Finance Committee

Thank you all. Good evening. I'm Ben Wheeler, he, him pronouns, Councilor-at-Large and Finance Committee Chair. It is 6.02 p.m. and I'd like to call to order the Tuesday, April 7, 2026 meeting of the Finance Committee of the Somerville City Council. Pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025, this meeting of a City Council committee will be conducted via remote participation. We will post an audio recording, audio-video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Somerville website and local cable access government channels. We are joined by Clerk Madeline Letelier. Clerk, could you please call the roll to establish quorum?

This is roll call. Councilor Link?

Here.

Councilor Strezo? Opposed. Councilor Hardt? Here. Councilor Scott?

Present.

And Councilor Wheeler?

Present. And if you would give me just one moment. Hi, Councilor Strezo.

Sure. And with four Councilors present, we have quorum.

All right. Well, you know what? While Wheeler is doing this, we can just go ahead and read in the first item, which is the minutes from the meeting of March 24th, 2026. Is there any comment on those minutes? Alright, then seeing none, I'll lay those items on the table for approval at the end of the meeting and a roll call vote. All yours, Mr. Chair.

Thank you so much, Vice Chair. Councilor Strezo is in the meeting. It's that annoying thing where sometimes, and this might be based on which email address the account's connected to, Councilor Strezo's in the attendees. Clerk, is it possible to promote... Yes. Thank you so much.

Now Mr. Chair, I know there's some members of the public here tonight. If there are any items we don't anticipate discussing tonight, it might be a kindness to let them know in advance.

Thank you so much, Vice Chair. That is very, very true. It might be helpful for people to know that it is my understanding that the final item listed in the agenda of Body Worn Cameras. We are not planning to discuss this evening and any staff here, please correct me if I'm wrong, my understanding is is that administration and Somerville Police Department staff are currently assembling more documentation around that item and will be prepared to speak on it at the next meeting on Tuesday, April 21st. Not sure if there's anyone with any comment on that. And I see a hand from IGA liaison Radassi. Liaison Radassi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. For the record, Yasmin Radassi, Legislative Liaison with IGA. Yes, at this time, given collective bargaining negotiations, we're not yet ready to take up this item. There is an executive session on the agenda for this week's council meeting that we're hoping to use to give some updates to the council. we also have received some questions from several of the members of this committee regarding this grant so we're working on getting some responses so that we're fully prepared with answers when this item is ready for discussion thank you

Thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate everybody being here. And thanks again, Vice Chair, for that reminder. That's very timely. Okay, so moving on from item one, I would like to take item four out of order for staff convenience. That is the Eversource grant for street resurfacing. Does that sound good to the committee? Okay, moving forward with that. Okay, item four, ID 26-0372, requesting approval to accept and expend a $103,514 grant with no new match required. From Eversource Energy to the Engineering Division for permanent resurfacing and restoration of various streets. And we have Engineering Director Brian Postlewaite here to speak on this.

Good evening, chair and council members. And thank you for allowing this to go out of order. I usually don't like to. My son is in All-City Concert this evening for orchestra, so I'd like to miss as little as possible. So this item before you this evening is regarding a program that the city has been, this is the second year that we've cooperated with Eversource Gas on this program. The program is generally as thus. When Eversource Gas is conducting a gas line repair and reconstruction work that involves a permanent trench restoration the following year,

and that street also is on the five-year street repaving plan. We coordinate with Eversource Gas so that they do not execute the trench repair but rather Grant those same funds to the city so that we can go back and bring that project into the next year's contract so that we can execute In the case of Holyoke, a full street paving. And in the case of West Broadway, a complete street paving. It allows actually both entities to use our money most wisely so that we're not repaving the others. Good work. And we've made a really good track record in relationship with Eversource Gas where we trust their work, they trust our work.

and so we end up paving the street for them but they effectively pay us in lieu. So the specific item before you is one grant for West Broadway because they completed or are in the process of completing their gas work out there at the moment. And then on Holyoke, off of Elm Street near Cedar. They just completed last year their gas line reconstruction there. And instead of having them Pave just 12 feet of it. We'll be able to supplement a larger budget to pave the full street from curb to curb. So this year, those are the two items that we're requesting because they coordinate with our plan.

