City Council

Council to order please note as the longest serving city councilor and not the oldest pursuant to our new charter i hereby call this meeting of the city council to order on this thursday may 14th 2026 Please note that video and audio of this meeting will be recorded and may be shown live on local Cable Access Government channels and the City of Somerville website. I am pursuant to Rule 32. Let it be known that the City Council salutes the flag of the United States of America, and let us recall our oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth to the best of our abilities and understanding. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

This is roll call. Councilor Ewen-Campen?

Here.

Councilor Link?

Here.

Councilor Scott?

Here.

Councilor Clingan?

Present.

Councilor Strezo? Present. Councilor Sait? Sait, Heer, Councilor Wheeler, Heer, Councilor Hardt, McLaughlin. Sorry, that's my own edit. Councilor Mbah and Councilor Davis. With eight councillors present, we have quorum.

All right, roll call has been taken by the clerk. Please note that Councilor Hardt has entered the building. In order to have a presiding officer for the remainder of this meeting, the first item of business this evening will be the election of a president pro tempore to the City Council The floor is open for nominations.

I nominate Matthew McLaughlin for president pro tem.

Thank you. Councilor Ewen-Campen nominates Councilor McLaughlin as a second. Second. Or a second option. I move to close nominations. Seeing no further nominations, it is now closed. Will the clerk please call the roll?

It's a roll call on the nomination. Councilor Ewen-Campen?

Councilor McLaughlin?

Link, Councilor McLaughlin, Councilor Scott, Councilor McLaughlin, Councilor Clingan, Councilor McLaughlin, Councilor Strezo, Councilor McLaughlin, Councilor Sait, Councilor McLaughlin, Councilor Wheeler, Councilor McLaughlin, Councilor Hardt, Councilor McLaughlin.

McLaughlin. You'll never get rid of me now. For those of you in the audience who don't know what's going on, President Davis and Vice President Mbah could not be here today, so as the oldest councilor, I am going to be the president for this meeting. We will begin this meeting with a moment of silence. Strezo.

I wish to have in our thoughts, our prayers, and our minds Vera Ventura. who passed a couple of weeks ago she was an incredible woman and a friend and she was someone who just It was just this incredible advocate in so many directions in so many ways. She was a community builder. She was not just like... She's the real deal. And she... She was this fierce spirit that just will never be able to be replicated. It's been a long couple of weeks just crying and I think very deeply about her family and her friends and her loved ones as well who are trying to make sense of this loss.

For me personally, what I witnessed her as a woman who reminded women of their power. She reminded others of the universal spark in all of us, including me. And to me personally, pausing and meditating with her changed the energy of my weeks and months. She never stopped presenting ideas, never. She was uncompromising in her vision. which is exactly what you need to be when you want your dreams to happen but we are human forms born of matter energy and spirit and She was a force that will always be a force whether in physical form or spirit form.

I'm grateful that her babies were gifted to see that first hand, that spirit, her determination, her dedication, although I know it wasn't easy. And biology is tricky though. Her physical form, her body had other plans. and she had survived and kicked cancer's butt so many times that it was just kind of assumed that she would just always Continue to just persevere. And so we got comfortable in the fact that it was still cancer. She was always busy. She was a teacher, a media teacher, even in one of her, I don't know, Four Thrones of Cancer, teaching at the high school. She was incredible. She inspired all these high school kids. It was great.

Her body may have caused her to pause or recalibrate sometimes but she never stopped until she had to stop. But she's gone in her physical body now in this lifetime. Her essence, her spirit, her reminders for balancing and centering oneself will live on. I know she'll still be around. Those who knew her will know that but for now we just grieve. May her memory be for a blessing. But her memory is a blessing. And she will continue blessing others in her memory and the legacy she left behind.

Clingan would like to sign on. Councilor Hardt would like to sign on as well. The whole council would like to sign on. Any further moments of silence?

Councilor Clingan. Mr. President, I'd like to ask that we keep Doris Pawinski-Landry in our thoughts and prayers this evening and her family. Doris was born in Canada. She's the daughter of the late Willie and the late Francois Cormier. Doris came to America from Canada at age 16 and became a U.S. citizen at the age of 24. She was a homemaker and worked doing daycare to be able to stay home and raise her family. If you recognize the last name it's because multiple members of her family are on the fire department. She is survived by her three sons, Joseph Pawinski and wife Francina Bilrica, James Pawinski and his wife Peggy of Somerville, Michael Pawinski and his wife Linda of Medford, son-in-laws Thomas Evans, sister-in-law Therese Cormier. She had 12 grandchildren.

She was pre-deceased by her daughter, Deborah Evans, her first husband, Ernest Joseph Pawinski, and her second husband, Leonard Landry. Her six sisters, Olivia, Yvonne, Rita, Bernadette, Darilla, and Aldina, four brothers, Leo, Edward, Armand, and Francis, as well as many cherished brothers and sister-in-laws. And as I said, I think Jimmy is retired.

Thank you.

We all know him from the fire department, and then his son is also in the fire department. Well-known family in the community, and I just ask that we keep them in our thoughts and prayers this evening. And then, yeah, sorry again. I was just going to say I'd like to sign on as well. And then the second one is, it's not for a death, but I do want to keep the Felix family in our thoughts and prayers this evening. Mr. Felix is the father of eight children. He lives in Ward 4. I'm sure many people might know a family member. I know my daughter went to school with his youngest son. and I know his one of his daughters went through teen empowerment actually I reached out I spoke to through text recently and she just said that she was she appreciated it and that her dad was recovering. We thank God he is alert, awake and talking. We're doing our best we can with this experience.

As it impacted our family, and I did hear from the news outlet that he was released from the hospital. And this tragic occurrence that happened the other day where you had this gentleman just doing his job working uh doing the for the ride he's a local 25 member uh he drives for the mbtas the ride uh he was shot while just carrying out his duties and then Drove himself to the hospital. This is an amazing person who has raised a lovely family in our city, and I want to keep him in our thoughts and prayers this evening. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would like a moment of silence as well for Steve McCluskey. Steve McCluskey was 40 years old when he died in March. But many of us became aware of this only this week because the news media reported that he died after becoming stuck at the bottom of an escalator at the Davis Square train station. Devastating, unthinkable circumstances. Mr. McCluskey was the father of two, carpenter, ran a home improvement business, beloved by his family, his community, and it's particularly difficult Because as many of us have now seen from the footage that was reported, this happened very early in the morning, 5 in the morning, but many people walked by. as this man was stuck in the escalator. It took 18 minutes before anyone called 911. The elevator wasn't stopped for 22 minutes.

It's hard to imagine how this could have happened. You can watch people pass by. This is what psychologists refer to as the bystander effect, where people assume that someone else is going to help. and in the end it was too late before someone finally did. It's completely devastating obviously for the family and I also just want to ask us to Use this as a reminder of how important it is to step up in situations like this to look out for one another. And so please keep the McCluskey family in our thoughts tonight.

Are there any further moments of silence? If not, those who are able please rise for a moment of silence. Please be seated. All right, Madam Clerk, next item.

Agenda item 1.3, approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of March 26, 2026.

Seeing no discussion, this item is approved.

Agenda item 1.4, approval of the minutes of the special meeting of April 14, 2026.

Seeing no discussion, this item is approved.

Agenda item 1.5, approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of April 9, 2026.

Seeing no discussion, this item is approved.

Agenda item 2.1, a citation by Councilor McLaughlin commending Lillian Bartolucci on the auspicious occasion of her 100th birthday.

I look forward to presenting this to the family, and this item is approved.

Agenda item 2.2, a citation by Councilor Ewen-Campen, commending the Salvation Army for their dedicated commitment and generosity in supporting the city.

Councilor Ewen-Campen. Thank you, Mr. President. The Salvation Army has provided an immense amount of support to the city, and in particular, this citation is to recognize their support over the previous winter at the warming center. where the Salvation Army provided really really important support during the extended hours when there was excess snowfall and many other times over the last two years and in addition on several occasions So I would like to welcome the Office of Emergency Management Deputy Director, Lauren Mahoney, to say a few words and introduce the recipients.

Ewen-Campbell would like to sponsor a speaker. I'm trying to keep this on. It's a live mic? Okay, good.

Thank you, Councillor. Through you, Mr. President, During this National Salvation Army Week, Somerville Emergency Management extends our sincere appreciation for the Salvation Army's valued partnership and commitment to service. Many thanks to you and your team for your unwavering dedication and willingness to answer the call, usually my call and a short notice call, and step up even more beyond the occasions mentioned by Councilor The Salvation Army's support continues to make a meaningful difference and we are so grateful for your partnership. Did you mind me wrapping your picture? Yes. Okay, that would be wonderful.

And if you would help to be in it as well.

I'm a little shy, but not really.

I haven't been to a council meeting since my father was a city councilor in Waltham, but I would like to say thank you to the... Thank you. Can we have your name for the record?

Oh, my name is Andrew Duffy. Andrew Duffy, good name. We're going to have another Duffy coming up soon. Thank you.

Agenda item 3.1, a grant of location from Eversource, applying for a grant of location to install 10 feet of conduit in Hudson Street from utility pole 202 over 9 to a proposed new handhold next to 135 Hudson Street.

Alright, so we have three public hearings for utilities. I declare this public hearing open. Is there anyone in the audience who wishes to testify on this item? Please step forward and give us your name and address.

My name is Katja Henderson. I live at 135 Hudson Street. I am an abutter to the location where the EV parking is going in. I'm supportive of the EV parking. My concern is there are driveways for 135 and 139 and so I just want to make sure that we are keeping those in mind when we're thinking about where the parking goes. I think the current plan shows the parking Potentially shifting closer to those driveways and so I just have concerns about egress in and out of those active parking spaces.

Thank you. Is there a representative from Eversource Energy remotely testifying? Jackie Duffy of Eversource Energy, you have the floor.

How are you today? We'd like to install approximately 10 feet of conduit on Hudson Street to provide electric service to the City of Somerville EV Charging Station. I see that we are near 135. I think that was a misprint. If you look at the plan, the feed is going from poll 202 over 4 over to number 17, Hudson Street. I think 135 was a misprint.

Okay, it says next to 135.

Yeah, I'm seeing 19 Hudson Street, 17 Hudson Street.

That's not what the drawings show. The drawings show the kind of labyrinth, as it's called.

I'm sorry, can you speak into the mic? We got a little echo, too.

Yeah, there's a little echo. The drawings show the labyrinth, as it's called in Hudson Street, which is where Hudson Street zigs. That is my house. It's 135. The drawings show 135 and 139 Hudson Street.

Which ward is this, I believe? Councilor Sait?

