This is a machine transcript of the Everett City Council’s three committee meetings and regular meeting of Monday, October 26, 2026, taken from the city’s Munitrac record, which tags most speakers by name. It has not been edited or checked line by line. The software renders councillors’ names inconsistently (for example “Hamlin” for Hanlon, “Ween” for Nguyen, “DePiro” for DiPierro, “DuBois” or “DeBouin” for Alcy Jabouin, “Marquez” or “McKenzie” for Marchese and “Petitornio” for Pietrantonio), drops some dollar figures (the ARPA totals in the development office’s presentation, the Seaport grant amount), and labels the clerk calling the roll and some brief replies as numbered speakers. Vote counts and figures should be checked against the city’s agenda and the YouTube livestream. Our news report on the meeting is here. Corrections: editor@everettmanews.com.
Committee on Government Operations, Public Safety and Public Service, 5:30 p.m.
Burley: Alright. The city council committee on government operations, public safety, and public service. This is Monday, 10/26/2026, and we are at 5:30 pm. I have council Garcia.
Speaker 2: Present. Council Capone. Present.
Speaker 1: And council Petitornio.
Speaker 3: Present.
Burley: We have three members present. We do have a quorum. Agents to the flag of The 79 United and to the republic
Speaker 4: the end.
Speaker 1: 1 nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Burley: Alright. We have one piece of business on the agenda, and this is a resolution offered by councilors Martins, Alcy Jabouin, and Marchese. This is a resolution to make a portion of the recovered ARPA funds be dedicated to small businesses that did not previously get a chance to apply for assistance.
Capone: Can we please invite Monica Lamboy up to speak?
Pietrantonio: Second.
Lamboy: Good evening, everybody. I'm Monica Lamboy, the chief development officer for the city of Everett. Thank you for bringing up this important topic. If you’ll indulge me, I put together some slides to talk about the overall ARPA program because it is coming to a close very rapidly. And I had been wanting to sort of share what we've been working on with the council. But I'm trying to get the slides up. Magic. So, I will be very quick. So just to give you a little bit of background and the timelines that the project's been operating under, projects by type and the status, and then focusing in on the Small Business Assistance Program, which was what the topic is, and next steps. So by way of background, the ARPA program was started in fiscal year 2021 as a… It's a COVID relief… As part of the COVID relief funding, and the city received million approximately in a state grant. Then between 2022 and 2023, an additional million in revenue loss was added, and those are the funds that have been operating. There was a requirement by the state, by the federal government, that all funds had to be obligated by 12/31/2024. And the city of Everett at that time elected effectively 25 projects to be encumbered by that time. Nothing can be added. No projects can be added. And this is the reality of where we are today. All payments must be made by December 31 of this year, which means a check has to be cut through our financial system no later than 11:59 on December 31. Overall, this is… I tried to categorize the overall projects. So administrative funding is for city staff and for the consultant. COVID response were dollars directly spent on masks or some other items, some of the remote learning for schools. For senior meals, that program continued for quite some time until August. We spent over $4 million on senior meals, job training for students over multiple years, just over 2 million on city facilities and infrastructure, housing assistance. And then what are called subrecipients, which are nonprofits that received portions of funds for different purposes, and then economic recovery assistance. So, to look at some of the larger ones, I just wanted to break them down because they're larger categories. So under city facilities, the city invested over $5 million in the Ferry Street water and streetscape project, 880,000 into Woodland Park, the acquisition of Devens School, million. And then, this is more where I came in because I'm coming in at the end, funding for 548 Broadway, the former Everett High School. The project was originally for the roof of the building, but we've been able to do more. So, the building has a new roof that was started in the summer of 25 and completed. We've also completed hazardous materials remediation. Three new HVAC units, heating, venting, and AC units are going to be installed before December 31. And we are accomplishing a very detailed building assessment, looking at the electrical, the fire systems, everything for the building that would help when we are moving forward with the future use. All of that detailed assessment is gonna be tremendously helpful. Then at 888 Broadway, which is former Pope John, the initial commitment was only $28,000 for an assessment of the building. Since I've been working on the project, we've increased that, completed the hazard… We're working on the hazardous materials remediation that should be done momentarily. We will have 100% design for a roof for the building, for both components of the building. It is in dire need of a new roof. And for that building, we'll also have a very detailed building assessment to get an understanding of what it would need to be done prior to occupancy for future use. Under housing assistance, there were a couple iterations of the city's housing assistance program. Action for Boston was working between 2022 and 2024, invested about $600,000 to renters. And the City of Everett staff, the planning staff, took on, in the very end of fiscal 25 and all through fiscal 26, took on the rental and mortgage assistance program. And I'm really proud of what they've been able to accomplish because they have provided over million to renters in need of assistance and to mortgage assistance, and they're still going. Separate and apart from that, the program allocated funds to an array of housing providers… Service providers, Cambridge Health Alliance, Housing Families, La Comunidada, LUMA, and the Malden Warming Center to the tune of just over 2 million. Other subrecipients, so one of the initiatives was public health initiatives for million. These are some of the groups, the Cambridge Health Alliance, Eliot Center Joint Committee for Children's Health, For Kids Only, etcetera. Education and childcare, For Kids Only, housing families, and others. And then food assistance, CHA, Eliot Center, La Perle, and the Food Drive. And the Everett Youth Initiative Council, I believe this started at a million dollars, but they were not able to successfully identify students that would be eligible for the funding. And the Eliot Center's been managing this, and we think they're gonna hit about $100,000. Just a little bit on the subrecipients. So there are so many different groups involved in this, and they are all having different spending patterns. You'll see on the later slide that all of the subrecipients had to end their programs by September 30. So now we're in the process of identifying how much do they actually spend or if there's other monies that come back to the program. Now specifically on economic recovery assistance, my findings from talking to the consultants is that the program design started in February 2024, but they were not able to issue an application until April '25. The categories of assistance were COVID related economic loss, reimbursement for COVID expenses, technical assistance and counseling, and business start up and expansion. Significant data was required by the applicants, including invoices for reimbursement, multiple years of taxes for economic loss, and outreach was through public meetings, website, social media. All in all 48 applicants were received, 42 were awarded, so only six were not awarded due to incomplete data, not being in a census tract that was eligible, not being an eligible type of use. And the administration at the time wanted to maximize benefit to the most people, and so they allocated a fixed amount of awards around 17,800 for anybody that could identify at least that much. And then there were a small number who could not identify $17,800 of loss or expenses. So, next steps right now, I mentioned the contract period ended September 30. Our consulting team is reviewing all the financial records. If the nonprofit group did not spend all of their award, then we'll have to pull back the grant dollars, allocate them to another project. If they fail to spend the 50% cash advance that they were given, they are going to need to actually reimburse the city for the amount of unexpended balance. And as mentioned, all spending has to be finalized by December 31. Now to the specific question, I wish that I could say that we could do another round of economic recovery. But in talking to the consultants and looking at the timelines, there's just not the capability to do that. And we are trying to make sure every dollar is used to the benefit of Everett. And so proceeding with the projects that are already in the pipeline, which are already very complicated, hoping to get everything done by December 31. So, at this time, we cannot expend economic recovery. I… Council.
Capone: I know you said that you're still trying to figure out how much money is left. They weren't able to actually spend it. Do you have any idea how much money, like, kind of… You said, like, you can't… It's done, but is there a possibility that there would be money left that maybe down the road something else could be done or because it ends in December?
Lamboy: Unfortunately, it ends in December, and that's the end of the grant.
Capone: So what happens to the money, it disappears if it's not spent?
