possible changes to the overnight parking ban. This was the ninth time this term, the committee discussed this item. And since the end of the summer, the Committee has been going through each of the recommendations that were offered by the Overnight Parking Ban Working Group COO Josh Morse provided an update on the expansion of city-owned parking lots, stating that the administration will have a final list of parking lots for this upcoming winter Parking Ban in early November.

He also stated that the administration has a lot of questions and concerns on exempting streets and neighborhoods from the parking ban, For this winter, the administration does not want to see streets exempted but that doesn't mean it will never happen. Just not this winter. A more detailed response is provided in the September 23rd PS&T report which is in the Friday packet. But on the 23rd of September, the committee discussed amending Ordinance 19-175 , which currently allows the Traffic Council to authorize overnight parking during the winter parking ban in perpendicular on-street parking stalls. This means that overnight parking is allowed in on-street perpendicular parking stalls

on Chestnut Street in Upper Falls. This is the site of the Upper Falls Village Day and a permit is required to do so. the working group's recommendation was to amend the ordinance 19-175 per NC, to include angled street parking stalls. The two handouts on your desk are the red line ordinance and the council order. These two items are included in the report. With an affirmative vote tonight, the Traffic Council would have the authority to allow overnight angled street parking throughout Newton. You may ask Where is their angled street parking? The locations include Albemarle Road in Newtonville, which was the working group's intent.

Washington Street in Newtonville, across from the Rice Valley Chez Empanada building abutting the train tracks over there. Auburn Street in Auburndale, Beacon Street in Wobbin and ComAv in between Center Street and Grant Avenue. Also, with an affirmative vote tonight the Ward 2 Councilors will co-docket an item in Traffic Council so that the Traffic Council can allow overnight angled street parking on Albemarle Road in the parking stalls closest to Craft Street on a one-year trial basis. These would be permitted by the police department. This location is not used by teachers and staff at the day school or the Newton Early Childhood Program. The vote in committee was six in favor, one opposed and that concludes the report. Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

I'm assuming we might have one or two of those. Anyone with any questions, comments on that? Councilor Kalis followed by Councilor Albright.

Can you just say why is this on second call?

I'm asking you. I believe that's for you, Councillor Lucas.

Why is this one second call I put this on second call because I wanted to advise the council of what exactly we are doing with an affirmative vote, and I wanted give an update on this. That's why I put it on second-call.

Albright, followed by Councilor Baker.

I don't have a question. I just wanted to say this is definitely a step in the right direction. It does not solve the problem for so many residents of Newton, but it's a good...I plan to vote for it, but we need to do more and we need

Councilor Baker, followed by Councilors Block then Getz.

So thank you Mr. President I appreciate the chair putting this on second call for public information purposes as well as the information of the council and as I understand it and what is being proposed, the language wasn't entirely clear. Is those spaces that are currently angle parking could be is in addition rather than just those that are perpendicular, but not the creation of new angle parking spaces. That's a whole other conversation as I understand it and just want to clarify that through you Mr. President to the Chair. Is that an accurate summary?

Chair Lucas?

This does not create new angle parking opportunities for which overnight parking could be undertaken. Those spaces already set aside for angle parking could, in addition to those which are perpendicular, could be considered for an overnight parking permit.

Yes, this ordinance does not create angled parking. It's just the ones that exist would be eligible

And then the Traffic Council would still have to act on it.

And the Traffic Counsel would still vote for it, and any and all Traffic Council decisions are subject to an appeal by this body.

Thank you for the clarification. And I just want to commend the committee for its thoughtfulness and restraint on this. I know there are divided opinions around But I do think the voters had spoken on this item, so I think careful work and restraint is in order. Thank you so much.

Councilor Block followed by Councilors Getz then Malakie

Thank you, Mr. President I voted against this matter in committee partly because the question which Councillor Baker raised, I thought was not really clearly addressed. There's nothing stopping the city from creating new angled or perpendicular parking. which my reading of this proposed ordinance would all of a sudden make them eligible for this provision. I don't think that's the intent, but I think that could happen. It's also not the intent as Councilor Lucas has said to approve this for any other Angled or perpendicular parking besides Albemarle. and therefore I thought we should just mention Albemarle. That's the point, and that's fine. We all agree to that.

Albemarre is the only location of all of these angled or perpendicular parking locations where There are no residential buildings and there are no commercial buildings. So we just had to make sure that teachers Other users of this space weren't going to be adversely affected. Every single one of the other situations are far more complicated It didn't seem to me to be logical to include them even by implication. I did not put this matter on second call. I was not even particularly gonna talk about it this evening, but since it is I will be voting against it. I wish it were more specific to Albemarle, I think that would make this a better amendment and that's all I have to say thank you

Getz, followed by Councilor Malakie.