Yeah, through you, Mr. President. It says 135 Hudson Street on the City Council agenda, item 3.1. And so I'm not sure why we're talking about 17 Hudson.

I'm not too sure. Could we lay this one on the table and have a side discussion about this? Are you able to do that, Jackie? We're going to lay this on the table, do the other two public hearings, and we won't take it up until your issue is addressed. Thank you. This item is laid on the table. Next item.

Next item, 3.2, a grant of location from Verizon New England applying for a grant of location to install four feet of conduit in Pearl Street. from existing manhole 44 over 52A to a proposed new hand hole next to 115 Pearl Street.

I now declare this public hearing open. Is there anyone in the audience who wishes to testify on this item? I can't hear you, sir. Alexander, come in remote.

Yes, good evening. My name is Alexander Marrero, M-A-R-R-E-R-O. I'll be representing Verizon on this petition.

All right. Is there anyone in the audience who has any questions or comments on this item? Seeing none, this public hearing is closed. Any discussion from the council? This is my ward, and I will move to approve. Next item.

Agenda item 3.3, a grant of location from Verizon New England applying for a grant of location to install 61 feet of conduit in Medford Street from existing manhole 44 over 430 to a proposed new hand hole next to 350 Medford Street.

All right, and now to clear this public hearing open. Is there anyone in the audience who wishes to testify? Alexander.

Yeah, I'm representing Verizon again. Basically, we are requesting to place 61 feet of new 4-inch conduit to meet a new shared handhold at the base of the streetlight.

Was everyone able to hear that? Basically read the order item. Any other comments from the public on this item? Seen none, I declare this public hearing closed. Any discussion from the council? Councilor Clingan?

Yeah, thank you, Mr. President. Through you, I know this is technically Ward 3, but I'm just curious, what exactly is this for?

Alexander, did you answer that?

Yes. So this is for an existing sales site located at the intersection of Medford and Pearl Street. Basically right now it's being fed by Crown Castle Fiber, so we're trying to get it over to Verizon Fiber. So we need a new convoy to connect it to the Verizon network.

Okay, so it's just for a cell service?

Yeah, a small 5G cell site. Is it for cell service, sir? Yes.

Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Seeing no further discussion, this item is approved. Are we all set? Or do you need more time, Councilor Sait?

Mr. President, I would like to send item 3.1 to licenses and permits for discussion.

Okay, item 3.1 will refer to licenses and permits, so this will be referred to a separate committee for discussion and no vote will be taken until it comes back from Congress.

I apologize, that was my fault. I had the wrong plan in my folder. It is for 139. and 135, that was my bed, and it's 10 feet of conduit.

Okay, this one still says 135 and not 139, so it sounds like there's still some questions.

Yes, it's 135. It is 135, but wasn't that a better from 139?

Okay. Sait.

Through you, Mr. President, to Jackie Duffy. Jackie Duffy, it is 1.35. However, we're talking about a concern regarding The plans that were designed and approved by the engineering department, I'm sending it to committee so that we can have staff from engineering in committee to speak to the concern before We approve it as a council.

Okay, perfect. Thank you, but that part was my bad. I had the wrong sketch in there. I'm sorry.

All right, thank you. So this item will be referred to the License and Permits Committee. I'd like to take a couple items out of order. Item 6.8.1, which is Confirmation of Appointments Report, and Item 2.3, which has to do with OCTIF. Seeing no discussion, Madam Clerk, please read the next item.

Agenda Item 6A1, a report of the Committee on Confirmation of Appointments and Personnel Matters, meeting on May 4th, 2026.

Hardt. And if we can, I know a number of firefighters in the audience. If someone could tell them to come in. Sorry, Councilor Ewen-Campen, you're the chair. I thought you were the chair.

Mr. President, I am not the chair, but the chair is not here, so I'm the vice chair. The Confirmation Committee has a number of recommendations before us tonight. We're thrilled to have before us tonight three candidates for promotions within the Fire Department, Dennis Sullivan to District Fire Chief, Michael Marino to fire captain and Sean Marquis to fire lieutenant. We'll take them up in just a minute. And I also just want to mention we have a number of other important confirmations. We approved the confirmation of Logan Brill and Valerie Locker to the Conservation Commission. Eric Weissman to be the Commissioner of the Department of Public Works and Courtney Henderson to be our next City Clerk. This is the last City Council meeting with Kim Wells as our Clerk. We are very lucky to be in good hands and we are very sad to not have Kim Wells as our city clerk anymore. We love you, Kim. With that, I ask that the committee report be accepted as submitted.

Seeing no discussion, the committee report is accepted as submitted. So now I know we have a number of families here for the promotions. You want to take it, clerk?

Thank you.

Order with the portion required is...

And if there are folks who want to take pictures, please make yourselves at home. Come right up. Come wherever you need to. You're all welcome to come up and take pictures. And we'll also do a recess after this to take family photos.

Thank you. Let me have you raise your right hand. You solemnly affirm to faithfully perform the duties incumbent on you as District Chief for the Fire Department in the City of Somerville, Commonwealth of Massachusetts under the pains and penalties of perjury. I do. All right, then I'm going to have you sign right next to where your name is printed up there. And then give me one second to sign. Congratulations.

Thank you for watching!

Do you solemnly affirm that you'll faithfully perform the duties and comment on you as captain for the fire department in the city of Somerville, Commonwealth of Massachusetts under the pains and penalties of perjury? I do. Okay, then you'll sign right next to where your name is printed. Right there. and give me just a second to sign.

Congratulations.

Do you solemnly affirm that you'll faithfully perform the duties and comment on you as lieutenant for the fire department in the city of Somerville Commonwealth of Massachusetts under the pains and penalties of perjury? I do. And you'll sign right next to where your name is printed right there. And then I will sign.

We're going to take a brief recess. If anyone wants to take photos in the middle.

Thank you.

Aboff

All right, I call this meeting back to order. Seeing that we have a quorum, Madam Clerk, please read the next item.

Agenda item 7.3, a request of the mayor requesting approval of the Urban Center Housing Tax Increment Financing Octave Zone Plan and Form of Agreement for Assembly Square and East Somerville.

All right, do we have a representative from the city to discuss this item?

Thank you, Mr. President. My name is Katie Wiese. I am an economic development planner with the OSPCD. So UCTF is a tool to incentivize affordable housing development, particularly on vacant lots and vacant commercial spaces. And we are proposing this tool for parts of East Somerville and Assembly Square. We recommend this to be forwarded to the Land Use Committee since there are no financial components at this time. We are simply looking to define a geographic zone within which this tool could be used in the future. And I look forward to hearing more questions and talking about this further at a committee. Thank you.

So there's no presentation today, correct?

Not today.

Are there any general questions about this before I refer to committee? Councilor Ewen-Campen.

Thank you, Mr. President. So through you, just so I understand and the public understands, this is not like a TIF for a project. And if this were ultimately to be approved by the city council, Individual projects would then come to the council for consideration for does the city want to enter into a TIF agreement with a specific project. But in order to get there, we need a map first. Okay, and second question through you. Most things that go into land use are zoning amendments. Most things that have to do with TIFs go to finance committee. Can you just explain why we think land use is appropriate?

Sure. Thank you, Mr. President. There are no financial components, as you, Councilor, noted to this specific item at this time. Only to define a geographic area of the city where we could potentially in the future look at financial agreements but at this point there are no specific projects that we would be passing as part of this item.

Scott. Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. President Pro Tem. Seeing as how I'm not on land use, I just want to be crystal clear. This is creating an area within which projects would be eligible to apply for an ACTF. We have entered into several ACTF agreements on previous projects. Would it be correct to assume that there was a special UCTF zone created for each one of those that was just kind of bundled in as part of the process for approving the UCTF, for example, the Broadway project?

Thank you. Yes, Mr. President, the 299 Broadway project was the octave that was previously utilized in Somerville, and that zone was, the entire zone was basically the entire project. The purpose of this tool through the Commonwealth Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities is to define a broader zone within which Schultz, and many more. It's intended to create a larger zone within which that tool can be applied.

Right. So thank you for that, Ms. President, through you. This is basically saying that the city is open to negotiate on tax relief for major projects that might be pursued within a given geographical area. So I appreciate it. I look forward to listening to the conversation in land use, but I can appreciate that the city is looking to find ways to encourage more major housing construction in the area. Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Yes.

Councilor Strezo.

Uh, through you, to, um, um, Director Katie Weiss? Economic Development Planner Weiss. Economic Development Planner, pardon me. Uh, thank you, thank you for being here tonight, uh, and so, but, So we're clear that the city then negotiates project by project how many, if any, Strezo, and affordable housing units could be per building, meaning project by project.

Thank you, Mr. President, through you, Mr. President, to Councillor Strezo. Any project that, to even qualify for this program underneath the Commonwealth's requirements, it has to qualify for it. The intention is to create affordable housing, and one of the ways that we can do that is to meet existing inclusionary zoning requirements, which in Somerville is 20%. So any project that does come through the program would have to be approved by the council, and any project that comes through would need to meet minimum affordable housing requirements. Through you to, okay, am I missing something?

From what I understand, pardon me, through Katie, and this is not a grilling, but that means that certain projects with Economic Development can negotiate to have no Affordable Housing, or units at 110% AMI or only 110% AMI or only certain, I don't know, three units of AMI. 30% AMI, with each potential project. Am I missing that? Because everything that I have...

Thank you, Mr. President. That is not the case. They would have to meet Somerville's inclusionary requirement, which is 20% affordable inclusionary units on the tiered system that we have with the City of Somerville. according to the zoning ordinance which is at multiple different tiers not just 110 this is not to override our existing inclusionary zoning ordinance it is a minimum that must be met

Through you, to our presenter. That's we can talk further about this from what I understand then then each project will be negotiated with the yes. Thank you I mean, no, it's great to work together, but Yeah through you mr. President

This program has nothing to do with our existing inclusionary housing zoning ordinance. So nothing we would enter into an agreement about would have any impact on our existing 20% inclusionary requirement.

Okay, and so each project that is negotiated is negotiated with the city, correct? and so I am asking through you to OSPCD That who is at the table representing the city does include our Housing Department and our Office of Housing Stability. Both the housing director and office of housing stability in that negotiating table. I think that with them on the ground knowing all of the Very variables of what's going on with housing insecurity, housing displacement, et cetera. I think that opinion is essential. Can we get a commitment to that?

Through the President, we have had a team approach to develop this zone that included housing stability, including members of the community, including some elected officials, and including staff in economic development and in OSPCD. So that's the approach we take because this is a project that would have economic development impacts and housing impacts. But like I mentioned before, this has no impact at all on our existing rules regarding inclusionary housing.