Lamboy: So right now, the building related projects, I've tried to key up enough building related projects that are more or less under our management and control to, fingers crossed, expend the full balance that comes back.
Capone: Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 6: Council president Tony.
Pietrantonio: Do you have any… All the slides, that was real quick and fast. You don't have that in paper form, do you?
Lamboy: I do. I have all slides in paper, and I also have a list of the economic recipients.
Pietrantonio: Do you have a copy with you?
Lamboy: Yeah. Another. That's okay.
Speaker 2: Possible.
Capone: Another quick question, Monica. What was the average type of business that applied for the ARPA assistance? Was it like a restaurant? Was it, you know, health care? Was it construction? What are the types of businesses that suffered during the pandemic? I'm just curious to know.
Lamboy: Great. So there were five nonprofits that were able to document either expenditure or harm, Arts for Everett, the Joint Committee for Children's Health Care, the MAPS, Mass Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, Centro Comunitario Scalabrini, and the Sikh Sangat Society of Boston. Other than that, everyone else looks predominantly to be a small business. Everett Furniture Discount, Coffee in a Box Corporation, Brazilian Bakery Corp. So these are names that I think if you look at this list, you'll see Reyes Market, Vira Moreno Incorporated. So I don't know all of the businesses in Everett, but what I'm seeing are predominantly the small ones that were able to complete their applications and to get some funding.
Capone: If if someone accepted ARPA money, did you have to claim it on your taxes? What were, like, the parameters of accepting the money?
Lamboy: Don't want… I would like to research that and get back to you, but I do believe that it's not taxable because it's trying to make you whole from a loss. But let me look at that and put that in writing for you.
Capone: Thank you.
Garcia: If I may, from the chair. So, essentially, we aren't able to dedicate any more to any new… Anything that hasn't already applied?
Lamboy: Unfortunately, we cannot at this time.
Garcia: Thank you. What? Final question? Council president Tony?
Pietrantonio: It's not a final. I might have a couple I might have a couple questions. I mean, it says all new projects can't be added post 2024.
Lamboy: Correct.
Pietrantonio: So all the projects have been… Money's been given out and all that?
Lamboy: So all of the… Yes. At that time, there were individual contracts written for each of those projects in specific dollar amounts.
Pietrantonio: So why are we here?
Lamboy: There is the ability to move among projects so that if dollars were not spent in category a, you could move them to b and still fulfill the requirements of the law. But at this point, we need to know that we're actually gonna be able to accomplish the goal.
Pietrantonio: So if someone gets $10,000 and they don't spend it, do we give them the whole 10 and if they don't spend it, they give it back to us by December 2026? How do we track that?
Lamboy: That is how our consultant is really valuable in this effort. So for all of the nonprofits that received a contract, they received a 50% award in cash in advance. Sometimes there's start up costs. You may need to hire somebody to implement the program, etcetera. So they have been tracking on a monthly basis all of the spending for each of those individual groups that got subgrants from the city of Everett. And they are going through right now. It ended on September 30, but payroll takes a couple of weeks to process. They have to get their invoices. So they're now sending in their final reports and all the documentation. So the consultant's gonna review that in the next couple of weeks and let us know, you know, this group spent 100%. This group spent 82%, whatever it might be.
Pietrantonio: And this is the same consultant that the previous administration had?
Lamboy: It's a nationally known accounting firm. Yes.
Pietrantonio: Okay. I mean, it's a shame. I mean, it looks like the city got a lot of money. I mean, this was before your time.
Lamboy: I would say we've been able to accomplish a lot of benefit to our infrastructure, to our buildings, to really set them up for the future. I know the two buildings, the old Everett High School and the former Pope John, are important assets that the city has. We've been able to do a lot of improvements, and fixing, and analysis without tapping into any kind of general fund dollars to do that. And I think the community collectively will benefit from that.
Pietrantonio: Yeah. I mean, I fully agree that these buildings needed it, but I thought the ARPA funds were for COVID related losses. Am I wrong in saying that?
Lamboy: It's not exclusively for that. And if you think about it, there are people who are doing the construction work. There are architects who are getting projects. So, it's stimulating the economy locally and more broadly by each of these dollars that's now revolving back out to whoever is under contract with us to do the work.
Pietrantonio: Well, it sounds like you… That's a good answer, but that… I'm not… I still think that doesn't satisfy why the city took so much money. My opinion. I mean, I probably voted for some of this stuff, probably. Right? I probably voted. I don't think I voted for the Devens School. I don't think I was here then, but… And how do we… Skip skip back to the old… I know John, we got a 6:00 meeting. I know and you got one at 6:30. I know John. I'm gonna make it short and sweet. So we allocated 9 million and change for the new roof. And then out of the 9 million, we went to HVAC units, building assessments. Did we vote on that? I don't recall. I recall voting on x amount of dollars for the roof, but I don't recall voting on any additional funding, any additional work to that building from the ARPA funds. Again, it was here before your time.
Lamboy: I do believe that the ARPA is an administratively managed program out of the executive office. So that might be why you didn't hear all of that. Initially, 10 million was allocated for the roof, but it was only around 6 million. So that gave an opportunity to still make greater improvements to the building.
Pietrantonio: And I wish there was a little more small businesses that got more money, but, I mean, it's more than I thought. I gotta say that. I mean, this… Some of this is laughable, to be honest with you. The recipients who got some of this money and the numbers, it's laughable to me why some of these people got all this money, which this was all… Sure I understand this. The administration, they dictated who got this money, or was it the consultants that dictated who got money and how much?
Lamboy: So the administration worked with the consultants to establish the process, and the documentation required, and the outreach. And then when the applications came in, the consultant reviewed everyone for eligibility and appropriateness for the funding, and 42 of the 48 were determined to be eligible. And then my understanding was the administration decided to sort of divide the pot evenly across them in order to maximize the number of businesses or nonprofits that benefited. That's why you'll see the same number again and again.
Pietrantonio: Yeah. I see that 17,800 is like a number that they're all… So if I have a business, my business has two employees. Michele Capone's business has 20 employees, we're gonna get the same amount of money evenly, does that make sense?
Lamboy: That was the decision at the time. Everyone would have had to document at least that amount of expense or COVID recovery impact. So all of them hit that threshold that got that number. That's why there's a couple that are lower because they were only able to document a lower number, but that was the determination made at the time.
Pietrantonio: So they would've had to show the consultants that they lost x amount of dollars, and that's how they would receive the lucky number of $17,. And now is there any money left?
Lamboy: There are still dollars that are to be expended. I think we have everything under contract at this moment.
Pietrantonio: So everyone… There's no more money to give out to anybody. The only money you're talking about is that if people don't spend it, they have to return it. Is that what you’re telling me?
Lamboy: So the biggest single remaining project are the HVAC units, that contract is going through the signature process, and that's going to use up any remaining balance that we have in the program.
Pietrantonio: That's for the old high school?
Lamboy: Yes. And so we can get rid of that temporary boiler that's been parked there for a couple years.
Pietrantonio: And did you say we put a new roof on Pope John?
Lamboy: No. We will have the 100% design plans and specifications ready to go when funding is available to do the roof.
Pietrantonio: Okay. So we just had an architect or a consultant firm go in there and see what we needed to be done and how much work had to be done?
Lamboy: Yes.
Pietrantonio: That's all we paid for that 1 million… Was it 1 million point… million?
Lamboy: Also, the environmental remediation, the hazmat remediation for the
Pietrantonio: Oh, they took out the asbestos. Yeah. That's right. Okay.
Capone: I was gonna say I just think it's surprising that in a community the size of Everett and all of the businesses here, only 48 people applied for the ARPA money or 48 business entities. That's just amazing that nobody else applied. Was it a really stringent process to apply for this money?