Thank you Mr. President I am concerned you know I'm supportive of the idea but we in Waban have a pretty tight construct with our angle parking A strip that's probably 15 feet wide, and then we have all of our commercial block. So for it to be parked and then prohibiting the clearing in a snowstorm would not be a good idea. So I do think that if there's an opportunity to amend this and to suggest that somewhere we add not abutting residential or commercial parcels, that would be supportive. So I'm certain in terms of looking at the language here, I think that I would need to identify where in that sentence, that first sentence you would want to add that. So I'm looking for an amendment. And so in terms of we need to sort of discuss where that would be added.

If I may, before we get to any amendment just a quick question to the chair for clarification. Could you talk about the overlap or how this particular change would be impacted by or would overlap with the city's snow removal plan for emergency snow removal. Sorry, it's my understanding. I'll try and rephrase that. It's my understand that the emergency snow removal procedures and plans would still be in place at a certain hour regardless if anyone is parked in these spots. In other words, they'd have to move their vehicles in order for these spots to be cleared. Can you please confirm that?

Yes, all other city regulations and ordinances apply. This would just again the ordinance doesn't mean there will be parking on Albemarle or Beacon Street or Comm Ave. It just gives Traffic Council the authority, period. Everything else still applies. If we get three feet of snow in a couple of days, those cars are gonna have to move or otherwise they're subject to towing. Is that... answer your question? I don't know if it addresses your question.

I just wanted to clarify that because I heard Councilor Getz including that in what it is you wanted to kind of think about making an amendment around or did I mishear you?

Correct. I was not even wanting them to be situated or parked in that spot, you know, to begin with. So I don't even want them to have the authority to be able to park there, you being exempted and being allowed to park during, because this in my mind would allow that.

So again so my understanding I'll try and say that slightly differently What I'm hearing is you would like to have that or those spaces in Waban along Beacon removed from eligibility to be turned into overnight parking. All right, are you making that motion? All right we have a motion on the floor I'm going to need a second for that do i have a second We have a second, there we go. So yeah- Point of order.

I am unclear what this amendment is.

All right it's my understanding that Councilor Getz is asking or recommending, right? An amendment to remove the spots that you talked about along Beacon Street in Waban from being eligible for the Traffic Council to convert them to overnight parking. Do I have that part correct, Councillor Getz? Okay. Now we would have to talk about the language for that. because my understanding of the read, and I don't have this language in front of me so I apologize for that. But it's my understanding that current angled parking would be made available through the Traffic Council process to be turned into eligible overnight parking by permit. True, false?

I'm very uncomfortable with the proposed amendment. I could go into reasons why, but I don't think that's why I'm standing right now. Again, I am still very unclear what Councilor Getz is proposing I just don't get it. You want to either write it out, what is that you're asking? To remove... the dozen or so parking stalls on Beacon Street in the Wobbin Village Center from The Ordnance.

That is my understanding, but Councilor Getz for clarification.

Thank you Mr. President. What I'm trying to do in that first line in the language that's in front of us right now I think the best way to address this, now I don't know in terms of the five sites that you mentioned. the traffic council might designate one or more on street angle parking areas or portions that what I would like to put in there, at the end of that phrase with the exception or not eligible abutting commercial parcels. Do you understand what I'm trying to do here? I'm trynna exclude commercial. If the angle parking is abutting commercial parcels, I'm tryin' to exclude them from even being permitted into this.

Right, which is a little bit different than what I heard before. So okay.

Well, rather than the specificity of Beacon Street, I would like move it up a level and just say that the ineligible ones are abutting commercial parcels.

So the map in my head says that would not include the parking stalls on or in Upper Falls, correct?

That's not commercial.

That's my point. It would not include those.

Correct. The only ones I want to include are the ones that are in that strip of angle parking in front of the strong block. Right. Yep.

Councilor Baker?

