Licenses and Permits Committee

Hello, good evening. I'm Emily Hardt, City Councilor for Ward 7 in Somerville. Welcome to the February 25th meeting of the Licenses and Permits Committee. Pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025, this meeting of a City Council Committee will be conducted via remote participation. We will post an audio recording, audio-video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record. of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Somerville website and local cable access government channels. Thank you and we're joined tonight by Clerk Pottier. and if you could call the roll.

Absolutely. This is roll call. Councilor Davis. Here. Councilor Wheeler. Here. Chair Hardt.

Here.

You have a quorum.

Okay, thank you. We have a Just a few items on the agenda tonight. The first one is approval of the minutes of the Licenses and Permits Committee meeting of February 11th. Is there any discussion or question on that item? Okay. Seeing none, we'll lay that on the table for approval later. The second item is a public hearing. This is an item that we did discuss at the last meeting but was not noticed properly for a public hearing. So I'll go ahead and read the item and then open the public hearing. This is a new used car dealer class 2 license USA Auto Hub 61 Prospect Street 15 vehicles outside Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday closed. Before I open the public hearing, counselors, do you have anything to discuss on this?

No, excited for this.

All right. I declare this public hearing open. Is there anyone in attendance who is interested to speak on this item? Please just raise your electronic hand if so. seeing no hands manager okay thank you we will wait just another second um if there's still no um hands then i declare this public meeting closed and move that we refer this for recommendation. And we can lay that on the table as well for later, I believe. Thank you.

So moving on to the third item, this is Eversource applying for a grant of location to install a total of 25 feet of conduit in Oak Street from utility pole 258 over 2 to a point of pickup at 10 Oak Street. and I would like to take this up in conjunction with item 5 which is also a grant of location Eversource applying for a grant of location to install a total of 75 feet of conduit in Prospect Street from utility pole 291 over 12 to a point of pickup at 91 Prospect Street. Before I... Is there anyone here who's interested to speak on this item?

Madam Chair, through you, I do see the applicant with their hand raised. You are unmuted from our end. Wonderful. Great.

Welcome. Jacqueline Duffy from Eversource.

How are you tonight? Good. How are you? I'm excellent. Thank you. We don't have any answers for it because I guess Councilor Scott wanted to say the same thing. Owner owns the property and it's been immense problems over the years and it claims that they run the construction but there is no issued building permits. We have nothing to do with the building permits so I have no answers for you on this part. on our end okay all right um

My inclination would be to keep them in committee until there is a permit file, a building permit filed with the city. um you know we don't dig up the streets you know if there's no active you know construction going on and building that is the electricity is needed for

And how would we know when they get the building permit? Would someone tell us or?

I imagine the The applicant who's requesting the service could notify you.

Okay, perfect.

Councilor Wheeler and Councilor Davis, do you have any questions or anything to add on this?

Through the chair, I'm just curious as part of my education of how these city systems work. If there's no building permit for these buildings, Were the hookups that are involved in these initiated in a previous phase of this developer's plan that then they've moved away from? How did we get to this point?

The um... The owner contacts us saying that they're going to build and that they need electricity. So we get the ball rolling as soon as we get the application going. And we don't know what the owner is doing on their end as far as building permits or anything. So we get it going because sometimes it can take months for us to get onto the docket to have the hearing heard. So that's why it's up here now without a building permit.

Thank you for that, Miss Debbie. And also just to be clear, I see just by looking on the map that 10 Oak Street and 91 Prospect Street that seem to be linked. Those are sort of opposite sides of the same block. The 38 Evalu, is that in the same situation or with this? Okay, we're only talking about items three and five, not item four being. Thank you.

That's correct. That is correct. Yes. Yes. Okay, so we are in a slightly different situation with both of these though because item three we held a public hearing for at the last city council meeting. but item five there was no public hearing so um my my um what I would like to do is to um keep Number three, item 26-0177 in committee and discharge with no recommendation item 526-0185. to the city council meeting for a public hearing. And then we can bring it back to the committee at that point until we have further information about these two properties. Okay.