Okay, and so when we get into, when we get deeper into this, I'm sorry, director, when we get deeper into this. I very much want to make clear that I want those two departments in addition, please, I don't want to say want, but I'm requesting that those two departments, their voices are brought forward with this. because that does have impacts, or I'm sorry, they know the short-term impacts of what's going on with housing as well.

Where are you looking to utilize this tool on vacant properties, vacant lots where there's no existing housing?

I know. Thank you. If I could just add to this, as someone who has been a part of this conversation, I'm not speaking for or against the item, but as I understand it, the is to ensure that housing gets built with the 20% inclusionary rate. as opposed to the opposite option which would be to allow housing without an inclusionary rate. Would you say that's correct, Director? Okay, that is correct. And I want to be clear too, so you anticipate no discussion on percentages or numbers or any money if this was referred to the Land Use Committee? That is correct. Okay. Councilor, President Davis did previously want this to, yes.

I'm sorry. That is the minimum. We are definitely open to having discussions and incentivizing using this tool to maybe reach deeper levels of affordability beyond what our existing inclusionary housing ordinance requires. To be very precise, yes. We're looking to go a little bit deeper. That's the mayor's intention, to go a little bit deeper than our existing framework.

So the intention is to go higher, not lower.

Yes. Okay. More affordability.

So I want to be clear. So Councilor Davis did previously wanted this to be referred to the Finance Committee. I want to be very clear that no math, no numbers, no money is going to be discussed in legislative matters. Land Use. Otherwise, I would agree that it should be referred to the Finance Committee.

Mr. President, that is true. There's one extra piece that I neglected, that I forgot, and that the Land Use Committee has set up to do public hearings, and we need to have a public hearing in order to create this district.

Does that work for you, Chair Ewen-Campen? Wheeler.

Thank you, Mr. President. Just a few quick notes. One thing is that even though the Finance Committee did not decide on an item related to this, we did have the honor of having a presentation by Planner Weiss and others about the UCTF which I think was very helpful that doesn't mean that we couldn't handle having more hearings or something but from my perspective I am perfectly fine with this going to land use I also I had been wanting to make the point that director Galigani just did that it's not just that The UCTF does not interfere with the 20% inclusionary requirement, which it does not. That remains in place. It also offers this opportunity to to go for more affordability and you know that comes at a cost it comes at a cost of these deferred

and others, of trying to go above the 20% inclusionary, 20% affordable subsidized units In order to try to get the city as a whole to have a higher percentage of affordable units, this is a really important tool if that's a goal that we're serious about.

And I'll add too that any future negotiations would have to be approved by the Mayor and the City Council, correct?

That is true, and our intention is to recommend that this come to land use, but any agreement that we negotiate, we expect would go through the Finance Committee because there would be financial implications.

Okay. Any further discussion? Seeing none, this item is referred to Landius. Thank you. Thank you. Next item.

That brings us back to the order of the agenda. Agenda item 4.1, a resolution by Councillor Mbah and Councillor Hardt that the administration, the executive director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, Hardt, the Director of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Office of Housing Stability, engage with leadership of St. James Church to explore opportunities for partnership between the City and the Church to activate underutilized space for community serving purposes.

Thank you. So the St. James Church is right in Teal Square and they have a beautiful building and space and that is Underutilized, and they're very open to working with the city. So we'd love to see this conversation happen. and which would that be? I would suggest sending it to HCDE if the chair is open to that. Wonderful.

See no discussion. This item is referred to Housing and Community Development and all the other letters involved.

It's approved with the copy sent to us.

Approved with a copy. Thank you so much.

Agenda item 4.2, a resolution by Councillor Mbah and Councillor Hardt that the Director of Mobility install speed bumps on Elmwood Street and assess whether closing the street to non-residents during rush hours would be possible and useful to reduce the cut-through traffic to and from Cameron Avenue.

Hardt.

Thank you so much. So since we've gotten the speed Speed Reduction on Cameron Avenue. Unfortunately, many drivers tried to avoid Cameron by going through to Elmwood, which is a narrow two-way street with Mabon, I would just like some attention given Assessing what can be done on Elmwood to make the streets safer and cut down on the cut-through traffic. So can we refer this to traffic and parking?

Seeing no further discussion, the item is approved with copies sent to traffic and power grid.

Agenda item 4.3, a communication by Councilor Mbah conveying a report of the Job Creation and Retention Trust Fund.

This item is placed on file.

Agenda Item 4.4, a resolution by Councillor Sait and Councillor Clingan that the Director of Public Works place a portable restroom at Hoyt Sullivan Playground.

Councillor Sait.

Mr. President, I would like to send this to sustainability and infrastructure. Parents have reached out to both myself and Councilor Clingan on asking why this playground was not selected. So we'd like to hear from PSAF on that and also figure out a solution if ADA compliance is the reason why this playground was not selected. Yep.

Ewen-Campen. Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, thank you very much. As the parent of two children who spent a lot of time there, I'd like to co-sponsor this. and I'd also just like to put on the record for this discussion right across the street is beautiful Junction Park which has a lot of flat ADA accessible so if it's not possible for a truck to back into Hoyt that's another perfect location that's you know across the street.

Link, would like to sign on. I'd like to add that my son goes to this park as well. He refers to it as the woods park. Not the train park, it's the woods park. Seeing no further discussion, this item is approved and will refer to public health and safety. Oh, no, wait. Sustainability and infrastructure. I apologize. Next item.

Agenda item 4.6, 4.5, excuse me, a resolution by Councilor Sait.

I'm sorry, point of order. I'm not sure at what point to interject. I want to just ask about item 4.3, the report of the Job Creation and Retention Trust Fund. I understand that Councilor Mbah is not here. I was looking forward to hearing that, and there isn't an item attached, I believe, and Legistar. Is that something where we'll get a chance to hear that report or am I just wrong about it not being there?

Madam Clerk? Yeah, there are meeting minutes available. Okay, thank you. All right, thank you.

Councilor Clingan. Mr. President, those are also video recorded as well.

Okay, there we go, thank you. Everybody ready? Next item. Sait. Next item, please.

Agenda item 4.5, a resolution by Councilor Sait that the director of mobility install a speed bump on Vernon Street.

Councilor Sait.

Mr. President, I would like to send this to traffic and parking.

This item is approved. Copy is sent to traffic and parking.

Agenda item 4.6, a resolution by Councillor Strezo that the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator submit a written report to the City Council regarding the timeline for ADA web content accessibility guidelines. 2.1 under Title II and the plan for its completion.

And can you please read 4.7 as well and then additionally other ADA agenda item? 4.17? Yes. Is that right?

Please read item 4.7 and 4.17. Together is fine.

Agenda item 4.7, a resolution by Councillor Strezo that the administration submit a written report to this council regarding the timeline and process for staffing the ADA coordinator role and update this council on the plan to process ADA complaints and accessibility coordination when this position is vacant. And agenda item 4.17, a resolution by Councillor Link that the chief information officer provide this council with a summary report on the current accessibility status of city-operated digital properties, including websites, platforms, and portals, and share any plans to ensure new properties comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines using principles like accessibility-first design.

Thank you.

I at least I prefer to send these all to committee however in addition I'm open to having if don't want to put anyone on the spot but if the administration has Any input on who is taking the ADA accessibility complaints, ideas, or... Information in the vacant position. I know this is important for all of us to get back to our constituents, so happy to create that space. If not, we can just talk about it in committee, however. We're here now. Might as well talk about it this second.

I got a head nod that says they're not... Senate committee?

Okay, no props.

I'll send these items all approved and sent to Councilor Clingan and Councilor Link.

Sorry.

Thank you Mr. President. I'd like to sign on to all three. I want to thank the Councillor for bringing this forward. I don't want to misspeak but my understanding is that the deadline for compliance was recently we recently passed and you know I have faith that the administration is working on this I just like to know you know How close we are and how long before we're in full compliance on our websites. As for the ADA coordinator, Again, I don't want to misspeak, but it's not 100% clear to me, because this was brought to my attention as well, and it's been said that... You can't, you have to, names in the legislation specifically have an individual human person that you can talk to and not just like a generic email address. So it's important that we get that position whether it's somebody that's currently in the administration who could

and, you know, be listed as the ADA point of contact for ADA compliance. Thank you, Councilor Strezo.

Link. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm really hoping that we can get kind of just, it sounds like, so the WIGCAC or whatever, however you pronounce it, it's, my understanding is that it passed and was extended, but we still have to do it because it's, we're, We're going to run into the bit again. Regardless of whether or not the deadline is extended, it's a service that we should be making sure that our I spent a little time kind of poking around different websites that are city council or not city councils, city properties

and some of them failed pretty miserably honestly so I definitely want to see what the plan is and I want to make sure more importantly you know things happen people rush to get stuff out it happens but we need a plan to make sure that going forward we're always stepping in there with the right foot and not kind of working backwards and trying to you know fix the cart as it's rolling down the hill. Thank you.

And then Councilor Wheeler.

Thank you, Chair. I am aware that there is an ADA task force that the city has that has been working on a digital transition plan. I just am eager in committee to hear about the status of that from the administration.

The task force has commenced. It's finished for the time. It's done. I was on that. I was one of the members.

Sounds like a Councilor Wheeler.

Oh, thank you to my colleague through the President. The other comment I wanted to make was I've done some work in the past in my career on Web Accessibility and I just want to encourage us to keep in mind like with any set of rules the web content accessibility guidelines are A combination of wonderful total common sense needs that we should absolutely no question do to the letter. and some formulas that are mathematical and approximate some needs but not perfectly. and in some cases there have been claims by some people in disability community that some of the WCAG guidelines When followed to the letter can make accessibility worse. Now I'm not saying most of them do, but there are some in there.

I just want to make sure as with any tool that we use any set of rules that we use that we are keeping in mind that the ultimate goal here is accessibility and we're using all these tools in service of accessibility not as a substitute for it. Thank you.

Seeing no further discussion, we'll have a lively discussion in public health and safety. These items are approved and referred to public health and safety.

Agenda item 4.8, a resolution by Councilor Ewen-Campen and Councilor Wheeler supporting the governor's executive order facilitating safe and affordable single-stair multifamily residential buildings.

Thank you, Mr. President. This is a resolution about single-stair buildings, which sounds like an incredibly boring topic but is actually incredibly exciting, so I want to explain why. We are in an affordable housing crisis, and we need to protect tenants from displacement, and we also need to build a lot more housing. and the housing that needs to get built really needs to happen across the region obviously not just in Somerville the state estimates that we need 220 000 uh New Homes statewide in the next 10 years. Up to 180,000 of those have to be in the greater Boston area. These are minimums. Obviously, this is not just Somerville. This is a really regional issue.