Mr. President, I really appreciate the work that's been put into this but as I'm hearing the question about how this language works I'm wondering whether it'd be in the interest of the council to postpone this item until the next meeting and allow the language to be worked out rather than to try and do it on the floor tonight, depending on the sense of the council. For example as I read this language it just says that angle parking areas include, but are not limited in which perpendicular the curb but that doesn't say the effect on these particular streets and I have some misgivings about the one in Commonwealth Avenue is designed appropriately for that purpose. So I'm not sure this language does what is intended, but I understand the intent of the committee

but I'm not sure the language does what it intends and it also doesn't seem to give a place for clarifying the aspects that Councilor Getz and I would be concerned about. but I don't think it's a wise use of the council's time to try and sort that out on the fly tonight if we can find a way to figure it out, and then decide what to do at the next meeting. But I yield on that process in fact frankly to the chair because he and his committee have worked so hard on this, but I'm just not sure the language does what is intended in the current framing of it. So if anyone else has any additional information, I'd be receptive to that. Thank you. All right. Well, I want to see where the council goes but I would be receptive to postponing until the next meeting. I don't think I wanna charter this item. Just a chance to work out the questions that have been asked.

Councilor Block has asked questions, Councilor Getz has asked question and there may be ways to frame this so we can get it done quickly but not try and do it tonight on the floor

I appreciate that. And I'm going to go back to the original list now. Does anybody, like before I go back the Councilor Malakie and then Councilor Farrell Is there any other conversation about that particular comment from either Councilor Getz or Baker? Councilor Albright.

So I think Councilor Lucas can corroborate what I'm saying or not. I think the language gives the authority to the Traffic Council to do something or not, it's not saying The Traffic Council must do this. It's saying the Traffic Council can do this, they can discuss it, they could have people from Ward 5 and people from ward 7 come and say no don't do this in my ward I don't want it but it also gives the authority to the Traffic Council to set limits. For example, you can have overnight parking but your car has to be out of the angled parking by nine o'clock in the morning so the Traffic Counsel can do a lot here but they can't do anything without the authorization of the council to change this ordinance. So I think that this is just an authorization, it's not actually passing anything

and I think we should let the Traffic Council have the opportunity to bring more people into that, excuse me, into the conversation. And people from other wards can come and say yes or no

Well, I agree that this does not... established angled parking as overnight parking, whether for visitors or residents. I do think however that it's a legitimate motion to modify whatever it is that we pass so that the Traffic Council is abiding by council guidelines through this ordinance.

Yeah, my point was I was trying to... not allay the fears, but tell the people from other wards that there is an opportunity to come to the traffic council and say no I don't want this. Yes, I do want this This is not a mandate that it should be done. That's all.

Well said, thank you. So I'm gonna go back to my original list. The next person on my list was Councilor Malakie followed by Councilors Farrell then Leary.

Okay, so I think just I want to confirm that I've got this right. So as things stand now in It's the traffic council that approves or disapproves new angle parking areas. and that's the way it's been. I'm seeing a shaking head there.

I am going to ask Councillor Lucas to address that because he seems to have the answer.

Traffic Council right now only has the authority to authorize perpendicular parking stalls, and there's only one such location in Newton that has that. That's Chestnut Street and Upper Falls. Again, an affirmative vote will give them the authority to allow angled parking stalls into this program.

Okay, so there's two separate questions. One is creating new angled parking spaces itself, and then a second question would be whether to include it in the winter overnight parking program.

Councilor Lucas?

Again, this does not create angled parking. I cannot state that enough. We are not creating angled parking, I think Councilor Baker asked that question first This is just to allow Traffic Council to exempt angled parking into this program.

I think you meant included into the program, but got you.

This is a little awkward going back and forth. But as I read this handout, this is the current ordinance where it says The Traffic Council shall determine upon what streets angle parking shall be permitted, and the Commissioner of Public Works shall mark or sign such streets. So it sounds like however we define angle parking right now We're letting the Traffic Council create it anywhere? Am I the only one confused?

No, I don't think you are. But Council Lucas any final comment on that or we good with that?

Again, Councilor Malakie and everyone else. We are not creating angled parking. The angle parking that exists right now it exists as it is this just allows traffic council to exempt the angle parking that exists in Newton. It allows them into this overnight, call it parking program.

All right, so I've been reminded three times that I do have a motion on the floor. So we can either get to that motion first or we can have a couple of additional comments, then take up the motion and then any amended item or the final item or any additional motions that might be relevant. So from here, in my infinite wisdom what I would like to do is I've got two additional comments that I'd like to hear before we get to the actual motion. because I do believe that there is a lot, a lot that does need to be worked out here. I'm not hearing very precise language yet that would be the amendment

and I would love to get to the right language here that we'd all be happy voting on, not only as an amendment but the full item. So with that said, Councilor Farrell?

