The Everett City Council’s budget committee worked through nine departments on Thursday, May 28, from the fire department to water and sewer, and sent every one of them to the full council as proposed. The night produced a few numbers residents may want to keep.
Fire: 112 budgeted, Encore is 10 percent of the calls
Chief Joseph Hickey said the department has 104 uniformed members and four civilians against a budget of 112, with three recruits entering the academy in August and five more being hired. A mechanic moved to the DPW years ago is coming back onto the fire budget. The department answered more than 12,000 calls last year and runs about 3,000 ambulance calls, which have brought in more than $2.2 million since the service began. A new pumper arrives in July, a second next spring, and a new ambulance within a month. Hickey said the department is buying PFAS-free turnout gear ahead of a 2027 deadline and that a single ladder truck repair cost $32,000. Councilor Katy Rogers noted the casino alone generates about 1,000 calls a year, close to 10 percent of the total, and Councilor Peter Pietrantonio asked about a fourth station on lower Broadway. Hickey said talks about a station or public safety building continue; the question is which developer moves first.
Police: 123 officers, cameras, a new honor guard
Chief Paul Strong said the budget funds 123 officers, up about 5 percent for contract costs, with overtime level at $1.8 million. Five retirements left the department near 118, so Strong is filling gaps with lateral transfers from Lynnfield, Winthrop, Haverhill and possibly Chelsea, and three recruits graduate June 11. A drone unit should fly by the end of June with $25,000 secured by state Rep. Joe McGonagle, two officers just finished motorcycle school, and the honor guard is getting its first new uniforms in 20 years, with the triangle patch the department used when it was founded in 1870.
Rogers asked about residents’ concerns that Flock license plate cameras feed federal immigration enforcement. “ICE does not get any information,” Strong said. Officer Kristopher Gaff said ICE is blocked from the system by design and that one camera is paid by the city and the rest by a FEMA grant. Strong said the ShotSpotter gunshot system stays; it alerts dispatch within five seconds. The animal control line drops from $50,000 to $20,000 because the department spent about $12,000 after returning to its Peabody kennel. Asked why the prisoner meal line nearly doubled, Strong said: “The Big Macs have gone up.” Councilor Michele Capone asked about a police booth in Everett Square; Strong said he has thought about it, and Pietrantonio said his father once stood in the old one.
911, facilities and the boiler
E911 manager Brianna Sweeney said the center takes about 33,000 calls a year with three dispatchers per eight-hour shift. Its operating budget rises from $148,000 to $215,000 for maintenance of the radio system installed last year and the fiber that links the 911 center to towers at the CHA hospital, Hancock Street fire station and 66 Main Street.
Facilities director Angelo Febbo said the police station roof is done, he is leaving a custodian job unfilled to return $67,538, and that electricity and natural gas costs, about $500,000 and $1.02 million, moved into his budget from inspectional services. Budget director Margaret Micherda said solar credits are cutting the electric bill by about $1 million this year after $1.5 million last year, and warned the credits will run down. The rented mobile boiler that heats the old Everett High School costs about $15,000 a month and has cost about $500,000 over four years, Febbo said. The building’s old boilers “cracked like an egg,” and he will not spend up to $1 million on a replacement that would be torn out when the building is renovated.
Communications
Director of Communications Kyla Galer said the ECTV enterprise fund will return about $84,000 to retained earnings and $27,000 in salary savings, and that the city replaced its emergency alert system after the old one was hacked. The hearing’s only sharp exchange came when Councilor Stephanie Martins said the city’s social media had become “plain, and boring” since the new administration took over. “That’s kind of a weird assumption to make,” Galer said, adding that her department’s budget comes from Comcast fees, not taxpayers, and her own salary from the mayor’s office.
Also heard
- Engineering director Erik Swanson said subsurface work on Paris, Bailey and Lewis streets finished this spring and lead service replacements are planned for Edith and Chute streets.
- Inspectional Services director David Palumbo said his department is returning $250,000 and that the city pays for one rat bait box per one- or two-family home through 311.
- New director of city services Bob Knox and fleet manager Anthony Scenna presented the DPW budget; Councilor Guerline Alcy Jabouin thanked the department for its work in the unexpected snowstorm.
- Water and sewer director LaRiviere reported 385 service calls for the year.
Residents got their say at a public hearing June 8, and the council votes on the $312 million general fund budget that night.