There are a lot of things that make it difficult to build new housing, particularly what we refer to as missing middle housing, modest sized apartment buildings, things you think of 5, 10, 15 apartments. Zoning is obviously a key part of this, as are tariffs and interest rates, but there are many other challenges too. So earlier this year, Governor Healey signed an executive order looking at one particular aspect of this issue, which is called single stair buildings. Currently, the building code in Massachusetts requires two staircases for basically all buildings above three stories. and this requirement makes it particularly hard to build these missing middle apartment buildings. especially on smaller lots. Think of nine to 20 unit apartment buildings. The geometry really doesn't work on smaller units if you're required to have two large staircases.

There was a recent study from Boston Indicators authored by a member of our planning board, Luc Schuster, which concluded And this kind of blew my mind, this number, that single-stair construction, if it was allowed, could unlock 110,000 new units in Greater Boston alone. So this is really significant, in theory. But there's also concerns about this, and I really want to acknowledge these. The concern, of course, is fire safety. That's why there's a multi-stair requirement. And I know that many firefighters, including here in Somerville, are really concerned about the idea of single-stair buildings. I very much respect that. There is also a lot of evidence that this code was written before the invention of a lot of modern fire suppression technology that has made single stair, some argue, just as safe. and on that side of the argument we can see many countries many countries in the world in many states in our country have now legalized single stair buildings and there are studies showing that you know the safety is indistinguishable

but we obviously on the city council are not in a position to make that call so that's not what this resolution does this resolution does not say let's do single stairs this supports the governor's executive order from earlier this year which creates a technical advisory group to do that work to analyze that data for real rigorously and then to provide recommendations to the building code and I obviously I know that we can all agree that we should be following facts here and so that's what this resolution is doing it's supporting these efforts wherever they might lead And I'm really looking forward to seeing whether this is something that can get traction in Massachusetts. I think it could make a real difference. And I also want to submit, for the record, a letter of support from a local architect named Sean Selby. He couldn't be here tonight to speak. But I've shared this with the clerk and it'll be attached to this agenda item and that'll be attached for future reference. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you. I saw Councilor Link wanted to sign on, Councilor Hardt, Councilor Sait, and Councilor Wheeler, do you want to speak? Wheeler.

Thank you, Mr. President, and with appreciation to my colleague from Ward 3. As my colleague Ewen-Campen said, this resolution and the governor's executive order call for research and group process to explore this question. They don't and shouldn't have a pre-existing conclusion. As my colleague did, I want to recognize that some firefighter groups, including Somerville Firefighters Local 76, oppose single-steer design. This working group that's being formed, and is very important to me and I believe to many others, is including the fire chief of Massachusetts or their designee, representative of the professional firefighters of Massachusetts, I represented the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts, a practicing fire safety engineer, and a number of other members with fire protection expertise. So this is something that I feel confident is going to really be looked at from all angles.

We have a declared housing emergency in this city and clearly a housing emergency state in the greater Boston area. Everything that we can safely have that helps with that we need. Thanks.

Any further discussion? Seeing none, the item is approved. Do you want to refer to anyone, Councilor Ewen-Campen? Copy sent to the governor?

There's copies sent to the delegation and the resolution. Thank you.

Agenda item 4.9, a resolution by Councilor Ewen-Campen that the administration work with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to ensure that extremely loud construction does not occur overnight.

Ewen-Campen. Thank you, Mr. President. There was recently work done called test borings for the McGrath Highway for the eventual grounding of that. I heard from many residents who live on Highland Ave where it meets the McGrath in that area that it was incomprehensible how loud this work was and it was in the middle of the night. and I reached out to the city obviously and the city said the MassDOT they impose this condition on us and we will advocate but they impose these conditions they don't want to block traffic I understand. Construction that blocks traffic is very disruptive. No one wants to do that. You can't do this kind of work at night. It's unbelievable to me. I mean, they're clearly just taking advantage of the fact that we can't do anything about it. There are kids that can't sleep, little kids. It's just completely outrageous. I don't know how to make them accountable to us, but it blows my mind that they're doing this in the middle of the night.

And I just really want our city to emphasize this over and over to the DOT. This is not an acceptable option.

Link.

Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you for my colleague in Ward 3. This happens not too far from me. I luckily was away while it was happening. Many of my friends who live in that area described how awful it was. And just to be clear, this isn't just one terrible night. This was like 10 nights. That kind of prolonged sleep deprivation actually has truly measurable bad impacts on people physically and mentally. So I do think that while I'm sympathetic to the fact that it might make traffic bad for those 10 days, I am much less

I don't think that there was a proper balance and I do believe that you know it's supposedly was this is for the work for the The grounding of McGrath, which we've been told time and time again is to kind of heal wounds that were you know inflicted upon this our residents and having a it's ironic then that this new wound would be inflicted on residents thank you

Scott.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'm happy to co-sign, sign on to this, and I just say I'm sure that the residents of the hill there are I have the sympathies of the residents of Brick Bottom who endured midnight work on the GLX for a very, very long time without even the excuse of blocking a public right-of-way. This is just to say cheekily that it's an ongoing disrespect that happens and I'm hopeful that this administration will be better at interfacing with the state. Any further discussion?

Seeing none, the item is approved. I'd like to make a motion to take item number 7.23 out of order, please. We have some people in the audience for this. Now, clerk, please read item 7.23.

7.23, a mayor's communication proclaiming that the week of May 10th through May 17th, 2026, is Taiwanese American Heritage Week. And the text of the language?

Yes.

Whereas the United States has long been shaped and strengthened by immigrants who arrived here to build their lives and whereas each brought part of their own heritage, which over time became part of our common heritage, and whereas more than 20,000 Taiwanese Americans have made it their homes in Massachusetts, including a vibrant community in Somerville, and whereas Taiwanese Americans have played pivotal roles in shaping the cultural and economic landscape in Massachusetts, Achieving Excellence in Academia, Science, Medicine, and Entrepreneurship and whereas the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as the pioneering state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage shares a profound connection with Taiwan, the first country in Asia to make such strides in the pursuit of equality and freedom. and whereas the year of 2026 marks the 47th anniversary of the enactment into law of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act which together with the 1982 Six Assurances forms the cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations.

And whereas Taiwanese Americans are proud of their roots and heritage defined by a quest for freedom, democracy, and self-determination, and whereas Taiwan has consistently demonstrated resilience and perseverance in the face of ever-growing geopolitical challenges and whereas this week recognizes the long-standing friendship between the United States and Taiwan Now, therefore, be it known to all those present that the Mayor of the City of Somerville respectfully proclaims May 10th through the 17th, 2026 as Taiwanese American Heritage Week, proclaimed on this 14th day of May 2026 by Mayor Jake Wilson.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, the item is approved. Thank you all for attending. Sorry to keep you waiting. You could speak if you like. I don't want to put you on the spot. Come to the podium and please introduce yourself I would like to sponsor a speaker

My name is Sonia Huang. I live on 435 Washington Street, and I just want to express gratitude for everyone for being such a supportive and diverse community. And I'm very proud to be a Taiwanese American living in Somerville.

Thank you very much. Thank you for coming. This item is approved. Back to the regular.

Agenda item 4.10, a resolution by Councillor Hardt that the Executive Director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development develop and share with the public a list of all the spaces that are available for community use Hardt. Thank you, President.

So I know in Ward 7 we have the Cala Building, which is private development, but there are spaces that are part of it that are available for public use but I think not enough people know about that to take advantage of it and my understanding is that this is true throughout the city in a lot of private developments so I would love to see A centralized location where people can find out and you take full advantage of these spaces that have been negotiated, maybe one-off, but are a big benefit. Yes. Oh, sorry.

You have a floor.

I was just going to say to HCD.

Clingan, and then Councilor Strezo. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to sign on to this, and I'd like to say, and hopefully, again, I hope I'm not misspeaking, but My understanding is that it's been said to me in the past, and I've actually utilized this, When a project, when an entity takes CPA money, that also opens the door to public use. Like I had meetings at the temple before, Temple B'nai Rith, where we helped get an elevator installed there. and I don't know that that's every property that takes EPA so that's probably something that will come out of that conversation that could be helpful that may unlock other spaces that people may not even realize that they could hold a public meeting at. So long as it's ADA compliant.

Councilor Strezo.

Thank you. And I want to thank, and I'd like to sign on to this as well. I want to thank Councilor Hardt for putting this forward because this is one of those historical knowledge Fun Facts of the City, like Councilor Clingan. I forgot your name for a second. Through you to Mr. President. I forgot your name for a second, Councilor Clingan. Anyhow. And that's true and you're so right and I'm so glad you brought this forward because, right, it's like those that know or remember and those that don't because you just have lost the conversation or been in the conversation or not. For instance, the public storage building, that little room in Ward 1, that is technically one of those spaces, ADA accessible. The Partners Building has a space. For a long time, I don't know if this is still, Mr. President, I don't know if this is still accurate, but the Stop and Shop over on McGrath Highway had a space.

on the second floor that sometimes way back in the day community groups used to have meetings in and so just random weird spaces but are totally accessible to as community spaces and you're right we should be using these we should at least know about them and I'm very happy to have the conversation in my committee but also I'm hoping that we can find a A city employee to Not only keep the database up but a website that is accessible or heck maybe posting at a library every so often or updating once or twice a year or something. I think we definitely should be finding ways that we can enhance the community and find spaces for each other to connect. So right on. Thank you.

Councilor Link. Thank you, Mr. President. I was just going to basically say that we should have a website that has the end result, but yeah. It's been done. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. Just for the record, the storage place, that was part of the mystic task force settlement, and that actually requires a little bit of a fee for the guy to come down, so that's not completely, but it is available to the public to use, but it's not free.

Wheeler.

Thank you, Mr. President. Someone discussing this with me pointed out that events at these private One of the many great ideas that this conversation opens up. Thanks.

Any further discussion? Seeing none, this item is approved and sent to Housing and Community Development.

Agenda item 4.11, a resolution by Councilor Hardt that the Director of Water and Sewer provide an overview of the water and sewer metering and billing practices.

Councilor Hardt.

Thank you.

So we've had some great discussions in some of the committees lately in terms of that have really been useful to me where about Crossing Guards, and 311. And I thought the water and sewer and the metering and the bills are things that constituents have asked me about and I wish I knew more about. So I thought it would be great to have a public kind of educational moment. About these issues and in I would like it sent to sustainability and infrastructure where there are other issues related to water metering and billing before the committee.

Any discussion? Councilor Sait.