Lamboy: I can only say, looking at the forms because, I wasn't here during the time, there was quite a bit of data. So, for example, if you wanted to show economic harm, there were multiple years of tax returns that had to be submitted. There were multiple documents that had to be submitted to show that you're eligible for the funding.
Capone: Thank you.
Pietrantonio: One more question. So the money that comes back, will that… The people that didn't get any money, will they… Will you look up their application and see if they're still looking for cash or we won't do that, or will consultants do that?
Lamboy: The ones who were not eligible, were not eligible for a reason, so they're not eligible now. They weren't eligible at that time.
Pietrantonio: What if someone got their application in late?
Lamboy: Pardon?
Pietrantonio: If someone got the application in late, that still wouldn't make them eligible?
Lamboy: No one was denied for time, so they actually in the… I just got a write up that they gave extra time for people who were missing documents or whatever
Pietrantonio: Yeah. We heard that.
Lamboy: To be able to submit.
Pietrantonio: Not to cut you off. We heard that story multiple times in the previous administration. So where does the money… If we get money back, where does that money go? Back to the government?
Lamboy: If we don't spend every dollar, which we're trying to do, it would go back to the federal government. Yes.
Pietrantonio: So if Michele Capone's business sends us money back, are we gonna put new windows in at the high school?
Lamboy: I'm doing everything I can to spend all the money to benefit the local community.
Pietrantonio: So to me, that sounds like it's possible.
Lamboy: I have multiple contingency plans…
Pietrantonio: You need legal help?
Lamboy: I have wonderful legal help.
Pietrantonio: Alright. Thank you.
Garcia: If there are no further questions, I would entertain a motion to excuse our guest.
Pietrantonio: Thank you.
Garcia: Alright. So our recommendation here would be to motion to refer back to sponsor.
Pietrantonio: Yeah. Because we're not we're not… Just so I understand, we’re not voting on this. We're not passing this.
Garcia: Just more information.
Pietrantonio: Just more information. We wanna… Yeah. I'll be… I'll make a motion to refer back to sponsor.
Capone: And I'll second.
Garcia: And with that, I would entertain a motion to adjourn.
Capone: I'll waive the motion.
Garcia: We need to vote on it. All in favor?
Speaker 6: Aye. Opposed?
Garcia: The ayes have it. Now a motion to adjourn.
Capone: I'll make a motion to adjourn.
Pietrantonio: Second. in favor? Aye.
Speaker 1: Right.
Committee on Ways and Means, 6 p.m.
Burley: Alright. This is a city council committee of ways and means. This is Monday, 10/26/2026. We're at 6PM. I have councilor Petro. Yeah. Councilor Rogers. Yeah. Councilor Nuihen. Here. We have three members present. We do have coral. We don't need to salute the flag because we already did it. We have one piece of business on the agenda. This is an order of my Councilor Stephanie Smith. We already saluted the flag. This is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An order requesting authorization to borrow $2,057,100 from the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority through its local water system assisted program with the 2026 water main replacement project.
Pietrantonio: Ladies, what’s your pleasure.
Rogers: Motion to invite Omar.
Nguyen: Second. a
Speaker 7: 2nd. Good evening.
Speaker 3: So councilor Rogers.
Rogers: Thank you, Mr. Chair. So if you wanna just give us some context, I think, before there's any questions still on the floor.
Boukili: Sure. This is a request that we're putting forward to borrow a little over $2 million through the MWRA local water system assistance program. This is a 0% interest borrowing, at a borrowing that would have to pay back within 10 years. And the money is going towards a bunch of water repairs that my colleague, Mr. Lariviere, would be more than happy to describe in detail.
Lariviere: Good evening. Yes. We have a few streets that we need to do. And you asked if I can give you a breakdown of how did we come to that amount. And I gave this document. It's a construction estimate. And we get to that estimate, that cost estimate, by looking at the… By the quantities that are in the project, like, the length of your pipe, the fittings, the hydrants, the valves, and that's determined from the design. And using unit price estimates based on recent bid results that reflect around the community surrounding areas. And the only thing that's missing on… This says , but it's not including the details, because we could pay the police details out of this funding too, which come out to be around 62,300, which brings up to $2,057,100.
Rogers: And I imagine that this involves digging up the streets in order to replace a lot of the pipes underground. Are we… Do we have a plan that we've coordinated to ensure that our street paving is in coordination with this? Because I know a few years ago in Everett, we experienced Elm Street, Ferry Street being dug up multiple times in order to access the pipes after they were newly paved. So I'm just wondering if we're being considerate about the timeline of those projects and how they overlap.
Lariviere: Well, in the project there's permanent paving. So you will see a trench with laterals that service the homes and businesses or whatever. But there's a permanent patch. Sometime down the road, if the city wants to do curb to curb, they can do that. But putting it in the water, I mean, we kinda… I have areas where, in those streets, especially around the Maplewood area, that consistently have breaks. Maplewood would be one of them that we're trying to get off my book.
Rogers: That's all for me. Thank you.
Pietrantonio: If I may, from the chair. How many actual streets we would be doing with this ?
Lariviere: Well, we were doing Maplewood. Shute Street. We're doing a portion of Shute Street, Maplewood. Evelyn Road. We took off Evelyn Road because I did some research in that portion. It was on the Revere Beach Parkway going from Evelyn Road to, I think it's County Road. That was already done. So I took that out. So that would leave… That funding, I would put into another street, which I… Where I have a problem. I would just ask D L Howard, who is our consultant, to just give me a… Just put a design in and put that street under these prices.
Pietrantonio: So we're doing one and a half streets?
Lariviere: You’re doing a portion of Shute…
Pietrantonio: Portion Of Shute. We're doing… We know Maplewood because last year we were doing that.
Lariviere: You're doing Maplewood. Since we're going up Shute Street, we're passing Russell Place. I wanted to… On the water main update because it's a two inch cast iron pipe that fills a lot. So while we're there, that would be an addition. I have a problem over by Duncan Road. The nursing home has a problem. And I want any leftover funding, I’d like to throw that up there.
Pietrantonio: Nursing home comes off Duncan Road, not Elm Street?
Lariviere: Both. But the pipe suppression that's on the Duncan Road side isn't getting that enough… Isn't getting adequate pressure flow. So there's a part 10 inch main, and the rest is 6, which is probably heavily tuberculated, So.
Pietrantonio: Okay. So we coordinate these with the gas company too? So if the gas company has to do any work, are we trying to pull them in too? So, hey. Listen. With the gas, we're doing… We're we're banging the street up. You might as well jump in and bang it up before we do it over?
Lariviere: I don't know that. That's something for engineering. I'm just making sure that the water gets done. Engineering, I would talk to them and see if the gas has already been done. I don't know. Shute Street, I know the gas has been done. Maplewood, I know the gas has been done.
Pietrantonio: Over to you, can we make sure that the gas company, if they're gonna wanna replace the gas line, they can work the same streets we're working? Is that possible? Can we find out that?
Boukili: Absolutely. I'll coordinate with DPW, the DPW director
Pietrantonio: Just to make sure that it makes sense. I mean, it makes sense. We're gonna, you know, we're gonna go right down the middle of street. Now this has nothing to do with the lead services either. Right? That's a whole different program.
Lariviere: Right. But when you do it now, when you do a new water main, the services… If they're led, they go all the way in.
Pietrantonio: Correct. But what I'm saying, with us doing the water main, if we come to… If it's a copper service, we're not touching it. Correct?