We are hoping to continue this program with them in future years as our work coordinates.

Thank you, Director. Any questions or comments from the committee? I see Councilor Hardt.

Thank you, Chair Wheeler, and through you, thank you, Director Postowate. This makes sense to me. I just wanted to clarify to be sure that I understand correctly. Trench restoration is just another word for paving. When the utility company does it, there's nothing else involved?

Through the chair, trench restoration is really just paving. The key difference, if there is any difference, Thank you for watching. meet our criteria for partial paving. So this allows us to supplement the funds that we already have, and it allows both of our works Both Eversource and the city's paving work to stretch that much further.

Thank you.

Anyone else have any other comments or thoughts on this? Thank you, Director Postlowate. I just wanted to mention, you mentioned the paving plan. I thought it could be helpful for anybody interested in seeing which streets are marked to be repaved in the next five years which are currently under contract which were paved a while ago if you google paving map Somerville you'll find the city's paving map which has tons of detail Thank you very much. Seeing no more discussion, this item is laid on the table to recommend approval at the end of the meeting. Thank you and enjoy this concert.

Thank you. And thank you for the plug. That's a fantastic map we have.

So have a great evening. Thank you, Director Pistol-Waite. Okay, returning to the order of items. Item 2, ID 26-0388, requesting approval to amend the Community Preservation Act Fund Fiscal Year 2025 grant of $365,000 to the Somerville Community Land Trust to change the grant conditions. And I wanna just make a quick comment about this before turning to staff. For full disclosure, I've been a volunteer member of the Somerville Community Land Trust for about a year and a half. I do not and have never received any money from the SELT. I've been advised that I do not have to recuse myself for matters affecting the SCLT, but I want to make sure everyone's aware of that relationship. And I'll pause here in case any other members of the committee want to comment. Councilor Link

Thank you, Chair. I guess ditto for me. I'm also a volunteer for the Somerville Community Land Trust, have been for a while, and I have no financial stake, so I do not need to reduce myself. Thank you, Councilor.

Okay, thank you. With that, pause out of the way. I believe we have Ellen Anasio, Director of Finance and Administration. for OSPCD. And sometimes on these items, we also have a reverted camera, but we do not today. Director Inacio, could you please tell us about this request?

Thank you to the chair for the record. As you mentioned, Alan Onasio, Director of Finance and Community Development, OSPCD. The CPC has been reviewing its policies and and procedures for awarding its funds under the historic category of CPA. As such, one of the first items we're reviewing is the need for preservation restrictions on all historic projects. With that being said, the SCLT approached us on their Pleasant Ave CPA award because this is a heavily financed project with multiple lenders and funding sources. A preservation restriction interferes and impedes their ability to finance and refinance. So this is a good

There's a link to the to the recommendation and the full details of the recommendation and this will hopefully allow us to test out this new policy which will remove access barriers to future CPA awards and also help out the SCLT with some flexibility on the project and the property.

Thank you, Director. Any questions or comments from the committee? Director Inacio, am I right in understanding sort of in summary this change removes the requirement for a permanent preservation restriction? and instead uses these updated CPA historic preservation guidelines

Correct. We haven't rolled it out on all projects yet, but this is a good model to test it out on. So previously, a perfect... A preservation restriction was required on historic CPA projects. Those restrictions are for the most part in perpetuity. Banks and other lenders don't necessarily like deed restrictions and whatnot in perpetuity that interfere with their rights on the property. So this was kind of an easy where we can give the SCLT some flexibility and also test out this policy which is burdensome for more than just the SCLT but a lot of our historic applicants.

And also just in terms of demolishing historically significant buildings, am I correct that there is a demolition review ordinance on the books that this property would be well within that range? Absolutely. If someday in the future someone did want to demolish it, there'd be a process of reviewing its historical significance and working with the owner on that.

Through the chair, absolutely. There's a very thorough demo review that is done on any historically significant property.