Three, Mr. President, Councilor Hardt, thank you for putting this resolution forward. Yeah, earlier this year, January, February, March, so many of my constituents have reached out about water bills, interest. They're accumulating and yeah I have to have to help every single one of them and you know make sure that's sorted out. So one request I would like to make is for the For staff to speak to the folks who have a W on their bill. So these are the old meters. My colleagues know... The whole story of the old meters. But we still have constituents who are not aware that if you have a W on your bill, it means that you have an old meter. And it's not...

I would like staff to speak to that because we know that those bills are increasing. and also the accumulating interest if you don't pay them. So yeah, making sure that's made very clear. Yeah, thank you.

Seeing no further discussion, the item is approved and sent to sustainability and infrastructure.

Agenda Item 4.12, a resolution by Councilor Wheeler, Councilor Link, Councilor Clingan, and Councilor Mbah that the Director of Planning, Preservation, and Zoning consider revising the demolition review cutoff date to 1945 rather than a date relative to the present year.

Thank you, Mr. President. I will try to keep this brief and not go down too many rabbit holes. As just a bit of background, people are probably familiar that like a lot of cities, Somerville can designate specific properties and sort of sets of properties in an area. As historically preserved. But in addition to that, there is what's called the Demolition Review Ordinance, which was originally passed in the 90s and then revised in the late 20-teens and 2020. And that says that for buildings that are not on that specific historical preserved list, But are old enough to make you want to double check first that Before you might demolish a house or building and build a new one there, you have to file with the city and indicate this intention.

and it gives our friends at OSPCD a chance to do a little research, find out is there some historical significance here, do a report. That does not obligate the owner of the property to not demolish, but if they want to work with OSPCD on this, they can work out a plan right away. In a timely fashion, if they don't, there is an 18-month waiting period. Now, when this was originally passed in the 90s, the cutoff for what's included was 50 years ago. So at that time, that 50 years ago was I think 1946 maybe. I may be getting the year wrong by a year or two. The years went on. That 50-year window advanced and advanced and advanced and started going into the 1950s, meaning that more and more

The buildings in Somerville were covered by this, even though those buildings hadn't gained in historical significance. And that, I think, was not really an intention of the original ordinance. Then in the late 20-teens, it was picked up sort of among other intentions to say we should revise this to kind of move the date back. And it was changed from a 50-year window to 75 years. So that it would not include quite so many more recent buildings built in the 50s. But now the same problem is happening. The year marches forward and it seems to me that the original intention was to sort of Pick a time roughly in that World War II era when there was not a lot of building and to say, you know, by default we're not considering buildings built after that to be very likely to be historically significant. By default... At some point before then, they're more likely to be.

So this is just an attempt suggesting to Planning, Preservation, and Zoning, who are currently doing some revision of How they approach historical preservation rules in their process to consider instead of having this 75 year window just saying you know what we'll pick a date for example 1945 which is approximately what it was at the time that these ordinances were passed thank you

Scott. Thank you, Mr. President Pro Tem, through you, to my colleague at large. I appreciate you bringing this. The demo ordinance has been one of my favorite topics over the years. and not for nothing, the vast majority of the structures in Somerville were built prior to 1920 when the Somerville's first zoning code was built. I appreciate this resolution. Obviously, I'd like to support it. But while we're rethinking our demo delay ordinance, I would encourage the planning department to think bigger Particularly given the amount of friction that it provides in the housing production process and how nearly every structure in Somerville currently falls under that extensive delay provision. I'm glad to hear that the Planning Department is revisiting those rules and hopefully we can make some progress. Perhaps we can collaborate on a further amendment. Thank you, sir. Any further discussion?

Did you want this referred to committee or just approved?

I would be happy to have this approved. It is a suggestion for consideration, not an ordinance. Very good.

Seeing no discussion, the item is approved.

Agenda item 4.13, a communication by Councilor Wheeler conveying the existing body worn camera policy.

Councilor Wheeler. Thank you, Mr. President. This is entirely just an FYI. I don't have any point that I'm making by filing this quickly as backstory. Back as I understand it, in 2021, the mayoral administration did create an initial body-worn camera policy. Body-worn cameras were not implemented that year, but the policy remained, though to my knowledge it was not posted on the city website. In the course of recent conversations about body-worn cameras some keen-eyed members of the public have pointed out that the city's recent grant application about body-worn cameras mentions including The existing body-worn camera policy, which raises the question of wait, what is that policy? Where is it? I asked and the city attorney's office readily and helpfully provided it to me and pointed out it's a public record. It's not needing to be redacted at all. Not seeing any other way for me to promptly make this document available to people who have been asking about it and are interested, I'm submitting it as a communication today. Thanks.

Any discussion? I see none. The item is placed on file.

Agenda item 4.14, a zoning ordinance by Councillor Davis, Councillor Ewen-Campen, Councillor Clingan, Councillor Link, and Councillor Mbah, proposing amendment to section 211 of the zoning ordinance regarding homeless shelters.

Councillor Ewen-Campen.

Thank you, Mr. President. This was led by Councillor Davis, and he reached out to me today just to ask me to say just a very brief introduction to this before we send it to land use. So as many of us are aware, there was a lot of attention around a potential homeless shelter in Davis Square recently. This amendment does not directly speak to that situation whatsoever. That situation is covered by what's called the Dover Amendment because it's happening in a church. But it started a conversation around Should we relook at where and we do and don't allow homeless shelters in the city? So this is Councilors Davis's attempt to put that into ordinance so that we can have a discussion about it, about changing those rules. And that's what this is, and I ask that it be referred to land use with a copy to Planning Board, please.

Thank you. Council Hardt wanted to sign on, as well as Councilor Sait and Wheeler. I guess we can just approve it right now. Now, we will refer this to the Land Use Committee with a copy sent to the Planning Board.

Agenda Item 415, a resolution by Councillor McLaughlin that the Commissioner of Public Works install a streetlight at the corner of Tufts and Washington Streets near the East Somerville Station crosswalk to increase visibility and pedestrian safety.

If I can speak from the floor because we do not have a vice president right now. I would like this to just be approved and I'm looking at liaison Radassi that this is A simple request that I don't need a full discussion on, but I hear the DPW is more open to it. Could I get a head nod that you will talk to the DPW commissioner? Thank you very much. This item is approved.

Agenda item 416, a resolution by Councillor McLaughlin that the Director of Mobility use urban neighborways art on Perkins Street in front of the playground to increase pedestrian safety.

So I would like this one to refer to traffic and parking, and the reason why is this is a little playground in the neighborhood. I've been told that we can't put a crosswalk there. A speed bump is on the list for maybe a year. But some community artwork I think would go really far in slowing down traffic on this two-way street. So I would like to get input from the city on this. This item is approved with a copy sent to traffic and parking.

Agenda Item 4.18, an order by Councillor Link and Councillor McLaughlin that the Commissioner of Public Works provide an update to this Council on improvements made to custodial staffing at the East Somerville Community School.

Councillor Link. Thank you, Mr. President. This is just a follow-up item to the conversations that we've been having in the School Buildings, Facilities, and Maintenance Committee to make sure that we're taking care of our kids.

You want...

Sorry, if we could refer that to the school buildings committee.

Okay, this seeing no discussion, this act is approved, was sent to the schools committee.

Agenda item 4.19, an order by Councillor Link and Councillor McLaughlin that the Commissioner of Public Works provide an update on the improvements made to the temperature in the Edgerly Education Center, Cafetorium, and Kitchen following the installation of the air conditioning unit.

Link. School buildings, facilities, and maintenance, please. This item is approved. Copy sent to school building maintenance.

Agenda Item 4.20, a resolution by Councillor Link and Councillor Ewen-Campen that the Director of Mobility evaluate the feasibility of implementing a raised intersection or crosswalk at the intersection of Columbus Avenue, Prospect Hill Parkway, and Stone Avenue and report findings to the City Council.

Council Link. Thank you, Mr. President. So this one is near and dear to my heart because it's a place that I go regularly, but it's a place that my neighbors talk about regularly. There is a lot of different problems, one of which is that people will regularly go the wrong way down a one-way street. The other problem is of course that people speed and don't stop at the stop sign and it also happens to be the road that funnels everyone in my neighborhood to Argenziano School. So it is a pretty major school route. So yeah, I would love to see some attention paid here at TAO to make this safer for the kids.

All right. Would you like this referred to committee? Yes, please. Traffic and Parking. This item is approved. Copy sent to Traffic and Parking.

Agenda item 4.21, a resolution by Councillor Link and Councillor Sait that the Director of Public Space and Urban Forestry consider snow clearing requirements to maintain inclusive winter use when selecting turf materials for the new Kennedy School inclusive playground.

Councillor Link. Thank you Mr. President. So through you this is a we've heard from the from various parties that The materials that we have at some of our schools cannot be maintained as they stand in the winter. When we're redoing this whole park right now, we should maybe be looking at how to make sure that we can maintain that through the winter. Especially given the fact that it's meant to be an accessible playground, we want to make sure that all kids, regardless of their abilities, are able to use it throughout the year. So if we could send that to school buildings, facilities, and maintenance, please. Seeing no discussion, the item is approved.

Sent to school buildings.

Agenda item 6B1, a report of the Committee on Land Use, meeting on May 7th, 2026.

Ewen-Campen. Thank you, Mr. President. The Land Use Committee has two ordinances recommended for the full council tonight, but one of them we cannot act on because we do not have the recommendation from the Planning Board yet. So we're going to lay that one on the table and I'll talk you through this. Just one moment, excuse me. So the First Amendment is to the affordable housing overlay. Among other things, this will allow 100% affordable buildings to go to eight stories from the current seven. And the reason for this is to accommodate mass timber, a new building construction technology. That is very wonderful. And you should Google mass timber buildings. They're extremely beautiful. It also removes upper story step backs. So above the third story, like you no longer have to jut back because we were losing affordable units because of that.

And they're maintained if you are directly abutting much smaller buildings, like a neighborhood residence, for example. But in most of these, there's no longer upper story step backs. That was serious feedback that we were hearing from the affordable housing community. There are a few other relatively minor fixes. I'm excited to say that this was unanimously approved. I'm excited to have that before us for a vote tonight. and the second item which was unanimously recommended after several amendments has to do with dormers so this was proposed by members of the public who worked with the planning department for well over a year. We also have many letters of support on tonight's agenda regarding this dormer amendment. But I just want to say it's not common that members of the public and many more. We also have a proposed zoning amendment that is ultimately recommended for approval because it's really hard to do

So basically, for folks who don't know, dormers, if you have a house with a slanted roof, dormers are like those things that give you a little bit extra room that kind of stick out of the slanted roof. Right now in our current zoning, there is a lot of restriction on how dormers can be built. And in particular, they can only be 50% of the width of the house, and they're required to be basically covered in windows. It's created a lot of hardships for people who want to build more space for their kid or a family member or rent an apartment. and the applicants did a really compelling job of showing the challenges that these pose and just to you know residents that are trying to get more livable space in their house and and they also did a great job showing across the city non-conforming examples that No one finds offensive, you know, that just you couldn't build these but no one has a problem with them. But the committee did make three changes to the public's proposal and I just want to walk through these quickly.