Lariviere: You're gonna… You're replacing the whole thing. Even if… Like, when you do a rope… When you do a new water main project, even if there's copper, it could be three quarters, everything's 1 inch.
Pietrantonio: Okay.
Lariviere: Everything gets brand new with a brand new shutoff in the sidewalk. And if it's lead in the property, it gets… That gets done under this contract.
Pietrantonio: Okay. So let's… Let me just step back. So we get the lead service program out. The lead service right now, we're going from the main right into the house. Are we going from the curb start?
Lariviere: We're doing both. Some locations just have to go from the sidewalk in.
Pietrantonio: Yeah. But I just don't wanna repeat the work. We're not gonna repeat the work.
Lariviere: You're not repeating the work.
Pietrantonio: Okay. We're not gonna repeat the work. Not… You know, if the contractor goes in and does the service, and then we come in and we change the main, we're not gonna hit the service again?
Lariviere: No.
Pietrantonio: We're gonna just take it off the corp services in there. We're good. Because there's gotta be a 1 inch. Correct?
Lariviere: Yeah.
Pietrantonio: Okay. We're putting 1 inch services in?
Lariviere: Yeah.
Pietrantonio: Okay. So you said we're doing hydrange, the whole 9… All new hydrange, all new valves, gate valves, the whole 9 yards. We're changing the whole thing?
Lariviere: Yeah.
Pietrantonio: And this money that we're getting from, MWRA, interest free, 10 years, what's that gonna cost us over the 10 years? Like, what are the… What's the payment monthly, yearly?
Boukili: Yearly, about 200,000. Little over 200,000.
Pietrantonio: How much?
Boukili: Little over 200,000.
Pietrantonio: 20,000?
Boukili: 200. Over 200,000, so about 205,000.
Pietrantonio: Okay. My concern is now with the 200, are we gonna… We got other stuff coming down the pipe. Are we gonna be able to afford that too? We know we get some big projects coming up.
Boukili: Well, we are
Pietrantonio: Are we gonna be okay with this?
Boukili: We're utilizing our retained earnings in order to do that so we can focus on our water and sewer system. Yes.
Pietrantonio: Okay. Because the 200,000 doesn't come out of the water fund, does it?
Boukili: That's our intent.
Pietrantonio: So the water fund could fund this $200?
Boukili: Correct.
Pietrantonio: Okay. So it's not gonna come out of the general fund in my US city budget. Am I saying that right?
Boukili: That's not our intent. Our intent is to use the water and sewer retained earnings. The enterprise fund.
Pietrantonio: Alright. I got no further questions.
Nguyen: Thank you. I just wanted to clarify what the timeline for phase 1 is if it's intended to be finished by the end of the year.
Lariviere: We would be hoping to do this in the spring.
Nguyen: Okay. No further questions.
Rogers: Motion for favorable recommendation to the full body?
Pietrantonio: Can you excuse the guests first?
Rogers: Motion to excuse our guests with a customary thanks.
Lariviere: Thank you.
Pietrantonio: Thank you, guys.
Rogers: And then motion for favorable recommendation to the full body.
Nguyen: Second. you a 2nd? 2nd. 2nd. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any No. We don't roll call.
Pietrantonio: Is anyone opposed? Hearing no one opposed.
Rogers: Motion to adjourn.
Pietrantonio: Meeting to adjourn.
Nguyen: Second. favor. Aye. Aye. Thank you.
Committee on Legislative Affairs and Elections, 6:30 p.m.
Burley: Alright. The city council's committee on legislative affairs and elections. Monday, 10/26/2026. We're at 6:30PM. I have councilor MacKenzie. Present. I have councilor Martins. Present. Councilor De Peregrine. Present. And councilor Hodges.
Speaker 10: Here.
Burley: We have all members present. We do not have to stand. We already saluted the flag. So we have one piece of business. And this is the order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president, an order requesting the approval of the appointment of the following individuals as members of the Everett redevelopment authority, Kristin Bairos, two years. Rebecca Edmonson-Korom, three years. Barry Erickson, four years. Joel Lopes one year.
Marchese: Do we have any questions? We have the resumes of… Councilor DiPierro.
DiPierro: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This was sort of a formality as we hadn't received the resumes at our last meeting. I've had a chance to review them. I do think that these individuals coming from different backgrounds will come together to make a pretty nice board that'll work together and really look at what needs to be done towards the redevelopment of certain areas in this community moving forward. And I am ready to vote favorably. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Counselor…Yeah. Good mind here, I think. O'Rajas.
Rogers: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to echo Councilor DiPierro, I fully support these appointments, and I have had the pleasure of actually knowing and working with some of these folks and these individuals in different capacities. So it's actually extremely refreshing to be able to vouch for each of these individuals for this role. And I really look forward to what they will accomplish on the board. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Anyone? Councilman, anybody?
Martins: Second the motion. Was the motion made? Motion made in sec… Fable action. All all in favor, we're gonna do… All in favor?
Speaker 3: Aye. I opposed?
Speaker 1: What's it? Yeah.
Speaker 4: It's handled, obviously.
Rogers: Motion to adjourn.
Marchese: Motion made and seconded to adjourn. All in favor? Aye. I oppose.
Speaker 3: Those
Regular City Council meeting, 7 p.m.
Smith: Good evening. Today is Monday, October 26 at 7PM. Will the clerk please call the roll?
Speaker 13: Council Capone.
Speaker 2: Present.
Speaker 13: Council De Pero. Present. Council Garcia.
Speaker 9: Present.
Speaker 13: Council Hanlon.
Speaker 4: Present.
Speaker 13: Council Marchese. Present. Councilor Martins?
Speaker 14: Present.
Speaker 13: Councilor Ween? Present. Councilor Petrantonio? Present. Councilor Rogers?
Speaker 9: Here.
Speaker 13: Council president Smith?
Speaker 9: Present. SPEAKER13 And councilor Allison DeBouin? Present. 11 members present.
Smith: 11 members present. We do have a quorum. Will you please stand and salute the flag?
Speaker 13: Pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, 1 nation under God, indivisible,
Speaker 9: with liberty and justice for all.
Smith: Will the clerk please read item number 1?
Cornelio: Item number 1 is a petition offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. A petition from National Grid requesting permission to provide a permanent overhead to underground service at 11 Langdon Street, Everett, Mass. The petitioner is in the audience.
Garcia: I would motion to invite the petitioner.
Martins: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to invite the petition petitioner before us. All is in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Good evening. If you can just state your name for the record.
Azurdia: Good evening, madam president, council members. Joseluis Azurdia, 170 Medford Street in Malden. So we're requesting to install conduit from an existing pole on Jacob's Place to the private property at, the parcels at 11 Langdon Street, so we can provide a new service for EV chargers. This is a customer driven project and is part of the multiunit dwelling EV charging program. Thank you.
Speaker 9: Is there any questions? Councilor Hanlon.
Hanlon: The project you're doing is, it comes from the street. What is it, like, 12 feet off the sidewalk?
Azurdia: Yeah. So where the pole is, I think it's kind of the very last pole at the end.
Hanlon: Okay. No. I'm not too concerned about that because I'm pretty well you guys do pretty good. But I'm concerned about from the point where it goes into the person's property, that's a long stretch.
Azurdia: It is.
Hanlon: And 70… No. 37 feet.
Azurdia: I wouldn't say 37. I would say it's only 15 feet.
Hanlon: No. Yours. But but from the… From where they start from there… From your connection to their house is how far?
Azurdia: So from… On the public, from the pole to their private property is 15 feet. And then from the private property to the EV chargers, I don't know where exactly they wanna put them, but they're gonna keep them inside that parking lot.