Thank you. Any other questions or comments from the committee? Okay, seeing none, this item is laid on the table to recommend approval at the end of the meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, item three, ID 26-0385. Requesting approval to accept a gift with approximate value of $15,000 from the town of Medway, Massachusetts to the fire department. for use by the Auxiliary Fire Department as a lighting and pump support unit. And we have James Mucci, Director of Finance and Administration from the Fire Department. Director Mucci, could you please tell us about this gift?

Yeah, through the chair. Basically, the town of Medway has acquired a new vehicle and had made this one available. And they also are aware that we are in Dire need of another vehicle. We work closely with them over the years so they know how What we have for equipment and we run two vehicles to provide lighting and pumping services throughout the city for different crime scenes, fire scenes, city events. and also when there's been flooding they do assist residents with pumping out their basements so we just lost one of the vehicles So this is very timely for this to become available to us and we could really use the vehicle.

Thank you, Director. Any questions or comments from the committee? I see Councilor Scott.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No questions. I've been around long enough to see the great work that the Fire Auxiliary does with this. Just wanted to give a shout out that the fire and fire auxiliary was extremely helpful down on Somerville Ave during one of the big winter freezes. and on the eve of a giant snowstorm a huge water break that that flooded out a building full of residents and you know it's a perfect example of being able to help out our neighbors even when it's maybe outside of the scope but I really appreciate it and so glad we're going to have the panel.

Thank you, Councilor Scott. Councilor Link.

Thank you, Chair. Through you, I'm just curious. I think I read that it was being kind of delivered as is which of course makes total sense but I'm just curious is there a sense of you know what condition this is in like is it going to

I'm assuming it's not a jalopy. Basically, our mechanic went out and checked it out, put it through its paces, and he agrees that it's well worth bringing it on.

Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you, Director Mooch. I was sort of wondering the same thing. I was sure that staff had taken a look at it and judged it as a net positive, but as the former owner of a 1976 Chevy Nova, That was definitely worth less than zero dollars when I bought it. I know sometimes vehicles can sink money into them infinitely. Not really a question, just a comment. Thank you, Director Mucci. Any other questions or comments from the staff or from the counselors? Seeing none, this item is laid on the table to recommend approval at the end of the meeting. Thank you. Okay, item five, ID 26-0382, requesting approval to accept and expend a $100,000 grant with no new match required.

from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to the Communications and Community Engagement Department for phase one of a website redesign. We have Denise Taylor, Director of Communications. And do we also have Marjorie Rizzo here? No, okay. Wonderful. Director Taylor, could you please tell us about this grant?

Sure, the item before you is a grant that we were pleased to have won from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue for $100,000 to support the first phase of an overhaul of the city's website, somervillema.gov. which was last redesigned and updated between 10 and 11 years ago. We have been doing regular work on it each year to keep it up to date and make sure that it remains user-friendly and Accessible. But we are getting to the point where we need to do a more involved overhaul and this will help offset the cost.

Thank you, Director. Members of the committee, any comments or questions? I had a small one I know whenever bringing in external consultants there's always a bit of a trade-off between getting something specific done Quickly that we might not have the in-house expertise for versus building up that expertise internally and I'm just curious kind of where we are with this category of expertise.

That's a great question. So the web team is a three and a half person team, and we are absolutely building up and have been building up expertise within that team so that we can do ongoing work. Thank you so much for joining us. Multiple service tools integrated into it and more than 200,000 pages if you count documents. And so it's like when you build a building you bring in your designers and your architects and your construction team for that one big push and then they're gone and then you revert back to the staff that maintain it and keep it going and so it's the same concept for the website

For the overhaul, we do need to bring in a full team of web development experts Staff with a range of different skills and abilities to help us move this forward within the time frame that we need to. But we are absolutely building staff capacity. Scott.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Just two quick questions. First of which, I know we lost our longstanding webmaster not too long ago. Has that position been filled internally or externally at this point?