These all followed recommendations from planning staff. So the first change that we made is to require a two-foot setback from the front of the house. Now this sounds minor, I think it is minor, but basically without a front setback, Basically, you can turn any building into a cube, is what that would mean. Not exactly a cube, but basically a cube. Not to say there's never a time and place for that, but we really felt like these are dormers. They should look like dormers. You still have a house like this that has dormers, so it's two feet. But I think it does actually make quite a bit of difference in the architecture and the committee agreed. The second change that we made, This is actually not really even related to dormers, but there was an independent part of the proposed amendment that would allow any building in NR, except backyard cottages, to be three stories. Just a flat cube, basically. The issue that we had with this was that, first of all, it moots everything we're doing with dormers. So we're changing, making it easier to build dormers, but then we're saying,

forget all that you can just do full three stories and what that would mean in practice is that all these regulations are fully moot because you go to ISD and they'd say yeah you could do anything up to three stories that's how zoning works you know if the maximum is like a flat roof you can do anything under that So we felt like if we do as a city council want to basically get rid of slanted roof houses as a building type in Somerville, Okay, but we should take that up separately as a meaningful conversation because kind of just slipping it into this dormer amendment did not seem like the appropriate way to have that conversation. and last, we removed these new dormer allowances from backyard cottages. So there's a separate conversation that's gonna happen in the coming months around backyard cottages, ADUs. We did not feel like this was the time to make them significantly bigger, which is what this amendment would have done. So we're going to have a separate conversation about ADUs in the future, and we removed that.

So before I asked for the acceptance, in order to actually make those amendments, we had staff prepare those changes. and the Director of Planning has submitted item 10.2 on tonight's agenda, 2608.51. So I'd like to move to replace the Dormer Amendment with that item from Director Bartman.

Discussion on the motion? The motion is approved.

Excellent. And the affordable housing overlay, there was like a very minor amendment that we made, but that was actually made to the text. So with that, I think I'd like to ask for the committee report to be accepted. Okay, so I move to sever the Dormer Amendment, which is, do you have the item for that, Madam Clerk? the one that is that we're not going to do tonight is the dormers excuse me it's uh 6b3 so i'd like to sever this so that we can lay it on the table because we cannot act on it tonight

Seeing no discussion, the item is severed. And now we will approve the committee report. Seeing no discussion, the committee report is approved and submitted.

So that puts the ordinance before us, right? The affordable housing overlay ordinance? 6B3 is the dormers. That we are laying on the table.

6B2.

Yes, and that puts 6B2-260204 in front of the body for enrollment and ordainment. and on enrollment, Councilor Ewen-Campen.

Yes.

Councilor Link. Yes.

Yes.

Councilor Scott.

Yes.

Councilor Clingan.

Yes.

Councilor Strezo. Yes. Sait, yes, Councilor Wheeler, yes, Councilor Hardt, yes, Councilor McLaughlin, yes, Councilor Mbah is absent and Councilor Davis is absent. and on ordainment, Councilor Ewen-Campen.

Yes.

Councilor Link.

Yes.

Councilor Scott.

Yes.

Councilor Clingan.

Yes.

Strezo, Yes, Councilor Sait, Yes, Councilor Wheeler, Yes, Councilor Hardt, Yes, Councilor McLaughlin, Yes, Councilor Mbah is absent and Councilor Davis is absent. The item is ordained.

All right, and now we have the seventh item in front of us.

Mr. President, if I may, that was our first zoning amendment of this city council. I'm glad that it has to do with affordable housing. It'll lead to more affordable housing getting built. Congratulations to us. and yes I move to lay item 6b3 on the table until our next meeting please.

Okay seeing no discussion the item is laid on the table for the next meeting. Next item.

Agenda item 6C1, a report of the Committee on Legislative Matters meeting on April 28, 2026.

Councilor Scott. Thank you, Mr. President. We met for a brisk and productive two hours on that evening. All members were in attendance. At this meeting, the topics of conversation were the 2025 Surveillance Technology Annual Report as well as two surveillance technology impact reports. One for something called Crime Tracer and one for body worn cameras. The Surveillance Technology Annual Report is a very interesting document that I encourage everybody in the community to read. which goes through all of the different surveillance technologies that have been approved for use within the City of Somerville, how many times, for example, they were used, in what manner they were used, what was done with the data, It's very helpful and it's also intended to include some information about how much it costs us to operate these surveillance technologies. There was a lot of conversation there.

And at the conclusion of that conversation, the committee had various amendments that we were requesting in terms of additional data that we felt should be included in that. I believe at our next meeting. Then for our surveillance technology impact reports, these are somewhat different. These are specific to any given technology that a city department wants to employ in the city. and the City Council must approve that impact report before that technology is used. Now, in the case of our first submission here, which is for Crime Tracer, that's a database technology that was previously known as CopLink. and the city has been using that for well longer than we've had this ordinance so this is a let's say

Delayed compliance with the ordinance to have a surveillance technology impact report filed for it. And it is actually a stunningly large piece of surveillance software. There was a lot of conversation around that. There were some questions made to update that and update the impact report. I believe a revised version has been submitted this evening. which will be referred to legislative matters for further discussion and potentially adoption at that point. Finally, there was a surveillance technology impact report for body-worn cameras. There was an extensive discussion there. My thanks to Derek Rice, who came and gave a presentation on body-worn camera policies. and in particular analysis of the one before us. There was no appetite from the committee to move forward on that.

That evening so that also remained in committee It is my understanding just as a further note that the administration has has not communicated an intention to provide an amended Body Worn Camera Impact Report. So they're going with what they sent us. With that said, I would request that this The public comment items.

Any discussion on the committee report? Seeing none, the committee report is accepted as submitted.

Agenda item 61, a report of the committee on legislation.

I'm sorry, I see a roll call vote for one item. Oh, sorry, I'm reading the wrong legislative matter of support. There we go.

I got another one coming for you, sir.

Agenda item 61, a report of the Committee on Legislative Matters meeting on May 5th, 2025.

Council Scott. Thank you. Back to back because we had a bonus week this month and we've had a lot of items. So this meeting was a brisk hour and 23 minutes. One councilor absent, everybody else in attendance. And this was all about a variety of amendments to the rules and operations of the city council. Most of this is in the weeds. For those of you who are particularly interested, it went into modifying the submission I believe now it's Tuesday at 1230 when they have to be in by. and also constrains when items will be accepted from the administration so that we remedy prevent for all time in the future I hope

The practice of past administrations of heavily loading our agendas with late slash supplemental items. There was also an ordinance that we discussed which has been put forward by Councilor Davis with the, well, I guess you're still our clerk for a few days. To recommend changing the date of our city council meetings to Tuesdays. So there was some discussion around that. I encourage you to check in on that. And we will be talking about it again before too long. But for now, that remains in committee. I would love to hear everybody's opinions about that at some point before we bring that back for a vote. We also discussed a secondhand dealer license ordinance, which was a great discussion. I know there are a few more items that are being worked on there, and so while that will not be on our next legislative agenda, Matters Agenda.

I do anticipate wrapping that up and getting it out of committee soon. And then the final thing to be kept in committee was the prohibition on the use of taxpayer funds for self-promotion. I know that was something that Councilor Davis and then Councilor Wilson put forward. But comms still wants to go over it and make sure that they they understand all the guidelines and what the exceptions are so I guess we'll hold on to that one as well sir so that does give us one item for a roll call vote that was recommended to be approved that would be the deadline for submission of agenda items and with that I request the report be accepted as submitted

All right, on the committee report. I would like to add my two cents about the Tuesday versus Thursday meeting change. I personally think if it's not broke, don't fix it. I'm satisfied with Thursdays. I think the whole city, their schedule operates around this Thursday, late Thursday, early Friday schedule. That's just my opinion. I would love to hear the city's opinion in these meetings. So I just want to share my two cents on that. Seeing no further discussion, the committee report is accepted as submitted.

And that puts agenda item 64-260354, the rule, four of the rules of the city council be amended to update submission deadlines for agenda items consistent with the provisions of the open meeting law. Councilor Ewen-Campen.

Yes.

Link, Scott, Clingan, Strezo, Sait, Wheeler. Hardt. Yes. Councilor McLaughlin.

Yes.

Councilor Mbah is absent. Councilor Davis is absent. The item is approved.

All right. Next item.

Agenda item 6E1, a report of the Committee on Licenses and Permits meeting on May 13th, 2026.

Hardt.

We had a short meeting yesterday evening with one item agenda. We did a We recommend approval for the Eversource grant of location on Kent Street and we did put in a condition for the leaning pole which is slated to be repaired soon. We understand.

Through you, Mr. President. Scott. So could you read us the condition that was added to the permit?

Pardon me. I actually don't have it with me at the moment. Could, through you, Mr. President, would it be possible for the clerk to read that?

Which item?

The condition on the grant of location, item 26-0525.

You got that, Madam Clerk?

Yes, give me one moment and I can pull it up. Apologies the system is loading.

That whole 191 over 0?

All right so the condition just for anybody who didn't have a microphone there it was for pole 191-0 to be repaired is that before the Work on that grant allocation is conducted. All right, this seems like a grand experiment, Mr. President Pro Tem. Let's see if a condition requiring a poll to be repaired actually results in that poll being repaired. Just through you to the chair, when would you like to circle back around on the completion of that work?

I will check in at the next meeting. Great.

You know what I'll also just keep my eye on the area and if they dig the trenches before they actually fix that pole I guess we'll have to get more pointed in our language next time. I mean, I could, but I trust the chair. All right. Let's see how this works, Mr. President.

Madam Clerk, this will be the last time I ever tell you, you should step up to the podium when you speak. Don't make me say it again. Next. Can we continue with the report? I apologize.

Yes. I move to accept the report as submitted.

All right. I see no discussion. The committee report is accepted as submitted.

Agenda item 6F1, a report of the Committee on School Building Facilities and Maintenance meeting on April 30th, 2026.

Councilor Link. Thank you, Mr. President. So we met for just over an hour. and we continued our conversation about the potential of using the Cummings School as a teen center learning that it may cost as much as 30 million dollars to bring so that the Cummings School is Thank you. We also talked about air conditioning in the Edgerly School Cafetorium, and in particular the kitchen, which at various times was either far too hot or far too cold. We learned that there's a five-ton AC that is going to be added to control the temperatures in the kitchen so that meals can be prepared year-round.