Hanlon: Yeah. Well, they're going to do their own electricity. Who checks that? Is it the city of Everett that checks it?
Azurdia: So we’re only petitioning for the portion of
Hanlon: They’re gonna hook up to your electricity and run it to their house. That's a long, long… It's longer than its room. You know? And so that's what I'm worried about. Who checks out what's… That's underground too.
Azurdia: Mhmm.
Hanlon: So who checks that?
Azurdia: The wire inspector. He has to sign off on that.
Hanlon: Who checks this?
Azurdia: The wire inspector. The electrical wire inspector. So we verified the location.
Hanlon: I find no fault with yours, but I'm kinda concerned that the electric company… I'm sorry. The electric, whatever it is, is not following up on that to make sure that it gets to the person's house correctly.
Azurdia: Yeah. So, actually, this is for EV chargers, so we're not making a connection to the building. They're just gonna put a meter in the parking lot. And it's only gonna serve the EV chargers for that parking lot.
Hanlon: Who in the city of Everett would have a responsibility for that too, at the part of Everett, part of Everett?
Azurdia: So the electrical contractor is hired to do this work, and they have to follow NEC code and be compliant with all regulations. And once their work is completed, they have to call in a municipal inspection to the city. And the inspector has to sign off on that service before we energize our side.
Hanlon: Check that, but, I might call you, but maybe not. But okay. Thank you.
Azurdia: You're welcome.
Speaker 9: Council Patchentonio.
Pietrantonio: Is this a residential or a commercial property?
Azurdia: It's residential. It's a pretty big building. I think the the building is owned by United Properties. So it's… So there's people living in there.
Pietrantonio: And they’re putting the EV charges for cars?
Azurdia: Correct.
Pietrantonio: How many? Do you know?
Azurdia: I think they have four charging stations.
Pietrantonio: Okay. Just one question, no I'll talk to you later about something. So, thank you. No further questions.
Azurdia: Thank you.
Speaker 9: Any further questions?
Rogers: Motion to excuse with a customary thanks.
Garcia: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to excuse the petitioner with the customary thanks. All those in favor. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.
Garcia: Madam President, I motion to open the public hearing.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to open the public hearing. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. I'm gonna ask three times. Is anyone in favor of this petition? Is anyone in favor of this petition? Is anyone in favor of this petition? The portion of the hearing is now closed. I'm now gonna ask three times, is anyone opposed to this petition? Is anyone opposed to this petition? Is anyone opposed to this petition? That portion of the hearing is now closed.
Garcia: Motion for favorable action.
Pietrantonio: Second.
Smith: We need to close the public hearing.
Garcia: Motion to close public hearing.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing. All those in favor. Aye. Closed. The ayes have it. Motion for favorable action. Roll call vote.
Speaker 13: Councilor Austin Gabbin? Yes. Councilor Capone?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: Councilor DiPero? Yes. Councilor Garcia? Yes. Councilor Hamlin? Yes. Councilor Marquez? Yes. Councilor Martins? Yeah. Yes. Council Ween? Yes. Council Rogers? No. And council president Smith? Yes. 9 ayes, 1 nay, madam president.
Smith: 9 yeas, one nay. The petition has passed.
Garcia: Motion to open public participation.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: No one has signed in on the sign in sheet. Is there anyone that is… Wants to talk in public participation? Okay.
Garcia: Motion to close public participation.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and 2nd to close public participation. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.
Garcia: Madam president, I motion to take item 11 out of order.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to take item number 11, auto order. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Will the clerk please read item number 11?
Cornelio: Item number 11 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An order requesting approval of the appointment of the following individuals as members of the Everett Redevelopment Authority, Kristin Bairos, two years. Rebecca Edmonson-Korom, three years. Barry Erickson, four years, and Joel Lopes, one year. This was in committee this evening and I believe it had a favorable recommendation.
DiPierro: Move to accept the committee report and for favorable action.
Rogers: Second.
Speaker 13: It is not behind it.
Speaker 3: It's on.
Speaker 9: It's on. Okay. I just wanna let the public know that
Speaker 13: Now it's
Speaker 3: off.
Smith: I just wanna let the public know that these individuals were at the committee hearing right before this.
Cornelio: Or these are in committee.
Smith: These are in committee. Yep.
Speaker 13: Yep. Alright. Roll call for councilor Mhmm. DePiro? Yes. Councilor Garcia?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: Councilor Hamlin? Yes. Councilor Mark Casey? Yes. Councilor Martins? Yeah. Councilor Weid? Yes. Councilor Pietr Antonio? Yes. Councilor Rogers?
Speaker 5: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council president Smith?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: That'd be, 9 yays, 0 nays, ma'am.
Smith: 9 yays, 0 nays. Congratulations to the new members of the Everett Redevelopment Authority. Clerk, please read item number 2.
Cornelio: Item number 2 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An order requesting approval of the appointment of Wendy Poste as a member of the order… Excuse me, of the board of library trustees for a term of three years.
Garcia: Madam President, I motion to suspend rule 20.
Marchese: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to suspend rule 20. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.
Garcia: We did receive this resume, so I would motion for favorable action.
Marchese: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded for favorable action. I’d just like to note that Miss Poste is in the audience today.
Speaker 13: Councilor De Pero? Yes. Councilor Garcia?
Speaker 17: Yes.
Speaker 13: Councilor Henley? Yes. Councilor McKenzie? Yes. Councilor Martins? Yes. Councilor Ween? Yes. Councilor Petrantonio? Yes. Councilor Rogers? Yes. Councilor President Smith?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: And councilor Alcea DuBois?
Speaker 17: Yes.
Speaker 13: The 10 yays, 0 nays, madam president.
Smith: 10 yays, 0 nays, the item has passed. Congratulations, Miss Poste.
Cornelio: Item number 3 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith, as president. An order that the city hereby accept and authorizes the expenditure of a municipal vulnerability grant for $345,752 from the Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for depaving underutilized sites and street segments in environmental justice communities and converting them into biodiverse green spaces composed of native plants to support at risk pollinators and improve climate resiliency using nature based solutions.
Garcia: Favorable action.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded for favorable action. Roll call vote. This is a grant.
Martins: On the motion, can we be provided with a copy of where this will be taking place? Where it'll be expended and where these pollinators will be installed so we get the information of how it's being expended?
Smith: Yep. That will be part of the request that we sent to the administration to provide us where we're going to get this biodiverse green spaces composed of native plants. You're welcome.
Speaker 13: Councilor Elsie de Bruin?
Speaker 6: Yes.
Speaker 13: Councilor De Pero? Yes. Councilor Garcia? Yes. Council Hamlin? Yes. Councilor Marchese? Yes. Councilor Martin? Yes. Councilor Ween? Yes. Councilor Rogers?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: Councilor President Smith?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: And councilor Capone?
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 13: 10 yays, 0 nays, madam president.
Smith: 10 yays, 0 nays. We have accepted the grants.
Cornelio: Item number 4. Item number 4 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An order that the city hereby accepts and authorizes the expenditure of a Seaport Economic Council grant in the amount of $250 from the Executive Office of Economic Development for the initial phase of research and study of unmapped and or private stormwater outfalls along the Mystic River waterfront and preliminary design intended to establish a modern and compliant stormwater collection and discharge system for the area below Beecham Street, which is crucial to redevelopment in this area.
Garcia: Favorable action.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded for favorable action on the grant. Clark, please call the roll.
Speaker 13: Council Aussie DuBin?
Speaker 17: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council Capone?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council DePiro? Yes. Council Garcia?
Speaker 14: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council Hamlin? Yes. Council Marchese? Yep. Council Martin?
