The Everett City Council voted Monday, September 14 to approve a five-year tax agreement with Distrigas, to borrow $8 million to settle a lawsuit over the city’s 2023 taking of the Devens School, and to support unionized Encore Boston Harbor workers in their contract fight. Mayor Robert Van Campen opened the night with an update on the cyberattack that has closed City Hall since Labor Day weekend.
City Hall closed through Thursday
Van Campen said the city identified a “cybersecurity incident” on the evening of Sunday, September 6 that hit its internal network and technology systems. Police, fire, 911, public works, the schools and the libraries have kept running, he said, and third-party online payment systems still work. City Hall stays closed to the public through Thursday, September 17, with a temporary City Hall at the Connolly Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
He would not say what kind of attack it was. “There is information we simply cannot release at this time without potentially compromising that investigation or the security of our systems,” he said. If the review finds that anyone’s personal information requires notification, the city will notify them, he said.
Distrigas: 10 to 1
The council had put off the Distrigas payment in lieu of taxes agreement on August 3. This time it passed 10-1, with Ward 1 Councilor Michele Capone the only no.
The agreement fixes the LNG terminal’s assessed value at $127 million for five years. Attorney David Klebanoff, who defends the city’s assessments, laid out the stakes: the company bought the property for $60 million, and the city had been assessing it at $121 million to $165 million in the years under appeal. If those six years of appeals went badly, the city could owe about $15 million in refunds with 12 percent interest. Under the deal, every appeal is withdrawn.
Van Campen said $15 million is three times what the city holds in its overlay account, the fund that pays abatements. At $127 million, the company’s bill will be roughly $3.2 million a year, down from about $5 million at the higher assessment. Capone asked whether the case had ever actually been argued at the tax board. It had not, Klebanoff said.
Ward 6 Councilor Peter Pietrantonio said he was not against the deal but did not want the city “stuck in this position again” with appraisals that swing from one number to another. “We’re in agreement,” the mayor said.
Devens School: “I feel completely duped”
The second big vote came after an executive session. Attorney Thomas Lane of KP Law told the council that the city took the Devens School by eminent domain on July 20, 2023, paying the owner, Devens Everett LLC, the appraised value of $9.9 million. The owner sued in Middlesex Superior Court in 2024, not over the taking but over the price. Its appraisers, using a reproduction-cost method, put the value at $19.2 million. With interest, the gap at trial would have been about $10.5 million, growing at 12 percent a year.
The case was set for trial on August 20. The city settled for $8 million in new money, to be bonded. The council approved the borrowing 10-1, Capone opposed.
Council President Stephanie Smith said she voted for the taking in 2023 on assurances from the prior administration that the process was proper. “As a city councilor, I feel completely duped by the prior administration,” she said. She said the council had cut the legal budget in fiscal 2026 and had no idea this litigation had been pending for two years. “What else has been hidden from us?”
Pietrantonio asked the mayor and City Solicitor Jaclyn Munson when they learned of the lawsuit. Both said after taking office this year, with details only recently. Van Campen said he preferred to “turn the page.” Councilor Guerline Alcy Jabouin said she hoped the state was “watching and deciding to come in and save Everett.”
Encore workers
On a resolution by Pietrantonio, the council voted unanimously to back Unite Here Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 in contract talks with Encore Boston Harbor. About 500 union members live in Everett, he said, and workers across the line in Boston make three to four dollars an hour more. “Pay the people. Respect the city of Everett,” he said. The resolution goes to the casino’s president and its government relations contact.
Hero citation, promotions, appointments
Van Campen and Fire Chief Hickey presented a citation to Adrian Rodriguez, who grabbed a fire extinguisher from McKinnon’s on August 16 and knocked down a house fire at 14 Hosmer Street before the fire department arrived, then ran back for a second extinguisher. The homes there sit close together, Smith noted.
The council confirmed police promotions: Sergeant Brian Herbert to lieutenant, Patrolman Travis Nally to sergeant, and Jared Carrera to patrolman. Paul Sagarino, a longtime Everett High School teacher, was appointed to the Elections Commission through 2030.
Money accepted
- $240,000 state hazardous materials earmark for fiscal 2027.
- $150,000 Massachusetts Clean Energy Center grant for the Electrify Everett housing and energy equity program.
- $12,000 from Everett Bank, Radius Recycling and the Everett Citizens Foundation for the police Junior Police Academy.
- A donation from Peter and Lorraine Iovanni in memory of Pamela Mavilio for the Council on Aging.
Other business
Pietrantonio and Councilor Katy Rogers asked to rename Village Landing, the city-owned waterfront spot behind the old AFCO building, “Haley’s Village Landing” for Haley Keane, who took her own life there. The council scheduled a public hearing for its next meeting.
Two National Grid petitions passed 10-1: conduit under Lynn Street to power the Arthur Nelson playground, and new poles at Lynde and Robin streets. Rogers voted no on both and said she will oppose every National Grid item until the company finishes the riverfront pathway it owes the city. She also told the utility’s representatives to drive the parkway at night and count the streetlights that are out.
A resolution for an update on e-scooter rules, amended to add the whole council, went to the Government Operations committee with Sergeant Joseph Gaff, the parking director and the solicitor invited. A tax title payment agreement ordinance went to Legislative Affairs. The council also voted 10-0 to waive privilege on reports from the special counsel it hired in 2025 so the new city solicitor can use them in her audit of the law department.
Earlier in the evening the Legislative Affairs committee voted 3-1 to send Rogers’ single-use plastics ordinance to the full council, with Councilor Michael Marchese opposed.
The full meeting transcript and video are available through the city’s Munitrac page.