Speaking of temperature control, we also spoke to Commissioner Wiseman about fixing a faulty radiator that led to an especially hot classroom. We talked about some concerns for mold and humidity in a closet in the Kennedy Building. And one of the things we learned from that is that there's not really a There hasn't been a process put in place for how to deal with that kind of concern. In addition to DPW going to investigate the problem, they also are going to work on a way to systematize dealing with these kinds of problems

Finally, we also got an update on the MSBA process at 115 Sycamore Street for the new school. We learned that the MSBA wanted more information and the really great news was that Director Raish and his department foresaw that request, had the information ready, and was able then to therefore skip What could potentially have been months of delay? And interestingly, one of the questions that was asked was what a school, the size that is proposed for 115 Sycamore, what if that was

Put onto the Brown School instead, which would have resulted in something like a 17-story school, which obviously nobody really wants. It was an interesting little fun fact. With that, I submit that this report be accepted as submitted.

Any discussion? Seeing none, the committee report is accepted as submitted.

6G1, report of the Committee on Sustainability and Infrastructure meeting on April 29th, 2026.

Councilor Clingan. Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, all members were present. We had a two-hour and 22-minute meeting. We discussed a variety of things. I had a couple of snow related items that I sent back to committee. They were all related to ADA compliance and Making sure that our streets and sidewalks are cleared for people with disabilities. I didn't feel at the first meeting that we gave it as proper attention. Seen as it's such a huge issue especially with regards to curb cuts so that was the bulk of the conversation I'll get into that in just a second but the first thing we one of the things we discussed was Hardt. As far as about street sweeping, Director Postaway stated that

One of the reasons is consistency, but the other big reason why we street sweep so much, like so often, and we don't go to a once a... and many more. The reason it's a three-month system is because it prevents debris and chemicals like salt and gas and just vehicle chemicals, oil, et cetera, from entering the public waterways. We discussed, um, Wheeler to 311 about constituent services. Director Craig came and gave a good presentation on the process of how they route 311 calls and other things they have in the works to improve

Steele, Steele, Steele. We discussed. The process for disposal of surplus items. We were given a memorandum with a legal explanation as to why we cannot readily give away items to city staff or the general public. If an item is valued more than $50. Definitely check out the video on that. That was good. And then, like I said, the bulk of it was regards to the snow removal and also to putting dumpsters in. If a dumpster ends up in a handicapped spot. The contractors are supposed to, if it...

If there's a handicapped spot in front of where their project is, and naturally that's the closest location, they're not going to want to be across the street, they are not allowed to put it there in a handicapped spot. They are supposed to Work with traffic and parking to temporarily relocate the spot. As for the snow removal, You know, I really just wanted to have a conversation. Essentially, we had Holly Simione was on the call. She had supplied me with a bunch of photos that she took around the city. Steele, and so on. So, you know, obviously the DPW does a great job when they do the best they can. I mean, the plow guys are out there to keep the roads clear and safe. We all agree that there needs to be a much bigger effort as far as and so on. We're keeping the curb cuts safe.

The mayor, my understanding is they're working on a shovel brigade that would help go out where There are like business district curb cuts or like areas where the city is definitely on the hook for, but obviously we need enforcement around Getting the message to people that if they abut a curb cut that it technically is their responsibility. But it wasn't to sort of, you know, beat up. Director Weissman gave a ton of time to this in this committee. The first one being a really long presentation about how they go through this process. And then this one was really just eye-opening I think for everybody just really to do a check and say, We can do a lot better.

but we have so much more to do and I think if we work together and certainly I think it was really educational and eye-opening obviously we're coming into the summer so I think like a revisit I think that discussion as we approach winter I think would be really helpful to just kind of remind people. When you look at some of the pictures, If you're trying to traverse the city as somebody either in a wheelchair or with a disability, There's just a lot to be desired. We have a long way to go before we can safely say that we're doing all we can to make sure that that's the reality on the ground. and everybody's on the same page as far as getting there it's just like I said it's gonna take time money and resources and labor so we had a good discussion about that and hopefully we'll have some solutions going forward With that I ask that the committee report be accepted as submitted.

Any discussion on the committee report? Seeing none, the committee report is accepted as submitted.

Agenda item 6h1, report of the Committee on Traffic and Parking, meeting on April 27th, 2026.

Councilor Sait.

Thank you Mr. President. The Traffic and Parking Committee met with all three members present. Most items were kept in committee. Due to clerk coverage issues, we met for just one hour and a half. We took up three items related to parking on Oak, Bolton, and Prospect Streets. We heard from a constituent who spoke on behalf of 64 neighbors who submitted a letter to the committee that outlines ongoing parking and safety issues from neighboring construction projects. What they described as insufficient enforcement. We heard from Director Winfred. She said that traffic and parking have been issuing tickets. and have this area as high priority. We heard from Director Postaway. He shared that the projects have traffic plans and there's communication between engineering and the police. and also ISD when there is clear violation of safety protocols.

He added that when a developer doesn't follow a traffic plan, the enforcement is done by ISD. and SPD is in charge of towing. We kept these items in committee so we can take them up this month, next week actually, so that we can hear from ISD and SPD regarding enforcement. We kept the rest of the items in committee. As I mentioned, we only had an hour and a half as the clerk had to leave. With that, I ask that this committee report be approved and submitted.

Scott. Thank you, Mr. President Pro Tem. Through you, I just want to thank the chair and the members of the committee for devoting such time and attention to a very Ward 2 issue in some ways, but also There's also a citywide issue. I mean, wherever we upzone, there will be construction. That is what we want to happen. I think it's clear from the experience of these neighbors and the research that they've done that we need more proactive mechanisms here. While folks were appreciative for the discussion, I believe there are still more questions to be asked and perhaps more of a discussion to be had. I've already heard tell that some of them are motivating for a public hearing about some of these issues. Hopefully, I look forward to the discussion and the next time traffic and parking meets. and I just wanted to extend my gratitude to the chair and members for really diving in and taking that constituent letter and going through point by point.

Thank you.

Willard.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, to these points and with appreciation to my committee chair. Sait. I wanted to appreciate the participation from city staff and from the traffic and parking department. One of the things they explained that they take very seriously is that when there are contractors whose vehicles have outstanding tickets and they are coming asking for a parking permit for a new project or a new parking permit for an existing project. That they're insisting that they pay off these tickets, that they can't just accumulate tickets more and more and more. One thing they're not currently doing, but they were patient about entertaining the idea around is connecting and the contracting project that a given contractor vehicle might have a hanging green parking permit for To the ticket itself.

And they shared that that would require some different procedures. It could be a more complex process. But I think many of us were curious about the possibilities for that moving forward of saying whether it's this particular vehicle that's got a bunch of tickets or it's a contractor or a developer who has a project and that project as a whole is frequently getting lots of parking tickets and perhaps not taking parking rules in the neighborhood terribly seriously. That that be something that's taken into account when they are coming and asking for parking permits. We want to reward people who are trying to do right by the community as they're juggling all the things they're juggling. Thank you.

Any further discussion? Seeing none, the committee report is accepted as submitted.

Agenda item 7.1, a request of the mayor. requesting approval of an amendment to the assembly square district improvement financing district map and program to include the assembly square fire station 45 middlesex avenue and improvements to the intersection of middlesex avenue and mystic ave in this item we refer to finance Agenda item 7.2, request of the mayor requesting approval of a home rule petition to authorize the city of Somerville to regulate leases and tenancy at will agreements.

This will refer to legislative matters.

Agenda item 7.4. A request of the Mayor.

Councilor Wheeler. I think, pardon the interruption, I move to waive the reading of items 7.4 through 7.16 and refer them to the Finance Committee.

Seeing no discussion, these items will be referred to the Finance Committee.

7.17 a request of the mayor requesting approval of the 2026-2027 housing and urban development one-year action plan for the community development block grant home investment partnership and emergency solutions grant programs

This item referred to housing community development.

And equity. CDE. Agenda Item 718, a request of the Mayor requesting approval of the Surveillance Technology Impact Report for Crime Tracer.

I refer to legislative matters.

Agenda Item 719, a request of the Mayor requesting approval of an exemption for Lindsay Buffington as required by Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 268A, Section 20B.

Mr. President? Yes, Councilor Ewen-Campen. Can we take up this with items 720, 21, and 22 and take...

Wheeler, Councilor Ewen-Campen moves to waive the readings of 7-20, 21, and 22 to discuss. In no discussion, the items are before us. Did you have a comment, Councilor Wheeler?

Thank you, Mr. President. Just being new, I was curious about exactly what these types of items are. Are they requests by... Thank you, Councillor Scott.

Scott, and I was also waving to Liaison Rodasi.

These are routine requests from the administration. To basically provide a disclosure of financial conflict under conflict of interest law. It's to allow somebody who works for the city to also have a second job at the city or somebody who does volunteering. So these are usually Very routine, but I'd encourage you to take them into finance since they are financial conflict of interest matters and you can look them over there if you like.

I see Liaison Radassi moving to the front.

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you to Councillor Scott, thanks for the explanation. I just wanted to say we would like to seek immediate consideration on all four of these items. As Councillor Scott explained, I think all four are SPS staff that would like to have coaching jobs with Parks and Recreation. So you'll see it says Recreation Specialist. I know Councillor McLaughlin, you had asked about that. So it's coaching jobs that are usually seasonal.

Wheeler.

Well, I move to approve these items.

All right. Seeing no further discussion, these items are approved.

Agenda item 7.24, a mayor's communication proclaiming May 2026 to be Jewish American Heritage Month.

The mayor's office asked for us to lay this on the table for full discussion at the next meeting. Is there any discussion on that? Senate will be laid on the table for our next meeting.

Agenda item 725, a communication from the mayor proclaiming May 2026 to be Haitian American Heritage Month.

Any discussion? Seeing none, this item is placed on file.

Agenda item 7.26, a request of the mayor requesting confirmation of the appointment of Christopher Camara to the position of police officer.

Seeing no discussion, is there an item to approve or refer to confirmation of appointments? Does anyone have a preference? So the chair is not here right now. Liaison, Rodase.

I'm sorry, I should speak on these. I'm vice chair. I move to recommend that we approve item 726 tonight and 27. and send 728 to committee.

Any discussion? Seeing none, items 7.26 and 7.27 are approved and item 7.28 is referred to confirmation of appointments.

Agenda item 7.29, a mayor's communication conveying the appointment of Gregory Cohen to the public financing of campaigns committee.

This item is placed on file.