Speaker 14: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council Ween? Yes. Council Rogers?
Speaker 10: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council president Smith?
Speaker 14: Yes. 10
Speaker 13: yeas, 0 nays, madam president.
Smith: 10 yays, 0 nays. The grant has been accepted.
Cornelio: Item number 5 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An order that the city hereby accepts and authorizes the expenditure of a MassWorks grant in the amount of $1 million from the Executive Office of Economic Development for the Lower Broadway Phase 2 Robin Street preconstruction, including design, permitting, and engineering.
Garcia: Favorable action.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded for favorable action for acceptance of this grant. Will the clerk please call the roll?
Speaker 13: Council Allison DeBoehn?
Speaker 10: Yes. Council Capone?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council De Pero? Yes. Council Garcia?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council Hamlin?
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council Marquez? Yes. Council Martin? Yes. Councilor Rogers?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council president Smith? Yes. 10 yeas. 0 nays, madam president.
Smith: 10 yays, 0 nays. Grant has been accepted.
Cornelio: Item number 6 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An order that the city hereby accepts and authorizes the expenditure of a Mass Works grant in the amount of 450,000 from the Executive Office of Economic Development for the purpose of the commercial triangle Phase 2 through 4, excuse me, pre construction including design, permitting, and engineering.
Garcia: Favorable action.
Martins: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded for favorable action. Clerk, please call the roll.
Speaker 13: Councilor Elsie DeBouin?
Speaker 10: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council Capone?
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council DeBouro?
Speaker 8: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council Garcia? Yes. Council Hamlin? Yes. Council Marquez? Yes. Council Martin?
Speaker 14: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council Ween? Yeah. Council Petroneo? Yes. Council Rogers?
Speaker 10: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council president Smith?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: 11 yeas, 0 nays.
Smith: 11 yays, 0 nays. The grant has been accepted.
Cornelio: Item number 7. Is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An order that the city hereby accepts and authorize the expenditure of the FY 27 community block grant in the amount of $755,400 from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for the purpose of covering police overtime, land and marine based, overtime seasonal staffing for marine fire boat, and silver line right of way procurement.
Garcia: Favorable action.
Martins: Second.
Smith: Motion and seconded for favorable action. Clerk, please call the roll.
Speaker 13: Councilor Nelson DeBoyle?
Speaker 17: Yes.
Speaker 13: Councilor Capone? Yes. Councilor DiPiro? Yes. Councilor Garcia? Yes. Councilor McKenzie? Yes. Councilor Martins? Yes. Councilor Pietrantonio? Yes. And council president Smith?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: 11 yays, 0 nays,
Smith: 11 yays, 0 nays the grant has been accepted. Clerk, please read item number 8.
Cornelio: Item number 8. Is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An order that the Everett City Council hereby grants approval to appropriate $50,000 from the capital stabilization fund to the office of the city solicitor for the purpose of funding litigation and professional services account.
Garcia: Motion to refer this to committee on ways and means.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to refer to the committee on ways and means. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.
Cornelio: Item number 9 is a… Excuse me. Item number 9 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An order that the city of Everett hereby approves to transfer 14,000 from the office of purchasing and procurement's personal expenses to operating expenses in order to fund the central operational needs related to equipment, furniture contracts, and ongoing contract management.
Garcia: Motion to refer this to the committee on ways and means.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to refer to the committee on ways and means. All those in favor. I. Opposed? The ayes have it.
Cornelio: Item number 10 is an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. We are, excuse me, on the committee reports. 10 is an order requesting authorization to borrow $2,057,100 withdrawals from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, MWRA, through its local water system assistance program for the 2026 water main replacement project. I know this was in committee. I do not know what the committee reported out.
Smith: I believe the committee reported favorable action on this item. Is that correct, councilor Pacemontonio?
Martins: Ways and means.
Smith: Ways and means, I think.
Speaker 6: Pardon me. Counselor Martin.
Martins: Pardon me, Madam President. On this item, I just wanna thank them for providing the breakdown. We're establishing a new culture where we now get the breakdown of the amount that's being requested so we know what they're spending it on, and I wanna thank them for taking the time to provide that information.
Speaker 9: Councilor Pacentino.
Pietrantonio: And just so the public knows, this is an interest free loan, and it'll be paid out of the water enterprise fund.
Smith: Great.
Martins: Favorable action. Alyssa Jaboon. Kinda.
Alcy Jabouin: I just… I mean, I've asked that question before. I think they're looking for an answer for me. I wanted to know what the city is doing on trying to get overdue water bills to help just with stuff like that so we don't have to borrow so much money. Thank you.
Smith: I think we can work with the legislative aide, yeah, to get a response to your question.
Garcia: Motion to accept the committee report in favorable action.
Rogers: Second. the motion, councilor, Patric Antonio.
Pietrantonio: On the overdue water bills, from what I understand how it works, it goes on the… It goes on their mortgage. They put a lien on their mortgage. When the tax bill comes out, the mortgage company bills the homeowner, so their monthly payment goes up. And if they don't have a mortgage, the city will put a lien on it and take the house. And I think it's all public record. We can find out who owes what and how much is owed. We can find that out, and we can
Alcy Jabouin: That still doesn't guarantee us getting a check-in the mail?
Smith: We will follow-up on that. But favorable action clerk, please call the roll.
Speaker 13: Council Elsie DuBois? No. Council Capone? No. Council DeBureau? Yes. Council Garcia? Yes. Council Hamlin? Yes. Council Marchese? No. Councilor Myers? Yes. Councilor Ween? Yes. Councilor Pietrantonio? Yes. Councilor Rogers? Yes. Council, council president Smith?
Speaker 6: Yes.
Speaker 13: 8 a's, 3 nays. You have, approved the bonding.
Smith: 8 yays, 3 nays. We have passed the interest free loan. Clerk, please read item number 12.
Cornelio: Item 11. Item 12. Thank you. As on the unfinished business is an ordinance offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An ordinance establishing a tax title payment agreement in the city of Everett.
Smith: I know we have the city solicitor before us to answer some questions. She wants to come up before us.
Martins: Motion to invite our city solicitor, Miss Munson.
Rogers: Second. Motion made in 2nd to invite the city solicitor. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.
Smith: Good evening. I believe, Councilor Marchese, do you have questions?
Marchese: How are you, Miss Munson, tonight? Quick question. We have a couple questions that we have or the… They didn't come before us today. The first would be, what's the total amount that would prevent the city from entering into an agreement for a tax title payment?
Munson: Thank you for having me here. So the amount that… Do you mean, like, a dollar threshold that would allow somebody
Marchese: Is a dollar a percentage or what would it be?
Munson: It's not really… And I spoke to Monica Ford about this a few weeks ago. It's not real… Who's our treasurer. It's not really a financial threshold, so to speak, but sounds like we do an accounting at least once a year of any properties that owe on their taxes, and then we start the tax title process. So as part of that process, if this ordinance were to pass, it would be potentially engaging taxpayers to see if they wanted to enter into a tax title payment.
Marchese: Tax settlement. And, also, so when this is a current tax payment, after selling a tax title payment, what would happen?
Munson: So there would usually… Because it's going to be a legal agreement, there will be a stipulation in there about… You know, and that language has not been developed yet because this hasn't passed. But, essentially, the purpose of the agreement would… It would require compliance. So if somebody did miss a payment, you know, there possibly could be a grace period where, you know, we can receive that payment a little bit late. But if, let's say, somebody made it halfway through their tax title agreement and stopped paying under the terms of that, legally, that would be a breach of contract, so we would be able to most likely put into foreclosure.
