A single-use plastics ordinance that the Everett City Council had enrolled 6-5 on September 28 failed its final vote 8-3 on Tuesday, October 13, after councilors concluded that an ordinance with fines they did not like could not be passed without fines at all.
The same night the council enrolled a zoning ordinance regulating data centers across the whole city, voted unanimously to rename Village Landing for Haley Keane, swore in nine new firefighters and approved $237,000 for a front-end loader.
Utensils: the fines sank it
Councilor Katy Rogers’ ordinance would have required restaurants to hand out plastic utensils and packaged condiments only when a customer asks. City Solicitor Jaclyn Munson said Inspectional Services would enforce it with three warnings before any fine, and that the fines, $25 and $50, were set low on purpose.
That was the problem. Ward 6 Councilor Peter Pietrantonio said a restaurant owner afraid of a $50 ticket would stop stocking forks altogether. “I could support this if we weren’t fining the businesses,” he said. Councilor Guerline Alcy Jabouin asked whether a single fork in a bag could draw a fine; theoretically yes, Munson said. Ward 1 Councilor Michele Capone asked the same about a spoon with a soup.
Council President Stephanie Smith then explained the trap: an ordinance has to carry a penalty to be enforceable, and if the council struck the $25 and $50 fines, the general fine schedule, which the council recently raised, would apply instead. Councilor Vivian Nguyen suggested fines starting at five cents. Smith said the fee schedule could not be rewritten on the floor and offered to send it back to committee. Councilor Anthony DiPierro moved to do that, then withdrew the motion when Councilor John Hanlon called for a vote. Only DiPierro, Stephanie Martins and Rogers voted yes.
Resident Stephanie McCullough had urged the council during public comment to pass it, saying she has ordered from restaurants in cities with the rule and “it just asks, do you want utensils with your order? Yes or no.”
Data centers, citywide
Planning Director Matt Lattanzi said the council had already adopted data center rules for the roughly 100-acre Everett Docklands Innovation District controlled by the Davis Companies, where a master plan special permit is before the planning board. The new ordinance copies that language into a new Section 38 of the zoning code and adds definitions for computer rooms and small and large data centers, so it applies everywhere in the city. It was enrolled 7-4, with Jabouin, Capone, Hanlon and Smith opposed. McCullough had told the council that a subdivision filing in the Innovation District showed why the city should not wait for a perfect version.
Haley’s Village Landing
After a public hearing with no opposition, the council voted 11-0 to rename the city-owned waterfront landing behind the former AFCO building “Haley’s Village Landing” in memory of Haley Keane, who died there by suicide. Pietrantonio, who sponsored it with Rogers, said the family wanted “Village” kept in the name. Rogers said Keane was her classmate at Everett High School and “one of the most optimistic people that I have ever met.” Pietrantonio asked City Services to make the signs.
Nine firefighters
The council confirmed, and City Clerk Sergio Cornelio swore in, nine new members of the Everett Fire Department: Declan Smith, Philip Sodillo, Ryan Pietrantonio, Joseph Dunbrack, Nick Ciminelli, Panagiotis Kotsopoulos, Ryan Considine, Jefferson Palencia and Rafael Ribeiro, as read into the record.
Money
- The front-end loader: $110,000 from the capital stabilization fund plus $126,000 in unspent capital money, approved 10-1 with Capone opposed. Fleet superintendent Anthony Scenna told the Ways and Means committee that the 2016 Komatsu’s transmission failed last October, cost $36,000 to rebuild and sat for four months while the city rented a machine for $6,500 a month. The new loader takes the same attachments. The old one stays as a backup.
- A $2,057,100 interest-free MWRA loan for the 2026 water main replacement went to Ways and Means. Martins asked for a line-item breakdown of pipe, labor and paving before it comes back.
- A $20,891 donation from Fiesta Shows for youth programs was accepted 11-0.
Tax title payment plans
Munson briefed the Legislative Affairs committee on an ordinance adopting a state law that lets the treasurer sign payment agreements with owners whose property is in tax title but not yet foreclosed. The administration proposes 10 percent down, the state minimum, five-year terms, and a full waiver of interest for owners who keep every payment. Councilor Michael Marchese asked how much the city is owed; Munson said she would find out. The committee sent it out without a recommendation pending a preamble and those answers, and the full council postponed it to the next meeting.
Redevelopment Authority
Four appointments to the Everett Redevelopment Authority went to committee 7-4 after Councilor Holly Garcia said resumes had not arrived. Marchese objected: “I want this committee up and running yesterday.” The nominees attended the meeting.
New business
- Martins asked the traffic commission to put back a 15-minute parking sign in front of Bakes and Cakes on Norwich Street, removed when meters went in two years ago, and to review downtown’s whole 15-minute scheme. “What are you going to do in 15 minutes at a hair salon?”
- Martins, Jabouin and Marchese asked that any ARPA money the city claws back from unspent grants be offered to small businesses that never got to apply. Martins said the city received about $47 million in 2021 and it took five years for a small share to reach businesses. The item went to Government Operations.
- Marchese asked the traffic commission to drop the 4 to 7 p.m. no-parking restriction in the northbound Broadway bus lane from Sweetser Circle, to list what vehicles may use bike lanes and whether the lanes on Main Street, Broadway and Ferry Street can be removed, and asked the assessors whether seniors who own and live in multifamily homes could get a 50 percent tax cut.
- The council declared Everett a Purple Heart City, with August 7 as Purple Heart Day, and called the state election for Tuesday, November 3.
- Martins announced a nonpartisan session on the nine ballot questions at the Parlin Library on Thursday, October 15 at 7 p.m. Nguyen marked Indigenous Peoples Day by acknowledging the Pawtucket people’s history along the Mystic and Malden rivers.
Two National Grid petitions passed 10-1, a replacement pole on Carter Street and conduit for new Northern Strand trail lighting at the Santilli Circle connector. Rogers again voted no over the unfinished riverfront path, and Martins complained that a recent Grid job closed Broadway at the rotary with no signs or notice.
The full meeting transcript and video are available through the city’s Munitrac page.