I can put a note on both of these work orders that no work is to be done because of the building permits we have like a log and people go in and look and see where it is you know progressing so I can put a note on both of them saying no work is to be done until a building permit is issued thank you that's excellent and Councilor Davis yes

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just sort of thinking timing-wise, this actually may be an opportunity to ask this. Tomorrow night, because the item that we're discharging, assuming that it's the vote of this committee to do so. would put that item then before the council as you noted so that we can then properly notice a public hearing and have it on it. But I think I'd like to... Have a better sense of the ward councilor's concerns and sort of what the ward councilor is looking for as a you know as an outcome here so perhaps we could we could ask that that question of the ward council whether that whether that you know happens tomorrow night at this council meeting or or you know or just prior to our next conversation if this is going to go back to committee Otherwise, I'm not quite sure.

We might end up going around in circles a little bit.

Can I just interrupt one second? Lance, you are right because it says on here that JT said that there's been an immense problem over the years. So it's not just the building permit. This is what I'm taking from what's written here. So it's more than just the building permit. So, Lance, you're right. Maybe JT can talk about more.

I'm happy to provide more background as well but also to clarify I don't think it's going to be able to be heard tomorrow night because of Notice, because there wasn't proper notice. I believe it will be the following.

So on that, Madam Chair, if I may. So the The item itself will be properly before the city council tomorrow night if we vote to discharge it. We couldn't take an action on it because, as you noted, we need to have that public hearing. But I was just... Because it's there that if further clarification from the ward counselor is needed or wanted, that would be an opportunity to hear that. Although, you know, we certainly could, as I said, could do it in otherwise as well. And I'll just note to Ms. Duffy's statement there, I think we also just need to make sure that we're aware of and sort of conscious of What this as the licensing body what we can and maybe can't consider in terms of the application before us so

Perhaps the clerk's office and or law could give us some guidance there in sort of connection with what the ward councilor might be looking for as an outcome. But I think certainly, obviously, we have to hold off until the public hearing happens. And so, you know, let's get a little more. I would like to get a little more clarification and make sure that we... that have some guidance on what we can and can't consider and whether or not to say yes or no to the two grants of location that are before us.

Okay. Thanks so much for clarifying that. and Councilor Scott was going to drop by if he was available tonight. So I'll just check in briefly to make sure that he's not here. Clerk Pottier.

Madam Chair, through you, I do not see Councilor Scott in the attendees list right now.

Okay, excellent. Excellent. Yes, I'm more than happy to hear from him more tomorrow. That makes sense. I did you know looking through the application um it looks like you know for the grant of location that we have it looks like the point of pickup is just shown as like right at the edge at the property line and I did see at least one of these properties listed for sale that like recently went up for sale like within the past week so it does appear that there's there's movement but that you know that that just confirmed for me that there's not a a plan you know there doesn't seem to be a Plans for a building that have been approved in the city.

Okay, any other comments? Yeah, Ms. Duffy. No, I don't have anything. Anything else committee members? So should we vote on Well, we could, should we vote on these now, Clerk Pottier, or?

Madam Chair, that would be within your discretion as the other items on the table are for approval. You may want to take number five on its own to be referred without recommendation if you'd like.

Yeah, that sounds great.

On item 5, to be referred with no recommendation back to the City Council, Councilor Davis? Yes. Councilor Wheeler? Yes. Chair Hardt?

Yes.

That item will be referred back to the City Council without recommendation.

Thank you. Great. So now back to number four, grant of location. This is Eversource applying for a grant of location to install a total of 62 feet of conduit in Ivaloo Street. From Utility Poll 179 over 5 to a point of pickup at 38 Ivaloo Street. So this, we did hold the public hearing at the previous City Council meeting. and there were concerns raised by a resident. So I'll just note and I went to look at the situation and saw you know the issues that the resident was talking about with it's a very short street there's a double pole at the beginning of the street a double pole at the end of the street and then in the middle

Quite a lot of wires, wires hanging on tree branches that look like they're, you know, perhaps not great for the tree as well. So wanted to discuss that with you Miss Duffy and also other you know Councilor Wheeler and Councilor Davis if you have anything to add or ask right now feel free

I went out there yesterday and looked at it and I took pictures I sent it to our overhead crew but most of them are all down the Cape as you know we have Significant outages down there. And I sent it and he said, the supervisor told me that on the one with the double pole, we are... off of the old pole. So we're waiting for transfers from the other utilities to come off. The other two poles, in my opinion, I think they need to be replaced. And the Y is like, you know, Thank you for watching!

Okay, excellent. Thank you so much for reaching out and taking a look and finding out that information. I will note the other double poll I saw is on Harrison, but right at the end of Ivyloo at that intersection. I don't know if you happen to see that one as well. I don't know if I saw that one.