Marchese: Because the… It's funny because the unpaid taxes could be a lot. It could be a little depending on who has them. So you just… Do you try to figure is there a timetable on it? Because, obviously, you can't put a amount to it because everybody could own a different amount. But if they missed two or three tax payments, I'd imagine that would trigger something.
Munson: Yeah. And so once we would enter… Ideally, the way it would work is we would enter into an agreement with somebody. They would have to put 10% down on what they owe, which is the statutory minimum to be able to enter into these agreements. They can be up to 10 years. We've proposed five. So, essentially, you know, let's say years 1, 2, and 3, they pay and they stop paying that amount in years 4 and 5, that would be a breach of contract. So then the agreement would most likely be null and void, and we'd be able to proceed as we normally did through the tax title process.
Marchese: So your first payment would be 10% of the existing debt?
Munson: So the second that you sign the agreement, you have to put the 10% down, and then the next payment would be like a fixed payment spread out over the course of however many years the agreement is.
Marchese: Oh, the 10 years.
Munson: But the state statute requires that anyone who enters into these agreements has to put a minimum of 10% down.
Marchese: Thank you.
Speaker 9: Any further questions? Council Capone?
Capone: Do you know how much is still outstanding in taxes in the city at this time?
Munson: So when I spoke to the treasurer a few weeks ago, she said it's somewhere between 2 and 3 million dollars.
Capone: Thank you.
Marchese: If I could, I'd like
Smith: Sure. Councilor Marchese, you can speak again.
Marchese: You know, this doesn't make sense, Pete. At least we have a chance here. Who am I kidding? What percentage of that is residential, and what else would be commercial on that 2 to 3 million?
Munson: So I don't have that answer for you, but I will find out.
Marchese: Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 9: Councilor Martins.
Martins: Thank you. Is there a time… And I think Councilor Marchese asked, is there a number of years that they have? Because you have it now where they can make minimum payments, but can they make those payments without a final deadline while the other taxes are also piling up? How are we controlling them?
Munson: So is it… Do you mean if someone who is under an agreement or somebody who is not under an agreement?
Martins: So with the agreement, will everybody have a different number of years to break it down?
Munson: So, essentially, some… If someone wanted to pay everything in, like, year 1 or 2, they could. We're proposing five years as the maximum amount of time, so that way we still can get, like, a return in some sort of short period. The state law does allow Everett as a municipality to have that spread out over 10 years. That is a long period of time. Legally, there's nothing wrong with it. We had just… From a business perspective, the administration wanted to go with the five years.
Martins: What happens if they become delinquent on a new tax balance while going through this agreement, will they have multiple tax agreements?
Munson: So I think that's a great question, and that would probably be… It could be on a case by case basis. So let's say somebody has… Let's say they haven't paid for the past year. They enter into a payment agreement, and then they don't pay on the next year. It is possible, but I can see a situation where we might want to amend that existing agreement so it's just all one agreement. That probably would be the least confusing.
Martins: Okay. Thank you. Councilor Pacertonio?
Pietrantonio: Just so I understand, it's for a tax title payment for me to understand and the public. If someone falls behind on the taxes, you set up a payment plan.
Munson: This would… Passing this ordinance would allow us to do that. Yes. We cannot do that right now without accepting the state law and creating a statute of our own because we do have to develop a process for it, which needs to be in the statute. But, essentially, the easiest way to think about it is, you know, if you have to make a minimum payment on your credit card every month, for example, that's sort of the… A very similar structure that we would be setting up so that people could be able to keep their homes out of the actual tax title foreclosure process. And so kills two birds with one stone, so to speak. They can keep their homes or go through the process of doing that, and we can also collect the revenue that we normally would not have gotten from the taxes. And it doesn't mean that somebody can't make a partial payment now. That is possible. But the payment agreement, in my opinion, from a legal perspective, provides surety on both sides that I think is helpful.
Pietrantonio: You have to have a hardship to set up this? You have to have a hardship case? Like, I lost my job all month, I got laid off. No?
Munson: No.
Pietrantonio: And so when the assessor does the assessment and tallies okay, every house is given x amount of dollars, the city's gonna pull in. Now we have people that don't pay their taxes. How do we make up that difference?
Munson: Can you an… Can you ask me that in another way? I'm not sure I understand.
Pietrantonio: The assessor assesses everyone's property. They come up with a number, say $5 million. Say, there's $1 million not paid. How do we make up that million dollars on the $5 million because we’re accounting that as this in our bank account, we'll say.
Munson: Right. So I would need to confirm that with our assessor because I'm not a numbers girl myself, but I can get back to you on that. But I think your question really is, are other taxpayers making up for the lost taxes that we're not getting from others?
Pietrantonio: How is it made up? How do we make that money up? If, you know, because what if there's… Like I said, if this hits 5 million and there's 3 million people that don't pay their taxes, how does the city make that up? Because we're counting that to pay our bills. Right?
Munson: Yep. I will get that answer to that question for you.
Pietrantonio: Okay. And anyone… And if you sell your house, you have to make sure your water bill, your taxes, that's all paid up before the city will let you sell your property. Correct?
Munson: So for purposes of this agreement, you do have to be in good standing in order to enter into a tax title agreement. So if you're not up to date on your water bills and such, that would prevent somebody from entering into an agreement. So it is kind of a multifaceted approach where people, you know, they can't be outstanding on everything in order to get into a tax title agreement. They do need to be up to speed on their other bills as well.
Pietrantonio: So they have to be up on your water bill to get this tax title payment? So now if I'm not my taxes, do I have to be paid up on my water bill? So you can go on your water bill but not pay tax, but you could pay tax and not go on your water bill like it's?
Munson: Yes. A lot of this is statutory, so the states already created this process for us to work in. I think the best way to look at it is that, you know, while people owing revenue might seem like the same thing, the taxes in particular are very important. And, basically, this is just giving us the ability to help people spread what they owe over a certain period of time. You know, somebody can owe on their, their water bill, but then they obviously can come and make a partial payment on their taxes. This is just kind of giving somebody a different benefit so that we're allowing them to pay over a longer period than they otherwise could right now because right now, we don't have a mechanism for entering into these kind of agreements.
Pietrantonio: Talk about water bills. Do we have a mechanism for water bills to be paid up?
Munson: I will get the answer to that question for you too.
Pietrantonio: Oh, did you ask that question? Sorry about that, councilor. Thank you.
Rogers: Motion to excuse with a customary thanks.
Garcia: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to excuse the customary thanks. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you, Miss Munson.
Garcia: Motion for favorable action.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded for favorable action. Clerk, please call the roll.
Speaker 13: Council Allison DuBois?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 13: Pats Capone? Yes. Council DePiro? Yes. Council Garcia? Yes. Council Hamlin? Yes. Council Marchese? Yep. Council Martins. Council Martins? Yeah. Council Ween?
Speaker 12: Yes. Council
Speaker 13: Petrutonia? Yes. Council Rogers? Yes. And council president Smith? Yes. 11 yays, 0 nays. You have enrolled.
Smith: 11 yays, 0 nays. That ordinance has been enrolled. Clerk, please read item number 13.
Cornelio: Item number 13 is an ordinance offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president. An ordinance proposing to remove the youth commission from Chapter 2 of the revised ordinances by rescinding Article 3, Division 11 of said chapter.
DiPierro: Favorable action.
Rogers: Second.
Cornelio: This was postponed.
Martins: It's never been in committee.
Smith: This has been… This didn't go to committee because all of it is taking the ordinance out, putting it in… It's in administrative code. So there's no ordinance to revise. It's just taking it out.
Martins: Well, this portion because the initial proposal was changed with makeup of the commission.