It just posted on Monday and we are doing a full search. Internal candidates are encouraged and always welcome to apply. And we will also be accepting external candidates. This is a really critical role. And we want to make sure that we have someone with the full set of updated skills to navigate the current web environment. Things are changing rapidly.

Sure, and I know there's been something of an eternal Drupal upgrade dripping along for years. But I guess one question that comes up from time to time is, We've got the main city website, but then some of the different departments seem to have very different and more up-to-date websites like the... Well, just in terms of more of a, I guess a summer voice website seems to be its own creature, a separate thing. Is that... Is that maintained by the same team or is that on the same platform or is that a separate contracted thing?

So Summervoice is actually an engagement tool that is an out-of-the-box independent product that was purchased by the planning department. And I'll tell you, this is what happens when you can't update the website in a regular manner. So Summer Voice was able to provide both interactive components and a more updated design look that worked better for updating on big projects happening in the various OSPCD divisions. So it made sense to bring that tool on. We have a number of microsites And in some cases, because our design is not as up to date as it should be, it's tough for someone like the Arts Council. They want something that is really visual and feels like their own site. and our site can't handle that.

The long-term goal here is that we have such a quality site that we can fold some of these sites back in that would reduce cost as well as improve user friendliness. When you have separate microsites, if you go from one to the other, there isn't always a path back. You can send somebody off, But then there isn't a home tab to get back from the other site. There's a lot of reasons why microsites can be something people desire, but it has a user cost when you're City with multiple sites like that. So Summer Voice is a great tool and does have those interactive features. So that might not be one of the ones that we would ultimately want to Migrate, but we do have some other sites that are good candidates for that. And as we've done the ADA upgrade, I will tell you if we had only one site, it would have been a lot more affordable.

So there's cost savings as well as user benefits.

Oh, you know, I love cost savings, director. I guess that so so that Summer Voice, that's kind of the Wix or WordPress for planning departments. Is that now I've got to put it that way. Yeah. Got to go dig into the. It's an annual fee.

It's an annual software as subscription product.

You know, the other one that comes up a lot is the police department has their own website and do they Is that coming out of their own comms budget or is that...

or is that because it does seem to be very different from the city's website is that another one of those micro sites this the city police site is a legacy independent site That was self-built from scratch. We have actually been working with them recently to do their ADA upgrade to go through and do some cleanup of content and user pathways. and that is absolutely a good candidate for a site where it would be great if we could have it feel independent but be integrated into the main site once we get there.

Well, it sounds like the good news is, though, that's not costing a subscription for us annually, at least at this point.

No, that's not a subscription. That site is built and paid for just like the city site.

All right. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. Yeah, sounds good.

Thank you, Councilor Scott. Any other comments or thoughts from the committee? Okay, thank you, Director. If there is no more discussion, this item is laid on the table to recommend approval at the end of the meeting.

Thank you.

Thank you. That brings us to item six, ID 26-0301, requesting approval to accept and expend a $47,580 grant. with no new match required from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to the Police Department for overtime and backfill for crisis intervention training, certification, and recertification. We have Emily Wisdom, Director of Finance and Administration for the Police Department. Director Wisdom, could you please tell us about this grant?

Good evening, Chair. Thank you so much. So this request is for training and backfill reimbursement. This request actually... has been historically embedded in our broader funding application that we usually receive from the Crisis Intervention Team Training Center grant that we receive from the DMH as well. um so this year the state um has changed their process and they've asked that we uh apply for this funding um separate due due to the change in their process so um With these funds, typically this is something that we do year over year when we We keep people on a rotating basis to get their recertification updated and to get new employees certified in crisis intervention. So the goal of this funding that we applied for

is to get seven of our new officers through that 40-hour crisis intervention training. As well as to get 25 officers or superiors whose certification is or has expired renewed so that we can keep as many members of our department certified in this training as possible.

Thank you, Director Wisdom. Are there comments or questions from the committee? Director Wisdom, I just wanted to ask, what does this training generally consist of? I've read different bits and pieces, but I'm sort of curious overall, what are the different areas of focus?

So the crisis intervention training, give me just a second. Let me pull this up because I do have a list.

Please take your time.