Thank you, President Oliver. I have a couple of very simple questions on the original item. How many angled parking spaces exist? What are we talking about? And then with respect to the motion, because I think they're integrated. How many of them face commercial areas and would be removed from the original discussion if we approve the motion? Then thirdly, just quickly, I think we need to give the Traffic Council as much guidance as we possibly can. Thank you.

Councilor Lucas, do you happen to know the count of angled parking spaces that this could impact?

I do not have the count but Albemarle Road is what a hundred maybe give or take Beacon Street is about a dozen, maybe. More than a dozen? I don't know. Washington Street in Newtonville won't be eligible for at least two and a half years, and I don' t know what the T is gonna do because the T doesn't know what it's going to do. ComAv, in between Center and Grant. seven, eight. That's my guess and did I get them all? And then Auburn Street in Auburndale 28. Thank you. I think all of them but a business use zone.

with the exception of Albemarle Road and Washington Street in Newtonville. But Auburn Street, Beacon Street, Comm Ave those are all they all I think I don't know about Comm Ave but Auburndale and Beacon Street and Wobbin, those about business use zones. Does that answer your question? I don't have a number.

Baker. No?

Yes? Mr. Chairman, I grant you that this is an issue that is a very small one in the terms of numbers but I think, and the committee's worked hard. But I wonder if in fact it would be in the interest of the council to postpone it so that people get a chance to look at the language and look at ordinance and see if there are any categorical exclusions they want to move as opposed to trying to do it in the conversation tonight. So I'm going to move postponement and certainly members of council can vote against that if they feel they'd like to finish this up tonight, but just to clarify what our process is.

That's fair. And if I may, can I ask just a quick question about your motion? does that require, yes sir your motion right now. Does that require a vote immediately or do we finish conversation and then take up the motion to?

Well I'm not sure of the emotion if I think the other motion may Be amended by this, I think you have the opportunity to take up a postponement. And I certainly don't want to charter something like this. I think that the council's will should be controlling and that's why I think If it may clarify the process and get it done, I hope that the chair would entertain this first before the amendment. Because I think the amendments could flow out of the opportunity to get this clarified.

I am inclined to do that simply because we need language, or we would benefit from counts of angled parking spots that this would be impacting. With that said, I do have a motion on the floor. Councilor Getz are you willing to kind of allow Councilor Baker's motion to go ahead first? Okay. Does that make sense to everyone here or do I still have hands in the air tonight? I have Councilor Leary, go right ahead. And then we're gonna take up Councilor Baker's motion.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. Just in general I do think this is a good first step and I commend the chair for doing the hard work on this I see this, I had one question and then a couple of comments. I think it's been clear that if the city council approves this and I'm fine with the postponement too so that everyone has the information they need, but still must go through traffic council. And I think that's a really important thing to understand In that case, I don't think we need amendments to go ahead and exempt certain parts of the city on this. I think that would be the role of the Traffic Council. Also, my question is, and I think you mentioned this Mr. Chair, is you would need a permit to park overnight in these areas?

And did you also say that this was a trial Okay, so those are a trial. Like a year long trial? No it's not a trial, it would be permanent. Can I answer that?

Councilor Lucas please confirm that yes.

This would be a permanent ordinance change. The item in traffic council would be one year trial.

Okay, thank you that answers my questions. Thank you very much.

All right, so with that said, Councilor Getz has removed her motion. We have a motion on the table to postpone this item I'm going to take a roll call. Actually, I need a second on that motion first. Seconded? Great. And tenthed. Okay, great. With that said, I'd like the roll call vote on the motion to postpone.

Albright, Baker, Bixby, Block, Charm, Dahmubed, Farrell. Getz, Aye. Councilor Golden?

No.

Counciler Gordon? Aye. Councillor Greenberg? No Councilor Grossman? Aye. Councilor Irish? Aye. Councillor Kalis? Aye Councillor Kelley? No. Councillor Krintzman? Leary, Aye. Councilor Lucas?

No.

Council Malakie? Aye. Councillor Micley? Aye Councilor Roach? No Councilor Silber? No Councilor Wright. Councilor, can you repeat your vote please?

Aye.

Thank you. President Oliver. Aye. On this motion, the ayes are 16. The nays are 8. Motion carries.

All right before we adjourn on that particular item if anyone else has open questions about this item, the conversation that was held at PSNT. Please get them to the chair so that they have an opportunity to fold them into their conversations before we come back to this item. Does that make sense everyone? Great. Thank you so much. Councilor Lucas, do you have a motion?

Motion to adjourn.

We are adjourned folks. Have a lovely night.

Thanks for watching!

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and so on.