Smith: Yes. This one is on our desk, and it says that the Section 2-31a,5 is hereby repealed and deleted. Any affected subsequent subsections are resequenced appropriately, and it just says, like, deleted. So it's just taking the ordinance out, and it's gonna be done in the administrative code now. So you can take it to committee if you want, but it literally just deleted the ordinance.
Martins: That's when I saw the initial communication from the mayor, and there was a whole language about how the membership will be decided differently now. But what we're voting on today is just what's in front of us.
Cornelio: Not in this one. This is just a rescind.
Smith: This is just a rescind. And then the, similar to the other boards and commissions, they'll be handled in the administrative code. This one was, for some reason, done differently that there was an ordinance about it.
Martins: Favorable action.
Smith: Thank you.
Martins: You're welcome.
Speaker 13: Can I hear a favorable action from someone? Sorry. Councilor. Thank you.
Smith: Motion made and seconded for favorable action. Clerk, please call the roll.
Speaker 13: Councilor Elsie Geba?
Speaker 17: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council Capone?
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council DePerell? Yes. Councilor Garcia? Yes. Councilor Marchese? Yep. Councilor Martins? Yes. Councilor Wing? Yes. Councilor Pietr Antonio? Yes. Councilor Rogers?
Speaker 10: Yes.
Speaker 13: Council president Smith? Yes. 10 yays, 0 nays. Madam president, you have enrolled.
Smith: 10 yays, 0 nays. You have enrolled the removal. We're now moving to new business.
Cornelio: Item number 14 under new business. Madam President, is a resolution offered by Councilor Michael Marchese. A resolution requesting location markers along the Northern strand to support public safety in the city of Everett?
Speaker 9: Councilor Marchese.
Marchese: I guess, at the last meeting, someone had mentioned that someone fell off a bike or something happened. There was an emergency, and there was nothing really a marker to say where the cup… Marker 1, marker 2, marker 3. And I think maybe it's good to have an identifying marker there. So the case of emergency, you see, near Marker 14 or near, to the, I guess, of the dog place there, whatever. But I think it should have a mark, some stakes, numbers, or whatever, you know, just to provide safety. That's all.
DiPierro: I second the referral to public works.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to refer to public works. I don't know if you wanna refer to transportation as well because I think Mr. Monty maintains the trail.
DiPierro: So moved. in favor?
Speaker 13: Aye. Aye. SPEAKER9 Opposed,
Smith: The ayes have it. Clerk, please read item number 15.
Cornelio: Item number 15, Madam President, is a resolution offered by Councilor Peter Pietrantonio. A resolution requesting that the city's human resource director appear at the next regular meeting of the city council to answer questions about sick banks available to the city of Everett employees.
Speaker 9: Councilor Petrentonio.
Pietrantonio: Do we have any correspondence from the director?
Smith: We have not received any correspondence after, I believe, you spoke with her a few weeks ago.
Pietrantonio: Can we send another invitation out to appear from our next meeting?
Smith: Absolutely.
Pietrantonio: And to answer my questions that I emailed to her?
Smith: Absolutely. We will work with the legislative aide and have her send out another invite to our human resources director to answer the list of questions.
DiPierro: Second.
Pietrantonio: Thank you, Madam President?
Smith: Motion has been made and seconded to refer to the legislative aide to invite the human resources director to appear at the next meeting with the answer to councilor Pietrantonio’s questions. All those in favor?
Speaker 3: Aye.
Smith: Opposed, the ayes have it.
Cornelio: Item number… Excuse me. Item number 16, Madam President, is a resolution offered by Councilor Holly Garcia. A resolution requesting that Mayor Robert VanCampden, chairman of the board of commissioner David Eli, and newly appointed Everett Housing Authority director James Holt appear at the next regular meeting of the city council to provide an update on the Everett Housing Authority.
Speaker 9: Councilor Garcia.
Garcia: Thank you, Madam President. I was asked to add some cosponsors, but I'll open this up with the entire council like to be added as a cosponsor.
Martins: So moved.
Rogers: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to add the entire city council. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.
Garcia: And, yes, this is pretty straightforward here. We have some new faces, and it'd just be nice to have them up to speak about their plans now that they're rolling. So I would motion to postpone this to our next regular meeting.
Pietrantonio: Second.
Smith: Motion made and seconded to postpone to our next regular meeting and invite the commissioners and director. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Clerk, please read item number 17.
Cornelio: Final item this evening is, 17, Madam President. It is an order offered by councilors Stephanie Martins, Michael Marchese, and Councilor Guerline Alcy Jabouin. A petition for a special law, an act relative to the linkage fee revolving fund in the city of Everett.
Speaker 9: Counselor Martens.
Martins: Thank you, Madam President. So the purpose of this home rule petition is to amend our existing linkage fee rules. I have the original linkage fee ordinance. It should be on everybody's desk so you can see what it does. But, basically, this is closing a loophole where currently, the funds go into this account. They're collected by the city, but they can be expended under the supervision of the mayor, and we're amending it to say with approval of the council. Because, historically, the funds come in, they go out, and we don't even know how they're being spent. Not only that, but the ordinance under Section 18 says that annually, on or before July 1, the mayor shall file a report with the city council regarding the administration of the fund, and the report should include the current balance, any money deposited, and the expenditures. We've never received it from the passage of this ordinance. I have requested to receive this information, on October 5 from the new administration. We still haven't received it either. So, tonight, I'm hoping to send the home rule petition. And I believe Madam President had a question as to how he gets to the legislature, so we can ask Miss Munson. But I would like to ask for your support so we can change this rule. So going forward, linkage fee funds will be only expended with also the approval of the council so we know everything that's coming out. So I move for favorable action unless anyone has any further questions.
Marchese: Second. ade. Sorry. 1 2nd. MARTINS I would like to also amend to add Councilor Nguyen or if anyone else would like to be added. So motion to add the entire council. So, favorable action as amended to add the entire council.
Smith: Alright. First, we'll vote on the amendment. All those in favor of adding the entire city council.
Speaker 4: Aye.
Speaker 9: Opposed.
Smith: It has been amended. Favorable action as amended. Roll call vote.
Speaker 13: Yes. Yes.
Speaker 6: Yes. Yes. Yes. That's again.
Speaker 3: Yes. That's my case.
Speaker 6: Yep. Yes. Yes.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 13: 11 yays, 0 nays, madam president.
Smith: 11 yays, 0 nays. The item has been, favorable actions to the administration. Miss Munson, if you can just let us know when it gets to the state level, we appreciate it. And, mentally, before we adjourn
Martins: And I'd like to thank the city solicitor for her support working through this ordinance. Thank you.
Smith: Thank you very much. And before we adjourn, the, city clerk has some items for us.
Cornelio: Just briefly, early voting is still going on, so I wanna let the residents know early voting is gonna continue for the next three days, Tuesday and Wednesday here at City Hall in the Keverian Room from 8AM to 5PM, on Thursday from 8AM to 7:30PM. And our election for state of Massachusetts and for our state and federal delegation will be next Tuesday from 7AM to 8PM at your polling location. If you don't know where you vote, please call either the elections office or you can look at the Mass State website or the city of Everett website, and you'll be able to find your location on where you vote, where your polling location is. So thank you very much.
Smith: I'd also like to wish the residents a happy and safe Halloween. The annual party is at the recreation center on Friday. I mean, on Saturday. It's 2:30 to 5, I believe it is, and it opens at 5 or 5:30. So hope to see you all at the recreation center on Saturday.
Garcia: Motion to adjourn.
Martins: Second. made and 2nd to adjourn. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Make sure you stop it.