Chef,

Okay, so for the new officers who are getting certified for the first time, It's a 40-hour course that covers five topics, which is understanding behavioral health, effective communication engagement, verbal and tactical de-escalation skills, Navigating Community Resources and also how to use risk assessment tools when in the field. So those are the kind of the themes of the trainings that they are provided. So they are typically designed for real life use when patrol officers have interactions with community members who are currently experiencing a crisis. so that's how that's the top the 40-hour week that they do the um

the training and so then when they do the recertification it is in those same skills to keep them up to date to see if any of you know maybe tactics have changed and maybe the mental health bill or the DMH is proposing to handle a crisis in a different way, updated training, just things like that that helps people keep fresh because we know As lifelong learner, I know, I guess, and I'm sure many other people know, that one and done is not usually effective. We want to keep people up to date on what is current and what is usable in the field.

Thank you, Director. Councilor Scott.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, I've got a few questions on this item, so I just wanted to kind of go through them. maybe some of my understanding of it and direct wisdom can tell me if I'm wrong but you know page seven of the application which is the second Thank you for joining us. Kind of spells out the costs per hour and what this money ends up getting directly used for and who's getting it. So just in the big picture, this is money to uh obviously when our officers go to trainings they are still getting paid because they're still on the job uh and this money is uh functioning for uh

overtime pay to have other officers so that the duty roster for the day isn't shrunk because you've got folks out attending a one-day refresher training or a week-long training.

So through the chair, it actually can go both ways. It depends on when the training is being held. If the training is being held on days when the officer is assigned to shifts, then yes that we would have them go to the training and someone else would be called in to make sure that we have our minimum staffing. That happens as well. There are times where the training occurs say Monday through Friday and maybe that that individual is off on Monday and Tuesday of that week and but it's a Monday through Friday training so yes we would pay the OT to ask them to come in and do training on their day off um I know that there are some other things that um that they do they bring in superior officers who have already completed this training and stay up to date on their training and they they try to do live action role play to really to really

you know and still I guess get a feel for what um what it would be like interacting with a person in crisis of course you know until we're in the situation it can't always be understood but they do try to give them um some real life interaction so that they can practice the skills they're taught and so that um that funding will also cover some of those coordinators or trainers that are on site if they were scheduled on a day off or if it or if it's pretty unusual for them uh to be backfilled as a trainer because it typically happens on a day that they're off that they volunteer to come in and do that work.

for the shift so it can go either way yeah thank you for jumping ahead with uh I'm sorry three no no no that's all right But just talking about the officers who are attending these trainings or recertifications, when it comes to the coordinators, the SRT, Special Response Team Officer and Training Lieutenant, There's also dollars set in there for them. And as Director Wiseman just said, that's usually on overtime because they can schedule it on that. This is something that, you know, we... Somerville's had a role in assisting with delivering this training. It's something that the Homeless Coalition, I believe, usually writes a letter of recommendation for, hoping to improve interactions with Folks in our community who are in crisis. So I think that's a good summary of this. This is something that we do get regularly.

I think there probably is a larger conversation to be had about The resources and staffing levels in the city. but right now given that the city the administration is unwilling to revisit the staffing levels based on the staffing studies we've had done in the last 20 years this is money that helps keep those staffing levels exactly where they're at While this training happens. So until we're ready to have a larger conversation about the police department staffing budget. as much as you know I always like talking about the overall police budget I think this is a grant that's really of no harm to anybody and it's something that I don't have a problem Seeing approved tonight, Mr. Chair, but I just did want to lay it out for folks who might be curious as to what kind of overtime this is going for. This is separate.

This is different than, say, one of the traffic.

Sorry, I'm experiencing an internet hiccup here. It might just be on my end.

Apologies. It's me too. I had it too. So, you know what? I'll probably hear me talk enough. If there's anything you want me to recap, I can get to it.