Agenda item 8.1 an officer's communication from the city clerk conveying her resignation effective May 17th, 2026.

We've come a long, long way. Clerk Wells, please come up and submit your resignation for us.

Thank you Mr. President and I appreciate the recognition. I'm shaking a little for like probably all the wrong reasons because this is an emotional moment for me. So I want to take a moment to thank you all. It has been truly an honor to work for this council for the past almost five years. You've challenged me, you've encouraged me, and you've supported me to move this city forward. I want to extend a special thank you to the presidents that I've served under. McLaughlin, Councilor Ewen-Campen, Councilor Davis, former Councilor Pineda-Newfeld. You've been true partners in public service and I appreciate the trust that each of you placed in me to shape and guide the Council's path. I also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to my team in the clerk's office. You helped me pave this path. My success here in this role is because you were behind me.

I was able to build these skills and be ready to take on the role of CAO because you are an absolute powerhouse of a team. You're welcoming, you're diligent, and you're receptive to new ideas. Your consistent and exceptional public service is a true testament to this city, and the residents and customers are so lucky that we have you. I will deeply miss serving alongside you every day, but I look forward to championing and supporting your work as part of the administration. I would also though like to take this opportunity to celebrate with you all because we've had a lot of wins during my tenure and I could not have had even a fraction of this success without the unyielding support of this city council. So in no particular order, I'm happy to share that together we have increased access and transparency to city government and information. We implemented new legislative management software and we migrated all the data to maintain access to records dating back to 2010.

We implemented a transition to the Zoom platform for the City Council and over 40 boards and commissions. We implemented new vital records software. We implemented a new marriage process removing the requirement for gender and then we pushed the state to do that for everyone. We created internal trainings for city staff on municipal government, on meeting management, and records access. We designed and implemented a citywide outdoor dining program. We implemented new dog licensing software. We implemented a genealogy search process. A lot of people love ancestry these days. We implemented new ordinance hosting software. And so now we can make real-time updates for both zoning and the code of ordinances. We secured grant funding for and we implemented records management program that will soon be citywide. We completed a scanning and archiving project for all Special Permit Granting Authority and Board of Aldermen records that opened up an entire basement worth of space for other uses. You'll see those online very soon. I was not quite able to get that across the finish line but I promise it's really close.

We created and hosted the first municipal civics academy in the city. We hired and trained the first ever staff for the city council and now we have a legislative and policy analyst, a finance analyst, a land use analyst, and project assistants. We streamlined block party and public event and special alcohol license processes. We revamped the marijuana process. I'm almost done. We passed a comprehensive charter. We created a drafting manual and new legislative processes. We onboarded three new classes of City Councillors and we created a new format for Councillors College. We provided alternative communication cards and telephonic interpretation for councilors to better serve your constituents. We began providing braille agendas and closed captioning. We even added a city council section to the newsletter. I will in fact stop there because I know that you have a meeting to finish but really the point is that I'm going to very deeply miss engaging with you on matters large and small

and I hope that you'll continue to consider me a resource, a sounding board and a friend. I look forward to continuing to be in regular contact with the team and to working together for the benefit of the City of Somerville. I also want to say to the constituents of this city that it has been a joy to serve you in City Hall and I look forward to serving you in new ways. I am going to very much miss chatting at the counter with small business owners and celebrating joyous wedding occasions, but I can't wait to focus more on improving systems and services to help ensure that every single engagement with our city is a great one. I am so excited to enter this next phase of my governance career and to work alongside all of you for hopefully many years to come. Your trust in me as your city clerk has meant the world to me and I hope to continue to earn it in my role as CAO. Thank you.

Any discussion?

Councilor Clingan? Thank you, Ms. President. Through you, Kim, you know how much we're going to miss you. I had the pleasure of serving under John Long as clerk for a period of time and then you and You just brought a whole different vibe to the clerk's office. You brought this clerk's office into the 22nd century or whatever we're on. But seriously, you're an overachiever. You're a consummate professional. I mean, I can't say enough good things about you. And I'm glad that you're not going very far. But certainly, it is definitely going to be, A loss for us as a council. But like you said, you'll still be close by and a resource.

And I know that you did a really great job picking your predecessors. So I look forward to working with them as well. But thank you for your service and thank you for your friendship and for everything you've done for the city and will do for the city. I appreciate it.

Councilor Ewen-Campen. Thank you, Mr. President. One of the really crazy things about our time on the City Council has been that it's been For me, post-Trump, right? Like, I joined after 2016. And he's had this crazy assault on civil servants. You know, the swamp, all this BS. And... You know, working with you through the president, It's hard to describe to the public what it means to work with a true civil servant. I've just watched you work with everybody doesn't matter what their priorities are what their politics are where they're coming from um it's so i mean it's so helpful on a day-to-day basis but it's also just so like edifying and inspiring and moving um You know, the years I spent as president just working really up close with you, it was just mind-boggling every single time we worked together.

Anytime there was anything a little bit complicated or super complicated, it was always... you know watching your expertise and kind of just humanness through all that was you know incredibly inspiring so thank you for everything you do i'm very glad you're not really leaving yeah

Hardt.

I just want to say briefly, through you, Mr. President, to Clerk Wells, just to appreciate you when I started, you know, kind of at an unusual time and you were just so helpful and your attitude of Really joy, I would say, about just everything and such enjoyment in solving problems was just so appreciated. And so thank you so much for everything.

Sait.

Through you, Mr. President, Kim, thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your dedication to our city, to our constituents. yeah so my experience is getting on the council as you all know this is that kind of job where you don't really get You were always there for anything they asked, you know, small or big, you were always there trying to look for a solution. I'll always be grateful when I get on the council as you know I'm partially deaf and I work here in aid and you know I was nervous and and Kim was just like I'm looking into it we're gonna have closed captioning in a week I don't know if it was in your list but that's like one that's really important so thank you for everything you do and we're excited for you and for the next chapter

Wheeler and Strezo, Councilor Strezo and Wheeler.

Through you, the president. Kim, I've only caught the tail end of your many years of service, but that's all I needed to see how incredibly valuable you've been To everyone who's been on the council, to so many people from the community and to the entire city. I had a teacher once who liked to say, Of course, like teachers always do, she said this like 40 times while I had her, that the most important thing in the world is patience. But the second most important thing in the world is impatience for nonsense. And that's 100% what popped into my head about How great it's been to work with you. How much I've gotten out of working with you. Just deeply appreciate your service to all of us.

Thank you. Clerk Wells. Thank God we didn't lose you to Boston. Thank you for your integrity, your grace. You inspire. and the city is a better place with you here with your presence. Yes, what you've done. is incredible but what you're going to do in the next years to come I can't wait to see and just crank the dial because I know you will and delighted that we can still continue to work together

Thank you, Mr. President, through you to our esteemed clerk. I'm not sure I can say anything complimentary that I haven't said to you before. I can be quite effusive, but I just want to say you're a consummate civil servant. Just absolute... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Minimal patience for nonsense. I also want to say I have always appreciated the humor that you have brought to this job and it has sometimes sustained me through some very difficult meetings.

I think one of the things that's maybe understated about you is the amount of eloquence with which you've been able to communicate your feelings just by seeing your eyes poking over the top of those monitors there. Over the years. So I've always appreciated it and it has been literally the only thing that's gotten me through some of these meetings. So thank you for all your service and I look forward to your continued service to the city of Somerville.

Link. Thank you, Mr. President. Through you to our amazing clerk, now CAO, I spent a lot of time I was always so excited when I thought about the people I was going to work with, and that included you. I begrudgingly will not mourn the loss of that opportunity because I know that this is really a huge win for the city. I just I can't say anything better than what everyone else has already said so I just want to say that you know from my heart that it's I feel so thankful that that you're you're part of the this city

The city is very fortunate to never know how truly inept and incompetent this council would be were it not for Clerk Wells. and the entire clerk's department as well that prop all of us up every day. I listened to Clerk Wells and now CAO Wells talk about the many list of accomplishments that that department had and those are many accomplishments that I brag about all the time and say I did this. But I put an order in and a team of people made this happen. People who don't get the recognition and they don't get to go out and campaign and put on their campaign literature that they passed a charter. that they got a land use analyst that they got all these different things we put in the work we put in the request but other people do all the work and Kim has led the way for several years on this as the president of the council

For three years, you really propped me up, even just as simple as knowing what to read next. It was very helpful. And even as the president, you would sometimes forget all the other work that goes into it outside of our day-to-day tasks. I feel strange saying goodbye to you because I'm going to keep seeing you and you're moving on to bigger and better things but we're all very grateful for you if I may please

I'll just close with thank you all for saving the trash talk until after the meeting so the public doesn't know all the bad things you think about me. And if the legacy that I leave is to be remembered for not suffering nonsense, I'm good with that. Thank you.

This item is placed on file.

Agenda item 8.2 offers communication from the city clerk conveying block party licenses issued.

This item is placed on file.

Agenda item 9.1.

Hardt.

Thank you. I would like to waive the readings of 9.1 to 9.43 and 10.3 and 10.4 and approve them this evening.

See no discussion. These items are approved.

9.44, a public communication from 25 residents submitting comments regarding item number 26-0287, a zoning text amendment to amend multiple zoning ordinance sections.

This item is placed on file.

Agenda item 9.45, a public communication.

I'd like to weigh the readings of 9.45 to 9.49 and place them all on file. Any discussion? Seeing none of these items are placed on file.

Agenda Item 10-1, an officer's communication from the Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management, conveying that a public hearing on proposed FY27 water and sewer rates will be held on May 28, 2026, pursuant to Section 11-125 of the Code of Ordinances.

Discussion on this item? Yes. Councilor Strezo.

Thank you. You know it. Is this hybrid? What's the location again?

This is communication.

Right, but where is it going to be held?

It doesn't say on the... Thank you, Mr. President. So the officer's communication before you is just a courtesy so that it would be on the agenda. Rich, Director Raich did send out an email yesterday informing you of the date and his team is currently working on public noticing the hearing. From what I understand it will be held both Virtually via Zoom and in person at the water conference. They said water. They told me water. That's what it's called, water conference. Water conference. So those will be posted on the city's website and in the local newspaper.

Any further discussion? So none of this item is placed on file.

Agenda item 10.5, a public communication from Urban Forestry Committee submitting comments about 90 Washington Street.

This item is placed on file.

Agenda item 10.6, a public communication from John Henderson submitting comments about item 26-0750, a grant of location to install 10 feet of conduit next to 135 Hudson Street.

This was placed on file. Let's send this to the License and Permits Committee to go with that item.

Brings us to the end of our agenda.

Are there any late items?

There are no further items before the body.

Seeing no further items, council is adjourned. I move to adjourn.