I'll have to go back and look. Okay.

Thank you so much.

Yep.

Councilors any discussion?

I just appreciate Chair Hardt and Ms. Duffy, both of you taking this residence concerns seriously and, you know, As you know, we all want there to be flexibility for Eversource and for all of our utilities to be able to add on and add wires and add pipes where necessary. And as Councilor Davis pointed out at a previous meeting, there is a point where we want to make sure we're not just tanking Elements on indefinitely and especially when we're talking about double pulls. Hopefully that is something that is treated as a

to consolidate to move to a single strong pole that's not about to fall down for the sake of the street, its trees, and its residents. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, so like I said, I really appreciate you, Ms. Duffy, for doing that work ahead of time. And given that there is more information that needs to be I would like to keep this in committee as well until we have kind of a better idea of what the scope of, you know, the conditions are for approval. So that is my recommendation. Any discussion on that?

Through the chair, if I may, I am curious about when there is a situation where, for example, we're hoping that a double pole gets replaced. Is that something where the burden is going to fall on whichever property owner was initiating the desire for this conduit? Eversource

That double pole is at the top of the street. And the work is being done down the end of the street. So, I mean, we could do the work for that customer. I think it said with the stipulation that we get rid of the double fold. There is a new pole up there, but it's just hooked on right now. It's braced. So we just have to get the other utilities off of that. So it is holding up that customer. I think it's at 30 or 26. 26. Nope, 26 is the one that complained. I'm sorry. 38, I believe. 38, yep. So that's down the end of the street. So we could hook up that customer because it's going underground. and with the stipulation that we do change those polls change at least that double poll because I said that the other two needed to be looked at but it's up to you what you want to do.

Thank you

Do you know, Ms. Duffy, if this is a new construction or are people living in it?

It looks like it was an upgrade when I rode back today. I mean, yesterday it was kind of tapped with the snow, but it looks like it's an upgrade. Let's see what it has on here. Hold on one second. just to provide electric service to 38. So it's an existing house, but I think it's just being like rehab.

Yes. I mean, I certainly don't want to make someone If there is someone living there, make them wait for the service. At the same time, I'm a little hesitant to approve this without you know it's to allow the work to be done before the fixes are are in place so we could My hesitation in going ahead and just approving it with conditions that will be done later is that we don't exactly know the scope of what being fixed means. In this situation, like you explained, Ms. Duffy, you have to wait on the other utilities for the pull.

Do you know those lines that are draping through the tree? Do you know if those are Eversource lines?

I don't know. The lowest ones are Cable and Internet and Verizon. We're at the top of the polls. but there are a lot of why's when I went by.

And then there's the issue of the other double poll on Harrison. Right.

So are we going to add that one into the stipulation for this one for Ivaloo?

Yes, I would like to include that as well because it is basically on that street. Thank you. So I think I would still rather wait and keep this in committee for now if that, unless, you know, Councilor Davis or Councilor Wheeler, you object to that idea. I'm interested to hear.

Sounds like a good idea.

Okay. Thank you. All right. So, um, I don't need a motion or anything, I believe, to keep that in committee. So I think we're done with that item. Is that correct, Clerk Pottier?

Madam Chair, through you, that is correct.

Okay. All right. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Ms. Duffy. Really appreciate it. You're welcome. Have a good night. Be safe, everyone. Thank you. You too. So we can now... Take a vote on the items that were laid on the table.

Absolutely, Madam Chair. The items on the table are acceptance of the committee meeting minutes from February 11th and the public hearing that was held on item two. Councilor Davis. Yes. Councilor Wheeler.

Yes.

Chair Hardt.

Yes.

The minutes are accepted and that item is recommended to be approved.

Excellent. Thank you. I appreciate it. And just one thing I wanted to check, Clerk Pottier, before we end. Did I close the public meeting on item two?

Madam Chair, through you, you absolutely did at 6.03 p.m.

I just wanted to check to make sure I didn't want to skip it. Okay. All right. So that's the end of our meeting. Thank you, everyone. Appreciate it.

Madam Chair, on adjournment, would you like me to take a roll call vote?

Yes, please.

Absolutely. On adjournment, Councilor Davis. Yes. Councilor Wheeler. Yes. Chair Hardt.

Yes.

The committee is adjourned.

Thank you. Good night, everybody.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Clerk.