Thank you, Vice Chair Scott. Much appreciated. Any other comments or questions? I have a small one, Director Wisdom. I did notice there is a requirement as part of this grant to enter data into a state jail and diversion program database. I gather this is very different from entering it into something at the insistence say of the Department of Homeland Security. I just wanted to ask about this Jail and Diversion Program database. Is there anything you could tell the committee about what that is, about what that data sharing consists of? I'm sorry, I am still experiencing a bit of a hiccup on my end. Director Wisdom, are you there?

Can other people...

There's always a little bit of detective work to figure out. Where is the internet hiccup? We might pause for a few moments in the hopes that Director Wisdom is able to resolve. The connection issue.

I see two Director Wisdoms.

Oh. Hi, Director Wisdom. How's the connection? Oh, I am not hearing you. Director Wisdom, are you able to? Get the audio working. Seems like it may be frizzing again. Okay, I'm seeing movement. I'm seeing movement. We're going to solve this technology barrier together. However, I cannot hear you I'm still not hearing audio

How about now?

Yes.

Yes. Okay. So sorry. I've been kicked out on my laptop. So I was still there, but it was frozen. So I hopped onto my phone. I apologize. No problem.

I'm proud of all of us figuring this out.

Could you please repeat your question? I heard a little bit of it, but cut off.

Absolutely. Happy to. So I noticed there's a requirement in this grant to enter data into a state jail and diversion program, JDP database. And I just wondered if you could speak about what that is, what that information is that will be shared.

So I know, what I do know about this is that yes, as part of the jail diversion program that we already have the jail diversion program and the crisis intervention training team center program. Both of those grants, as well as this one, do have that requirement that there is reporting required. I would have to check in with the core team a little bit because they do the reporting that they take data from the calls and things that they attend and they do report it to the state For further than that, I would have to get a memo or have further questions for them regarding exactly what this I'm not sure if it's a website or if it's just a portal where you do a programmatic report for the grant funding to kind of show its efficacy.

So I would have to get a little bit more detail about whether portal versus just reporting information on efficacy. But I am happy to do so if you guys would like.

Thanks. I would be curious even just to know sort of in very brief, what's the nature of this sharing?

Sure.

Given the current environment, I think it's always good for us to make sure we understand the different data sharing we're doing.

I will say that just in terms of this particular piece of the grant we are already doing that because we've already accepted the other two pieces of the grant so this is kind of a third a third piece to the grant so We're happy to report on the grant, but the rest of the grant that does the majority of the reporting was already accepted earlier in the year.

Thanks. I appreciate that clarity. Are there any other questions or comments from the committee? Okay, seeing no more discussion, this item is laid on the table to recommend approval at the end of the meeting.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. And that does bring us to this item that is on the agenda, item 7, ID 26-0378, requesting approval to accept and expend a $231,635 grant with no new match required. from the Mass Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to the Police Department for a body-worn camera program. And as we discussed earlier, this is something where Police Department and city administration staff As I understand it are currently still assembling more documentation. So I move to postpone this item and keep it in committee. Clerk. Do we need a separate roll call vote on that, or can that motion... Okay, that can't just be on the table with the rest of the things because those are for approval.

There's no need to take a roll call vote on Captain Committee. That can just be the final disposition for right now, not the final disposition. Excuse me.

Thank you so much. I appreciate the continuing education. Okay, that brings us to the end of tonight's agenda. Do I hear a motion to recommend approval of the items on the table and then to adjourn? Don't move, sir. Councilor Scott moves to recommend approval of the items and then to adjourn. Could the clerk please read the agenda item numbers of the items up for recommendation to approve and then call the roll on recommending approval of those items and adjournment.

Absolutely. So on approval of agenda items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and on adjournment, Councilor Link?

Yes.

Councilor Strezo?

Yes.

Councilor Hardt? Yes. Councilor Scott? Yes, please. Councilor Wheeler.

Yes, thanks. Oh, and sorry, also, Clerk, just as a note, realizing that we're about to be adjourned, I just wanted to double-check... Since Councilor Strezo was in this meeting from the beginning, is it possible for the record to indicate that?

She will not be on the roll call, but I will make a note that she joined at 6.04. Thank you.

Thanks. Have a good night all.

Bye everyone.